Dishwasher Issues

First off, I am well aware of the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost a month. I really don't have any excuse except for sheer laziness. I'm not gonna lie... I also haven't been doing any sewing projects or crafting of any kind, which will probably be the norm here for awhile until we find out what the new baby is (to make curtains, a quilt, etc). So you guys are just gonna have to deal with the kid-related posts for a bit until I get back into the swing of things.

However, in the past month, we've had a few things going on. Nothing major, just life as usual.

For one, our dishwasher has sort of been on the fritz for a few months, and we've been waiting for it to just die already. It was here in the house when we moved in, and was from 2000, so 13 years old. At the end of December, it started leaking out of the bottom of the door, so Jacob messed with the seal and all seemed ok. Then about a month ago, I ran it through a normal cycle, as I do at least once a day (sometimes twice), and it started leaking again. So I sat down on the floor in front of it and started to clean up the water/soap as it was coming out (since it only seemed to be for a few minutes during the beginning of the cycle). When I turned around, this is what I found....

They were waiting...

They brought chairs into the kitchen to watch me clean up the mess. Apparently it was pretty exciting.
And here's the conversation that followed:

Aiden: "Mom, what's wrong with the dishwasher?"
Me: "It's leaking water and soap Bubba, I think we need to buy a new one... ".
Ava: "Good job Mama!!" (as I wipe up the water)
Aiden: "Is Daddy gonna put the new one in?"
Me "No, we'll probably get it installed by Home Depot" (assuming at the time that we would buy it from there, we eventually did).
Aiden: "But I think Daddy can do it. And then me and Papa and Hayden (Jacob's sister's boyfriend) can all do it because we're all good worker men. And I even got my worker hat, Mom, because that'll protect my head in case something hits me."
Me: "That's a good idea Bud."
Aiden: "Maybe we can call a train conductor too because they know how to fix things too, Mom."

That last one confused me, but he had a good reason.....

To make a long story short, finally, the door broke all together and we couldn't even get it to close. So we broke down and bought a new one, but in the meantime, I've been hand-washing the dishes. I tried using paper plates, etc, but just couldn't do it. We were wasting way too many, these kids can eat! As an upside, Aiden LOVED helping me wash/rinse them. I mean, I wasn't about to tell him no... free child labor! And of course, wherever he goes, she goes as well.

Once we got the new one installed, he was quite disappointed that he couldn't help me wash them anymore. I'm thinking I might need to save a few dishes each night, considering he would ask me all day, "Is it time to wash dishes yet Mom?".

Gotta love kids.