Sunday, February 24, 2008

Starstruck!!!

Cathy and Todd


Last night we went to see our F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E group of all time. Selah ...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, they are ahhh- mazing. They are our all time favorite-take your breath away-incredible,-send chills up your spine Christian singers. They are truly amazing. The group consists of 3 singers, Todd Smith, Amy Perry, and Allan Hall. When Brian and I were first introduced to them, in 2003, it was right after we had lost our 2nd baby, Keelan Lark, and I was desperate to find some peace in the wake of what I thought was the worst thing to ever happen to me in my life. I looked up my favorite hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" online, and found a version sung by this group I had never heard of, and when I first listened to it, I sobbed and clung to the haunting vocals of these 3, and let the grace and peace of the lyrics just wash over me. Brian and I were just taken completely with the vocals on the song, and immediately ordered every CD of theirs we could get ahold of. When they arrived we listened to each one and just fell in love with the music of this amazing and talented group of musicians. At the time, Todd's sister, Nicole was a part of the group, but has since gotten married and left Selah (how dare she! *wink*) thus paving the way for Amy to join.

We have seen Selah in concert twice now, and last night was one of those times... OH. MY. GOODNESS. We went with our great friends Tracy and Don Weiss and their daughter, Lauren, to the concert. We had a BLAST. Yes, that was us, sitting in the front row, and yes, that was me waving frantically to Todd every time he came over to our side of the stage. *insert red face icon here* What a huge huge blessing to be a part of this night. We were thrilled to listen and to be surrounded by and to let this God filled music wash over us... and you can bet we sang along! Erm, well... whatever you want to call it. ;) We had fun anyway!



OK, to be fair, that photo up top is -- ahem-- edited, and it wasn't just the two of us (although in our hearts it was, right Todd????)


Here are the rest of the photos ;) Enjoy!

From left to right : Allan Hall, Lauren (my friend Tracy's awesome daughter, whom I not so graciously pushed out of the way so I could stand next to Todd and Amy.. ahem --love you, Laur!), my fabulous friend Tracy, Amy Perry, me, and my new boyfriend Todd, errr, I mean, Todd Smith of Selah (whom is happily married to Angie, of course) ;)

Photobucket

Here I am, unashamedly gushing over them. Think they've alerted security quite yet?

Me gushing over Selah *blush*



Thursday, February 07, 2008

Time for a fun Question Meme Again!! :)

Love these, girls!

1. What is your occupation? At the moment, I am a stay at home mommy to Katie Grace and Jonathan David. I used to be a teacher, however.

2. What color are your socks right now? No socks, but red slippers to match my red jammies.

3. What are you listening to right now? the hum of the computer.. both kids sleeping and Brian is at school tonight :)

4. What was the last thing you ate? I made an egg strada thing for dinner.


5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes, I can! Learned in the driveway with my Dad. :)


6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I think I'd be a glittery color like silver or gold. I like shiny things! :)


7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my sister Becky


8. How old are you today? I am *gasp* 37


9. Favorite drink? Coffee, followed closely by iced tea and water :)

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? ice skating

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Ahem. No! I naturally have the perfect dark blonde hair with these gorgeous highlights without any help at all! *cough*


12. Favorite reality TV show? American Idol


13. What was the last movie you watched? High School Musical 2 (so cute!)


14. Favorite day of the year? Christmas Eve

15. What do you do to vent anger? Definitely need to talk it out to a close friend, sometimes (ok, mostly) have a little cry while doing so. Always feels tons better after that and not angry anymore.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My purple Donny and Marie guitar!!!!!!

17. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Fall!! Christmas is coming soon that means!

18. Hugs or kisses? Absolutely hugs.


19. Cherries or blueberries? Cherries for me

20. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes! (but i'm not always the best at emailing back... I kinda sucketh, so... ) eep.


21. Favorite dessert? Homemade brownies, YUMMY

22. Living arrangement? With my husband, my 2 kids, one cat, and several fish.

23. When was the last time you cried? Erm, tonight.


24. What is on the floor of your closet? oh my. shoes, pillows, dustbunnies, gift bags, more dustbunnies (they need friends!)

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are going to tag? Carrie Beth ;) But I'm also tagging Karianne :)

26. What did you do last night? Went to my parents for dinner, watched American Idol.

27. Favorite smells? freshly bathed baby! dinner cooking! Candles burning..freshly laundered sheets... I can go on and on.. I'm very connected to my olfactory system, LOL!

