Jonacio el Magnifico

This is Jonas' stage name when he does magic. Have I mentioned it is his passion? Probably not, as I've hoped it would fade away. But I think it is time I acknowledge that he loves magic and practices all. the. time.

Which I've heard is key to becoming a good magician. Those illusions and tricks and slight of hand have a whole lot to do with timing, and that comes with time and practice. There was a magician on the cruise ship in January, and after his show we asked him a few questions. When I told him my son wanted to be a magician, he said "Tell him to spend hours in front of the mirror, perfecting."

While this is not the hobby I would have chosen for my son (I don't have anything AGAINST it, but would have preferred the piano, or baseball, or reading), I have done what I can to encourage him. Gifts I have given him have included books on illusions and a magic cape. And I try really really hard NOT to let on that I know the secret behind the trick when he shows me a new one.

As I said in my last post, he tried out for the Mesquite Children's Chorus. We found out Tuesday that he did not make the final cut. But he also found out on Tuesday that he did make the talent show at school, in which he will do...a magic show. I heard the slightest bit of disappointment in his voice when he told me about the chorus, but it was immediately covered with pure joy at telling me about the talent show. I am very happy that he is very happy!

And last week, Jonas told me that he had been thinking about how he could use his love of magic in the real world. See, while I try to encourage his passion, I also inherited enough realism from my mom to back it up with "Don't expect magic to pay the bills. Enjoy it as a hobby, but have a backup plan". Jonas proceeded to tell me that he thinks he could use his illusions to help tell people about God and Jesus.

"Go on," I said. I was intrigued.

"Like the flood and Noah," he explained. "I could do an illusion where I poor a bunch of water in a cup or bowl, and then have a dove appear, after I pause awhile to tell the story, and then show the audience that the water is gone! Or, I could create a prop that looks like a tomb, and put a boy-doll in it, then make it disappear after I count to three, like Jesus did."

Don't know about you, but I think his plan is excellent. Again, it may not pay the bills, but it will help him share his love of magic and of God. Which, in light of eternity, is much more important. :)

A singer in my house?

I can't carry a note in a bucket. There. It's out. I am not ashamed to admit that I am not a singer. I LOVE to sing, especially in church to a great worship song, but that doesn't mean I do so well.

One of my favorite stories of irony took place my senior year of high school. I graduated #12, and the top 10 students were able to pick what they wanted to do in the ceremony. For example, #1 picked the invocation, and #2 picked the prayer, etc. The choices were whittled down until all that was left was singing the Alma mater. #10 decided he would rather not participate at all then sing. #11 chose the same. So it came to me. My best friends were in the room with me, and there was an audible groan. But I couldn't let a small thing like a lack of talent stop me, so I said yes!!

I practiced for over a month with the band director. I was determined to not embarrass myself. The night arrived, my turn was up, and I stood up to the microphone. And I asked my entire class to join me as we sang the Alma mater, and stepped away from the microphone. I was very proud of my "work around"!

To sum things up, I can't sing.

So imagine my surprise when my children started exhibiting signs of singing aptitude. Carleigh (whose name loosely means "little song") has always enjoyed singing and I think she sounds wonderful! She led a song all by herself at her Kindergarten end of year ceremony (I refuse to call it a graduation- but that is another post) and impressed us all. Jonas has had lead singing roles in all of his school programs, sang in Alice in Wonderland, Jr., and then sang AND danced while playing Prince Charming in Cinderella. His choir teacher at his last school told me he had a great voice with real potential, and I was shocked.

And now, to top it all off, he has made it to the final audition for the Mesquite Children's Chorus- a select group of 4th and 5th graders from Mesquite schools who form 3 choruses- a boys, a girls, and a co-ed. 400 have tried out- 200 will make it.

Even during the audition process (there were 4 weeks between the first and second rounds in which the kids rehearsed weekly) he has already learned official singing things, like breathing techniques and a little harmony. It's very exciting, and I am encouraged by the amount of time Mesquite schools are investing in the arts. They may beat us over the head with TAKS propaganda (again, another story for another post), but seem to also make music a priority, too.

Jonas should know the results of his audition at the end of this week. Stay tuned...you could all be witnessing the making of a STAR! or just a really good church choir member.

Jonas turns 9, and other evidence that I am getting old

There will always be moments in a generation that cause us to look at one another and ask "Where were you when...". My parents had the first moon landing, JFK's assassination, and maybe Pearl Harbor. I say maybe to December 7, 1941, because my parents were very young then. My generation has, so far, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, Michael Jackson's death, and 9/11.

