Ready, Aim...

Is this picture cute or what!?! Alex passed down two St. Louis Cardinal caps that he had outgrown. He intended one for Graham and one for Elijah. Well, Elijah was interested in other things and the hat got set aside...to be picked up by Isaac. Isaac put it on backwards and proceeded to pick up both of Elijah's Nerf suction cup dart guns and started making a shooting noise. Such a cute age! Well, I guess you can say that today we have done a bit of getting ready for our NIH trip. Woody started out the morning running a couple of errands and then he came back and got me before he went to WalMart. On the way home from WalMart I actually drove. We made a stop at the library. I got a couple of books for the trip. Later in the afternoon, I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up two of my prescriptions...that was the first time that I drove the car with no one else with me. I guess we will eventually get used to it. I think, though, that we will run out of windshield cleaning solution if we don't stop turning that feature on when we shift the car into Park, Reverse, or Drive! We have both customized the driver's seat so when we use our key to open the door the seat and the mirrors will go to where we have set them...if this really works it will be so nice! Nathan and family did a lot for us today. Graham and Nathan took all the aluminum cans out of our garage and took them to the recycle place. We have been collecting aluminum cans for years for the Foreign mission offering that is taken up in Southern Baptist churches at Christmas time...the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Woody's Royal Ambassador boys started this way of "earning" money for this offering many, many years ago. Our house has been the designated drop-off spot for those in our church who participate in recycling cans for Lottie Moon. After they got all the cans out then they moved everything to the front or to the sides of the garage and then Graham swept the garage floor. This gave us room to put our car in the garage...it is quite a tight squeeze...you should have heard all the warning beeps on the car that the car or something was too close to the car...but Woody managed to get it in. This way there won't be frost on the windows when we head off to church early in the morning. The other kids raked the leaves out of our front gardens and then later Nathan blew them to the edge of our yard. Nice to have such thoughtful neighbors. One of the things that I did at WalMart was buy a new suitcase. For years we have used Nathan and Kathy's light-weight suitcases when we go to NIH. These suitcases had seen many places in the U.S. and the world over the years and they had seen better days. So we were in need of a new suitcase to share between the houses and I felt that it was our turn to provide at least one! So we now have a suitcase for me to pack in. I did get the travel neck pillow made last night so that got put in the car this morning. I am sitting here with my fleece jacket on my lap...it needs a bit of mending...another job to get done before the trip. We are now weather watching...that Arctic Freeze that the news is talking about is supposed to reach us. It is supposed to start with rain here and then the temperatures are to plummet and then it will turn to snow and we are supposed to get at least a small accumulation...probably with ice under the snow. The high temperature on Monday is supposed to only be 11 degrees. So probably not a lot of melting will happen. So the question arises then...will roads be negotiable on Tuesday morning! When NIH called about appointments Woody told them we would be there weather permitting...wondering now if the weather is going to permit! Well, off to mend a coat and clear a bed so I can start laying things out that we need to pack. My list of "to takes" is growing. Woody got some snack food when he shopped today...that is always one step closer to being ready to go! Woody did walk four miles this afternoon.