School's Out

School's out, school's out, teachers let the mules out! Today is day 1 of Christmas break. So far, there has only been one fight over who gets the remote in to the TV and therefore gets to choose what to watch. I figure we really only have today and tomorrow of major issues like this. And maybe half of Christmas Eve. But then, we have mass, and a Conrad family party at Mike and Jennifer's house. I am really thinking I need to come up with some sort of major activity for Christmas Eve day so that the kids are really worn out and will eventually fall asleep from exhaustion...Both are claiming they are going to stay up all night :}

Then, hopefully after Christmas, they will have enough new stuff to keep them entertained for a few days. Sprinkle in a few activities like skating or maybe even swimming at the Town Club, or a trip to the Discovery Center. And maybe I will actually survive this :)

First Christmas

This past weekend was the first of many Christmas celebrations. And we actually had 2 Christmases. First, we woke up and headed out to a small hanger southeast of town. It was the Buckners Christmas party for all the foster kids and families that they license here. We were served breakfast and then Santa arrived via helicopter. I guess he didn't want to wear out the reindeer so close to Christmas. The kids thought it was pretty cool watching him land. Then each kid (EVERY kid, not just the foster kids, but also kids like Aaron and Sadie) got a gift from Santa. Gifts were wrapped, but labelled according to age. Aaron and Sadie got board games (Sorry and Trouble) and Miss K (sorry, I can't post any identifiable info about her) got some stackable cups and a shape shorting bucket. After this, they also got to ride a pony, which all three really enjoyed. Sadie wants us to get a pony so she can ride anytime she wants to!

Then, Sadie had a piano recital. She did really well considering she didn't practice much. I need to be better about making her sit down to practice...

Next, we were off to Toby's family for their Christmas. At lunch/supper around 4:30 and then opened gifts. All 3 kids were very happy. Sadie got some Hello Kitty Mega Bloks, Aaron got cash (which is all he wants this year), and Miss K got a Sing-a-ma-jig and a little Fisher Price "CD Player." If I had know how annoying that Sing-a-ma-jig would be, I never would have picked it out for her, but she loves it.

After this, we rushed out to a different hanger in town for a tour of Christmas lights by airplane that we had won in an auction. Sadie and Toby absolutely loved it and would have gone again right then. I was just glad we took off and landed safely, and Aaron was a little disappointed because you really couldn't see the Christmas lights all that great from a plane...they kind of blended in with the regular lights. But still, it was a great opportunity.

Then we went back to Granny's to spend some more time with Toby's family. Had a great time, and really think we should get together more often.

Then, Sunday, we got to light the candles on the Advent wreath at mass, which Sadie really thought was cool. And then we went to Aaron's Youth Choir Concert. Very beautiful, and I'm so glad that he is involved in such a great program. Unfortunately, Miss K didn't stay quiet and we had to leave before getting to listen to all the choirs perform. But, we got to hear Aaron, and that's what was most important.

Now, it's Monday, and I got nothing accomplished housework wise. I'm behind on laundry and dishes and cleaning, and didn't get to go buy groceries. Oh well. It'll get done eventually :) And now, we are just looking forward to more festivities!

'Tis the Season

Really, it is a love-hate kind of thing. I love Christmas Season for so many reasons. First, I love the music! I start listening to Christmas music early...usually sneaking in a few songs before Thanksgiving. I hate that people say you can only listen to Christmas music after Thanksgiving and that by listening before, you are "skipping" Thanksgiving. That is incredibly untrue. Christmas music celebrates the birth of our Savior, and I think that is something we should all be very thankful for, so it can justifiably be Thanksgiving music too!

I also love the time spent with family. Going to my parents' house is like coming home. I do have a family of my own now, and we have our own house, and our own traditions. But my parents' house will always be home, where I can fall back to being the me that they know. I still get to be the me that I am right now...the mom and wife. But there, I am a daughter and a sister. And getting to spend time with my siblings and my parents is a treasure that cannot be measured.

