Squeaker Beakers

I volunteered at the VBS in Parkersburg for the last three days. The theme was "Power Lab" and there were lots of neat science experiements. I helped with the preschool class, otherwise known as the "Squeaker Beakers."

Do you want to come to my house today to play with legos?
No thanks, I have to go to my house.
Can I come to your house to play with legos? --Noah

My mom is a freak. And my dad is a freak. --Emma

Are you Spiderman?
No, I'm super spinner man. --Joshua

What do you like to do in the summer?
I like to go to my Grandpa Snowman's house [Snowden, I think]. His house is broken, but it's okay he will build a new one. --Kamdon

Summer!

I told Debra I was going to post some pictures yesterday... I didn't. I have come to find that my productivity directly correlates with the temperature inside my apartment. I just turned on the AC, so I'm moving at the speed of light! :)

Summer so far has included baby-waiting with sister Nicole, holding and loving Rhylee, being in and around Des Moines, being around Gilbertville, hours on the phone with friends, helping with VBS in Parkersburg, making curtains for my kitchen, and other less important projects around the apartment.

My next week or so include a vocal concert that one of my students is a part of, Lost Island Waterpark, Mini-Golf, visiting Rhylee and Nicole, seeing friends, and SCRAPBOOKING! YEAH! After that I'm going to spend time grooming a couple of llamas. Which will eventually make their way to one of my favorite places on earth. No, not Disney World. Though that would be AWESOME!

Here is an interesting aerial photo of Gilbertville. Thankfully I was not here when it was this bad. It freaks me out enough as it is.

For reference: the left - right tree line through the middle is the bike trail...
We are looking south. The red dot is where I live. On a hill and on the second floor, thank goodness! The red line is where the bike trail is. It's crazy, the town is fine, but the river more than overflowed the other bank on the other side, and the low-lying areas south of town.

Rhylee Sumner Hauswirth

It's a Boy!

Proud Aunt! He was less than an hour old in this picture.
He sleeps like his mama... mouth open and drooling. She reads this blog... Love ya sis! ;)
Beautiful mother and baby.

Inundated

Photos courtesy of viewers who uploaded them to KWWL .com .I ride my bike right here whenever I hit the trails... Straight ahead, right in the midst of the water, is where the trail runs north and south.

This picture is taken from 3rd Street that runs along the river looking south towards the bridge.
Here's a map of what you're looking at. I live at the green B. The water literally goes all the way to 5th Street south of my hill. It may have gone over the road at some point, it was right on the edge when I left Tuesday morning.

I know it is not much compared to the devastation of other areas. It's so strange though. I drive over that bridge nearly every day.

I'm an Aunt!

Today is a very special day. My little sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! I forgot to bring my camera cord to Des Moines, so I'll have to wait until Sunday to put up a picture.

This week has been full of highs and lows, busy times and slow. A week ago was the first day that I did not go to school at all. I enjoyed several days of cleaning my apartment and working on projects. I feel very overwhelmed by all the natural disasters that have hit my area lately. I am so blessed to not be directly affected, but it is so close to home! I have found a lot of comfort in my new church. I've only been going there for about a month. God definitely knew what I was going to need at this point of my life!

The baby's due date was Saturday, June 7. When he still hadn't arrived by Monday, I decided to go to Ankeny and keep Nicole company. She had been watching a lot of movies since Friday afternoon, so I thought she might like some company while Nate was at work.

I spent time with her Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, and I spent the night on Wednesday. I stayed for quite awhile on Thursday too. We went out to eat, walked around stores, grilled, walked some more, ate ice cream, and watched movies. Lots of waiting, lots of eating. :)

This morning they went to the hospital around 5:30. While I waited for my family to get here and for Nicole to get a hospital room, I went to Panera. I planned to blog while I was there, but I couldn't get the internet to work. I sat out in the sun and read for about an hour. Glorious!

We stopped in to see Nicole a few times throughout the day. It started to get exciting around late afternoon. My parents were in the waiting room down the hall, while the three soon-to-be aunties were outside in the courtyard.

Then Nate called my phone and said that he was born. I could hear him crying over the phone. We were able to see and hold him while he was still less than an hour old. His name is still not official, though they are leaning towards one in particular.

His stats: Born at 4:51 p.m. on Friday, the 13th of June. (Yeah, that'll be one to impress his buds with some day!) He weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. He looked to be about normal length, but I couldn't remember any more numbers.

I'm most impressed with how she handled the delivery. She was so blessed to have a speedy delivery. Nate did a good job too. She seemed very energetic afterwards, though I'm sure both mom and baby will sleep well tonight!

Must see!