Owen's status

I took Owen to UT Medical Center today to have blood drawn for genetic testing. He actually did pretty well - it took fewer people to hold him down than it did the last time he had blood drawn and only one try (they weren't getting more than one try, so it was a good thing)! We should know in a few weeks if it tells the doctors anything about why he has hearing impairment/vision impairment/delayed gross motor skills (though whether he actually has delayed gross motor skills is debatable in my mind). However, I did find out that they are NOT running the test Owen's ENT doctor wanted, so we'll have to go through his office so they can run a separate test. I will see if they can do bloodwork for that when he has his next surgery. He has to go next week to have new tubes put in and have his adenoids removed. Owen has had one ear infection after another since he had his tubes put in, which means they are not working and the adenoids are harboring bacteria that keep causing infections. So, the doctor says that new tubes and removing the adenoids should solve the problem. I hope so! I'm sick of ear infections and I can't imagine that any of this is good for his hearing.

So, that's the latest with Owen. Kate is over her bout with a bilateral ear infection and I'm still fighting a sinus infection or something. James is hit or miss... I'm hoping that by spring, we'll all be well and ready to enjoy the better weather!

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana, The Final Chapter

When I came home from school, at the door to greet me was my loving wife. Nana said that when she waved good-by to all of them this morning there was a cry (or two) in her eye.
We looked at each other and now know what it is really like to be Grandparents. As I walked into our home it hit my how quiet it was, no patter of Katherine running around chatting and singing, no plopping of Owen as he crawls (no I never got him to walk). All the pans are put away, all the toys back place. They are on the way to Knoxville.

I hope you have enjoyed our adventure as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I will end the Adventures of Grandfather and Nana with the following short poems.

GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents bestow upon their grandchildren

The strength and wisdom that time

And experience have given them.

Grandchildren bless their Grandparents

With a youthful vitality and innocence

That help them stay young at heart forever.

Together they create a chain of love

Linking the past with the future.

The chain may lengthen,

But it will never part...

~Author Unknown~

GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents are special people

with wisdom and pride.

They are always offering love and kindness

and are always there to guide.

They often make you feel

so confident and strong.

Their arms are always open

no matter what you did wrong.

They try to help out

in every way that they can.

They love all their grandchildren

the same whether you're a child, woman or man.

They are always there to listen

and to lend a helping hand.

They show you respect

and they try to understand.

They give their love, devotion and so much

more,that's easy to see.

Grandparents,

what perfect examples

of the kind of person that we should be.

~By Stacy Smith~

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 9

James and Ang arrived safely back about 9:00 this morning. They well spend the night tonight and head back to Knoxville in the morning. Needless to say the children were thrilled to see mommy and daddy. It has been wonderful being together. One of the things Nana and Katherine didn’t get to do was make a pie. They did that this afternoon. This afternoon James, Ang, Katherine and grandfather went to the park to fly a kite. Katherine had fun doing that and sliding and swinging. Katherine is asleep and they just put Owen to bed. Well tomorrow they will head home.

Almost home...

So we've made it as far as North Carolina on our journey home. We were too tired after the red-eye flight from San Francisco to RDU to make the drive to Knoxville today.

To give an update on the rest of our trip, James and I had a lovely time exploring the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County on Wednesday on our way to Sonoma. That day we saw Lands End, Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, and the San Andreas Fault zone of Olema Valley. We stayed two nights in Sonoma and enjoyed visiting a few wineries in the Sonoma Valley with complimentary tastings from our inn. Sonoma is very charming and the valley is very beautiful and rural dotted with vineyards. We drove through Napa valley on our way to Berkeley and bummed around in Berkeley for a while on Saturday then decided to drive south down the coast before we had to be at the airport that night.

We had a great time and loved every part of the Bay Area that we got to see. We are so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to make this trip (thanks to ORNL!) and to the Hemricks for taking such good care of Kate and Owen while we were gone. We had a great time but really started missing the kids after a few days. It helped to know they were having a great time with their grandparents and getting to visit with GG and their cousins. Now if we can all make it through the re-programming process...

