Merry Day After Christmas!

I got a new camera for Christmas from my parents.  Can you tell?

Dashing Through the Snow

Davis and Bailey enjoyed a jam packed weekend with the Burns family while Scott and I got together with our team for a covenant seminar in Memphis.  These pictures are of Clyde and Georgine's life talk Christmas party.  As you can see Clyde and Bailey are a little sweet on each other.

Vacation for 4? Yes, please.

Monday through Wednesday we were happily on top of a mountain in Tennessee courtesy of Ed and Sharon Ditto.  We hiked Fall Creek Falls, read books, played games, made s'mores ("How can I have some more if I've never had any to begin with?"--Sandlot), played with Gizmo and Macaroni, lit some fires and in general relaxed and got away from it all.  Thanks Dittos!

P.S.  I am so sore from walking down to the bottom of the falls!  So much for beating Leslie Coffey at hill walking.

If You Can Hum It, You Can Strum It and Get Along Little Cowboy/Cowgirl

This weekend has been filled with dinner invitations and other forms of entertainment provided by our Central church family.  Thursday night we were the guinea pigs of Julia Wright and enjoyed the wonderful dishes she whipped up.  Davis and Bailey entertained and were entertained by the Wright's grandson Kai.  Friday night we drove over the river and through the woods to Tim and Jimi Johnson's log cabin where we joined them and the Greenleaf duo for a night of Irish music.  Davis and Scott picked up the Courting Dulcimer fairly easily and we got to borrow a dulcimer for more practice at home.  This afternoon Tim and Paula Lewis treated us to horse riding courtesy of Scout the blue eyed American Saddlebred.  I think the barn cats made quite an impression too.  Scott and Bailey got into a little canter with their horses.  I'm not sure who was most surprised by that event.  This evening the Wisehart's fed us some great French dips and pasta salad.  Loren's grandmother is a prolific quilter so Carrie treated me to a trunk show of her creations.  The showstopper:  embroidered blocks of all 50 states including the year they joined the union, state flower and state bird surrounding an embroidered map of the continental U.S. delineating the state capitols.  Whew, I'm tired just writing about it.

It's All Gaelic To Me

Listening to Gaelic CDs tonight in our car, we were instructed to repeat after James:

James:  Hallo.  Is mise Seumas.  (Hello.  I'm James.)
Catriona:  Madainn mhath, a Sheumais.  (Good morning, James.)
                Is mise Catriona.  (I'm Catriona.)
James:  Ciamar a tha sibh, a Chatriona?  (How are you, Catriona?)
Catriona:  Tha gu math, tapadh leibh.  (Fine, thank you.)
                Ciamar a tha sibh fhein?  (How are you yourself?)
James:  Gle mhath, tapadh leigh.  (Very well, thanks.)
             Tha i snog an-diugh, nach eil?  (Davis says, "How is your snot doing?)

What Happens In Vegas...

For hire:  Cagey 8 year old prone to fixing card games to make 80 year old men feel better about themselves.  Not much of a poker face, but could charm her way out of sticky situations.  Inquires may be directed to her manager at mommasgonnabeatcheatingoutofyou.com.

Worry--I've got the Fever, He's Got the Cure

I'm not an out loud worrier.  I tend to keep it all inside and then BOOM! it all comes out at once, usually directed at the person closest in proximity to me, namely Scott.  Sunday night however, we studied Matthew 6:25-34 with the young adult ministry at Angel's Island Coffee (shameless plug.)  Of course, who worth their Christian salt hasn't read, "Don't worry, be happy?"  I mean, "Don't worry about all the physical stuff.  God loves you more than the birds and the flowers.  You can't add any more time to your life by worrying.  Grow up and get some faith!  Search for God's kingdom and all that other 'stuff' will come out in the wash.  Concentrate on finding God today and let tomorrow come, tomorrow." (Denise International Version)  For me, the cure comes in the form of giving all my worries to God, one by one if I have to, over and over again.  And when asked by someone else, "Well, what about this and what about that?"  I can with confidence say, "God is faithful and He will provide.  I don't know how and I don't know when but I do know Who."  In fact, later that night while Davis was fast asleep he distinctly and loudly said, "Forget about it, I do this all the time."  Words of a mob boss? Or words of comfort and confirmation?  I choose the latter.

