Oh mud, oh my!

Today I was in the middle of piano practicing with Brigham when our neighbor knocked on the door to let us know there was water leaking out of the side of our driveway and running down the road.  I sent Brigham out to investigate and he told me it looked like a hose was on somewhere.  Well, the leak was exactly where our water main is, so I was worried.  I called Ben and he came home to check it out.  Soon, he called his work and told them he wouldn't be coming back.  Yep, a water main leak.  At this point, I knew trying to reign the boys back inside to finish schoolwork was going to be nigh upon impossible, so I let them go on out to help.  Ben and the boys dug a DEEP hole and found where the problem was.  It is not easy digging a deep hole in dripping wet mud.  Everyone got totally filthy. We think this probably has been going on for some time, due to the plethora of really thick roots clustered around the pipes.  The nearest tree is probably 30 feet away.  No wonder our water bill has always seemed high to me.
After an afternoon of work, Ben got it fixed.  We had to go to piano lessons midway through, and all the boys were covered in mud and the water was off so no showers or baths.  So, it was back to the pool, hopefully for the last time this year.  :-)  At least it was pretty pleasant outside today.
Joseph found a family of toads while helping to dig the hole.  The boys named the toads and have them living in a big tupperware bin for the time being.  They are really a hoot to watch eating.  Long, sticky tongues flicking out to capture the poor unsuspecting crickets.  :-)

Meet Thud

And hello there, Slash!

Finally, here's Little Claw.  These sound like some serious toads.  :-)

 Yeah, these feet are NOT coming inside my house.

I'm pretty sure the piano teacher wouldn't let them into her house like this either.  :-)

In other good news, I think we've finally got our violin teacher!  Brigham had his first lesson with a woman who teaches out of a violin shop really close by.  It's on the 2nd floor in a building with no elevator, so I can't go in with him.  I think it will be good for him to have lessons independently, however.  When I asked Brigham how it went afterward, he was very excited.  "She's a really competent teacher, mom, I really like her!"  She seems to be totally on top of the ball and I think is going to be a very good change for Brigham.  And the timing works out great.  Brigham has his piano lesson first, then I drive him over to violin, about 5 minutes away, go back and wait out the rest of Joseph's and Mosey's piano lessons, and then go back to pick him up-- he'll be done right about the time we'll be pulling up to the building.  This will free up a whole afternoon for me, and I am really happy about that.
Yay for good violin teachers and convenient lesson schedules!  :-)
On the not-so-good-news, I've got myself the first cold of the season.  Ugh.  It's mainly attacked my throat (I thought I had strep at first, but then the congestion hit today), and by this afternoon I had lost my voice entirely.  How can I yell at the boys when I've lost my voice??  :-)  Anyway, I thought it was so funny how, when I started having to whisper because my voice was gone, the boys couldn't help but whisper back to me.  The power of suggestion, I suppose-- so interesting!  Anyway, I've found the key to a quiet house!  I whisper to them, and they all whisper back!