Just Another Day

We made it to the weekend! It's been a rough week, everyone has been sick and not sleeping well. We played with our good friends Kiersten and Nolan today. It was about 50 degrees out this afternoon and we took advantage. Brian worked all day and when he came home (to the hotel) he told me to go relax in the hot tub. THANK YOU DADDY!! It was nice and peaceful. Just what I needed. I stopped by the house today to see what kind of shape it was in. The construction crew tood down the boy's bedroom ceiling and sealed it with a fire sealant. This prevents the smell from ever coming back. They have done the entire house with this sealant, but needed to take the ceiling down to get into the attic space they share above the garage. The house is smelling so much better. They painted all of the doors in the house yesterday. It's looking like a maze in the living room. This is where they left them to dry. They ripped out a few cabinets in the kitchen for restoration, and have taken some damaged subflooring out. When I spoke with one of the painters on Friday he said they would be able to paint a few of the rooms starting on Monday. Meaning: Master Bedroom, Drew's room, Emma's room and the two upstairs bathrooms. It's a start! I'm beginning to feel more at ease with the thought of moving back in. The smell really takes a toll on your mind. As the smell has improved my fear has disappeared. I'm beginning to get excited about having a new kitchen and floors. :) In more upbeat news, our quads turn THREE on Saturday. It's hard to believe I've been a mommy to five kids that long. I love them all so much and couldn't be happier to be their mom. We have new LEAP PADS for them as they are all obsessed with my IPAD. I think they will all be super excited. They no longer have to fight over whose turn it is and they all can play whatever they want. Thanks to Grandma and Papa for helping fund operation birthday present!! I'm not sure I'll get the chance to post before Thanksgiving, but everyone have a wonderful holiday and travel safe. We will be heading to Wisconsin for some much needed room to run and snuggle with my family. Hopefully we will have a new addition to the family when we return. HINT HINT DADDY!! XOXO

Making New Friends.

It was laundry night this evening and of course the kids were excited. That means we get to ride the "alligator" (aka elevator). First we ran the hallways to get change for the laundry, then we needed a vacuum, and then we needed to return the vacuum and take the laundry upstairs. We managed to run into a lot of the people who also call the hotel home. An older gentleman sat on the hallway floor with the kids and told them all about Santa. It was so cute. One of the older couples a few doors down stopped and talked to us about school. We might not be cozy in our box as a big family, but the people here are wonderful. Emma is loving preschool. She always tells me "I had fun!!" Makes a mama smile. Parker, Jack and Maddox were tested for Developmental Preschool this past week. I was amazed at how far they have come. Both Jack and Maddox scored above average for language and communication. WAHOO! They both scored well in all other areas too. Parker did well in most areas. He qualified for speech and had a few things in OT that he struggled with. I'm anticipating the boys going to preschool within the next month. Drew is doing well. He's missing home and Bailey. He mentions her almost everyday. This past weekend we did make it a point to drive by the house and play in the park across the street. It was so much fun. The kids felt so much better and at ease. We've been talking about our "new" house. It's no longer the "smoky house" which makes me feel better. Not as depressing.

Our house is starting to move along. They have the north half of the house cleaned and ready for paint. The south half of the house is still being taken apart and inspected. I got a good look at the attic and the garage rafters on Monday. It's a little toasted. The furnace and air conditioner have been removed and will be replaced as quickly as possible. IT'S BEEN FREEZING HERE!! Hopefully the paint colors will look as good as I envision them. I guess I really wont care too much as long as my bed is as cozy as it was before. I have to get a new matress first! :( I've been working on our house item inventory. Who knew I had that much stuff??? I think I counted about 20 different screwdrivers, 15 rolls of tape, 25 cans of paint and more. IT WAS RIDICULOUS. Lets just say it won't all be coming back. Mama would like to park in a nice warm garage. That's about all for now, gearing up for a Thanksgiving trip to Wisconsin next week. Grandma and Papa better be ready...we are ready to run. XOXO

Still Hanging On (one month after the fire).

