Hymn of the Week

 hymn  (hm)n.

1. A song of praise or thanksgiving to God.

2. A song of praise or joy
Middle English ymne, from Old English ymen, from Latin hymnus song of praise, from Greek hymnos

I've been thinking about the beauty of hymns lately.  Wishing we sang more of them at church and wishing that I had the skill to write them.  I was talking to Nathan about this during our fishing adventure and we landed on this one.  David Crowder Band's interpretation of "O For a Thousand Tongues" by the great hymn writer Charles Wesley.

O For a Thousand Tongues

O for a thousand tongues to sing 

my great Redeemer's praise,

the glories of my God and King,

the triumphs of his grace!
 

My gracious Master and my God,

assist me to proclaim,

to spread through all the earth abroad

the honors of thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

that bids our sorrows cease;

'tis music in the sinner's ears,

'tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,

he sets the prisoner free;

his blood can make the foulest clean;

his blood availed for me.

Lost Tooth #4

Jones pulled her second top tooth at school. She has a slight lisp now. She's excited that she can put a straw in her mouth and take a drink without opening her mouth.

Adventure Pictures

I'm Back

I hesitated enough that my wife noticed.  I didn’t want to walk through that door on Saturday afternoon.  I hadn’t been indoors in five days.  Unless the inside of a nylon tent or a screened shelter full of roly-polys and pesky yellowjackets counts as indoors.  I was still wearing the same clothes I’d had on when I walked out the door on Tuesday.  They were a little ripe with the smell of fish, lake water, cookfire,  and my own natural musk.  My body was exhausted and spent, but my mind and spirit were refreshed.  So much so, that I told my wife that I could see twenty years into the past and the future with amazing clarity.  The sounds, sights, smells, and emotions of the last few hours were the same as they were when I was a boy and we packed up after a week of camping and fishing.  They were the same as I imagined them being when my grandkids would join me in the same sort of adventure.  
 It was a good vacation.
I’ll post pictures soon.

Spring Break 2011

We started Spring Break off with a sleepover. Cooper M. spent Friday night and Saturday morning at our house.









Saturday, the girls went to Build-A-Bear in Waco for the first time.














We had supper at IHOP with Mimi and then went to the Texas Clogging Exhibition.












Monday, we celebrated with the Northrup family for Madalyn's 3rd birthday. After the party, I took the girls home to Justin and then I spent the next six hours running errands and shopping all by myself!




















Tuesday morning I went for a pedicure and a massage. Then that afternoon we headed to the lake. Irv and LouAnn camped across from us for the week and cooked us all dinner one night. Jazbo came for the week. The Dahlestrom family came for two nights. Sheila and Hank came for a night. Wayne came for a night. Sam and Sadie came out with me for the day. The six girls spent one night camping with the dads. the next night we let the dads have some guy time and Missy and I went to the house with the eight kids. We went to the park, got a snowcone, rented a redbox, picked up pizza and had a fun night watching Nanny McPhee Returns and painting toenails. We had lots of friends, food and fun.























Saturday afternoon we returned home, showered, and started laundry. Sunday we went to worship!

Good morning

Went fishing with MJ this morning.  A little windy, but a good time.
For those of you who are expecting more writing from me, please understand that I don't have much to say in the springtime, just a lot of fish that need catching.

In the Corner of My Mind Stands a Jukebox

I've said before that I usually I pick the song of the week by using whatever song has been stuck in my head.  This week's song may only get airplay in December, but it's what has been playing over and over in my mind so here it is.    I confess that I only know a few of the words.   
"It's the most wonderful time of the year" and "It's the hap-happiest season of all" are the words that have made it the #1 song on the jukebox this week.  I've mostly been making up JB originals for the rest of the words.  I think rappers call it sampling and free-styling. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year
The trees are all budding
The crappie are biting
Vacation is near....
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

West-9months

West is nine months old. 16lbs 2 oz and 26 1/2 inches long

He has discovered he can crawl out of the living room, he has found that his hand will go through the doggie door, and that he can splash Ranger's water and eat his food. He can pull up to standing. His favorite spot to be is on my hip and he is still a snuggler. He likes bath time and eating time. He has the most fascinating tongue. He always has it sticking out. Sometimes it's long, skinny and curled up and other times it is wide and fat. The other day at lunch, one of his Gerber stars was in between his fingers and he looped his tongue over a finger and under the other one to get the puff. He says "dada" and every once in awhile "mama". He loves his sisters!