Show and tell...

Every now and then (probably every 6 months or so) I try to video tape myself playing the drums. Its a painful experience...because nobody likes to see themselves on video...but one that must be done to measure a sense of accomplishment with my drumming. In watching myself drum I can quickly become discouraged..thinking about everything I have yet to learn, but then I fix this problem by looking back at the months previous and see that I have actually improved.

It has been a slow process. I've loved the drums every since I can remember. My oldest brother is a drummer and at an early age I was found drumming the basic "rock beat"...impressing all of my brothers teenage friends. As I grew older I found myself more engulfed in the world of athletics and never once pursued that childhood love of the drums.

(a picture of my in my night gown playing the drum set that my brother got for Christmas. Its a picture of a polaroid so the quality is not good)


Later on in life I found myself a bit obsessed with drummers. You can always tell who was behind the video camera at various concerts by the fact that the camera was zoomed in on the drummer the entire time! I have one friend, Nate, who is an incredible drummer and has always been one of my drumming inspirations. All of my life I have singled out the drums in every song..and in my mind always tried to figure out just what the drummer was doing with hopes of some day sitting down at a kit and being able to play.

So fast forward about 20 some odd years. I finally bit the bullet and scheduled myself drum lessons when I was 28 years old. The very first thing that I learned was that I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT WAY SOONER! I was fortunate to be able to learn from the late Eddie Barbato...most commonly known as "Crazy Eddie". I learned a ton from him. He brought me back to the elementary school reading and I feel like I got a really good start with him. Unfortunately only a year after I started lessons with him he learned that he had cancer and had to stop giving lessons. (he passed away in February) Adding to the fact that my drum teacher was stepping down...and the fact that I had just learned that I was pregnant with Owen, I took a break from lessons.

During that time I have had the privilege of playing each week with the worship team at my church. This has proven to be a great experience for me as we play a very wide range of styles...and just being able to play live every week a great way to learn!

So anyway..back to the recording myself drumming part...

After recording myself drumming along with the song "Boom" by Toby Mac I uploaded it to my computer. While viewing it on my camera all was fine...but something happened between my camera and my computer and it caused the video to upload in hyper speed. I got the video all uploaded and then went to watch it from there and I was like "holy cow...I AM AWESOME". ha ha ha ha

I figured I would share it with you...but you'll just have to imagine it half as fast. Its good for a laugh though...

(I edited this to also point out that the drums that I am playing are the ones in my basement...not my real kit!)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Summertime teaser and a wonderful phenomenon...

Last week was a tease of what summer is going to be like! Jessalyn was off from school and the weather was beautiful. We had a super fun week out at the parks, visiting with Nana, visiting with Karen, having friends over for BBQ's....just having a genuine good time. Now, we are back to reality...with cooler temps and a schedule revolving around school. Only a couple months and we will be into summer for real. We have so many things planned for this summer. I'm sure we won't have time for it all..but we will try our best!

A few pics from the week..











It is nice to have Josh back home..actually, "nice" is an understatement. The trip was good for him in so many ways and he is ready to pack up the entire family and move down there for good. I'd go in two seconds!

So..onto the "wonderful phenomenon"....

Many times over the course of the last couple of weeks I have had this most wonderful happy CONTENT feeling...and the thought of NOT having any more kids comes to my mind! The best part about this feeling is that it comes out of a fun time or happy moment..not out of frustration and overwhelmed moments. Things that the kids are doing and are into...and things that Owen is doing are making me think that I might just be done with the whole baby stuff! This is truly a happy feeling..I get such a sense of relief when I feel this way.

I honestly never thought that I would EVER feel like I am done having kids and the fact that it has been happening is bringing me much peace. Of course, I can totally talk myself out of it in two seconds..but the fact that these thoughts are in there somewhere is a GOOD sign! They keep popping up in my mind more and more frequently.

So..we'll see where this takes us! I'm still not quite ready for permanent decisions...but I think I might be closer to that idea!

In the meantime I will continue to enjoy my "baby" who is hardly a baby anymore! He's a total toddler now and with that is bringing so much personality and fun!

An AMAZING artist....

I have a cousin (who happened to be born two days before me) who is an absolutely amazing painter. I don't think any words I use to describe his work will do him justice...but the good news is that I just received a link to his new blog and website! At some point very soon you must go check out his work! In his old site he gives some credit to my mom as an early inspiration to his artwork!

Truly amazing stuff here...I promise you won't be disappointed!

Site with portfolio
http://www.adamdesrosiers.com/

Blog
http://www.adamdesrosiers.com/blog/

Jessalyn's business.

A few months back Jessalyn and I were in McD's and we overheard the manager telling the employees how much they made during that hour (which to me was a surprisingly low number). Jessalyn was very impressed with the amount of money though and asked if they all get to split it.