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 8

Well, Owen slept until 4:00, but then went back to sleep until about 6:00. He got up at 6:30 and Katherine at 7:00. Last night I let Owen climb the step. Oh what a hit that has been (sorry Ang). Not sure what we are going to do today, but it will be fun. For breakfast Grandfather did not experiment. Owen had oatmeal (beige color) apple sauce. Katherine had yogurt and pop tarts. After breakfast Laura and Katherine went to the doctor (hold tight Ang it was for Laura.) She has had a reaction to something and is itching like mad. She has broken out in a rash, could it be stress from having grandchildren here…… While they were gone Owen and I vacuumed the house. Late morning we loaded up and headed to the mall. Katherine got to ride the carrousel with Nana. Owen and I cruised the mall. We had a great snack of hot soft pretzel (Yes, Ang we took the salt off). Katherine said she had never had one of these before. On the way home stopped at Mickey Ds and got a Happy Meal. This afternoon we played. Owen is getting good and quick at climbing the steps. We are still working on his walking, not there yet. They were playing with a balloon when Katherine held it over Owen’s head and his hair stood straight out. Of course she giggled when Nana did it to her. Late this afternoon Katherine and Grandfather went to church. Because Owen was so restless last week, Nana decided to keep him at home with her. At church Katherine learned that “Jesus will always forgive us, no matter what we do”, based on The Lost Son, Luke 15: 11-32. After church Katherine and I stopped by the statutes of “Join the Parade” on the Town Hall campus. This grouping depicts three boys and three girls playing instruments. This artwork commemorates the importance of Cary's Band in the history of the town. The first child with cymbals was donated by Fidelity Bank and honors mayor Koka Booth for this long time support of band activities. Other figures were made possible by proceeds from Cary Visual Art's first Art Ball. Everyone is wind up with excitement that Mommy and Daddy are coming home tomorrow, well not Nana and Grandfather. It has been a tiring week for us, but one of the most exciting. We have had so much fun with our grandchildren. Hope we will soon be able to do this more often.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 7

So why did Owen have green oatmeal at breakfast? Read on. Owen made up of the good nights sleep he got Wednesday night. He was restless all night last night. He slept off and on until about 6:00. Katherine got up about 7:30. Thank goodness I am off from school today. For breakfast Katherine had a pop tart, muffin, milk and puffs. For Owens’ first breakfast he had plain oatmeal, fruit and puffs. Grandfather fixed green oatmeal and toast for his breakfast. Owen couldn’t pass that up. Katherine and Nana declined grandfathers offer to share. Nana had a granola bar. About mid morning we drove to Graham (about 40 miles west of Cary) to visit my mother, sister and brother-in-law. Had a great time, both children slept up and back. Got home about 2:30. Didn’t do much the rest of the day. No popcorn tonight. Katherine is in bed and Laura is trying to get Owen to sleep, but he is fighting it. Well tomorrow will be our last full day with the grandchildren before James and Ang return early Sunday morning. What a great experience this has been for us.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 6

There was good news and bad news last night. The good news is that Owen slept until about 6:30. The bad news is that Nana and Grandfather woke up wide awake at 5:00. Katherine slept until after 7:00. They got outside for a while today. We have a small walking path in our yard that James and his cousin Tanya built and lined with large rocks where we moved in 22 years ago. Katherine loves to walk on it. While outside Nana, Owen and Katherine cut some flower for the table. She thought they were beauuuuuuutiful. Busy afternoon, Mrs. Dorothy stopped over for a visit. While she was here my niece Robin, with her two children Frankie and Shelly Jane came for a visit and supper. Frankie is six and Shelly Jane is two. They live in Pittsboro about 20 miles from here. It is always fun to have her and the family over. It was especially nice since the grandchildren were here. I had brought pizzas from ZPizza for supper with them. After supper Grandfather had an audience of 6 to watch him make popcorn. He had it popping all over the kitchen. James forget that microwave stuff you have, it is history since you daughter has experience Grandfather’s popcorn. I would like to make a note here that I make popcorn very much the same way my father, Katherine’s great grandfather made it years ago, even put the popped corn in an old paper grocery bag .After everyone had left and we cleaned up a bit we loaded up and went to the grocery store. Now Owen is trying to go to sleep and Katherine and I are watching the Duke game. Trying to make her a Dukie, not going to happen she is a Vol.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 5