But I hate the rush, rush, rush of this season. Yesterday, we had 2 Christmases and a piano recital. And today, we had mass, leftovers from yesterday's Christmas, and a Christmas Choir Concert. And last weekend was just as busy, and the rest of this week will be crazy to. And now there is a forecast for lots of snow, which will interere with all my plans of finishing up the few things I needed to do tomorrow and Tuesday. Oh well. Christmas will get here next Sunday, regardless of what I do and don't get accomplished, and it will be wonderful. Why do I add so many extra things, which just add stress to what should be a time to peacefully prepare for the coming of Emmanuel?

So I am going to try to find some time to spend in peace and quiet. Settle my mind down and find some inner calm to really reflect on what is really important. I am going to make it a priority to spend that time preparing my heart and my soul. Can you hear that voice crying out in the desert? Is your soul crying out "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"? I pray that by Christmas Eve Mass, I have found that peace and am ready to rejoice at the birth of our Lord.

Where Have I Been?

Ok, so I know you guys have been wondering where I have been. After all, it has been over 6 months since my last post. A big reason for my absence from blogging is because I did something to my desktop computer and it will no longer allow me to publish a new blog post. I can type a post, and save it, but it won't publish. So now, the only way to publish posts is to do it on a different computer, which for some reason, I never do get around to doing. It's a bummer for me, because there were a ton of things to post about over the last 6 months, like us getting our first foster child in August, and two concerts we went to over the summer, and the start of a new school year, and Aaron joining the Amarillo Boys' Choir, and Sadie taking ballet and tap this year, and Halloween, and tons of other things that now will not be saved here on the blog for me to go back through and read as reminders of those events.

One thing that I do want to put here is something that Toby reminded me of from when Aaron was a baby. We rarely let him sleep with us at night, but one of the few times we did put him in bed with us, I started a little tradition. In the morning, I would sing to him the chorus of the song "Good Morning, Beautiful" by Brad Paisley. For a long time, I sang this to him every morning when he would wake up. For some reason, I stopped singing it to him. I don't know how or when I stopped, but I did, and I had completely forgotten about it until Toby mentioned it in the car the other day. I wonder how he would feel if I started singing it to him every morning again. Maybe we should find out :)

The Big Day

So once we finally arrived in Portland and slept off our airport-fatigue hangover, we headed out Friday morning to begin enjoying the prize. We arrived at Union Gospel Mission about a quarter til 6. There, we met the guys from LMG Concerts, the sponsor of the prize. Lowell and Summer (the guys from LMG). Here, they informed us that the bands had just found out the night before that they were supposed to be serving that early. Lowell said, "Don't worry. We have a good relationship with the Newsboys. Or, at least we did." At this point, I became worried that the guys would be cranky & crabby.

But, quite the opposite was true. Here is Michael Tait, commenting that Toby should be an easy name to remember because of Toby Mac.

And here is Duncan Phillips. I wasn't expecting the mohawk, and it took me a bit to get used to his sense of humor (very sarcastic and I couldn't always tell when he was joking).


Michael and Duncan were the only members of the Newsboys to come out and serve. But that's okay because Disciple was there also. In this picture, you can see Michael and Duncan, and 4 members of Disciple (Kevin Young is next to Duncan, then Isreal Beachy, then Micah Sannon, then you can just barely make out Trent Reiff)


Here, I'm helping Duncan put on his gloves :) The girl next to me is Mary Hall. She won an essay contest to be here and also at the concert. Her and her mom, Kathy, were super people and we enjoyed getting to know them!



Here I am, manning my post (handing out milk and helping with forks when Trent was busy doing other things...e.i. refilling milk). Aaron and Sadie are helping me.


Then, later that day, it was off to the concert, which started at 7, but VIPs got in at 5 for a meet & great with the Newsboys.
Here, someone had commented about how all the Newsboys songs have such great drum riffs (is that what they're called?) and before they guy could get to his question, Duncan, who is the drummer raised his hand and bounced up and down grinning. After watching him in concert, I can see exactly why.

Here they are singing to us at the meet & greet.

Next, we got group photos with the Newsboys. After serving with them this morning, Michael made the comment that he just "loved this little girl" and asked if he could hold Sadie :)
And here's the concert. Disciple was a very energetic group, with lots of head-banging. It made it tough to get good pictures, but it sure was fun watching them!

