Stuff LikeThat There (Part III of "A Youth Group, a Vision for Haiti and a Talent Show")

Thanks to sweet Rick, I now know how to upload videos from You Tube. And let me just say, it is waaaaaaaay faster than using Blogger! (note to self)

Okay, family, here's my talent show act Kerry recorded with my little Cannon camera (NOT a video camera). WARNING = The quality is not the best, but at least you get the idea.

I think I may have had a little too much fun with this song- but, it is one of my favorite songs, after all, and I do LOVE performing! I continue to be my worst critic, though. I see/hear many flaws (flailing arms - was I trying to swat a passing bee??? Gee whiz!!!!!, shaky pitch at end of song, was my vibrato really that happy is it the poor recording quality???) that I hope you overlook. Oh well - at least I had a BLAST on my way-too-short vacation that performing can take me on. Laundry was not on my mind. Errands were not on my mind. Keeping track of Grant and Rhett was not on my mind (they were on Gramma's - ha ha). My To-Do List was not on my mind. It was just me, a mic, my favorite dress and my favorite song. And let me tell ya, it was very freeing!

Oh, in case you are wanting to know what I said before the music began (Mom), I told the sound guy to "crank it!"

Taking Care of Business (Part II of "A Youth Group, a Vision for Haiti and a Talent S how")

This is the video of Kerry and Grant at band practice as I mentioned in this post.

Unfair

Today I learned that my friend, Rick Johnson, died today while on a walk with his wife near their home in Antioch, CA. This is very shocking news - especially because Rick was an avid runner. He was in G.O.O.D. shape! This came out of no where, and it hurts. I hurt for his sweet wife, Virginia, who crocheted my treasured "Kilgore" doilie when K and I got married that now hangs above our front door. I am sad for his younger son, Jeremy, who just had his first child. I am sad for his older daughter, Jennifer, and her three kids. I am sad for those of us that truly valued him as a person and a friend and a leader.

I first met Rick when K and I started attending Sugar Grove Church of Christ here in Sugar Land. He was the music minister here, so of course we hit it off. They moved to California a few years ago to continue their ministry, and I've continued to keep up with Rick via blogging, and of course enjoyed seeing him and Virginia when they came to visit SGCC on occasion. He was easy to talk to. He was a very, very good man. I just can't believe someone the world really needed was taken away - - - just like that, yet it happens every day to people everywhere. And this is why I say it's unfair. I did not know him as long or nearly as well as so many others did, but I am blessed to have been able to call him a friend.

Wouldn't you know, he's the last person to post a comment on my blog - just yesterday.

We love you, Johnson family.

A Youth Group, a Vision for Haiti and a Talent Show= Part 1

I have been trying, to no evail (sp?), to upload videos from the talent show our youth group planned to help raise money ($7,000) for Haiti. But, being the hard-headed person I am, I shall NOT give up! After all, tomorrow is another day...

In the meantime, I thought I would post these two pictures that depict the rocker that Rhett is sure to be, come to find out. We know he likes music. No shocker there. We know that if you dare to change the station in the middle of a song that he likes while driving in the car, you will get lip about it. Loud lip that goes something like, "Hey, Mama! Dat is my bavorite tong!" (BTW, they are all his favorite.) We know that he spends 99% of his days chanting and singing, but we did not know that he was a mic hog. Yip. Go ahead and give a big "Oink!" at him because he will take charge of your mic, and you will NOT get it back.

L.O.N.G. story short, Kerry and a band from church sang "Mustang Sally" and "Takin' Care of Business". I was asked to sing back-up and play the tambourine. I laughed at this thought for a few days because I was pretty sure that NOTHING would make me feel more dumb and useless than standing there playing a tambourine. But, I walked away having had a BLAST, and I also learned that I actually rock the tambourine. It's okay that I sometimes accidentally referred to it as a cymbal during band practice... It just matters that I rocked the house with it in the real show.

