HE'S HERE!!

Drew Michael Fischer arrived this afternoon at 3:55 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and is 21 inches long (these stats are per Michael...they might not be accurate)! He has LOTS of black hair & mom says looks like Michael, except she thinks he has Kim's eyes. Mom, Dad & Drew are doing fine. The kids and I will head out on Thursday night/Friday to meet Drew....ball & swimming threw a wrench into our departure time! We'll also take in one of Ben's t-ball games while we are there.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

Nothing new is happening here regarding the flooding. Same stuff...limit water usage & pray for dry weather. There is no rain in our forecast until Thursday, which is great news. Let's hope it stays that way.

Allie had ball today & both kids had swimming. Jake spent the night at a friend's house last night. Scott was in Vegas on business so it was just me & Allie.

We have swimming every night this week, baseball and softball games for both kids, Scout camp, hopefully a waterpark trip (or 2). I'm also hoping baby Drew makes his way into the world this week. I'm already planning different scenarios to get back to meet him.

I will stop the daily posts unless something changes. Thanks again for the emails & calls. It is amazing to us how many people checked in on us...from Texas, Illinois, California, Kansas, Missouri and of course Iowa...people checked in...THANKS!!

QUALITY BASEMENT TIME

We were forced to hunker down in our basement twice yesterday. Once shortly after my parents arrived. The tornado sirens sounded due to a wall cloud moving through the area (this is according to Scott) and again at about 3:30 a.m. We had heavy rainfall most of the night & our sump pump kept up like a champ. At about 4:00 we went back upstairs to bed...the 2 kids and me in my bed (they were scared) and Scott slept in one of the kid's beds...he got lucky. I'm dragging today from the lack of sleep.

Things are slowly getting back to normal after the flooding. The waters are supposed to drop more tomorrow & hopefully our water usage can continue as normal. I NEED to do laundry!

Allie did a great job at her dance recital last night. She danced to "Over the Rainbow" and had her own "special part". She was pretty excited after the show when Nana gave her a pretty wrist corsage. In fact, she was very concerned at 3:30 this morning because her corsage was still in her room and not in the basement.

It was 12 years ago today that Scott & I got married. It was a perfect day! It doesn't seem like that long ago. What a long way we've come!

Allie before her recital.
Allie at dress rehearsal.

Scott & I...12 years ago!
Our wedding party.

TORNADO PICS

Here are some pictures taken near New Hartford after the EF5 tornado touched down & destroyed parts of the town. Nearby Parkersburg was nearly wiped out by the same tornado. These pics are taken just down the road from my friend Patty's house. Her home was spared, the tornado hit the field across the road from them.

Near the American flag there is the foundation of home that is no longer there.
This is an RV dealership. The RV's are thrown all over.
The is a truck in a field.
These are what is left of a house.
An LP tank laying in the middle of a field.

FLOOD PICS

Here are some flood pics that people have sent me.

This is Waterloo Road, which is near Cedar Falls Utilities & the Rec Center. Allie's soccer field is under water.
This is North Cedar
This is our utility company
This is downtown CF...fortunately the river stayed out of downtown.
This is the utility company again.

NO MORE RAIN

We once again had no rain last night, which is a relief. However, we do have chances of storms tonight and tomorrow. After that our next 5 day forecast is without rain, YEAH!!

Cedar Falls residents are still encouraged to limit water usage. No washing dishes or clothes & take short showers. Our drinking water is still safe & we are to take short showers. It is nothing compared to CR though, so I count my blessings.

I got word yesterday that our friends Rob & Kari had water up to the rafters of their basements. They were also hit with the tornado a few weeks ago, losing several large trees that narrowly missed their house.

Yesterday, we went to the waterpark for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous day & the kids had a ball. We asked how they were open with water conservation being an issue. They have their own system there that recycles the water & doesn't use the city water/sewer. Hmmm....

Allie had her dress rehearsal last night. She looked good. Tonight is the big night. Mom & Dad are coming up this afternoon. Dad will stay home with Jake while Mom & I take in the show. Jake was pretty relieved that Papa would hang with him...he wasn't interested in a dance recital!