I personally like my 9/11 story best of all, because it resulted in my son's arrival. And every year, millions of people are reminded of the horrors that happened that day. I'm lucky enough to tell a whole lot of them that some good came of that day too, and introduce them to Jonas. He's a sweet hearted boy, who is smart and funny. He also is about the most hard-headed stubborn kid I've ever known! We've had several run ins as he's gotten older, because guess what? I'm stubborn and hard-headed, too. I love that boy. But watching him grow reminds me that I'm getting older, too.

Then last night, some cast mates and I went out to have a drink after practice. I think those of us with acting in our blood are goofier than the normal person, but it sure makes for a fun night out! The "wow, I'm old" moments of the night were thus: the waiter asked for my ID, but then said he was just kidding. Ouch. Then, we decided to leave because the music was too loud. What?? Seriously, it was depressing. The final blow came when, after a few shots of very good tequila, the lawyer in the group started telling us how to best avoid a DWI conviction. That simply is NOT a conversation we would have had 15 years ago. We thought we were invincible back then, and never would have thought past the drink in our hand.

But I'm not sad or discouraged. Growing older just means we're getting more right than wrong. I'll take that! And then I'll go play putt putt golf tonight with my son to celebrate his 9th birthday!

Funnies from my kids

The kids are spending 20 days with my parents this summer. They left on Father's Day and will be back on 7/10. It's been a surreal time away from them. Craig and I have both gotten a lot done in their absence, but goodness we miss them.
My mom had a funny story to tell on the kids the other day. My parents live by a body of water and the kids have spent countless hours swimming, jumping, diving, etc. in that water. Needless to say, they have turned very brown, and very blond. Well, my mom is not a fan of white pasty skin, and told me should couldn't handle Carleigh's white tummy and back anymore. You see, we've only let Carleigh wear one piece bathing suits. I personally am scared to death of the signalization of girls at younger and younger ages, and I plan to do what little bit I can while I can to guard Carleigh from this. So- bikinis are not an option. My mom would argue that I have never been comfortable in a bikini so I've projected this on to my daughter, which may hold a small grain of truth, but it doesn't matter. I want my little girl to be a little girl for a lot longer, and I don't think bikinis contribute to that.
Apparently, my mother and I had never had this conversation, because she took Carleigh to the store to buy her a new bikini. At first, Carleigh scanned the choices and was deep in thought. She commented on how pretty some of them were, but then she stopped. She told Pepe, "I can't get one of these. I don't have boobs yet."
Let me tell you that I have NO idea where Carleigh got this idea. But it's funny anyway!
Then Jonas sees Pepe is going to check out and buy the bikini they have picked. He immediately asks, "Pepe, did you call my daddy and ask him if that is okay? He doesn't want Carleigh to have one of those."
I can tell you that we have NEVER had the "no bikini" conversation with Jonas. Why would we? But apparently he is more observant than we give him credit for, because he made the connection. And he stood up for what he believed to be right. I am so proud of him for trying to protect his little sister, and for speaking up.
Can't wait to get them back next week. I miss the little punks.

Jonas swims

Jonas joined the YMCA swim team on Wednesday. Today was his first swim meet, and he raced the 25 freestyle. He did an awesome job, and came in either 2nd or 3rd. We left as soon as his race was done, as they don't hand out ribbons for these meets. We'll find out his time at the next practice, and then his goal will be to beat that time. He's such a good competitor- I'm very proud of him! He's always been great in the water, so I think this sport might be a great fit for him.

Wonderful time away!

Our trip to the beach to celebrate our 10th anniversary was wonderful! Here are some pics to mark the occasion...

Me at Wahoo's- my favorite place.
And this is our view from our condo.


Craig and me on the beach- awwww. And the entire result of 10 years together!

Different personalities

We've decided that Carleigh is an instigator. We had game night a while back and we were playing Sequence for Kids. Instead of using playing cards, they use cards with animals to match the animals on the board. The goal is to get 4 in a row. Carleigh figured out within a few turns that she had more fun keeping Jonas from getting his 4 in a row than she did trying to find her own pattern on the board. Jonas would get so excited because he would see the chance to win in his next turn, only to have Carleigh see it too, and happily crush his idea by placing her own chip down first. Poor Jonas was miserable, while Carleigh was having a great time!

Another example, we like Taco Cabana. At some point we starting calling it Taco Banana to be funny. So that is what Carleigh calls it all the time. She would probably stop doing so, except it makes Jonas crazy. Without fail, she'll say "Banana" and he'll try to correct her with "It's Cabana, Carleigh". She just smiles and says Banana again. Jonas about looses his mind after 5 of these back and forth exchanges. He can't help that he is such a rule follower. He'll even spell it for her, as though that will make a difference. She knows exactly what she is doing, and keeps it up.

