Alex's Involvement in Youth Sunday!!!

Ok, so not only did Aaron get baptised this past sunday, and Austin preach for two services, but Alex took an important roll in this service as well!

Alex has been taking music lessons since he was 6 years old I think. First piano, but most recently he's been learning the guitar. He takes lessons every monday afternoon for the past 4 years or so.

Well, this sunday, he played his guitar during the adult worship services. He did a great job! We are so proud of him for choosing to serve the Lord using his gifts and talents to do so!!! (Truly, Our cup runneth over!) How much more blessed could a set of parents be, but to see their children grow to love the Lord!

Not only did he play his guitar for the two services...he also read the Scripture for the Communion Meditation! Most of you know about Alex's struggles with Dyslexia. We are so proud of him for standing up in front of so many and doing something as personal as reading out loud! We are very proud of all the hard work he has put in to getting to this point! He did GREAT!

I will be attempting to at least get an audio version of our service up so you all can hear it! If I can...I'll just put up a few clips! (So you don't have to listen to the whole service...although...you might want to hear Alex play guitar and Austin the drums)!! The proud mother that I am...you may just have to fastforward through the parts you don't want to hear! ;-)

Anyway, thanks for sharing our excitement with us! Whatever did we do without blogs??!!

Our Love to All!

Austin's First Sermon!

Ok, so not only did Aaron get baptised sunday morning, but Austin had his first opportunity to preach a sermon!

Not only did he preach it once-but twice! First and Second Service. I'm hoping I'll be able to get a video or at least an audio posted so you can listen to it as well. He did a GREAT job! Adam and I are very proud of how he is commiting his life to Christ. Our prayers have been answered!

This sermon ended up being several firsts for the Aberle family. Particularly, for Austin. He wore his very first 3 piece suit (even though he decided to leave the vest at home). That was quite an adventure! He and Adam went shopping for a suit, just for his sermon! I know he'll get many years of use out of that suit. Growing up, you only got nice clothing like that because you were growing up! And because you were almost full grown! I can't believe how quickly the years have passed! Is he really preparing for college...already?!?

Another first, was that Austin played the drums in his fancy suit and fancy shoes! Austin played the first song because it was a youth sunday (the youth praise team assists the adult praise team and other important rolls). On the fifth Sunday of each month the youth get up and help in whatever way they can with serving the congregation. (Which leads to an opportunity for the youth to do things like...serve communion, pray, greet, preach, play music, run sound and projection etc.) All in an effort to teach students a love for serving.

Aaron's Baptism

Yesterday, Sunday, November 30, 2008 Aaron gave his life to Christ and was immersed into the family of God.

Adam and I are incredibly proud of him for his decision. It all happened something like this...

The previous Sunday night Aaron came to me and said "Mom, I need to talk to you tonight". I responded with the usual response "ok, let me finish this and then we'll talk". (I knew it was something important...funny how that "feeling" strikes you as a parent when you know it's definitely NOT something you should put off.)

I sat down and talked with him. He was able to answer all my questions and I believe he totally understood what was going on completely. I asked him how long he'd been thinking about it. He said "a couple months". When I asked him why he waited to talk to me or dad about it so long, he simply said that he "was suffering from stage fright". He was just scared to tell everyone his decision.

We encouraged him that everyone there loves him and can't wait for him to make this decision.

I asked him if he'd talked to Adam yet, he said "No, but I'm going to tonight." Him and Adam proceeded to talk quite a bit through sunday evening. First thing monday morning Aaron was ready to call the youth minister and meet with him. PHATROK sent home a booklet for him to work through and he spent an hour and a half completing it. Then he spent most of tuesday talking and hanging with PHATROK.


He was very loud and proud as he stood in the baptistry with PHATROK (our youth minister) and confessed his faith. Halleluia!! we rejoice with the angels!!

Right Bunion Foot Surgery

Many of you knew that I was heading into Crestwood Surgery Center for bunion surgery on my right foot today. (My left was last February.)

I wanted to give you a "short and sweet" update as sitting up for long becomes painful quickly.

