Boring but productive day

We finally got snow last week and we were hoping to take the kids sledding this past weekend.  Unfortunately, Saturday was too cold and then Sunday my husband had to do an alumni interview at 1pm, so we didn't get to do it.  The kids did still end up playing in our backyard for over an hour.

Since they had a day off from school I had hoped that we could go yesterday but didn't promise anything as we had a plumber coming at 815 to fix lots of things around the house - replace the powder room faucet (about time after having no hot water for about 2 years in the bathroom we use most), fix two running toilets and figure out why the guest toilet overflows so easily.  The first things didn't take him too long, the last one took a while as he started by trying to rod the toilet, then the drain pipe by the boiler (which overflowed at one point with stinky sewage, but luckily didn't reach the carpet) and then finally the line to the sewer.  He kept coming in with bigger and longer rods, and finally had to call a co-worker to bring a rod big enough for the sewer line. After 5.5 hours and $1000 all our plumbing issues are fixed. Unfortunately the toilet was clogged with panty liners, makeup remover towelettes and other things that the manufacturers may say are flush-able but are not. I'll have to talk to my parents and in-laws to let them know that whatever they flushed is not ok.

I want to come up with some little sign to put up before our Super Bowl party so that it doesn't happen again.  I googled it and found one that said "Clogging our toilet is a serious issue, please do not flush ANYTHING but toilet tissue".  I figure if I type it up in a fun font, and put it in a frame, people may actually notice, and hopefully heed the warning. I also read on a bunch of different sites that you are actually not supposed to flush tampons. Never knew that, the manufacturers always make it seem like you can.

Since he didn't leave til just before 2 it was too late to go sledding. Since we had had to move most of the toys out of the way so the plumber could get to the sewer access, my oldest daughter decided today would be a great day to organize the toys. She's totally on board with the one project a week :)

We got the big things put back where they belonged, and then they went through the dressup bin, only got rid of a couple of things, but enough that when they folded the rest of the stuff to put it back, the lid actually fits and closes :)

Then they emptied the toy chest so they could sort through what they want to keep and what can go to Kids Sale. Again, they didn't get rid of a lot, but they did get everything organized and the lid closes :). The only thing left to tackle is the game closet which really isn't that bad, just a couple of games that don't fit on shelves. We can tackle that another time. I feel bad that we didn't do anything fun, so promised that this weekend we will do something fun.