Music and Life: Fighting Dragons

We are big fans of Taylor Swift here in our house. I think she seems like the sweetest person and so far she doesn't seem to have let her fame go to her head. On top of that, she's a very gifted singer/songwriter and there aren't a whole lot of her songs that we don't love.

This one is mine and Noah's favorite song by her right now. I had listened to it a few times and just knew I liked it but had never paid attention to the lyrics. Then one day Noah asked me to play the "dragon song" while we were on a long car trip and after the second time hearing it I really paid attention and realized that not only was the music good but the words really had a great message.

Some of my favorite lyrics are:
"And the cynics were outraged
Screaming, "this is absurd"
'Cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world"
and
"long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life
Fighting dragons with you"


Don't we all wish for just one day where this is our song? I know I've felt like a member of that "band of thieves" waiting for my moment to rule the World. 


I'm dedicating this song to my kids. I hope that someday they all have moments like this in their lives. That they celebrate the walls they crash through. That they have friends they can trust to fight the dragons alongside of. That someday the Kingdom lights will shine just for them and that they prove all the cynics wrong. 

Conversations With Liza

Liza had only one word when we got her out of the orphanage. That was "Nyet" (No). I'm putting her clothes on her, she's chanting "net-net-net!". I'm brushing her hair, she's chanting "net-net-net!" Washing her hair, "net-net-net!" You get the picture, right? It was kind of annoying, yet kind of cute at the same time. I should have known then what we were in for.

Now that she's been home for eight months she's learned to communicate lots more words through either signing or speaking, mostly signing. In the beginning she just used one sign at a time, signing "juice" for juice, signing "daddy" to ask for Daddy, signing "eat" when she was hungry, etc. Lately she's been stringing signs together to really have conversations with us. It's really been fun to watch her transition and grow like she has.

Last night as I was getting her out of the bath tub, ok wait, let me rephrase that. Last night after the water drained out of the tub so she would finally get out, she started whining and "crying". Basically, she was having a fit cause she does not like getting out of the water, and here comes Austin to the rescue. She won't get out for me, even with the water gone so Austin gets a towel, takes her out, and wraps her up. This is the series of signs that followed and my interpretation of that conversation.

Liza signs:

1. Brother
2. cry
3. myself/mine "points to her nose" (she made this one up herself)
4. brother again
5. work

This is Mom's interpretation of what she was trying to tell me, and if you had seen her grin during this whole convo you would know that I am spot on!

"Mom, when I cry my brothers come running to make it better. That's the way it works."

Yep, that's exactly the way it works and on one hand I know I am in deep doo-doo, but on the other hand I'm just so glad I get to be a part of watching her be the Princess of our household. She's got us all wrapped. And we are totally fine with that.

Renaissance Faire

Does anyone else love going to Renaissance Faires/Festivals? I was introduced to my first one, the Georgia Renaissance Festival, in 10th grade. I was in Mr. Horton's History class and we were taking a field trip there one Saturday. The only problem with that was I had just been hired as a Hostess at one of the local Waffle Houses in our VERY small town (yes I worked at Waffle House and yes there were more than one - less than five miles apart) and I had to work that Saturday, and my Mom wouldn't let me take the day off - teaching responsibility or some such nonsense (just kidding Mom!) So, to make it up to me, Mom arranged for Me, my best friend, BFF's mom, and Herself to go to the Ren Faire another weekend. That was it, I was hooked. Totally loved it and everything about it. Maybe it's goofy, maybe it's "nerdy", but I still love it and would go a couple times a year if I could.

A couple of weeks ago Rick and I took our kids to the Virginia Renaissance Faire during Pirate Week. It was H.O.T. that day but it was still a lot of fun. AND maybe the best part of the day - there was a guy dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow. He looked just like, him, walked like him, and even waved/smiled like him. He waved at me and smiled and I wanted to follow him like a little puppy dog. I felt like I had been warped into a pirate movie for a second. What is it about Jack Sparrow that makes ladies love him? I'm not the only one, right? I wish I had gotten a picture of him. Ah well....

Where was I? Oh yeah.... took the kids to Ren Faire. They learned the Medieval alphabet, apparently we added a few letters since then, and they learned that they would have probably had a job by age nine. I think they were glad they were born when they were. There were a couple of guys there doing an acrobat/comedy routine that was really funny and of course the “Queen and her Court”. Not to mention all the other pirates wondering around and the quest to decide who would be the Queen’s official “privateer” which is different than a pirate but still kinda the same… yeah…..

Some snapshots of what we did:
  

The boys got to throw sharp objects at targets. Let’s just say Noah will never be an axe murderer…. or a wood-cutter either, but it was fun to watch him throw that axe at the wall.

  

  They didn’t do too bad with the bow and arrow, but I think it felt a little awkward at first.

 
The Lovely Step-daughter and I decided to stick with something a little more lady-like, so she had her face painted and I got my hair braided.  Pops (AKA Rick/Dad) just hung out, drank a little wine, and somehow managed to not be in any of the pictures. It was a good day.

Knuckleheadedness: Spongbob

Remember this post about Austin? And then of course Noah had to have his turn. Well, this time Rick started it and Noah was happy to oblige us with another example of Knuckleheadedness.

