Winter 2014

This has been an eventful winter.  Along with Joe's broken leg we have had some pretty crazy weather around here.  Our usual mild Georgia winter took a much harsher turn this year.  We had some seriously cold, snowy, icy, wet, gloomy days!  We had a beautiful snow the end of January.  We got several inches overnight, so the kids got to wake up to a winter wonderland.  How fun it was to see their excitement!  Kate was really into it...the boys were a little more hesitant.  Then about two weeks later, ice-a-palooza hit...or ice-pocalypse...take your pick.  In all my 34 years I have never experienced such a storm.  Nonetheless, we have somehow managed to survive Winter 2014, broken leg and all, and are here to tell about it :)  Here are a few photos taken along the way:

Ready for bed!

This was the evening before the snow began falling...we had been waiting at the windows all day for the snow to start.  It finally started falling shortly after everyone went down for bed.

The boys weren't so sure about it the next morning...Kate was off to the side making snow angels.  They couldn't quite figure it out ;)

View from our back deck

Going sledding!

This was just a few weeks after Joe broke his leg.  He wasn't too happy to not be able to play in the snow with everyone :(

Fun with neighbors!

Casey in the snow

Kate and Ansley

Sweet sisters!  Emily and Morgan

Joe pulling me, Matthew, and Kate on our 'sled'

 

Will & Kate loved it

Joshua, Will, & Kate making snow angels

Sweet girl

I think I must have put on and taken off boots, coats, hats, and gloves about 47 times that day! ;)  It was well worth it...so glad they got to experience this fun snow day.

Oh how I love these 3!  Out on a walk in the neighborhood 

We celebrated Grandmama's birthday

They have fun together ;)

Kate strapped "Rachel" into the car seat next to her and was so proud of herself ;)  She says she wants to be a Mommy when she grows up...she's going to make a great one.

We went to visit Greer and Mary Harper one afternoon.  They were kind enough to share their snacks with us!  

Friday night movie night!  

Baking and decorating cookies with Kate and Matthew:

The next few photos are from ice-pocalypse.  It hit on my birthday...34 is surely one I won't forget!  We woke up that morning to ice pouring down from the sky.  A few short hours later, we lost power.  And we didn't get it back for THREE. WHOLE. DAYS.  This was quite the experience.  It's one thing to lose power when it's just the two of us...it's another thing with two 2-yr olds and a 4-yr old.  The house got quite testy...and COLD...by the 2nd and 3rd day.  The kids were fussy...well, we were ALL fussy. lol  Luckily Joe had a generator we were able to use, so that helped some, thankfully.  I had never really experienced anything quite like this before...and hope I don't again for quite some time!  

This is NOT snow.  Ice.

Tall trees in our front yard bent over from the weight of the ice.  This is what created the biggest problem for the whole city.  Trees could not hold the weight of the ice...so they were snapping and falling everywhere.  As I'm writing this tonight there is still storm debris all over the city.  It has resembled a war zone around here this past month.  

We went over to Kelly and Billy's the first night since they fortunately still had power.  We ate dinner and bathed the kids, then they were able to snuggle up and watch "Jungle Book" for a little while.  We headed back home later on; then shortly after Kelly and Billy lost power too.  

Thank goodness for battery-operated toys!  They snuggled up in Joshua's bed the next day and played with the Leap Pads.

These are a few shots from Kate's Valentine's Day Party at school.  The party was cancelled due to the ice storm, so they re-scheduled it for the next week.  They had an ice cream party :)

Kate's sweet friend Hadley

Playing "stack the hearts"  

They made these cute "glasses" out of pipe-cleaners

Playing "musical hearts"

On a much warmer day!  Two sweet girls...Kate and Mary Harper

Jessica and I took Kate and Hadley to see "Beauty and the Beast" at the Bell downtown.  We had such a fun time!

Sweetness...

Love getting to do fun things with her.

They both crashed on the way home...precious.

And the St. Patrick's Day Parade at FBC...such a fun tradition!

Matthew, John, and Anna Grace

This was Kate's second year marching in the parade...I will miss this when they aren't there anymore!

And last but not least:

Sweet Lindsay bought this too cute Minnie suit for Kate.  She still has no idea, but in just a few short weeks, Joe and I are taking her to Disney for the first time.  We are so excited!