The surgery went exactly as expected and was completely on time. Adam got me home a little past noon, I think. My instructions are to ice it 15 minutes of every hour and take the pain meds every 3-4 hours or as needed.

I've been sleeping a lot as the pain medication knocks me out. However, They gave me crutches this time and I can tell already that, that has made a huge difference as I don't have to put all my weight on my foot as I walk. I will gradually be using my foot more and more as it heals.

Special thanks go out to John (PhatRok) Lancaster who took time out to come and sit with Adam. Thank you Soooo much! Also, a huge THANKS Goes out Jimmy & Lora Snell (and the kids) who dropped by and brought us supper for tonight! Especially since we have company coming into town and will need to be feeding extra mouths. Thanks So Much!

Also, and this thanks is early...as they've not arrived yet, but Thank You to Gene and Lou Anne (Adam's Parents) and Alan & Cari (Adam's brother and his wife) and their family who are coming to help celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday and to help with all my duties here at the house! I'm very much looking forward to their company and can't wait to see them!

My love to all, Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

P.S. I'm going to ice my foot and put it up now. Thanks Again for all your prayers, gifts and well wishes!

Oahu, Hawaii!!!

Every now and then God sends you a reminder of the gifts He's given you. One of those reminders has come to me as He's given Adam and I the opportunity to rest together. Well, not completely "rest" -as Adam has had to "work" some, but for the most part I think I can say..."rest-together".

Adam had a conference (for work) to attend in Honolulu, Hawaii. God's gift comes in the fact that Adam had enough airmiles to bring me along! I guess there are a few benefits to him having a job that causes him to travel frequently!

Anyway, It has been a wonderful trip so far! I thought I'd share a few photos with you, since I had some time to gather a few thoughts.

I also wanted to say "Thank You!" to Ms. Bobbie, a very dear friend of ours who has graciously volunteered (Another of God's gifts!) to keep our boys for us (again!!)! She has kept them on-task with their classes, schoolwork and schedules-which is enough to drive anyone to insanity! Without her willingness to help, I wouldn't be able to be here at all! I thank the Lord every day for her-as she continues to serve Him! She is truely a blessing to our family! Thank You So Much Ms. Bobbie!!!

Senior Pictures....Take 2!

Austin really wanted to get a few pictures of him and Elizabeth. So, here ya go! Enjoy! :-)

Are You Kidding Me??? Trunk or TREAT!?!?

Most of you will know that we haven't typically participated in any kind of Halloween activities in the past...however, this year-I admit, we got in the game a little bit. Our church decided to host a "Trunk or Treat" for the neighboring communities. So what you do is decorate your trunk...making some sort of game or activity for kids to participate it. So we decided to participate in the evangelistic efforts as a family. Everyone played an important role!



Alex dressed up like a ninja (his favorite heros of today's society). However, his ninja skills were so cunning that I wasn't able to capture him in a picture the whole night! I ended up having to catch him off-guard back at the house-unaware!

Alex helped with the Trunk or Treat by making popcorn for most of the night.



Austin dressed his car up, too! With the help of some left-over vinyl flooring from his room, some cardboard & paint and a few records off his bedroom walls! He even had some 50's music playing all evening. He created a little game with ping pong balls. In the center was a coke glass that the kids had to try to get the ping pong ball in by tossing. If they did - they earned 3 pieces of candy. If they tossed their ping pong ball into one of the cars from Cheeburger Cheeburger- they earned 2 pieces of candy. If not either of those...well of course they still got to take a piece of candy! Austin created his car with the help of some of his friends. But he did most of it on his own. (He even paid the entrance fee himself!)




I did the craziest thing I've done in a VERY LONG TIME on thursday night...the night before the Trunk or Treat event. Adam and I and the kids went to Walmart at a little after 9pm on Thursday night (following Alex's first drama performance at CCA). We decided there that I would make elf costumes for our "trunk". So, when we got home I began creating 3 costumes :-)...I finally put myself to bed at 5am.

