This just in ...

You know how it feels when you're working on something,
 and you have no idea how it's going to turn out?

We've been in that limbo of wondering for six months, my friend Jeannie and I.

If it hadn't worked out, I suppose I could've said it was all her idea ...

because it was.
She thought it would be awesome to give students at our homeschool co-op an opportunity to showcase their musical talents in a concert, and then offer the concert proceeds to our co-op benevolence fund.

I told you a little bit about that }here{.

Jeannie and I encouraged each other through the growing angst of not knowing
if anyone would actually come to the concert,

and we pumped each other up
when rehearsals didn't seem to come together quite as well 

as we thought they should.

And just when it seemed the concert would NEVER get here ...

it got here.

Our students were ready to rock.

Five extraordinary kids, off the chart talent, and a show that astounded everyone who came.

We were exceedingly blessed to have the opportunity to perform 

at The Sanctuary Music and Events Center in McKinney, Texas.

The Sanctuary is a new two story event venue that can seat up to 250 people.

The staff was accommodating and extremely helpful, and the place is gorgeously elegant.  

And elegantly gorgeous.

When we arrived to set up and do sound check,

 there were eight magnificent guitars from The Guitar Sanctuary next door 

up on the stage.  

If you love guitars, this store is like no other and you should check it out.

Just look at their website }here{ and you'll understand.

After we   c a r e f u l l y  helped move the guitars off stage,

we were ready to set up.

There were moments like this ...

And then everything started falling into place.

After six months of working on pulling a concert together, these kids just blew it away.  

Nathan (yes, that's my son!) and Justin kicked things off with "YYZ" by Rush.

and then went right into "Wipeout" where Zach could show his stuff as a drummer. 

Does he look young to you?  

He is. He's 13 ... that's 7th grade ... 

Although he's a self-taught drummer, Zach held his own.

Pretty awesome for 7th grade!

Justin, who's been playing guitar since he was 5 years old, 

and came in second last year at the International Guitar Show, 

played some real guitar manifestos, 

including "Crystal Planet" by Joe Satriani, 

"What Lies Beneath" and "Into the Storm" by Andy James, 

and "Scarified" by Paul Gilbert, 

in addition to one of his original works called "Perpetual Anomaly".  

His technique is flawless ... sometimes you can hardly see his fingers, they're moving so fast.

Nathan played "Summer Song" by Joe Satriani, "After Shock" by Andy James, 

"Jordan" by Buckethead, and "Ya Dig" by John 5.  

Together, Nathan and Justin played Joe Satriani's "Crowd Chant"

and Andy James' "Eyes of the World".

LtDan was taken aback ... it's one thing to hear the guitar through the walls at home,

and altogether another to see your son playing on stage like he belongs up there.

LtDan knew our boy was good, but he didn't realize he was that good.

Your wife can tell you that you won't believe how good,

but until your son is up there on stage ... you just don't recognize.

We were both so proud!

Aavery was our bassist.  

This young man's incredible musical talent extends to just about every musical instrument.

He joined our rehearsals four weeks before the concert,

and we were amazed at how his bass rounded the sound out
and made every song that much better.

In addition to his musical talent, 

Aavery brought his positive attitude and collaborative spirit to the group.

I would like to bottle up and sell that stuff.

And also:  his smile can light up any room.

Then there's Kate.

Her voice is beautiful, haunting, and distinctive.  

She plays the piano, already performs on her own nearly every weekend, 

and writes her own music.

She sang originals "Scarred with Ink", about not judging people by superficial things like tatoos, 

"It's Time", an oh so poignant song written when it was time 

to move out of the house she'd lived in her whole life,

and "Highway Lights", about moving on to new things.

She also performed "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Santana style) with Justin, 

"Clocks" by Coldplay, and "At Last" by Harry Warren (think Etta James).

Aavery accompanied her on the keyboard for a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Alleluia".