See, Noah has a little issue with ADD and he is somewhat quirky, which makes him so funny without really even trying to be. He says things sometimes and we all bust out laughing and he's looking at us with this grin like, "what?". It is really hard to figure out how he stores things in that head of his. Like the time he was trying to remember his buddy's phone number and asked Austin what ours used to be. Huh? The two numbers were nothing alike but he figured it out. I have no idea........

This is how it went down the other night:

Rick: "Noah! HOW do you store things in that brain of yours?!"

Noah: "Well, one time I watched Spongebob and it showed inside his head and he had all these little Spongebobs with filing cabinets......"

Rick: "Well, there you go....."

Me (thinking): Oh boy!

Honestly, we all laughed so had we had tears rolling down our faces. Maybe you just have to know Noah like we do, but I think he hit the nail on the head answering that question and that's why it was so funny.

No wonder he always liked that Sponge dude.

Knuckleheadedness: Noah's Turn

Remember when I talked about Austin's Knuckleheadedness? Can't have you thinking he's the only one. Noah is every bit as much a Knucklehead as his brother is.

Where do these kids get this from, by the way? Did Austin teach Noah or were they born like this? I am pretty sure I had nothing to do with it. *cough, cough*

We are sitting at the kitchen counter looking up a recipe for something on the Internet. One of them we run across calls for lard. After I explained what lard was Austin asked why the recipe called for it and not say....butter.

This is what happened after that:

ME: "Well, the lard is supposed to....."
(and there goes ADD Mom's attention caught by something on the Internet)

(So Noah being his helpful little self finishes my sentence for me)
NOAH: "help block your arteries?" *GRIN*

ME: "Um, yeah that's what it's supposed to do."
(heavy on the dramatic eye rolling and sarcasm)

ME: "Knucklehead!"

I'm beginning to think I'm outnumbered around here.

Liza Looks Like Noah

Well, not really, but I swear I have pictures of Noah at this age making that same face when he knew I was trying to get a picture of him. He was quite the little stinker, I'm thinking she looks like she might be too!

I promise I am going to update where we are in the process in the next day or two. After waiting thirty minutes for this picture to post I am feeling a little done with blogger for one night!

Music and Life-Noah 1-4-09

What kind of bad motherblogger am I? Yes, that was my sad attempt at humor. Feel free to ignore it. Here's the deal. One of my kids had a birthday on January 4th and I am just now getting around to his birthday post. Horrid, right?

Noah, my "baby", is ten years old now. I am totally flabbergasted at how he could possibly be that old, but he is. He reminded me the other day when I said he was nine. This is the child that proved to me that I truly could love another child just as much as I loved Austin. The one who makes the craziest facial expressions you've probably ever seen without even trying. The kid who says the most random things at random times to crack everyone up.

One of the funniest things that I love about Noah is his issue with kissing. He decided at around 2 1/2 that he was done with kissing people and stopped giving kisses. If you wanted a kiss he offered you his cheek so you could kiss him. This was kind of hard for me, until I discovered that I was the ONLY person he would randomly go to and offer a kiss to. Those kisses were so much more special for me because I knew that kissing was not really his thing. I'm happy to say it's still not and let's keep it that way!

Noah is funny, sweet, and friendly but shy. Oh, and tremendously cute too! He's a huge Bakugan and Harry Potter fan. He loves his big brother, and is in that stage where he wants his own identity yet still wants to know Austin will be willing to play Nerf gun wars with him.


This is Noah's favorite song right now. "99 Red Balloons" by Goldfinger. He knows that this is a remake of an old song but I don't think he's ever heard the original. He'd probably prefer this one anyway.


Happy Birthday Noah! I love you!

600x4 = One Crazy Kid

This kid was honored last night for receiving perfect scores on ALL four of his SOL's (AKA Standards of Learning tests). We're super proud of him and had plans to take his picture up in front at the school board meeting, but wouldn't ya know it? My camera battery was dead!







These pics are more true to the Noah we live with every day, so it's all good in the end. I forced him to put on clean jeans and a polo, but if he'd had his way he'd have gone in font of everyone last night in a pair of dirty shorts and a t-shirt. What can I say, he marches to his very own drummer.

Total Randomness

Tomorrow my kids go back to school. They say they are excited and looking forward to it. Even Austin after being told by us and his new teachers that this is the year "Real Middle School" begins, AKA-7th grade. I thought he'd be scared off by all this new "toughness" he's going to face but either he's ready for it or he just doesn't believe us yet. I won't say which idea I'm leaning towards, can you guess?

Noah is supposedly so excited he can't sleep. This was what he told me when he came out of his room thirty minutes after I sent him to bed with that cute little grin he thinks is gonna make me believe him. UMMHMMM, nope. It did earn him a hug though and a pat on the back as he was sent back to bed. He'll be in 4th grade this year. I am having a hard time realizing my "babies" are so grown up.

And for one more totally random thought for the night: What was I thinking when I helped Lovely Stepdaughter hang that Hannah Montana door size poster on the OUTSIDE of her bedroom door? Every time I head down that hallway and see it from the corner of my eye it scares the mess out of me. Tonight I had the unfortunate pleasure of being in front of a mirror when it happened and I got to witness the face that I made. If it had been the real Miley that would have scared the mess out of her!