The fun, excitement and new adventures continue. We were asked by some friends this evening if we were getting enough sleep. We said old folks don’t need a lot of sleep. Well it was another day with Nana while Grandfather went to school to be with his 175 students. The children got up about 7:00. The day started with a gourmet breakfast of Nana’s homemade muffins from a box. This followed by a delightful lightly toast Cheese Americaica sandwich, a gourmet Granola bar (the best of Sams) and special selection of a choice banana. The aforementioned muffins were prepared by the dynamic duo of Nana and Kate. They stayed busy rest of the morning with a variety of cultural enriching experience for Owen and Katherine consisting of the old standby crafts, puzzles, blocks, game. Katherine started working on her addition flash cards. For lunch today the menu was leftover tomato soup. Owen had ravioli and peaches. After an afternoon nap Nana loaded the children up to met Grandfather at ESC (Employment Security Commission) where we changed drivers and grandfather brought the children home while Laura had a scheduled appointment at the ESC. The highlight of the entire day was dinner at Chick Fil A. Davis Drive Elementary was having a fund raiser there tonight. Owen and Katherine got to met several of my students and their families. Now home relaxing and the grandchildren will soon be headed to bed.

Rainy Wanderings in San Francisco

On Monday and Tuesday I wandered around the city while James was in meetings. I was a little nervous about venturing out on my own, but once I got out there, I was fine. Monday I set out on foot to explore the nearby neighborhoods of Nob Hill and Russian Hill. I walked over Nob Hill, checking out Grace Cathedral and the Cable Car museum along the way. I then hoofed (more like huffed and puffed) over Russian Hill. This was probably my favorite part of the city with awesome views of the bay and streets that ended in stairways through lush gardens. Here I saw Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world", which is a block of incredibly tight switchbacks. I've never seen anything like it, not even in Europe, and people were actually driving it! I then milled around a little at Fisherman's Wharf and the Maritime Park, got a hot cocoa at Ghirardelli Square, and then headed back toward the hotel on the famous Cable Car. The Cable Car system is truly amazing (each line is one continuously moving cable that the car drivers "grip" onto in order to move). After a short break back at the hotel, I then headed to the SF Museum of Modern Art for a little cultre. This was a nice museum and a good way to kill some time out of the rain. James and I then ventured out for dinner and ended up at a small French restaurant where we sat at the bar and enjoyed a great conversation with the Italian bar tender and a local couple (a political science professor and an audiologist). It was a nice leisurely end to the day.

Tuesday was a little more rainy and I was glad for my decision to utilize public transportation (though this by no means kept me from getting WET!). I headed out in the morning to the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. The museum was incredible - both the architecture and the collections. The 9-story observation tower offered great views of the city. I also got to see a little of Golden Gate Park and the Lower Haight and Inner Sunset neighborhoods while riding the Muni. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time at de Young, but had tickets to Alcatraz in the afternoon, and I had to get across town, so pulled myself away and headed back to the Piers. What a nasty, wet afternoon! I got sick of listening to the tourists complaining about the rain... But, Alcatraz was interesting and I enjoyed getting to spend some time talking with a woman who had lived on 'the rock' growing up (her father was assistant warden during the famed escape and she had written a book about it). We had the incredibly good fortune of finding out that Milk was showing this week at the historic Castro theater in the Castro district (where the story happened!), so we headed that way for dinner and a showing of the movie. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Today we're heading out of the City to Sonoma. We're planning on hitting some natural areas along the coast on the way and I'm really looking forward to enjoying the scenery and taking in the Golden Gate! I don't think I have many good pictures as it's been very gray the past few days, but I'll go through them tonight and post a few. The sun is shining now and I hope it sticks around, though at least it's not supposed to rain any more.

What a great trip so far!

Farewell San Francisco

I've had a great time in San Francisco the past few days. So much fun, I've been too tired to blog about it, and it will have to wait another day. It's been great exploring the city, but I'm sore and I'll be glad to sit in a car tomorrow! Who am I kidding - James will have me out hiking the first chance he gets... We're heading to Sonoma and there are a few parks on the coast along the way. Stay tuned!