Back to Rhett... So while we were rehearsing, Rhett asked me to hold him. I thought it was because he was tired. Silly me. You better believe that just as soon as I picked him up, he reached across me, swiveled the mic stand to face his mouth, and he began to sing lead with Kerry, "Ride, Sally, ride!" And he knew when to do it, too, which means he had to have been sitting there and internalizing the song as we practiced. I got so tired of holding him that I ended up pulling up a chair to the mic and letting Rhett stand on it so I could catch my breath.

After I tried many times to get my mic back, I finally decided to go with the wise, old saying (that I've altered a bit for this post's purpose), "If you can't beat 'em at the mic, join 'em at the mic."

More talent show pics and videos to come soon including a video of Rhett singing lead with Kerry, my performance of my favorite big band song "Stuff Like That There", and a group of very funny people, that we cautiously admit are our friends in the fear you might think we're crazy, participating in thier own "special" way for the youths' Haiti Talent Show fundraiser.

A Lunch Date with "Bruhver" (Brother)

Rhett and I had lunch with Grant today. By that I mean the plan was to just go sit with him while he ate since his lunch is at 10.30. Not sure if it should be called "lunch". I am thinking "brunch" would be a more appropriate choice of words. I thought Rhett and I would actually eat our real lunch at a real lunch time once we got home. Rhett, however, had other plans. He knew we were going to "eat" with Grant at school, so he wanted me to pack him a lunch so he could eat, too. He was so very proud (although in this picture he looks annoyed) to walk into the school with his big boy lunchbox...

...and its contents because his lunch was just like "Bruhver's"!!!!!

This whole follow/copy-my-older-sibling thing bewilders me. If Grant says it, Rhett says it. If Grant yells, Rhett yells. If Grant wants a drink, Rhett wants a drink. If Grant wants to put on shoes, Rhett wants to put on shoes. If Grant is mad, Rhett is mad. I guess since I was the oldest and never had an older brother or sister to follow around, the idea of being someone's shadow is foreign to me. Therefore, I've really enjoyed watching this phenomenon at our house. Thankfully it's only a phase - not sure I want Rhett to copy everything Grant does.

Grant (and his Cheeto smile) and Stephen at lunch

I am so thankful Grant really seems to enjoy school. I absolutely HANDS DOWN hated school. I hated kindergarten up through junior high. I dreaded going to bed at night knowing that the only thing the next day had to offer was school - again - another l.o.n.g., boring school day that I had no choice but to endure. It got MUCH better in high school, but I still never loved it. I never really liked my teachers until I got to high school. Well, there was my junior-high math teacher, Mr. Pearson. He rocked. But high school is where it changed - barely. Only a few teachers made a difference to me. (which I think is kind of sad) Mrs. Cleveland was awesome. She and I had a special bond (still do). Mr. Lee was awesome. He got a bad rap (My heart still hurts for him). Mrs. Hope was awesome. She was the first choir teacher I ever had that I felt actually taught me something and respected me and cared about me. That woman taught me singing, and that woman taught me how to be a confident and competitive soprano. She showed me "the ropes" for surviving as a soprano in a competitive district, and for that, I'll always love her. Who knew that sopranos could be so catty???!!!!!! Not me - until state choir auditions, that is. (I know, DUH! I think everyone knew this about sopranos, but me. Leave it to me to be the last informed.) That's where I learned to play the mind games, thanks to Mrs. Hope, and I learned that those mind games were just as important as singing your music perfectly in order to defeat your opononents. Let's see... That's about it. I hated my math teachers. Ya, that was mainly b/c I was bad at math and they really didn't help me - even when I went to tutorials. They just sort of threw me life vests to keep me afloat when I was so close to drowning and really needed saving. Come to find out, I think they were just really bad teachers. In college, Kerry tutored me in math, and I had no trouble learning from him. He just knew how to present the material to me. (sort of sad, in my opinion, since my teachers actually had a degree for teaching math and Kerry didn't - then again, Kerry is a C.P.A., so he's really got this number thing down) You know who really stands out to me though? Mrs. Reed, and NOT for good reasons. And honestly, I don't see me getting along with someone that boastfully called herself "Baby Hitler". That woman still boggles my mind. She HATED me. Now, she LOVED my sister and brother, and she loved most of my friends, and she loves my dad, but I'm pretty sure she thought I was as worthless as belly button lint. Not sure why she thought that... I was good in her class. I followed the rules. I was nice. She just chose to hate some of us (a lot of us) and was down right mean to that select group, and she chose to love others (if you were in her AP English class). That always made me mad. Like you weren't worth her time unless you were in one of her upper-level courses. What a witch! But, I suppose that although as odd as it sounds, I should thank her. She made me a better teacher. She made me want to make every one of my students feel loved and worthy. She, along with most of the other teachers I had, made school a pretty big bust. I should thank them, too. Because of them, I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference in the world by being the nice/cool teacher. (For the record, that doesn't mean that I'm the "easy" teacher. I tend to be the most strict with both discipline and academics.) I wanted my students to look forward to school, not hate every second of it like I did. Mr. Lee taught me how to do that. Mrs. Hope taught me how to do that. Mrs. Cleveland taught me how to do that. The final tier came in college. Some of my professors were FAB-U-LOUS-O! Truly gifted would be a better discription. They were born to teach, and they excelled at their craft. Dr. Rankin, a literature professor, stands out the most. That man is a genious. Not only was he a genious, but his teaching style and my personality totally clicked. He made class FUN, and I found myself feeling bummed when the class was over. From him I learned that teaching.......... was an art.

