The Piano Man

Yesterday evening, I quizzed Gary about his "performance". He wasn't very forthcoming with the play by play that I was hoping for. I asked, "Was it fun?" "Yea." "Were you nervous? "No." "Can you tell me anything exciting about it, Gary?" This, I wasn't expecting, but it doesn't surprise me! His eyes lit up and he bragged, "Yea, Mrs. Debbie (the piano teacher) picked me up from daycare and she drives a purple Dodge like Mr. Steve's (Debbie's husband) blue Dodge truck but it's not a truck. It has a backseat and it's an SUV. I didn't have to sit in a car seat and she even let me sit in the front and made the girl that is one year older than me sit in the back and Mrs. Debbie drives fast and it was fun!"

Before we went to bed last night, he did confide in me that he really likes playing the piano and that he's glad he's taking lessons. He also asked me to buy a keyboard and xylophone to go along with the piano and drum set that we already have, so we (Randy, Landon, Gary and I) can be a band! Ha!!! I'll let you know when we plan the CD release party!

I can't think of a title worthy of the hilarity of this story!

Gary and several of his fellow piano students played for the senior adults at church this morning during their monthly meeting. They did great and all went well. Bro. Scotty (our music minister) looked out for Gary at lunch. Below is the response I got after I emailed him a small thank you.

"I went through the dinner line with him holding his plate and me going to load it up. As we passed each dish, I would ask “do you like ______” , and he would reply with “no" or shake his head from left to right. Finally, as we approached the butter… he said “YES”. As we walked toward the tables (my plate loaded up) with his plate in hand with a fork and one small tub of butter, I asked him if he would like a roll to eat. He nodded up and down. Gary wound up eating one small portion of butter and FOUR ROLLS, and drank about a thimble full of sweet tea. Yes, he is a picky eater. However I enjoyed him. He was a pleasure to sit with.
May God use this little boy for HIS honor…

Thanks for sharing him with the senior adults, they really enjoyed him.

Sincerely, Scotty"

You might be a redneck if.....

...you mount your new tires and wheels at home then cart your whole family to Wish Wash Carwash to admire the bling under bright lights at 9 o'clock at night!!! They are pretty, dear ;-)

What do they "do"?

Landon crosses his feet at the ankle when he sits. His little feet are so cute!

Gary has an uncanny knack for balancing things. We find forks balanced perfectly on the rim of a bowl or a pencil balanced on the cap of a tube of tooth paste leaning upright against a basket or a shoe balanced on the top of an open cabinet door. He never brags, but leaves his "creations" for us to find, sometimes days later.

Landon insists that EVERYONE wear "tsoos" (shoes) and that all doors in the house be closed before they leave for daycare.

When I kiss Gary goodbye in the mornings, he always calls me back to his bedside for another hug.

These are the kinds of treasures I look forward to every day: the things that only a closest relative would notice and appreciate.

What do your kiddos "do"?

I BELIEVE!!!

If you're keeping up with little Ethan Powell, check out his dad, Ben's, post today...

"Find a desk to stand on, high five someone, or how about hitting a knee and give GOD some serious props! The tests are back.
BELIEVE. ETHAN IS 100% ME!
If you still don't believe, then I advise you to do some serious soul searching. For the past 160 days you have experienced a miracle. There is a long road still ahead, but it just started on the best possible foot. For now, there is no presence of LEUKEMIA CELLS, just my cells. Now we have to pray for it to stay away while my cells tap dance through his body. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY WITH US. Today is THE BIGGEST DAY to this story to date. If you have been 'straddling the fence' and not sure if God is real, let me tell you HE IS REAL and VERY ACTIVE in our day to day lives! Yes... even in the biggest backslider and he is waiting for your decision... 'Do you BELIEVE?'

For 160 days, we have been screaming PRAYER WORKS! It does work, but the true message today is one so much greater.... BELIEVE! Because without that PRAYER is restricted. So I will say it again... BELIEVE. PRAYER WORKS!!!"