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 4

Another exciting day for Nana. Owen coughed a lot during the night, not sure why unless it was post-nasal drip. When Laura picked him up he was fine. Of course we had the case of the rolling poop. While his diaper was being changed during the night a large piece of solid poop was left on the bed. It was immediately found and properly disposed of. Owen and Katherine got up about 6:30 ready for another day of adventure and excitement with Nana and Grandfather. Made cookies, did crafts from craft book. They worked on a really hard puzzle. They only took short naps today. Owen and Katherine play so well together. He stands and walks up and down the side of couch and tickles Katherine who is lying on the couch. Then they fall down together laughing and roll on the floor. I keep trying to get him to walk over to me. No luck yet, but still working on it, have high hopes to accomplish this before Sunday. While Katherine was coloring Owen was trying to put the crayons back in the box. I put up my portable white board for Katherine and lowered it as low as it would go. For supper it was a mixture. Nana and Grandfather had homemade White Chili, Katherine, Tomato Soup and fruit, and Owen had Beef and Tomato Ravioli, apple sauce and peaches. As I write this part (5:00 pm) Owen is sitting with me looking at the screen editing my writing. He took a dim few of the rolling poop part. As the evening winds down I had a meeting so the children had more fun with Nana. The evening ended with baths, story time and prayers.

Adventure of Grandfather and Nana Day 3

Reveille was sounded at 3:00 this morning. Owen was ready to get up. Actually he had a wet diaper. He was in no hurry to go back to sleep. I think it was about 5:00 when he finally went back to sleep. He got back up at 7:00 and Katherine shortly there after. Since I worked today Nana had the children all to herself, which she did not mind one bit. Nana got out her Shirley Temple dolls and her Barbie dolls. In Katherine’s word “They are beautiful.” So Nana and Katherine played dolls while Owen entertained himself. He found, with Nana’s help some of James’ old toys, a wooden boat and some of his old cars. Grandfather had a very pleasant surprise. Katherine and Owen had made him a card. For supper we had meat loaf (not high on Katherine’s list), mashed potatoes, green beans and meat balls and macaroni shells. After supper Katherine told Nana how to make popcorn. Then she instructed Grandfather in how to make it. It turned out deeeeeelious. Grandfather and Owen played with beads while Nana and Katherine play games like Candy Land. Owen has just gone to bed. Nana is working with Katherine on her first words flash cards. Soon she will be headed to bed. Hope we don’t have an early reveille. That’s it for day 3.

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 2

I started the day by not picking up Owen. I am hoping that he will attach to Nana today since I will be at work Mon – Thur. It seems to have worked. I have held him off and on today, but he does not mind Nana holding him. What a day we have had. They played together so wonderfully this morning. In late morning we went to Target to pick up a few things. Then we thought we would go to the flea market (not you typical flea market) at the fairgrounds and get some popcorn from Uncle Fran (our good friend) who was working the Kiwanis popcorn booth. I don’t know what all was going on today but we could not find a parking place, so I promised Katherine I would make popcorn this evening. We stopped by North Cary Park (about 3 blocks from our home) for a while. Owen swung and watched the others. Later in afternoon Katherine and I went to watch the Super Skipper in a mock competition. This is a group of jumper ropers at our Y. Many of the jumpers are current student or former student I have had at school. Even I continue to be amazed at some of the moves they have. Katherine was equally impressed. If you have never seen serious jump rope competition you have missed something amazing. While we were there Owen and Nana stayed home and played. Again the kitchen was on the top of Owen’s list. Came home had supper. Then the main event of the evening Grandfather’s popcorn. First thing I learned is my granddaughter does not know what unpopped popcorn looks like. Then it was amazing magic to put those little corn kennels in a pot with a little peanut oil and suddenly white puffy popcorn appears. Add salt (yes Ang salt.) I think Katherine now wants popcorn every night. The children are soon heading to bed. With that ends day 2 of the great adventure.

Our first rainy day in San Francisco

We arrived in San Francisco last night and after a harrowing cab ride to our hotel (there were several cars and buses I'm still not sure how we avoided), we set out to get some dinner. After doing a little aimless walking, we settled on a very humble Thai place and had some great food. We then walked around Chinatown for a while and had fun exploring some of the shops there. Our hotel is directly across the street from the Chinatown gate. We did a pretty good job staying up late to try to switch our internal clocks to Pacific time and made it until 10:00 local time before crashing.

