Something new

Just for the sake of seeing a new post on the site, I'd thought I'd share what is going on around here.
It's cold... well, actually it got up to 40 this week and it was wonderfully warm. I shoveled the three inches of packed on snow off the driveway. It was so nice, I took my coat off. But now it is cold again. Today when the kids left for school it was 0.
You probably already heard, but Jacob got stitches last week. Three in his little forehead above his right eye.
The kids have been taking turns getting sick. Braden had some kind of a bug a week or so ago, Mikayla had it last weekend, and Mike has been battling it for a few days now. Tyson and Jacob both have yucky coughs, and now Jacob has decided to add a runny nose to the list as well. Lucky for me, I have some seriously strong immunities. Either that or the germs are afraid of me. Either way, it is good.
Mike is very busy at work again, or as usual. He has four briefs due in the next four days. So, we will not being seeing a whole lot of him. Then he will go to Chicago the first week of February. We will miss him of course, but I am glad he is not going to somewhere warmer than here. That just wouldn't be fair.
Earlier this month my iron died. I was ironing, which is quite a big deal, since I rarely do it, and there was a loud pop, a puff of black smoke and a black mark on the ironing board. Not too big a deal, we went out and got a new one. A cheap one, but who cares, it's not like I use it much. I'd say less than once a month. Don't be too shocked, Mom, but I don't iron my sheets!
Then about a week after that, I opened the drier to find that all the clothes were still wet. It was moving and blowing but not heating up. This had happened before, so Mike opened it up and fixed the wire that continually is burning out. I got all the laundry done, and then the next day I had some sheets to do, remember I had sick kids (gross!!). When I went to change the clothes from the washer to the drier, I found that the sheets were still wet, very wet, dripping wet. The washer was no longer spinning. GREAT!! So, I wrung them out by hand and dried them twice in the drier. I still had a comforter and pillow that had to be washed. Well, they waited, as did a whole weeks worth of laundry. I had to open some new unders, if you get my drift. After much looking, we finally bought a new washer and dryer.
They are so cool. They have electronic buttons and they sing to me when I open them. They are high efficiency. They are huge! I had about ten loads of wash to do when we finally got them. I got it done in 6 instead. That is almost half! The washer does not have an agitator arm in the middle so it is much bigger. It is 4.7 cuft. The dryer is, well I can't remember, but it is big. I love them! They were very expensive though. We got a $100 rebate for buying the set, 1-3 years worth of free Tide he detergent and we got a rebate for the delivery/set up/haul away. We are pleased! Fortunately, I did our taxes yesterday and we can pay it off as soon as the check comes in. Oh, by the way, we got the Maytag Bravos, which is the newest version of the Whirlpool Cabrio, if any of you are up to date on appliances. Or if you even care!
So, that is what's going on around here. Nothing too exciting, but pretty normal stuff. We hope you are all doing well. Oh, also, I have to admit that I am a bit envious of those who are able to visit Mom and Dad soon(today, I think). I hope you have a great visit. Wish we were there!!