Music Makes Us Sing!

Although I am not very musically gifted, other than being able to sing somewhat (I think...or at least in the car and the shower) music is definitely a big part of my life.  And when I say music I mean other people singing, writing and producing music that is pleasing to my ears. But seriously I love music and always have.  Music, good music at least, really speaks to you in so many ways.  It covers so many emotions and usually says what you want to say, but don't know how to.  I really love the singing part of worship at church because I feel like the Holy Spirit is alive and moving in music to soften and prepare and speak to me and others during that time.  Growing up, my best memories of childhood and being with my dad were always ones with music involved.  My dad and I went to tons of concerts together when I was a teenager and he always loved it and had something on at the house on the weekends.  There are a lot of songs and artists that give me that nostalgic feeling when I hear them.  It always brings me back to a nice summer evening on a Saturday,  windows open, and music on in the background.  Usually my dad had some friends over playing darts or just hanging out while I played G.I. Joes or cars.  He always had it on and I love those memories.  We always talked about music and liked the same people even to this day.  So music has been so important to me always.  I love a cool summer night with the windows open listening to music.  There is something so relaxing to me about that.  I can't wait for a screened-in porch at our house so I can enjoy many evenings relaxing to some good music and friends.  

Why do I say all of this?  Since I love music so much and it brings back so many memories and great feelings I have always wanted to share that with the girls.  This past year or so I have gotten to do that with Aly and Hannah.  It started with Aly who loved the song 'Your Love is Strong' by Jon Foreman.  It is an awesome song about God's love for us.  Aly used to love it and ask for it and sing the chorus with me every time we were in the car. Since then Hannah has began to enjoy and sing songs with us in the car and they have found many more favorites.  It is sooooo cute to listen to them sing or in Aly's case try to sing all the words.  She kind of mumbles along with the songs and picks up a few words or verses here and there, but she wants the music loud because she doesn't think we can hear her.  She will immediately stop if we look at her, because she gets so embarrassed.   She actually knows most of the words to a lot of songs.  Its so amazing and precious to listen to her little munchkin voice singing the words.  Hannah gets  mad at Aly every time a song comes on and tells her, "no Ahyeee (Aly), its my sauhn (song)". We always have to tell her that it is all of our songs and then she proceeds by giggling and singing a few cute and loud words here and there that she remembers.  They both really love music also and always request songs when we get in the car.  I finally made them a play list on my iPod.  Here is what is on it (these are what they ask for or say they like): 

Zac Brown Band (Free , Chicken Fried and Highway 20 Ride)

The Fray (Syndicate [or as Aly calls it 'Baby Close Your Eyes'] and Never Say Never)

Jon Foreman (Your Love is Strong)

Brad Paisley (Water)

Mat Kearney (Closer to Love)

Disney Princesses (Kiss the Girl, or 'Gill' as Hannah says (with a southern twang), Belle and If You Can Dream)

Keith Urban (If I Ever Could Love, Only You Can Love Me this Way)

I know there will be much more to come for this play list. I Love, Love, Love that they enjoy music with me.  It has been such a special thing we have shared together and as a family.  A couple other favorite moments and times that involve music for us have been at home.  My favorite evenings this last year and especially this summer have been when we turned off the TV and put on music and danced around the living room and kitchen with the girls.  I love the nights when the windows are open and the music is on and we sit down for dinner together and laugh and sing and dance.  We have had some special nights and days together doing that and I will continue to do.  It's awesome how God uses music to mold and move our family.  I wish I played the guitar or something, but other peoples music will work for me.  I hope they grow up and have great memories of time spent with Jenn and I listening, laughing, eating and dancing to music together.  They even help me do the dishes while we listen sometimes (hopefully that continues, huh?).  I love spending time together as a family and music just adds to that and makes it that much more fun and special.  This has been such a great summer and past year.  I love watching Aly and Hannah grow and act and dress up like princesses and enjoy life.  They constantly remind me of the love that God has for us and the desire he has to spend time with us and be in relationship with us. 

As a side note (since I don't blog much): Jenn and I have decided to be Young Life leaders in Gahanna...again, only this time it will be as a family.  We are so excited about this decision because our girls will get to do it with us and watch us share Christ with high school kids and with the leaders. It's going to be so fun to see how God uses our family and relationships to  minister to those around us.  I am also excited to have my girls be cared for and loved by our leaders, who love Jesus and will show Christ to them.  This is a very fun time in our lives and I can't wait to see God move in this community and our family.  Oh, and this was mostly Jenn's idea. Just thought I would give her credit!  It is fun to watch God call my wife into ministry and a passion to share Christ and our family with high school kids.  God has changed her in so many ways and made her an amazing mom, wife, teacher and woman of God...and He is still working.  I am so unbelievably thankful for Jenn and my girls.  My prayer is that we will all know Jesus more together, be good stewards of all he has given us and glorify Him with our lives and relationships.  Ok, that's a lot and I'm done!  

