Warm weather

We've been having some warmer weather, so we got out Abigail's kiddy pool the other day. It took her awhile to feel comfortable with it, but she's enjoying it. We have a bigger one that came from the previous homeowners that we'll set up later. We'll all be able to fit in that one so that will be fun.And we laughed after we saw the results of Joel's attempt at applying sunblock on his back! : )

Stranger than Life-

You never know quite what you will see on those signs taped to STOP signs but this weekend we found a real doozy! Marie and I were leaving our subdivision and she said, "Mom can you believe that sign?" Immediately I wondered what would make a croc handicapped? No legs, shortened snout, missing teeth?

We talked about it off and on until we came back home and re read the sign. The first one was much more interesting, but Marie read it in haste and read a few words into it! :) Sorry, Marie, I just had to tell!

Dad has found a 5 bedroom, 4 1/2 bath beach house (it's actually 1 block from the beach) on Isle of Palms. We're going to look at it Saturday but if it looks good the man is a friend of dad's and has offered it to us at a fairly decent price (less than 1/2 of what the majority are going for). What I need to know is what week we should rent it? I went on line to day and it was hard to find any that were even available during Christmas so if we can get this one we need to reserve the date now. Christmas is on a Thursday - I was thinking we could rent it on the 21 (Sunday) through that Saturday the 27. What do you think? We will pay for the house.

I'm breaking the posting freeze!

Hey, How is everyone? Everyone must be busy since there have been no new news. We are doing okay here in hot fl. It hit 90 today! Already!! Ben should be doing live feed of the am service tomorrow - a project he has been working on for a while. The youth group is going so good right now. We have an average of about 20-25 and such a good spirit there! The teens are so sweet - you can really tell they love the Lord.
Work has been going good for me. They have been putting me in charge lately and I'm going to start taking lactation call soon. There's one lady I work with that's really getting under my skin. She's one of those people that like to get a reaction from you. Anyway, that's a huge prayer request. For the most part I can handle her, but I'm afraid she's going to push too many buttons one day. Supposedly she's a christian, but she's so mean I don't see it.
The boys are growing so fast! Matthew was 21#6oz at his visit on Friday. He eats like a horse all the time. He's forever sitting in his little snack chair pointing up at the crackers:) He's still getting sick a lot. He's had 3 viruses with high temps just this month. He's actually sick right now. He was up til 0330 screaming off and on. Poor thing! He'd go to sleep briefly then wake up screaming. He has a virus going on, plus he's getting 4 molars and 4 eye teeth all at once. He was better by this afternoon, and he (so far) is sleeping good tonight:) PLEASE sleep tonight baby! Mommy and Daddy are going to DIE. His doctor suggested we keep him home more to help with him getting sick - which is kinda impossible and he knows that. He says we are doing all we can to keep him well, Matthew just seems to be a magnet for germs. I've turned into a complete germ freak - even more than I was before:) I even got one of those cart covers! I always thought that was over doing it, but maybe not:) I'll do anything to make him better! Ryan is a little smarty pants. He just finished his 3yr preschool class. He LOVES school so much! He's getting so smart with his letters and numbers and just finally 'getting' concepts of everyday life. It's really exciting to see him learn new things:)
My parents are here for the weekend. We haven't seen them since Christmas, so we are glad to have them around:) The boys are enjoying nana and papa! Matthew even let papa hold him:) (Matthew is pretty clingy and is hesitant toward people he doesn't see a lot)
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday weekend:) Post us and let us know what you do!

Answer to prayer-

Dad had a neurology appointment at the VA last Friday. Our intention was to take whatever steps necessary to get him some adaptive equipment to help him with walking. Shortly after we arrived a lady took us back to her office and began asking us questions about any concerns we had regarding dad's health. As we chatted she started working through the list and by the time we left her office she had us down for him to get an assessment for adaptive equipment as well as to assess our house. She thinks we may be eligible for a grant that would make the bathroom more assessible for him and could even widen doorways if needed. He didn't get to see the neurologist but an intern. As we talked with her she was going back and forth to the dr. asking him ?'s. They ended up setting him up for physical therapy at home. The therapist came out today for the first time and dad liked her. She assessed him today and will come out 2x's a week now. I'm praying that maybe it will give him back some of his mobility or atleast make it a little easier to get around. They are also supposed to be checking on when we can get his pump changed. He's had it now for over 6 years and the battery is supposed to only be good for about 4. I'd rather change it now then wait for it to go out and be wondering when it's going to happen. I think we were both encouraged and extremely thankful.

We're closing in on the end of another school year. These last 2 weeks are going to be long and hard, but it will end. Please pray that the transition with the new headmaster will go smoothly.

Love you all!

at the woodard house (slovenia version)

There has been so much going on here but it is nice to find some time to cut the grass, work on the garden, be outside and actually see that I can get something done with my hands. It's hard sometimes to work with people and rarely see anything "accomplished" or changed in drastic ways. So I've really enjoyed the work around the house. I bought my first lawn mower ever a couple weeks ago! I planted grass in half of the garden from seed and in 3 weeks it is already looking good.

I was also able to make a picnic table out of old wood I found in the attic of the garage. We put it under our grape vines. Tuesday night's we have Kathy over to just hang out and today we had a beautiful day so we had a bbq and just hung around outside. So here's a few pictures. Jon i was wishing I had a circular saw. I printed a protractor off that i found online and worked with just my skill saw and a paper protractor! Anyway I feel pretty good about everything.

We have tomatoes, tons of strawberry's, rubarb, and sweet corn growing in the garden. We have space for some berry's still, blueberry's and raiseberry's eventually. You are all welcome to come for a visit. It's a typical alpine village!
Love you all
Joel

mom...

Mom,
Hope you are having a great day!! We love you and wish we could be with you. Ben is sick today, so we are relaxing at home. Me and the boys went to sunday school and ryan ended up staying with his friend for children's church. maybe we can video call tonight?

Happy Mothers day!!!

Happy Mother's day mom! We are thinking about you today and wish we could be there with you. We came home from church, snacked, and put the kids down for a nap and when they wake up we are going out for pizza. It's a beautiful day here! We are looking forward to going out!

We love you so much!

weather

The weather here has been cold. They say we're having Feb weather but they also say that is all about to change. They're predicting that next week looks like this...Sun (50s) Mon (60s) Tues (70s) Wed (80s) and Thurs (90s) or at least something close to that. I think we've hit 80 twice this year and maybe 70 3-4 times so this next week of weather will be wild for us. The heat is on today and we haven't taken the down comforter off the bed yet. I think that's gonna change! It will be good to get ready for TX weather (just no air conditioning). Aunt Beth, if you read this, we want to see you when we're in TX. We need to get in touch. I just had to share about the CRAZY weather they say is coming! We'll see what really happens.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Abigail fell in the gravel...

But she's okay!

us again...

Hey, thought I'd post an update. I have a new sink:) in my kitchen and we painted the walls...not sure about the color yet...I think it might be a little too dark. Anyway, we will post pictures later. So Matthew was well all of maybe a week? He and Ryan woke up Saturday early - Ryan with an ear infection - which is better now, and Matthew with the stomach virus. I thought he was better, so I took him with me and just kept him with me instead of nursery. Ok, so he must not be quite over it... I think he's doing 'it' again better run.... Oh to have healthy children..............