Singing Kids

Here are our nieces and nephew singing one of Grandmom's favorite songs:)

My Growing Tummy:)

Different family members have asked to see my growing tummy so below is a slide show of my progress:) I waited so long because I thought it would be more impressive if you could actually see a difference. I am currently in my 25th week so as I continue to grow I will add to the album until it's complete and the baby is here!!!

Enjoy!

On Writing...

So, two days down in my summer vacation, two days closer to my book being finished. Don't any of you go getting your hopes up too much. I still have a loooooooong way to go. But, my goal is to write 2000 words a day for the remainder of the summer, roughly 3 single spaced pages. So, in the last 2 days I have written over 4,100 words and I'm feeling good. I decided, while I'm writing to give those interested a little taste of my adventure story in the form of a picture detail of my main character Mychal. This is an origional pencil sketch by my great friend, Oren Ralph. He's an amazing artist, and I'm very lucky that he has a lot of interest in my story and drew this from my descriptions to help to motivate me. A character that looks this cool is just begging to be written about don't ya think?

That's the face of determination.

I've got a bunch of pics to post in the near future, so stay tuned.

A Poem for the baby

I'm usually pretty ridiculous. I know. I try to be witty and look at things from a slightly different perspective. But, every once in a while I get serious and do things that are a little more meaningful. Last week, I taught a mini lesson on Greek lyrical poetry to my sophomores. As my assessment for this quick unit, I had my kids try to write their own lyrical poem about someone or something that is important and personal to them. I decided, while they were writing, I would do it too. Here's what I came up with, a poem for the baby.

You May Forget to Remember

You may forget to remember,

But I loved you long before

I ever knew you.

When you’ve grown

And let go of the simple trappings of youth,

And put aside your childish things,

Hair bows and princess evening gowns,

You may forget to remember when you’re mad at me

Because I’ve had to say, “No.”

But I’ve loved you since before

You could draw breath,

And I’ll love you still long after I’m gone.

I don't really consider myself much of a poet, but sometimes I get touched.

Registry Rodeo

So, Last Wednesday, or Humpday, if you prefer, we decided to have an impromptu date night consisting of fine dining and shopping. We don't have to schedule date night yet since the baby has not yet arrived, so we like to just go sometimes without really planning all the details.

The evening started with a bang as we both got home from work without wanting to kill anyone, and we were in great moods. So I says to E, "Ay, Yo E, yous wants ta go for a ride?" (Jersey accent added for spice.)
"Why I sure do my handsome husband. You are just the greatest and most gorgeous man on the planet," she says. (Okay, so maybe I'm paraphrasing a little.)
With that we hit the road. First stop, food. Can you believe we got seats at Arby's at 5:00 pm with no reservations? It's good to be loved.

Fine dining at Arby's. None but the best for my Puddin'.

After the wonderful feast provided by the gourmet chefs at our local Roast Beefery, forces conspired against us to prevent us from the second part of our date, a shopping spree to end all sprees. We walk out of Arby's and get in our chariot to drive to the store and I turn the key. A series of clicks from under the hood told this car wiz that something was wrong. So, I get out, open the hood, and tell E to try to crank it up while I stand there peering into the nether regions of the engine like I know what I'm doing. She tries fire it up and, sure enough, more clicking. So we immediately resort to our contingency plan which is... calling Mom.
Luckily RT, my favorite mother-in-law, was on her way home from work and was able to pick us up and take us home to get our other high performance vehicle. We drive back to Arby's and I do the only other thing I can think of and try to jump the Honda. Luckily, it works and I end up looking like a genius. We take the car to Autozone and get the battery checked and it's bad, but it's under warranty so we only have to pay $20 for it, but I have to drive from High Point Rd to Guilford College Rd to get the right battery.

The fruits of my labors. Isn't it a thing of beauty?

Finally, undeterred, we arrive at the shopping location of choice, Babies 'r' Us. While wandering around the store registering for all kinds of stuff for the baby, we were under constant assault from vicious hoards of ninjas who, apparently, have nothing else better to do but mess with us. However, little did they know that we are each class 5 marksmen with our super awesome scanner blasters. We made short work of both the registry and the ninjas.

We can't be stopped. Why do they even try?

The ninjas are masters of stealth. If you can't see them, I can't help you. But, believe you, me, they're there. Don't be mad just cause you can't see them.

This post was written to the soothing strains of Ben Harper.