nature in the quiet moments...

I saw this grasshopper during a quiet moment at Vacation Bible School.

the rain in spain...

The rain in Spain may fall gently on the plain...but not here in Texas. This is a pretty ominous looking cloud. We had a pretty severe super cell thunderstorm roll through last night.

We were under a Tornado Warning, so Val and Will took cover in our "bunker." It is our closet. They had story time and cookies.

I on the other hand was watching the storm. We had pretty strong wind and rain and intense hail. Fortunately, the hail was not as big as just a little bit west of here. In Mineral Wells, pretty much anything that was exposed got demolished by tennis to baseball size hail. The report is that all of the skylights at the Walmart were knocked out. Also, every car in the parking lot was totaled. There was also pictures of the hail from Weatherford. The hail was so thick that it looked like it had snowed.

Xtreme Jumping...

Tonight, we took the youth to a great little place in Weatherford called JumpXtreme. It is a great play place for all ages, from toddlers to adults.

We had fun on the see-saw!


Will loved the slides!


Sometimes, we landed on our heads!


Bounce Houses are number one!
psst...Mommy and Daddy, this is where I want to have my birthday party!

Brunch and a nap...

Will actually let us sleep in this morning. It was a great thing. So because we had such a late start, we just had brunch. Val fixed a great breakfast. We had sausage, biscuits, scrambled eggs, mayhaw jelly, and grits. Will really likes his grits!

Later, Will went down for a nap with both Pooh Bear and Braveheart.

hi yo silver, away...

Today was Rodeo Day at Will's school. He went all dressed up in Cousin Sean's cowboy gear. It got here in the mail just in time! Thanks Aunt Julie and Uncle Chris! Here are some pictures.

Will on the saddle.


Will with his Sheriff stars!


Will and Daddy sharing some chips!

Who's gonna ride your wild horses...

I got distracted on my way to see "Aunt" Ella. (She's really Mema's Aunt, so I'm not really sure how to describe my relation to her.) Anyway, Mommy used to have a ton of fun as a kid riding these horses. This was the highlight of her long trip to the grocery store.

Here is all of us with Aunt Ella.

Cookie Monster on Christmas Day...

I became a Cookie Monster over Christmas. I love Mema's tea cakes! I would walk around the house with a cookie in each hand.

Mommy and Daddy and I had a great Christmas in Georgia. You can see what Santa left us behind me. I like my Georgia Bull"puppy" sweatshirt the best!

Peek-a-boo

Where's Daddy and Will?



There they are!

Fun in the Pumpkin Patch...

Here I am in the pumpkin patch. I've picked me out a pumpkin just my size!

Here you go Daddy! Hold my pumpkin.

Oh dear! I'm not sure I can get this one up?!

Mommy and Pooh and Pooh...

Here are Mommy and her little Pooh Bear that she loves to snuggle up with! Oh and look, her little Pooh Bear has a little Pooh Bear of his own!

flashlight fun...

Here are just two shots from my light study project that I captured with my camera last night. The first one is a composite of several shots. The second is just a single shot. I think this "painting with light" technique is pretty fun. You can see some other shots from this set here.

hot rods...

Will found my old pine-wood derby cars from back in my Cub/Boy Scouts days. They just turned up in all of the moving. I'm not sure that Will is totally appreciating the aerodynamic design that Pop and I put into these cars. Check out the air-foil that we put into the wood! Both of these cars were good designs. In fact the near one is an undefeated champion.

saturday alone with daddy...

More cheese please!

Will wasn't really interested in his turkey sandwich. He took it apart and ate just the cheese. In this picture you can see him signing "please."

Now I can reach the top of the sofa!

I used to put the remote control on the top of the sofa so that it would be out of his reach. However, he is a pretty clever little boy. He pushed his firetruck over all by himself and stood on top of it.

Fahrenheit 78 degrees...

Sometimes, it gets kinda warm in my classroom.

green, white and blue...

Here is a picture of our new bedroom. This is called Koi Pond green.

Valerie decided to paint the bathroom. She also left a little bit of graffiti on the wall.

Here is Will's room. It is "Lauren's Surprise" blue. We aren't real sure that we are going to like this color.

welcome home...

Well, as of 2 pm today, Valerie and I are officially homeowners for the first time. It is kinda exciting. It kinda hasn't really struck me yet. It kinda is going to be a lot of work here for the next 2 weeks (and beyond)!

Chem-tastic!

We did an experiment on the density of liquids today at school. Here we have water (on top), dish soap (in the middle) and cane syrup (on bottom).

The water was actually colored blue, as you can tell from the bit that was spilled in the foreground. But it has turned green because of the yellow soap that we poured on top of it.

holy faith...

People get ready
There's a train a-coming
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All you need is faith
To hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket
You just thank the Lord

People get ready
For the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers
From coast to coast
Faith is the key
Open the doors and board them
There's room for all
among the loved the most

There ain't no room
for the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind just
To save his own
Have pity on those
whose chances are thinner
Cause there's no hiding place
From the Kingdom's Throne

So people get ready
for the train a-comin'
You don't need no baggage
you just get on board !
All you need is faith
to hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket
you just thank, you just thank the Lord

I'm getting ready
I'm getting ready
this time I'm ready
this time I'm ready

- Curtis Mayfield, 1963

The photographer was not in any danger at any point of time during the capture of this scene, although it sure looks like it!

late birthday...

I liked my firetruck cookie-cake!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yay!

Here Daddy! Have some cookie!

Cool! Train connecting blocks!

I love my Pooh Bear pillow.

Camp photos...

Fairview Baptist @ Camp Copass

The recent rains has really raised the lake levels at Camp. These crosses used to be about 30 feet from the shore.