Southern Living

How to dress up like a cow
We recently took a trip to Chick-Fil-A
for some free chicken.

All you had to do was dress up like a cow.

It was in this setting that I realized,

that moms can try as hard as they want:
they can make costumes
and help coordinate efforts

but, they can
never
even
try to
replace
dad.

LG is such a good sport.
Or he really just likes free chicken.
Nobody got his costume.
Except for this other dad,
standing close by
in his sissy
jersey spots.
He let out a good manly chuckle
at the sight of LeGrand,
being the man that he is.
I think he is going to rethink
his costume next year.
I wonder how many men
will show up as bulls
next time?
But, remember,
you saw it here first.
LeGrand needs all the manly points
he can get
in this household
full of women.
Like our 4 daughters
always say,
“even our cat and dog
are girls.”

Heroes
Who is your hero?
It’s a simple question that when answered tells a lot about a person.
I have lots of heroes.
Jesus Christ.
Parents of special needs’ kids.
Teachers who love what they do.
Servicemen and women and their families.
Anyone who stands for what is right, even if they do it alone.
A friend of ours, Derek Hinckley, has a song called My Hero.
It talks about heroic Christlike qualities and the love for a parent.
Every mom and dad should be a hero.
If any of you know happen to know Kenny Chesney personally,
or his agent, or someone who knows his agent,
maybe you could turn him on to this page on facebook:
It’s an amazing song.
Its video was chosen my Sean Hannity to be a finalist.
For now, here’s a Kenny Chesney video that I just enjoyed immensely.
I want to drag LG out to a High School football game
and see if I can get “that feeling” back.
I couldn’t help but think of my brother Erick
while watching.
He loves the game of football.
And gets to hold on to THAT FEELING
while coaching in Rexburg, ID.
Here’s a link to Kenny’s song
The video makes the song even better.

No Brainer

While recently spending time at the local K-Town gem
I had an epiphany.

If God gave us some snapshots of life before we came to Earth.
Any snapshots of what our future would hold.
And He let us a choose a gender.
(I know that’s not how it really worked,
as I am pretty sure our gender was part of our creation.)

I am 100% certain that I chose girl.
I wanted to be a girl.
And if I could only have one or the other,
I wanted daughters.

It was pretty much a no-brainer.
Don’t you think?

Summer Reading

Last week I punished Abigail
for teasing her sister.
She had to go to her room and read
four chapters of Harry Potter.
After looking at the picture above,
and how the girl loves to read,
now you all know how
my disciplining isn’t always the most effective.
What can I say?
I’m a softie.
I love reading.
I recently spoke to a friend
about how when I die,
I want to leave a living legacy.
One part of that legacy
would most definitely be
that I inspired people to read.
I know that reading
is a powerful tool.
A tool for
education,
and
inspiration.
Reading changes people
who will in turn make a better world.
If I could leave a living legacy of a love for things literary,
my influence would never end.
An eternal influence
is what I want for myself.
Nothing less would be enough.
I don’t want the buck to stop with me in the pine box.
I was really happy when onlinecollege.org
just linked my book review
It was an awesome post,
compiling book reviews for
books related to places of summer travel.
Of course, Cold Mountain
is a great feature for our own
beautiful Appalachian mountains.
My linked review is number 74 on the list.

Book Review: Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain (Paperback) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was a little racy for my taste, especially in the middle. There was a lot of inappropriate sexual content…at least for my pretty sheltered mind. I don’t tend to like the slow going pace, and this book was especially slow at first, but I am glad I persevered as the author did a good job of portraying the horrors of the Civil War. I guess slow going reading favors the period of time that the book depicts.

I saw into a window of the lives of backwoods people in The Appalachians, but a lot of the time it was a window that I would have liked to walk away from to pretend it was not there. I don’t like some of the oddities of the people portrayed, especially as a Tennesseean. It’s books like this that make some people think we are still all barefoot and pregnant living off the hog and our veggie gardens. I am sure much of what is talked about it true, but I just don’t like it…maybe that makes me a fool, but I would rather pretend stuff like incest doesn’t exist in the world as I know it. Sometimes I felt like I was reading an awkward story that was the frame for the awkward movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

I really enjoyed reading about the art of homesteading and the author’s beautiful and sometimes very detailed descriptions of nature, especially our own gorgeous Appalachian Mountains.

My favorite line by far was the old goat lady who said, “Marrying a woman for her beauty makes as much sense as eating a bird for it’s song.”

View all my reviews >>

I love America

A while back the Reader’s Digest was all about what we love about America. The issue included a contest to see who could capture in six words the heart of why we love America.

I can only remember one of the winning entries. I guess it was the one that resonated with me the most.

America: everyone I love lives here.

We have several very loved family members and friends out of the country. But truly the ones I love the most are right here with me in the walls of the home photographed above.

Although there are so many awe-inspiring things to love about my country like freedom, justice, the pursuit of happiness, the American dream, and the Grand Canyon, I am not embarrassed to say that I think I love my family even more.

Yes, I would love my country without them, but the Americans in my own household are what I truly love most about America.

What’s not to love?