Jake is going to a friend's late this morning. They are playing at his house & then going to the Club to swim. He's pretty excited.

That's all for today. We are thinking of those in CR who are still battling the floods. My friend Stacy is keeping us posted via her blog...it's amazing. Again, Stacy & friends/family in CR...stay safe & dry!!

UNEVENTFUL

I'm happy to say that last night was uneventful. In fact, there were no storms or rain overnight! Both Scott & I crashed hard and neither of us woke until 8:00.

The evacuation in CF has been lifted, which is great news. We are still under orders to conserve energy & water...I guess my laundry & house work will have to wait another day!! Our new sump pump is working like a charm & quite amazing to watch...ask us to see it in action next time you visit.

As things have calmed down here, unfortunately things aren't as good in nearby Cedar Rapids. I'm getting reports via the news & a friend in CR. She hasn't been directly affected, but it appears to be a mess there. Stay dry Stacy & the rest of our friends & family in CR!! I know how stressed we were early in the week & I can't imagine how you feel since it is much worse there!!

We have Allie's dress rehearsal for her recital tonight & the recital tomorrow night.

WATER!

So, we got a new sump pump & piping installed this afternoon. After our long night of watching & waiting for our sump pump to lose the battle, we called in the plumber. He informed us that we do have an issue with the grading & tiling in our yard (or something). We will fix that problem, but we can't do that until it is drier in our yard. SO, we decided to go with an immediate fix and upgrade our pump. We now can pump out 100 gallons of water in one minute! Once our yard issues are fixed & with our mac daddy pump installed there should be no worries.

As for CF news, the river is falling, we still are limiting water and electricity use until further notice and the downtown is still evacuated. There is more heavy rain in the forecast for tonight which could change the river level...pray that doesn't happen.

FLOOD PICS

These pics were taken on Monday at around 5:00. The river crested about 10+ feet higher 36 hours later.

This is looking into Gateway Park in downtown CF, to the North of the river.
Jake stands on some steps that lead down to the river...later in the evening they would be overtaken by flood waters.
This is the First Street bridge. Note the water hitting the bottom of it. Later the bridge would be closed & water would be on the grassy area.
Here is a sign for a park North of the river. For those that have been to Sturgis, it is the place where the bands & beer are.A shelter in a park.


GRANDMA'S PARTY PICS
Here are some pictures from my grandmother's b-day party last weekend.


The whole Fischer family (minus 4 people). My how we've grown!!
Cousins...Ben, Maddie, Allie & Jake. Any day now we can add baby Drew...hurry up Kim!!
My grandma with her cake.
My cousin's children (Leo, Kinzie, Allie & Karlee)


Maddie with her Uncle Scott

3rd ANNUAL GIRL'S NIGHT PICS

Here are some pictures from our annual Girl's Night karaoke night. This year's theme was "Abba".

Lynn & Karen doing a shot of tequila
Kim & Cathi singing along.
Karen, Kristin & Lynn looking on.

LONG NIGHT

It was a LONG night of storms here. Lots of thunder, lightening and RAIN. It rained really hard from about 12:30-2 and again from about 6:30-7:30. We checked the sump pump off and on all night long waiting for it to overflow. Jake crawled in bed with us at about 2 & shortly after that Scott went to the basement to attempt to sleep & keep up with the pump. At about 7:30 or so, Scott bailed about 12 bucketfuls out of the pit and that allowed the pump to get caught up. SO, no water in the basement as of now! YEAH!!! Let's just hope the rain stays away!

Scott called a little bit ago & has someone coming my way to look at installiing a larger sump pump & the piping that goes with that OR he will let us know if it is a drainage in our yard issue. I hope we get answers ASAP.

No word on the situation in downtown Cedar Falls. We are still being told to limit electricity and water usage, so I'm guessing we aren't out to the woods yet.

