Gator Chomp

Harper's baby school threw a Halloween party. The kids all dressed up in their costumes and the parents were invited to stop by. Since my mom was in town last week, we all went to the party together.

The little guy in the puppy suit is Harper's best buddy at school. They tickle each other and fight to sit next to each other for lunch and snacks!

I don't care what Mother Nature says, gators and zebras can be friends!

And gators and monsters can too!

My mom is a teacher and her teaching instincts kicked in right away. She read a book to all the little kids.

Then it was snack time!

The obligatory cheesy smile face.

This was pretty much my favorite part of the party:

Graduation Ceremony

Here is a little video that I put together from Rob's graduation last week. I was very impressed with the ceremony (in the video still, Rob's in the last row standing in front of the little boy). Because he was elected class leader, he had to give a speech and also won the leadership award. His first day of work was yesterday. He said it was a quiet night. I hope they are all quiet nights.

Last Night

What a great night. Rob did fantastic and even won the leadership award! I'm working on piecing some video clips together. Thanks to our friend, Steve, for taking the first two pictures.

I got to pin Rob's badge on. Good thing he was wearing his bullet proof vest because I almost stuck him.

All things considered, Harper did really well at the ceremony. It was a long time to ask her to sit still and be quiet. Besides getting momentarily stuck under the pew in front of her, she came through relatively unscathed. She must have known there was going to be cake afterwards.

Big Day

This evening, Rob is graduating from the police academy. I am very excited and proud of him. We are both looking forward to life returning to (somewhat) normal and I am looking forward to him being able to have hair again. Stay tuned for some pictures later this week.

Morning Song

The whole way to baby school this morning, Harper talked and sang to her baby doll. When we got to school, I pulled out my camera and this is what happened. I have learned that when filming Harper, I should always keep the camera rolling a little longer than I would normally want too. She always adds something a little special (I use that word gingerly) at the end.

Some Things That Make Me Happy

I'll be honest, today is not my favorite day. It started out at 5am with my husband waking me up because he couldn't find something that he needed for work. We looked and didn't find it. Not a nice way to start off the day. To add to that, it's raining and gray. And, I forgot to get Harper a pumpkin to take to baby school, so she had to take one of our prized pumpkins from the front porch. And, she would not let me do her hair this morning. And, and, and, and...

But, I did learn something this weekend and I'm determined to live it out. Peace and joy are not based on circumstances. Today, I choose peace and joy. There. Take that. Below I am listing some things that make me happy this morning.

1. I teach a graduate histology class and today I get to lecture about blood vessels. I love blood vessels. They are so cool. Check out this picture of pericyte cells attached to a capillary. It just doesn't get much better than that.

2. I was at Target last night and I saw that they already have Little Debbie Christmas Trees! Oh how I love the Christmas Trees - film and all.

3. My parents will be here in 2 days!

4. Harper and I get to hang out with Katie tonight.

5. This song is good.

A New Season

Oh man. What a weekend. I went to our annual women's retreat in the mountains of Beersheba Springs, Tennessee. There's not much in Beersheba Springs - mostly just beautiful fall foliage. It was a perfect setting for our retreat. This year, our theme was the fruit of the spirit ( love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). I'm fairly certain that I can't articulate most of the amazing things that happened this weekend, but here are just a couple bullet points that I'm going to have to chew on for a while.

• Self control is an act of worship. This really hit home for me. I have been feeling the need to re-devote myself to spending quality time with the Lord every day - not just praying in the car on the way to work or quickly doing my Bible study homework right before our meeting. I need to set aside quiet time every day to worship Him and listen to what He has to say to me. If you talk to me, ask me if I am following through with this.
• Doing good is not an option for those who know Jesus. James 4:17 So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, you sin. Ouch. This one is hard for me. Most of the time, I know what the right thing to do is. But a lot of the time, I chose to ignore the right thing and do my own thing.
• Joy is a choice. We have to choose to experience joy everyday. The opposite of joy is discontent which produces feelings of selfishness, bitterness, and anger. Most of the time, I don't choose joy. Most of the time, I wait for things to bring me joy and I find myself feeling selfish, bitter, and angry more than joyful. This needs to change.
• There is unbelievable power in testimony. You have a story and you need to share it. Someone will be blessed by it.
• Sometimes we need to be absolutely drained in order to be filled up with something better. My heart was poured out this weekend only to be filled with something much much better. Hearts are leaky and I will need to keep seeking His spirit to top me off.
• Whether or not I like it, God will prune the branches of my heart that bear no fruit. Thank goodness for that.

On another note, a boy that lived across the street from me growing up died unexpectedly on Friday morning. I don't know if he knew the Lord. I hope he did. His funeral is this afternoon. If you would, can you please say a prayer for his family and friends. I know that God is good all the time. I pray that He is glorified even in situations like this.