If you need a "catch-up" follow the link in the right hand margin to Ethan Powell.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Lowery!!!!
(Gary's 1st grade teacher)

Back it up!

If you're reading this post, you're at least semi-computer literate and there's a good chance you have precious photos stored on your computer. If you keep up with Lora's blog, you may have already read that her house was broken into this week while she's in Italy. Of most important things, they took her computer. In all of her artsy-ness, she's also a photographer with photos stored, guess where? Her computer! I HATE that someone had the audacity to intrude upon her space and take her things. But, it opened my eyes! I do worry about lightning striking my 'puter or the kids spilling drinks on it, but in the grand scheme, my photos could probably be recovered from some accident like that. If my hard drive were GONE, though, so would be any chance of recovering my precious memories. So here's your techie tidbit: back up your hard drive and keep it in a safe place! You never know where or when the next bandit may strike! Also, please pray that they find Lora's 'puter before her hard drive is destroyed.

Grrrrrrrr......

In protest to Randy's recent comment to me "I don't know why you do that blog. No one reads it. You never have any comments!" please leave a comment to this post to prove him wrong. Girls, it's time to unite!!!! If you're a lurker that has not attempted to leave a comment before, it's easy. Click the "comments" link immediately below this post. Type your one-liner in the box along with your name. Select "anonymous" and click "publish comment". Once you do it the first time, you'll wish you'd been commenting for the past three months! Call me if you need further instructions and I'll guide you through the process. I NEED your support so Randy will quit griping when I'm posting piano videos at 10:30 on a Friday night!

Under the Tuscan Sun

I have to give a plug for my new favorite author. You all know I love to read children's books, to children, but I'd like to share my first cousin, Lora's, blog with you. She's the most amazingly artistic twenty-something elementary art teacher you'll ever alight upon! Too bad she's a native Arkansan; we'd love to have her down in the boot! As far as I know, she hasn't published any books, but through her blog she's taken me on holiday all over the world. This morning, I was catching up on her month-long jaunt to Italy. Yea, that's right, she's there for an entire month taking an art class. I'm usually the one that looks at the pictures and comments sections first, then reads the commentary if my attention is stirred. Allora, this morning, over a bowl of cheerios, I forgot to look at the pics and skipped right to her next entry! I was in Italy and couldn't wait to accompany her on her next adventure!!!! No photo or movie can take you there like her words! So if you have ever traveled to Italy, or ever wondered about Italy, or even just need a five minute get-away from your world, please visit her blog. If you care to leave her a comment here (I don't think xanga accepts anonymous comments) I'll gladly pass them along to her. Have a nice trip!

Concerto Numero Uno

This was my concert preview on Gary's last night of music camp with Mrs. Debbie. Some highlights included: music theory computer games, playing the piano, the keyboard, and the xylophone, musical note Twister (Gary's favorite), and LOTS of other creative activities. Gary said, "Mom, you play all those games and it's so much fun you don't even realize you're learning music! I LOVE Mrs. Debbie! She's the 'funnest' teacher and the best piano player on the planet!!!" Thank you, Mrs. Debbie, for building his musical foundation on the rock!

Evolution of a Picky Eater

It's no secret that Gary is an extremely picky eater. And, it's no secret that he got that from me. It's also probably no real surprise, if you've shared meal-time with us, that I probably fuel his terrible eating habits...a little. Last night, even I was shocked! Before going to church, I offered him and Landon left over Johnnie's pizza. Landon was much obliged to eat, as usual. Gary picked out the most perfect piece of the remaining three and said he'd rather have it cold. That I can understand. (It doesn't get much better than cold pizza!) I took it from the box, placed it on his plate and asked him to take it to the table. He took one look and said, "I'm not eating it!" put the plate on the stove and looked at me. I asked, "Why?" to which he just pointed to the slice; the perfect slice of cold deep-dish Johnnie's Cheese Pizza that he had just chosen six seconds ago! "What's wrong with it?" I was quickly losing patience!! In a calm but serious voice he replied, "The cheese is cracked." I could not believe what my ears had just heard. Apparently, when I pulled the slice from the others, the cheese separated right across the middle and exposed a hint of pizza sauce. It was no longer edible! Landon had his pizza with a smile.

