Sweet Friends

Yeah!

Lee made it to Vienna last night and is currently on a plane from Vienna to JFK. The boys and I will pick him up sometime after 11 PM tonight. It will be great to have Daddy back home!

On another note, grass has sprouted! I am very happy since I put a lot of work into it. I have seeded 75% of our yard and figure that I will be done in three more work days. Then, onto fertilizing and working on flower beds.

Yet Another Plan...

The plan has changed again for Lee to try to get home sooner. He is booked on a flight from Brussels to Vienna tomorrow. Then, he will fly from Vienna to JFK to Atlanta to GSP on Thursday. Lee and his boss cannot get on a flight together due to a shortage so seats, so his boss will go to Madrid tomorrow and flight out from there.

The big question will be if Lee's flight to Vienna leaves Brussels. Lee said that most of the flights out of Belgium today were cancelled. Hopefully we'll get to see Daddy soon!

"Change of Plans"

I received this email from Lee this morning:

"Someone cancelled our Rome flight and rebooked us out of Brussels; we're not sure who. I just happened to check the computer this morning. I'm scheduled to fly out Monday, Cassidy Tuesday. They're going to start flying again today in Belgium so it may be okay. We can't get the Rome flight back. "

So, it looks like the earliest Lee will be home is now Monday...

The boys and I are doing well. We have our daily routine down and the boys have been absolute angels while Daddy is gone. However, we miss Daddy and look forward to seeing him soon!

Caleb's European Geography Lesson

I am pretty sure that Caleb understands everything that is happening. He is familiar with Europe from our past trips and understands that Daddy is trying to get home.

I printed a map for him and we talked about how Daddy is going to get home and about the volcano that is causing the problem. When I told Caleb that Daddy arrived safely in Paris tonight, Caleb said, "Yeah!" It was very cute and caught me by surprise. Graysen still thinks that Daddy is at the airport where we left him last Monday.

Lee needs to get to Rome by Wednesday in order to catch a flight to Atlanta on Thursday. He is with his boss, and tomorrow they will start the drive from Paris to Rome. They are going to try and make it as far as they can, and are tentatively planning on stopping in Milan for the night.

Caleb is an absolute angel. He entertains himself outside while I work on the yard project of the day. I told him that he had to be outside in the back today, so he brought out a bin of cars and played for hours at the table. He is such a sweet boy.

Today's project was to seed the "Dustbowl." This project took me longer than I expected. First, Graysen woke up halfway through the project. Managing two boys, one of which is Graysen, while trying to work is much more difficult than just keeping an eye on Caleb.

Second, I came across a black snake two different times!!! The first time it was by the air conditioner and the second time it was under the deck stairs. I screamed for a while. Unfortunately, it was mid-day, so I couldn't beg any of our neighbor's husbands to help me. I was really wishing that Lee was home at this point. I was determined to finish seeding, so I went ahead and seeded even thought the snake was under the stairs most of the time (very close to where I was working).

The "Dustbowl."

As part of ground "prep," I am removing any rocks that I find. Here are a few examples:

My "hand aerating" tool.

Seeded "Dustbowl." (I probably just turned it from a "dustbowl" to an expensive "dustbowl." I used $225 worth of Scotts "EZ Seed" in this area alone.

The boys love spending time outside. Lee and my parents will be glad to hear that the F-150 is getting used every day. Caleb loves to drive it around the cul-de-sac.

Lee's Adventure

It looks like Lee has a bit of an "adventure" ahead of him. Right now, he is booked on a seat out of Rome to the U.S. on Thursday. The travel agency was able to book the flight for him, but it is his job to make it to Rome in time for the flight.

Tomorrow's plan is to rent a car, drive to London, catch a train to Paris, and stay in Paris Monday night. That is the first leg of the journey. He'll figure out the next step tomorrow night.

We miss you!!!

On to my daily update for Lee... The main project for today was to seed the grass area between the two houses. I ran into a frog doing this and, after an initial panic, continued calmly with the job. The next step is to seed the "dustbowl."

P.S. I know that I am putting more pictures of grass than our boys, but they haven't been very photogenic lately. I will try to get some pictures of them tomorrow.

Happy 4th Birthday Emily!

Today we went to Gastonia to celebrate Emily's 4th birthday. The boys had a great time at the party. We have known Emily since before she turned one year old. It is amazing how fast time goes by! Happy Birthday, Emily!

Update on Lee:

Lee was supposed to fly out of Manchester to Brussels today. He showed up at the airport and said that it was deserted. He said that there weren't even people around to answer questions. The earliest that the airport is schedule to open is Monday. He was able to book a seat on a flight out of Manchester to Brussels Monday night. Then, he is booked on a flight from Brussels to the US Tuesday morning. So... If there are no more cancellations, Lee will be home on Tuesday. In the meantime, he is enjoying Manchester.

Here is a picture from Lee's hotel room. He is staying at the Radisson at the Manchester airport. The view from his room is of the tarmac with all of the grounded planes.