You Don't See That Every Day...

...unless you live in the Huntsville/Madison, Alabama area.  Yes, that is a rocket, which explains the high percentage of engineers who live here.  Grandma and Grandma Betty came to town and we finally made it to the Space Center.  We spent four great hours there learning all about the history of space flight and imagining the projects they have lined up for the future.  Later that day we strolled through historic downtown Huntsville drooling over the beautiful homes.  Huntsville was not burned during the Civil War so some of the houses we see today were built in the early 1800s.  Halloween night brought the Hallelujah party at church and trick-or-treating with friends.  *Costumes courtesy of Grandma's love, skill and sewing machine. 

Club EXTREME Cookout

We had a great time today at Davis' Club EXTREME Cookout in our neighborhood.  We had a handful of neighbors drop by and eat a hot dog or two.  One of our neighbors is a Razorback fan from Jonesboro.  She and Scott felt obliged to call the Hogs.  Another neighbor brought her friends from Tennessee Tech where she and her husband were involved in campus ministry.  They have a 16 month old son.  We hope to visit more with them soon.  Davis and his fellow 6th graders learned a lot about putting themselves out there and serving their neighbors.

The Great Pumpkin (Patch)

Today we braved the elements and trekked out to Tate Farm with our friends, the Benders, to find a great pumpkin or two.  Boy, was it cold!  The kids wrestled in the corn cribs, survived the hay maze, pet the farm animals and took a hay ride.  We took the picnic on over to our house and enjoyed Deanna's wonderful carmel, chocolate apples, yum!  No one lost fingers to frostbite and everyone had a great time.

Road Trip '09

 

Our team had a great time this weekend going to Austin for a training session.  After exchanging Davis and Bailey for Jo in Conway, seven of us crammed in Mom's car early Friday morning and made our way to Austin.  About 8:30 we made a stop at Walmart and then went across the interstate to Starbucks.  5 hours later we were back on the road.  The ladies got to enjoy Juli's baby shower Saturday morning while the men did training with Phil and Mark from MRN.  Sunday allowed us the opportunity to worship with the Brentwood Oaks C of C and devour the awesome fajitas provided by the cooking committee.  We rolled back into Cabot around 12:30 am and the Memphis crew drove on home from there.  Here are a few pictures from the adventure.

Tennis anyone?

Here is Davis in some actions shots from tennis practice today.  The tennis practice in which a summer member of the class revisited.  The one with the reputation that preceded her.  The one I had not encountered until this very day.  The one I had thought mostly harmless.  The one that caused the coach to thank Davis for being so polite, helpful and respectful of adults.  Said young person was acidic in her speech, lazy (sat down and waited for all the other students to pick up ALL the tennis balls), checked her phone several times during practice, complained, made derisive comments about other players (Oh no you did not just say that about my son!) and in general sucked the life and fun out of the lesson for coaches and students.  Bitter you say?  Maybe, but my ire was up in defense of my son and all the others who endured practice.  The flesh in me wanted to grab her, throw her over my checkered apron and give her what she deserved.  The Spirit in me wanted to have compassion on her and give her what she needed to heal the hurt that robbed her of all joy and made her life miserable.  So, after practice I asked Davis if he would be embarrassed if I talked to the coach about this little problem.  He was willing for me to do so and I introduced myself to Coach Zach who is supporting himself with tennis lessons while he is church planting in Huntsville.  "Would it be rude for a parent to ask that a student be kicked out of lessons?"  It seems that this was a last chance moment for her and she had failed the test.  Yes, I feel bad for her and at the same time relieved that lessons will have a more positive atmosphere next week.  Final score:  Flesh 1, Spirit 0.