Good morning, Church!

When I attended Buckskin Evangelical Church for the first time last November, a woman was called on to make a special announcement and as she quickly walked to the front of the church she called out a rousing and cheerful, "Good morning, church!" and everyone called back, "Good morning, Emma!" At that moment I knew she must work with kids a lot and I knew I'd like her. She's one of those people that make you think, "Every church needs to have somebody like that," yet some churches are sadly lacking in Emmas. They're the people who show their love on their shirt sleeves, are passionate about Jesus, and aren't afraid of what people think of the flare with which they live life. She says, "Good morning, gorgeous!" to everyone and calls her daughters "cheeky monkeys". She plays clarinet for congregational singing - I love listening to her improvisations and I love watching her play. I don't think she uses music at all - she plays with her eyes closed half the time.

Emma booked me for lunch a couple of weeks ago and today I enjoyed her husband Matthew's excellent cooking (never seen such fluffy Yorkshire Pudding!), got my butt kicked playing Mario Kart against Emma on the Wii, and tried Guitar Hero for the first time. Every time a Mario Kart race ended, Hannah, age three, would come right up into my face and say, "You lost," with an attitude of superiority. Little kids crack me up! She was obviously so proud of her mom for coming in first so I would just nod and say, "Yeah, I know, but at least I wasn't all the way last," and she would glance at the screen and repeat, "Yeah, but you lost." So funny. I was also introduced to Peppa Pig and her little brother George, an English cartoon about a pig family.

Emma rocking out with Guitar Hero.

A screen shot of one of the guys in the Guitar Hero band.
I cracked up when close-ups were shown of the band members.

Me having a try at Guitar Hero. So fun! I think it should go on Jonathan's wish list for Christmas '09.

Lottie (Charlotte).

Matthew and Hannah.
She doesn't like the sound of Guitar Hero so she listened to music on Matthew's laptop or just walked around with the headset on to muffle the sounds around her.

My favourite Hannah moments:
- She asked me to read a book and she pointed to one of the characters, obviously the bad guy based on his appearance, and said, "He does naughty things."
- She went upstairs for a few minutes and on her way back down she looked over the railing at me and Emma visiting in the living room and called out, "What are you lot doing?"