could you hear the universe rocking?

Last Friday, I took a bunch of kids (15!) here:

... for this event:


We got to see some awesome concerts, like FamilyForce5, who put on quite the circus! No pictures of them, sorry. I remembered to take out the camera for Jars of Clay who've been at this music stuff for eons, it seems. They have hilarious concert outfits this year - 1970's gym shirts and shorts with pulled up socks and headbands. You can sort of get the idea here:


They seem to have inspired some followers:


I saw this next band, Mercy Me, on this very same stage 4 years ago. (Remember, Chad? You were there, too.) I was pregnant with Henry and didn't even know it yet. The screen behind them is made of small light bulbs and they have a cool show going on during their set. It reminds me a little of U2.


The last show we saw was Casting Crowns, and they did some great stuff. You can tell an event is sponsored by a Southern Baptist university (Liberty University, in this case) when there are only a teensy handful of women to be found in any kind of performance capacity. The only two women musicians of any kind all night were in Casting Crowns (who rocked it out, I'd like to add).


But by far, the most impressive and for me, moving sight of the night was this talented lady right here:


She was an artistic interpreter for all the concerts at this stage, and she was amazing. It was truly a gorgeous sight. There's just something so beautiful about how she signed.

The next day, we all took naps, and I was able to capture this sweet sleepy face:


Then when he woke up, he posed for a quick glamour shot.

Is it silly to say that this smile is sufficient to rock the universe?

old and new

Timon's parents visited us this weekend - a lovely time. They are just finishing the long and sometimes sad process of cleaning out the condo of Timon's grandfather nearly a year after his passing. We were blessed with some nice things - most notably Maxwell's car and his set of china. He and his wife (who I never met) used this beautiful pattern as their everyday plates! They also had just about all the serving pieces you could want, down to the egg cups. We haven't decided how we'll use it yet... I'm not nearly as fastidiously careful as Maxwell and Gamma were with their dishes, and so I'm afraid I'll be clumsy with them. But we'll see. Here's the pattern:

That's pretty much the worst picture ever. But that's all Google image search came up with, unfortunately. And since I had to part ways with the fabulous camera I'd been temporarily using, that's the best I can do for now. Rest assured, the pattern is much better looking than the photo suggests. The plates aren't pink at all. It's way better looking than the silly Ames plates I've had since my first apartment seven years ago. Some of you might remember the loveliness that was Ames. Such a clean store, with such high quality merchandise.

Anyhoo, that's it for today. OH!! OH!! I haven't written about Planet Earth in a couple of weeks - the series continues to amaze and captivate my attention. Last night was "Jungles" and "Rivers". The last two episodes are on next week, "Forests" and "Caves". Catch it on the Discovery Channel Sundays at 8.

And one more thing... Leah, the daughter of Rachel Coleman, creator of Signing Time, won her school spelling bee last week! To help you understand what a big deal that is, I hope you'll go to Rachel's blog and read her post and watch the video. I was in tears - that girl is phenomenal.

brush with fame

Okay.

First, just let me start with "Planet Earth". Remember when I talked about the first three episodes? The two they showed this past Sunday - "Deserts" and "Ice Worlds" - did not disappoint. I can't wait to see more of this stuff - if you don't get the Discovery channel, you can get them on Netflix or buy them at www.planet-earth.com. Our planet is phenomenal.

Second, for those of you interested, my cholesterol was just fine. Thanks for asking.

