Double Digits
Welcome to double digits Josh. Let’s see how you got here…
You were so anxious to join us that you got here 2 weeks early
You were so busy talking that you waited until you were 15 months to begin walking
Disney at almost 2
You’ve always been a ham
You are always smiling
You went to Preschool
And kindergarten
You are a water baby and have already learned to snorkel
Skiing has become one of your passions
and so is traveling
You have even learned to surf.
Whatever your hopes and dreams we know you will get there! Happy Birthday dude!!
Living the Dream – Josh Style
I am not sure there is anything more exciting for a singing dancing 9 year old, then having the chance to go to New York City to see a Broadway Show
and then coming home and dancing the title song in your own dance recital
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Merry Christmas Everyone
Josh says it better than I could, so Merry Christmas to you and your family…
Raising a Broadway Boy
I am not sure how, here in the middle of a cornfield, I ended up raising a Broadway boy. I have a feeling it has mostly to do with 2 sweet little old ladies who are no longer with us. This is Grammy. 
One of Josh’s great grandmother’s on his father’s side. She was a singer and a piano player. After she began suffering from dementia, she could still sit at the piano and sing and play from memory. This is V.
She is Josh’s great grandmother on my side and she loved to go to shows. All kinds of shows and knew all the words to all the songs. So here we are far away from the lights of Broadway, with a boy who loves nothing more than to get up on stage and sing and dance. Good thing we are blessed with a dance studio and a teacher who knows how to nurture boys(Center Stage Perfroming Arts Academy), and a local theater (Center for Living Arts)that puts on amazing shows with casts of kids from the area, and finally with a boys choir (The Moline Boys Choir) that teaches fundamentals and discipline. So he sings, and he dances and he performs every chance he gets. And when we need to feed his soul? We went to New York
and saw the big guys do it for real.
Anything Goes
Wicked
The Lion King
Spiderman Turn Off the Dark. He had a blast and is already compiling his show wish list for the next trip. I’m just glad I have at least 1 kid who enjoys the theater.
May I introduce my 3 sons…
… Spooky, Creepy and Too Darn Old?
Gone are the days of cute costumes,
fun costumes,
superheroes,
character costumes,
and costumes based on Buzz Lightyear.
Instead may I present Spooky
Creepy
and too old for trick or treat…
He’s Been Singing as Long as He’s Been Talking
Josh rarely talks around the house. That’s not to say he’s quiet. So as soon as he was old enough, we let him audition for The Moline Boys Choir – and he loves it.Loves singing, loves the performances but most of all he loves when he has a solo. Here is the processional from the second half of their show this weekend.
Reading and our boys
I love to read and frequently read 2-3 books a week. For a book I have been waiting to be released I will frequently read all night to finish it in one sitting. So miracle of all miracles I married a non reader. I can probably list for you from memory the books Matt has read in all of the years we’ve been married. He is many things, but a reader is not one of them. And we are raising 3 non readers. They all can read, they all read well. But over the years we have tried many things, prizes when they were little, money when they were older, requirements and threats. But they only read fiction when it is assigned for school (books like 1001 gross facts or how to dominate the world are another story altogether). And even then trying to get them to finish the fiction can be a chore. But recently we have come across a solution they seem to like. Boy + LED book light plus 100 degree hot tub = as much as 100 pages a night.
I’ll take it (and for my photography friends – this shot is both SOOC and shot without a flash)
and Don’t Forget to tip your Waitstaff
Being the mother of a performing arts kid – not easy. They talk and sing and dance constantly. They are always playing for the laugh even when you are trying to have a serious conversation, and the parent teacher conferences? Oh can I tell you about the parent teacher conferences? But when your performing arts kid goes on a trip without you? You get a running color commentary that makes you spit out your water at your desk.
For example 30 minutes after pulling out of the parking lot in his bus I got.
‘Almost to a resting stop’
Why do I suddenly have visions of Forest Lawn and final resting places.
Next I got
‘At mc donalds. Yum!!!!’
What can I say? – he likes his exclamation points!!!!
That theme continued with their arrival in St. Louis.
‘Im there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Thats 46 exclamation points but who’s counting. Dinner was next and apparently Josh feels that with all of his hours watching the food nextwork, he is quite the gourmet because this was his review of dinner
‘Just had a cheap italin dinner.’
Second part of the text
‘And got a (bad) photo of the arch while driving about two miles from it on camera’
Reminded me of this
He has a friend with him and he is sharing his phone with his friend allowing his friend to call/text his folks. When I reminded Josh to offer the phone and he told me his friend had already used it several times I sent Josh this text : ’Great Thanks for sharing with him. You are a great friend!’ and what I got back? ’(blushes)’ Blushes? I know, right?
Day 2 they actually went to the Arch and had the opportunity to take the tram to the top. His excitement was clear. ‘Im on the arch!!!!!!!!!!’ Then I had an alert that I had received a picture. I was kind of excited about a picture of the cool view from the top. Um no – not so much.
I’m considering having it printed on canvas.
He told me he would send a pic in the tram on the way down. Several minuted later I got this (Ansel Adams watch out)
Followed by this text
‘I had no service in the washing machine they call an elevator’
So last night they went to the MUNY production of The Little Mermaid. Asked Josh how it was this morning and got this summary.
‘Awesome.com’
What can I say?
Tap Dogs
Here are the boys doing their thing
Hip Hop at Last
Josh finally got to take a hip hop class this spring at his dance studio. To hear him tell it he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment. Here is the video. Its smoothest if you start it then pause it and let the whole thing load then start it and watch it.
Momma’s Boys
I am the momma of boys. Dirty rough and tumble boys. They don’t wear pink, they never liked dolls. They love mud and dirt and adventure and being scared. But in today’s world and in today’s classrooms, there isn’t a lot of room for old fashioned boys. Everyone is afraid of violence and bullying, and while I am against those things, sometimes my boys need to just be boys. They need to battle and fight an dominate and run a scream. It can be tough to find just the right environement for that to happen but amazingly enough; here where we live, it exists.
Belagarth is an organization of young people who reenact different battle types from Medieval times with foam covered weapons. Some are fancy – some are plain.
Don’t have one? They will rent you one for a dollar. They play outside in parks. They pick teams. And then they fight. TO THE DEATH – How do you kn ow someone is dead? Their sword is on top of their head.
And its on the honor system – you have to be truthful – If you get hit – you die – no fussing. What more could a boy ask for on a warm sunny spring afternoon.
Picture of the Vacation
This is my favorite picture of the whole vacation
There are rules and then there are rules…
We all know it is almost impossible for me to break the rules. Can’t do it – no way no how. But some rules are made to be broken. Like the rule that says no jumping off of Hanalei Pier. After all there is even an article in this month’s go!Mokulele airline magazine that lists jumping off the pier as a Hawaiian Vacation Must Do. So when you get to the pier and there is a sign that says absolutely no jumping – you know they don’t really mean it.
It’s just one of those cover their butts kind of things. And when their is a little hawaiian kid there to tell you how its done – you know it – you are supposed to jump. Scroll down for some of the worst vacation pictures we took, but they show that they got to do it…
