Flushing Toilets, Runny Noses, and Learning to Read

The word for the week here in Middle Tennessee has been RAIN. We have had several days of total downpours here. I haven't seen the rivers around the county at this level of flooding in years. Unless we get some wind it will be several days before I can even think about mowing the yard.

BE THANKFUL FOR SMALL THINGS. This includes the sound of a toilet flushing in your house. I am happy to relay that this sound now graces the background noise of our home once again. We don't have the baseboard down yet so we can't put everything back in its place but at least we don't have to wade through to mud the use the facilities at Pauline's house anymore. (Dianna, there is no need to pack the Coleman Porto-Potty for your trip in June. But thanks for the offer!)

I FEEL SO USED. Nate is walking a lot more now. Vicki commented the other day that it is now his preferred mode of transportation.

Usually, when he walks up to me he holds his arms out for me to pick him up. So when he walked toward me the other day I was beginning to bend over to get him. It was sad to discover that it wasn't me he wanted when he pushed my hands away, he wiped his runny nose on my shorts, and walked off.

I SAID, "STOP!" Ben spent the night with Mom and Aunt Mar Friday night and Nate and I went over there for breakfast with them yesterday morning. Ben loves to touch Nate so it was probably a mistake to let them sit beside each other. At one point during the meal Ben was rubbing Nate's hand. After a few moments of this Nate turned and glared at Ben. (And if looks could kill....) Ignoring this Ben continued to rub Nate's hand. Finally, Nate yanked his hand out of the way and then smacked Ben's hand as hard as he could. (He made the food on his tray jump up about an inch.) Poor Ben was bewildered at the turn of events. The rest of us thought it was funny.

DICK AND JANE. Many of you reading this who were in elementary school during the 1950s and earlier will remember learning to read with Dick and Jane. The publisher has rebound those stories into a new set of books and Jenna got them for her birthday from Riley and Harper. Jenna has taken to these like a fish in water and has already read to her class for show and tell.

My mom has this habit of spelling words when talking about things she feels small children should not know. She won't be able to keep that up much longer with Jenna around.

Joe

Ball, Birthday, and Bathroom

This is one of my favorite times of the year. The dogwood trees are in bloom and I really enjoy looking at them as I drive around. All the bigger trees are starting to leaf out but they haven't put out enough foliage to obscure the dogwoods yet so they really show up plainly in all the woods.

TEA ANYONE? Jenna celebrated her birthday in high style on Saturday. She and her friends had a formal tea at Burdette's Tea Shop in Springfield. It was a girls only affair so the boys and I were not invited, but after looking at the pictures and video we could tell they all had a great time.

Each of the girls wore a very pretty spring dress and were served small peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, cheese and crackers, and other types of finger food. The really fun part was that each girl had their own tea pot, cup, and saucer and poured their own beverage. Maegan, one of Jenna's classmates, kept guzzling her drink just so she could pour more into her cup. It was a very nice way to celebrate Jenna's sixth birthday.

We did have a small family celebration before church yesterday evening and Vicki and Ben took ice cream treats to school today. Pauline laughingly commented that celebrating this birthday was worse than getting ready for a wedding.

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM...not quite. But we did have our second soccer game on Saturday. Ben's team won, but I don't know the score. I was just proud to see the boy actually kick the ball once. I got a good laugh at one point in the game. A bunch of the players got all tangled up in trying to get to the ball and fell in a heap. Ben, who was standing about 8 feet away from this, decided it looked like fun and flopped down on the ground too. It seemed like the coach spent a lot of time standing Ben back up after this. The coaches also had a good time hauling tired players from the field on their shoulders. Ben would probably say this was the best part of the game.

Jenna's team played a very exciting game. Near the end of the game Jenna got the ball and drove it the length of the field and scored the goal that tied the game up 2-2 (which ended up being the final score). After the game Jenna said, "I can't believe I scored, but the goalie just wasn't even paying attention!"

NEW WORDS. I think we have been hearing a few English words out of Nate this week. He can say "Ben" when he wants to and can also call for "Nenna" when he sees Jenna. He also walked up to me the other day, handed me a book, and said something that sounded a lot like "read."

ON TV. About a month ago I reported that I was doing some editing work for a TV show called Spiritual Outdoor Adventures. I have finished the episode I was working on and it will air this weekend. It features Gray LeVox, lead singer for Rascal Flatts, deer hunting with show host Jimmy Sites at Legends Ranch in Michgan.

Those of you in the Nashville market can catch (or tape) the show on Sunday morning at 8:30 on Channel 30, our UPN affiliate. It is also broadcast on the following cable/satellite networks: Family TV, FeTV, i-Life TV Network, and Faith TV. Do not watch this show if you do not want to see several white tail deer killed on camera. After watching these scenes Vicki said, "I just can't stand this," over and over.

OUT OF ORDER. Well, Vicki's kitchen is back in business, but if you come to visit right now you will need to step across to Pauline's house if you need to use the bathroom. When they peeled up the floor in our only bathroom they found a lot of water damage from a leaky toilet and a leak in the shower plumbing. We got the guy that built Mrs. Connie's house to come fix the floor. Somehow he replaced the subfloor without removing the tub. Hopefully we'll be back in business by Wednesday night.

