The Greatest Concert

What is the greatest concert that you have ever attended? Being a former choir student I have been in many concerts. I sang with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and sang for Mikhail Gorbachev at HU. I also sang at TMEA and ACDA in Constitution Hall in Washington DC. Those were fabulous concerts if I do so myself! Then a few years ago, Jason and I went to the U2 concert - that was a really good concert.

But the greatest concert I have ever been to was last weekend at Granny and Popa's. Jacob and Rylan got out pots, pans and wooden spoons and went to town! They played fast songs, slow songs, loud songs and even louder songs! We took a ton of pictures and all laughed at how cute there were taking turns beating on the pots and pans.

Thanks for sharing in our greatest concert memory. What is your greatest concert?

She loved to laugh!

Today we lost Jason's maternal grandmother. She was 88 and had been battling lots of health issues for several years. She was a lovely lady. She was the mother of 9 children and raised them on a little farm in a little Oklahoma town. She cooked meals from their garden and collected eggs from their hen house. She loved her husband and stood by him through thick and thin. Like all families there were ups and downs... children going off to war, marriages, grandchildren, divorces, moves across country. But one thing remained constant - grandma's laugh. She always had a smile on her face and a laugh in her heart. When she met our boys in April, she held them and laughed and laughed, the way that only a great-grandma can. She was a lovely woman and the glue that held a family together. We will miss her dearly, but will always treasure her laugh.

I've Been Tagged!

Lacie tagged me for a fun trip down memory lane. Happy remembering with me!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? September 1997
It was our junior year at Harding and I was working on my BA in Elem. Ed. I was also Vice-President of my social club and fall meant pledge week! The other VP and I were working vigorously on pledge books, BIG purple hair bows, and other fun Pledge Week fun. (Sorry no pic... maybe once I figure out how to do it better!) Did I mention that my dorm room had expolded purple!?!!

2. What were you doing 5 years ago? September 2002
It was my 4th year of teaching first grade. That was a challenging group because I had my first two autistic kids. They were really special kids who I loved bunches. Jason and I were on the hunt for buying our first house.

3. What were you doing 1 year ago? September 2006
That's easy to remember! The boys were still in the NICU. So a typical Sept. 2006 day for me was... Be at the hospital at 8 to nurse one baby. Go run an errand or two. Be back at the hospital by noon to nurse the other baby. Go home and get the nursery done, write thank you notes, take a nap. Eat dinner about 6. Be at the hospital at 8 when they re-opened the NICU for my first visit to the babies with Jason for the day. Hold, snuggle, cry, pray with the babies. Leave the hospital about 11 and crash until morning again.

4. What did you do yesterday?
A busy day! I got up at 6, read the Ladies Class book chapter, fed the boys breakfast by myself and got us all out the door by 9:45 for Ladies Class. Class was really great! We are doing the book "The Case for Christ." Then a few girls and all the kids went to Chick-fil-a for lunch. We were quite a sight! Hope we did not scare anyone away! A friend from church came over in the afternoon to help me with the boys since Jason was out of town and we made it to church on time! Got the boys to bed at 9:15 - which is great for a church night! Then crashed!

I am quite the night owl, but getting up that early was really nice and got the day off to a great start. Did I mention that the boys are trying to wean themselves off of their morning nap? That's another post in it's self!!!

5. Snacks I enjoy
Anything sweet - chocolate chip cookies, chocolate kisses, brownies, M&M's!!! Sunday (the first day of fall) I will make "Lacie's Famous Fall Mix" and that will be my favorite for fall! Thanks for sharing Lacie!

6. Things I would do with $100 million dollars
I would pay off all our debt, set up college funds for R and J, give a bunch to HU and our church, buy mom and dad a newer house and have a fun shopping spree at Hobby Lobby on scrapbooking stuff! I hope that I would be practical and sensible and not blow it all! And Jason and I would take a big trip every year starting with Vermont in the fall!

7. Locations I would run to
Vermont in the fall, Savannah in the spring, Alaskan cruise, Disney World with the family, all 50 state capital buildings, oh the list goes on and on!!!

8. Bad habit I have
This is hard to admit! I cannot say no and over-commit to things at times. And I bite my nails. Yes, 30 and still a nail biter!

9. Things I like doing
scrapbooking, stamping cards, playing with Rylan and Jacob, relaxing with Jason, putting on an apron and cooking something new, being with the girls, hunting new flamingo treasures, and now blogging!

10. Biggest joy of the moment
A Christian husband and marriage

I'm tagging some HU club sisters... Janell and Melissa! Let's hear it for the cutie pies!!!

You don't know your own strength!

I must tell Jason this a million times! He is a big guy, a former defensive lineman... and bless his heart, he does not know his own strength. He can snap something in half that I spent an hour trying to bend. He can pick up practically anything with ease. Most of the time, his physical strength has been a blessing and we are all thankful for it, but sometimes he does not know his own strength!

Now onto today's big news... you know how they always say you pass on your least desired traits to your children? Well, Jacob does not know his own strength!!! We have a gate in our den to block off the dining room. It is the kind that you can arrange 8 panels to form just about any shape. Today, Jacob discovered his strength. He can push really, really hard and knock over the gate! Then crawl over it and be lose in the whole house.

Now, don't think that Rylan is not benefiting from Jacob's new found strength. He was about half a crawl behind Jacob during the "Great Escape One" and two and three. Yes, three times today the gate came tumbling down. I think we have re-configured it to be Jacob-proof. We'll see tomorrow.

