priceless

so my parents came into town this weekend and we had the second half of jack's birthday party. shannon was not at all pleased with her first attempt at making a castle cake with dragon accessory, so she tried again. below you will see some pictures from jack's birthday, take two.

marzipan dragon: three dollars and fifty nine cents.

castle cake: ten dollars and 72 cents.

castle cake equipped with fire breathing dragon: fourteen dollars and 31 cents.

your son screaming during the singing of happy birthday because he just wants to play with his presents: priceless.

aww, the joys of parenting.

in all honesty, we must pause (as we should every incredible day) to recognize just how blessed we are. we are blessed with incredible family who will travel long distances to celebrate important days with us. we are blessed with family and friends who love our children. we are blessed with two awesome sons who are discovering what it means to be alive in this crazy world every day. and when i look at it that way, even the screaming-during-happy-birthday moments are ok. they are part of a much larger picture - a picture of a young boy growing up in love and promise. we are so blessed.

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now, to end with some random bits:

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- watched the simpson's movie (finally) last night, and i thought it was just ok. it had some funny moments, but it just felt like a really long version of the show.

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-i found myself at GNC this weekend. i assume most of you know what that is, but in case you don't it is some kind of nutrional store, loaded mostly with diet supplements to get whatever you need into your body. i have no idea what GNC stands for. my best guess is something like "gross narcotic consumption" but i'm not sure. anyway, i am sure that i've never stepped foot in one of those places before ("i might catch something!") but found myself wandering in this weekend and then wandering out with a can the size of barry bonds' head full of soy protein powder. i have reached new lows.

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-i'll be away for a few days. later today, shannon and the boys and i are headed here for a retreat. it is a pastors retreat for pastors in our conference, and families are always invited to come. one thing that is different this year is that they wanted to showcase some of the gifts and talents of pastors, and so i will be showing some of my art at the conference. again, it may not seem like a big deal to you, but these are all little steps for me as an artist (here's why: this is what goes through my ridiculous brain, "oh no! fellow pastors are going to see my art! are they going to judge me? are they going to think i'm weird? are they going to think that i shouldn't have time to make these, that i should be out in the streets passing out tracts or something?") so, as you can see from that small glimpse into the inanity of my ego, this will be a fun retreat.
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-finally, to the over 11,000 of you that have visited since i started keeping track just about a year ago: thanks for stopping by. i hope it makes you laugh/think/shake your head/take courage/or just smile from time to time.

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grace and peace,

greg.

ps. spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does.