Fishers of Men

Last week, my brother Jesse came over to fish in our neighborhood ponds when Devone and the kids were out of town. Lil' James was staying at my parent's for the weekend but my Dad brought him over to join in the fishing fun.

Lil' James reeled in the first and only big bass of the night. There were some other rock bass and bluegill caught, as well as bug bites, and some sludge and slime.

It was funny to watch Uncle Jesse and my Dad look at little James with jealousy and amazement every time he'd fling a fish out of the water. It's like he couldn't help but be a natural fisherman. Jesse ended up catching a few and Grandpa scored el' zero! At one point James, innocently and matter of factly stated, "Grandpa, you haven't caught ANY yet."

"Rub it in James!" said Grandpa laughing.

I enjoyed sitting there watching the three generations of men in my life enjoying each others company, and interacting while mentoring and discipling each other. My Dad, Jesse, James and Lil' James and Ireson.

Good times...make that great times.

Happy Birthday to Tea!

Teagan turned 5 years old this past August 21st. Since 5 is a big # and all- it seemed appropriate to throw a birthday bash. This, however, proved interesting when we were still in the planning stages. Either my Mom, my Sister in Law and her kids or good friends were all going to be out of town at one point or another and all at different times. So it was a matter of figuring out when we could celebrate and with whom and where.

Teagan requested her ultra special treat for turning 5 to go to "Fun Time," the bouncy place, and bounce the day away with some friends. The original plan was to have the entire shin-dig there with all the family and friends, but because of all of the different travel plans- we settled on just Daddy and I taking the kids and Teagan's cousins: Sadie and Josie... Aunt Lydia tagged along too. We ended up having the entire place to ourselves for the majority of the time! It's as though we rented out the entire place!

Extreme fun was had by all as well as some down and dirty racing between James and I. We hung out there for about 2 and a half hours until the kids were well and spent from all the adrenalin pounding bouncing and then we headed home.

The following Friday we had her actual birthday party on her actual birthday. Friday evening a bunch of family and friends gathered over at Grandma's house where we had a cookout.

Tea helped me decorate Mom's house with streamers and balloons. I bought purple and green Pom Poms for all the kids to play with. Unpredictable to me, however, these things shed their purple, green, and silver foils all over the house! Teagan however decided that Deanna, pregnant and lounge ridden, needed some sprucing up and decided to decorate her hair. And from there on anyone who came through the door had their hair, glasses, or earrings tied with multi metallic foils!

Teagan had made Thank you cards to give to everyone for all of her gifts. The original intent was to hand them out to everyone with a heart felt "thank you" after she opened their gift. However, Teagan's excitement wasn't to be contained. As soon as the guests walked through the door Teagan ran up to them, card in hand, and said "Thank you for coming", endowing many of them with a hug! It was very sweet and I was very proud of her sincerity and thoughtfulness.

By request, I made a home-made white strawberry jam/cream cheese filled cake with cream cheese frosting, along with strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. I figured that a 5th year b'day deserved some serious attention...that and I raked in some "good Mom" points for making something that had more than a tablespoon of sugar in it! AND IT WAS insanely good!

So, I have a five year old Sweet Teagan Betty. Spunky, cantankerous, sweet, tender, and an ever growing Child of God.

Another year older, another year ahead....and what will it bring?

I'm excited.