At the end of their last song, the guitar player (Micah) did a back flip off an amp. It was a pretty cool way to end their part of the concert.

After Disciple, it was Kutless. I didn't really get any good pictures of them...just a few of the lead singer. They were less energetic and pretty much just stood there and sang/played their instruments.

But after Kutless, was the main event. The Newsboys. They were VERY entertaining and it was so much fun to watch Aaron enjoy the show.

This is Duncan, the drummer. It was so much fun watching his facial expressions. You could really tell that he was enjoying himself up there!

This was for the song "Escape" and Duncan used the bullhorn to announce "Don't Believe the Hype!"

So intense!

Duncan cracks me up :)





Here's a picture of Aaron during the Newsboys part of the show. I know he doesn't look overly excited, but he was. As soon as he saw me point the camera at him, he had to be "cool."

This is Jody Davis, their guitar player. Him and Jeff Frankenstein are both more introverted and less showy. I could very easily see Aaron being a lot like them when he makes it big :)

Here's a shot of all 4 guys together.

A great show! I took tons of pictures and even video. However, the audio part of the videos is horrible because we were right in front of the speakers (thank you, Toby, for getting us ear plugs!) Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries before the best part of the show. During their last song ("Jesus Freak"), the riser that Duncan and his drum set are on lifted up (you can see it in the above picture), turned VERTICAL, and started SPINNING!!! (Sorry, no picture of the vertical or the spinning...darn batteries!)

So, we had a blast. Toby and Sadie stayed backstage for the entire show (and Sadie fell asleep. Toby was able to see parts of the show that we couldn't. Like after every song, Duncan was handed a new pair of drumsticks. And after the show, Michael Tait saw Sadie sleeping and gave her a kiss. So sweet! What an amazing day!!!

The Beginning of the Trip

Today, we got home from our adventure. We are very grateful to be home, but also sad that this experience is over. Even though we had a very rough start to the trip, I still rand this as the best experience we've ever had.


In the beginning...


...we were supposed to leave Amarillo on Wednesday @ 4:10 & land in Portland @ 10:10. All 4 of us. It was a trip for 2, but we bought extra tickets and extended the trip so this could be our family vacation for the year. Our flight out of Amarillo was delayed 3 hrs because it was stuck in Dallas due to storms. No problem. We had a 4 hr layover in Denver, so we still had plenty of time (and now less of a layover). When we landed in Denver, it started snowing. HUGE, wet flakes. We get on the plane and have to wait for some passengers coming from connecting flights. Then, we had to be de-iced. Cool. We had never been de-iced before, so we were looking forward to the event.

FOUR hours after we were supposed to take-off, we were finally done being de-iced (Denver had put up most of its de-icers for the summer and we had to wait our turn). By this time, we had run through so much gas that we no longer had enough to make it to Portland, so back to the terminal to refuel. Then, they decided to just cancel our flight.


9 flights were cancelled for Southwest at Denver, so the lines were LONG and slow to get rebooked. Luckily, we got rebooked for Thursday, but not until late. Another new experience: spending the night in the airport. With kids. Not much sleep for me.

As soon as I could, I got us signed up to fly standby to Portland so we could get their sooner. The first flight at 6:45 to Vegas (with plenty of connections to Portland). And they had 3 seats for standby. We decided that me and the kids would go because it would probably be hard to get all 4 of us on standby together. So the 3 of us got to Vegas, and then got on the 1st flight out of Vegas to Portland.

Toby actually beat us there by about an hour because he got on a direct flight to Portland. We ended up getting all our bags and the rental car, and then into the hotel by around 2.


More of the story to come...including the BEST parts! And pictures! Oh, and by the way...our Tom-Tom is the only way we survived! Don't know what we would have done without it!

All I Can Say is Wow!!!

