Guess what happened next...

Yep, you got it...



Well, folded laundry is over-rated anyway.

Grant was drawing a picture of his grandparents last night to be displayed on Grandparent's Day at school. He was needing to make circles for their faces. As he started drawing he said, "I'm trying to make a good circle, not a perfect circle because only Michelangelo could do that, (pause) well, and God."

Couldn't resist...

Create your own FACEinHOLE

New Trick

It's been a long couple of days. Gabe has not been feeling well, we've been back and forth to the doctor and other than that trying to stay home. I'm getting a little stir crazy. This moment was a bright spot in the day. He learned a new trick and thankfully I had my camera handy....

Listen to U2's new single "Get On Your Boots" here. What do you think?

Today's Five

1. Living in a country that can have a peaceful transfer of power. We take it for granted because it always happens here, but it is extraordinary.

2. Gabe is finally sleeping. He has been a little clingy the last few days and not napping very well. He's had a cold and I'm pretty sure there are more teeth coming in. I'm thankful he is finally getting some rest. And I won't lie, I'm thankful I'm getting a moment of rest, too. :)

3. Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bars- yum!

4. A nice brisk walk this morning with a friend.

5. A warm house to sleep in tonight.

Remembering....

I love quotes, always have. It's probably because I can't always get my thoughts to come out in the way I would like them to. It will be all worked out in my head, but when I try to say it, it just doesn't sound the same. I admire people who can clearly and eloquently communicate ideas.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of those great communicators. So today, instead of trying to say anything about him, I figured I would just share some of my favorite things that he said in his peaceful fight for equality.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. "

"A man can't ride your back unless it's bent."

"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan."

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

And probably the most famous....

"Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

No Line on the Horizon

I was looking for details about U2's coming cd on their website this morning. They had the cover art displayed. I'm so excited!! It's almost here. March 3rd- No Line on the Horizon, will be released in the US.

Here's what the official site has to say...

"Get On Your Boots, the first single from U2’s new album No Line On The Horizon, will be released as a digital download on February 15th with a physical format to follow on February 16 through Mercury/Universal.

Produced by Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Steve Lillywhite, sessions for No Line On The Horizon began in Fez, Morocco, and continued at the band’s Dublin studio, New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and London's Olympic Studios.

Released on March 2nd (March 3rd in the US), the album will come in a standard format with 24 page booklet and in digipak format. The digipak includes an extended booklet and the album’s companion film “Linear” by Anton Corbijn. A limited edition 64 page magazine will also be available, featuring the band in conversation with artist Catherine Owens, and new Anton Corbijn photographs. No Line On The Horizon will be released on 180gm vinyl. (More on the formats below)

The album cover artwork (click left to enlarge) is an image of the sea meeting the sky by Japanese artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Here's the full tracklisting:

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez – Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

No Line On The Horizon will be available in five formats;

- Standard jewel case - with album CD and 24 page booklet

- Digipak format - limited edition with album CD, 32 page colour booklet and fold out poster. Features access to exclusive downloadable Anton Corbijn film.

- Magazine format – limited edition with album CD, with 64 page magazine. Features access to exclusive downloadable Anton Corbijn film.

- Box format - limited edition bespoke box containing digipak format album CD, DVD of Anton Corbijn’s exclusive film, 64 page hardback book, plus a fold out poster.

- LP vinyl – limited edition with 2 black vinyl discs, gatefold sleeve, and a 16 page booklet."

Today's five....

1. The blender motor burned out after the smoothies were all blended up.

2. The grocery shopping is done for the week.

3. The winter weather. It's nice to have it for a little while.

4. Things are moving along smoothly for the book fair at the end of the month. Most of the details are in place.

5. Hot chocolate with marshmallow cream.

My favorite memories from 2008...

I know the new year is already a week old, but I still wanted to remember all the great things about 2008. Here are some of my favorite memories...

1. We welcomed our sweet baby Gabe and Grant became a big brother.


2. Time with friends- Superbowl parties, Daytona 500, an unbelievably wonderful baby shower, parades, blackberry picking, movies, birthdays, carving pumpkins, baby dedications, baptisms, Bible study, community group, Christmas celebrating and plain old living life together- what a blessing!





3. Getting to be a part of starting the Angel Food ministry at our church. It's lots of fun and it is an encouragement to many. In case you'd like to learn more about it, click here.



4. My brother returned safely after serving for 7 months in Kuwait.


5. We were able to celebrate the baptism of several of our friends' children.

6. We welcomed a new niece and found out about another one that will be arriving soon.

7. Grant had a great second grade year and enjoyed the beginning of third grade. I'm so thankful for all the fun he has had learning about so many things.

Egyptian Diorama in second grade

Egyptian day- Grant making his best Pharaoh face

Third grade- Greek Golden Age Diorama- The Peloponnesian War due on Team Spirit Day (Grant's favorite Day of the school year.)


8. For a short while I went back to teaching a precious group of four year olds. It was a great year that reminded me how much I enjoy being in a classroom.

9. All of Gabe's exciting firsts- first time to smile, roll over, sit, army crawl, to sleep through the night (that one time :) ), first two teeth, etc.



10. Hearing that Granny's cancer was small and contained and watching her recover so well from her surgery. What a precious gift from God.

11. Spending time with family at Thanksgiving, Christmas and throughout the year.




12. Our trip to Atlanta in August.

"We wish you....

the Happiest, the Happiest, the Happiest New Year!"