Well, Happy 2014!

Well, once again we started off the new year with a bang.  I am reminded of January three years ago...January 5, to be exact...when we found out we were expecting twins.  This year, Joe decided we needed a little extra action around here.  I'll just start by telling the story, plain and simple.

I was at work Friday morning, January 3.  When I left that morning, Joe had told me he was going into the woods for a few hours before work with our good friend and neighbor, Hugh, to collect some deer stands they had left behind this hunting season.  They had been logging the land where they hunt and they wanted to get all their gear out of there.  I got a call on my cell phone around 12 noon from Joe.  He told me he hated to interrupt me at work, but he was "kind of in the middle of an emergency, here."  I walked to the back of the pharmacy and tried to stay calm while he proceeded to tell me he was laying in the woods waiting on the ambulance to get there...I could hear sirens in the background...and that he was pretty sure he had broken his femur, and was in an excruciating amount of pain.  Wow.  Ok.  I stayed on the phone with him until they got back to him.  They were about a mile into the woods.  

While I was talking to him my phone began ringing off the hook...first Hugh, then Erin (Hugh's wife), then our good friend (and firefighter) Paul Casey, and Paul's sweet wife, Delta.  I went to my co-workers and told them Joe had been in an accident, I wasn't sure how bad things were yet, but I needed to leave...and so I did.  I drove around town for about 15 minutes or so waiting on them to call me to let me know where they were headed before Erin texted me and told me they were air-lifting him to MCG.  Started to panic a little here.  All I knew was his leg was broken...I had no idea if he was bleeding or if there were other injuries...and then I hear those words..."air-lifting."  Ugh.   I sat in the parking lot of First Baptist Church Augusta...the church where we were married...and prayed and prayed so hard that all was going to be ok while I waited to hear which hospital we were going to.  

When he got to MCG he was in a lot of pain.  They did the X-rays and determined his only injury was a broken femur.  Thank you, Lord!  They told us he would need surgery.  We spent 9 long hours in the ER before being moved to a room in the hospital.  They did surgery the following morning to repair his leg.  

Joe wears a safety harness when he uses his climber stands in the woods...basically to prevent falls when he's in the stand.  Ironically enough, to keep him safe.  He was wearing the safety harness when he hopped back on his 4-wheeler that morning to head back out of the woods, since they were done collecting the stands.  He threw the rope to the harness (which was clipped to his pants) around his neck and got back on the 4-wheeler and began to push the gas to leave.  Somehow the rope had fallen back onto the ground and had gotten caught up in the wheel of the 4-wheeler.  When it did this, and Joe pushed the gas, it yanked him off and pulled him to the ground.  It pulled him off with such force that it broke his leg. 

Paul is carrying the stretcher front left.  Awesome, awesome friend.  He wasn't even on duty that day...and was sick with a fever.  And Hugh is in the middle carrying the stretcher on the right.  So thankful these two guys were there with him.  

Nasty break.

This was after they placed the traction pin in the ER.  Apologies if this is a little too graphic!  They looked at me and said, "Do you have a weak stomach?" I asked what they were about to do, and they explained this to me.  I told them I probably better leave the room.  Ironically enough, they said after they put the pin in, he would experience some relief from the pain from the break.  And he said he did.  He stayed in traction for probably about 10 hours, until they did surgery the next morning.  

This is what his leg looks like now, after putting the rod in.

This whole experience has served as such a harsh reminder of how, in the blink of an eye, everything about life can change completely!  I have spent a lot of time on my knees thanking my Heavenly Father that Joe was not injured more seriously, and that all we are facing is a broken leg.  Each day seems to bring a little more healing and mobility for him.  I have also realized how much of a team my husband and I truly are...and how much I take for granted what all he does for me around here!  We have been blessed with some outstanding friends and family who have really been here for us to help out with food, prayers, extra hands with the kids, and sometimes just simply visits and kind thoughts/words.  We are blessed with an amazing support system.  Don't know where I would be without all these fabulous people in my life.  I'm not great with words...you know who you are ;)  

They are telling us to expect 6-8 weeks for recovery.  Please pray that he continues to heal and he will be back to 100% within a few weeks.  This mama needs her teammate back in full swing.