You see, I thought sure that the "scrubs" pattern that I used would be so quick and easy that it wouldn't be a problem at all! Well, have you ever tried to sew on a collar in a v-pattern? OK...that wasn't so easy...3 tries for each, Adam's and Mine! You'd think I would get it after once! NOT! I also altered the patter a bit adding 12 inches to Adam's and 11 inches to mine. Thus making it a "dress" kind-of...yes..Adam wore a dress! Ha Ha! Thanks Babe for being willing to go along with me!

The final touch was the pom pom balls that are sewed all the way around the bottoms of all three costumes and the sleeves of mine. Aaron wore girls tights...and I wore the old fashion uni suit that my mother-in-law gave us for Christmas when Aaron was an infant. (yes, that would be about 10 years ago!) It worked great! And I stayed warm! Thanks Lou Anne!



Aaron had a job, too! He was our little personal elf! He sat inside the cab of the truck so that he could "redecorate" the trees as the kids removed the "ornaments"! He also played a key roll in encouraging all the "shy" children to crawl through the bed of the truck and come and see what was in the cab!

Adam decorated the outside of the truck and of course had the music box hooked up so all the lights blinked to the music! We started decorating at the church at 1:30pm or so. We just finished at 5:15pm. It was a lot of hard work-but we took 2nd place and won a gift certificate to "Tony's Little Italy". WooHoo! (The kids got to judge all the trunks and vote for the top 3 who would win a prize).

I Decorated the inside by hanging icicle lights from the bed cover and we laid the back seat down so the kids would be able to get from the gate to the cab through the bed. In the cab I set up 2 small Christmas trees with lights-blinking to music of course, a tree skirt & a stuffed snowman that my sister-in-law Cari, made for a gift for us several years ago.

Alex and Aaron taped string to all the candy so that we could hang candy on the trees like ornaments. Aaron's job was to continually be "decorating the trees" while the kids (and some adults) were coming through.

Our game? climb through the icicle lights-to the trees for a surprise. Each child would get to take home an "ornament"! The kids loved it! So did we!

One little boy, after crawling through the lights laid on his belly and put his chin in his hands and said, "Oh, It's soooo beautiful"! That made all the work worth it.



Here is a pictures of Austin and Elizabeth Fouse. She came home from Auburn just to help Austin with his Trunk or Treat! As the evening wore on and got colder they wore Adam's and my letter jackets from high school... I'm not sure how that fits into a 50's theme...but - in the famous last words of Adam..."WHATEVER!"

Fantasy Football Fun!!!

Ok, so I'm running around online checkin' facebook, myspace, and blogging while the family is watching Monday Night Football (-which I stuggle to stay interested in) when Aaron screams and comes running to the computer.

He wants to see our Fantasy Scores. You see, our family (on Adam's side) all get together every fall and we play Fantasy Football. It's the perfect opportunity to "stay connected" and trash talk each other for the whole football season. This may not seem healthy to most-But we LOVE it! haha!

So, Aaron comes running and screaming to me at the computer and he MUST see his score right now! You see-his players just scored a touchdown...so his score goes up and Uncle Andrew's (his opponent this week) score goes down putting him in the lead by less than .75 points. He has just realized that he will probably win his game this weekend.

The whole reason I'm blogging about this comes next. Not only did he scream all the way to the computer...but upon realizing that he has actually pulled ahead of Uncle Andrew's team...he runs through the house screaming into the room where Adam is...and screams again!!!! "AAAHHHHH I'm Winnning!!!! Uncle Andrew is Going DOWN!!!!" Then he turns around and runs into the couch - (some of you will remember the big fluffy cushions on the couch)- bends over into the pillow face first and SCREAMS as loud as he can!

Then he casually lifts his face off the pillow...walks over to the recliner, sits down and continues to enjoy the game as calm as ever.

Even when they are 10...they can have mood swings! I LOVE IT!

P.S. I'm actually experiencing a slight win this week as well...the score between myself & my enemy? (That would be my loving and very quiet looser, husband :-)) 109.38 to 70.16...OH YEAH!!!!! I got him this time ya'll!!!!! WWooooHooo!

Senior Pictures....Take 1

A Senior...ALREADY?!!!

