Adventures in Housesitting!

PROLOGUE

It has been and continues to be such a blessing for us to housesit my parents home while they serve a mission. We are within walking distance to school and work. AND it has more than enough room for our family and many visitors. 

If the truth be told this place is enormous. Compared to what we've been living in for the past seven years this home is palatial. I used to get annoyed with the toys all over the place... in the one room we had in Saskatoon. And now I can say that more rooms isn't necessarily better in some cases. More space and more room to my children means more places to mess up. I feel like I am cleaning ALL THE TIME and yet it looks like I never do. What is a woman to do with 7 bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, an office, a landing, a mudroom, 3 bathrooms, a playroom, a laundry room and hallways!!!! I can't keep up. Oh, I must mention the enormous front and back yards-with large lawns to mow and water and thankfully mostly ignore under the snow, a large garden- to plant, weed and harvest, a LONG drive way, front and back walks to shovel.... the upkeep is never ending. It's exhausting just thinking about it. 

To make things just a little more exciting the home is also about 70 years old.  It's developed it's own personality.  SHE creaks and groans when you walk across her floors. She becomes rather temperamental in the spring and summer and it takes real effort to shut or open the doors. In the winter the front door doesn't stay shut without being locked.  Her plumbing is not always reliable. Over the years she developed her own set of wrinkles and stretch marks.  Bruised and battered by over 20 children, not including their friends or visitors, that have lived in her. She's tired and wore yet still lovely and sheltering.

 I loved this home as a child and love raising my kids in it.  But somedays I think it's time to put the "old cow out to pasture." 

Part 1 (in a series of....?)

So begins our adventures in housesitting.

As many of you know we've had amazing amounts of snow this past month. With snow comes ice and with ice comes icicles. Here is an account written by Ryan describing and icicle escapade. 

"ATTACK OF THE ICICLE"

Had a 45 minute epic battle with an icicle of around my size and weight and came off victorious.   Bred and fed in a corner of the ice capped peaks of the Chateau Burnham an icicle of disturbing proportions was found to be undesirable and so I was sent in.   I had to scale the shear cliffs armed with shovle, ice pick and an iron resolve the chateau’s bane fell and I almost with it. Thank you to all our readers. Until next time when we bring you PART 2 of Adventures in  Housesitting.