Bedtime stories

It happens the same way everynight...after dinner is bath, teeth brushing, and then every child picks one book. We never know what will be the choice for T & E but to be sure, the choice for TC is either Bob the Builder or a book about trains. Jason is so patient as the kids jockey for position and comment about every other word, all while TC climbs all over everyone. While I'm in the other room, periodically I hear Jason say, "Lay down" or "quit fighting", but for the most part the kids listen intently, all the while snuggled next to each other. I hope the kids remember this because I don't remember being read to as a child. I hope I remember this as it is a pretty endearing sight to see three little munchkins squeezed next to their big trunk of a daddy as he puts on his character voices for his sweeties.

Dancing Princess

Emma's first dance recital was a BIG deal. I just knew I would bawl through the whole thing but I was so busy getting the perfect shot (127 shots to be exact), that I distracted myself from the tears. She was the prettiest one on stage and hit every mark. She did't suck her thumb, or stare into the audience, or act even a little anxious. She just marched right out on stage and danced her little slippers off.

After the recital, she got flowers, which she thought was pretty cool

The Dean's and the Gattis' met at Duke's for the after recital party. The cake and cupcakes were a big hit

Emma received her first ever trophy from her friend Chapman Burkhart. The plaque was inscribed "to my friend Emma, love Chapman". What a perfect day for a dancing princess.

Sweet Dreams

They fell asleep holding hands...

Chicken Feet

Emma walked into the kitchen with her princess gloves on...and announced "Chicken Feet!"

Catching Rainbows

My kids and I are a sucker for a rainbow. The fact that I can catch it on film makes me giddy!

Crow's Nest Farm

Tatum and I went on our first ever field trip together, along with all the other kindergarteners. We rode the bus to Crow's Nest Farm and saw some of the coolest creatures we've ever seen outside of a book. We had a picnic on the grounds while a peacock strutted around looking for crumbs. There was every kind of owl, turtle, and chicken we knew of along with ostriches, emus, goats, pigs, cows, and donkeys. Did you know that an ostrich must sit on its eggs for 50 hours before they hatch? Did you know it takes 15 minutes to milk a cow by hand but only 2 minutes to milk her mechanically? Did you know that artichokes look like giant thistles when they bloom? Did you know Emus growl? Neither did we!

Why I Am Better Than You

I'm reading Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller, and I came across something that really struck me. In the book he mentions that morality for the sake of being good wasn't a good enough reason for him and he wanted to know the reason for morality, a reason stronger than right is right and wrong is wrong. I'm going to skip around a bit, but I hope his point is clear.
"Somehow, and for some reason, each of us subscribes to a kind of morality, and though for some this code is not defined, it is understood and adhered to. Grievances, then, are disagreements in the moral code....The truth is, we all want morality. We know morals will make us better people, and we even feel a kind of nobility when we subscribe to and defend a code."
He takes awhile to come to the point that he believes that morals are God's way of protecting us and He has instilled in us the idea of morality to help us travel through a fallen world with spiritual enemies that are roaming about like lions...because He loves us. It is all about relationship, God showing us that He loves us. Miller points out that "a god who says everybody can do as they please would be a bad god, a bad father, giving license for anarchy. Love creates rules, and forgives when they are broken. People would hurt themselves if they did anything they wanted. People do hurt themselves and others all the time by neglecting laws a rules...The hijacking of the concept of morality began, of course, when we reduced Scripture to formula and a love story to theology, and finally morality to rules. It is a very different thing to break a rule than it is to cheat on a lover. A person's mind can do all sorts of things his heart would never let him do. If we think of God's grace as a technicality, a theological precept, we can disobey without the slightest feeling of guilt, but if we think of God's grace as a relational invitation, an outreach of love, we are pretty much jerks for belittling the gesture...When I run a stop sign, for example, I am breaking a law against a system of rules, but if I cheat on my wife, I have broken a law against a person. The first is impersonal; the latter is intensely personal"