The Call of Duty

We've had so much happen to turn life upside down this week that Vacation Bible School and our trip to Gatlinburg seem so long ago. The nice, temperate weather is gone, only to be replaced with heat and humidity. There is no rain in sight.

PAULINE'S FOOT. For those of you who don't know, Pauline was diagnosed with diabetes in 1987. Her left foot had been bothering her for the last several weeks so she scheduled an appointment with her doctor for Monday. Vicki went with her mom and it was good she did because she was admitted to the hospital right from the doctor's office. As it turns out she has multiple fractures in her foot and parts of the bone have been pulverized. This problem developed due to her diabetes.

Pauline was released from the hospital on Thursday. She is not to put any weight on her foot for the next five weeks at a minimum. Vicki will have to stay with her almost constantly until she can function some on her own. Until then we will be living between two houses.

Please keep Pauline in your prayers. We are hoping for her to recover quickly but are having to keep in mind that things may get worse instead.

AN UPDATE ON MOM. Since I am giving health reports I'll not break my train of thought here and mention Mom's knee. It is no worse but it really isn't any better either. The swelling went down for a few days but has since returned. She has arthoscopic surgery scheduled for July 6. She is back at work and we're all just hoping that she'll be as pain free as possible until then.

THE COTTERS VISIT. Jim, Dianna, Alex and Chris had scheduled this week for their annual visit to Tennessee back in October to hit Cross Plains' annual yard sale: Trash and Treasures. They arrived Monday evening (a few hours after Pauline was admitted to the hospital). Their time here was not as it should have been but I must say I don't think we could have managed without them (which I'll explain in the next article). They did get to do a few fun things though--we all went to the Adventure Science Center one day, they went with Mom and Aunt Mar to the Catfish House one evening (and met the Dees there), we all enjoyed a morning of shopping at Trash and Treasures on Friday and Alex and Chris got to ride in a combine while Mom's wheat was being cut. They left yesterday morning and it was sad to see their van disappear over the hill.

THE RAMP. Where Vicki's time has been filled with taking care of her mom mine has been occupied with building a ramp so Pauline could get into her house. We decided to build the ramp in the garage so she would be out of any weather when getting in and out of the van. The ramp had to have a landing and double back on itself so that it could climb the 34 inches to the house door at a comfortable slope. It takes up half of the garage. I'm glad we cleaned a lot of stuff out of that garage a few weeks ago.

I'm going to brag a bit here because I am proud of the ramp. It is rough construction and far from perfect. But it is the first thing I have built from scratch since high school and definitely the largest thing I have ever built (the swing set I built for the kids in the back yard was from a kit and had good instructions).

What I am so grateful for is how so many people helped me. Jim and Dianna put themselves at my disposal. Jim helped me with the construction and Dianna kept all the kids (and I must say the kids got along very well). Jimmie Pitt, my next door neighbor, gave his time for two whole days. Scott Budd, a friend from church, came over one afternoon and enlarged the upper landing and covered up the existing steps (being optimistic we left those in so that the ramp can be pulled out and the original steps still be there). Jeff Garst and his son, Grant, also helped out one afternoon (they are also friends from church). We got the deck on the ramp done about two minutes after Pauline got home from the hospital. She had a scary ride up without handrails. Pauline would not have gotten in her house that night if all those guys hadn't helped me out. If I ever feel depressed all I have to do is walk across the field and look at that ramp to remember just how much people love me and my family.

I apologize to those of you who have been friends of Vicki and Pauline for years for learning this news by mass e-mail. It has just been a full week.

Joe

Vacation Bible School

The focus of this week has been Vacation Bible School, getting caught up with yard work and getting some chores done around the house. It has been a full and satisfying week.

KINGDOM OF THE SON was the title of our VBS. It focused on "The Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-13). I think our highest attendance was 225. Vicki taught first grade this year in response to Jenna's request at the end of last year's VBS. Vicki really enjoyed Jenna as a student because Jenna treated Vicki as she would any other teacher, not trying to take advantage of her mother.