It's been a month since the fire. We are slowly adjusting to hotel life. The kids are ready to go home and ask to go there multiple times a day. They are trying their best to get along, but it's so difficult. There's no room to run, we can't be too loud, and we are always on top of each other. I'm sure we are going to look back at this experience one day and laugh at how we fit seven people in a two bedroom hotel suite for months. Last weeks house progress seemed slow. The cleaning crew worked hard on most of the second story of the house. Three rooms and the upstairs hallway will be ready for painting by Friday. They will begin to rip out the drywall in the garage tomorrow and open the walls in the boys bedroom as well. Everything will be cleaned and sealed while being deodorized and tested for any toxins and gases left behind. The main level of the house is just starting to be cleaned. We discovered some rotted sub-flooring today from a leaking patio door. :( My finger went right through the rotted floor. We are assuming this is why there were so many layers of flooring under the hideous white one we had. On the upside of things, we picked out and agreed on flooring and paint for the whole house. I love it when Brian doesn't put up a fight. Although, I might be in for the surprise of a lifetime when I enter the basement. It's all MAN-CAVE! Well, maybe the second biggest surprise of my life...it's kinda hard to beat those cute little quads we discovered three years ago!! Our contractor gave us an estimated move home date of January 31, 2013 but thinks we will be in sooner. We were hoping to be in by Christmas, so everyone pray everything goes well and we survive the next couple of months in the hotel. In other family news, the boys tested for developmental preschool. I'm not sure how they did, but they all seemed to have a blast. Parker came home talking about his special school. Maddox got mad and wanted to go back with Parker. Jack stayed out of the conversation like a smart boy. Emma then talked about her special school and how she was a big girl. They all make me so proud. Drew has been trying to read. I'm so glad it's something he enjoys. We love Pete the Cat!!! Well, it's getting late and mama is tired. Thank you all again for all the help, donations, and support. We appreciate and love you all. XOXO Sara and Crew

There's Very Little Left....

Well, we visited the house yesterday. There is a big dumpster in the driveway with everything that was in the garage. The first floor has been completely cleared of all items except the food they are cleaning out of the cabinets. The second floor has beds yet and bathroom items. I didn't go down to the basement, but it is dried out. Our neighbors said they have been very busy over there. There are carbon bands forming like spider webs between the walls and ceilings making the house look quite creepy, considering Halloween is coming. The carpet has made it's way out to the dumpster as well. Even just removing the carpeting has changed the way the house smells. It's still bad, but it's a different kind of bad. The smoke alarms are sounding constantly (like when the batteries are dead). A little unnerving to me personally, but I'm glad to know they work and have done what they need to do.

We will be looking at new floor coverings and paint choices late this afternoon. I've been struck by this stomach bug the kids had over the weekend, so I'm praying I feel better before then. This is something I refuse to miss! Hoping Brian and I don't have a knock out, take down brawl. I don't wanna have to hurt him and make him look bad in front of anyone. Just sayin! We will let you know how that has turned out later this week. We wanted to also let you all know we are no longer taking clothing donations for the kids. We have run out of storage room in the hotel. Once we get back into our house we will begin accepting donations of house items should you wish to help more. We are expected right now to be back in with some living areas finished around Thanksgiving. If you wish to donate money you are welcome to donate through the paypal account (gift), or we are still accepting gift cards for Target or Walmart you can still mail them to us. Our address is: Scott Family 10341 Watkins Drive Indianapolis, IN 46234 In family news, we've all been passing this stomach bug. Emma starts Preschool next week. She is going to be a typical peer in a Developmental Preschool. The boys are being tested next week for Developmental Preschool next week, so we will wait to see how they do before making school decisions for them. Drew is doing so well in Pre-K. He is trying to spell words. For example; we were talking about show and tell and the letter of the week is P. He said "I will take my pumpkin, it's green and pumpkin starts with P". He continued on with "P-L-O-N, that spells pumpkin!" LOL. Gosh I love him to pieces!!! Brian and I are doing the best we can. Between all the house stuff, work, and the kids we have found ourselves running until midnight most nights. We just can't wait to get back into the house, hopefully before the holidays and birthdays and be able to breathe and play without sitting on top of each other. I'll update more later, going to flip laundry quick and then crawl back in bed to fight this bug. A big thank you to all who have helped us with donations, gift cards and paypal gifts. When we get back on our feet and back in to house we will pay it forward. All of the cards and prayers have been heartwarming. THANK YOU!!! XOXO Sara

A Little Space and Down Time.

I was laying in bed last night thinking about how long it's been since Brian and I had to share a queen size bed. I love him to death, but I'm kinda into having lots of space when I sleep. I can't even kick him to the couch because Drew is a bed hog too. Maddox, Parker and Jack are all shoved into a queen bed in the second bedroom and poor Emma J....stuck in a pack and play. She's handling it well. We took some time last night to swim with Aunt Stacy. The kids had fun. Brian and Parker hung out for some one on one sick time. Poor kiddo! He's still a little under the weather, as are the other three. So I now have four with fevers and they are super tired. Hoping thats all it turns into. House update: Our insurance adjuster hopes to have the house inventoried by next Friday and they can then start demolition and renovations. Their main goal is to have us back in our house before Thanksgiving. They will tackle the main living areas and bedrooms first. We can move in and they will continue to work on the house. I know what you're thinking...will it be safe? Yes, they will not let us move in until everything is cleaned, tested, and safe. The basement is still drying out....it's been quite the time with that. I'm just glad we have people doing it for us. It's a short update, but I'm still really tired too and heading to bed. Thanks for all your prayers and support. It means so much to us. Sara