Final example- Jonas was in a cranky mood Saturday night after a long day, and was mad because we had told him Mother's Day was all about me. He was getting all upset about that, so Craig and I simply chuckled and wrote it off as exhaustion talking. He says "You need to stop laughing at me! That's rude!". Carleigh, in a complete dead pan voice, says "They aren't laughing. Laughing sounds like this-" and proceeds to break out in to a peal of laughter. Craig and I couldn't help ourselves- we busted out laughing, too.

Poor Jonas- he's going to have to learn soon how to ignore his little sister, or he's in for a lifetime of misery. He's her favorite target.

Random thoughts

Carleigh announced a few days ago that she wants to be a fire-fighter, a ballerina, and a drummer.
Jonas wants to be a police office and a drummer. As a mom who was a drummer in high school, I'm not sure why I'm not more proud!
Jonas had field day yesterday and brought home a first place ribbon, two second place ribbons, and a participant ribbon. I have no idea what the ribbons are for, as he described races like the hippity hop, the tire jump, and the baton race. What ever happened to the 50 yard dash? Regardless, I am happy for him!
Carleigh sprinted home in front of me from the bus stop this morning, and announced that she's fast because her Croc's are fast. I'll let her believe that.
Craig continues to work hard to impress his boss and build the business. This weekend will be long for him, as he will work his normal 7-6:30 today, then go set up a spinal screening booth at a concert in the park in Pearland. He did these last year and they were effective. But we also know from last year that he won't be home until after 10:30. Then tomorrow starts at 6:30 at the Pear Run- a 5k fun run in Pearland. He'll rush from that over to an elementary school where he will set up a spinal screening booth at their end-of-year carnival. He'll go to the office in time to see patients from 9-12:30, and then go back to the carnival to work until 4:00. It normally isn't this jam-packed, but his co-worker, Dr. Davis, has to go to a funeral tomorrow morning and will not be able to help with any of that stuff. Then Sunday our church has a Mother's Day picnic planned at the park, which will end with the moms leaving and the dads handling the kids. I feel like I should switch the roles this Sunday and let him have some time off. He's worked much harder than me this week!
Weight loss- I lost 2.5 pounds last week! This week has been harder. I want to reach my goal so badly, but I'm beginning to think it won't happen by the 29th.

Newsboys pics

As promised- here we are (Carleigh is in my arms and hiding her face) with the band. Jeff, Peter, Duncan and Paul. ( You can click on these to see them bigger)Jonas shows off his backstage pass.

A great shot of the band on stage.

Weight loss update

I haven't mentioned my weight-loss endeavor recently, but I certainly haven't abandoned it. I have managed to lose .5 pounds each week for the past two. How frustrating! Even though I am 8 pounds from my vacation goal (different than my forever goal, but more about that later) losing half a pound is dissapointing. With only 5 more chances to weigh in before May 29th, the day we start our vacation, I have to do better than that. So I joined Weight Watchers Online. I can't manage to ever get to the meetings (two kids, husband who works past 7 most nights and almost every Saturday...just doesn't work) and I sit in front of a computer every day, so it seems like a good fit. I've done WW before and it works for me. The Points tracker is a fantastic accountability tool. I started this on Sunday, and I think I've had a good week. I'll weigh in tomorrow and know for sure.

Speaking of tomorrow, I can't wait to see how our weekend turns out. We are leaving this afternoon to drive to the DFW area. We will be staying at my cousin's house. Tomorrow morning we are going to get all the cousins together (Jonas, Carleigh, Kelley, Cody, Jake, Jett, and Brooks) and go to the Dallas Arboretum to take some group pictures. Eventually those pictures will be framed and given as a giant collage to my parents. They will love it.

But we aren't just making this drive to snap photos. Craig has a patient whose son is a roadie for the band Newsboys. Newsboys happens to be Jonas' favorite band! I like them too, a lot. At the least, we have free tickets waiting for us at their concert tomorrow night. At the most, and we're still waiting for final confirmation on this, we have backstage VIP passes waiting for us!!!! I haven't said a word to Jonas, in case this falls through. But as we get closer I am getting very excited! I need to rehearse what I might say if we get to meet them, as I do not have a good track record with celebrities.

When we were in Jr High, Sara Penrod and I had gone skiing with my family, and we were souvenir shopping in Taos, NM. I slipped on some ice in front of a store and a man rushed out to make sure I was OK. Other than embarrassed, I was fine. He invited us in for some hot chocolate. He chatted with us for a minute about where we were from and our vacation, then he said good bye and left. We browsed the store and I ended up buying something (no memory of what). There was a flyer next to the cash register advertising a concert that weekend. The artist was Michael Martin Murphy, a country singer. I asked Sara "Doesn't he look familiar?" to which the cashier said "You were just talking to him. He owns this store and he's the guy who just gave you your drinks". So close!