And as for Jacob inheriting Jason's strength trait, I hope that Jacob will use it wisely like Jason to help others and be successful in whatever sport he choses.

What traits have your darlings inherited from you?

Ouch!

We had a little scare tonight! My sweet Granny fell and was taken by ambulance to the hospital to see if she broke her hip. She was standing up trying to put on her shoe and fell backwards landing on her back/side. She thought she heard a crack and we all feared the worst. After a few hours of prayer and worry, the x-rays came back clean. No break! Praise the Lord! Now she is back home and is incredibly sore. Mom and Dad are going to stay over here at least until Saturday to help her recover. Please continue to pray for her healing from the soreness and thanksgiving that her hip was not broken.

Thank You Karen!

Today was our last visit with Karen, our fabulous OT. Since the boys were premature, they were referred for Early Childhood Intervention. Their evaluation was in December. Jacob did not qualify, but Rylan had torticollis. Torticollis basically means one side of his neck was stronger than the other side, so he would always look and turn only to one side. Thus began our journey with Karen. Karen came out to the house for about an hour two times a month. She would play with Rylan and push him to his limits and then some! She taught us many wonderful exercises to work on his neck and other skills that popped up. Now Rylan's torticollis is resolved!

I had very little experience with occupational therapy until this experience. My friend Lacie is an OT, but she mostly helps older folks. And the OT's at school dealt with elem.age kids. I had no idea how knowledgeable and helpful OTs are with child development. Karen answered countless questions and helped me learn many "mothering" skills in addition to helping Rylan's neck.

We are very grateful for Karen, her work ethic and her love for our babies. Even though Jacob was not officially enrolled, she always gave a few tips for him as well. We are so much better off for having her teach us how to "fix" Rylan's neck. We are sad to see her move on to another job, but know that she will touch many other families as positively as she touched ours! Thank you Karen! We love you!

Moving on the Horizon

It is official... my grandparents are moving to town! Actually, they are moving to our street! We are all very excited, but a lot of work is ahead of us.

They have been married 63 years. Isn't that a wonderful accomplishment? But 63 years of marriage means 63 years of treasures. Today my sweet parents went over to help them box up more treasures. We've got until the end of the month and I know we will all be worn out by October 1.

But all is all, it will be a good thing. It is getting harder for Popa to drive, so now we can help out with that a little easier. Granny is a fabulous cook... no really, she rocks! I am looking forward to more cooking lessons from her. Rylan and Jacob are the luckiest ones of the bunch. Great-grandparents on their street... what a blessing!

And what a blessing to be around a couple who has been married for 63 years. I'm looking forward to hearing more stories and advice and hopefully recording them for the future. In this day and age, long marriages are a rare jewel. Have you been touched by a long, faithful marriage?

Opening Day

Today is a red-letter day at our house... opening day for Fantasy Football! Jason has been a member of a league with a bunch of guys from church for about 4 years. The live draft was 2 weeks ago and he had to attend via cell phone from Roswell, NM. His #1 draft pick was Peyton Manning.

"The Return of Zim and Zam" - his team- won the championship last year. How did he get this name you may ask. While I was pregnant with the boys, my dad called them Zim and Zam, so in honor of their early birth 4 days before last years draft, Jason named his team "Zim and Zam." He's hoping "The Return" will be as successful as last year!

Fantasy Football is very serious in these parts! Now remember that all the team members are faithful Christian men but they love to smack talk each other. Occasionally Jason will share with me some of their smack talk and it always cracks me up! There is absolutely no bad language, just a lot of ribbing and joking.

So how will win the coveted trophy? We are cheering for Peyton, Reggie Wayne, Willis MaGhee, and the rest of Zim and Zam to keep the bragging rights here for another year.

Are your husbands involved with Fantasy Football?

Meet Rylan! I love this photo of Rylan! He is such a camera ham... yes, I've already tarnished my sweet child. The camera comes out and he is all grins! Rylan has 8 teeth! He is the first born and a little smaller in stature. Rylan is 17.9 lbs. He's not really interested in the sippy cup yet, but has finally moved onto table food. His current favorite is sweet potatoes and english peas - but not together! Rylan is cruising along all of our furniture and is the speediest crawler this side of the Mississippi! He has the funniest laugh... wonder where he gets it from! haha He loves his books and all songs. Rylan jabbers all day long. We say that he talks in paragraphs, while Jacob talks in sentences. Rylan is a people person already and loves to give his dimples to all the ladies at church.

Meet Jacob! Jacob was second born, but our OT calls him "the trailblazer." He's always been a little bigger built and hit the milestones first. We say he is "thick." He is up to 21 lbs and finally got to turn around his car seat. Jacob is drinking from a sippy cup and loves, loves, loves all the table food we can give him. Jacob started walking about a month ago and is really steady on his feet now. He has dimples that you can fall in to and a very cute belly laugh. His favorite thing is to look at books and snuggle. He is a daredevil at heart, but is bashful at times.

After many years of praying for these babies to be born, we are both so grateful for each moment and thing that they do. Being a parent is such an indescribable blessing. As we tuck them in every night, we both get a little choked up to think how richly the Lord has blessed us.

They have also completely discovered each other. They wrestle. They giggle back and forth. They grab toys away from each other. They play tag. They go in opposite directions! The fun is just beginning.

We hope that you have a day full of laughter... we are sure there will be laughter at our house too!