the joys of an old house

I love my house. It truly is a gift straight from the hand of God. It has provided room for our growing family, ample space for homeschooling, a comfortable home for hosting family events, and a close walk to church. It's a dream come true.

It has also taught us (well mostly my husband) many things about plumbing, drywall, and electricity.. and I'm sure many more learning opportunities await.

The winter time is an especially good time for learning about handy work around the house. In fact this week has been an especially good time. For starters, the temperature outside has taken a nosedive, and we are all hibernating inside due to minus 30 degree weather.

Good thing we just had our garage door replaced the week before (it would shake like it was about to fall off every time you opened and closed it. and there were gaps the size of a very large mouse throughout). That was costly, but worth it. Daddy was smart enough to hire someone to install it for him. After the plumbing issues a few months ago with the sewer drain leaking down into the basement (due to a nail being pulled out of the wall that was unbeknownst to us actually nailed into the drain), and the ensuing cutting and later fixing of the wall, I suppose he was weary of doing it himself.

The babies obviously wanted to play handyman too, as last week while I was enjoying a moment of quiet in the kitchen, I heard the happy noises of the twins suddenly cease in the baby monitor.

Beeep Beeep Beeep.

Hmmmm, isn't that the sound of the baby monitor being unplugged?

Why I didn't go investigate immediately is beyond me. A lesson I needed to learn I guess. Anyhow, later in the day, monitor forgotten, my 2 year old comes to me crying because she can't use the potty in the bathroom. Upon investigating her problem, I discover the forgotten baby monitor, taking a bath in the toilet. Clever.

Last night, daddy had finally dried it off enough to try it out and it still works, thank god. Toddler twins without baby monitors are bad news... they could get into all sorts of trouble and you'd never know.. like tossing electrical things in toilets.

Last night handyman dad was also required to move the twins mattresses down to the bottom level of their cribs. I knew it was time, when I went to get JP from his afternoon nap and he stood up, reached his arms out to me over the crib rail and flipped over headfirst into my arms.
Peter of course was watching carefully, no doubt planning his own escape later that night while we were sleeping.

Now while daddy was taking two cribs apart and putting them back together, I remembered that the toilet in the kids bathroom had stopped working that day... oh and the washing machine wasn't working either. Then, while he was thinking about those 2 new projects, I discovered that the toilet in master bathroom wasn't working either.

Daddy, being the smart handyman that he is, began to put two and two together (after he put the cribs back together, that is) and realized that freezing cold + 3 sources of water that don't seem to be working = pipes frozen.

You'd think, being in Alberta Canada, where it's not a rare occurrence to have minus 40 degree weather, with even colder wind chills, that a house would be built with pipes properly insulated. This shouldn't happen here should it??

Anyways, thank goodness for Rob, the old neighbour friend of daddy. He came over that very night with his trusty blowtorch, and drywall saw, and together, they solved the mystery and unfroze the pipes before they burst. Now I am free to do all the laundry I want..

that is except for the fact that they broke the dryer while trying to fix the washer. But that's another story....