Boy is life changing in this Aberle House! We've been doing crazy things like...senior pictures...and researching graduation announcements...and thinking about needing a REAL suit...and trying to get college applications out....and thinking about open houses....and computer equipment....and college refridgerators!! I can't believe Austin is old enough to be a senior. For all of you who don't know what his plans are...let me give you a little update.

Graduation will be May 21, 2009. You will all be invited to the ceremony and to the open house later that weekend (Memorial Day weekend). We are still working on details, so keep your ears and your calendars open...you'll be hearing more from us in the "not so distant" future!

Austin right now plans to head to Joplin, MO to attend Ozark Christian College. His interests lie in Youth Ministry at the moment. And he plans to pursue a double major in Counceling. He has been in contact with different admissions people there now for about the last 3 months or so.

Austin is currently working 2 days a week with our youth minister - PHATROK - and he is truly enjoying the opportunity to get a "taste" for ministry. He will be preaching his first sermon November 30th.

Thanks to the Lord for helping us to raise up a child who would desire to serve Him. We pray that God will give him strength to withstand all the pressures that life will put on him.

P.S. (There is a hint of a "special" relationship brewing...keep your ears open to hear more about that too! :-) )

Hair Cut!

About every 3 years or so I get the urge to "cut it all off!" I guess that urge has struck again!


Here are the before pictures...



Here Are the After Pictures...


I've had long hair for a very long time...so this is a little new to me! You realize, I like things like getting ready for the day to be easy and quick. This little hairdue means that It'll require a

hairdryer !

I guess I'll have to get used to it! :-)

Just in case you wondered...my hairdresser cut off around 18-20 inches...15 inches of which will be going to "Locks of Love". This is a great organization which among other things receives donated hair of a minimum of 10 inches in length and makes wigs for children who suffer from illnesses. These kids receive the wigs for free. (see locksoflove.org for more details on how you can help).

What Have I been doing all summer?

So much for a post a week. So where have I been? The answer to this question, is very simple...THE POOL! The pool you say? Yes, the Pool, I say.

This summer has been my 3rd summer to work as a lifeguard on the Redstone Arsenal. My boss is one of my best friends and we so enjoy working together. (Like I'm gonna say anything different...I should say, I enjoy working with her-she may have a whole different perspective!

haha)

My job consists of several responsibilities...teaching swimming lessons to children & adults, (I will be attending a class in Nashville in october to procure the certification to teach water aerobics-which will add yet another something to fill my time with :-) ) guarding the pool for swimmers who come to visit us (obviously), making sure the pool has the appropriate chemical balance, keeping the deck clean (which somestimes means scraping gum off the underside of tables and cleaning up bodily fluids that seem to find themselves in the wrong place), and most ironically...keeping all the lifeguards in line...yep that my job! As you can probably guess, this part is the most fun! Ha Ha Ha!

The best part is hangin' out with all the lifguards. They keep my "young". Although, often times I am mistaken for a college student. The funniest example I have of this is... One day after swimming lessons one of the mom's came up to me and asked me if I knew the lady who "runs this place". (That would be my boss & friend...obviously the answer is simple, of course I know the lady who "runs this place") Then she said, "Are you her daughter?" After accidentally laughing out loud, I removed my sunglasses and said "No, actually, I'm 35 years old and our children have grown up together." (My boss is only 6 years older than I) She very quickly offered her appologies and begged me not to tell my boss what she had said.

The pools will close on Labor Day, so I'm happy to say my time will be freed up a bit. You should have the opportunity to look at some new posts coming soon!

Junior Week of Camp!

Can you believe that Aaron is old enough to go to camp?!?! He had such a great time and he made is mama so proud! The students each had a list of memory verses that they could learn to earn point for their teams. The boy was the top scoring kid in his group by several thousand points!













He wouldn't even talk to me all week! He wanted to be at camp without me. It was hilarious! It was the first time I realized that he may not want to get hugs before bed for much longer! Everytime I'd "remind" him where to put his wet dirty clothes he'd turn his head and walk away and say "I know mom! I'm not a baby anymore!" Yieks! Is this really happening???