Dad's out...for now.

A Diamond in the Rough

Our neighborhood recently had a community garage sale.  Even though I am usually not a garage sale-er, because I am terrible at it, I went with my mom for fun.  To my surprise, I found this dining set that would be a perfect fit for our empty 'dining room'.  They were asking $75 for the set...my mom talked them down to $60.  Sold.  The solid wood set came with the table, two extension leafs and 8 chairs.  Sure, the chair seats were wicker-ish and it screamed 1980's, but it is solid and I saw potential.  This was two weeks ago:

 

I still have to put the finishing touches on it, but this is what it looks like in our room today.  I painted the wood black, upholstered the chairs with a 'charcoal' gray fabric to darken the 'sterling' gray walls and made a simple flower arrangement with a red bow for the center.  After buying set and the materials to make the changes, I have about $150 in it...total.  I am pretty darn proud of how it turned out.

Now, I just have to buy the chandelier we have had my eye on at Lowe's since we moved in.  At $250, it will be the most expensive piece in the room :) That, unfortunately will have to wait now due to the milk incident.

Death By Milking:

Our couch is was relatively new.  At least within the last 5 years.  In that short amount of time it has been peed on, puked on, pooped on, 'dogged' on, spilled on, climbed on, ripped...sewn back up and had springs pop through.  And, all things considered, it has held up fairly well.  Until now.  Now all that is left is half of a sectional and the carpet marks where the beloved chaise once sat.

Why?

All day yesterday Dan and I keep smelling something.  We couldn't put our finger on it, but it did not smell 'good'.  At first we thought it was something in the trash or disposal.  Those were clean.  We kept smelling the dogs, who are the usual sticky suspects.  They, surprisingly, were also clean.  We finally assumed it was just a food smell from the left over spaghetti we were having for lunch.  

After going on a walk last night the smell was getting stronger and making my stomach turn.  So after the girls were in bed, I went on a mission to find it to origin of the odor.  I smelled high and low until I found the unusual place it was coming from...the back of the couch.  That could only mean one thing.  I immediately feared the worst.  Moving the cushion out of the way, my fears were confirmed.  ROTTEN MILK.  One of the girls sippy cups of milk had gotten wedged between the cushion and the back of the couch.  Forgotten about, it began to curdle and leak out of the cup until the smell was strong enough to come through the back of the couch.  GAG! Super gross.

It is in the garage now so the stench would clear out of the house.  It is soaked into every nook and cranny.  Cleaning is simply not an option.  A new couch was not in the budget for at least a few years, so now we have to decide if we should go cheap and expect to buy a new one in a few years when the girls are older and the dogs are dead.  Or, invest the money in a couch that will 'last'.  However long that is...

These are the things that can only happen as a parent.  You can't make this stuff up.  But, lesson learned: always count the sippy cups to make sure they ALL return.

What is the grossest thing you have experienced as a parent? 

A Walk On The WILD Side

We took the girls on an African Safari yesterday...right here in Ohio.  Neither one of us had ever been to the Wilds, but decided to try it out.  It was insanely HOT...too hot really, but we had a good time and got to see some really amazing animals, unbelievably close up.   

The Wilds is private, non-profit conservation center located just outside of Zainesville, Ohio.  Situated on nearly 10,000 acres, donated by the American Electric Power Company in 1986, it is one of five parks of its kind in North America.  Of the five, only three allow visitors.  Of those, The Wilds is the largest!  The land is a resurfaced mining area, which means they stripped all the soil away down to the rock, removed the coal  and replaced the soil.  Consequently, there is only about 6 inches of soil all over the park which is the reason grass is about the only thing that will grow and browns quickly in the heat giving the appearance of an African Sahara.  Pretty cool...who know there was something like this right in our own backyard?!?!?!

We went on the bus.  It was cheaper because of our Zoo membership and the buses were supposed to be air conditioned.  They also had an open-air tram you could go on.  We thought about it, but it is a good thing we didn't because the girls were scared enough with the animals coming to the windows of our bus!  We saw some rhinos, some endangered deer and very friendly camels on the first leg of the trip.  At the stop there was a big lake you could walk down to to feed the catfish.  It was a long walk down...in the blazing sun...with NO breeze.  But, the catfish were enormous and grateful for the snack.  Here are a few pictures of the girls feeding them:

 

The camels walked right up to the bus when we stopped.  Your can only see the back end of the one on the far left because her lips were against the glass!!

 

The rhinos were being fed so we got to see them really close.  They look like they are wearing a suit of armor.

 

Having a snack and waiting on the bus to come back and pick us up for the next part of the tour.  The background was beautiful!

