Thursday, April 30, 2009

Random Post: Courtesy of My Son

I just thought I'd share a little of the humor and entertainment that goes along with having talented sons. Justin and his friend, Adam, shot this promo of a never-made movie just for the fun of it. They have several "mini movies" that they have produced, but I chose this one to share with you all. It has comedy, action, and suspense. My son, Chase, plays the guy in the white fencing suit. Justin is the one running on the right side of the screen. Let me know what you think.



Monday, April 27, 2009

Monday Memories: Prom 1986

All this talk about proms (if only by me) gave me the idea to post MY junior prom picture. You can definitely tell that this was the 80's (1986 actually) as noted by my 80's hair and my date's mullet, AND THE FOIL "86" that decorates the background. If you look closely you will be able to tell that we couldn't match our pinks. I couldn't find shoes to match my bow, and his pink bow tie and cumberbund didn't match neither my shoes NOR my bow! Props to him, though, for not being afraid to wear pink! Also notice my black lace gloves that matched my black lace hose. But what can I say? It WAS the eighties, and it was some of the best times of my life. One more note...I went on to marry this man, and we've been married almost 22 years.




Prom Night 2009

Here's a slide show I put together of pictures from Chase's junior prom Saturday night. He & his date are the ones in red. Enjoy!

Friday, April 24, 2009

My Baby is 15!!

My little Jordie turned 15 years old yesterday. I only call him little because he is the baby of the family. Justin was unable to come home for the celebration due to Chelsea not feeling well. So, we took the "party" to them. We went to Jacksonville, AL and visited them at her apartment. We had never been there and decided it would be a good time to see where they live. So these pictures were taken there.

We got Jordan a bass pedal for his bass guitar. It is supposed to make it sound different ways when it is played. He can also get a drum beat going and play to that. Since he is 15 now, we will soon be going to get his learner's driving permit. THAT is going to be a fun time! But, hopefully it will all go well, and he will be able to get some good driving experience before next year, when he will have it all on his own at 16.

So, I've included a picture of Jordan holding his cake and a picture of the cake itself. Now, what he really should have gotten for his birthday was a haircut!!



Sunday, April 19, 2009

Carnell Misses Jordan

Picture taken tonight
Carnell is moping. He does this anytime that Jordan is away. Jordan left Thursday afternoon going to Florida with the Show Choir. It is now Sunday night, and Jordan is due in tomorrow night. Carnell LOVES Jordan. He will mope around the house anytime that Jordan is gone. He cannot contain his excitement when Jordan finally comes home. He jumps up on Jordan and keeps licking him in the mouth. It's so funny and sweet. What's not sweet is how he howls during the night (when we are all trying to sleep). He only does this on the nights that Jordan is not here. See, he always sleeps with Jordan. I thought it might help for him to sleep with Chase. No luck. He woke me up 2 or 3 times last night howling. We can ask him where Jordan is, and he will perk his ears up, look at the door, and bark. But for today he has been really quiet. He has practically slept all day. I feel so sorry for him when Jordan is away. I called Jordan today and put him on speaker phone, but Carnell must not have realized that it was Jordan...or he was wondering why his voice was coming out of the little piece of equipment! So, until tomorrow night, we will just have to try to console Carnell the best we can. I can't blame him. I miss Jordie, too. I'm ready for him to come home.
Carnell in happier times when Jordan was at home

Friday, April 17, 2009

Days of Future Past...Revisited

The showchoir that Jordan plays bass guitar for is wrapping up its season. I've posted bits and pieces of this performance before, but I can't help myself! I love it so much! This is the entire show (Part 1 -- Part 4). If you've never seen a showchoir in action...and even if you have, I highly recommend watching this performance. We have a very talented group of kids in our local high school, Albertville High. The name of our showchoir is CenterStage! They have traveled all over the country competing, and have placed in the top 5 in every competition and even winning Grand Champions in one. The theme of this performance is "Days of Future Past". The 3rd video, "On The Deck of a Spanish Sailing Ship" is the best part of the whole show. Sit back a few moments and treat yourself to Centerstage! Days of Future Past...





MY FAVORITE PART!!!! VERY POWERFUL PERFORMANCE!




Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. That way I will know if I am extremely biased or not! (But I hope you enjoyed it!) :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Monday, April 13, 2009

Monday Memories: Letters To My Children #7

Welcome to installment #7 of Monday Memories: Letters to My Children. If you want to know more about how this posting got started read here.