When a student did something extra ordinary that got to eat "Dinner With the Deans" (Phat Rok (our new youth minster) & Aaron Warnik Phat Rok's friend). So one the very first night that this reward happened, Aaron along with 2 of his friends got to eat Dinner With the Deans!

I was even able to get in on a little fun. Now understand that my primary rolls were Lifeguard and to play my bass with the praise band. But on the last day I was asked to step in to play the part of "Howina Mandell" in one of the groups skits.

They had been working on their "friday night skit" all week and a couple kids got sick so they asked my jump in. So I did. Aaron played the part of "John the Baptist" and he drooled all the way throught the skit, it was pretty grose...but evidance again that Aaron is growing up.

We all had a great time! I'm glad I could go! It makes life a little crazy but I wouldn't trade it in for the world!

I finally had a Minute!

It has been exactly 1 month since I last posted...I've been crazy busy!

First of all, I'm working pretty close to 40 hours a week at the pools...Lifeguarding, teaching swimming lessons to children, teaching swimming lessons to adults & am preparing to teach water aerobics. I've not taken my camera to the pool yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to post some pictures.

I spent 2 weeks at camp. The first was Junior High week. We had a great time!

Even if the Deans Jeff Beckum (L) and Michael Sikes (R) are a little crazy! They always feed me well, which ensures a GREAT week! I did have a great time catching up with my friend Kristin (Middle)!

This was my group. We had a great bunch of kids! You can see that Kristin was my co-group leader! We had an awesome time together! I love to see kids growing closer to God! I think the best part of the whole week was watching the shy kids even step out to pray out load! I was really proud of them for that!

Family Update...

I thought I would catch you up on what everyone is doing these days. So far I've done a lot of talking about me...so, here's an update on the Alabama Aberle Family.

Aaron...is now 10 and growing up in every way! His hobbies are playing Playstation 3, Game Cube, Gameboy and any other game he can get his hands on! He has been taking piano lessons since he was 4 and continues to improve every week. He seems to have a bit of natural talent and that excites us!

Aaron's best friends, Tristen and Jordan moved away to Texas last November and he still misses them and talks about them frequently. But we've been able to keep them in touch through phone conversations which sometimes get a little long, but they enjoy it.

This summer Aaron will attend camp as a camper for the first time and he is very excited about this. He has several friends from church who will be with him. He is also attending a "Claymation" class for a week this summer where he will learn how to make a movie with his own clay figurines, a camera, and computer software. He will get the chance to build his own story board and "tell" his own story through more software. He's excited and anxious about completing this process. Aaron is also very excited about getting to go to Springfield, Mo to spend time with his grandparents and to Tulsa, OK to spend some time with his Aunt, Uncle and cousins there.

Alex...has just turned 15 and is very excited about getting his driving permit! I can't believe how fast these kids grow up! He will begin 10th Grade this coming school year! Amazing!

Right now, he's in Springfield, MO completing his Geometry credit with his uncle Andrew...(aka...the best teacher in the world!) He spent the summer there last year and will spend 4 weeks or so finishing up what they started.

Alex still plays baseball for our homeschool covering...Covenant Christian Academy. This year he tried out for the Junior Varsity Team and made it so he spent the spring playing on that team. I think his middle school coaches missed him a little bit, but Alex had a great time and the JV coaches were all awesome men! He spent time playing Center field, Pitcher, and Catcher. I still love to watch him run the bases, you can really see his competitive spirit when he leads off!

Alex is still taking guitar lessons. Last fall he started playing on the youth praise team at church. It is a joy to join both him and Austin as we praise God together in worship! This summer he will be traveling with the youth group all the way to Lee College (about a 4 hour drive) in Cleveland, Tennessee to participate in CIY (Christ in Youth). He's never had the opportunity to go so he is all excited about that!

He is also excited about having part of the summer to swim this year. Since he was in Springfield the whole summer last year he didn't get the opportunity to spend much time at the pool. He'll have the opportunity to change that this year.

