April 2, 2011

Savannah feeds Claudia breakfast.	It rained on Sunday.  We really needed it!  Bro Gary preached on "The Benefits of Being a Christian".  Regular afternoon naps with some games in the afternoon.  In the evening Dr. James Riley Hill had the main topic on "Three R's of Raising Children".  (Responsibility, Respect, & Resourcefulness)  A good talk!
The school gave a great Missions oriented program.	I had a meeting Monday morning with our new Radioshack district manager.  Had some serious talk with him about the future of Radioshack.  Ina Sue did the normal laundry.  I came home at 4:30 to help around the house.
One of the art pieces on display by the students.	I had a big day Tuesday doing an network upgrade in Bamberg.  Didn't get home until 8:45.  Ina Sue did misc. jobs around the house and worked hard at potty-training Savannah.  For the last several weeks Ina Sue has been waking up in the early hours of the morning and claiming that she heard a mouse or something in our bedroom rustling around.  I never heard it until several mornings ago when I was laying in bed awake and heard the noise.  I was sure though that it was coming from the attic.  I said it was probably a squirrel that had chewed its way in.  I would check it out someday...  Well, this evening Ina Sue went up in the attic for something and I heard her holler.  Here one of our cats (a pregnant one) was lying up there on top of some of our spare bedding.  I could not imagine how it had gotten in there.  So, I took a big flashlight outside and went around the house shining it up on the eaves.  Sure enough, out where our porch roof joins with the main roof a piece of soffit was missing.  The cat evidently would come in from his night of hunting and squeeze past the air conditioner duct which was just inside the hole.  The insulation around the duct was what Ina Sue was hearing every morning.  We were both relieved to finally have the mystery resolved.
Papa helps tear up our 3-year old rotten deck.	It was raining again on Wednesday.  Ina Sue kept Jake Heatwole for a while. The children loved having him here to play with.  I spent the day at work.   In the evening Ina Sue went to Kendra's for her accountability group while I kept the children.
"YellaWood" pressure treated wood after 3 years.	Grandpapa & Grandmother Showalter got here on Thursday around 5:00.  We tried to have it be a surprise for the children but I'm afraid we had let it slip for Carolina.  We all get ready and went to the school program in the evening.  The theme of the program was "Missions".  All the classes did extremely well and gave a very good program but we especially enjoyed Carolina Sue's part in her first program.  She and Caroline read the story "Children of the Lighthouse" together to us.  After the program there was the usual fellowship snack.  Papa and Mother brought the children home while we stayed to help cleanup.
Mother & Ina Sue wash off the front porch.	Papa & I dropped Carolina Sue off at school Friday morning then ran a couple short service calls before we came home and got to work.  With Papa's help we were able to get our whole deck chopped up and carried back the the burn pile.  It was sickening to see how badly the deck had already rotted out in just three years.  We are very unhappy with how "YellaWood" did for us.  I'm not interested in building another deck just to have it rot out again.  We are considering concrete for next time...  While we worked on that project, Mother & Ina Sue spent their energy washing and cleaning up the front porch.  It looks real good now.  Mother also washed most of the outside windows.  As if it wasn't bad enough putting our company to such back-breaking work, Papa insisted on taking us out for supper on top of it.  We tried out a restaurant in Bamberg that we had never been to.  "Cliff's Seafood" didn't have a whole lot of ambience but the food was delicious!  We plan to go back.
A day at the zoo with Grandpapas	On Saturday we got up early and ate a quick breakfast of quiche then dropped Claudia off with Gwen Amstutz for the day.  The rest of us drove up to Riverbanks Zoo for an outing.  It was a lovely cool day.  I don't know when I have enjoyed a visit to the zoo more.  The baby baboon was our favorite animal.  After we left the zoo we dropped the ladies off at Hamricks for a little shopping while the rest of us picked up dinner at Burger King.  Then home in time for me to get the yard mowed and the vehicles washed.  Chicken/spinach pizza for supper  then baths and bed.