I am also thankful that school has changed drastically from when I was a student as it was certainly overdue. It has changed for the better for the kids. School is hands-on now. There are manipulatives out there for every possible subject under the moon. Kids actually move around and stay active at school as opposed to sitting at the same desk hour after hour like I did. School is fun. Even if you have a bummer teacher, there are still really awesome things kids get to do. I do have to take a sec to give a shout out for all those hard-working teachers out there. They no longer "have it made" and instead work their tooshies off day in and day out thanks to wasteful programs like "No Child Left Behind" and receive very little pay for their efforts. God, help 'em! God, love 'em!

How did I get off on this tangent????? Oh, yes. I am glad my kids love the idea of school. That's all I was really wanting to say.

I could see light at the end of the tunnel

Rhett was eating. He was playing. He was yelling at Madalyn to leave him alone so he could eat in peace. I thought he was WELL.

I was wrong.

This is how I found him once we got home from church today.

He didn't look so hot, but no doubt he was. Poor guy had a temp of 103.3.

I immediately gave him Advil, took off his layers of clothes and put him to bed. Shortly after, I found him like this.


And because it was so sweet, I couldn't help but take a close-up of Towmater in his little hand. I thought it was the perfect portrait of a boy, ya know? They're never too sick for their cars, and they're never cuter than when they sleep with them.

He did well the rest of the day, but he did go to bed with a fever of 103.2. I wonder what tomorrow may bring. I'm hoping it'll be a flashlight so I can navigate my way through this darkened tunnel of the-house-that-will-never-be-well-again.

Twiddling Thumbs

This virus must really wear you out. Although Grant had a pretty good day today, I did find him like this about thirty minutes ago...

But I guess that's better than how he was a week ago, huh?

And as you probably guessed, Rhett has the Infinity Virus now, too, because heaven forbid we just get back to restful nights and normal days. He was up a lot of the night with fever and a stuffy nose. He finally went to sleep during nap time today. Can you tell he tried to fight it?

Personally, I don't think I could sleep with toys all around me whilst snuggling up to a hard, plastic lid, but then again, that's just me.

I, on the other hand, am feeling much better - as long as I take Advil Cold and Sinus. The doc did prescribe a steroid and an antibiotic yesterday, and the effects are already being felt - thank goodness! I can't be husbandless with two sick kids while I'm sick as well. I mean, I am Super Woman, but I am not Miracle Woman! Luckily for me, my mother-in-law came over to help out yesterday afternoon/night, and she's coming over again tomorrow. Thank goodness!!!

I think I can safely say that you and I have the same feeling toward the month of February now, Kory. It STINKS! I wish my month of February was exciting like Andrea's. That's okay though. I guess I can look forward to fun summer play dates at Sienna's kid pool with you guys. I'm not above inviting ourselves out to your place, girl!