I have never considered myself to be a "lucky" person. I don't win raffles, lotteries, slots, or even local radio give-aways. Winning those local radio contests has become even more difficult lately, because I haven't been listening to local stations. Instead, I listen to Air 1. This was initially for Aaron, who kept begging me to listen to rock stations because that is the kind of music he likes to play on his guitar. Thankfully, a friend at work heard me complaining about this and suggested Air 1, which is a Christian rock/alternative station that is aired nationally, and on the internet.

Air 1 has lots of contests, and I often *try* to win. However, I always simply got a busy signal...

...until last week. On Tuesday, I actually not only got a ringtone, but actually was caller #8. They were looking for caller #10, but at least I realized just how quick you have to be to have a chance.

Then, on Wednesday, on my way to work, I called in and was caller #10! I won a prize (an autographed copy of the latest cd from the Newsboys), and was entered into the drawing for the main prize...a trip to Portland, Oregon to meet the Newsboys, Disciple, and Kutless; eat breakfast with them; serve at a homeless shelter w/ them, and then be VIPs at their concert. The best part about getting qualified for the drawing was that I got to tell how God is working in my life, and I focused on how He works through my kids, and shared that Aaron playing the guitar was the reason we started listening to Air 1. And that was aired on national radio! So great to hear me bragging on my kids on national radio!

Well, the drawing for the trip was scheduled for Friday at 6:00. I figured if they were going to announce the winner at 6, they would call the winner by 5:45 so they could have the sound byte ready by 6. So, when I hadn't received a call by 5:55, I had pretty much given up. At 6:03, I heard Ashton (the dj on Air 1 at that time) say he was going to be calling the winner in the next 10 minutes, so all the qualifiers should have their phones handy. Two minutes later, guess whose phone started ringing?

Yep. Mine. I couldn't believe it! Again, I got to share my story and hear some bragging on my kids on national radio, and best of all, me and Aaron will be heading out to Portland in a few weeks! Too bad it wasn't a trip for 4...

So although I don't consider myself to be lucky, I do consider myself to be very blessed, and we are SOOOOO excited and looking forward to this opportunity!!! And in honor of this, I have updated my music to include songs by these 3 bands :)

Testing

In order for you to fully enjoy this post, you need to first be aware of the fact that the students at Aaron's and Sadie's school were taking standardized tests this week. Because it is a private school, they don't take the TAKS test, but instead take a test called the ITBS test (Iowa test of basic skills). All students in grades 1-5 took the test. So, because Sadie was in Kinder, she didn't take the test. Last week, when I took my kids for the annual check-up, I asked the doctor to administer a tuberculosis test (TB) to my kids because it is a requirement for being a foster family. Aaron was okay with the idea of getting a shot, but Sadie was less than thrilled. In fact, she started crying before the nurse even took the cap off the needle. We went back in 2 days later to have the tests read, and both were negative :) Fast-forward to today. When I picked up the kids from school, Sadie's teacher said she had a story to tell me. She said she noticed a red mark on Sadie's arm and asked her about the mark. Sadie told her teacher that she got a shot there. Now, this red mark on her arm is on the opposite side of her arm as her TB test, but I guess that even though she was traumatized by the experience, it wasn't horrible enough for her to remember exactly where the injection was given. When her teacher question Sadie by saying that she didn't think they give shots in that part of the arm, Sadie responded by saying... "Yes, it was my ITBS test."

My Little Ladies' Man

OK, admit it. He's a handsome kid. Yes, I admit that I am indeed biased, but I think he really is a good looking boy. Add to those good looks (and dimple) the fact that he plays the electric guitar, rides a dirtbike, and rides a skateboard, plus he can be pretty witty and sweet at times, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a girl or two might find him...interesting...cool...studly?

Today, when he got in the car after school, he said, "Guess whose phone number I got?"

I assumed it was one of his friend's numbers (a boy) that he had tried calling several times and we never could get the right number. Well, you know what assumes does, right?

It was a girl's number.

He's only in 3rd grade! Egads!

He wanted to call her when we got home. Then he smiled and said, "I'm going to prank call her!"

I, of course, told him no, and that he wouldn't be calling any girls anytime soon.

And so it begins...

Where Has the Time Gone?

Wow! Spring Break is already more than halfway over. As breaks often do, this Spring Break has flown by, leaving me to wonder what I have accomplished...

