Friday, March 26, 2010

Spring is here!

Well, I had some things to post two days in a row! I stepped outside to watch the kids for a little while and thought everyone might enjoy the coming of spring at the Deatrick residence. Just think, for the last 4 months, most of this energy has been expended inside . . .

Kara isn't usually allowed in the front yard, but since I was out there, she took full advantage of the opportunity; she's my little sweet-heart. Notice Grant uses the light post to brake; unfortunately, Laura has a bruised chin from using the light post to stop a day or two ago.


Joel has done really well with the pogo stick. I've counted more than 130 bounces before; now he can go until he runs out of breath (or into the mud :-) - think "Tigger" from Winnie-the-Pooh :-). John feels safe with only one roller blade one.

An update, we are working through "Truman" by David McCullough; it's a good history, especially if you're a Missourian as I am.

I'm also reading in The Journals of Lewis & Clark by Bernard DeVoto, The Memoirs of John Mason Peck (second reading), and Things To Come and Thy Kingdom Come by Dwight Pentecost, and a good visual resource is Charting the End Times by Tim Lahaye and Thomas Ice.

Enjoy,

Levi

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Number #7 is a boy!


Well, it has been a little while since I put an update out for the Deatrick family; much has happened since the last time I posted anything.

First things first, we found out today that #7 will be another boy; that will be 5 boys and 2 girls. I'll be adding a middle bunk in the boys room next year some time, so we'll have five bunk beds in one corner that will begin to rival those of a submarine.

If you look at the first ultrasound picture, the face is quite clear, it even appears as though one of his eyes is open. Due to his round face, we are guessing that he will be a John look alike. The other photo is a very clear shot of his foot. The due date is anywhere between June 5th and June 11th.


The kids have been doing quite well in their schooling. We have been pushing them a little harder this year as we want to get them through the final quarter before the baby is born.

I have slowly been doing things to the house. We painted the kitchen an indigo blue a couple of weeks ago. I just finished putting up the (faux) oak trim on Monday evening. We were very pleased with the appearance; it matches the cabinets and counter-top quite well. I have other little jobs to do all the time on the house, but won't bore anyone with my "to-do list."

I had previously finished my little office upstairs. I don't think I ever posted any pictures of it. It now has a wood floor (look alike), an aloe colored paint and white book-shelving. It has a real pleasant atmosphere, but since my new laptop has a wireless modem and the battery is good, I've been spending more time downstairs working than up in the office. If we end up moving into a new church building (more about that below), I'll move my books and such to an office there and end up using the little office upstairs to make more space for the children.

I finally bought a new tiller; I've always had someone else do it for me. The weather has been nice enough to get out and play with it a little bit. I added about 4 feet to the length of the garden and about 10 feet to the width of it. I know it is too early to plant anything (it rained today and the low is supposed to get down to 25 tonight), but I had some compost and sod that I needed to work under, so I did that last weekend and will let it set for about a month before we really start doing much planting.

We're planning to let Joel play little league baseball in Paxton this year. He has a new glove and we have played catch quite a bit. I took him to the park last week and spent some time working with a real bat and ball. He missed about the first 10 pitches, but due to a good sense of timing and hand - eye coordination, it didn't take long before he was consistently smacking line drives out of the infield. I was a good fielder and base runner, but only a moderate hitter when playing baseball; I think because of his size and natural strength he'll do pretty well as a hitter. I started throwing the balls pretty hard across the plate because the boys who'll pitch to him in a game will be throwing as hard as they can. He didn't seem to have any fear of getting hit with the ball (that may change the first time he gets hit with one :-).

One of the men who comes to our church coaches one of the leagues and Joel is hopeful of getting to be on his team. I am looking forward to meeting more people from the community in this opportunity.
The hospital building that we have used for our church meeting place has a contract to be sold; the closing date is early June. We are considering the purchase of another building in town. The building was built around 1950 as a roller skating rink but is currently and hair and tanning salon as well as antique store; it has been well maintained and would suit our purposes well. It has rooms that could immediately be used for offices, nursery, S.S. rooms, kitchen, and fellowship areas. It also has a 2 bedroom apartment that could be used as a prophet's chamber. The building is a total of 7,000 square feet sitting on three acres; it is right on the N/S highway going through Paxton. It will need one new bathroom as it currently only has one. I'll post pictures and more information should the LORD see fit to make the deal go through.

Better go for now.

Levi