19 Years

What a Hot Junior Prom Date! Today is the first day of spring. It's also an anniversary of sorts. My Beautiful Wife & I have been together for 19 uninterrupted years. A silly anniversary, I know, but I waited ten years to ask her to marry me (lucky she stuck around, eh?). So, this day has meaning to me.

It's Frozen!

Earlier today, I heard Our Youngest crying from the basement, and headed down to see what had happened. I asked him, "What's wrong?" And he sobs out, "It's frozen." I look down to see what happened, and notice Playmobil pieces embedded in the Playdoh they snuck out the day before. "Ahhhhh." And I said, "Well, I guess that's a good reason not to sneak out the Playdoh."

Church

Visited a new church this past Sunday that may turn out to be a fit for us... I grew up with, and feel most comfortable in, a traditional church. That's what I'm used to. Really, it's all I know. So when I attended the service at this new church, I was squirming in my seat a bit. It is a modern church, where the service was praise songs performed by a band for 30 minutes, then an hour-long sermon. That's it; no liturgy, no communion, no Lord's Prayer. However, the pastor is just so absolutely passionate about his message that he really leaves you feeling touched. I truly felt that God was smiling down on him, happy to have such a sincere preacher working for Him. The message was strong, sensible, and empowering. It was uplifting and reaffirming- not scary or demanding in the least. So while this church didn't have the rituals I am used to, it did offer the praise and gratitude I feel toward God. It was a church filled with people who were very honestly happy to be there, who believe God to be One filled with love. And the boys? When we started this quest for a church, HL would hide behind me and he insisted on going to his brother's class so he would know someone in the class. He has slowly gotten better, but is still slow to warm up. This Sunday, however, he walked with trepidation into the room only to have another little boy walk straight up to him, put his arm around him and declare "This is HL and he's my friend!" They quickly headed out to the playground together, big smiles on their faces. As it turns out, there are two little boys from HL's kinder class in there- one of which he is fast becoming good friends with! AW, on the other hand, is not afraid at all. He just strides right in and starts having fun. When I picked him up after the service, he was dancing on one of the tables. Yep, that's my AW. Gotta love him. Anyway, the teacher beamed and told me just how amazing my son is. She said that while they were singing songs, AW was up there singing his heart out, dancing, and carrying on without a care in the world- and he has never heard the songs before. She thoroughly enjoyed having him. Then there's HL's response when I asked how he liked it: "It was the BEST time I've ever had!" And that, my friends, just may be the clincher.

Sand Dollar

My parents just returned from a trip to Port Aransas, TX. With them, they brought several sea shells, sand dollar pieces and beach sand. Today, HL and AW were playing with the sand and shells. HL found a tiny piece of a sand dollar and exclaimed: "Hey look! It's not a sand dollar, it's a sand penny!"