Orphans

Tonight, Ken took the kids to dinner while I went shopping. (3 hours of shopping...all by myself, it was glorious!) As they were sitting in the restaurant, getting ready to order, Steven stopped Ken and said, "Wait, Momma's not here. Shouldn't we wait for Momma?"

"No," said Ken. "Momma went shopping, it's just us for dinner."

He looked around the restaurant thoughtfully, then asked, "Won't all the people be sad if they think we don't have a momma?"

Father/Daughter Winter Ball 2008

Every year, Megan and Ken attend the Father/Daughter Winter Ball put on by Megan's ballet school. It's a great fundraiser for the studio, with dinner, dancing, and auctions. This year, a couple of our friends took their daughters and the girls all got ready together.
Our friend Kelly came over to do hair.
I sewed Megan's dress. (In 2 days...)
She's growing up so fast. Today, we bought shoes for her from the women's department.
Off they go!

We believe that it's Ken's job to teach Megan how she deserves to be treated on a date. Beware the first guy who ever takes her out, because her expectations will be high.

And that's the way we like it!

3 Things

This week, Ken and I went on a business trip to Wichita, KS. (Yes, Kansas...as in we're not there anymore, Toto.) The kids stayed with our best babysitter, Kate. When we arrived home, Steven looked me squarely in the eye and told me very seriously, "Momma, I have 3 things to tell you."

"Okay." I said with one eyebrow raised. (Not everyone can do that...raise one eyebrow at a time. It's one of my special skills.)

"The first thing is that Kate burned the popcorn." ("Traitor!" says Kate. Apparently, the kids were quite incredulous that she didn't just push the popcorn button on the microwave. Of course, these are the same kids who when told that we didn't have microwaves when I was really little, asked me "Well, how did you make popcorn?")

"The second thing," he said, while counting off on pudgy fingers, "is that we went to the Yancy's, and Josiah gave me a truck and a shirt." (Oh, those Yancys...givers to the core, they would give you the last piece of bread off of their table, if you were hungry. Fortunately, there's enough bread in the Yancy AND Holsinger house. :)

"The third thing is that the toilet almost overflowed." ("Almost, but it didn't!" says Kate. Poor Steven has a phobia of toilets overflowing because of a particularly traumatic run-in with a toilet at church.)

So the moral of the story is...if you are a babysitter, be good. Because my kids tell us EVERYTHING!

God Bless America

This song was written as a prayer. Prayer is what our nation needs more than anything right now. And that's what our church has been doing for the last 21 days. Three times a day, 6 am, noon, and 6 pm, we have been gathering and praying for our nation as a whole and the individual states. We believe that prayer is effective and it causes miraculous things to happen.

Asking God to bless American means something to me. It is more than a campaign line or a platitude. It's a request from the deepest part of our soul, pleading with God to have mercy on this nation, to intercede on our behalf, and heal this broken land. No matter what happens after tomorrow, God is still sovereign and we will faithfully support and respect our leaders. But I also understand that my hope can never be in politicians, government, or even religion. My hope is in God.

And God, please bless America. Amen