Who Needs Television?

I have to say, I have the greatest husband in the world! He took off 2 weeks over the Christmas break to start work on our basement. I'm still amazed that he can manage to figure out how to build an entire basement almost completely on his own! Of course, he has gotten some help from me and the kids:

Although, I'm not really sure how much they really help. But I think the kids and Vince all enjoy working together on this big project.

A few months ago, Vince began the big basement project by building me food storage shelves in the utitily room. Don't they look great?! And now I finally have a place to put all the stuff I buy from the sales I found on Pinching Your Pennies.

Yes, Mom. It is mostly cereal. Have to have my year's supply of Cheerios!

And I'm just including this picture because way in the corner on the left side is my official stash of diapers! They had a great sale this week (thanks, Heather!), and I feel so proud to have 6 packages of diapers on my storage shelf! It's been many long years since I've had to buy diapers.

The other most exciting thing that's happened in the Hogge house came this week. Remember that washer and dryer I mentioned in a previous post? Well, Vince got a nice Christmas bonus from work this year, and he decided (yes, it was actually HIS idea) it was time to get an upgrade:

A front loader, even! It's amazing what new appliances can do to boost your enthusiasm for doing mundane chores. Vince commented how...what's the word he used...BARE the laundry room looked without the loads of dirty clothes that normally pile up. Just this morning I walked in my laundry room and thought, "Oh, I want to wash something! What can I wash?" I guess it really shows that I'm old, because this has been the highlight of my week! As the delivery man was leaving on Tuesday, he could tell how excited I was to have my new washer and dryer. He looked at me and laughed, and asked, "Now, did you ever think when you were growing up that you'd be so excited to do laundry?" Nope. But I am now! And the only problem I have now is, who can I get to fold it...

One of my favorite things about getting the new washer has been to see how excited Brooke & Evan have been! They were so happy that they can help me unload the wet clothes and pile them in and start the dryer. And because it's a front loader, they have become mesmerized by the clothes spinning around and around getting clean:

Man! Who needs a television when you have a washing machine?