Hope Builders 5k

Last Saturday, in between birthday parties, we raced in the Hope Builders 5k benefiting Levine Children's hospital. It was a great race and the weather was perfect. We met up with our pals the Dyers and started our day off well. We even had our very own cheerleader with us in the jogging stroller to brighten the mood further. Maggie took to cheering "go mama go, go mama go, go daddy go" while we ran. She was quite and encouragement to not only us, but the other runners as well. This was nice since Henry was trying his best to do the opposite. While Maggie cheered Henry would whine "I wanna hold you Mama." Of course this was an impossible request, yet one he made over and over again. He eventually quieted down and enjoyed the run and later enjoyed some fun post run activities after we crossed the finish line.

Happy Birthday Henny Man!

Little Henny man is two years old today! (I know I can't believe it either.) What a sweet little guy our Henry is. We are so thankful for this active, fun, lively, vibrant, cuddly, precious baby boy. God knew exactly what our family needed when he gave us this one. We love you so much Henry Lewis and we continue to pray that you would become the man God intended for you to be and that you would desire to be obedient to God's will alone. Keep that sweet servant hearted nature and never lose that killer grin. Happy birthday buddy we love you!

Around the House

When we Dirks aren't busy out and around town we occasionally get to enjoy some quality time at home. These are just a few pics of some of the fun had at the Dirks abode as of late.
We like to make cookies and we may just lick the extra flour off the counter and get it all over our clothes.
We like to play dress up.
And we even read the occasional book. When all the playing tires us out we may just retire to our bed chambers or just wherever.
And Henry has graduated to a big boy bed! He sleeps with about 12 stuffed animals and usually we find several books hidden in the covers...pretty funny!

Fall Conference Y'all!

College Ministry is just about the best gig around. We love our students and sometimes we even get to go on vacation with them, like this weekend. Camp Greystone is a quaint little camp settled in the mountains of Tuxedo, North Carolina. There's beautiful scenery, beautiful people, yummy camp food; it's pretty fabulous. We love this annual get away and this year was no different. Avid blog readers perhaps you remember this pose (above) from the past few years.
But, maybe you forgot how stinkin' cute this kid is?
Family canoe ride, no one went overboard; and so we chalk it up as a success.
A little yahtzee...
A little jumping...
That beautiful scenery...
Stinkin' cute little girl.
Four Dirks in a cabin=awesome! Here are the little ones getting ready for a fun-filled campy kind of day.
Aww...we love each other.

check this out...

If anyone is interested in those chef choice classes check out this site https://apps.jwu.edu/chefschoice/clt/

Sushi and Blues

Being in ministry at a culinary school definitely has its perks. For example, this weekend Tyler and I were able to take part in JWU's "chef's choice." Basically this is a culinary lab opened up to the public. It's not typically something that is free, but a friend of ours totally hooked us up. But, even if we had to pay for this fun morning out it would have been well worth the cost. We were in a group with about 14 other folks and went to a class called "Sushi and Blues." The chef that led our class was top notch. He used to be the head chef for the seniors PGA tour. I know this sort of thing doesn't impress most people, but for my dad and father in law I know that this is well worth mentioning. The same fellow that cooked Tiger his bacon and eggs and made sure that Phil had his daily dose of fiber is the same chef that taught us to roll sushi.
It was a great "date" for Tyler and myself. We love hands on type adventures and this was definitely hands on. After the chef showed us several different techniques and wowed us with his culinary expertise, we were then set loose at our own little station. We were given a knife and a tray like the one seen above. We sliced up all the veggies and meat, and then rolled sushi rolls like it was our job (while listening to the Blues...hence the title of the class).
I even improved upon my knife holding stance. Your hand is to be an extension of the knife...
And then we feasted on sushi... and the whole thing was kid free, thanks Katie and Cody! If you want more info. on Chef's choice let me know. I recommend everyone in Charlotte do this, it was so so much fun and the school puts these on quite frequently. So, go ahead and get in touch with your inner chef.

First Day of School

Today was Maggie's first day of pre-school. She has been so pumped up for this day. One wouldn't even known that she woke up with cold feet this morning. But, as you can see the cold feet only lasted for a few minutes before she remembered just how much fun school was going to be. And, indeed it was. When I picked her up this afternoon the first thing she said to me was "I love school Mommy." Here she is showing little brother around her new school.
She's already a big fan of her teacher Ms. Diana. Maggie picked this outfit out all by herself this morning (as she does most every morning), thankfully it actually matched today.
I arrived a few minutes early for pick up and was able to sneak a picture of the kids enjoying a book. Her class ratio is two teachers to seven kids, and it is half boys and half girls. I love this.
Henry and I kept busy with a trip to the Y and playing with cars. I think he loved all the one on one attention because he didn't ask me once where Maggie was...;)