Despite all of the mess happening here, there are some things to be thankful for...I am thankful that we aren't one of the homes that has been evacuated in CF or another nearby town. I'm thankful that we don't have water sitting in our basement or in our main floor. I'm thankful that we weren't hit 2 weeks ago by the EF5 tornado that wiped out Parkersburg just miles from us.

Will post more later today or tomorrow morning. Will try to get pics up if my internet cooperates. Also, please excuse the typos on the previous post...I was in a hurry & didn't use spell check.

FLOODS!!

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone that has called or emailed to check on us. I am amazed at the friends/family that have checked in...those in other states are even hearing about our situation...it is pretty amazing.

Now, onto our flooding experience. We returned home from grandma's party on Sunday afternoon to find that our sump pump couldn't keep up with the rain while we were gone (I've heard we got somewhere between 4 & 7 inches). I feel we were really lucky...the water was only in our utility area & basement bathroom (that was dry by the time we got home). There was also wet carpet in our 2 storage rooms and a VERY small part of our family room in the basement. Scott pulled stuff up to the garage while I ran to get a Rug Doctor to suck the water up. Right now everything is dry, but we are still running fans, the AC & dehumidifier to ensure it is really dry.

On Monday, I had a couple of errands to run & on my way home, I couldn't get down a road due ot a creek being out of it's banks. We hoped on the Interstate and went around town rather than through town to get home. I was SHOCKED at what we saw. I've NEVER seen that much water in my life. It was just feet from going onto the interstate. Allie had dance downtown later that afternoon so Jake & I wandered about 3 blocks to check out the river. It was truly amazing how much water there was.

On Tuesday morning I found out that the Interstate was closed due to flooding. Also, Scott called to tell me that the downtown area was evacuating and that I should fill water bottles and bath tubs just in case we lose water/power. I also decided to take some extra precautions since things weren't sounding good on TV. I had also spoke to a friend who's husband works for the city & he was concerned...that concerned me!

On Tuesday afternoon, I took Jake to baseball practice across town & encountered flood street after flooded street. A usual 10 minute drive took me about 30 minutes due to detours. There were more evacuations...the river was projected to either break or go over the levy & flood downtown. At that point, I decided to have a plan in place in case the worst happened...what would I need to take out of town & where would I go. I didn't think that the water would actually get to us...but would I want to have the kids here with no power/unsafe drinking water?? The answer was definitely NO!!

By Tuesday night, the news wasn't getting any better. Scott got home from work & immediately went to help sandbag the levy. The crest was quickly approaching & they needed volunteers. When he returned home he said that the water wasn't far from the top of the levy & he hoped the river was done rising.

We awoke this morning to find that the levy held tight, the river crested & the downtown was o.k. To the north of the river wasn't so lucky...I've heard it is a mess. The school to the north has water in it & homes are gone. Two of my co-workers lost their homes & all of their possessions. It is simply amazing!

Right now...we are just waiting to see what the weather does. We have heavy rain in the forecast through Friday. The news is saying that the river could re-crest again later in the week so the sandbagging is continuing to ensure the levy stays put. We haven't lost power in my area & our water is still safe. We have had some email/internet/cable interferences off & on, but that has even been minimal.

Thank you again for your calls/emails. I'm planning to update this site daily to inform everyone what is going on....if we have internet!


GRANDMA IS 80!!

My paternal grandmother, Marge turned 80 years old last week. She was surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and in-laws. We had a "small" family party for her at my parent's house. It was wonderful to be with everyone...our visits are few & far between as we all grow older & move further and further away from each other. There were only a few missing (I think just 4 couldn't make it). We made time for a family picture and my cousin Trish made a WONDERFUL DVD with tons of old pictures of our family. It was so fun to watch! We are looking forward the next time we can all get together again.

OTHER STUFF

• Jake started baseball.
• Allie started softball.
• Both kids started swimming again.
• Allie is going to a friend's b-day party tonight.
• Some very SAD news, a student in Allie's class was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma (non Hodgkins). He is Stage 2 and they believe it is confined to his neck. It is an aggressive form of cancer, but his prognosis is good. He started chemo yesterday and will continue to do so for 6 months or so.

