Snow Days!

We were very blessed to get several inches of snow Sunday night and Monday. Monday night brought about 0.25" of ice on top of the snow, so we have had all kinds of fun!

The snow is beautiful!

One pristine picture before the boys came out to play. :)

Seven and one half inches! Wow, what a snow!

As you might imagine, a snow and ice storm of this magnitude has completely shut down our city. The boys have been out of school all week, and will be out of school for the remainder of the week. They were already supposed to be out of school on Friday due to a teacher work day, and next week Monday due to MLK day. All total, they will have missed six school days by the time they go back next Tuesday. They have had so much fun playing in the snow and just playing at home. Last weekend when we were talking about the possibility of snow, Zachary wished that it would snow so much that they would have a whole week off from school. He is thrilled that his wish came true! :)

Zachary's snow angel. (By the way, his feet are big enough that he is wearing MY sneakers in this picture. :)

Justin's snow angel.

Caleb, Rebekah and Aaron on the sled. Daddy did a great job pulling them. Mommy, not so much. Rebekah was a good sport about falling face first in the snow.

Daddy and Bekah in the snow. She loved it!

Rebekah sitting in the snow. She kept rubbing and patting her hands on the snow.

Zac, Justin and Rebekah posing in the snow.

L to R: Aaron, Zac (back row), Rebekah, Justin and Caleb

Caleb's goal was to shovel snow. Not sled, not make snow angles, snow balls, or snow men. Just shovel. He shoveled to his heart's content!

Aaron taking a break from sledding.

Mommy and Justin heading down the hill.

I think that is Justin and Aaron on the sled. It's a bit hard to tell when their coats all look alike. :)

Zac heading down the big hill. He loved sledding!

Daddy and Caleb taking a run down the hill. This was Day 2 after we got all the ice.

Mommy and Justin sledding. Try to overlook the novice sled driver here.

Like good Southerners, we stocked up on bread and milk last weekend before the storm hit. Thankfully we did have enough milk, but we are definitely going to need some by tomorrow! Drew ventured out a little bit today (he had a meeting to go to), and said that some roads are fine where the sun shone on them, but any shaded spots were still very snowy/icy. The plows and salt/sand trucks have hit the interstates and some of the major roads, but most everything in the south stays as it is until the temps warm up enough to melt it. It's been kind of nice to not have to go to doctor's appointments, therapy, or anything else this week!

Nancy

Apple Picking

Because Justin's birthday is in September, one of his favorite birthday activities is apple picking. This year, we invited two other families to go with us for Justin's birthday. These are a few of the pictures from our apple picking trip.

Rebekah was completely cozy during the whole experience. She was comfortable and I was even able to pick some apples while holding her.

Caleb loved the first apple picking trip that he can remember! He ate an entire apple - seriously, I had to stop him before he ate the stem and core! Because the ground was wet from rain, we didn't let him out of the stroller, but he enjoyed watching the bigger boys pick apples.

Aaron proudly displayed one of the Granny Smith's he had picked - right before he ate it! I was beginning to wonder if he would eat his weight in apples!

Zachary bravely jumped into apple picking and even climbed a tree or two. He ate his fair share of apples as well.

We are trying hard to pair all of our children up with future mates by the time they are ten! Not really, but Justin's and Aaron's best friends happen to be sisters. They are never far apart from each other when our two families get together.

New to the apple-picking scene this year is Uncle David. He came up to spend Justin's birthday weekend with us and we enjoyed having him join the celebrations.

Dear Sara Kate! She and Justin are inseparable! We enjoyed spending the day with her family, and I know it made Justin's birthday extra special to have her there.

Nancy

Charleston, meet the boys!

Over the weekend, the boys came down for a few hours to see us and meet Rebekah. While they were very excited about meeting Rebekah, the highlight of the trip was spending a couple of hours swimming in the hotel pool with Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy, Mommy and the boys

Fun in the pool

Zachary loved jumping in - the more splash, the better!

Justin is doing a great job swimming!

Aaron is getting braver - not holding on to someone is a big deal!

Caleb relaxes so much he almost falls asleep in the water. :)

Rebekah and her brothers

Naturally, the time went way too fast for all of us, but we enjoyed getting to see the boys. They are struggling a bit with being away from us, but will be back home in familiar surroundings on Tuesday. In another week, Drew's cousin, Hayley, will be down from New York to stay for a week and play with the boys. They are really looking forward to seeing her and playing with her. :)

Nancy

Happy Birthday....