For the last three years I have filmed every night at VBS while someone else has taken pictures. Then I went home with 15-20 minutes of video footage and 80-100 pictures and made a music video for the kids to watch the next night in the opening worship rally. This year I had help! Elizabeth Budd did all the filming (we needed a camera operator with fresh ideas) and edited three of the six videos. I was really glad to have her help.

I think I have said this before but VBS is one of my favorite times of year in our church's life. It's a lot of fun and I enjoy the spirit of unity and cooperation. Vicki and I are both tired but it's a good kind of tired. All three kids really enjoyed the week. Ben even said, "I like church." I think we'll be hearing the songs and seeing the dances for a few weeks.

Vicki and I were both comparing the current VBS curriculum with our memories of VBS. Things have changed drastically. I never really enjoyed VBS as a boy (3 hours of Sunday school--yuck!). And because we have it at night there are several men involved, which is a good thing. We are so glad our kids see that Christian life is exciting and fun.

MORE KNEE PROBLEMS. Mom already had an appointment with her orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Cutright--no I'm not kidding) on Tuesday afternoon but late that morning her knee was bothering her again. When she got to the doctor's office he drew off 100 cc of blood. This time he sent the blood off to be tested but we haven't heard any results yet.

By Tuesday night mom's knee was hurting again. She had to use the walker to get around. I spent the night with her and Aunt Mar just in case she decided she needed to go to the hospital. By 10:00 her pain medication had kicked in and she was asking for ice cream.

Mom is walking around without the assistance of a walker or cane now but she does limp and her knee is still swollen. We hope the results of her blood work will come back tomorrow and the doctor can give her some direction on what to do next.

SPEAKING OF MEDICAL PROBLEMS Vicki's brother, Will, suffered from a detached retina this week and had surgery on Thursday to fix it. The surgery went well so we are praying that everything heals as it is supposed to.

COPY CAT. Nate is our little copy cat. You can tell him to say simple phrases and he will repeat them. The other night we saw a hint of his coming up with sentences of his own when I told him to say "I love you Mommy" before he went to bed. After he said that he looked me deep in the eyes and said, "Love you Daddy." I'll treasure that for a long time.

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. The other day at lunch Jenna was looking at a sales flyer that came in the paper. Some pool towels with cartoon characters on it caught her eye and she asked Vicki about buying some. Vicki told her we have plenty of pool towels and Jenna began her sales pitch. That's when Vicki broke in with the question, "Is that a need or a want?" When Jenna answered (and she really didn't mean any disrespect) she looked up and said, "Mom, it's a towel." We laughed.

AUCTION. You will remember that my Aunt Ruth passed away back in January. I must give Lynn Keith a lot of credit here for all he has done to settle Aunt Ruth's estate. The sale of all her household items was held yesterday. Aunt Ruth was a person that kept EVERYTHING. The sale started at 10:00 and wasn't over until 5:30. Vicki spent almost the whole day there. It was so sad for me that I could not make myself go.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. Vicki and I celebrated our 11th anniversary yesterday by going out to eat at Outback Steakhouse and then walking around Green Hills Mall. After VBS and the sale we really didn't want to do much more than that which is okay because we had a lot of fun just being together.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY. We kept our Father's Day activities pretty simple as well. Vicki cooked supper and we all (Mom and Aunt Mar included) ate on Pauline's deck.

Joe

Our Vacation

It's always good to get out of town and have a change of pace. And it's always good to get back home. We went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this week. Will (Vicki's brother), Darice, Cameron, Zachary and Emily were vacationing in the mountains too and we had a good time with them. Pauline went with us. (Darice's mom, stepdad and a nephew were in Gatlinburg as well and we saw them a couple of times.)

On the way home we asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was. Ben said he liked climbing on the rocks in the mountains (at the picnic on Wednesday). Jenna said she liked holding Emily the best and judging by how he hung around Emily I'd say Nate enjoyed her too.

