Conversation with...

BABY!!!

We had to go to the Home Depot today. Baby sang the whole way there. He sings all the time. I love it. On the way home this little exchange took place...

Baby: Daddy!

Daddy: What?

Baby: Goodah blahgoo mmnah. uhwite?

Daddy: Alright.

Baby: Goodah blahgoo mmnah lala. uhwite?

Daddy: Alright.

Baby: Goodah blah blah blah (lots of baby talk). okay?

Daddy: Okay.

Baby: (more baby talk) uhwite?

Daddy:

Baby: Daddy!!!

Daddy: What?

Baby: Goodah....(you get the picture). Okay?

Daddy: Okay!

This went on for almost ten minutes. It was wonderful. I was cracking up. At one point I turned around to look at him and he got all bashful. And quit talking. But started right back up when I wasn't looking at him anymore. Silly baby.

Fun with the WebCam

The Rockstar loves playing with the webcam. So we have had several webcam photo sessions with her. She loves seeing what we look like with moustaches or as ninjas. So much fun and so many giggles!

Crazy Winter

One of the things I love most about Georgia is the mild winters. Usually there's just enough cold weather to give me time to wear boots and cute sweaters. It lasts a few days then it's in the sixties for a few days. But not this year. It has been cold! Like weeks at a time with no temps above forty. Now I know there are lots of people out there that would love to see some days in the forties. But I'm just not accustomed to it.

The kids have had two snow days this winter and one delay. Now that's just not normal. But it's fun. Sadly, I don't have many pictures from the snow days. I don't really like being cold so I don't like to go outside when it's cold. But I did take a break from sitting by the warm fire to snap a few.



This was definitely the prettiest snow we've had in a long time. About three inches so everything was covered up. But baby didn't like it. He kept saying, "Iss on me mama."



He couldn't wait to get back inside. But the rest of the kids love it.





We had a couple of beautiful days this week. A teaser. Now it's rainy and cold. And while I have always loved spring, I don't think I've ever been more ready for it to get here.

Piano Man

My dad installs hardwood floors for a living. He also finishes them. It's a family business. One that his father started over 50 years ago. He is very good at what he does. And his customers love him. He loves them too. That's the kind of man he his, he loves people. And I'm certain that's one reason his business is successful.

He doesn't advertise. Never has. Never will. His customers spread the word. They call him when they need repairs or refinishing. He has known many of them for a lot of years.

He has a customer named Al Hanserd. Dad was working in his home about 13 years ago and Al mentioned that he needed to get rid of his piano. He asked Dad if he knew anyone that would be interested in buying it. Dad told him that I played and that he would ask me if I was interested. I should also mention that my dad is forgetful. He never asked me if I was interested. But the next time he was at Al's house he noticed that he still had the piano. He asked Al if he still wanted to sell it. Al said no. He wanted to give it to me.

And that's how I became the proud owner of this beautiful old Kimball upright. I was really excited when he called me and told me about it. But was even more excited when I saw it. It is so lovely.

Since I have had it it has been moved at least six times. And sadly it has never been tuned. But amazingly it still sounds good. A few months ago one of the keys started sticking. So I decided that it was way past time to call out a piano tuner.

Enter the piano man. I totally expected a really old guy named Frank to show up at my house and tune my piano. But he was like 25. And his name was Steven. And he took my piano apart.We found a lot of things inside the piano. Some pennies, a balloon, part of a cracker. But the coolest thing we found was this.The last time it was tuned was in 1995. So the piano man thought he would need to do a pitch raise. But then was surprised to find that the piano was sharp. About 45 minutes later it was perfectly in tune with no sticky keys. My piano students will be grateful. It sounds so nice.

My dad did a job for Al a couple months ago. I told him to tell him that I am teaching piano lessons on that piano now. And to tell him that I am thankful and that I love my piano.

I should probably tell my dad that I am thankful too. Thankful that he is the kind of man that loves people. The kind of man that people love in return. The kind of man that would inspire Al to give his daughter a piano even though he's never met her.

If You Have a Date in Constantinople...

She'll be waiting in Istanbul!

And so one of the best weekends ever has come to an end. They Might Be Giants came to Atlanta. And they did a family show. So my brother Reed came from Memphis and he brought his wife, three cute girlies and a super sweet little baby man. And Reed's best good friend Gregory Dale McIlvain came as well. He also brought some cute girlies. Two very cute little ones and one very pregnant mama. My brother Kirk came also. And his bff Matt. And my cousin Matt came from Athens to kick off his spring break.

So we all converged at Ami's house to spend the weekend. And it pretty much goes without saying that there was much good food, many laughs and little sleep. It also goes without saying that the highlight of the weekend was taking our kids to their very first rock show.

We drove into Atlanta to Little Five Points which was an adventure in itself. Cowboy saw his first hobo and was thrilled about it. And thus commenced the great hobo hunt 2010. He spotted at least one per city block. The favorite was the hobo with the i-pod. We were still talking about where he might charge it when we arrived at the Variety Playhouse.

These photos aren't great. Taken with the i-phone. But anyways this is Matt and I and lots of other folks we don't know in front of the venue.

And inside. It was such a great show. The kids LOVED it!!! We loved it. They played lots of great kid music and some good stuff for the grown ups too. My favorite was Istanbul was Constantinople. The trumpet solo was A-MAZE-ING! The kids liked Dr. Worm and the seven song. "We want cake! Where's our cake!" And everyone loved the confetti that seemed to be endless. After the show the kids got their foam fingers and tickets signed by the drummer Marty Beller. Rockstar took hers to school today to show her class.

It was such a great day. Probably makes my top ten list of good days.