in concert

a post that has nothing to do with the kids.  *gasp*

brian and i like music.  there it is.  do you?  probably.  brian reeeeally likes music.  he's one of those people (like you, brett...) who thinks every moment is improved by music.  he listens to music throughout the day. i understand the drafting of omaha's municipal bonds is set to music in his office.  quietly.  at home, it's quite a bit louder.  quite a bit.  definitely. 

it is my understanding that he's thoroughly enjoyed music for years and years.  i know he knows many a rap lyric from his younger, dare i say, less tasteful years?  and he's not alone.  i too, was one to tape rick dees' weekly top 40 every saturday morning (one of the many similarities that make brian and i SO compatible. ;)  and, please, don't forget about "Voices that Care."  i like music. 

incidentally, it seeps into the lives of our kids.  they, too, enjoy a tune, particularly during afternoon clean-up (Jai Ho and Woody's Roundup are cleanup songs daily requested by name) and on Saturday mornings.  No one goes with pancakes like Sovereign Grace and Jack Johnson.

anywho, brian and i like music and thoroughly enjoy concerts.  we've been blessed to see several performers through the years.  i know Faith Hill was a big Nebraskaland Days favorite of mine back in the day, Brian went to some big all-day concert as a high schooler (i don't remember), and as a young couple much in love we took in more than one Counting Crows show.  one of them right here in Omaha, somewhere in middle America, gettin right to the heart of matters, oh, it's the heart that matters most, . . . that evening adam duritz wrapped his long arm around brian and i and a kind fan took a picture of us.  it was quite thrilling, and my only regret is that i look like such a dweeb with my huuuge "this is adam duritz" eyes that i'm embarrassed by the picture.  silly, i know. (jenny reynolds (hare) was also at that concert!) 

our first Counting Crows performance was not in omaha, but at Fiddler's Green, in Denver.  it's a gorgeous locale, and all in all i think it's a fantastic place for a concert - unless it's early december and snow falls softly on the crowd...  we froze. 

fast forward to our next outdoor concert and we're talking a much more temperate evening.  a beautiful 70-something degree evening made our evening all the more enjoyable as we were serenaded by two recent musical loves, Ray Lamontagne and David Gray.  *sigh*  good stuff.

look who catered:  Famous Dave's and Paradise Bakery.  yes, please. 

and soon, ray takes the stage.  see him?  he's on the far right.  he wears denim, and a hat, and though he's the "star" he stands off center.  he's a little shy like that.  and we like that about him. 

here, he sings to the best thing ever happened to him.  we sit next to the best thing ever happened to us.  this video is not from tonight, but it's the same song.  although, it's better without back-up singers.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g25ZjKBXw8Q

someone else was with the best thing ever happened to him, and so he proposed to her.  right there with "you are the best thing, you are the best thing, you are the best thing ever happened to me" in the (now) background.  how sweet.  she said yes, and so they stood and he spun her.  it took me that long to frantically grab my camera.  i really have no business taking a picture of this couple, but hey, they don't seem to be incredibly private.  and, the first proposal i've witnessed second-hand, it seemed really beautiful and i wanted to preserve the moment.  i'm a romantic like that.

they also embraced.  aw.  and then she flashed her ring toward us onlookers.  i'm sure it was gorgeous.

hey, we're in love, too!

okay, next up:  david gray.  i didn't know much about him.  basically iTunes has told me everything i need to know, song after song (he's quite talented and sings song after song that i want to sing along to, even though he's not really my ideal vocal match), and Brian told me he's British.  that's always important to point out.  anyway, i learned a bit about who david gray is that evening. that's part of the charm of concert (particularly small venue concert).  and i like that.

some perspective

and a few weeks later, dave matthews band.  one of the 3 "must see" rock bands on our concert wish-list.  coldplay, check.  dave matthews, check.  U2, maybe someday.

my sister introduced me to dave matthews.  i don't know that she still really enjoys him today, but i'm glad she bought his cd back in ... er, 95?  because we could listen to it at max volume while fixing our hair in the morning before school, and i could develop an appreciation, and i could share that appreciation with a man i fell in love with, who whisked me off to charlottesville, virginia, which incidentally is the home of dave matthews {and birthplace of Carter Beauford...see below}.  and then, in one of those "God is kind" moments, dave and i drove side-by-side on Emmett Street one summer day in c-ville.  we looked at each other for a moment, because i wanted to be sure it was him (it was, as supported by a friend of a friend who was a police officer and confirmed that he does (did?) indeed drive a red outback) and he probably wanted to be sure i wasn't going to run into him.  and i didn't.

in related news, cary and i sort of kind of tried to spy, a little, on john grisham.  that's a story for another day.

so the thing about dave matthews band is that if you listen to his music, you know that he's.. well, a musician.  he loves instruments and extended solos and ensembles featuring those instruments, letting his voice take the back seat.  listening to his CD, this is enjoyable.  seeing him perform before you, this is fascinating.  there's just something about seeing a musician do his craft, isn't there?  god has gifted many with such incredible talents.  i am always fascinated and impressed.  and won't heaven be grand, with thousands upon thousands boldly singing in worship to the Lord?! *wow*

a shot of guitar, vocals, drums

okay, and i don't know names, but i looked his up for your benefit.  boyd tinsley on the fiddle = a.mazing.