I do miss the kids, but getting to sleep in this morning was great! We had a lazy morning, reading the paper and enjoying some hotel coffee before heading out for some breakfast at the adjacent cafe. We decided to brave the rain and do some walking. We headed through Chinatown to the North Beach neighborhood. This neighborhood was home to the beat poets and has streets like Jack Kerouac Alley and Via Ferlinghetti and is now a pretty seedy area home to many cabarets and strip clubs. We spent some time in the City Lights Bookstore, owned by Ferlinghetti and one of the most political bookstores I've ever been in (with political viewpoints expressed on handmade signs in the windows). We then headed to the Embarcadero and the Piers for a little bit of tourist indulgence. We strolled around Pier 39 and saw the infamous sea lions before hopping on the trolley to dry out a little (drool a lot) at the Ferry Building. Olive oil, wine, salami, cheese, chocolate, gelato, fresh seafod - these are all wares in the quaint shops located in the Ferry Building. We purchased a few wares to enjoy for dinner and then headed back to the hotel. We are now drying out with some coffee and internet time.

I'm pretty much on my own for the next two days while James attends his conference. The weather is calling for rain those days, so I may hit a few museums and maybe do a little shopping. I think I'll also try to see Alcatraz before we head to Sonoma on Wednesday.

Here are a few pics from today. Nothing great, due to the rain and neglecting the settings (oops)...

Sunday is starting off nicely

So far the hit has been baked muffin beads. Nana, Katherine and Owen have sat in the kitchen floor making muffin beads. They are an old bead necklaces place in a muffin pan and Katherine said they should be baked at 300 for 6 minutes. Don’t think we will do that. No doubt the favorite room is Nana’s kitchen. We have learned that he only wants Grandfather to hold him. At church on Saturday evening Katherine was fine, but Owen did want anything to do with anyone but Grandfather. For supper we had mac and cheese, apple sauce and hot dogs. Baths were not a happy story, but the evening ended will with them going to sleep with little trouble. Everyone slept well last night especially Grandfather and Nana, this is exhausting fun. Breakfast is just over. Owen eat a bowl of oatmeal, banana, and part of a muffin. Katherine loves you cereal straws. Right now I am on the computer, Nana is reading the paper, Katherine is watching the TV and Owen is playing quietly on the floor. Not sure what the plans for the day are, my go to the park. I think we are going to Target.

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana

Hello it is Grandfather Hemrick, guest blogger this week. James, Angela, Katherine and Owen arrived last night and this morning I took James and Angela to the RDU the airport here. James has a conference the first part of the week in San Francesco then they are going to relax a couple of day. Grandfather and Nana’s task is to fulfill our right and spoil our grandchildren. When James and Angela return they can “re-program” their children. In the mean time I will be make entries during the week on this unique experience for us. We have never had two young children in our home at the same time for a week, even with their parents. So stay tuned as the “Adventures of Grandfather and Nana” plays out. Right now Katherine (yes it is grandfather’s right to call her Katherine) is working on a puzzle and Owen and Nana are playing together.

25 Random Things About Kate

If you've been on Facebook lately, then you've most likely read at least one list of 25 random things about someone. I've actually enjoyed reading these lists and other people must enjoy them too, since they're everywhere! So, I thought I'd do a series of posts here and make a list for each of the kids. I think I'll post James' list and my list also in case you're not on Facebook (in which case, you should try it out!). Some of you might not care and you're welcome to skip this series, but I thought at least a few of you might enjoy reading them. I'll post them one at a time starting with Kate. Enjoy!

25 Random Things About Kate

1. The girl has some hair! But it wasn’t always like that. She was born with hair, but not lots and it took a long time to grow. And it’s shiny, thick dark hair that you would not expect to see on a three-year-old. One day it will be gorgeous, but right now it tends to look like a mop that she will neither let me put up nor cut (as she wants it to be long like Ariel’s…) - daddy wants it to be long also, but does not have to deal with it on a daily basis.

2. She loves to sing. She sings while she’s doing puzzles and things that require concentration. Her favorite music right now, of course, is the Disney princess sing-along CD.

3. She doesn’t like to be in social situations. Especially birthday parties. She does ok, but it takes her a while to warm up (if she ever does).