First of all, we have finished the 18-pages of questions required as a part of the certification process to become foster parents. And Toby and I each had to fill one out. It was mind-numbing to fill out all those questions, many of which were repeated a few pages later. Even Aaron figured out that they were just re-asking the question to see if we answered it the same way. But now we're done and we finish up our official training this weekend.

I also changed a guitar string on Aaron's new guitar. First time ever changing a string. Thank you, You Tube! Gotta love that you can watch a video for how to do just about anything on that site. Save us a few bucks, and now we know how to do it and can always just do it ourselves!

I haven't done any of the stuff from work that I was planning on doing. I just have a hard time motivating myself to do work when I'm on break. In fact, I've slept in pretty much everyday of Spring Break, and stayed in my pj's until at least noon.

Speaking of sleeping in, I am still not used to this time change. Everyday, I look at the clock and say "I can't believe it's already ______. It doesn't feel that late." Craziness, but it makes me feel like summer is just around the corner.

And that's about it for what I've done so far this Spring Break. Oh, and I've had to referee a bunch of fights between Aaron and Sadie. We're definitely going to need a plan for this summer to keep them from driving me crazy :)

All-Star Talent Show!

Last night was the St. Mary's All-Star Talent Show. There were 29 acts, ranging from dancing to singing to hula-hooping to a puppet show, to piano playing to guitar playing. Yesterday, getting ready for the show, I contemplated skipping the first part of the show to go to my crochet class instead, and just show up for Aaron's act (he was scheduled to be act #23). I am glad that I changed my mind and decided to watch the entire show. I was very impressed!

Here are some photos from the night:

Aaron waiting for his turn. All the students performing in the show sat together at the back of the gym. On the way to the show, Aaron said he had butterflies in his stomach, but once we got to the gym, he acted cool...

Sadie and 3 of her friends from her class. Sadie didn't perform because she told me she was "too shy." After watching the show, I think she realized that she could have done it. Just wait til next year. She'll blow your socks off!

Here is our friend, Macy playing her piano piece. She only started taking lessons at the beginning of this school year, and we were amazed at the progress she's made. She played "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. Great job, Macy!

Here is Aaron and his guitar. This picture was actually taken after the show because during the show, I used the camera to video his act. And to my surprise, Aaron gave me permission to put the video on you tube and share it on my blog and facebook. Too bad I gave up facebook for lent. I'll have to wait to post it to there...but, I'll add the link at the end of this blog post.

This picture was also taken after the show. Sadie decided that she wanted to sing, so she hopped up on stage, grabbed the mic, and sang away. Like I said, next year...

And here's the link with the video for Aaron's act. He played "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot, a Christian Rock Band. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6GJjZKjvDs

Sadie's Ear Piercing

A few months ago, Toby (without talking to me about it first) asked Sadie if she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday this year. She, of course, said yes.

So today, we took her (a few days early) for her birthday present. We had done some research and found out that Claire's had Hello Kitty earrings as an option for ear piercing, so naturally, that was Sadie's choice.

She did a great job. She was excited, and a little nervous. But never once thought about getting down from that chair before her ears were bejeweled.

Check out the entire event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpu0LM1OHjc

If you want to skip through all the fru-fru and just see her reaction, skip to about 45 seconds into the video :)

By the way, when I zoom in to her left ear toward the end of the video, that isn't bruising. They used a purple felt-tip pen to mark where they were going to place the earrings, and when she swabbed them with the cleaner, it smeared that ink. Why they use purple is beyond me. I suppose it is better than red...

What Would You Take?

Sunday began as a typical Texas Panhandle day, with the winds roaring. Nothing new to those of us who live here. We know that the Windy City has nothing on us. And we're also no stranger to dry lands. We go through droughts fairly regularly. And these two conditions always keep the fire fighters in the panhandle busy.

But Sunday...Sunday wasn't typical. Yes, we've had days that were that windy, and yes, we've had dryer conditions. But we have never had the devastation from this combination before. In the Amarillo and Canyon area, there were several fires. We've dealt with grass fires before, and even with grass fires on windy days, but this time, there was a lot of property damage. About 50 houses (maybe more...the last I heard they still didn't have an accurate count) were completely destroyed, and who knows how many others were damaged, either by fire or smoke or water. Residents of several neighborhoods had to evacuate.

