weekend of water

Yep, we just can't get enough water 'round here.
But first -- what the kidlets were up to. Somewhat water-themed, as well. Sort of.
Lizzy had her first soccer encounter/practice/game on Saturday at 1 p.m. The under-6 crowd has a half hour of drills, then they do a very light scrimmage for a half hour against another team. They'd never met before, and in fact, the coach had an unavoidable conflict and was unable to make it to the event himself. It's low key, is what I'm saying.

Lizzy's team is purple, and was asked to vote on a team name. Front-runners were "purple grapes," "purple dragons," "purple girls" and "purple princesses." Matt and I liked purple dragons, but we weren't allowed to vote. The winner: The purple princesses! Or, princesses for short. You can only imagine how weird it is to cheer on the princesses on a soccer field. As apropos as it might, in fact, be. Just more to tease her about when she's a teen.
She sure looks darn cute in her uniform, though! She and her soccer-loving dad posed for me, as you see.
So, after we'd trudged about 10 minutes up a gravelly path from the parking lot (we had the far field, naturally) in the late-summer heat, Matt and I turn to each other and say, "Hm. Did you bring anything for Lizzy to drink?" Cue the water break ... and we had to tell her that we had nothing for her. We are the world's worst parents! So I tore out to the nearest gas station for drinks. I cannot believe we forgot drinks. My line is, hey -- I can keep track of the needs of one person at a time. That person used to be me. Then it was Lizzy. Now it's Maddie ... yikes.
With about five minutes to go, Lizzy decided she had to use the bathroom. Which was an outhouse near the parking lot. So, we just left. No point in walking there, then walking back. Apparently, she told her dad at that point that she wanted to quit soccer. She didn't like it. She'd changed her mind within about 10 minutes, though. We figured she'd find the actual physical exertion portion of the sport (is there any other?) fairly challenging. She doesn't exactly like to move much. Quite like her mother (at that age), in fact. She told us that she overheard someone saying, "Hey, Lizzy's good!" She was pretty stoked about that.
Matt had her out in the backyard doing games and drill-related activities for at least an hour on Sunday afternoon. She'll be our little star princess yet!

Today, our church had a baptism/dedication service for Maddie and C.J., our almost equally young neighbor. Man -- did we ever get a photo of the two of them together? I don't think we did. Bummer. But the lovely and talented Ms. Stacy got lots of photos of them separately -- I hope to post one or two of Maddie here soon. We borrowed a lovely dress from the Stavs for the occasion. Maddie managed to cry and scream her way through at least half of it (the occasion, not the gown). That was unfortunate. Other than that, though, it was a blessed time. Thanks, church community, for all your support. Easy to say, but it comes from the heart. We love all of you, and we're so, so grateful for you all.
Lizzy also dressed up today, and sang a little song during the service about family as her contribution. Here they are, in their regalia:


What appears to be a huge smile on Maddie's face was exactly that. She's been quite smiley lately! Not for insignificant events such as, say, her baptism, but, you know, when only one or two people are looking. Argh. (and no, it's NOT just gas pains! It's not it's not it's not.)

They say troubles come in threes. We had our second and third basement flooding events this evening. The a/c unit has been leaking for the past, oh, week or two or so. Matt's shoved a bucket under a pipe that's dripping, and emptying the bucket every few days. Except that we emptied it Friday or Saturday, and it was full -- and leaking -- again today. Whoops. So, we called for professional help.
While Matt was down looking at it, the water heater burst and sprayed its contents all over the closet. So we bailed water for an hour or so until the thing ran out. Then we called yet more professionals.
Then Matt decided he and his brother could replace the water heater himself -- and, why not? Fix the a/c unit too. That fun will commence tomorrow. I'm a bit skeptical, but what do I know? I guess if you have to call a plumber, might as well have a go yourself first. Should be entertaining, anyway. Maybe I'll do a pictorial of the proceedings.
I just don't know what's with all the pipes and things going wonky down there recently. And they all waited for the father in law to leave. Lucky him!
In other house-related news, we're having the chimney sweeps over tomorrow to clean and inspect. And we're getting roofer guys to fix the roof where the fool squirrels are getting in. Quite a sizable hole up there, we're told. Four hundred dollars' worth of repairs should do the trick!
Cue my usual rant about home ownership.