As collaborations, the kids chose "Shine" by Collective Soul

((( YEAH )))

if you know the song, you know what I mean :o)

And my favorite, "Far and Away" by Slash ...

It was soulful and bluesy with awesome guitar solos.  

Better than the original ... sorry, Myles Kennedy and Velvet Revolver.

Can a girl pull off singing the Guns N Roses song "Sweet Child O Mine"?

Oh yes, for sure, this one definitely can.

They finished up with Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Tightrope" ...

and were rewarded with a standing ovation.

We had an amazing, enthusiastic, supportive crowd of about 80 people, 

and we were quite pleased with the turnout,

particularly since nothing like this had ever been done
through our homeschool co-op before.
If anyone came with the preconceived notion that homeschoolers are nerdy,
they left with a new opinion.

It was an awesome, incredible evening.

I keep having concert flashbacks.

I'm a total groupie.

At least one if not all of these kids are going to make it big someday.

You can say you heard it here first :o)

My experience as a Roadie, Band Practice and a Worthy Cause

My beautiful friend Jeannie is a fireball of energy, passion, creativity, and enthusiasm. 

When she pitched the idea to offer a class through our homeschool co-op 

to give musically talented students an opportunity to showcase their talents in a concert, 

it didn't occur to me to think it couldn't be done.  

Confidently motivated by my personal lack of experience 

with garage bands, public relations, promotions and concerts ... 

and even more so by my confidence

that our co-op is FULL of incredibly gifted students, I signed on right away.

We auditioned several students, and some opted out for various reasons

- much to my disappointment - such awesome kids!  

We finally settled in with two guitarists, a bassplayer/keyboardist, a drummer and a singer/keyboardist:

Justin's technical ability and lightening fast guitar riffs are flawless.  

Nathan's eclectic guitar style offers a little something for guitar lovers of all genres.  

Aavery's bassline keeps the guitar and drum worlds in rhythm and his keyboard flows richly.  

Zach's drumline is high energy.  

Kate's soulful voice and poignant original music put her in a class 

with names so big, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

We embarked on the concert project with weekly band practices, 

meanwhile dodging scheduling conflicts with the concert date 

in the likes of musical auditions, basketball tournaments, venue bookings and graduation ceremonies. 

The first few practices were creatively chaotic.  

We asked the kids to pull together four or five songs they already knew well 

that they thought would work for the concert as solo performances,

and we also asked them to come up with a list of four or five suggestions for songs on which to collaborate. 

It wasn't our objective to teach the kids to play - 

just to give them an opportunity to put on a concert and show their stuff. 

Narrowing things down and making song selections was a challenge.  

Getting the timing and sound and order of songs lined out was complicated.  

Fusing the opinions of five very talented musicians required tactical oversight.  

Meshing five busy family schedules and additional band practices was tricky.

I kept thinking, "these are cooperative, teachable, reasonable young people, and we're just working on one show.  How in the world do crazy rock and roll bands pull it together for world tours?"

Like everything else in this life, it's not nearly as easy as you would think.  

But for an event where five awesomely talented, exceptional young people have opportunity to shine?

Definitely worth it.

That's not all this concert is about, though;

the proceeds will go to our co-op's Benevolence Fund.  

In my experience, homeschool families are typically an independent bunch.  

Certainly it takes independence to craft together an in-home educational experience 

that serves the student well. 

In my 15+ years of homeschooling, almost without exception 

I've encountered the most humble, servant-hearted, generous people within the homeschool community.  

The kind of people who stop class to offer tenderhearted prayer for a little girl's dog that died, 

even though it died three years ago but she's still sad.

The kind of people who spend a weekend building mini replicas for their class of boys studying history.

The kind of people who treat your children like their own.

And the kind of people who, 

even when facing down some of the scariest of life's scenarios, 

have not the slightest desire to call attention to themselves.

So we'll let the kids take the spotlight on Friday night.  

