The saga of the dishwasher...

I will not bore you (or is disgust the necessary word here?) with the amount of detail or nasty (and when I say nasty, I mean totally, horribly awfully, disgusting, like worse than anything you have ever seen inside of a dishwasher, or outside..) pictures of what was causing my problem..
It is fixed now.. no thanks to the many helping hands and helpful comments from my children last night..
It was extremely un-helpful to the situation and to my mood to hear Lynn repeatedly comment, "The dishwasher is broken and this really sucks.." Yeah, tell me somthin' I don't already know.
Peyton was really helpful trying to literally dig in and help out :D
It was fun telling her to "stop it" over and over..
The problem originally was that, I believed, the drain was clogged. I was not exactly excited about the prospect of opening up the innards of my dishwasher to find remnants of dinners past, those remnants that do not dissolve away.. no, not excited at all.
There was standing water in the bottom of my dishwasher,and it has been there since Friday.
Gross, I know.
Whenever I would hit "drain", it would just fill with more water, and not drain. Totally not what the button says it does..
Very frustrating.
Last night, after washing the dinner dishes by hand, yet again, I opened the appliance to see if somehow, magically, the standing water had drained without my pressing the non-functioning button.
The only thing that happened, was the filling of my kitchen and adjoining dining area with an invisible, yet highly offensive smell.
Everyone began wondering who flatulated.
No flatulence here.
Just my dishwasher.
And it's standing water.
That won't drain.
Thanks to the non-functioning button.
Lazy button.
Out of desperation to rid my home of this foulness, I once again, closed the door. Pushed the drain button, and prayed.
Now, I don't know exactly what I prayed for, just that this would soon be over with.
I heard the spray of water commence, and quickly pressed the button again.
IT ACTUALLY DRAINED!!!
To see if my little prayer actually did the trick, I ran a cycle.
Only to have the floor of my kitchen flooded.
Water leaked out from the bottom of the dishwasher door, out the top, right under the control panel, and from the vent itself.
Not good.
Not good at all.
I think I used every towel at my disposal, trying this over and over, trying to see if my eyes were deceiving me, or if it were just a fluke.
It flooded over and over.
Each time I would open the door,jiggle around a few things, sometimes take things apart, trying to discover "why!?!?!"..
Then, on about the 98th attempt, I pried the interior cover off the vent, the thingie that allows the steam, the scorching steam, to escape the dishwasher during the drying cycle..
Sheer grossness...
I vomited in my mouth, then quickly swallowed it back down.
I mean, totally disgusting.
It took a while to clean THAT out.
And nowhere in my dishwasher's guide, booklet of instructions, guide to the maintenance of the appliance, does it say anything about this being a necessary task to perform.
I calculated..
We've had this thing for about 4 years.
Four years of gunk and goo, and sticky, very gross, barftastic crap, had accumulated there.
Now it is gone, and my dishwasher functions in a manner that is pleasing unto me.
It works.
It drains.
And it doesn't flood my kitchen anymore!

Meet Lucinda and other fun things..

