Tis the Season

I love Christmas music! I love to listen to Christmas music. (but only after Thanksgiving!) I think "Breath of Heaven" is my favorite today. I love to debate with my argumentative brother-in-law about "Mary, Did You Know?" He says of course she knew. I think she only knew some of what her son would do not all of it. What say ye?Even more than listening to it I love to sing it! I think it stems back to the good ole' Viewmont Madrigal days when we had a singing gig almost every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We started with singing at the Tabernacle for the "Lighting of Temple Square" night and did everything from big concerts and mall visits to ward programs and family Christmas parties. I bet if I had to I could still sing the parts and do the choreography for "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"! Teddy bear kick line and all!

Last night I was able to go to a Messiah sing in where my mom's choir was performing. It was absolutely thrilling to sing those songs again. It was also fun to also attend a concert for my mom after she attended hundreds for her children through the years. I think she probably had the Hallelujah Chorus memorized just from hearing it soooo many times! I love the story about Handel where he was given the compliment that his "Messiah" was "noble entertainment" He replied "I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better."
Last year I was able to go to the Mormon Tabernacle concert with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herrmann. When Edward Herrmann told the story behind "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and then the choir sang it. Oh my heart. I was was crying so hard I was almost sobbing. It was a healing cry however. Filled with memories of my dad my heart was aching and the music helped wash away some of the sad and hurt and fill it with hope and peace. Music can do that.

So don't be shocked when you pass by me in my car and I have the music blaring to Harry Connick singing "Happy Ho Ho Ho to You" or good ole Karen Carpenter or the Bare Naked Ladies. It will pass soon enough. So what is your current must listen to Christmas song. I really wanna know.

Fashion

Anyone who knows me knows that all the fashion genes in my family went to my other siblings. I am thinking of 2 in particular. Any guesses?

My cousin, Courtney, has always been one of the most fashionable gals around and now I find out that she has been hiding a talent at actual fashion design! I could be angry that somehow her cousin gene also more than likely stripped me of any possibility of being fashionable but I am not angry I am thrilled!
I went and checked out her new blog and found out that her fashion idols are Audrey Hepburn, whom I love and adore, and Jackie Kennedy who was an impeccable dresser. I love how Courtney describes her idea of great design "simple, modest and timeless". Wonderful.

So Courtney was persuaded to enter a contest and her entry made the top 15! So now if you would like you can go and vote for her dress! Just go to Shabby Apple and make a comment and mention #14. If you are anything like me you might get a little sick to your stomach though as you see how many fashionistas there are and realize that you totally got ripped off.

Now if you will excuse me I am going to go get out of my sweats and t-shirt.

The Real Story!

Every time I put my camera down Joe picks it up and starts snapping pictures. I am amazed when I go to download my photos how many shots he gets in before I catch him and take it away. I was going through my last download and getting ready to delete them when I realized that these were Joe's life. He took pictures of things he loves from his point of view. So without further introduction. Here is Joe's life. October-ish 2009.

First up. Joe loves Tricia. Here she is at the orthodontist. He could take pictures of models. He really knows how to get their best side. Joe loves his mom and his brother Alex. Here he has captured us during homework reading time! Showing the world exactly how tired I am by this time each day. Not to mention how very tan my legs are by the END of the summer! Good grief. This is Joe looking for his buddy Aaron at a Court of Honor. He found him. Poor Joe is going to have to sit through a lot of these! At least at some point he will be able to see over the chairs. Here is a picture of Joe's favorite blanket in Joe's favorite runway/hall. Also since we are down at his level I found that he has been using his bookshelf as a coloring book! Here is Joe's view of my quilt stand which doubles as a clothes holder. From his point of view you can actually see the quilt! Here is the kichen table looking into the kitchen. If I was a mother who stressed enriching my sons life at every opportunity I would hang pictures under the bar! But here you see how I enrich my sons life. Looney Toones. Extremely close up! He can run any DVD player though! Talented kid. Last but not least you will see his photo collection of his favorite thing in this world. Cars. Notice how carefully he arranges them in the best possible lighting. The logos are placed just so albeit out of focus. This kid has a knack. Does anyone know of a career where you can make money taking blurry pictures of hundreds of cars? Besides NASCAR? Well there you have it. Joe's life as seen through his stolen camera lens!

Completely Random.

I have officially received the 2 comments that my blog is boring and I am lazy so it must be time for a new post.

I was thinking about a famous family story about one of my brothers. This brother came home from work one night and found his cute young wife who had been at home all day with 3 young kids ready for some adult conversation.

So he listened for a minute and realized that she hadn't paused long enough for him to comment yet. He decided that it would be "fun" to see how long she would talk without him actually saying a word. If memory serves (and it often doesn't these days) I think he let her go on for about 15 minutes. Then he told her about his experiment. She reacted.

Needless to say it is now a famous family story. Even she laughs about it now. She is a good sport.

I have entire random conversations inside my head. My husband often wonders why I can't come to bed until I am beyond tired. I have tried to go to bed earlier but I lay there and toss and turn. Dave will ask what is wrong and I always have the same problem.

My mind won't stop.

One night I decided to share this phenomenon with Dave. (You are welcome, Love.)

I gave him a running commentary.

Is that a light on downstairs? I wonder if Aaron turned off his light. I hope he did his reading. I really need to find a good series for him. Jenn suggested a good one. It is her birthday this week. I gotta call her. Remember when she forgot to call me. So funny. Of all people. I can't believe she and Nate text about the Office and Glee every Friday. I want to get the sheet music for "Don't Stop Believin" I miss singing. Shoot I missed choir practice again. Julie is going to think I am a huge flake. I feel so bad her kids were so sick. I wish I could have helped. Did you know Jonathan only had 9 kids in his class one day this week? Josh can never miss a day of 8th grade again. That was a nightmare! Did I have that much homework when I was in High School? I was really lucky to have such a great high school experience. I hope Josh has some good friends in High School. We need a bigger house. Thanks for getting the brakes fixed. How much did you charge? I need to work for Sandra this week. I need to get the order out and update Sandy's website. Did I put that invoice in the mail? I am mailing Christmas cards this year. We have family pictures on Saturday. We need some new coordinating outfits. How are we going to get the kids to cooperate? We should have got all of them a haircut. I wish I had lost 80 lbs instead of just 30. Exercise would help. It was fun to go with Mom to lunch on Friday. I wish you liked fish. You need to take the boys fishing with Mitch. I think there is a Merit Badge for fishing. I wonder who they will put in as scoutmaster? I love my young women. I wish the boys were old enough for some of them. I hope my daughter-in-laws won't hate me! I need to update my blog. Tricia told me I was boring. Did I get her for Christmas? No wait I got Alli. We need to make our list. Alex said he wanted a cell phone. Shoot, I forgot to call about Visiting Teaching. Mine are coming tomorrow. I need to clean up the living room. Did the boys put their backpacks away? Their companions are going to hate me! No matter how many times I remind them they "forget". Do you think Aaron turned off his light? I'm going to check.

It all makes perfect sense. I just wish I could find the off switch.