Crazy talent.  

Amazing gifts.  

Exciting ability.  

All applied toward a cause that's beyond worthy of a little night music on a summer Friday night. 

Want to come to this concert?

If you love live music, you should, please do!

Friday, June 6, 2014 at 8:00pm

(doors open at 7:30)

The Sanctuary Music and Events Center - McKinney, Texas

6633 Virginia Parkway, Suite 102

Tickets $10 at the door, or purchase online here:

http://www.marchgroup.org/march-concert-class/

The Best Mother's Day Ever

My Mother's Day included all four critical components
of a perfect Mother's Day :

   1.  Chocolate

2.  Flowers

3.  Napping

4.  Disaster

The chocolate was delicious.  I enjoyed sharing the HUGE box with the entire family.  

My kids gave me a bouquet of flowers and LtDan took me to Lowe's

 to browse for a plant and planter for the front porch.

After church and a lovely brunch,

I claimed that essential right of motherhood,

The Mother's Day Nap.
It was perfectly executed, with comfy pillows, a snuggly blanket, blissful quiet and no limits.

When I woke up, it seems there had been An Event while I was napping.

Not only had the electricity been off two hours without reason,

the water heater had leaked from the attic into the downstairs hallway.

The family oh-so-quietly handled the leak,

and by the time I woke up, everything was under control.

Until the water heater burst completely.

Water dripping down the walls, pouring out of the light fixtures, seeping under the baseboards,

and that's when I got the best Mother's Day gift of all.

My kids shifted into gear.

They grabbed all the available towels and blankets to sop up the water.

They turned the breaker off.

They pulled out the ladder to reach and turn off the shrieking smoke alarms.

They took up the brooms and mop to push water away from the still-dry places.

They turned off the water up at the road.

They hooked up the wet vac and sucked out the water.

They stuffed wet and soppy sheetrock and insulation into giant trashbags.

They worked fast and they worked efficiently.

They did not complain.

The didn't stand around doing nothing, or ask 'what do you want me to do?'

They did not freak out.

They didn't even sneak away to play video games.

They were calm and they were cool, they were level-headed and they worked as a team.

Who raised these kids?

Oh ... I had a hand in that :o)

The next day, The ServPro team showed up and brought 16 ... sixTEEN ... huge fans 

that blew in the kitchen, the hall, the office, two bedrooms and the under-stairs closet 

24 hours a day for 5 days.  

It was like living on an airport runway.

Every sentence began with "WHAT DID YOU SAY?  I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  

To come in the front door meant fighting an involuntary reaction 

to step back outside and close the door.

The noise was crazy.

For five days.

But you know what? 

It's been one of my prayers that we would work together when things go wrong
and pull in, toward each other, when we face difficulty.

I was so blessed to see God's answer to prayers I've been praying 20 years.  

Our small Mother's Day disaster gave my kids opportunity to shine 

and I saw them work together to respond to an emergency with competence.

God answers the prayers you pray over your children.

Keep praying, Mom.  

God hears you.

It was the best Mother's Day ever.

Kitchen Organization (repost)

If there's any area of my life that can use a Life Hack, it's kitchen storage.

Specifically for pots and pans.

That, and teaching my kids not to slam the front door.

If I can get a handle on both those areas, 

life will take on a sparkle and shine that puts springtime to shame.

I don't have a before picture of my pots and pans cabinet for you,

but believe me when when I tell you

it was highly unorganized, unsightly, and inefficient.

And also a big mess.

Enter an email forward of a gargantuan collection of Life Hacks that featured these two ideas:

Pot lids stored on a curtain rod   ...    Pots and pans hanging on a tension rod

 (image credit)                                     (image credit)                

I was smitten.

And inspired.

And I had hope that a couple of curtain rods could solve all my problems.

This isn't a post about my own original ideas,
just evidence that if your pots and pans are in a big mess,
there are some really easy Life Hacks that can work for you, too!