Gary went to church without supper and finally decided on a hot dog about 9:00 pm. I microwaved his all-beef dog, nestled it in a bun (bun must not have torn edges) and called him to the table....three times. Landon finally came from the playroom, where they had all been watching, "The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift...Extra Scenes, Drifting School." Gary's perfect hot dog was getting cold (which is also a no-no) so I offered it to Landon. Just as he was munching the first bite, Gary rounded the corner, saw the bite gone from HIS hot dog and had a complete melt down. Landon just smiled and took another bite. We did fix Gary another one and he finally pulled himself together enough to eat. I thought this "picky" thing was supposed to get better with age, but he's progressing backwards! Would that make it digressing? Anyway, any tips to encourage him to eat would be greatly appreciated!!

By the way, letting him go hungry is not an option. He'll skip an entire day's worth of food if there isn't anything he likes.

Kids Say the Darndest...

We had lunch at Cantina Lorado at the Shops at Belmead Center today. It's not exactly a "family" environment, but for lunch we thought 'what the heck'. They seated us in a corner hidden behind the bar (which was fine). If you haven't been there, YOU MUST! It's classified "Gourmet Mexican" and has, by far, the best salsa I have EVER had! We ate as quickly as possible to get the kids in and out. Upon leaving and just as we reached the hostess station near the front door, Landon saluted the remaining patrons with a Presidential wave and yelled in his most audacious 'almost two year old' voice, "Bye Eat!" I'm assuming they were all amused, but we didn't hang around for a reply.

Back in the Saddle

Happy Fourth! We participated in a family vote this morning. I wanted to clean the house; obviously, I was out voted! We spent the day riding four wheelers in Mansfield at Toledo Bend Reservoir. The last time I actually got to ride, I was two months pregnant with our youngest toot. He's 20 months now and definitely old enough to enjoy a little holiday joy riding. It POURED rain on us most of the trip, but we (me included) had a BLAST!!! I was shocked at how much I have missed riding. Here's a rundown of our group today... (Couldn't get many action shots...too much rain! And of course there aren't any of me; the only downfall of being the "photographer" in the family.)

Is it time to go yet? Is it time? When are we leaving? Is it time?
Plenty of rain keeps the dust down and makes good mudholes.
Landon: "Hats off to my first hard ride!!!" (He actually rode with me, but loves to pretend on brother's bike.)
Gary sneaks a quickie ride on the big bike while we stop to regroup.
Matt: Cautious, never gets stuck, the only one who didn't break something today, probably cleaned his bike before he went home. (I wish I was that way!)
My cousin Danny: The gentle giant, dependable comic relief, and the first one to dive head first into a mudpit to help you get out.
Randy finally quit attempting EVERY mudhole over 3 feet deep. But...Shawn is quickly sinking into that position! Today, his dare devil ways left him riding piggy-back with Matt.

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

AND

MAY GOD

CONTINUE TO BLESS

THE
UNITED STATES

OF

AMERICA!!!

Homerun for Daddy

Randy is father of the year this week. Gary got a tent for his birthday that has been fully erected in our den for three weeks. He and Randy finally "camped out" Sunday night. Monday morning I found them sleeping peacefully on our brick floor. Their air mattress had deflated in the middle of the night. I suggested they move to our bed, but Gary wanted to stay in the tent...so they did...on the freezing cold hard brick floor. Randy gets all the points this week. I would have been the first to bail! Praise the Lord for good Daddies!

Auditions for The Naked Brothers Band

Gary was playing piano in his underwear too, but ran screaming like a girl when I rounded the corner with the camera. Neighbors two blocks away "enjoy" their "concerts".

*The Naked Brothers Band is a show on Nickelodeon. The kids in the band aren't really naked.*