Alex is still obviously very active. He loves to excercise and "be busy"! I think one of his favorite things to do is to get on his bike and ride through the neighborhood. (If you've never been here you'll be interested to know that our new neighborhood if filled with steep hills!) One night Adam and I were out for a walk, it was dark probably around 8:30 pm. When all of a sudden there goes this "kid" whizzing past us on a bicycle! Scared me to death! As soon as I caught my breath, I was yelling for him to slow down! (Secretly, I'm a bit afraid of what he'll do with a car! he drives so fast already on a bicycle! Ha Ha) But he loves the thrill-Yieks! And if he can't ride a bicycle he'll just simply run-full boar.

Austin...is nearly 17 years old, I can't hardly believe it! Today, I came home to find him searching the web looking for the potential scholarships and trying to figure out which ones he's going to work for!

This summer Austin will be working! Currently he holds 3 jobs. He is babysitting for a friend of ours who has 3 children. 2 boys, and 1 girl. He spends Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays caring for them and taking them to all kinds of fun activities from Baseball camp, to free movies in town, to bowling and swimming. He enjoys working with them and often even carries Aaron along.

Austin is employed by the Vonn Braun Civic Center in downtown Huntsville. He works Concessions when they have events like concerts, the circus, and even Hockey games. His job is incredibly flexible and very enjoyable. Although some days it means a lot of hours and sore feet and legs when he gets home. (For some reason he's not so excited about eating things like hot dogs and hamburgers or pretzels and popcorn anymore! ha ha).

He is also interning at our church with our Youth Minister, John "Phatrok" Lancaster. Since Austin is interested in Youth ministry and plans to attend Ozark Christian College, our youth minister has offered to mentor him and let him in on some of the ins and outs of youth ministry. Austin is very excited and will spend Mondays and Friday helping out with whatever Phatrok is needing help with. He is hoping that this will continue on through the next school year.

Austin is still playing the drums for the youth praise team. He also sings believe it or not. I have no idea where he gets that from...(I mean being able to play drums and sing at the same time!) but he seems to be able to pull it off. And is very good and building dynamics through the Worship sets that we play.

I can already feel the need for independance coming from him. As he grows and matures we are blessed to see him striving to put God first in his life, even as he's learning to deal with differant kinds of personalities in people. It is very exciting to see who he's growing up to be. At the same time we know that times are changing, and he will soon be out on his own. Even though, some days we don't want to admit this!

Adam...Is still working as a civilian for the Department of the Army. We have been blessed with his ability to travel less this year. We have greatly enjoyed him at home. I have to say that he's been a good sport about all of the things on his "HONEY DO LIST"! I have certainly enjoyed and appreciated all his hard work in the improvements he has made to our house.

Adam will begin his first term as Elder at Huntsville Christian Church. I'm sure that this will fill his "free" time quite well. Ha Ha! He's looking forward to the challenge and has been dilligently praying for wisdom in his new role as he serves the people of HCC.

Adam also participates on the Adult Worship Team as a song leader, he runs the sound board and helps with projection --all on different rotations...just to keep him hopping! Essentially, almost every weekend he is busy in some roll helping with the Services that happen on Sunday mornings.

Theresa... is busy! I am currently in my 3rd year as a Lifeguard on Redstone Arsenal. I love working with the kids, teaching swimming lessons and meeting new people. I get to watch kids go from fearing the water to loving it and finding it fun.

I am going on 7 years of working with the Jr. and Sr. High students at church. I lead a discipleship group of girls and teach classes in addition to leading the Youth Praise Team. I enjoy playing bass along with the kids as they learn to use their talents to lead others to worship. Again, I love watching kids grow in their faith and trust in Christ. It's been a new and exciting time, getting used to a new youth minister but I am slowly adjusting to the changes. I have to say, it's been nice to have someone to work beside instead of feeling the full responsibility of the program as I did for about 9 months. My youth kids are all great and I love to spend time with them.

This summer, in addition to lifeguarding 40 hours a week, I will be attending 2 weeks of camp, Jr. High Camp and Junior Camp as lifeguard (& Camp nurse @ Jr. High Camp) and I will chaperone our Senior High CIY trip which will consist of another week long event in July.

I also participate on the Adult Worship Team at HCC. I run the projection for the words for songs, slides during the sermons and any video clips that need to be used to Worship. I also play bass on rotation with another bass player. This keeps my saturday mornings busy, too!