Joe

Spring Break, Easter, and Painting

Why is it that when you get a whole week off that week seems shorter than all the other weeks?

SPRING BREAK. We had a really nice spring break. I can't say that we relaxed as we were too busy getting things done around the house but it was nice to be off. Yesterday morning Jenna and I were not looking forward to going to school and work. Hearing us talk Ben said, "I like school. It's fun!" Jenna's reply showed her frustration with Monday after spring break when she said, "Oh Benton, you only go to school two weeks a day." She corrected herself after I said, "What!?!"

THE KITCEN IS CLOSED. If you come to visit us right now do not expect much in the way of supper. Last week we picked out new vinyl for the floor in the kitchen, back hall, and bathroom. Since they are coming to install this on Thursday we tore the whole room apart so we could paint. It is now a very light gray-blue color (Sherwin-Williams calls it Olympus White).

PICKY, PICKY, PICKY. A few weeks ago I reported that Nate would eat anything you shoved his way. His discriminating taste has now kicked in. I think it all came when he figured out that shaking one's head means "NO". The first time you offer him a food he doesn't want you get a gentle no. The second time his face becomes a blur. And if you try to camouflage it with a food he does like just get out of the line of fire.

A NICE EASTER. We hope yours was as nice as ours. We had a great service at church with about 545 attending. We had an early supper over at Pauline's. Mom and Aunt Mar ate with us too. The only bad part of the day was that Vicki strained her back painting the day before. She is a lot better now.

A BIG HIT. You may remember that the kids got a battery powered John Deere Gator for Christmas. The weather was warm early last week and they wore that thing out. It is a shame the battery won't last the whole day.

SPEAKING OF THE WEATHER. Our local weather people missed this one. We had light snow showers today! The ground was too warm for it to stick.

A PRAYER REQUEST. Remember my Aunt Helen who has had all the knee problems? She has a broken hip now and is in the hospital for a hip replacement. I also have a cousin, Mary Rose, who is in the hospital for the same thing.

GREAT NEWS. Come October Vicki and I will be aunt and uncle again! Our sister-in-law, Darice, is expecting! Will and Darice have two boys right now: Cameron (8) and Zachary (6). Rumor has it they are trying to keep up with the Swanns.

Joe

Church, Ball, and Spring Break

Spring may be here but the chill has returned as we are in the middle of "Dogwood Winter." That hasn't stopped Jenna and Ben from wanting to play outside as much as they can. They enjoyed motoring around the yard in the Gator this afternoon.

SAVE IN THE CROSS. That is the name of the musical the choir performed at church this morning and they did a fantastic job! Our lives revolved around choir practices this week but it was worth it. Vicki rejoined the choir for this event.

POOR AUNT MAR. Aunt Mar saw where Pauline was scheduled to work the nursery at church this morning and hatched a really nice plan. She called up and said, "I'll get Marisol (a neighbor who helps her clean her house some) and we'll keep the kids on Friday night so Pauline can see the dress rehearsal."

Aunt Mar was looking forward to coming and sitting with Nate in her lap as much as he would let her. Unfortunately for Aunt Mar, Nate and Marisol hit it off so well neither wanted to give the other up. As Aunt Mar left she said in a disheartened voice, "I didn't get to hold him at all!"

SOCCER TIME. The first game in the soccer schedule was yesterday. Jenna and Ben play on different teams due to their ages and most of their games are at the same time. The good thing is that we can stand between the two fields and watch either game.

Jenna's team tied (I don't know the score). Jenna made three long drives at the goal but the goalie was very quick. Ben ran around a lot. I think he got his foot on the ball once but he brought us quite a collection of dandelions throughout the game. His team won 7-2.

HUNT THOSE EGGS. Jenna and Ben have a good cache of candy now. Both had egg hunts at their schools on Friday and then there was an egg hunt as a church activity yesterday. The Easter Bunny made appearances at all three hunts. Jenna has been scared of the bunny in the past but has overcome those fears now.

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. We went to see The Passion last night with some friends. It is very well done and I think a good thing to see to be reminded of just what a sacrifice Jesus made for us all. I wish I were more familiar with Catholic traditions as I did not understand the significance of some of the details in the film.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY, IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU. Ben and I got to church this morning and I looked down and there was a big wet spot on his sleeve. When I asked how it got there he said, "I don't have a Kleenex."

Later I discover that Ben asked Vicki for a tissue at the soccer game. She told him, "I don't have one. Use your sleeve." At least it wasn't the bathroom mirror.

NEW WORDS. Ben was aggravating Nate at lunch today. Nate finally looked at Ben, furrowed his brow, and said, "BOT!" (Stop)

SPRING BREAK. Robertson County Schools is closed for spring break this week. Jenna asked what we would be doing and I told her there were several projects to do around the house including cleaning. Jenna replied, "Well, I'm not doing it. It's my week off!" Dream on kid.

Joe