Meet Lucinda.. or "Lucy".. as I call her :)She is our new, awesome computer.. she is fast, has a whole lotta memory, and best of all, functions at full capacity.
She will also find herself with a new child in a couple of days (hopefully sooner rather than later..) and that would be my PhotoShop program... (cheers!!!)
Right now, the only other broken/non-functioning item in my home is my dishwasher..Note: NEVER take your dishwasher for granted!! This malfunction has blessed me with some nice quiet time though... :)
So...
Lately..We have had Ashley needing to use a "cane" because she has "old lady smell".. (?) Is that why canes are utilized?
She also channels "Word Girl".She continues to note the items of her costume that are missing, but necessary. She has found other items that will serve as "temporary substitutes"..
- Purple Dora gardening glove (notice the absence of the plural "s"?..) in place of the standard red..
- Hot pink shoes in lieu of the red boots..
She also noted that a red belt is necessary, as well as the red helmet..
I guess I have some shopping to do..
Lynnie-Lou, on the other hand...
Had a heart breaking experience the other night..
We were at Pack Meeting (it was "Dino-riffic!!!..) and she missed-out on the opportunity to play a game in which she could win some most coveted and valuable prizes.. her younger sister, did not miss this chance, and thus, Lynnie-Lou was heartbroken.
She left me a note, to convey her grief...I do believe that a translation of sorts is necessary..
"I am extremely sad cause I didn't get a slinky and I didn't get a glow stick. That's why. Love Lynn (heart). If there's any problems fix them all by yourself."
(Did you get that from reading the original note? It took me a while.. so cute though!!)
I am enjoying the phonetically spelled notes I get all day long..
Look at what a cutie she is!Lastly...
Peyton's tag..
Kimmy, our cute little friend, tagged us..
So here are 5 of Peyton's essential items:

1- Her Horse.. it goes just about everywhere inside our house and outside..2- Books.. she loves them!! Mostly looking at them at her own pace right now.. she's yet to sit still through a whole story.. well, besides her Barney and Elmo board books...
3- Cars and trucks... she makes the sounds of the engines too :)
4- Balls. She especially loves her big, bouncy, blue ball. I am also happy to note that she is over her fear of the exercise ball!! :D
5- It's a tie for this one.. me and her fingers...

That's what happens..

This is what a 9 year-old slotted spoon looks like... when it has been well-loved.
I realize that most everything we own, is nine years old now..
Do I have more of this to look forward to, or what?

For you Merrill-Hottie-Body...

Pitcher's Salon..

Ashley LOVES to fix hair, and pretend she's cutting (I think she learned her lesson about real cutting). The hair straightening helper tool (what else do I call it?) are her "scissors". She puts on a very stylish cape (her Care Bear doll blanket) washes your hair (with invisible water and "shampoo" that resides in her doll's bottle..), she'll "cut" your hair, blow it dry (with another toy..) and style you.. and converse the whole time, just like a real stylist! All for a very reasonable price (invisible money is exchanged)!!
She has many happy customers in our home :)

Memory lane..

I have been trying to catch up on all my favorite online reads, and last night, Peyton was my little chunk of inspiration, maybe I should call her drive... I dunno.
You see, she wasn't in the mood to sleep. Apparently, she was still too hopped-up after our stay at our local Best Western the night before. It was fun..
So we were up, later than I would have liked.. I was tired.
I read the last tiny bit of "Midnight Sun.." Mrs. Meyer needs badly to finish that.. and then was off to blogland to catch up on other reads..
I was reading C Jane.. and had a lot to read..
I came upon her post about plagiarizers.. those dirty buggers.. and began remembering...
Growing up, a sophomore in high school, to be exact.. there was a girl.. we'll call her "Mildred" (only because both Colonel Henry Blake and Colonel Harry Potter's wives on M*A*S*H were named Mildred.. I am a M*A*S*H junkie.. someday there will be a couples M*A*S*H trivia contest and Merrill and I will sweep it!!!) Anywhooo...
"Mildred" liked me, for some reason, and wanted to be like me... for some reason.
I got my haircut, so did she.
I got a job at Arby's, and so did she.
I would eat a certain combination of yummy foods on my break, and she, in turn, would order THE SAME THING...
Some of you might be thinking, "That's creepy..." while others might be thinking, "No big deal.."
Or you might be like my mother, who I think to be too sweet and naive most of the time, who thought, "You must be someone she looks up to.. that's nice that you are such a good example to her." "Imitaion is the finest form of flattery.." is something eles my dear mother would say... I say imitation is creepy...
Well, it got creepier.
More things that I will not bother to mention that "Mildred" would do to be like me, just this BIG one..
I soon began dating a boy named Ryan (who was a jerk really disguised as a boy..) and guess what soon happened..
Soon "Mildred" found herself a boyfriend, named Ryan..
Now if he was a jerk disguised as a boy as well, I do not know.. I tried to keep my distance as I did not want her to be close enough to me to discover what deodorant I was wearing so she could go and buy that too...
I just thought, as I was reading dear C Jane, how there is still this desire to be like those that we look up to, even as adults. Even if those people adore you and your life so much that they choose to hijack it and claim it as their own.. that's creepy.
I am glad that teenager-dom is over, for me.

