Put Your Lifejackets On and Hold On!

Well, this is the post that many have been waiting for since Thursday afternoon. I'm not sure where to start, the end, middle or beginning.

Our Thursday morning started off pretty normal, besides the saddness around the house because Daddy had left to go to Columbus, Ohio for a business trip. On Wednesday afternoon, Travis had taken off of work early to work in the yard and take the pool cover off. My job while he was away was to fill the pool up with enough water to start the pump, And then let the pump run a day or so, and then we he got home he would put chemicals in it and maybe in a week or so it would be ready to swim in.

So, that's what I was doing. I began to fill the pool up with water, it really only need about
4 - 6 inches of water. A couple of months ago, we had noticed that there was a small crack in the side of the pool wall, but we weren't too concerned because it had held water all winter long and the liner didn't seem to have a leak. But, being the good Kentucky gal that I am, decided that I better put some duct tape on the crack to make sure. Our dog Cassie pulled the first layer of tape off and when I went to put more one, I noticed that it looked like the crack had gotten longer, so I just put a piece of tape the length of the crack and thought I would watch it. About an hour later, I went to check the pool and yes indeed the crack was getting longer. So, I called Travis to see what I should do now. He told me to turn off the water hose and and he would call his Dad and get him to come look and tell me what to do.

He didn't have time to call his dad.

Hannah Grace and Faith were suppose to be down talking a nap. And, as some days, they were not sleeping they were talking and playing. Hannah Grace had gotten herself stuck between the rails of her bed and I was in their room trying to get her out when I heard a terrible noise. It only took me a few seconds to realize what I had just heard. I left Hannah Grace stuck in her bed and ran to the window. Yep, the pool wall had split from top to bottom and all 17,000 gallons of water was now running down the back yard. I yelled for Samuel to go tell the man next door what had happened (you see, the house next door is being completely renovated and the water was running straight towards their new carpet). You might be thinking, why did I send Samuel? Because, Hannah Grace was still stuck in the rails of her bed. I got Hannah Grace unstuck and ran to get the phone. I called Tommy first, then I called Travis, then I called my Mama to get her to pray.

It took me about 10 minutes to realize all the damage that the pool water had done. I walked to the back door to survey the damage and water had come under the back door (not too much, but enough that I had to put towels down). I then walked outside to check on Cassie and noticed that the heat pump was running, but it was off it's foundation. The force of the water had picked it up and moved it! I ran inside to turn it off and then was going out the side door to go talk to the man next door and stepped into about an inch of water in the carport. The force of the water had pushed the door from the carport to the back yard out and water had ponded in the garage. Just a side note, the door from the carport to the back yard had been nailed shut for many years by Tommy and Travis when they couldn't get it to fit.

In the middle if trying to keep the girls off the carport and getting Cassie back into the back yard, my mom calls. She called to tell me that Eddie said that needed to dig a ditch to catch the water. Apparently I wasn't too clear when I called her the first time. I then explained to her that we were way past digging a ditch. She ask, "How much water is left in the pool" - "Only about an inch"; she said, "I guess you are past digging a ditch."

Tommy arrived and he and I started sweeping the water out of the garage. He talked to the man next door, called the heating and air company, called the insurance company and continued to sweep water.

As of today we still do not have A/C, they will be coming to fix that in the morning; we can not begin to clean up the yard until the insurance adjusted come (we don't know when that we be), but Travis is home now.

As we have talked and told the story, I am very thankful that one of the kids was not outside or I was not down on my hands and knees duct taping the crack when the pool burst. If we had been, the force was so great that we would have been thrown up against the wall and probably hurt very badly.

I thank those who have been praying for us during the past few days. We are very blessed and we have survived the latest adventure of The Sparks Family.

As Tommy and I were sweeping up the water from the carport, I was struck with a thankfulness that I was just sweeping up a small amount of water, there are those who are victim of flash floods, tornados, and hurricanes that are still sweeping up.

There are a few other funny parts to the story, but I think I will save them for a Friday Family Funny.

We had a great Father's Day yesterday and a wonderful birthday celebration for Samuel and I will share about those later in the week. I also have some pictures I will try to post too.