FAVORITE FOTO FRIDAY

Ok...my old college roommate posts pictures every Friday that have a "theme" and she calls this Favorite Foto Friday (FFF). I have been watching her posts & laugh everytime I see them. I keep thinking that I need to do that too BUT since I lost my digital photos when my computer crashed in February & I didn't have a scanner, it really wasn't possible. I finally have my new computer and scanner up & working so now I will attempting to keep up with Stacy & do FFF too. I will probably steal many of her old themes & may from time to time come up with some of my own or I possibly won't have a theme. I guess we'll see how it all works out. Thanks for the idea Stacy!!

SO, here is this week's theme..."Messy Faces" (I'm certain that this theme will show up again from time to time).

Allie eating ice cream when she was about 3 1/2 Allie eating my birthday cake when she was about 2 1/2
Jake & spaghetti...he was about 18 months old
Jake eating sidewalk chalk...at 4 1/2 years old...he knew better!

T-BALL GIRL

Allie is doing really well at t-ball. In fact, I had another parent ask me how she got to be so good! I chuckled because they are really all bad...Allie just isn't quite AS bad. The thing is, she knows how to run the bases...in order, she knows that she has to field the ball & isn't afraid to do it, she knows to run once the ball is hit, she knows to throw the ball to the base to get a runner out and so on...most of the others don't have a clue, therefore she looks good! I explained to the parent that Allie has been sitting through ball games for about 5 years watching her brother play and that she plays in our back yard with the neighbors and that this is her 3rd year of t-ball.

Jake's game was rained out today & our trip to the waterpark was rained out as well. We have made it out 2 times this week, so I think that is good considering the way the summer has been going. We ran errands today and Allie got her hair cut & layered. She LOVES it! The kids are each taking a friend to see Kung Fu Panda tomorrow & they will all play here after the movie. Saturday is the Sturgis parade & festival. Sunday, Jake & Scott run the 5k...Jake can hardly wait. Sunday night through Tuesday we will have Mandy, Kim & their kids here. We'll hang out & take in the kid's games. No big plans, but it will be fun having them here.

Allie fields the ball
Allie gets a hit
Jake playing the Wii...they are really enjoying it.

WEEKEND

Jake & I went to a Scout day camp on Saturday. We went on a nature hike, made a craft, shot BB guns, shot bows & arrows, went swimming and had dinner. Jake loved every minute of it & I enjoyed watching him have fun.

Allie enjoyed her time with her aunts, uncles, cousins & grandparents. She kept thanking Mandy for letting her stay so that she didn't have to go to camp! She would have been bored out of her mind if she went.

I forgot to post last week that Jake lost his first baseball game 7-4. He had 2 good hits & did a great job playing short stop & 3rd base. Allie finished up dance class and will start again in September. Both kids had a good week of swimming.

I picked up a Wii today for my kids...Scott is included in that description. They bowled earlier and Allie had a 148, Scott had a 119 and Jake a 114. Allie was THRILLED...the boys were mad! Allie also cleaned up in boxing & knocked a guy out in about 10 seconds. We decided that she is a Wii Olympian!

This week brings 2 baseball games for Jake, 2 t-ball games for Allie, 2 swimming lessons for the kids & we hope to get the waterpark more than one time this week. Sturgis Falls is this weekend, it is scaled down a bit due to the destruction in North Cedar Falls from the flooding & the tornado that went through that area too. The kids have both been invited to march in the parade again...we may just watch this year. We'll take in the Kids Tent & listen to our favorite piano duo at the bandshell on Saturday. Jake & Scott decided to run the Sturgis 5k together on Sunday morning. Scott hadn't trained enough for the 1/2 marathon so he & Jake went running this afternoon & decided to do the 5k. Al & I will cheer on our boys.

Jake trying out archery

Jake with his BB gun

HE'S PERFECT
The kids & went to meet Drew yesterday. He is PERFECT!! What a pretty baby. Michael & Kim are doing fine, a bit tired, but fine! I can't wait to see him again in a couple of weeks.

We hoped to take in a t-ball game of Ben's, but it got rained out. Allie ended up staying with Mandy &/or Mom until Sunday morning. Jake has a Scout camp this afternoon/evening and I couldn't find a sitter. She was going to have to go along with us & wasn't happy about it. Boy her tune changed when she found out she could stay. Mom emailed last night that they had gone for ice cream & played at the park. I bet she's in heaven!

WATERPARK
The kids and I went to the waterpark only once last week, it was too cold early in the week and we left to meet Drew later in the week. Hopefully next week we can get there more!!
Allie kissing her new cousin.
Jake with Drew.
Up close.
Tiny Toes

Nana & Papa's ANGELS...right!!

Jake
Allie
My babies...not really babies anymore.
Paul, Jake & Allie by the new slide at the waterpark
It is a racing slide & Allie won!

Here are some more photos of Drew...the kids & I are dying to meet him...not long now!!

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!