Blast From The Past

Last night, we watched some old videos from past year or so. I can't believe how much Harper has grown. See for yourself.

It's Settled

The chicken came first.

Researchers from Scotland and England have determined that a protein called ovacleidin is absolutely necessary for the formation of eggshell. Located in the chicken's ovaries, this protein is required for kick starting the conversion of calcium carbonate in the chicken's body to calcite crystals that make up the eggshell. Without the protein, no shell is made. Therefore, the chicken must come before the egg.

Pap Jim

This is my Pap Jim.

My cousin posted this picture on facebook. I just about fell to pieces when I saw it. Pap's been gone for a while, but I still think about him all the time. He was a good guy - a coal miner from Pennsylvania who took up boxing during the Depression to earn what ever he could (this is actually a picture of his boxing license). Of course, I didn't know him as that. The guy I knew never left the house without a hat, always spoke softly, and grew the best tomatoes in town.

Weekend Update

We packed a lot into this weekend. Here's the recap.

1. On Friday after work, I decided that Harper and I both deserved a cupcake. So after I picked her up, we went to Gigi's. I let Harper pick out which cupcake she wanted and, surprise surprise, she picked the one entitled Miss Princess. I chose the much more sensible carrot cake one.

2. On Saturday, I thought we should take advantage of the slightly cooler temperature (high of only 90 instead of 98) and go to the zoo. It was great. Harper had her very first carousel ride. She picked the zebra to ride on.

Then we headed over to the lorikeet exhibit. This exhibit is cool because you enter into their enclosure and can feed them nectar out of a little cup. Harper loved it.

3. Sunday reminded me that my daughter is every bit of 2 years old. The highlight of the day came when I went outside to take the garbage out. Harper must have been trying to open the door to come with me. But instead of turning the doorknob, she turned the lock. When I realized I was locked out, I called to her and she came to the door. In the nicest voice I could muster, I asked her to unlock it and let me in. She wiggled the doorknob and locked and unlocked the deadbolt for a good 5 minutes before she actually unlocked the door. I didn't know whether to hug her or beat her when I got in the house. Even though we've tried to instill a strict "no door touching" policy, I think we will be hiding key in the garage. It's never a dull around here.

After "the incident", we all needed to take it down a notch so I decided to fold some laundry. Harper is a good helper. It's her job to find all of the socks and put them in a pile. I'm guessing that a normal 2 year old would pull the socks out of the basket and throw them in a haphazard pile on the floor. Not my kid. She carefully removes each sock and places them one on top of each other. She definitely got a healthy dose of my OCD.

Love Song

So I've told you that I'm all about the band Gungor right now. I like their whole album, but this song is really resonating with me. The lyrics are actually from an ancient text by St. Augustine.

There's no doubt about it. This is a love song. I used to think it was weird to sing love songs to God. Songs about how awesome God is I got. Songs about how much God loves us I got. Songs about just about every other aspect of God I got. But I didn't get the love songs. I just didn't see God in that way. But after hearing this song, I'm starting to come around. Maybe it's because I'm starting to become more aware of the characteristics of God in my marriage. Maybe it's because God is using this song to chip away at my heart and teach me more about what he's like. He likes to do that with me.

What about you? Do you see God in this way? Are there other things about God that you thought didn't apply to you, but now do? Just wondering.

Summer Camp

I saw this on the Huffington Post today. It made me laugh.

Days 1-4 must have been rough.

The Orange Tree

While we were in Florida, my mom and dad decided to plant an orange tree in their backyard. You may remember the last time we were down there, Harper (kind of) picked an orange off of their neighbor's tree.

Our intention is to take a picture by this tree every time we visit to track how much the kiddo and the tree are growing.

I threw in this picture just because I like it. They're buddies.