WE LEFT HOME ON SUNDAY MORNING and drove to Knoxville before stopping to eat lunch and make our traditional stop at McKay's Used Book Store. I mention McKay's because they have moved to a new location and their store is really nice. If you like books and are traveling through Knoxville it is worth a stop.

When we got to Pigeon Forge we checked into our condo (Which Jenna accidentally called a hotel and somehow Ben twisted it into our "show and tell" for the entire trip--I don't know why.) Then we met up with the Jones family for a short visit in Gatlinburg. We also dropped Pauline off with them.

PANCAKES, GO CARTS AND SWIMMING. The next morning we all met at Log Cabin Pancakes in Gatlinburg for breakfast. From there we went to the Sugarlands Nature Trail and walked it (0.5 miles). Then we went to the Wild Woody Fun Center to ride go carts and bumper boats. By then it was time for lunch so we all went to our condo for sandwiches and a swim.

That evening our family went to the Black Bear Jamboree. This included a meal and a show and we really enjoyed ourselves. Poor Nate did not have a nap so he was out of it by the time we arrived at the theatre. He woke up just as the show was starting and was a bit out of sorts. Once he composed himself he really was fascinated with the show.

ON TUESDAY WE got up late and all met later that morning to go fishing. Angi, her son Jackson and nephew Chris met us and showed us an out of the way park in Gatlinburg where kids can fish for free (anyone over the age of 12 is not allowed to fish at all). Jenna was the first to catch a trout but it was so small we threw it back. Cameron was the only other successful angler and his fish was large enough to keep. We all had fun with "Grizzly Ang" and enjoyed her expertise.

After fishing we went to Will and Darice's condo for lunch and swimming. For supper we went to the Smokey Mountain Brewery in Pigeon Forge (we had really enjoyed this when we were in Gatlinburg in February). After supper we took our kids and stopped at Wild Woody again to let them ride some of the kiddie rides before bedtime.

WEDNESDAY WAS PICNIC DAY. It has become a tradition while vacationing together in the Smokeys to drive up to the Chimneys picnic area and eat lunch one day. There is a really nice mountain stream next to the picnic area where everyone can play in the water (cold as it is) and climb on the rocks.

The plan was to go swimming that afternoon but it was raining with a hint of lightning when we got back to town so we spent the afternoon visiting the condo and cooked supper. The rain cleared off by early evening and we strolled the strip in Gatlinburg for a couple of hours.

BY THURSDAY IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME. We all met at the Applewood restaurant for breakfast that morning. After eating it was time to say our goodbyes and head home. The nice thing was that everyone settled in for a nap pretty quick and we made great time.

CONGRATULATIONS BLAKE. Our pastor's middle son, Blake Owen, is a student at Belmont University and a pitcher for their baseball team. Blake was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round this week. We are really proud for him.

Joe

Memorial Day Weekend and Following

This is the week I have been looking forward to since last July. Yesterday I finished my contract for the 2004-2005 school year. My time is my own until July 5!

It feels like summer is here already. The wheat is starting to turn from green to gold and Mr. Bill has been setting tobacco this week. When I walked out of the house this morning it was a mere 68° F, but the humidity just about took my breath away.

May is normally our wettest month of the year. This May has been one of the driest in decades. I think we got about an inch of rain the whole month.

A PLEASANT WEEKEND. We could not have asked for better weather last weekend. It was perfect! Several of our meals were cooked on the grill and eaten on Pauline's deck. On Saturday, when all the chores for the day were done we had a great time throwing the frisbee around with the kids (Ben calls it a kryzbee). Poor Jenna is a lot like I used to be with a frisbee, her tosses are wild. Now Nate likes to chase Jenna's wild throws. Getting him to give the frisbee back is a different story. Ben, on the other hand, is a lot more accurate. You get much less exercise when he throws a frisbee to you (unless he is being silly). I know Jenna will get the hang of it one day but I can sure sympathize with her until she does.