This letter was written to my oldest son, Justin, who had just started kindergarten. This is the last letter in this series, as my letters have run out. I still may continue to write letters to my children via this blog. If so, I will keep with the Monday tradition. It will be nice to look back on the new letters in future years, just as it has brought back many memories of the past years. I still encourage you to do this. It has been so wonderful to have my children read about the feelings I was experiencing when they were younger.

This week I have added a new twist. I have also included a present letter to my oldest son. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know about the frustrations and the current situation we have been going through. I felt it only fitting to let him know how I feel. I hope you enjoy...



Justin holding Chase

Then...
Thursday, August 25, 1994
1:20 p.m.

Dear Justin,


This morning I took you to kindergarten for the first time. I can hardly believe you are that old...or I am that old. You did very well before I left, and you began playing. I just hope you did as well the rest of the day. I'm sure you did. You were so excited. You couldn't stop talking when we took your dad to work. Chase misses you because he keeps saying, "Okay, let's go get Justin now." I miss you, too. It sure has been quiet around here without you. I love you so much, and I hope you do real well in school. You are a smart boy, and I am very proud of you, my little kindergartner.
Love,
Mom


Now...

Monday, April 13, 2009
6:42 p.m.

Dear Justin,


A lot has happened since I wrote the previous letter. You have already graduated from high school (2007). And we just recently learned that you are going to be a father. You didn't do things the way I had hoped. I had hoped that you would graduate high school, finish college, get a job, and THEN get married and start a family, and learn from my mistakes. You are barely 20 years old, the exact age I was when I had you. So, who am I to judge?! But, you could have, at least, gotten married first. But, what's done is done. You have hit life wide open. I hope you are ready, because once that little one enters your world, it is going to change it forever. I am glad that you and Chelsea were planning on marriage before the baby came into the picture. This tells me that you and she love each other...and I have seen it when you two are together. You told me that you
knew that she was the one when you met her. I'm glad. Your dad often says that about me when he reflects on our younger days.

Please love her and cherish her and that baby. Work through the difficulties that are sure to come your way, as they ALWAYS do in marriage. By working through them, your marriage will only get stronger. This is a lifelong commitment not to be pushed aside once troubles come into play. You have always been a smart boy, not always motivated, but smart. I know that you will do what is right by Chelsea and this baby. Just know that you are about to have a family to provide for. Be the man of that family, and raise this child in a loving home. Be responsible. Always provide for them, whatever it takes. Don't be too proud to do what you need to in order to support your family because it's more than just about you now.
I love you. Your dad loves you. And you have many other family members that love you and will support you. Your dad and I will do whatever we can to help you and Chelsea out, but you must help yourself, in return. I'm always here for you whenever you need a loving voice to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on. Take care of your new family.

Love,

Mom

Justin with Chelsea

Thursday, April 9, 2009

A Thursday Night Outing










Albertville High School Symphonic Band
Jordan plays bass violin

I attended Jordan's band concert tonight. It was nice to see the band guys all decked out in their tux shirts and bow ties and the girls in their black dresses. They did awesome, of course! Tomorrow is Good Friday, and although school is not out in our school system, I decided to take a vacation day off. Remember when I wrote about taking a day to be home alone? Well, it's not really going to happen tomorrow! I found out that the jazz band and the show choir were going to one of the other schools to perform, and since Jordan is in both of them, I am going to hang out there and watch it all. It will be nice, though. Maybe I will have the afternoon to myself since all this is going to take place in the morning.

There's still no news on Justin's job. I was hoping he would hear from Home Depot this week, of course there's always tomorrow! He came home tonight to watch Jordan's band concert. He is staying with us for the weekend. Chelsea will be going to visit her parents this weekend. She stayed in Jacksonville today because she has a class that she has to attend tomorrow.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday Memories: Letters To My Children #7



Welcome to installment #7 of Monday Memories: Letters to My Children. If you want to know more about how this posting got started read here. Feel free to grab my button on the right sidebar and link up your own letters. Please leave a comment so that I can visit your letter.

I started to deviate from my usual letters to write a current letter to my son, Justin, who just recently found out that he was going to be a father. But, I am going to save that one for a few more weeks until I can fully contemplate all that I want to say to him. I have only this letter and one more before I run out of those precious letters that I wrote oh so long ago. How I wish I had continued. There has been so much that has happened since 1994. Please let this be a prodding to you to begin writing letters to your children and keep on doing so. I do believe that I am going to pick up this habit again, albeit in blog form, once I reach the end of these. I still have a lot that I can say to them! And then, I can look back in future years and remember the thoughts and feelings that I wanted to convey to them. So, without further adieu, here is the next letter...