I explained as best as I could to a 7 year old how businesses run and where all the money goes and all of that. With the info I gave to her she decided that she wants to own her own business one day. We talked about how she doesn't necessarily have to wait until she's older to do this and that she could start one whenever she wants.

With some suggestions from me she decided that she wanted to start a beading business. She understood that she had a certain amount of money in the bank and she wanted to use that money to start it all up...so we planned to do this.

Fortunately, Nana (my mom) decided that she would pay for the stuff to get Jessalyn started and we had fun at the craft store picking stuff out. She quickly started making necklaces and bracelets and started taking orders for them. She is keeping a journal of what she makes and what she spends and who she needs to make something for and her general inventory. She is enjoying this very much!

Its hard for her to not give them all away. As much as it is nice..and I'm glad that its her first instinct, if she wants this to be her business then she needs to try not to give away all of her profit. Again, I think this is a good exercise for her. She did give away one so far...as a birthday gift.

She sells them all for a different price..depending on the size and the stuff. (Actually, I'm not really sure how she determines the price..). I know that they are only a couple of dollars...so if you would like to put in a special order just let us know:)

Actually though...she really does do a good job. She does well choosing colors and picking patterns. Here are a few pictures of her finished products...







We leave the strings long until she fits them on the person..just in case it doesn't fit she can fix it. She didn't want pictures taken of them with the long strings...because "they look ugly like that". Funny girl.

Oh..and she has yet to come up with a name for her little business so if anyone has any creative suggestions we'll take 'em!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

..for this short commercial break.

JOSH IS COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!

I have purposely neglected to mention here on my blog the fact that Josh has been away in Mexico since last Wednesday. (I figured I would leave that minor detail out here on the "World Wide Web") I've been dreading this week since last fall...and I am glad to say that its finally almost over! He's been over there with quite a large group of people working on an building and orphanage as well as having a nightly Vacation Bible School for the children.

I'm pretty sure that in the entire 17 years that we've been together that we have not gone more than 24 hours without talking to each other. Finally I got to talk to him on the phone last night just after they crossed the border back into the US...but before that it had been a full week. I'm sure it was easier for him because everything was different, but for me it was HARD!

Otherwise we've had a good week...the weather has been nice so that helped us stay busy while he was gone.

So yeah, he comes home today!!!!!!! YIPPEEEE

Mello Yello??

I remember very clearly the day that I was allowed to walk to the store all by myself. It was a big day. I was 6 years old and for whatever reason my mom told me I could go to the store and buy myself a soda. I remember that walk..with my mom and both of my brothers standing on the stone wall watching me the entire way. It wasn't a very long walk to get to the store, but I did have to cross one major street.

I was headed to "Gary's" a little convenience store down the road from my house. (For those of you familiar with Whitefield...this store was right across the street from Nellie's house. And for those of you not familiar with Whitefield you now probably get the idea of what kind of town it is by the fact that I can say "Nellies house" and expect that people will know what I'm talking about.) I remember bringing my 50 cents with me and purchasing a much desired "Mello Yellow". I remember loving those as a kid...I'm pretty sure they don't make them anymore though.



So what does this have to do with Jessalyn you might ask?? (Since it is still "Jessalyn Week" here on this blog!)

We live pretty much a stones throw (well..if you have a good arm) away from the Church. Right now I can see the building, although that will probably change as soon as the leaves start filling out the trees. Jessalyn had One Voice practice last night. I went ahead and called down to the church to give someone (DL) a heads up that she was on her way...and you know, let me know if she doesn't arrive in about 2 minutes. (I'm a little freaked out by letting her go that far without me!)

Anyway..she was very excited about this little trip. She had a nice little walk all by herself and turns out right now I could actually see her until she walked through the door of the church.

I wonder if she will remember he first solo walk as much as I remember mine??

"Jessalyn Week" (part 1)

Did the mailman come yet??



So today is the first official day of April vacation. As it turns out..its a nice sunny, 70 degree day. Jessalyn and I had fun today just relaxing outside blowing bubbles:) The whole time we were out there Jessalyn was being silly asking if the mailman had come yet...in case she missed it while her back was turned to the street:) She is always eager for the mailman because she is the one that gets to go out to the box and get the mail..which is hardly ever for her, but exciting just the same.

Sure enough, as we were entertaining ourselves blowing bubbles and taking pictures of them, the mailman arrived. I had my camera in hand so I started taking pictures as she retrieved the mail. It turned out perfectly because the mail that was in the box was actually for her!

This is what it looks like when a 7 year old gets a letter in the mail...









(It was a sticker exchange chain letter from her friends Rachel and Abby!)

Here are some pictures of the bubble blowing..



..oops. Bubble in the eye.



"Everybody at the same time...1, 2, 3...blow!"



The perfect bubble..