The Concert

Once Again....

John Mayer wowed me. Elijah was blown away. Chad was completely mezmorized by his guitar playing. Our seats were great and a special thank you goes to my parents for their last minute use of their binnoculars at the show so we could see John up close and personal.

He played songs I hadn't heard him yet perform. Two of my new favorites Stitched Up and Covered in Rain. So great.

He even covered Tom Petty's Free Fallin' which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Take a listen and see if you don't agree.

New Bathroom Pics

Okay, so we are now on the downward spiral of getting the bathroom done. This is the update!

A) Tile - all installed and finished
B) Toilet - installed
C) Shower - installed
D) Laundry - done (okay well not DONE...I always have laundry but the washer and dryer are in place and useable!)
E) Vanity - Up and Painted and re-filled with all bathroom neccessities!

We have the little things left to do like painting trim, repainting laundry cabinets, installing trim, installing the doors, and re-painting the sunroom. BUT, the cool thing is, we are now able to take showers again, we have a second toilet once more, AND clean clothes as well. Life is good!


I love the tile Chad installed above the shower. It's so cool!

Tea for Two

Yesterday was so dreary and dark and rainy all day. I love the rain and I love thunderstorms but with all the rain and yucky weather we have had lately, I was ready to do something fun!

Sydney loves tea parties. When she goes to her granny's house, they have tea parties with fancy dishes and goodies to eat. Sydney usually dresses up in frilly, oversized clothes from the play trunk (with as much gaudy jewelry as her little frame can handle and still manage to walk upright) and together Granny and Sydney have a good ole time together drinking tea (hot cocoa because as Sydney says "Tea is so gross!") and eating dainty little cookies. She loves every minute of it.

Sydney has been begging me to have a tea party with her. In some ways, I hated to do this because this was something special she and Mom do together. It's one of the many reasons Sydney loves to spend time at Mom and Dad's house. Mom is always doing special things with the kids and going out of her way to have fun with them when they come over. So, I was kind of putting the tea party idea off hoping she would forget about wanting to have one with me and that way it would continue to be something special just she and her granny did.

Not the case!

In some ways, Sydney is like an elephant in that when it's something she REALLY wants, she won't let it go.

A few weeks ago while out running errands, I went to Goodwill and found some sweet little teacups, saucers, and dessert plates at only fifty cents apiece. What's more, they were pretty similar to a teapot, sugar bowl, and creamer I had in the china cabinet.

While Sydney was busy doing other things, I set to work. I boiled some water, put some Vanilla Caramel teabags on a plate, poured some Vanilla Caramel creamer in the the creamer bowl, and some sugar in the matching sugar bowl. I had bought little miniature chocolate chip cookies (her favorite) and put out an antique table runner on the dining room table along with a candle. I laid out her Christmas dress on her vanity and then got myself ready. I put on a fancy, long, black dress I had worn in a wedding and pulled up my hair. With the help of Elijah, we got Sydney into her room without her knowing anything and gave her instructions on what she was to do.

When she stepped out of her room, she emerged this shy, quiet, 10 year old girl with wide eyes. She was very surprised and pleased when she saw my fancy dress, the set table, and the fancy dishes. Elijah pulled her chair out for her and then he and Noah excused themselves to the upstairs so Syd and I could have a "proper" tea party without the interruptions of loud and smelly boys! (ha!)

It was a success! It was lots of fun and the girl who thought tea was gross, had THREE cups of tea with cream and sugar then admitted that tea was a pretty great thing and asked if she could have some with her breakfast the next morning.

It was such fun to spend a few minutes creating a memory I doubt she will forget anytime soon. Maybe this will be a tradition she will carry on if she has a daughter of her own.

After we cleaned up, changed back into our play clothes, and put everything away we played some Mario Party 8 on the Wii with the boys. It turned out that our rainy, dreary day turned into one of the most fun we had together.

John Mayer....here we come!

As you probably know by now, I have an extreme fondness for John Mayer. I love going to his shows because (and I didn't ever think I could say this about any artist) he sounds better live than on his cds. I know that doesn't seem possible what with all the producing and altering of instruments and voices done now in the studio however it is true! His voice is clean and swaggy and listening to him while he plays his guitar is unbelievably magical! Plus it doesn't hurt that he is fun to look at too....(ahem)

Okay, enough rambling.

