Ballet, Battles, and Belts

Disclaimer:  I DO realize the photos in the post below are grainy, fuzzy, blurry, and generally of poor quality.  You'll have to do what I did--get over it.  My good camera had a dead battery and I have spent far too many years worrying about "perfection" at the cost of enjoying "good enough."  These pictures, blurry and grainy as they may be, represent memories that are precious, therefore they ARE precious and...good enough, yea, nigh unto perfection.  In fact, there might be lots more grainy, blurry pictures on this blog.  Who has the time to worry about photo quality when you're stopped at a red light snapping selfies with your sweet daughter?  Isn't she beautiful???

 Now, on to the subject of this post...  Friday morning, Cody headed off to battle (Civil War reenactment), John Wesley and William went to work for a family at our church, and the rest of us carried on with business as usual.  That evening, on the spur of the moment, Lena and I decided to take a quick trip to watch a performance being put on by a dance studio down in Pikeville.  We dressed up in our better-than-Sunday clothes (which only means it wasn't blue jeans) and she got to enjoy actually WATCHING the dancers instead of being one.

 Then Satuday morning, Lena volunteered at the library to help work at a Family Fun Day event.  (She is a cave-person, in case you are wondering.)  The library folks dressed her up for the part she was to play in their who-dunnit activity.  Lena's decided that books are her thing.  That makes the library a pretty special place in her opinion.

 Then, Harold and some of the kids headed to the battlefield to pick up Cody so that he'd be back in town in time for his and Jonas' martial arts test.

 This was the first time we had gotten to see them in action.  They just started martial arts classes a few months ago, and this was their first demonstration. 

 As soon as I saw them bow to each other before the sparring, I started wondering what on earth I was thinking to have allowed this?  I knew I had been hearing more and more thumping and clumping coming from downstairs since they'd begun classes, but in the interest of my sanity I had not investigated.

 I'm sure if I investigate next time, I'll probably see something like this.  Kicking, jabbing, and all manner of limb-whacking.  Maybe it's best for me to ignore the noises.

They must've done a fair job kicking, jabbing and limb-whacking, because in the end, the instructors awarded them both their yellow belts. 

Now I suppose it's on to the next level.  I wonder what new manner of noises and thumps I'll start hearing?

 Aren't these guys so handsome?  I'm so proud of them--but not because of the martial arts stuff.  That's great and I'm glad they're enjoying it, but I'm PROUD of WHO they are and who they are becoming.  See the smiles?  Those are the faces I see everyday.  No bad attitudes, willing workers, tender hearts, sweet to their Momma, respectful to their Daddy. Good boys.  I'm just a little partial--and blessed.

 To celebrate, we headed out to eat.  We were quite a sight to behold.  In we walk with 2 wheelchairs, a Mex/American, a Haitian, and a Yankee soldier.  Sprinkle in a few not-so-regular regulars and that's us--and we have a problem being quiet.  Add to that the fact that we had 3 tables shoved together at the FRONT of the restaurant by the door.  We have always traveled a lot and go out to eat pretty regularly, and have always gotten our more-than-fair-share of looks, but for some reason, tonight we seemed a little extra "out-standing" (if you know what I mean).  I'm pretty sure it was the Yankee soldier.

 I love the diversity in our family and I love that God makes it all work, weaving all the strands together.  Each strand is beautiful and precious by itself, but when they are all put together, it is truly a masterpiece that only God could create.

Masterpiece or not, sometimes our family is a bit silly.  Jared decided that the barbecue sauce was so good that it would be a shame to leave any in the cup.  After dinner, it was time for Harold to take Cody back to the battlefield so he could fight in the next day's battle.

Our kids sure are growing up on us!  Every time we are blessed with a day or weekend like this one, I feel so privileged.  Already the kids are so busy with their activities and becoming who God has made them to be.  We all seem to go in a thousand directions most of the time and it has become rare to all be together, so I'm treasuring these days with these treasures of mine.