Minnesota, that wimpy state!

My third grade students are preparing for their program, “A Musical Tribute to Texas,” which they will present on March 10. One of their pieces is the Texas state anthem, “Texas, Our Texas.”

The students were rehearsing the state anthem yesterday when I stopped them to discuss the lyrics. I referred to the line “Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev’ry test, O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest”

I asked, “What does boldest and grandest mean?” The students discussed how Texas was strong, great, mighty, etc. Then I said, “Well, right now neither your singing or your posture show that you are singing about a strong & mighty state. You look and sound like you’re singing about a wimpy state.”

At this point, one of the boys yells out, “Yeah, a wimpy state like Minnesota!”

I wasn’t sure if he knew that I was from Minnesota or not, so I pretended to get very offended. I started going on and on about how I was born and raised in Minnesota, and how dare he say that Minnesota was a wimpy state!

I think I actually scared him a little…and then he stopped me and said, “Mrs. Rinn, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were from Minnesota. I just said that because of the Vikings!”

Valentine's Day '09

On Friday night, we had a little Valentine party at our house with a few other couples. We had a lot of fun playing both "Apples to Apples" and "Battle of the Sexes." Of course, the guys won "Battle of the Sexes," because they had questions such as "Where would you use the product 'Cascade'?" while we girls had much more difficult questions, like "Which sport uses the term '301'?" (Does anybody know?) No matter though--we had a great time!
I was scheduled to sing at church this weekend, but instead my sweet husband had been scheming behind my back! I had planned on taking a nap on Saturday afternoon before heading to church for rehearsal on Saturday afternoon; little did I know Dave had reset the alarm on my phone and I woke up "late"--or at least I thought I had overslept! Dave then revealed the first part of the plan to me....that he had already talked to Brian, our worship leader, to let him know that I wouldn't be singing this weekend since I was being abducted! If you know me at all, you know I really love surprises, so at this point I got very excited! We headed out for dinner at our new favorite Italian place (Niki's Italian on Davis).

After dinner, Dave started driving downtown, so I thought we were possibly going to see a show at Bass Hall. Instead, he drove us to the new Omni Hotel! They just opened on January 17, & Dave was able to get an opening special. The hotel was absolutely gorgeous, and we had a beautiful view of all the downtown lights! Wow--this was Dave's year to plan Valentine's Day, so we'll have to see if I can top his surprise next year! ;) Truly, though, I am so thankful for my precious husband..... Happy Valentine's Day from the Rinns!

Dave's Birthday Video!

After many, many tries, I have finally been able to load Dave's birthday video onto Blogger! This video was a surprise to him at his birthday party, and though a few pictures may have embarrassed him a little, it was a lot of fun! And, many thanks to our friend Holly who made this video--so sweet of her! And, I just have to say, isn't this first picture of Dave so adorable? Look at that grin! ;)