 

The next part of the tour was probably the best.  When we started we were driving along along side a heard of giraffes.  Slowly they got in front of us and we were just crawling along behind them.  I think the giraffes were everyone's favorite...and we had to make sure to take lots of pictures for grandpa because they are his favorite too!  We didn't see much at the second stop, but the last bus was a nice relaxing ride! Truly a life-saver...it was air conditioned!  Overall, it was a unique experience and we definitely had fun!  Next time we will just plan to go in the Fall!!

 

See the wiper blade...this was through the bus windshield!

Rhino butts...it just seemed fitting for the last picture ;)

Silly Bands, Hairbows and Disney...OH MY!

Aly is such a girly-girl.  She loves to wear dresses, paint her nails, twirl and sing.  She decides which princess she will be for the day based on the color of her dress color.  For example, if she wears her yellow dress...she is Belle.  Sometimes she will even ask us to call her 'Belle' (or whoever it is that day).  She truly believes she is a REAL princess...of course to us, she is.

Hannah is not really 'girly', but wants to do EVERYTHING her sister does.

Lately, besides hair bows (since I finally got the breakthrough I had been waiting on), they are obsessed with Silly bands and Disney.  In case you are living under a rock, Silly Bands are the 'thing' right now.  These brightly colored 'rubberbands', which come in hundreds of shapes, can be stretched and worn as bracelets - always returning to their original form when taken off.  A package of 24 is about $3...and the more you have the better.  On the last day of school one of my students had over 200.  Seriously, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!?!?!?  Anyway it is the first 'fad' they have been a part of...it seems so grown up.

Then there is Disney.  Aly has been talking about going to Disney World for  at least 6 months.  My original plan was to go when they were 4 and 6...then, we thought we would try to go next summer because I can't wait to experience that with them.  But, after our experience with Stinger (The Blue Jackets mascot) at the Independence Day parade, I think we are back on track for 4 and 6.  I don't want them to be so afraid of the characters that they won't go up to them and get their autographs and take pictures!  Plus, Disney is outrageously expensive (Somewhat deservedly so. They are creative geniuses...have you seen Toy Story 3?!??!) so we need to save up more money.  Feel free to donate generously to the Disney fund for holidays and birthdays ;) Remember, the Lemonade Stand posted a loss in the first quarter ;)

When you couple their Disney obsession with their love of music you get the "Enchanted Princesses" CD.  I can't tell you how many times I have listened to "Kiss The Girl" and "If You Can Dream".  Aly knows all the words and dances and sings around the house.  Hannah always asks for 'the mermain' song.  They are truly little girls and not babies anymore...

They are growing up so fast...make it stop!

I have been waiting 4 YEARS for this...

No joke.  Four YEARS!  We either did not have enough hair or they wouldn't let me do it.  But, I finally had a break through with the girls a few days ago...pony tails and pig tails.  Aly has been wearing headbands for a while, but this is new for both of them.   Aly still doesn't really have enough hair, but she desperately wants to...so I do the best I can.  Hannah has more than enough!  And after 'put them in too tight for her to get them out' advice from a friend, I got her to leave them alone!  I love Hannah's hair down with her curls, but you have to admit...this is stinkin' cute!!

Happy Birthday America!!

Holy cow, where did June go?!?!?  It feels like school just got out, yet we are well into July already!  I can't believe it!  Yes, it has been a few weeks since I posted, but I thought since it is summer I should take a little vacation from blogging as well and just enjoy the time off while it lasts.  Not to mention, all the computer time I have had lately has been dominated my the two classes I am taking right now.  They are not hard at all and they will be useful in my curriculum, but a lot of work!!  I will be so glad when those are done!!

So, what have we been up to?  Lots!  This weekend was really busy.  We had a cookout with friends on Friday night instead of going to Red, White & Boom...Aly and Hannah stayed up late to watch in on TV.  Then, we got up early on Saturday to decorate the Dent Magic truck for the Gahanna parade.  It was the first parade the girls were in.  Aly loved every minute of it.  Hannah was so exhausted from the night before, she fell asleep before it even started.  She eventually woke up and helped pass out candy too.  After the parade we went for a quick swim since it was sooooo hot and then home to eat dinner with friends and go to the Gahanna fireworks....the girls were up late again.  

Sunday, we went to church and then  to a birthday party.  After the party, we went swimming and had another cookout!  Hannah crashed early, but Dan took Aly to see more fireworks.  Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day and today is going to be another relaxing one spent by the pool!  

I truly love the 4th of July...it is one of my favorite holidays because it is what make America so great.  It's all about celebrating the sacrifices made (and being made) so we can live FREE...and summer cookouts with friends and family ;)  I am so thankful to live in a great country!  But, I can honestly say I am cooked out right now.  I don't think I can eat an burger or hot dog for at least a month week.  

I will gradually catch up will all the posts I have floating around in my brain, but here are some pictures from the parade this weekend:   

Like  father like daughter...making silly faces ;)

Waiting for the parade to start...

Aly and Mommy...Hannah was asleep at this point!

At the fireworks that night with one of their best friends ;)

Happy Birthday USA!!