I'll post pics later today or tomorrow...my computer isn't letting me today!

WOW

Yes, wow is all I can say about the past 10 days or so. It has been a whirlwind week or so....

Last week the kids enjoyed snow cone days at school. The Student Council brought in $1400 by selling snow cones for 2 days at 50 cents a cone. Pretty amazing. Jake had soccer practice, I had a carnival meeting and a bridal shower last week as well.

Over the weekend, Jake played in the Cedar Valley Cup soccer tournament. Their team placed 4th & got a copper medal. They played 4 games in 2 days & Jake was exhausted by Sunday night. He did manage to sneak to the new Indiana Jones movie with Scott on Sunday evening, despite being exhausted.

Between soccer games on Saturday, the kids and I volunteered at Hansen. We spent a couple of hours loading supplies into a trailer. The trailer was taken to Butler County to distribute the items to those in need from the recent tornadoes that destroyed that area. Allie told me that it felt really good to help out people that don't even have homes. I guess maybe it is true that children learn by example...all of my years of volunteering are rubbing off on Allie.

Monday & Tuesday mornings brought the annual Hansen Talent Show. I co-chair the event and once again it went off without a hitch. Both of the kid's groups did great. Allie commented on Tuesday that she'd like to perform her routine again!!

Tuesday afternoon at Hansen was BUSY. Jake had his end of the year picnic on the playground. I was able to join his class, which was fun. After the picnic, Field Days was held...inside due to lots of recent rains. The kids still had a great time playing silly games. In the middle of Field Days, the entire school went outside to watch a military helicopter land on our football field. One of the teachers has a son in law that is being deployed to Iraq in August & he got permission to land the helicopter on our field. The kids went CRAZY. Each class had some time to climb in and out of the helicopter after it landed. They enjoyed bomb pops as the helicopter took off.

Wednesday brought the last day of school. I felt kind of sad that I would no longer have a Kindergartner or our beloved Miss Pins. Allie was a bit sad as well, she is excited to be called a 1st grader though. Jake was THRILLED to be on his way to 3rd grade, but says he'll miss Mr. Wagner. I was ready to be done with school too. I will miss my students, but am ready for a break. I'm not sure if I'll be in the same job next school year, I hope that I am though.

Wednesday also brought the annual awards assembly. Jake earned the Perfect Attendance Award and his mile time was within the Presidential standards! He got a certificate and his name was announced to the whole school. Allie enjoyed her last day of school picnic at the park. I was able to join her class and watch them play. Jake's class had ice cream sundaes as an end of the year party, again I was able to join them.

Last night both kids had sleepovers here. There was a thunderstorm that moved through at about 1:00, no kids woke up. I didn't sleep well...I kept listening for the sirens.


Allie's class at their picnic.
Jake's class by the helicopter.
Jake on the helicopter
The kids on the last day.
Arianna, Allie, Olivia, Kayleigh & Madison
Cassy, Allie, Madison, Andrea, Renee

Carter, Dylan, Parker, Nick, Jake, DeQuan, Kyle, Will & Austin
Allie during Field Days.
Jake during Field Days.
The helicopter landing.
Allie on the copter.

Katie, Allie & Jordyn reading to go on stage for the Talent Show. They danced to Chiquita Banana
Ben, Makenna, Paul, Sophie & Jake ready to dance to "The Evolution of Dance"
One of my favorite acts...they were a riot.
The teachers dancing to a High School Musical song (Jake is the man in the front & Allie's is the woman in the back)
Carter, Paul, Jake, Adam & Nick

The kids sleeping in the basement during a storm.
Allie with our disaster collections.
Sam, Brady, Luke, Matthew, Tate, Carter, Paul & Jake
The fireball fans! Vance, Molly & Allie
The Fireballs. Tate, Matthew, Paul, Carter, Brady, Sam, Luke & Jake. Coach Matt, Coach Todd, Coach Brad.