Sunday night Katie sang lead on one of the songs at Youth Group. One of the tech guys (Thanks Flitter!!) graciously taped it for us on his own camera and made a YouTube video for us. The sound isn't premium, but it's not horrible. Sadly, Taylor is playing guitar stage left but he's not in the video. That will have to wait for another time.
So now, without further ado, I give you Katie, singing "Mighty To Save"
I finally got a donation button put on my sidebar, but I can't figure out how to put my progress indicator over there. So I will try to get one of those tickers like Sing 4 Joy has on her blog at some point this week. I am thrilled to say that I've received over $1,800 so far!
Did you notice my new picture? I think my family thought I had lost my mind as I shoved the kitchen table around so the light and shadow would be just how I wanted it. Oh, and the big cup of hot cocoa with all the whipped cream I made just for the picture. Of course I had to drink it all, too. Isn't that the prettiest cup? My sister-in-law, Rachele, gave it to me for Christmas. And it holds a ton of liquid, too! It doesn't get better than that.
Todd and I went to New Balance in King of Prussia mall yesterday and bought two pairs of shoes each so we can start training in earnest. New Balance is a Susan G. Komen sponsor so not only do my shoes have a cute little pink ribbon, but we received a discount as well. Todd's not so lucky because his shoes don't have a ribbon on them.
I've decided I don't want to be Mother of the Year anymore. It's too much work and it's not any fun. I think the fact that I made it an entire month AND I have two teenagers is quite an accomplishment in itself. I'm also pretty sure the fact I've been rethinking having children - even though it's nearly 17 years too late - takes me out of the running. They haven't been bad or anything. They just require too much of me. Do I look like a waitress? Do I look like a personal chef? Do I look like a cab driver? Do I look like an ATM? Do I look like a personal secretary? Okay. So I probably do look like a few of those, but that's totally beside the point.
After nearly record breaking cold weather we got up into the mid-fifties today! It smelled like spring and was divine! Except the snow has all melted and our side yard is one big mud puddle. Brady came over and the dogs ran around attacking each other. And of course my dog had to jump up on Bill and Laura with her filthy muddy paws. What a little brat. Todd had to give her bath after all that fun. But the worst part about all the melted snow is finding all the thawed out poop. Ick!
I'm watching the end of the Grammy's. I thought it was a pretty decent show tonight. Jennifer Hudson sang flawlessly with that beautiful, robust voice of hers and had a hard time holding it together when she finished. My heart just hurt for her, poor thing.
So there's a little smattering of what's been going on around here. Happy week!
So? How is everybody? Big plans for the weekend? I know some of you on the Gulf are taking a forced get away. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Please be safe!
I've got an awesome weekend planned. I feel bad, too, because when I talked to my mom yesterday I told her there wasn't anything going on. In my defense I had just woken up from an unplanned nap (you know how you're just sitting in a comfy chair, hanging with your daughter and she's watching some show on wedding dresses or maybe cakes and it's slightly cool with the door opened so you have a light blanket on you and then all of a sudden BAM! You're asleep?) and the ol' noggin had been working so hard prior to said unplanned nap that I had a really hard time jump starting it. So, SORRY MOM!
Okay. So here's the deal. First of all my church is launching a new women's program tomorrow and I've been working on the website. We have the brunch tomorrow morning where all will be revealed, including the website, and I'm so excited about this. Women's ministry has always been a passion of mine and now it is coming to fruition and I've been blessed to be a part of it from the ground up. But that's all I'm going to say about that. Oh, now don't worry. You'll be hearing more about it later.
Then after Katie and I get home from the brunch (she's babysitting) we're packing the car (very lightly) and driving up to some town in New Jersey I can never remember the name of to see what is sure to be an incredibly awesome concert.
The Music Builds tour with Third Day, Switchfoot, Robert Randolph, & Jars of Clay. Don't be jealous. Well, I suppose you can be jealous for a minute, but then you're just going to have to get over it.
Katie was awesome last night. Some day maybe I won't be quite so shocked when I see her singing on a stage. But until the novelty wears off I'll enjoy the, "I can't believe that's my baby" and "Where did she get that incredible voice?"
Let me back up just a little bit here. You all probably think I believe my kids to be perfect. Every time I write about them it's pretty much something positive, never anything negative. I'm not trying to show them in a false light, I just figure the negative is their story to tell and it's not my place. I may be upset with them, but I don't want to humiliate them in such a public venue.
That said, Katie is grounded. Her grounding started Saturday afternoon. Her "infraction" was telling Todd and me a falsehood last week. When the lie was revealed I had two thoughts: 1) Disappointment because, well, she lied to us; and 2) Honey, if you're going to lie make it a good one. She would have been in some trouble and probably would have received a really good scolding if she'd told the truth. But instead she lied about it and ended up grounded for a week.
I had told her she couldn't go to Youth Group on Sunday night and she was not pleased, though she is accepting everything without pouting and flouncing so she gets kudos for that. This decision didn't sit well with me because I don't think it's right to use church as a form of punishment. But she just has so much fun there and she's not supposed to have any fun right now, dangit!!