Scott Family Update: House Fire

Where to start?? The Story: A normal Friday night turned into a Saturday morning nightmare. I tucked the kids in bed and Brian decided to stay up late and get some work done. He luckily fell asleep on the couch. Around 3am he heard Bailey (our dog) scratching at the door in the garage. Before Brian could fully wake up and realize what she was upset about our smoke alarms had begun to go off. As I started to walk out of our bedroom I could see and smell the smoke. Brian yelled to me that we needed to get the kids and get out. I remember grabbing my phone and running to get Drew and Emma. I don't recall Brian running by me to get the boys, but I remember seeing him holding all three with blankets at the top of the stairs. As I called 911 and seeing my kids shaking in the cold I began to panic. Thankfully one of our neighbors heard our security alarm blasting along with the smoke alarms. We got the kids inside just as the fire department arrived. I'm also glad we had visited the fire station a few times this summer. My kids were so brave! Unfortunately Bailey didn't survive the fire. We are saddened that she is no longer with us, but thankful she was able to alert Brian enough for him to realize we were in danger. We took her to be creamated and will bring her back to our family on Thursday. We have been put in a hotel near the Indianapolis Airport as our house has been slated to take 3-4 months to repair. As we were walking with the restoration emergency crew today we found more soot than expected and 5 inches of standing water in our basement. They managed to pump out the water and get the electricity back on to dry out the basement and start to deodorize the top two floors. I believe they also started to take out some of the drywall in the garage. A drycleaning company came to the house and took everything that had cloth material on it and put it in storage to be cleaned and tested for toxins. They called it ozoned! We were able to put some clothes on speed clean. We should have those things back in 4 days. We will not get the rest of the salvagable clothing items back until we move back into the house. The only other things we were allowed to take were jewelery and money. Everything else is inspected and put where it needs to go (trash or in for serious cleaning!). I will keep everyone up to date as possible in this process. As for the kids and Brian and I, we are doing the best we can. We are trying to keep the same routines and keep it normal as possible. The kids know our house is "broken". Drew has been back since the fire, but the quads have not. Drew is quite upset about Bailey. He has already asked for her to come back and he has asked for a new dog. I'm not sure we are ready for that. Maybe another year or two. We will see! I know some of you have inquired about donating funds through a paypal account. A very special friend of mine has set one up for us! If you would like to donate here are the instructions. Go to www.paypal.com, scroll down to where it says transfer funds. Click on it! It will ask you to enter your email and ours. Our email for this account is: scottquadsquadhelp@gmail.com It will then prompt you for an amount. Click continue. It will ask you if you want to transfer or pay by credit card. Enter your info and follow prompts. It will send you a reciept and me a text. All funds will go towards our family needs and clothing. I'm going to try to rest now, as it's been a very rough day and I'm EXHAUSTED. Thank you to EVERYONE for all your support and prayers. We couldn't be more blessed even when times are hard. Love to all Sara, Brian and our sweet angels!

Mom Always Said "DON'T PLAY BALL IN THE HOUSE!"

This sounds just like the Brady Bunch. Although with seven of us in the house, we are kinda similar. HEHE! If only I had Alice! With five kids I have tons of balls flying around this place. Balls for ball pit, kickballs, soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs, super balls, prickly sensory balls, exercise balls, and golf balls. Oh and one more....TWO BEACH BALLS! Seriously....I can't fit anymore in this house. I like to think that I run a tight ship here and tell the kids we play with them outside or in the basement. Ususally the rules are followed. I have on occassion played in the hallway with the kids. Drew started soccer a few weeks ago and has been doing pretty good. (As in he's improving). Brian and I have been working with him at home. I played outside with him this past week and the previous weekend. Brian, however, comes home from the store this evening with a soccer goal and sets up in the living room. GEESH! I come down from taking a shower and they are playing one on one. They at least moved the coffee table, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Either Brian and his brothers were really sneaky playing ball in the house when they were kids or Brian knew I was still to sick to care.

In other news in the house, I've been filling out Preschool evaluation forms for the boys. Emma is going to be a typical peer in my good friends Preschool class, and the boys will be tested for Developmental Preschool here in Avon. I'm not sure they all will qualify but it doesn't hurt to check it out. They are all doing amazing for being 28 weekers. If the boys don't qualify they will join Emma or rotate days in the Preschool in my good friends class. We all went back to school two weeks ago. The kids have adjusted well. Drew is doing great in Prek. He loves his teacher and friends. He's beginning to read. I pulled out a book the other day and he said it's Inside, Outside, Upside Down. I about fell over. It's not one we read often. Usually it's Sheep In A Jeep! Maddox, Parker, Emma and Jack really like that one too. If you don't have it-GET IT!! Target for $10. Not much else going on, we've been busy with soccer, school, and sleep. Time for sleep now, everyone sleep tight!!