.....to my Dad!! I love you!!!!

Nancy

Just a little busy

It has been another  busy week here.  We had a great Memorial Day weekend with Grammy and Grampy at their house.  The boys got to get in their first swim of the summer season in Grampy's pool.  We enjoyed the time to relax for a bit.  

After the weekend, Mommy, Daddy, and Caleb headed home.  Aaron, Justin, and Zac stayed the rest of the week.  They had a great time swimming and playing with Grampy.  They wrote letters and did projects with Grammy.   I think all five of them were tired by the end of the week.  

The boys had one evening at home and then more excitement.  The cousins arrived to play for the day on Saturday.  Also, the ladies attended the surprise baby shower for Mommy and Rebekah.  Everyone played until they were worn out.  

Caleb had a great week spending lots of time with Daddy while the brothers were away.  He went to his first occupational therapy appointment on Wednesday.  He did very well.  They are going to be working with him for several months on eating a variety of different textured foods.  He has already shown some improvement in what he is eating thanks to Mommy's patience in helping him.  

The therapist also suggested that some of his problem could be physical. They want to send him for a swallow test to see if the valve that closes off his airways is working properly.  He can tell that this doesn't feel right, so he may be refusing to eat some things. So there is more testing ahead for Caleb.  But he is doing better, and we are trying to get him all the help we can.  

Nancy and Rebekah had a doctor's appointment this week that went okay. Nancy is measuring about 2 weeks small still.  One week from Tuesday we are off to have another ultrasound and growth check.  This will also be our last check up with the cardiologist here in Greenville before delivery.  Daddy also had time to get Rebekah's crib set up this week.  

We are off to see Nana and Papa this week.  We are making our last trips to grandparents for some much needed time together before we are unable to travel because of Rebekah's needs.  We are hoping to be able to travel again for the end of the year holidays to see everyone.  

I guess that is about all we have been up to this week.  I am sure if I forgot something Nancy will add to this post.  I hope everyone has great week.  

D

A Long Week

Well where to begin.  We have had a very long week.  I guess first of all since everyone has been asking. 

 

My interview of a couple of weeks ago.  I did here back from the company.  They are unable to do anything right now.  They are still interested and told me they are waiting on securing a couple more contracts before they would be able to bring me on.  They also mentioned some staff changes maybe will be coming up in about a month.  They have an intern leaving soon that i know about.  So we are going to wait and see what might or might not happen.  We did get some good news that we have a new house to start on Monday at the company I am currently working at.  So I should have rough framing work for another 3 or 4 months.  

It has been  a long time since I have done any rough framing, but it comes back to you like riding a bike.  At least I am not stuck in an office or store some where.  I have always enjoyed working outside in the fresh air.  I also have the privilege of working with some very good friends. 

Now for the rest of the family.  Justin and Zac are working hard at finishing up school soon.  They also are enjoying memorizing there verses and key truths for kids 4 truth on Wednesday nights at church.  Especially Justin.  Mom and I are very proud of them.  Justin had a good report from school and is more then ready for K5 next year.  He is also very excited about going into K5.  

Aaron got to keep Mommy company on all the many doctor visits this week.  He is doing well and growing like a weed.  He is enjoying riding his big boy bike and we tried playing catch last night for the first time with his new ball glove.  

Mr. Caleb has had a very busy week.  He is getting taller and into everything.  He is a very busy boy who loves the outdoors, now that it has gotten warmer.  He is talking more and more.  He loves to play and chase his brothers.  Caleb had a good one year check up this week.  He also saw the Allergist this week and had allergy testing done.  Not so good news there.  He tested positive reaction to most of the tests.  He is allergic to soy, wheat, milk, and a whole bunch more.  They are doing some more testing to confirm that the 1st test was accurate.  He had to have blood tests done to do this.  I guess this in its self was an adventure.  He had to have blood drawn from his arm.  Nancy had the joy of wrestling him to be still while they did this.   Hopefully we will not have to do this to often.  

Nancy was very busy as a taxi service this week to get to all these doctor appts.  She also saw her regular baby doctor this week.  She had a good check up but is still measuring small.  So far Rebekah is still growing at a normal rate so they are not to concerned.  We are now down to every two weeks check ups.  It won't be long now and Rebekah will be here.  Time flies.  

Mom is also enjoying sleeping in today and badly needs the rest.  She is getting excited about Rebekah coming soon and trying to think of all the things she needs to get done by then.  

