How We Do Life: May 2008

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The One and Only Alexis Cohen

For those of you who enjoyed American Idol this year...

I have one question.

Where Was Alexis Cohen at the Finale?

As mentioned in an earlier post, we watched every episode this year of American idol. Sigh. Yes, it's over. And yet, I still am posting blogs about this show that has somehow grabbed my heart and impacted my life. It's literally stayed with me daily. I will find myself reflecting on Jason Castro's lovely version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as I'm scrambling eggs in the morning...or...a walk to the mailbox will remind me, somehow, of Syesha's "I Believe"...but all truly dim in comparison to the fond memories I have of Alexis Cohen.

Why do I like Alexis Cohen so much?
1. she's real
2. she's honest
3. she's a tryer
4. she's inspirational
5. she's candid
6. she's longwinded
7. she's a master at "filler-in-words"
8. take it! take it. take it. take it. take it!
9. she has a plan B
10. she's coined the phrase "all-rising"

So, not only did she leave a mark on me, but she has influenced others as well. So much, in fact that a song has been written, sung and produced in her honor.

The lyrics (unbeknownst to her) are written by her, but the message is truly for all...

TURN YOUR VOLUME UP

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Refreshing Friends.

This past Memorial Weekend marked our seventh annual Clemson reunion. What a wonderful time we had together. Coming together with these people is one of the most anticipated weekends for me each year. They are absolutely hilarious, they are amazing parents, very comforting and honest and they are hugely encouraging in keeping on with the journey we are on as believers.

"The Lodge" as our place was named, proved however, to be not-so-perfect in other ways. I will save those tales for another time. We discussed very relevant, imortant topics like American Idol finalists and our most embarrassing moments. Then there was the tubing adventure where most of the crew grabbed intertubes and went down the river, which included very mischeivous and physical pain for some, all of which included some sort of interaction with my husband.

BUT - as I said, or intended to say, that just adds memories to an already "memorial" weekend.

Matt and Jill, Matt and Ash (Eliza), Adam and Stacey, Jason and Cayce, Nate and Su (Bella), Chad and Reagan (Greer) and Wes and Sage (Walker)

The Lodge's front porch

A proud father of his little princess

Jason holding baby Walker

A very attentive Matt watching Eliza as she aims for the wild, toddler world

Jill and Su - beautiful smiles, and Walker - nervous

Reagan and her nearly one-year-old, Greer

Wes talking, Walker, my sweet, precious baby sleeping

Ash and blue-eyed Eliza

Ash and Matt cooking in the flourescent kitchen

lots of laughter - a perfect snapshot of the weekend

Video - A lot of Nothing
(warning: there is not a whole lot happenin' in this video)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

David Cook Wins!

We haven't been watching American Idol over the past few years but this year Wes and I watched it from its first episode to the finale last night. We were very happy with the winner as I truly believe that David Cook is one of the most talented musicians out there. He has a really neat, humble background as well - which just makes him that much more relatable.

Below is one of my favorite David Cook performances. Here he took the Mariah Carey song, "Always Be My Baby" and changed the arrangement to suit his style of voice and music. He did this with so many songs - which is one reason among several that he is truly an artist.

Turn up your volume.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4Ct-64PGk

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A Challenge: Trying to Take a Nice Picture...

...and by nice, I simply mean a picture with both faces. :)

By no stretch of the imagination are we good photographers, but we are trying. Now that we have two children to hopefully capture sweet faces, nice smiles, expressive glances, we have discovered that our children...move...alot. We have also discovered a delay in our camera, which makes picture-taking challenging. This also explains why 97% of our blog photos are blurry.

The good news: we're trying!

Soooo, here are some attempts from both Wes and I (won't say which of us took which pics) to get a nice face picture of our boys.

Oh, and if you have the time, send me a comment on your favorite one.
I'd love to know.
Just, you know... to know. :)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Children Are Such a Gift...

my two sons

all my boys (all have WRA initials)

oh how I wish this one had turned out

and suddenly, this little one seems like such a big boy

Aunt Kayne and Walker

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sweet Baby Boy

I had no idea how easy it would be to fall in love...again.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mothers Day

A mothers love determines how

We love ourselves and others.

There is no sky we'll ever see

Not lit by that first love.

to my wonderful mother. Thank you mom, for all that you do for me. I love you!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Things I Forgot About Newborns...

1. every diaper change has a poop!

2. the size of their diapers = tiny!

3. how many times they wake up at night (last night I lost count after 3!)

4. their squinty little faces (that could be the result from a. gas, b. needing to burp, c. the options are endless

5. their hands are tee-niny!

6. i'm not so nice a person w/out sleep :(

7. they like to hold their arms and legs very close - and that can make diaper changing somewhat challenging.

8. the black stuff in their diapers the first few days - (and for the record the most difficult diapers to change!)

9. that MANY noises they make during sleep (from which I find myself checking the monitor to make sure nothings wrong and only to find, nothings wrong - just a noise)

10. how much they like to eat!