Good Friends..

Good friends are so very important for SO many reasons..
Need I say more?
Much love to all of my good friends (and family who are some of my BEST friends) out there...
Love you guys!!

Playing...

While it was nice...
Outside was THE place to be.
My little ham Ashley..

Peyton loves the playhouse!
And her first time jumping on the trampoline..

No Mercy..

This is my DI pile.. well, part of it.
There is no mercy in my house when it comes to what we are holding on to.
The spring cleaning bug has bitten, hard, and I have been in the mood for a month plus. Many projects, cleaning, organizing, and painting. We've been busy around here!
My largest (and hardest..) under-taking was going through all of my little girls clothes (from 0 months-5 girls) and giving or throwing away many items.
Flashbacks came heavy and hit hard.
I then organized it all...
It was hard going through Peyton's next size.. these are the clothes Lynn wore when I was pregnant with Ash.. there's my body clock.. ticking away.. telling me what I should really be doing right now, gestating..
I am trying to put it all aside.
Took apart the changing table (first time it has ever been taken apart and packed away.. it's always been up in the nursery, waiting for the arrival of the next little one.). I am planning on painting the nursery. Peyton needs a big girl room, and if I am really done having babies, I need the reminders, the things that make me long for another little one, out of sight.

Mommy & Daughter date..

We've been having a rough year Kindergarten wise..
I have not been making Lynn go, if she so desires.
We've been dealing with a bladder infection as some fringe benefits of the fun of Kindergarten. All said with much sarcasm..
So a mother daughter date was in order.
We started with a haircut..
Went and did some shopping for fun spring and summer clothes.. SOMEONE got VERY spoiled..
..and ended with a yummy dinner (cut short due to a tummy ache)..
I love you so much Lynnie-Lou!!
I enjoyed our date.. time together with just you and me was awesome!!
Thanks to mom, for taking the other two.. I am still enjoying the diapers that follow the fun of Ashley endlessly feeding chocolate covered raisins to Peyton :)
(Eeeeww.)

And we pick up from where we left off..

So.. it didn't really crash, per say..
This (the video card) was part of the problem. After Merrill had some time away from our dinosaur (separation does make the heart grow fonder..) he sat down, and once again, tried to help out our ailing electronic. Some of the symptoms led him to believe that it was the video card that left our computer useless.. so with some help, he replaced it.
Yes, we still don't have enough memory, our computer is very old, and we are getting a new one.. that means I get PhotoShop.. YEA!!!!!!
I was going to get for Mother's day (that's what he was planning), when I found an e-mail from a friend to get it from Adobe at a discount. When I called Mr. Pitcher to tell him of this deal, he asked a few questions, told me of his plan, and said to get it, it was a better deal than he had been able to find. SO I am VERY EXCITED!!! Look out for a couple of blog makeovers!!
So, what does one do without a computer for a week+?
MANY THINGS...
For one, I am rockin' and AWESOME farmer tan...
Yeah, I know you can't tell very well.. I have been trying to even it out.. with my four days spent mostly out of doors...
I got my flower beds ready, front lawn thatched and mowed, even patch master put down on Saturday..
Flowers in on Monday..

Garden dug up (it's our first year although I have had the desire for 8..) and planted Tuesday..
We look forward to eating our homegrown fare..
Instead of the dirt it is nurtured in...
Look for an onslaught of posts.. there has been more going on than this!

Life..