and just to be fair, Carter Beauford is the drummer above.  I don't know the names of the guys on the guitars either, but I'm in a hurry and they didn't wow me quite the same.  :)   

thanks to my love for taking me on some fun concert dates this summer.  :)  i love you!

chit chat

libby:  daddy, do grandmas just go on forever?
daddy:  what do you mean?
libby:  well, i was just thinking, i have two grandmas, and mommy has grandmas, and grandmas have grandmas, and it just seems like grandmas go on forever.
daddy:  yep, all the way back to adam and eve!

xander:  how did i come out of your belly?
mommy:  stammering something about God's timing, xander all grown and formed and ready
xander:  no, but i mean, HOW did i get out of your belly??
mommy:  diverts with lots of details about going to the hospital, walking around, waiting until it was time, doctor helping, etc. 
xander:  appeased. 
mommy:  relieved.  changing subject.


days later...
xander:  how did God give you to me?
mommy:  well, when God decided it was time, he blessed us by putting you in my belly.
xander:  no, but i mean, HOW did God put me IN your belly?
mommy:  wellllllllll, it was something very special with mommy and daddy and a blessing from God, where you were tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny tiny and he formed you in my belly and you grew and grew and grew until it was time for you to be born.
xander:  appeased.
mommy:  relieved.  


i love this stage of life.  despite my struggling and floundering around like a clueless fool.  :)  i do hope to grow to eventually do less of that.

last days

a few more photos.... i think i have some on my camera that i need to upload, but i'm too lazy to take care of that right now.  so here are the last ones from our time in florida - aside from the last last ones on my camera. :)

beautiful family!

okay, we did this one outside at sunset about 1 minute after it stopped raining, so the colors are a little ... golden, but they still look cute.  :)

p loves to swim.  and that's final.

and i'm so disgusted with myself.  because see her (new) little floatie?  yeah.  well those things are a dream come true, and i totally and completely forgot that we have one in the garage from when xander was her age.  why didn't i use it all summer with her?  because i forgot about it.  when we were at walmart i discovered that they were giving these away (in exchange for about $4) so i snagged one, which made our evening swims all the more enjoyable.  p looooved her little rides.  and i think her grin is because she's going fast and she's skinny dipping.  :o

brown eyed flower headed girl.

day five - barefoot beach

day five

so, we went to the beach this morning.  it was, naturally, bentley's first time.  brett asked me to help photograph bentley for her birth announcement, and when i asked her if there was somewhere special that she'd like to have pictures taken, she didn't hesitate to mention the beach.  shaun's first loves include his girls and the beach, and it was natural to spend a morning hour there snapping pictures of cutie patootie.

step 1.  pat pat pat, go to sleep.

step 2.  snap snap snap!  shaun was good to run around taking pictures from a little further back.  i hogged the front-and-center position.  =/   but being not front and center, he got some really good pics of the whole scene.  

sometimes a girl needs to get a little sun. 

okay, no freaking out, we know this girl doesn't need sun.  :)  for you with concern, let me assure you that we shaded and covered that precious baby skin much of the time, but the Lord was also exceedingly kind to us in providing the cloud cover.  aren't they gorgeous as an added benefit?!

after taking photos of my precious niece in a breathtaking scene, i had hoped to take a few beauties of my little love bug.  ya know, she doesn't lay perfectly still...  and that's okay.  :)

down to the water for some splishy splashy

P, btw, was a gem during the photo shoot.  she chilled with aunt brett while shaun and i held blankets for shade, snapped pictures frantically when the sun went behind the clouds, repositioned bentley and the props, and did ya know, the stuff we needed to do.  brett and phoebe were perfectly patient.  thanks, girls.  :)

day four

::  hello again from fLoRiDa  ::

ready for the day's report?  well here ya go!  Day 4, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...

but first, a flashback to day 3.  Brett gave me this pic of the girls and I like it.  Phoebe checking Bentley makes me grin.  And she loves loves loves her new rice krispie treats.  Don't worry, they're organic. 

Now, back to the day at hand.  Saturday!  And Saturday was Husker game day, so naturally Phoebe dressed for the occasion.  Sadly, Bentley doesn't own Husker game day attire.  We shall have to remedy that, then.

e-gad, she is a cutie.

okay, so after parading around in her little cheerleader outfit, we ... shopped.  If there is something Bentley needs to know about her mama, auntie, and grandma, it's that we girls can shop with the best of them.  Yesterday was Bentley's first little shopping trip and that girl rocked it.  She was a picture of perfect behavior.  Phoebe, the same.  The girls know how to love us well.  See how they even power napped between our first and second stops?  Gems.

Okay, above.  So that picture is gray and cloudy, and that's because when we came outside and saw ducks behind Saks 5th Ave we I thought it curious and took a picture.  My camera lens fogged over from the heat/humidity.  Once you get past that, you notice the ducks.  And see clear in the back by the building?  They're caged.  Now why, we must ask, are their caged and loose ducks in the parking lot of an outlet mall on the back side of Saks?  That, my friends, I do not know.

Back at the ranch, Bentley and I delighted in our daily dose of snuggle time.  She's a dream.  Look at those little hands up by her cheeks.  I love a baby who knows how to sleep cute.