Sorry about that last one. It was phony. #Thankful.

And I don't mean telephony.  It was a minor breach in my online security.

Maybe you didn't see it, since I deleted it quickly.  But, if you saw it, it wasn't me. 

I like to use the direct email to blog to twitter to facebook feature.  Occasionally, a bot will guess the email address.  I would like to see Blogger improve the security of this feature.

I am thankful it wasn't worse.

Happy Thanksgiving.

If this doesn't scare you a little, then there must be something right with you.

"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs."
Luke 12:2-3  (New International Version)

Looking back at a specific period of time in my life, I can remember hearing this passage over the radio. And it scared the hound out of me. I was involved in sin and I knew it. I just didn't know how to stop it. Or maybe I wasn't motivated to stop it.

Nowadays, when I hear or see this, that uncomfortable feeling comes back. "Is there anything hidden in there you'd be ashamed to be made public?" I ask the man in the mirror.

Well, of course there is. There is none without sin, except Christ.

But he was talking about hypocrisy.

I remember Rhonda.

When she a little girl with long blonde hair, she got choked on a peice of butterscotch candy at my house. I was so arrogant. I wasn't too worried because Rhonda was talking and coughing just fine. But she was gagging and dry heaving like crazy. She and my mom both thought it was serious. She drank some water to lubricate the candy and it came back out.

I wish I could somehow share with you the picture of Rhonda that I have in my mind. Even though she was a grown lady with a beautiful family of her own, I still remember her mostly as she was when I left Memphis for college. She was a sweet little girl, the kind of child every parent hopes for.

Thank you all for your prayers and blessings. Now begins the time of adjustment and lonesome grieving for her husband, Mike. Let's all remember Mike and his girls.

Love to you all,
Dadofmykids

Ft. Kid is closed, but The World's Fair Park is open.

Since my Jilly is gone to Memphis to help my sister, I wanted to keep our three youngest busy.  It's a lot more fun to get out of the house and do something, than to let them get bored staying home.

We headed out with James White Fort as our destination.  But we didn't leave the house till nearly noon.   The kids were hungry.  Ok, I was hungry too.  We had packed sack lunches with plans to have a picnic at Ft. Kid.  When we got there, Ft. Kid was closed due to safety concerns (something about a fire in the house/building next to the playground).  So, we walked down to the World's Fair Park instead.  There's a nice playground next to the Court of Flags.

Here are some pics I took at the playground.

Asher, looking serious.

I don't know what Levi was doing with his hand.

Kk stayed on this swing almost the whole time.

Is this some kind of seesaw?

"Take my picture!"

The Park is located very near Neyland Stadium, where the TN Vols play football.  They were playing a game while we were at the Park.  It was cool hearing the crowd and seeing the fireworks when the Vols scored.  And they did some scoring didn't they?

We went up in the Sinsphere, I mean Sunsphere (that's for you,Gibson) to see if we could see inside Neyland Stadium.  That stadium is so big, we couldn't see anything, except a few people at the top of the rim.  

Then, we were off to James White Fort, the home of the founder of Knoxville.  You'd think the city would be named Whiteville, but he must have been a humble man.  The place was closed.  Bummer.  But we took some pictures at the plaque and the stockade in the front.  Take a look.

Yeah, they were a mess, but it was a play day.
Look at Kk.  She didn't want to be in the middle.

This one was a lot of fun to make.  Levi's standing on Asher's
back since he is too short to reach on his own.

This is supposed to be punishment.

She's trying to look shameful.

After two meltdowns at James White Fort, one each by Asher and Levi, we ended the fun and went home. Even though things didn't go quite as planned, we had a good day.