I think the boys will have a little slower week this week.  Nancy, I and Miss Rebekah will be taking a trip to Charleston on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  We will be meeting several new doctors and the staff at MUSC.  We are hoping to learn where we will be for delivery and surgery and make any final arrangements we need to to prepare for Rebekah's coming.  

I am sure if i missed anything Nancy will correct me with her version.  I hope you all have a great week.  

D

A Teeny, Tiny Tsunami bit of Turbulence

If you have been wondering where we have been, suffice it to say that we have been busy on top of busy! How's that?? Well, that is when you have a schedule so crammed with appointments and obligations and THEN on top of it all, the stomach virus decides to visit.  Yep, that's right! And not just one person....we ALL have been making various and hurried trips to the bathroom to unwillingly give up the contents of our stomachs.  Ugh. 

The silver lining in all of this is that on Tuesday, when only Caleb was suffering from the ill effects of the virus, his dietician and I thought that he may be showing signs of a wheat allergy (along with his allergies to dairy, soy and rice products). Given the fact that the entire rest of the family (who suffer from NO wheat allergies, I can assure you!) also came down with this same virus on Wednesday, it looks to be an unlikely set of coincidences for Caleb rather than a wheat allergy! Yeah!! Now we can try the new bread I just found at Publix which contains no dairy, soy or rice products! Well, when his stomach has returned to a more normal state, that is.

Zachary wanted me to inform everyone that he just lost his ninth tooth tonight! He has been working on losing this tooth for -no kidding- 3 weeks or more, so this was a major accomplishment! The Tooth Fairy just might see a way to be a bit more benevolent given the pain and anguish that has accompanied losing this tooth. :)  I will be sure to post pictures when I have some. 

I also have pictures of Caleb's birthday to post as soon as I have my head above water laundry. I do believe that every piece of bedding that we own has been washed, is being washed, or is waiting to be washed within the last 24 hours. Yikes!!

Nancy

It's SNOW!!!!!

You know that it doesn't snow here much (if at all!) when the Sunday evening entertainment was lining up by the door and watching the snow fall....and fall....and fall!  In all, we got between 3 and 4 inches, which by the boys' standards, was enough for a blizzard!! :-)  They especially enjoyed the ride home from church in the snow.

We were all dressed up to go outside!  We had to get hats, scarves, gloves, mittens and the whole nine yards.  We so rarely get to use all of this stuff that the kids wanted it ALL!!

I just LOVE the little footprints in the snow........

Aaron had so much fun "shoveling" snow and pushing it around in his wheelbarrow. 

Justin's biggest thrill was throwing snowballs at us....very sneakily, I might add!!

Aaron was just so excited to be out in the snow.  I think this is really the first time he remembers snow, and definitely snow of any measurable significance.

Zachary's biggest dream was to have enough snow to make a snow angel.  It was really kind of crusty, so the angel didn't come out great, but he was thrilled to be able to do it!!

Daddy showed the boys how to make a snowman.  They have never had enough snow to make a snowman before, so they had a lot of fun.  Justin named ours "Mr. Snow Manny."  I know - how original! :-)  He was about two feet tall, he had black jelly bean eyes, a baby carrot nose, some icicle hair spikes and a blue scarf.  The kids considered him the coolest snowman ever!

And after fun was had by all, Mommy made a warm bubble bath in the big bathtub for us all to play in.  Caleb was napping through all of the outdoor activities, but he did join the boys for a bath.  Unfortunately, Drew didn't get a really good picture of all four boys in the tub, but this one of the older three was pretty cute!

Lest we leave Caleb out completely, I'll put in this picture I took last week.  The older boys were outside playing, but Caleb was just about to lay down for a nap, so I didn't take him out.  He stood at the window for ten minutes or more just watching his brothers play.  :)

Justin doesn't know yet, but school is cancelled again for tomorrow.  He will be thrilled, but it's back to the books for Zachary!  One snow day is enough for any homeschooler!!! :-)

Nancy

Addition

4 temperatures checked

3 fevers found

2 throats swollen

equal

1 tired Mommy!!

Nancy

Happy 2009!!

Well, I must say, 2008 held surprises that none of us expected in 2007!  Some were good, some were not so good, but we trust that our Lord is in control and we are exactly where He wants us at the beginning of 2009.

Aaron celebrated his second birthday on January 6 (2008), and he took off socially and developmentally!  We enjoyed seeing his speech and imagination grow in leaps and bounds.  Quite possibly, Aaron is the most imaginative child that we have had thus far!!  He is constantly imagining or creating, and he loves to tell all about his stories.  Aaron is very much looking forward to his third birthday next week and has already requested a chocolate cake with yellow, green and purple (??) frosting.

