cousins.

me and kids have the oddest relationship.
i used to think that i hated them . . . well, at least all american kids. i thought they were all spoiled brats who had watched entirely too many television commercials.
and then i started to think that some of them were ok, but only if their moms didn't let them eat sugar cereals and if they had imaginary friends named "giant".
now, i think little kids are the best.
my cousin claire is staying at my house right now, and she is a riot. she is like 8 or 9 . . . i can never tell these things. she is really into the game "dance, dance revolution" and she will sit on my lap and get right in my face and demand that we go play "ddr", as she calls it.
it kills me.
tonight, she got baptized in our hot tub. she waited until i got home from work and then she had my dad ("uncle pastor greg") baptize her and my sister read from psalm 1 and then she had us all sing "hark the herald angels sing".
i sang so loud that my lungs hurt.
claire was smiling her picture smile, and i loved it.
she just got a retainer that looks like a watermelon, and she is so proud of it.
i think the reason i like little kids these days is because they are honestly the least complicated people you will ever meet.