Everyday Beauty

To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here is a picture of a tree alongside our house that we think is absolutely beautiful in the spring. This picture is from last year...April 14, 2011. Jeremy took a picture of this tree just on Thursday. It is on his iPad (which I don't really know how to use) so I pulled this from my computer archives. But this is exactly what the tree looks like right now. We are about four weeks ahead of last year! This has been such a mild winter for us here in WV and I admit, I have missed the snow. I also will admit my ignorance with most things green. I believe this is a weeping cherry tree. Again, I'm not certain but I did Google it! I told Jeremy that if we were not going to have a real winter, then I am ready for our beautiful warm weather. Jeremy also did something he said he would NEVER do.....he cut the grass in March! We really had to. The grass has grown so much that we were among the few in our neighborhood that continued to "hold out". 


We have had so much rain that our side yard is "soupy", as Jeremy put it. So that will not get cut until we dry out some. Actually, when we get on a normal grass-cutting schedule, our boys really enjoy cutting the grass, especially Micah. Micah loves to see the lines from the lawn mower in the yard. He takes pride in cutting the grass, and he is only eleven. We have good kids and we are trying to teach them to have a good work ethic and take pride in doing things well. In fact, as Jeremy was cutting the grass on Saturday, Micah was standing on the front porch just dying to be allowed out to cut the grass. The problem is, Micah was sick.  


This past weekend has been a sick weekend here at the house. All four kids are under the weather. Kyle has been dizzy and has had a queasy tummy. Micah now has a fever, cough, stuffy nose, and his bones hurt (his words not mine). Rebecca says she feels "loopy" and tired. Ben has a cold, which is never just a cold with a child who has severe asthma. 


Friday a sweet friend, who is a plumber, came over to fix the plumbing in our kids' bathroom. We had it remodeled a year and a half ago but the shower was never right. Every time the water was turned on to the tub, water also came out of the showerhead. So, every morning when I would go into the kids' bathroom to rinse my hair (we only have a shower in our bathroom, no tub), my right shoulder was soaked from the shower. We cannot bring Mariah home and give her a bath with the shower running too. Dave came at 9am and left after 7pm! He was frustrated that the previous men took advantage of us and he corrected the problem with new copper pipes! It works beautifully!


Then we had invitations to a complimentary dinner at a brand new restaurant, Cheddar's. They invited business people in the community to come for a complimentary meal prior to their opening. They had contacted our church and wanted to give invitations to all the church staff and their families. Since my kids were sick, we called Dave and offered him our invitation. We thought he was going to take it; however, he called back and told us that he and his wife were going to come over to babysit our sick kids so we could go out as a couple. Keep in mind, our family all lives out of state and we only go out on a date once a year....our anniversary. This was so sweet of them. The wait to be seated was 70-80 minutes! We really enjoyed the time together. The food was absolutely delicious! It was a great night! 


When we came home, Dave and Cathy had the kids down in our theatre room watching Hop. We have never seen it before, but it looked cute. The irony of it was that this family had an older son (20's maybe) and an adopted daughter from China who was maybe ten or eleven. It seems as though adoption is constantly being put before us. 

We are praying for a healthier week! Kyle has allergy testing on Friday, again. Hopefully we can start him on a path to healthy, comfortable breathing. Ben also visits his endocrinologist on Friday. Dr. Jones is our favorite doctor! He always tells the kids a joke and enjoys our kids. He is a "kid person", he is a dad to six kids and has two grandchildren. He introduced our family to his wife and daughter a few months back when we went to Chick-Fil-A after an appointment with him in Morgantown. He is such a humble man who always makes our entire family feel welcomed (practically honored) to be there.


We are still waiting for our LOA from China. Maybe that will come this week too!