28. What inspires you? men and women who walk closely with Jesus and keep their eyes on Him no matter the cost.

29. What are you afraid of? Losing my loved ones...

30. Plain, cheese, or spicy burgers? Plain, but with other stuff on there (mushrooms, avocado, YUM)

31. Favorite breed of dog? Collie.

32. How many years at your current job? 7 years and 4 mos.

33. Favorite day of the week? At the moment I think I love Mondays.. time to regroup again and it's quiet!! :)

34. How many states have you lived in? Just one, New York :)


35. Celebrity crush? I think deep down it's Simon from American Idol. I love that bossyness a little. (i'm embarrassed for admitting that here)

36. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Ahh, no.

37. Who is your favorite NFL team? The Bills!


38. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? Yes, I have one in the kitchen -- just in case.

39. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? 10 inches of snow.. hands down! I'm a Buffalo gal! 10 inches? Pshhaw! That's nothin!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Jonathan and Katie stories....


These 2 are funny...well, at least I think they're funny! And I'm enjoying so much being the one God chose to be their Mom... I'm praising Him that He thought me worthy enough to be theirs!! Thank you, Jesus!! You are amazing!




This will be a bit of a brag post if you can stand it. I'm bursting with love for my babies right now, so this will be all about them. *smile*




Jonathan is 7 and is usually happy and joyful... I say usually because he caught the "complainy-Janey" bug from his little sister, but he's got such a great sense of humor, that we can usually make him laugh and his complaints go away.... USUALLY ;)




His latest adventures include settting up "battlefields" in the living room made up of Lego guys, army guys, little Star Wars action figures, and whatever else he can use that will become a "good guy" or "bad guy"... he has and always has had a very active imagination, and sometimes needs a bit of help keeping focused on the tasks at hand... ahem. But for the most part does really well... needs a bit of prompting when it's time to clean up his toys/books/crafts/or whatever needs tidying, but will eventually do it. He also loves to draw out the battle on paper before it's taken place "in real life"... he's very meticulous about his drawing. Academically, he's doing great, too.. just made high honor roll again, and we're very happy with that, although he did tell me this morning that he'd much rather school was only "5 minutes long, Mom.. That makes so much more sense to me!" haha... Still a boy, and still, very much Jonathan. We love him so much.




Now, Katie Grace. Her vocabulary is astounding to us.. not that I really have anyone to compare her with... I'm just so thrilled that I can talk to her and actually communicate!!! Umm.. Aunt Becky, can, too, and so can Nanny, but Daddy? Not so much. She asked him for her music the other night at bedtime...I could hear them talking over the monitor...it went something like this...


Katie: "Daddy, sucis?"


Brian: "Ehh, circus?"


Katie: "ehh?"


Me, from downstairs, yelling: "Music! She's asking for her music!"


Brian: "ohhh you want your music, Baby?"


Katie: "Yes! Sucis, Daddy!! YES!"




So, lol.. not really a fair example to Daddy, because most words she does say pretty clearly, but that was too funny not to put in here...




Another example of my bright and beautiful one:




As we both peer into the pantry (hey, I was having a hungry day! And Katie loves looking into the pantry, it's one of her favorite places!)


"Mommy, I eat kocklat?"


"Mommy doesn't have any chocolate, sweetie" (with a big sigh, because secretly, that's what i was hoping for)


"Yes, Mommy, ight der! a-hind the ceree-o"


She could see a chocolate chip on the granola bar box, and it was peeking right behind the Cheerios! so guess what she got as a snack? Mmhmm... I couldn't help it, after finding that little bit of kocklat in the pantry, we both sat down and shared a chocolate chip granola bar!! :)




Also, she has informed me that her favorite color at the moment is "purpo"... and her favorite, favorite person in the whole wide world is still "Guy" aka Jonathan David Prell, her big bruvvo. She loves him more then anyone or anything else in her whole life (including me I think) and is overjoyed when she sees the school bus come and drop him off in the afternoons. Her first questions in the morning... "Is Guy donsteers? Is Guy a'skoo?"




The biggest news for Katie Grace is that I have registered her for 3 year old preschool in the fall... That doesn't mean she's going, by the way. I just had to reserve a spot, so I had to put down a deposit. I am not sure she will benefit anymore from going to the preschool then she will benefit from spending those 2 mornings with her Nanny and her Papa which she does right now, and I'm telling you what, she learns a whole bunch of stuff from the time she spends with them, not to mention that time is priceless she gets with my parents. But, because Brian and I were undecided, and we needed to save a spot, we put down the $50 and have registered her for Tuesday and Thursday mornings for September... Like I said, I'm not sure I'm ready for my last baby to be in school just yet. We shall see. :)




I think that's about it for updates from us.. I don't really have many photos to share, I might have one or two of them ... they love each other and are precious an amazing to us.. we are blessed more then we could ever ask or imagine with these two!!! God is amazing!