Sometimes it takes a wake-up call to remind us, yet again, of how fleeting life is.
I am thankful for the gospel, for my testimony of it.
I am thankful that life doesn't end with the grave, that those we love, live on, and we will be with them again.
Lives are taken too young, it seems to us.
I look at the deaths of some pretty awesome young men, to be a blessing.
I have family on the other side that needs some teaching.

38 cards..

With the craft room re-do, came a lot of purging..
Most of the purging ended-up being paper that was categorized as card appropriate.
That is where the 38 cards come in.. that, and I finally found some cte butterfly punches!!
Layouts to come :)
My computer was on the fritz for a while.. glad to be back!!

REALLY sucks...

I have been telling Merrill, that instead of fixing (or the pursuit of trying to fix) our five year old computer, we should just splurge with a small amount of our tax return, and buy a new one.
Novel idea, I know...
He was hesitant as the newly acquired technology would soon be outdated (but our existing computer would be even more outdated!!) so...
We had Austin, Merrill's brother who is computer (and other electronic toy) savvy come and assist us in expanding the size of our hard drive.. it's been a process as our computer is much like a dinosaur, with plates on it's back.. very annoying plates.. and this technology is dated to pre-Autin's awesome knowledgeness... in other words, slow in going.
Yesterday morning, the plated dinosauric computer did not wake from it's previous night's slumber.
I, however, woke to yelling (some potty words were shouted I am sure, most of the words a little indiscernible..), the sound of objects being thrown, and what sounded like a yelp or two (at least I didn't exaggerate it into emotional sobbing Mer :)...).. it was an interesting wake-up call.
So, should I say I won?
We are getting anew computer, after all :D
I have MANY things to post.. but those might just have to wait until either A- Austin can resurrect the beast, or B- our newly built Dell gets here sooner than expected.. or I guess there's a third option, I live at the hotel when I need to post?
That's where I am right now, while the kiddos make a mess of the Lofthouse cookies sitting here on the desk...

Sucks..

This is a word in our house that is reserved for the most dire of situations, i.e. it is not intended for everyday use, and is mostly considered a "potty word".
So the other morning, when Ashley used it, I couldn't get after her. It was a situation where it's use was necessary, and it was used in the correct context.
Here's the breakdown:
It was breakfast time.
The girls were a little groggy, I do get them up early when we have to be somewhere (like church) at a certain time.. looking presentable. The choosing of their breakfast food was underway.
Lynn told me what she wanted, then Ashley followed with the same, the exact same.
Lynn changed her mind, in a rather ornery tone, and I asked her if she changed her mind because she really didn't want that choice anymore, or to just be mean.
"To be mean." She stated, with a glare fired off in Ashley's direction.
Ashely wasn't looking at Lynn. She was staring straight ahead, with the glazed-over tired stare going on. It seemed she hadn't noticed...
Until she turned towards Lynn, and very matter-of-factly said, "Being mean sucks."
I couldn't have said it better myself..

The Best of...

It was such a good day yesterday!! Beautiful, in many ways...
Here's the best of hundreds of pics snapped..
Does anyone know if I can photoshop dried boogers OFF a toddler's face? :)
We stopped at the cemetery.. realizing this is our first Easter without Grandma.
What a blessing it is to know that, like our Savior, we will ALL be resurrected, we will live AGAIN!
Our Heavenly Father loves us...
Hope you all had a great Easter!!

Easter Fun...

Thankfully, the Easter Bunny has agreed to visit our house on the Saturday BEFORE Easter, so we can recognize and celebrate the true meaning of Easter on Easter Sunday... ;)
The girls were very excited about the day's most anticipated event.. the hunt...Even Peyton, couldn't quite contain her excitement...
Lynn always has a sharp eye...
Ashley's just looking for the sweetest or the biggest...
Peyton was ecstatic to have found some well places Jelly Bellys...
But her most favorite was the Ringpop.. what a sticky mess she was after this one!!