4. She bites her fingernails. I’ve never known a three-year-old to bite their fingernails, but she does.

5. Her favorite color was orange for the longest time. Now it’s purple, or blue, depending on her mood.

6. She loves to swing.

7. She HATES bounce houses. She was so nervous after a birthday party at Pump-it-Up last year that she threw up as soon as she got home.

8. She has two imaginary friends named Beya and Bechet. They often get buckled in the seatbelts of the car and have to be hushed at bedtime for keeping Kate awake (this is usually Beya, the troublemaker). I think Bechet is a boy.

9. She runs to her room to wave to us as we leave the house and she gets upset if we don’t wave back.

10. She has a memory like nothing I’ve ever seen.

11. She always knows what she’s talking about. We’ve learned not to doubt anything she says.

12. She will argue about things that are blatantly wrong, like what letter something starts with.

13. She can direct you to most places in Knoxville that we visit on a regular basis.

14. She is very afraid of people dressed up in mascot costumes or other costumes where the person is completely covered up.

15. She is the best big sister we could have hoped for Owen. She loves to play with him, sing to him when he’s going to sleep, keep him out of trouble, bring me his hearing aids/glasses after he pulls them off, and sign to him (sometimes she even makes up her own signs).

16. She thinks her best friends are the older girls she adores but never even hangs out with.

17. She has very good grammar and diction for a three-year-old, though not perfect. She replaces ‘v’ with ‘b’ and ‘th’ with ‘f’. She is getting better about ‘l’ but sometimes it sounds like ‘w’. This is confusing her as she tries to sound out the beginning letters of words.

18. Besides when she was sick, she hasn’t taken an afternoon nap for a few weeks now.

19. When she was a baby, she was very textbook and did everything like clockwork. I could tell you within two minutes when she would go down for a nap or wake up. If you weren’t home at those times for her to nap – well, let’s just say after a few times of trying to do something else at naptime, I always made it a point to be home.

20. I thought she was going to be the world’s biggest tomboy until this year. Now, she has fun with the boys in her MDO class, but enjoys opportunities to play with the girls in the other classes (especially the four-year-olds). She probably will never be a girly girl, but she enjoys being a girl.

21. When she was born, she looked exactly, scarily, like James. My mom called her “Mini Me”.

22. She almost never gets sick and when she does it’s not for long (except that as I write this she’s been sick for four days…).

23. She lets he grandfather call her Katherine, though she’s told me she prefers Kate. We also call her KitKat, Kato, Kato Potato, and Katie Mae. James calls here Silicate (silly Kate).

24. Her middle name is Mae after my great aunt Mae Coley Wren, one of the sweetest and sharpest southern ladies you’d ever meet.

25. She is Daddy’s girl, but prefers Mommy to read bedtime stories and say good night prayers.

Owen's first haircut

I finally decided Owen's hair was too shaggy and needed a trim. It was hanging over his collar and ears and I called it "old man hair". He looks 100 times better and I did a decent job. I've cut hair, but I had only either cut James's hair with clippers or trimmed girls' hair with scissors. I had never cut a boy's hair with scissors close to the head. I don't think I did too bad a job and I only butchered one side behind the ears. Oh well. You get what you pay for! It definitely improved his look. He's so cute! I know I'm partial, but I think he's so handsome and I must confess I didn't want to cover up his cute face with glasses, but now I think the glasses make him even more handsome! Take a look.

Ooops!

Bleck...

Okay, neither Angela and I have posted for a long time. We have been fighting the various sicknesses going around since Christmas, but I think we are finally about all well or at least on the mend. I was sick a lot of Christmas through New Years. Owen has had two ear infections (he is averaging one a month since he got his tubes...what is up with that). Kate has been sick a couple times, but somehow only remains sick for 24 hours (maybe it is those Coley/Wagoner horse genes I hear about). Now Angela is finally getting over a sinus infection (she actually went to the doctor this week, so I know it was serious). This week we had the joy of Angela with a sinus infection, Owen with an ear infection, and Kate with a 100 degree fever. I hope everyone is better this weekend or I am quarantining the house and moving to a hotel.
In brighter news we have been having a rash of snow in Knoxville (multiple snow storms and accumulation of over an inch over the last month qualifies for a rash of snow in East TN). I have posted a couple cell phone pictures Angela took and a picture from my office window. Lots of school was missed, but no work.