I started with the tension rod (it's a shower rod) and curtain hooks.

To get the tension rod in there really snugly, 

I had to put it in not quite straight and then bump it into place.

I also used a binder clip on the rod to use as a stopper for the cookie sheets to keep them standing up -

this was another brilliant Life Hack idea.

Please let me apologize for the condition of my cookie sheet.

The $1.25 for a nice new shiny one exceeds my budget.

Of course I'm kidding. 

 I do not know why I am putting up with a rusty old cookie sheet.

I assure you the other side looks fine.

Once the rod is up securely, pots and pans go on the hooks and life is so sweet!

But wait!  There's more!!

How about those pot lids, Ladies?

Let's get them all organized, too!

The original idea was to mount a curtain rod across the inside of the cabinet door,

but then I saw another idea that didn't involve drilling holes }here{. 

Since I was a little afraid of drilling holes in the cabinet doors,

using adhesive Command Hooks seemed like a much better option.  

It's a fairly easy process - just figure out where you want your hooks and stick them on.  

They're also easy to remove.  

And there are extra adhesive-pads in the package in case you need them.

Ask me how I know :o)

Also: ask me if I'm glad I didn't use power tools to drill holes in those doors after all :o)

Once the hooks are up, you're in business!

I wasn't entirely sure the lids and the pans wouldn't clang together when the door closed,

but I just had faith that they wouldn't and forged ahead.

They don't, and here's a pic from the inside to make a believer out of you, too:

(it looks like the bottom lid is coming in contact with the pans but it isn't)

Now in all honestly I will tell you that if you slam the cabinet door carelessly,

a lid may go flying into the pans and make a great and terrible noise.

We must close the cabinet doors ... ah ... maturely. 

The family has been informed.

As I've been training my children for years not to slam the front door when they come and go,

I'm considering this a challenge round to further sharpen their door closing skills.  

I'm all for the better training and upbringing of our youth.

Especially if it means organized and orderly pots and pans!

I love those Life Hack people ... they make me feel so smart!

Arising to Call You Blessed

It seems like every conversation I have with other moms these days eventually turns

 toward one serious, sobering question:  

am I getting this mother thing right? 

Mother and Child, by Pino Daeni - (image source)

Maybe it's the end of the school year exerting its exponential pressure.

Maybe it's facing the people we used to call children, 

knowing that our time of 24 hour influence on them is coming to a close.

Maybe it's that time of freefalling parental limbo between adolescence and mature adulthood,

the time between training a child in the way they should go and the not departing from it.

Maybe it's just having a moment to come up for air and take a look around,

only to see that we're doing it completely different than all the other moms.

We all know what happens in those moments when the last straw breaks.

When we discover the pile of dirty clothes in the closet reaching to the sky like the Tower of Babel.

When we find they've completed the test but failed to answer the essay questions yet again.

When the carefully worded and meticulously detailed instructions we gave weren't followed - at all.

When they forget to call when they get there and don't answer our texts and we worry, 

and then we get mad.

Sometimes it seems parenting is more about grinding the rough edges off our own selves
than teaching and exhorting.

Those last straw moments fill our hearts with doubt,
but they take up far more space in our motherhearts than they should.
Of course God uses our strengths in the lives of our children ... 

but He uses our weaknesses, too.   

Our strengths shore our children up where they need it,

and our weaknesses call them into their own strengths.

God gave your children the mother they need, and it's you.

Of course it isn't news to you that the task of motherhood is a colossal task.  

Impossible, maybe even.  

But God's grace fills in where we fall short.
You can relax in that.

And you know what? 

This colossal task called motherhood that you're doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?  

You're doing an awesome, amazing thing, and you're doing a fantastic job of it.

Most importantly,
you're exactly the mother your child needs you to be.  

How do I know that?  

Because God picked you especially for them,

and they are blessed.

Happy Mother's Day!