Thirdly, and by far the most exciting, Rachel Coleman herself posted a comment on my blog! Check out the comment section for this post and see for yourself! If you don't know who Rachel is, she and her sister created Signing Time, a series of DVDs and books that teach American Sign Language to both hearing-impaired and hearing children. It also has great success with children who have Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, speech delays, or other learning challenges. I've mentioned that Henry has been doing sign language at other times but haven't gone into real depth about it. When he was about 11 months old, his home-daycare provider did an inter-library loan to check out a children's sign language DVD. This DVD came on loan - all the way from FAIRBANKS, ALASKA! For those of you who know where we live, that's pretty much as far away as you can get and still be in the U.S. Anyway, she showed it at daycare and then let us take it home for a weekend. We were sold - Henry showed a lot of interest in it and it was simple enough for us to pick up the signs (but not have to do a lot of studying). There were a lot of reasons why we asked family members to chip in for us to then buy the first 6 DVDs - we thought it would help Henry develop his language skills (they did); we thought he would like the songs (he does); and we hoped it would help him bridge the gap until he could communicate with words (it did). We bought him DVDs 7-13 for his second birthday. There was also another feeling I couldn't put my finger on - that maybe someday he'd have a friend who needed to communicate this way, and he'd be prepared and so would we. Turns out, his friend G has just been diagnosed with apraxia. During the year and a half they've been struggling with his communication problems, we lent them our DVDs and finally they had a way to help him. I encourage you to click on this link and find out more about this speech disorder. Now G can have two other adults who can understand what he's trying to say - this totally left him befuddled when he and his parents came to dinner last weekend! We saw his signs and were able to get him what he needed - a nice break for his poor mother who bears the brunt of his frustration with communication. So, even if your child can hear perfectly well, I highly recommend Signing Time. Whenever we are blessed with another child I will definitely be starting signs from the very beginning - maybe not with the DVDs, but certainly I can do them myself and Henry will have another friend who he can sign with. Many public television stations are now showing episodes as well, or your library may have it to check out. We thought it was well worth the money.

Now, if we can just convince Henry that there are, in fact, TWO Rachels. One Rachel is on Signing Time. The other is Rachel Ray. Maybe one day he'll grasp that!

so much to say

I could write about so many things today - like Henry's friend G and his new diagnosis (FINALLY) of apraxia, a speech disorder, and how sign language (via Signing Time) has helped him; or about our latest church movie night which drew 200 people (!); or about the two gunshots we heard behind our house on Saturday morning at 4:45; or about the Anna Nicole autopsy results (the medical examiner has the oddest shaped skull!)... but I think I'll limit this one-sided conversation to the new Planet Earth series on the Discovery Channel. It premiered last night with three episodes: "Pole to Pole", "Mountains", and "Deep Ocean". I tell you what - our planet is the most amazing creation! How anyone can look at the beauty of this place and be utterly convinced that it's (it is) just a bunch of random molecules and cell clusters is something I'll never understand. "Pole to Pole" explored the role of the sun in the seasons of the earth - seeing some of those remote regions that get 24 hours of sun or 24 hours of darkness depending on the time of year was so cool. In the "Mountains" episode they showed the animals and plants that manage to cling to survival on the highest peaks - including the snow leopard which has never been captured on film during a hunt before. Then there was "Deep Ocean" - some of the footage looked similar to the other Discovery Channel series Blue Planet, but was still fascinating. The new high definition cameras they shot the series with and all the new access they got to some remote areas of the planet really make this show a must-see. Even if you're not into nature shows, this one is bound to hold your attention. The next episodes are on Sunday the 1st at 8pm.

Seriously! His skull is totally deformed!

Genesis 1
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning— Day One.
God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!" God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning— Day Two.
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good. God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, every sort of fruit-bearing tree." And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Three.
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was. God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, the smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, and every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds." And there it was: wild animals of every kind, cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was. God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Genesis 2
Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail. By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

what i know for sure

Y'all ever read "O"? The Oprah magazine? Normally I think Oprah is a big ole' phony. (Seriously, have you seen the "Oprah's favorite things" show? It's un-frickin-believable.) But, she has this column at the end of the magazine in which she imparts to us little people the grand truths she has discovered along her life's journeys. And in honor of my year of blogging, I'd like to share with you some things I've discovered in the past year that I know for sure.