Justin began 2008 as a four-and-a-half-year old and entering his second half of 3-year kindergarten.  Because Justin's birthday falls in mid-September, we made the decision to start him a year later in school.  So, he actually had his fourth birthday about 2 weeks after he began K-3.  We have not regretted our decision a bit!  This year, he is flourishing in K-4 and has already begun to read simple words, write his name (and his letters), and do some simple addition and subtraction.  Justin is a very logical thinker and will spend time studying and analyzing a situation before he jumps in.  Justin accepted Christ as his Saviour at Thanksgiving this year, and it has been such a blessing to watch him learn and grow in the last couple of months.  Justin is excited to be going back to school next week to see his friends.

Zachary......where to start with Zachary.  He is our headstrong, always right, loving, gentle bull-in-a-china-shop son.  :)  It amazes me how one six-year-old can be opposite extremes within minutes!  Zachary celebrated his sixth birthday in March and graduated from Kindergarten in May.  We have now entered the world of first grade - yikes!  Zachary accepted Christ in July, and he has been so eager to learn and please his Saviour.   In September Zachary started first grade, and we have been so pleased with his progress this year.  He began the year a bit behind in reading (compared to the rest of the class - I thought he was just fine!), but by Christmas break, he has quickly moved up and is a very fluent reader.  Some of his favorite Christmas presents were chapter books, which he is enjoying reading.  Just before Christmas break, Zachary was tested for an auditory processing weakness, which was confirmed.  His ears work fine, but his brain is not correctly processing all of the sounds that he hears.  So, we are going to be working on some skills to strengthen his processing when school resumes.

In April, Caleb arrived and has been growing and growing!  He is crawling, cruising, waving, clapping and playing peek-a-boo.  Fruits and veggies are a big hit, as are turkey and chicken.  In the last few weeks, we have been transitioning from nursing to bottle-feeding, and Caleb has taken to it like a pro!  Before we know it, April will be here and our little guy will be a year old already.

Mommy has had a good year.  In March, I finished the required classes to renew my teaching certification for another five years (whew!).  In the summer, I spent many hours at the pool with the boys (even Caleb!) swimming and playing.  In August, the entire family enjoyed a long weekend at the beach for the wedding of one of Drew's cousins.  In November, we were all very surprised to find out that our family is growing again!  This little one is due July 18, and hopefully in February we will find out if this is Kyle or Rebekah!  :)

Daddy had a not-so-great April Fool's Day this year when he was laid off due to the company closing.  Since then, Drew has been self-employed, doing whatever work he can find.  He does have a potential job possibility sometime after the first of the year, but we are waiting to hear back from them.   All in God's timing!  

As we begin 2009, we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us.  Happy New Year!

Saturday of Fun!

Well, we definitely had some fun today!  The kids were up playing this morning before we left to go to Sky Top Orchards to pick some more yummy apples.  They have fun playing with their GeoTrax.

While his brothers were busy playing, Caleb was on the floor being absolutely cuter than any baby should be.  These are a couple of the cutest pictures.  Look at how cute he is!!!!

No pictures, please.  :)

After a fun, but chilly morning and picnic lunch at Sky Top, we came home with loads of apples!  We picked Granny Smith, MacIntosh and my personal favorite, Cameo!!  After we got home, Drew left with Derek to hunt for the afternoon (They saw a small buck, but they're going to let him get bigger for next year! :)  So, while the cat's away, the mice will play!

First, we made pizza for supper.  The kids had a great time putting sauce, ham and cheese on the pizza.  It was yummy!

Then, we cut open some of our Granny Smith apples to see the star inside.  After we took the seeds out (The kids want to plant them.), I cored the apple halves and filled them with peanut butter.  Yummy dessert!!!

So after pizza and apples, we decided to cut open our pumpkin so I could cook it.  Zachary decided that he wasn't having anything to do with the slimy pumpkin at first.  By the end, he was scooping seeds out with a spoon.  The pumpkin is cooked, the seeds are washed, and in the next couple of days hopefully we will get them roasted.

Zachary's comment was something like "Ewwww!  That's really gross!!!"

So, all in all, the kids had a really great day.  Aaron told us "Thank you for going to the apple store to play" about half a dozen times today.  Everyone is sleeping soundly and we're hoping for a good night.

Nancy