american idol tour 09 (WOO.HOO!!)

there is still a lot to catch up on that i've not blogged these past few months but i guess the best method is to just jump right back in. i'm still going to try to fill in the "missing months" but i need to concentrate on the now. =) "now", we're on vacation, which we started out with a trip to greensboro to see the american idol concert tour. we're all AI junkies but have never been to one of the tour shows. this year's top 10 was really the best ever, so we decided to splurge. we were headed south anyway and the date worked, so greensboro it was. and that involved staying in a hotel overnight, which is always a hit with the boys (and their mom) because for some reason we just love doing that. one of our favorite things but so rare. we had a GREAT time at the concert. i'm not sure who i expected to attend but it seemed kind of like a family affair. lots of families with young kids, lots of "elderly" as luke calls anyone over my age. =) better atmosphere for my kids than i thought might be and i'm grateful for that. soon as we sat down the guy (i think he was a guy) behind me said "who's ya'll's favorite???" he was an adam fan. the people who came in and sat next to me ended up chitty chatting with me (i can seriously talk to anyone) throughout the concert and passing their binoculars my way in case i needed a better view. we had good seats, really, even though we were in the back. corner/first row of lower level so no big noggins to block my view of danny, kris or matt! it was a 3 hour show and we loved every moment, except for lil and megan. yikes. they're just lucky to be there. after the concert we went to steak 'n shake for some burgers. it was late but we hadn't eaten since about 1:00ish. it was fun and took care of our bellies so then it was off to the hotel and dreamland. next morning was actually relaxing - we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get going so we got to be lazy and sleep. greg made a coffee run so i ended up needing to be awake to drink my starbucks. such a sacrifice, right? i did discover that the hotel pillows are huge enough that it was possible to sip from a horizontal position.

sarah beth turns 30

a great part of our april was celebrating sarah beth's 30th birthday. it was a big surprise. kate and s.b.'s friend julie (and others i'm sure) worked hard to pull it off. on that day, some out of town friends took her to a movie and kept her out of the house. i believe that sarah beth was told she needed to be home for a family dinner later in the day. she was utterly and completely surprised, and overwhelmed with joy. chokes me up just thinking about her that day. she was surrounded by wall-to-wall people who love her. her doctors couldn't have prescribed a more perfect medicine.

a little of april

lots happened in april. and may. and june. and so far in july....the dreaded slide show is the only way to go. otherwise, i'll never get back to my normal late blogging. it's been suggested that i forget the months i've missed and just pick up with today. i can't bring myself to do that. it'll take me a bit, but i'm going to have it all documented somehow. here's some of april!

HA!

the previous post says "may 2", but that's because that's when i saved it as a draft during my first attempt at catching up. i posted it today, july 4!

madness! madness i say! i am beyond behind...

just to catch up a little...lets start with march.

there was a seagull in the starbucks drive thru one morning when kathy and i were there. pretty odd to see. and no idea what he was nibbing on, really. kathy was convinced she could go pet him. she couldn't. i'm sure i'm not allowed to post that picture so i won't even try.









blake and luke were in all-county choir. i think this was our last "all-something" event for this school year.









troop 59's annual mulch madness went well. blake and luke got to skip school friday and help out because they had a youth retreat friday evening through sunday and couldn't help out on saturday. messy work but they all seem to enjoy it.









blake and luke, along with the rest of our youth praise band, led worship ata youth retreat. i went to pick them up on sunday and made it in time for worship that morning. WOW. they did an awesome job. and they got a lot of encouragement from people there that weekend, which was so great for them. they just get better and better all the time.












blake got his very first "real" job, besides mowing grass...he's working at chick-fil-a. part of the deal was he had to get a haircut. he had been thinking about doing that anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal for him. he loves it, we love it. and i can see his eyes. =)

more beth moore

a slideshow was adding to the LPM site after i posted earlier with pics from the conference. thought i'd share it. i got a little surprise toward the end when i saw myself signing one of the pink boxing gloves...blake said "but momma they don't show your face!"...i told him that's totally ok with me. =) proof i was really there right?


LPL Minsters' Wives Nashville TN from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

a little taste of "my" beth moore conference =)

in preparation for the ministers' wives conference in nashville, beth moore posted an entry on the LPM blog asking for comments from ministers' wives - to complete a sentence that went something like, "as you prepare to minister to ministers' wives we think you should know that...". she made it clear that only ministers' wives were to answer, and that all should be anonymous. and the comments were hidden, so that no one had access. at the conference she said that she'd received about 350 or so responses to her post. before each session, they rolled a few on the powerpoint for us all to read. some were sad. some were really funny. what i found interesting was that as we were silent and read each one as it went past, the audible reaction from everyone in that massive room (around 1500 in attendance) was the same. the feeling that comes over you when you realize you are not alone...that there are at least 1499 other women living a life quite similar to your own...that other women have some of the very same thoughts you have...that they get it...overwhelming. what we read is in her blog entry for today - it's called "the life of a minister's wife".