1. Don't assume you can make it to your next grocery store trip with only 3/4 roll of toilet paper. You can't.

2. When "Little Einsteins" is on, don't try to speak to my son. He is completely hypnotized.

3. There are A LOT of mothers who blog out there. Most of them post well-written interesting essays and adorable photos on their sites. Some REALLY need to go back to 10th grade English with Mr. Krom and get those grammar rules. PLEASE, people! LEARN HOW TO CORRECTLY USE THE WORDS ITS AND IT'S!!

4. Never underestimate how nice you'll feel when your house is the cleanest it's (See that there? The word "it's" stands for "it has". Notice the correct usage.) ever been.

5. It really is kinda funny when your little boy discovers tooting, and how it cracks him up as well.

6. You can buy a lot of expensive toys, or get them as gifts, but your kid is still gonna play with the box it came in or the paper that once wrapped it.

7. The value of baby sign language goes far beyond the cute "look what my genius boy can do!" factor. FAR beyond.

8. Shower curtain liners do not, in fact, come in one size only. Sometimes, like when you buy them at Big K, they are a foot and a half too narrow.

9. As much as you will want to save every single piece of "artwork" your almost three year old ever creates at school or church, the volume of this material will quickly obscure any efforts at cleaning and straightening you attempt. (see number 4)

10. I know FOR SURE that the proper contraction form of "you all" is y'all, NOT ya'll.

11. God's ways are a mystery sometimes. Thank goodness He knows way better than I do about all things, otherwise I'd go nuts trying to explain the unexplainable.

12. And most of all, I know for sure that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born of a virgin, laid in a manger, raised by a carpenter, persecuted and put to death by mankind, raised from the dead, ascended to heaven - to save me, you, and every single person alive (and who has ever lived or will ever live) from the darkness of sin and death, and to welcome us into the best kind of eternal relationship, the glory of which we cannot begin to conceive.

yesterday

Yesterday was a nice day. I woke up at 7:30 and was showered, dressed, and at church by 8:00. (The beauty of living across the street!) We had rehearsal, then the church service, then fellowship time. Timon and Henry joined me for that, and Henry was so cute, eating his yogurt, cheese, and grapes before going to the nursery for the Sunday School hour. Timon then went to run sound for the traditional service, and I took Henry home. We cuddled and read books for a little while, then when Timon got home, we put Henry down to nap, and thought, hey, napping sounds like a good plan. None of us woke up until 3:30! Timon had to go to work at 4:30 (striking the show currently in the theatre space) and so Henry and I went to the grocery store, came home, ate dinner, watched a little Signing Time (the ASL dvd's that we all know and love and HIGHLY recommend - www.signingtime.com), and then Henry went to bed. I channel surfed, did some sudoku, and then went to bed myself around 10:30.

Now that I reread what I just typed, it sounds pretty mundane, really. But it's my idea of a good day. I wish only good days for the rest of you.

abc's

I almost burst into tears on Thursday. Chad called for the first time in 3 weeks, and my day had been quite stressful. It was so awesome to hear how good he sounds. He and his companions are somewhere over the New York state line, and continue to amaze me with their endurance, both spiritual and physical. Henry got to talk to him too, and he was jibber-jabbering about something, while pointing to his lego tower made of orange legos, all the while signing orange! What a multi-tasker! And then I signed the ABC's and Henry said all of them so Chad could hear. Chad was suitably impressed but not at all surprised by his godson's savantian qualities. And also, Chad's dad sent a picture of him with Tree Girl and Two Shoes (?), and Henry keeps pointing at it and saying, "Chad!", and "green!" (He's wearing a green shirt.) Henry also wants to give a shout-out to his newest little cousin, baby Dillon James Moore, born to my oldest male cousin and his lovely wife, Adam and Heather. Let's all welcome him... WELCOME, Dillon! It's a cool world and we hope you have fun!

my first one

This is my son, Henry.

I know, he's cute. He came out of the bath one night and laid down on his pillow all naked for a photo shoot. What a ham. He says lots of stuff, too. Like bike, quack, mommy, dida, chad, nana, ball, and hot. He signs about 60 words. I've been told he's brilliant.

Wow, I'm a blogger. I blog.

well, that's all for now.