And another brush with fame came when the band Third Day and Micheal W. Smith were signing autographs at an organized meet and greet at a local mall. I stood in line with all the other people and listened to an organizer say 5+ times "Don't try to shoot the breeze with these guys- there are a lot of you and we only have a limited amount of time." I took that to heart. As I quickly got Third Day's authographs and moved down the table to MWS, the guy behind me strikes up a conversation with the drummer of Third Day. MWS glances that way and sees the gap and says "How are you?" to me. Seems we had been given a few extra seconds and he decided to chat with me. Yep- I couldn't get out anything other than "Thank you!" and walked away. I heard MWS say to someone standing behind him "I guess she didn't want to talk to me!". DOH!

I did manage a civil and intelligent conversation with then Texas governor George W. Bush. His first High School graduation speech as governor was at my alma mater the year after I graduated. My dad, who has been in politics, was invited to a reception before the graduation to meet W. I went with him. He was polished and professional, diplomatic to be sure (glanced at my name tag and addressed me by my first name immediately) but very warm. I told him I had graduated the year before and he asked if I was going to college. I said yes, UNT, and he asked if I had made it to a Ranger's game. He was part owner of the baseball club at the time. I said yes, and then he signed a magnetic Ranger game schedule I had brought with me. Who knew I was shaking the hand of the man who would be president when both my children were born? Very cool.

So- tomorrow could go either way. I can't wait to get back and tell you how it goes, and hopefully post some pictures!

Answered prayer

When I was pregnant with Jonas, I remember specifically praying that my child would be intelligent. Above average, I believe I asked.
Now what is it they say about being careful what you ask for? Yep- I agree.
Jonas' teacher e-mailed me yesterday afternoon to let me know he has been not listening and acting out more lately than any other time this year. I went to talk to her, because I want Jonas to know that this is not acceptable, no matter how close to the end of the school year we are. I also think it's important that he knows that I will put everything else on hold to address what he is going through, no matter what it is. Mrs. Kowis spoke to Jonas with me in the room and let him know that she expects more from hims because he's the oldest, the smartest (!!!), and a natural leader. That the kids will do whatever he does because they look up to him and think if it's ok for him to do it, then it is ok for them to do it. He seemed to understand and she asked him to leave the room while she and I talked.
She then told me she is amazed by Jonas' reasoning abilities and has never seen a kid advance in reading as fast as he has this year. She said she is glad he will be going to Gilmore next year, because he will have a better chance of being challenged the way he should be. Where he has been at the top of his class at Weber, she thinks he will be closer to average at Gilmore. In the meantime, she wants me to get him outside and running around as much as possible this summer. She also said she will be noting in his file that his next teacher should call her as soon as he is assigned so that she can warn him/her. Not sure how to take that comment...
I'm very happy that God gave Jonas a sharp brain- but I think I agree with Mrs. Kowis when it comes to his reasoning. He's going to have to accept a few things "just because" as he gets older or he is going to get in trouble. I don't want him to ever stop questioning, but I also pray that God will give me the strength to endure his endless streams of questions and that the teachers he has in the next 12 years will be as receptive as this first one has.
I love my son so much. Thank you God, for this crazy, funny, emotional, deep thinking, boy I get to have for a little while. Forgive me when I lose my patience with him. Thank you for leading him to You at such a young age.

So this is when the real fun starts

Jonas brought home a new word last night- the 'f ' word. Starts with f, ends with k. You know the one. This is a word that Jonas has probably never heard. We don't use it, we don't watch shows or listen to music that uses it, and 99% of our friends are just like us, so they don't use it. But some great kid on the bus told Jonas about this word, and was even nice enough to teach Jonas how to spell it. I knew this would happen some day, but when he stepped off the bus and asked me if I knew what that word was, I wasn't prepared. My first impulse was to be mad at him and punish him for saying it. But within a nano-second I realized he was just asking a question about a new word. So I calmed down and told him it was a word he should never use and there are too many other words in the world he can use, and to not waste his time or breath on that one.
But leave it to Jonas to go one step further and ask "But what does it mean?"
I was stumped.
All I could eek out was something about it being used to be mean and hateful and really didn't have a meaning, per se. What a crock! Jonas didn't buy it, and asked at least 3 more times "But what does it mean?" I had to finally tell him that all he needed to know was to not use it and to ask other people not to use it around him. Here I am, the parent who has taught him the correct anatomical names of his body parts and never pretended Santa was real. We talk about the difference between skinny and healthy at dinner, and I've taught him how to read the nutrition label on food packaging. There has been no veil of secrecy or fantasy in our house. But when it comes to a simple word...I pull the equivilant of "Because I said so". And Craig pointed out that it only gets harder and more complicated from here. *sigh* God help us all!