Levi William Hall

Score one for the men in the Hall household! Levi William Hall was born at 10:08 a.m. on February 28th. (Much to the delight of his mother who did NOT want a leap year baby!) I am slowly, but surely, succeeding in my plot to reclaim my house from the females. We are now only outnumbered three to two, and if you count the dog and cat, we are only outnumbered three to two and three-fourths. (I count the dog as half a person, and the cat as a fourth of a person, which admittedly in the cat's case is really pushing it.) So far, Levi is sleeping a lot. Let's hope that trend continues tonight. It was a hard delivery for Rachel, but the Good Lord got us through. We were also blessed with an excellent doctor in Holly Wherry, and sweet nurses.

In one sense, the day was bittersweet for me as I lost a dear friend in Charley Cox, who went home to be with the Lord. Charley was the oldest man in our church, and a true saint of God. We spent a lot of time together, and I loved him. I preached his funeral today, just a couple hours after bringing Rachel and Levi home from the hospital. Charley had a great sense of humor, and I will miss him. My emotions are all over the place tonight. Pray I make it through the sermon tomorrow!

Here come the Bears!... Missouri State beat 20th ranked Drake at home in the last game at Hammons Student Center (a game I predicted them to lose), and then crushed Indiana State tonight behind 37 points from Dale Lamberth, for our third win in a row. It would not surprise me to see the Bears make a run in the Valley Tournament. For the record, I think they lose in the quarterfinals to Illinois State. Another prediction... Sophomore point guard Justin Fuhrmeyer (9 assists, 0 turnovers tonight) will be all-Valley next year.

Today was a beautiful day in the Ozarks... Sunshine. 60's. And as the sun set, the best thing of all -- peep frogs. Music to a hillbilly's ears. Throw in a whipporwill or two and some crickets, and Beethoven can't begin to compete. It's supposed to spit some snow Monday, but even this nasty winter can't stop spring's steady advance. I'm ready!