So, two days ago we moved rooms around in our home so that our master bedroom is directly across from the girls' bedroom; Sean's office is upstairs giving him ample room for a portrait studio, meeting space and work space; and the toy room was moved to the room at the front of the house.

We woke up this morning to the "new" toy room completed flooded. And the water wasn't clear. Eww. The toilet and bathtub in the toy room bathroom had overflowed. Sean and I did what we could and called the plumber. The plumber said someone would be at our home between 10 and 12. No biggy. Nothing was coming out any longer and we needed to get the room taken care of as much as possible. But then, as I was walking through the girls' bedroom, I smelled a STRONG odor and peeked out their window. I saw a river - let me repeat - a RIVER of "water" flowing down the side of our house and into our back yard. I yelled for Sean and said, "WE HAVE A MAJOR EMERGENCY!!!" I called the plumber back and said, "You need to be here within ONE minute." They were here within two. The plumber was baffled. He asked, "You really don't have any running water in the house?" I said, "No." We even shut our water off. But the river kept flowing. He estimated a cost for us for a snake to be stuck in the pipes and, after 70 ft. of clearance, said, "Well, you need to call the City. This isn't coming from your home."

What?!?!?

I called the City immediately and explained the problem. They were at our home within 2 minutes. More trucks were here within 5 minutes. Within 15 minutes, several trucks and city employees were working up and down our street. Then the Big Wigs were called in and were at our home within an hour. We received the best treatment from the city today. Truly. From the Public Works Operations Manager to the Principal Civil Engineer to the Finance Director/Treasurer for the City, to a lovely lady who was the 3rd party claims gal, we were taken care of. J & M Restoration was at our home within an hour cleaning EVERYTHING including all of the soil and back yard areas (removing soil, spraying, removing more soil and spraying). They will be back tomorrow to rip up all of the flooring and cut into the walls at least 2 feet high - and will be billing the City direct (!). The Finance Director/Treasurer came with claim forms in hand and offered advice on how to claim the most we are able. Everyone was very sympathetic and very apologetic.

This all helped, but telling a 4 year old her favorite stuffed animal has to "go away" is one of the most difficult things to do.

Most of the toys were saved as they were in bins or on top of shelves.

However, since we made the bathtub the "home" for all of the girls' stuffed animals (see picture below), Dillen has had to say goodbye to her precious snuggle buddies. Most are just animals she liked but a few were her favorites - ones she has had since she was a baby. Roxy will miss her bear but I will miss the little stuffed cat... the first stuffed animal I gave to her when Roxy came into this world.

I told Dillen that we will replace their animals with new ones - taking them on a "shopping spree" and though she seemed happy with that idea there was nothing that was going to take the sadness away of losing her favorite "Foxy." deep sigh She even remembers exactly how she picked him out special from the store over a year ago... double deep sigh We went out to the pile (she wanted to say "goodbye") and when she saw "Foxy" she started crying. My heart sank.

Anyway, tomorrow should be another fun-filled day. And then the restoration will be equally as fun, I am sure.

It is what it is, right?

At least it wasn't Sean's office still (!). All of his cameras and computers would have been destroyed.

Here are pictures BEFORE the flood - two days ago (the girls were thrilled with their "new" toy room).

Here are the AFTER pictures. :0(