my life's story...and my tenth child is 23!

 Can you imagine if you inherited just a small amount of money, and decided to splurge on something totally unnecessary?  Imagine you had over a dozen kids, and rarely bought anything for yourself (okay, who am I kidding, I had strollers and prams galore!).  So you spend over three thousand dollars, all at once, on a brand-spankin-new hot tub.   Oh the glorious nights spent out under the stars, the fall evenings, and the falling snow...from when the younger kids had to wear floats in it...then it had issues, got fixed, had the cover replaced (six hundred bucks!), had more issues...then, imagine you had a new roof installed on your house, a nice metal roof, which sheds built up snow in mini, no-warning avalanches.  Imagine your non working hot tub, in the direct path of the avalanches...knowing it would cost big bucks to fix, and it needed another new cover.

Long story short, the hot tub is a goner, it is toast.  It has met it's end, and it wasn't pretty.  

This is after Jon and Char removed all the nice wood panels.

Jon was sawing and removing the motor, Charlotte Claire using the axe to knock out the supporting posts.

Jonathan used the sawz-all to cut it into four pieces...

There, that looks better!  Not really.  Those pieces need to be chopped or cut smaller, so we can bring them to the dump.  I know, it's sad, and it's a waste.  We could have had someone come get it, possibly, but it had many issues.  (Sunny thought the whole event was quite interesting).

The little deck it was on is all rotted, so we will be taking that apart, hopefully tomorrow.  Then, grass seed will be planted, and our yard will look a little more normal.

Well, as normal as a yard can look with a teenage boy who works on four wheelers...this one obviously has no tires on it at this time.

This one isn't running right now, either.  Jon is staying busy in his quarantine, but he usually works on the four wheelers at his friend's garage, where the tools are...

Anyway, I admit to being sad, saying goodbye to the hot tub, but also relieved to take back the yard.  It's been such an eyesore, and a breeding ground for mosquitoes, too.  I had to put bleach into it every few weeks, as it was never really empty, because of rain.  

I don't regret buying the hot tub, we did enjoy the heck out of it when it was running.  Maybe someday I'll win the lottery and get an endless pool for downstairs...

Today, Miss Kappy Sue, Kathryn Grace, turned 23.  She's a married mama now, lives in Oregon, and they're expecting #2 in June, a baby sister for little Achilles, aka Kiwi.

She's so pretty!

Kathryn, Suzanne, Margaret, Suzanne, Charlotte Claire, Evelyn, with Camille in front.

Sam and Mariel, with Kathryn and Evelyn

Kathryn and Evelyn

Kap with baby Kiwi

Cousin Becky, Kathryn, Emily

Kathryn, Evelyn, Sonja, Suzanne

Kathryn with Achilles and Darius..

When Kap was born, I had one of those horrible headaches afterwards, where you feel like you are going to throw up.  It got really bad.  Paul had come up with the older nine kids, my goodness, Emily was all of 13, and the oldest of ten kids!  Anyway, he left, and my headache got so bad...I finally pushed the call button and asked for something, and for someone to take the baby.  Okay, they said, but no one came...after a long time, I pushed that button and asked again...they were very busy, but would get to me soon.  Finally, a nurse came in, and by then I was sitting there holding newborn Kathryn Grace, and crying my eyes out, my head hurt so badly.  I got my acetaminophen, and the nurse took baby Kap, and as she wheeled that bassinet out into the hallway, I heard her tell another nurse, "I don't know what she's going to do when she gets home.  TEN KIDS."  I cried even harder, because honestly, I didn't know either.

But obviously I survived, and Kathryn has been the biggest blessing.  She's all grown up now, and she's my friend.  I just finished Face-timing with her and little Kiwi...they were outside, and he was going straight for the only mud puddle in the driveway, fun times.  So she brought him in the house, and he came walking out of the kitchen, dragging the base of the blender by the cord, like a pull toy.  Good thing he's so cute, ha.

Paul is feeling a little bit better than yesterday, so that's good.  You read about people taking a turn for the worst, and it's a bit tense, seeing how it all plays out.  He also doesn't say much, he isn't a complainer.  Sonja is doing better, her quarantine ended and she actually went to class today.  She has gotten her taste and smell back, for the most part.  Charlotte Claire feels a lot better too, but she went for a run with Jonathan, and felt really winded afterward.  I told her that might not be the best idea right now, to go running...

Everyone is busy doing their own thing right now, the house is quiet.  At least I got rid of that dratted ticking clock, I really did.  I bought a new one, for like five bucks, and took the batteries out of the ticker.  It was too annoying, and it seemed to shout, "Your life is quiet now!  The minutes are ticking away!"  I did not like it.  :)