Post church, pre-hunt, and slightly frazzled, but we managed to snap this one photo today. I fully intended to take more, but rarely had the camera handy. Ah, well, you win some you lose some. I sure do love this group of gals, no matter the day and no matter how frazzled.
Love them.
So Chloe accidentally knocked her glasses onto the floor next to the bed in her sleep the other night. The next morning, who should appear by her side, but her trusty sidekick, R3, eager and ready to show off his, “Watch me step on these glasses on the floor at 7:30 in the morning” move.
It ended up being a fairly painless fix as we took them back to the store where we bought them and they fixed them on the spot for free.
Lesson learned: No knocking glasses onto the floor in a home where a 3yo might have access to them the next morning…
We took the boys up Little Baldy Summit and that was about as much as they could handle. After lunch, Craig took the girls back out to hike Elk Mountain while I took a nap made sure the boys took a nap. Ahem.
Uncle Sam on his iPhone, next to the liquor store. I guess everyone needs a little break now and then, huh?
In what can only be explained in the file, “Proof the Dunhams are Crazy,” we decided a little Spring Break Camping Trip was just what the doctor was ordering for our family. We’ll see how bitter a pill this is going to actually be…
Chloe may never want to participate in a speech and debate tournament in the traditional sense, but she definitely found her calling as an even timer. I think she’d kind of like to go to all tournaments around and keep time if even Maddie wasn’t a participant. 😉
The VCA 3rd graders had their annual Renaissance Festival today and here’s Millie giving her presentation on Flippo Brunellechi. We had a feast, an art walk, and a little class drama presentation. Good times, good times.
Today is the day the latest release from Dave and JJ Heller comes out: Loved.
Loved is the Heller’s sixth studio release and is gearing up to be just as powerful as their previous works. I discovered JJ Heller sometime last year when a friend of mine posted one of their videos on Facebook and I was so moved I bought three albums on the spot. And now there’s this:
*Tears*
There is just something so deep, so rich, so authentic about their music I can’t help but enter in with my full heart and attention. It was because of this I decided to haul my crew all the way to Woodward, Oklahoma a few days ago to hear her live and in person. The Hellers weren’t the only act of the evening, but they were the only reason we went. Everything else was just fluff.
They played a couple of new songs off Loved and, of course, some of their well recognized songs. They brought their sweet girls out onto the stage for a bit which I really loved. I particularly love their commitment to keeping their family intact in the midst of growing popularity on the road. LOVE that. After their set there was a little break and we took advantage of the photo opp. I snapped this one of JJ Heller and my oldest daughter, Maddie, first. Maddie is actually the reason I bought all of the albums when I did. Maddie loves to sing and we all have styles and role models we kind of lean toward, particularly during these formative years. I loaded up the music on Maddie’s iPod and told her I thought she could do that someday. She’s taking guitar, she’s got a great voice, and she’s becoming a really good writer too. I think there’s strong potential for Maddie to move in that direction as she continues to grow and I want to instill some meaningful musical influences in her life. JJ Heller is definitely one of them.
During my little photo opp, I decided to whip out my copy of the CD for them to sign. They had just told the whole crowd it was coming out in two days, so I was all smug with my pre-release copy. *grin* They seemed pleasantly surprised to see it and said I now had the first official autographed copy. So there you have it.
The songs on this album are:
I’ve only listened to this album a handful of time so far, but my immediate favorites are Who You Are and If You Fall and I’m certain the others will become favorites as I continue to get to know this album.
I just did a double take when I passed by the baby swing. One of the girls dressed up this baby doll in the bunting we bought for Baby M when he was living with us. Apparently I’m not the only one in the family still missing that baby in a fierce, fierce way.
We loaded up the Odyssey today and headed west – to Woodward, OK to be exact, to hear JJ Heller and her husband, Dave. By default we also heard a handful of other bands, but the reason we went was to hear the Hellers. It was totally worth the drive, even if we wish their set had been twice as long.
Fun times.
Half-Pint House 