Thursday
July 28, 1994
10:30 a.m.

Dear Jordan,

Here I am writing you while you're sitting in your car seat in the floor. You are sucking your pacifier and holding onto your quilt. You are so precious! I love you. You are now 3 months old and growing so much, so fast. You have dark brown (almost black) hair and dark eyes. It looks as if your eyes may turn brown, but I still cant be sure. You just drifted off to sleep. You look so peaceful. You can already "talk" to me. You say, "I goo" & "oooh". Justin and Chase love you, too. We all love you. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and long life with us.
Love,
Mommy

(His eyes did turn brown!)

Almost 15 years old

Sunday, April 5, 2009

A Nice Distraction

Justin came home for the weekend. His band, Wild Tangent, had a "gig" at the local coffee shop. I think that they did pretty well considering they haven't played live very much. It was open mic night at Jamoka's in Boaz. This is a slide show I made of the performance. The music is Wild Tangent singing Weezer's song, "Say It Ain't So". Justin is the drummer, and Jordan, my youngest son, is sitting on the floor playing the bongos; It seems that he is multi-talented, as well as Justin. It was nice to forget about the distraction of our latest dilemma and just enjoy watching two of my sons entertain us. I'll post an update on Justin and Chelsea in another post later. Right now, just enjoy the show.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Sound of Quiet on a Saturday Morning


Shhhhhhh! Do you hear that? It's the sound of an all quiet house on an early Saturday morning. I know. I should be in the bed, too. But, I decided to get up early so that I could enjoy some quiet time. I've put the coffee on, and I am going to eat a cranberry oatmeal cookie with my cup of java just as soon as it is all done.

I have never been a morning person. I would much rather stay up late. But when your house gets as loud as mine does at times, then you would understand why I choose to wake up early. It's Saturday morning, and I have already got quite a few things in my head that I want to get accomplished today. But for right now, I'm going to soak in the sound of quiet peacefulness. Our new pug is snoring. The heater is running and so is the fan in our bedroom that is positioned right off from the living room. Kevin likes to always sleep with the fan running. Summer or Winter, it doesn't really matter. It's just the soothing noise that we need to help block out any nighttime noises and distractions. And, I'm here, sitting in my recliner. Just taking it all in.

It is a rare occasion when I'm home alone. I am seriously thinking about taking a day off work to just stay home so that I can be by myself. I've thought about this. I should get up and get ready as if I am going off to work. Leave. And then, after my family has left for their schooling and work, then I would sneak back...and be home ALL BY MYSELF!! No one would have to know. They would think I went to work. Oh the possibilities! I could lie around and read, catch up on my DVR backlog, blog to my heart's content, Twitter, check on all my Facebook buddies, etc., etc. etc. Or, I could just do nothing. I think we all need a day like this from time to time. Just don't tell my family, or they will find a way to stay home, too. And what would THAT accomplish!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Update: It's All Happening THIS Year


Justin went back to Jacksonville with Chelsea Sunday night. He didn't want her to be down there by herself. She had classes all week. It's now Thursday night. We have found out that Chelsea's pregnancy will not be covered under her parent's insurance, simply because it does not cover a dependent's pregnancy. So, the only other route they can take at this point is to get on Medicaid. I hate that they have to go this route, but they, nor I, nor her parents can pay for the prenatal visits and the birth. It's not the end of the world. That's what it is there for. I and my husband have paid our fair share of taxes, so that should cover it! At least now they can go ahead and get married, and not have to worry about being covered under her parents' insurance.

Chelsea went to the doctor today. They found out that the baby will be due just after Thanksgiving. It's weird to think that this very year I am going to have a grandchild. It's surreal. I certainly don't feel old enough for that! Do all first time grandparents feel this way? Come to think of it, probably not. I know someone who wishes her children would produce a grandchild for her. And now, I'm gonna have a grandchild before her! Wow. That's just not right.

This will be the first great grandchild for my father-in-law. He is tickled to death. I know that he doesn't agree with the way in which it happened. But, he said that all we can do now is to love them and support them. I only wish my mother-in-law were here to witness this blessed event. She would know all the right things to say and do. I miss her so much. On the other hand, it will be my mom and dad's 5th great grandchild, so it wasn't as big of a shock to them. They still haven't met Chelsea, but I hope to change all that this weekend.

And here is the best news of all. Justin has an interview tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at Home Depot!! I pray that this works out for him so that we all won't have to worry about him finding work. They are coming home this weekend. Chelsea is going to her parents to spend some time with them. Please continue to keep us in your prayers because God is definitely hearing them!