Saturday is the night of the big show. We are taking Elijah. Last year we took him to see Tobymac, Family Force 5, and Building 429. That was a great show (we are huge fans of Tobymac and FF5) but it took place at a very small venue so it was difficult to get the whole concert "experience." In February we took the kids with us to see Randy Stonehill which was AMAZING. It was small and very intimate and they loved it. They got to meet him and get his autograph. Very cool! THIS is the doozy. Elijah will get to experience a major concert in a HUGE venue. I'm excited. Not only is he also a John Mayer fan but I think he will be blown away at how awesome it will be not to mention how much fun we will have.

There are a few differences between Christian concerts and secular shows. Besides the obvious of no drunks and pot smoking at Christian concerts here are some other observations:

1. Ticket prices are much lower for shows.
2. Shows are way more intimate. Afterwards, most bands at Christian concerts will stay to meet and greet the fans. Fans line up around the block to meet and get autographs of their favorite bands. It's very cool!
3. Christian concerts are any age appropriate....all the time! I have to say, a couple years ago, I went to see Gwen Stefani and while her show was absolutely fantastic, my friends and I were shocked to see how many 5-10 year old kids (mostly girls) were there attending with their parents. I love Gwen. She is talented and has a great voice but it still wasn't a kid-friendly show. Lots of F-bombs, and her two opening acts were pretty racey (Akon - who got in trouble for dancing lewdly with a 15 year old girl during one of his shows and this other rapper chic from the UK who dropped a curse word every 120 seconds.) My friend, Michelle and I were shocked that a parent would take their young child to something like that. And we wonder what's wrong with kids today and why they are growing up so fast!!! Hmmm....

And, not to sound mundane but back to ticket prices. Are you kidding me? To purchase tickets PLUS pay the taxes, convenience charges, and whatever else they throw in, you could buy groceries for a family of four for a month!!!

I love concerts. I always have. When I was in high school and college, that was what I did. My first concert ever was Debbie Gibson. Fifth row from the front with Michelle and loved every minute of it. I was sixteen. Since then I've seen bands like Motley Crue, Warrant, Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, and even classics like Vanilla Ice (it was a favor for a friend's sister.) Back then you could pay $30 and see the show, get something to drink (or eat,) pay for parking and have an amazing evening. Now you pay $80 just for your own ticket (not to mention the price for a loved one to get in as well) parking is another $25 (you can pay nothing for parking and park out in Egypt somewhere and then sit in your car for 90 minutes until you finally get out of the venue's parking lot!) and let's not forget about the price of gas to get to the show. It's crazy!

Poison is on tour this summer and came to Verizon. I love Poison. I've see them twice and they always put on a great show. My friends and I were considering going this year until we found out that lawn seats were $40 apiece! YIKES! If Bret and the gang were still in the middle of their hay-day, maybe I'd pay that. But these guys are much older now and they are on tour only because of Bret's recent back-in-the-spotlight stint from his Rock of Love show on VH-1.

Not to beat Gwen Stefani into the ground but she put on a rockin' show and lawn seat prices were $13 apiece!!!! Good for her! There were 10,000 people at that show and it was sold out. It was amazing and we had a great time.

$13 per ticket for lawn seats is appropriate, don't you think? Sitting on the ground in whatever weather Mother Nature throws at you, not being able to see the stage, only being able to see costumes and expressions of the performers by watching the show on the big jumbo screens at the front of the lawn (which is like watching a DVD version of the show on televison) and every now and then seeing way more than you would like when a couple's make out song is played. $13 is about right! Way to go, Gwen!

We rarely go to concerts anymore because of the high prices. In today's economy, it's just not affordable. Musicans are already making a butt-load of money. They should stop raping their fans when they come around live.

With all that being said, I am defintely looking forward to Saturday. It will be my one show this year that I will be attending and Chad and Elijah are coming along for the ride. I am a die-hard fan of JM and he always puts on a great show. It's gonna be such a blast. I'll update after the show!

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone. Happy Fourth of July!