Fired up

Last night Jeff and I went out to dinner and then to the Manship Theatre to see the Avett Brothers. It was an awesome night. We rarely do things like that during the week, just because we both have to wake up early with Caroline and for work regardless of when we go to sleep. The late bedtime was well worth it last night though.

First, the Manship Theatre is absolutely beautiful. I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. However, if any Manship Theatre personnel are reading this, IT IS FREEZING IN THERE! You can kick the air up a few notches on the second mezzanine. That's my only complaint from the whole night, I promise. Second, the music. Oh my goodness. Those boys are on fire. Their energy is incredibly contagious, their voices are unbelievable together, their musical talent is incredible. I was trying to figure out how to describe their music and Jeff told me they've been called "punk bluegrass". That doesn't do it for me, because "punk bluegrass" conjures up images of mohawked, make-uped, screaming teenagers banging on a banjo. I don't think you can really put them in any one musical box, except for the "really good music" and "really good performers" boxes.

Good times.

Tomorrow!

Last night at about 2:00am Jeff and I were awakened by a tiny little two and a half year old voice singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I lub you, tomorrow . . ." For those of you unfamiliar with that refrain, it is the song "Tomorrow" from the movie Annie. Annie was one of my favorites growing up. I was even in an Annie look alike contest when I was four or so; I didn't win though. I'm over it now.

The other day I was feeling tired, so I laid down on the couch and put on the Annie DVD. I didn't expect Caroline to be interested in it; I just thought she might be too young to enjoy it. Count me corrected! She loves this movie: the characters, the songs, the dancing, the costumes. She puts on her "Annie dress" every morning when she gets up with her "Annie shoes". She's only worn it to school once this week, but it is trying to get her out of that dress and into school clothes. The dress is actually a little red and white sailor dress that I wore in that Annie look alike contest so many years ago. Luckily, I also have the Annie soundtrack on CD from who knows when, and so that blares from her CD player on a daily basis now. It is so precious to hear her sing those songs that I loved so much.

Back to 2:00am. I walked into her room and told her it was the middle of the night and she needed to go back to sleep. She was holding her "Annie dress" and had the "Annie shoes" on and said, "No, mama, I singing." I tucked her in, Annie shoes and all, and rubbed her back for a few moments before kissing her head and going back to my bed. About half an hour later, Jeff repeated the same routine with her and then finally at 3:00am, I went back in there and she got back to sleep (minus the Annie shoes this time).

I haven't loaded the pictures of her singing and dancing in the Annie costume yet, but I will post them as soon as I do. Maybe I'll even venture into the land of loading videos if I have lots of free time soon.

in the ATL

We took a family trip to Atlanta this past weekend for a friend's wedding. The drive over there is a story in itself (eight hours in the middle of the night, one tired 2 year old who doesn't often sleep in the car, one tired mom who never sleeps in the car, one driver dad who drank loads of energy drinks), but we had a great time once we got there. Saturday morning we went to the Aquarium with friends, and as you'll see below, we had a fabulous time. All of the adults kept saying, "Are we here for the kids or ourselves?" The animals were truly amazing. Caroline loved seeing all of her "friends" from Finding Nemo and only had one small breakdown in the Kids Interactive area when they told her she was too little to go up the big tube and down the slide. Not quite 42"!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had a lot of fun catching up with friends and eating yummy food. Sunday morning we met friends for breakfast and then went out for a quick visit to the Chattahoochee River before getting on the road to BR.

Enjoy the pics!

Heading into the Aquarium! We're so excited!

"The Jellies"

"Touching" a starfish

Papa is so excited to see the penguins!

The tunnel was unbelievable - sharks and sting rays swimming everywhere.

Baby Beluga

Friends!

Friends at breakfast!

Rising waters

Late last week I took Caroline to the levee downtown after work to see how high the river has been lately. I don't remember the last time I saw it this high - maybe late high school, early in college? I don't think it is supposed to crest at Baton Rouge until April 16th, so we'll have to go back next week to see how high it gets. After we walked around on the levee downton for a while, we met Jeff at the levee near LSU. He and Caroline walked down to the water, but I still had my heels on from work and I thought the soggy ground and my footwear wouldn't be a great combination. It was so neat to see barges parked on an area that is normally a grassy area where we take Caroline to run around. She had a great time throwing sticks and flowers into the river and running up and down the levee. Here are the pics:

Ha!

(H/T: The Anchoress)

Prayers for a family

Please pray for this family. They have an amazing story of faith and faithfulness in the midst of a trial most of us will never know. If you plan on reading the blog, go grab a box of Kleenex first.

Oops!

Wow! Surely after everything we've seen this election season (it has indeed been a loooong season), he should know better than to tempt the techies (or tubies) . . .



(H/T: Instapundit)

Matt Maher

I am not the biggest "Christian Music" fan. First of all, I don't like the title, "Christian Music"; sometimes music so labeled doesn't really reflect either word very well. Second, sometimes it seems as though these musicians are trying too hard.
That being said, I do like this guy (whom I hadn't heard of before today):



Check him out here. And you can buy the CD for the low, low price of $8.97 here.

As promised:

Here are some pictures of the newest hazard play equipment at our house. Can you say "static electrictiy"? There's a reason there are no pictures of me on the trampline . . .










Here are a few of the BIG DAY! Caroline's first race:

Weekend

I have some pictures I need to download from the camera so I can share Caroline's new favorite after-school activity: jumping on the trampoline! She loves it. For now, I'll give you word picture that will hopefully hold you over until I get those pictures on here. She bounces around, falls, gets up, laughs, falls, bounces around, touches here hair because it is literally standing on end from the static electricity, asks us to hold her and jump, rolls around, crawls around, bounces, and then cries when we have to go in for dinner. It is a joy to watch.


The other pictures I need to post are from Caroline's first race! Yes, we are those parents who put their two year old in a race. It was only 1/2 mile and she liked every minute of it (except for the mid-point turn around when she thought it was over, I had to carry her and run for a little while). She did great! Jeff and I ran with her and she wanted us to hold hands while running, it was precious. We truly did feel bad when she woke up the next morning complaining about her legs hurting. I'm sure there's no permanent damage . . .






Tonight Jeff and I are going to an art opening at a gallery and then to a concert at a church. The two guys playing tonight are some of my Young Life leaders from Baton Rouge High. Their wives were YL leaders as well, and then my leaders when I went through Young Life training at LSU. I am really looking forward to seeing them again.

Although I would not call myself a basketball fan (I like basketball and I'll watch basketball, but I don't keep up), I will watch the Lady Tigers and Lady Vols play this weekend. Two teams very close to my heart! Geaux Tigers.

It looks like the weather will be pretty good this weekend, so Caroline and I will have to go cheer on Jeff at a race on Saturday and hopefully find something else free and outdoors to do.