Celtic Woman Concert - and the drive home from Utah

The Celtic Woman Concert was breath taking! My only disappointment was that Hayley Westenra wasn't there! I didn't even know that she sang with Celtic Woman, but then I saw her on the DVDs for sale in the foyer and almost flipped. Needless to say, I bought the DVD. Lisa is the one that got me into this group, and I got HER into Hayley. I checked her website, and it didn't say anything about her becoming part of the group. (Get past Hayley Rich, nobody knows who that is anyway). It was a near perfect evening with our dear friends: Darren and Aaron Rodabough, and Numps and his wife Tami Dejti. The only thing missing was the food. Numps and Tami are big sushi fans, so next year we are going to Oishi Sushi first.

Today I took my boys down to Home Depot and got a bunch of scraps for them to build with. They had a great time nailing things (or rather, watching me nail things) together, then painting them. This is yet another part of getting over our video game addiction. Ouch! My thumb still hurts from where I smashed it while I was showing Parker how to use a hammer (now know to me as the thumb slammer).

On our drive back from Utah we read "Enna Burning" the sequel to "The Goose " by Shannon Hale. I thought they were great, but would have never made it though them alone, as it took a while to get good, especially with the first one. Shannon Hale, the author, came recommended by Stephanie Meyer, the author of yet another teen novel series I've read with Lisa, which was a bit easier to get into: the twilight series.

In Utah, my sister Chrissy got married to Thomas Pounds. I will have to post a photo for all - he is a very, VERY needed part of our family. Now we are complete. It took him about 5 seconds to be on everyone's good side forever when we first met him. She could NOT have done better.

It was so nice to be with the family that we didn't get away to see a single friend, which is not the norm, but when everyone is together - that is, except for Joey and Jenny who live across the ocean, you just have to party as hard as possible.

I must sleep. I've been having way too much fun putting all the less important parts of this blog together (Playlist, slideshow, etc.)

I posted a slideshow of me making faces at my mom's camera. I was originally just testing out her new flash in a restaurant, but it was just so much fun...you can see how carried away things got.

March Gladness

This month our family has much to be thankful for - as Tommy turned 4 years old, Chrissy was married to a great guy, and our (almost) entire family was able to spend a glorious week together in Utah at the home of my parents. It has also been a month of new growth and direction for my family, as Lisa and I have started a stronger re-vamping of our children's video game consumption, and I commited to stop playing 'shooter' games, and already started to reap the benefits (even though it 'slays' me to say goodbye to XBOX live). Truth is that I rarely had time to play anyway, but my heart was seeking to play almost every night, when it needs to be pondering stuff of a greater value. The same can be said for my three beautiful boys. Finally, its been a month of renewed hoped that Padme will keep her place as the family dog, as I have directed more energy at solving the problem of her scratching on the door, not being taken on walks enough, and so forth.

Three weeks ago, when Lisa was really at an end with both video games, and Padme scratching the finish off of multiple doors in our once lovely home. I am afraid to report that I told her "Fine, sell her. The more she drives you crazy, the more crazy I become". It was more than just the doors being scratched, but the fact that Padme was viewed by all of us as everyones's dog, except when she needed something - then she was primarily Lisa's. Fortunately I came out of my spell of stupidness, and started thinking about what I could do. That's when I started coming up with solutions: cover Padme's claws with 'Soft Paws', get a shock collar to begin her training (which she responded great), and take her either outside or downstairs to throw her ball as many times as Padme asks, etc.

Tommy had his 4th birthday party two weeks ago on Saturday March 15th, 2008 at our home, which Parker and Lisa hosted . Parker put on an oversized, green, sequined bow tie, which made him the co-host. They gave away butterscotch, caramel, Milky Way Bars, and green playdough at the end of the treasure hunt. Parker's favorite clue was:

"If cows were like chickens
and dogs were like bears
you'd look for this clue
at the top of the stairs,
but cows are like horses,
and hoses are nice
you'll find this next clue
right next to the ice"

I'll have to finish my March post after we get home in St. Louis in two days, where we are going to the "Celtic Woman" concert at the fox with Lisa and some friends. Glorious!

Parker typed and helped make the poem. The "at the top of the stairs" part threw them off.