A METHOD TO THE MADNESS. Everyone has their own set of abilities and talents. It is neat to watch these emerge and develop as the kids get older. At church on Sunday Ben's class made bead necklaces. As the kids were coming out the door they were all sporting a bead necklace. Ben's caught my eye. Where everyone else had strung up a random assortment of our patriotic colors, Ben had used a pattern: red, white, blue, red, white, blue....

REVENGE OF THE SITH. Vicki and I went to see Star Wars this weekend. It was the first date we'd had in quite a while. We left feeling very entertained. It tied up all the loose ends nicely for us and we were very grateful Jar-Jar Binks had no lines (anyone who sticks his tongue into an energy stream deserves to have his part reduced to a visual appearance). Our only disappointment was seeing it in an IMAX theatre only to discover that the film was not made for an IMAX experience.

NAME CONFUSION. Nate often calls Ben "My Nate." We don't know why. I guess he sees Ben as an extension of himself. We hear that a lot when Nate is mad at Ben and wants to blame him for something. Of course, when Nate seeks us out with his complaint Ben follows him to get his side of the story in. That is when, out of frustration, Nate turns around and hits Ben. Usually they get along very well but arguments do happen from time to time. We often find them together playing with cars in their room, racing riding toys down the hall, playing a computer game, watching a video or in the middle of a big mess in the living room floor.

SWIMMING LESSONS. Jenna and Ben have been taking swimming lessons this week. They did not want to and we had to tell them they would not get to go swimming this summer if they didn't have lessons. Of course, once they had their first lesson they loved it. Now the question of the day for the rest of the summer will be, "Can we go swimming today?"

SLEEP OVERS. Last weekend Jenna's friend, Maegan, had a sleep over for her birthday party and Jenna was invited. There were several girls there. I think they all had a good time. Jenna said they went swimming four times.

What was even more fun for Jenna was that she got to have Maegan over to spend the night Thursday night. I say it was fun for Jenna because poor Ben wound up feeling a bit left out. Of course Maegan was Jenna's guest and two seven year old girls just don't want a four year old brother hanging around all the time. At least Ben got to go out to eat and to the movie. The movie we saw was Madagascar. The kids really enjoyed it.

SERVE YOURSELF. We leave some plastic cups in a cabinet where the kids can reach them and get their own water from the dispenser in the refrigerator door. For several days we would walk by and step in a puddle of water near the fridge. I knew it wasn't close enough to the fridge to be a leak so I questioned Jenna and Ben about it. Both of them said they knew nothing about the puddle.

One day I was sitting in the study when I heard the water come on. A moment later I heard a SPLAT. When I got to the kitchen I found Nate, cup in hand. He has learned, from watching his brother and sister, how to get a cup and get water for himself. His only problem is that he isn't tall enough to reach the sink to pour out what he doesn't drink. Being a thoughtful boy he has decided to water the plant that sits there in the floor. Unfortunately, he gets the leaves wet but misses the pot.

NATE-ISMS. Nate's vocabulary is growing. He isn't doing a whole lot with sentences yet but we hear many more words than we used to. He is also a very polite boy. One of my favorites I hear him say is "skew me" [excuse me]. His "peas" has evolved into "pleez." I also like to hear him say "ooh-kaayy." It's just the way he says it, like he's half serious and half trying to appease you. If he wants you to do something for him he will grab your hand and say "fawoah me."

JUDY, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU. My cousin Judy can think of the neatest things to do with kids. (Aunt Mar's birthday party back in March was extra special for everyone because of her.) One thing that was included in the kids' Christmas presents from her were plastic utensils. Now this is no ordinary plasticware, it is an assortment of colors and the handles are shaped in a variety of animal shapes. Our kids love 'em. We can only throw them away if they break.

I get really tickled at Nate. He likes to pick out his own fork or spoon. When he goes to the drawer he is just tall enough to rest his nose on the drawer side and look in from his tiptoes. Then he starts humming this mindless tune as he shops for the piece he wants to use.

Joe