Evacuation.

How do you do that? How do you load up in the car and leave your home without knowing what will happen? And what do you take with you? Watching the events unfold on the news that day and reading reports on facebook made me think about what I would do if faced with mandatory evacuations.

The obvious...grab the kids and pets and get the heck out. But what else would you grab? I'm not sure how much time residents had to leave their homes, but I really don't think it was long. I have heard of a lot of people not even having time to take pets, and about people having nothing but the clothes they left with.

What would you grab if you had 10 extra minutes? Would you stay until the last possible moment? Until the sheriff pulled you out of your house? Would you just run?

What would you grab if you only had 5 extra minutes? How much stuff could you grab and load up in 5 minutes?

1 extra minute?

I'm not sure what I would do, but I know what I would want to grab. Besides the kids and pets, pictures would be high on my list. And the external hard drive (where I have all my pictures and documents stored). Maybe a favorite toy or two for the kids. Perhaps some spare clothes.

Would I just send the kids to the car and have them wait while I grab a few things, or would I give them each a pillow case or something and let them grab some stuff too?

Would I even be able to think at all to be able to make rational decisions about what to grab?

Would you? What would you do? What would you take? I know this has made me look at all my "valuables" in a whole new way. I walk around my house evaluating what is the most important, what are those things I would want to grab...

I am so blessed to have been spared from having to make those decisions Sunday. My prayers go out to all those who lost property or pets...

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

In honor of the festivities of today (February 14), I figured I'd change up my playlist a bit. So, for a while now, you can listen to some love songs :) Enjoy! And a Happy St. Valentine's Day to you all!

A Tale of Two Kids

I have blogged on here before about how different my two kids are. Don't get me wrong, they do have some similarities (like how they derive great pleasure from annoying me by annoying each other), but their personalities and traits and habits definitely have some unique qualities! And I love them for their individuality, as well as for their commonalities.

Today at mass, Monsignor Waldo pointed out one of their most obvious differences. It all started with Aaron asking if we could get to mass early so he could serve, even though he wasn't scheduled to. So we arrived early, he peeked into the vesting room, and told me there were already 3 servers, so we went and sat down in the sanctuary. Then, Monsignor came up with 2 servers (not 3) to point out where they were supposed to sit now (with the changes we are making for the church becoming the cathedral, we will have to add a Bishop's chair, which is requiring some rearranging of furniture). I elbowed Aaron and pointed out that there were only 2 servers and asked if he still wanted to serve. He said no.

A few minutes later, Monsignor came back into the sanctuary, motioned to Aaron with his finger, and asked if he'd serve. Of course, Aaron can't tell Monsignor no, so he went to get changed.

After mass, I thanked Monsignor for asking Aaron to serve and mentioned that Aaron could never say no to him. To this, Monsignor said, "Aaron barely speaks to me, unless I directly ask him something, and even then, sometimes I have to coax him to respond." Then, he pointed to Sadie and said, "Unlike this one. She talks to me all the time. Not shy at all, at least not around me." Then, he reminded me of how she went up to him and sat by him at the closing mass for the ACTS retreat that Toby went on.

And he was 100% correct. He knows my kids pretty well, I guess. One that is more shy and introverted, and the other who has pretty much never met a stranger, and isn't afraid at all to let someone knows how much she cares for them.

I did point out to Aaron that if he is going to be a rock star, then he's going to have to get past his shyness...

Things That Make Me Go Hmmm...

A few things I've been pondering...

...with the economy tanking, why is that Starbucks still has a long line at the drive-thru every day, and an even longer line inside? If you're really strapped for cash, wouldn't it be more logical to brew a few cups at home for a fraction of the cost? Oh wait...logic is not in high supply right now. Believe me, I work in higher education and I witness on a regular basis. Scary.

...why can't you just pay for the channels you want on dish or with cable? There is soooo much junk on TV, and out of the 100 or 200 channels we get, we only watch a handful, and we could get the locals for free w/ an antenna. Plus, I bet close to a third of our channels are just radio stations. Why can't I just pick the 10 or so channels I want?

...why would anyone ever buy a vehicle that is driven by rats? And what marketing guru came up with that for the idea to persuade people to buy the Kia Soul? I know that Zhu Zhu pets are popular with the little kids right now, but I have never heard anyone old enough to actually drive a Soul say anything along the lines of "Man, I wish I could roll like a guinea pig. That would be so totally phat!"

...why does every single Allsups have that same strange smell? I have heard that it is because of the old grease and the heavy scent of smoke that is required to coat every worker, but that pretty much describes ALL convenience stores, and Allsups is the only one that has that distinctive odor. What is it?

First Communion Dresses

Yesterday at mass, there were two little girls making their First Communion. Sadie noticed them right away, and tugged at my sleeve. "Mom, when can I wear a dress like that?"

I told her that when she was in 2nd grade, she would get to make her First Communion. Her question: "And then I will get to wear a dress like those?" I nodded and smiled at her. Then, she looked up at me with the biggest smile and said, "Oh, sign me up, mom. Seriously! Sign. Me. Up."

Then I asked her which of the two dresses she liked better. One was a more modern version (less frilly) and the other was a more traditional type (poofy and sparkly). Anyone who knows Sadie can guess which one she picked. Her comment: "Ohhh...I like the one with sparkles. Can I have one with sparkles?"

Although I do not wish her to grow up too fast, I am looking forward to the day she gets to wear her sparkly white dress to church.

Bragging Rights

One of the things that parents have the privilege of doing is bragging about their kids. There is a delicate balance for what is considered an appropriate amount of bragging without being "one of *those* moms." I really do try to stay on the "normal" side of that balance, and do restrain myself from constantly bragging. Those of you reading this who really know me may be saying to yourself that I am actually tiptoeing far into the other side, but if you knew how often I kept my kids' amazing feats & accomplishments to myself, you'd know how hard I am trying to be normal.

But today, I am claiming those bragging rights that are mine as a mom. I'll start with Aaron, because he is the oldest.

Yesterday, after church, we decided to eat at Wendy's. When Aaron finished his root beer and wanted a refill, I told him to go get one. When he went up to ask for a refill, I overheard one of the cashiers make the following comment: "What good manners that kids has. I hope when I have kids, they act like that."

That comment made my day. My kids don't always act like little angels at home, or around family, but at least they do have some idea of how to act in public. And it is always nice to get unsolicited compliments like that. I know she wasn't just saying it to make me feel good. I wasn't even up at the counter. In fact, I was all the way across the dining area, so there is no way she thought I might be listening.

Now for Sadie's brag-time. A while back, we decided we wanted to start Sadie in piano lessons. Mid-November, we talked to the lady who teaches piano at Tarpleys, which is where Aaron take guitar lessons. We figured it would be really convenient if they both took lessons there, and we know we can eventually get their lessons at the same time. Unfortunately, she was all full, but we gave her my name and phone number. She said she sometimes has people drop after the new year, and if not, she said she always has openings in the summer.

So, we would wait. But, that day, Sadie was really excited about piano lessons, so I figured I'd show her the basics. I showed her middle C, and how to find it, and taught her about all the notes in an octave (A-G), and how to figure out which key was which note. We spent maybe 10 minutes (probably not even that long) with this, and I never mentioned it again, and Sadie never really sat down at the piano again, except to bang on it.

Then, Saturday we got a call from the lady at Tarpleys. She had an opening and wondered if Sadie would like it. So now, Sadie will start piano lessons this week :) Last night, I asked Sadie if she remembered where middle C was (this was to distract her from some whining...and the distraction worked). She walked over to the piano, and without hesitation, played middle C. I then asked her if she knew what the other keys were, and she named them all. Wow! This kid has quite a memory!

Both of my kids amaze me and make me proud of them. I know they are not perfect, but it is great to see them grow and to watch their talents emerge.

Okay...bragging session is now over. Thank you for letting me indulge myself here :)