Just a note to all who are looking at these pictures...I've realized, that I have no pictures of myself...I guess it's because I'm always taking the pictures. For Example, these are 2 of the pictures that I've found. They are all pretty much the same....Goofy pictures likes the one above (I'm on the left by the way) and this picture...me with a bunch of youth. What a legecy and a blessing.

Here ends the update on the family. It's become longer than I first intended, but I hope you've enjoyed it. And I hope it's given you a small look into the life of the Aberle family. Thanks for taking the time to take a peak!

Love to All!

CRAZY BUSY!

I promised myself when I started this that I'd try to get at least one post up a week. And here I am...pushing the envelope...

So, as an update I will say...Summer is here! Which means, it's time to get the pools open. I had a great week off while mom was here but now it's time to hit the ground running! That's what I've been doing this week. I've been going into work around 6am every morning (Yes, that's AM!), and getting off anywhere between 2pm yesterday (because one of my youth kids had invited us to graduation) and 6pm tonight.

Saturday the pools open and things should slow down a bit. Which I am thankful for.

Austin, Alex, and Aaron are truly being awesome! They've been helping to keep the house up and resisting the urge to kill each other!!! Adam has been traveling all week and they have been left on their own more than I like. Austin has even been running a few errands for me all week. This is a nice littler perk to having teenagers!

Thanks guys, for hanging in there!

HOME IMPROVEMENTS AGAIN!!!

It seems like everytime we have visitors, we end up putting them to work. Guess that really makes you want to come visit, right? lol! (Laughing out loud-just in case you don't have teenagers around).

My mom came to visit like she does just about every spring. We've had a GREAT time...walking downtown Huntsville, seeing all the blooming flowers (she's from Brandon, South Dakota, and spring is just breaking there), pulling a few weeds, eating out, shopping (her favorite), and sewing!

I've been lacking a curtain, as some of you know, in our guest bedroom...well, LACKING NO MORE! Thanks to my mom, we now have a curtain in there! Woohoo!

Check them out, we were a little concerned because the fabric seemed so yellow, but on the wall it seems to be taking on just the right colors to accent our guest room. I'm sooo excited!

WE CELEBRATE THE "LITTLE" THINGS, TOO!

Even though I say it's a "little" thing, it is really a "really BIG" thing!

Austin has finally finished his research paper! Yeah! You have to understand! He has been working on this required "junior paper" since last January. The process consists of...putting together your draft and turning it in...then you get it back with corrections that need to be made....then you make the corrections and turn it in again...then you get it back with more corrections to be made...then you make the corrections and you turn it back in...then you get it back again...over and over and over....eventually, hopefully, you will get a "GREAT JOB" and be all done! That is very exciting!

And now, finally, He is ecstatic to know that it is done (as you can imagine)! If you would like to read it, send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to forward it to you!

OUR "GARDEN" IS GROWING!

Since we moved last spring I've been trying to figure out, how in the world I can have a garden. This has been a great dilemma for me. Our yard has over 50 very tall trees in it leaving us lacking direct sunshine that gardens like to have. I think I might have found an alternative. Only time will tell.
















I just happened to catch an info-mercial on TV for this hanging tomato planter thing, and I thought "hmmm, this might work". But of course the "baskets" they were trying to sell looked totally CHEAP! YUCK! So, Adam and I put our heads together and found these hanging baskets at Lowe's. So we figured we'd just cut a hole in the bottom and plant the tomato plants in them -upside-down. I like them...but we had a "cup full of dirt" with something green dropping out of the bottom of it. This is not good enough for me!
















I was talking with my friend Jill one day and she tells me that military families will often plant their "gardens" in baskets because of the frequency of their moves. So, I naturally, put 2 and 2 together and decided that I would attempt to put the two ideas together and see what

















would happen. So, here is the start of our experiment. We have planted 2 pots with peas. One pot with green beans. We have squash and cucumbers. And finally, one with parsley and oregano. It will be an interesting thing to see if they have enough "room" to grow.

But so far they are lookin' pretty cool! We'll keep you posted on what happens!