One of the Youth Interns, Adam, came up to me at church yesterday morning and said, "Hey. I know Katie is grounded and you told her she can't come tonight, but can she at least come for the message? You know, you can bring her when the service starts and take her home as soon as it's over." This made great sense to me so I agreed. "But no hanging out with your friends afterwards," I told her. She was pretty happy with this small victory.
After church the kids and I were eating lunch at the table while Todd was doing some running around and I was telling Katie she needed to unload the dishwasher and pick up her mess in the basement before she could go to Impact (the Junior High portion of Youth Group). It was nearly 2:00 and the phone rang. It was Alex calling to see if Katie could sing. Talk about a HUGE surprise!!
She was incredibly animated - face-splitting grin, large eyes, barely keeping her feet on the floor - and she said, "I'm grounded right now so I'll have to ask my mom." Grounded or not, how could I say no? Especially when the very wise Taylor, better known as Smarty McSmart Pants, said, "You're not going to keep her from working for Jesus are you??" Yeah. That's what I live with.
So at 2:00 she and Taylor went down to the basement and they worked on the songs until nearly 3:00 when I drove them to the church so Katie would have a few hours to practice.
I like the format we use on Sunday evenings. Impact - 6th through 8th grade - has a worship service from 6:00 to 7:00. At 7:00 they get to hang out with their friends until 8:00 or so. Riot - 9th through 12th grade - gets to hang out from 6:00 to 7:00, at which time they go in for their service. They come out at 8:00 and hang out until about 9:00. This is a great way to do things because sometimes the message for the older kids is a bit more intense. This means, however, that the band plays twice.
When I got to the church a little before 6:00 with my friend, Kris, and her daughter, Shelby, in tow, I asked Katie if she was nervous. She said not for Impact (she is at the top as an 8th grader, after all), but she was a little freaked out about singing for the high school group.
She sang "We Won't Be Quiet" by the David Crowder Band and "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin. And she was backed up by another new singer - a 9th grader. She has a few things to work on but some of those will be non-issues when she gets more than a few hours of warning. And as Frank Chiapperino (the current Big Kahuna of Youth Group while we're looking for a new Youth Minister) said, she has 5 years to hone her skill with the Youth Band.
One of the techies taped her performance and will be emailing it to either Todd or me. She was a little disappointed in her performance - even though EVERYONE told her she was amazing - so I don't know if she'll let me post it or not. The fact that this was the first time she's ever sang with a live band and had no time to prepare didn't seem to mean much to her. During Impact she started "Indescribable" out of key because she couldn't hear herself over the band. But she got it pretty quickly and by the time she sang for Riot she was pitch perfect. And she mixed up some of the words in "We Won't Be Quiet". Hello. First time ever. Last minute thing. Not much practice. HELLO!
Unfortunately for her, it all had to end. She's back to being grounded.
Sookie has turned our world upside down. What a big surprise. She's a very good puppy, though! The vet figures her at somewhere between three and four months so we've decided to make her birthday December 15. Todd thinks we should make her birthday December 11th since that's my mom's birthday. I suppose I should talk to mom about that. She might be offended. Then again, she might like sharing her birthday with her youngest granddaughter.
She does have a parasite - very common with shelter dogs. The problem is we can't get her to take her medicine. She's too smart. BLAST! I'd much rather have a dumb dog. Kind of like I think dumb kids are easier to raise. We didn't do well in that department, either.
She does go to the back door when she has to "eliminate". We had some accidents at first, but she's already got the hang of it pretty well. I think she's needier than either Taylor or Katie ever were. If I'm trying to clean the kitchen (HA!! ME!! Trying to clean the kitchen. That's funny!!) she comes in and flops on the floor with a huff and then whines because I'm not paying attention to her. She will have to get over that very quick. But she's just so stinkin' cute I end up giving in. AND I DIDN'T WANT A DOG!!
For being so fuzzy she doesn't hardly shed. I hope that's the way of it forever and ever.
On a completely different note, I was listening to the radio on my way to pick up Katie. It was on a station that plays a little bit of everything and "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" came on. I was very excited because I had that 45 when I was a kid. Such a catchy, fun sounding song. Except as I started singing with it I burst into tears. What a sad, sad song. I mean, I knew it was sad when I was a kid but it didn't affect me like it did yesterday. Because I was just a kid.
The baby is sleeping right now (next to me) and I wonder if I can sneak away to wash my face, brush my teeth and get dressed. I would really like to take her outside in something other than my jammies.
OH!! Do you remember this post from last year? It's that time again. Yesterday morning I got up early and made a delicious and nutritious breakfast for the kids. I haven't brought up the subject of Taylor moving out yet, but he may be getting an actual job so I see it as a definite possibility eventually!!
Okay. I see my window of opportunity to do something other than sit by the baby swiftly closing. I'm off to throw on some clothes.
The mundane ramblings of a busy homemaker trying to get out of housework
About Me
Name::Jenster From::Pennsylvania, United States
wife of a great man who loves me despite my lack of domestic skills ** mother of two pretty wonderful teenagers (and I really mean it) ** reader ** writer ** active member of a terrific bible church, serving women ** breast cancer survivor View my complete profile
