Wow what a roller coaster these past few months have been. Joe and I have both said we will be so glad when things start to return to somewhat normal. Joe's Uncle Gary went into the hospital over a week ago for a hernia surgery so last Sunday night Joe went to the hospital to visit him. Monday afternoon we got news that Joe's Great Aunt Ann had to be rushed to the hospital for being unresponsive, so as soon as they could, Quint met Joe in Greenville and they drove to Andalusia to be with their Aunt Ann and the family. She went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday afternoon. Joe had gotten some kind of bug so he was not able to be there Tuesday and stayed home from work on Wednesday. Thursday was the funeral, and also the day my dad had knee replacement surgery. As soon as Joe got home from Andalusia I went to the hospital to see my dad. He was doing and is still doing great. I visited with my dad and Uncle Gary and came home. Friday after work and school we took the kids to the hospital to see my dad and Uncle Gary. We even got to spend a few minutes with MeMaw and Paw-Paw while there.
Josie also got her very first report card on Thursday. She did perfect. In kindergarten you either get a "P" for profficient or "I" for incomplete, then there is a list of like 20-30 skills that they need to master, ranging from knowing her name, our names, her date of birth, her address, academic questions, and social skills. She got a P in every category. She is doing great and loving school. She continues to learn to spell more and more words so I know it won't be too much longer before she is reading.
Saturday we decided we really needed some family time so we went to the Clanton Pumpkin Patch. We had a great afternoon. The pictures are posted below. We played games, the girls rode ponies, we feed animals at the petting zoo, we rode the "Twactor Twain," we watched a Native American dance, we learned some Native American sign language, tooks pictures in beautiful spots, and took the hay ride down to the pumpkin patch to find our perfect pumpkins. It was a great day. With how hectic everything has been these past few months and with Joe working or being at the church, it was so nice to spend this day as a family.
We left Clanton and headed straight for the hospital to visit my dad and Uncle Gary. While there we got an extra special treat and got to see Aunt Mona.
Sunday is always "church and nap day." We got to church in the morning, go home and eat lunch and take naps, and then get ready to go to Awana. Sunday was a special day for Josie. Our church has a children's choir. You have to be 5 to be in, but when Josie turned 5 we had to way to get her there because it is from 3:30-5:00 on Wednesdays. When I found out that yesterday was the day for the children's choir to perform throughout the entire service I was going to have her sit in the nursery so that her feelings would not be hurt that she was not involved. Jonathan, our pastor, told me she could practice with the girls (it is all girls just by chance) before church and could participate. So she did. We have a very very special woman who has offered to start picking her up on Wednesdays so that Josie can be a part of the choir, so we are going to try to work it out that she can be there.
My dad came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and will start physical therapy at home. Hopefully Uncle Gary will get to come home today.
We have a busy week ahead of us. Joe has a session meeting tonight, I have SOS tomorrow night, Wednesday hopefully will be Josie's first afternoon at children's choir, and then more Halloween festivities over the weekend. We will also be squeezing into this replacing our hot water heater as ours has started leaking.
Our children are growing so fast and every time I blink they have changed and grown even more. Sometimes I feel like we miss out on so much somtimes because we work or have other obligations, but I know that is life. I know we will never get these times back. These are the days when we form strong bonds with our children that will last a lifetime. These are the days when our children are sponges that soak up everything we want to teach them about life, God, and academically. I wish more people really understood how precious this time is. God has blessed us with these children and he picked us as their parents for a reason. I know I make several mistakes when it comes to parenting, but most days I do the best I can and I really hope one day when the kids look back the good will outweigh the bad.
I'll end with pictures from the pumpkin patch.
And this one of Joel and me from our church homecoming:
