well, here i am, getting ready to blog. my sisters are very good at this and would really appreciate it if i would keep up. so...here i go!!

tonight my boys had a spring concert at the school they attend. it involved only music. both of my boys play instruments and sing in the choir. andrew, my oldest at 13, plays the trumpet. avery, my youngest at 10 plays the saxophone. it is so very exciting to hear them play, and as a mom many emotions go through me as i sit and listen to them.

the first emotion i feel is a little sadness, for two reasons. first, my husband chad wasnt there. i love music, and i really missed not being able to sit with him and enjoy this moment!!! everything in my life is so much better when i can share it with him!!! i do love him! and you have to keep reading to fine the second part of this.

the second emotion i feel is wonder. i cannot figure out how these two boys got so big all of a sudden and then i cant believe how they can make those instruments play so smoothly, and then i am reminded that i really had nothing to do with it. i am just the mom. i make sure they practice each night, get them to all the activities, and then just sit and listen, like the other 100's of mothers, but when they are yours you feel as if they are the only one in the room. and yes, a little bit of the "i am so proud of you" feeling creeps in as well, i guess thats only natural.

and i guess the last emotion i feel is love. i love music, my life is saturated with all kinds of music. and when i hear music like i heard tonight my heart is almost overwhelmed with love, to the point that it just wants to burst. i am reminded how much i love my husband, how i like to sit very close to him and listen to the band. i am filled with love for my kids, a love that comes just simply from being a mom. and then my mind travels to other people i know. i always think of my sisters when i hear music. my sister shellie is pursuing a career in opera, and obviously can sing!! my other sister, sheri, plays the piano for everything in her church. well, almost!! she feels like it sometimes. when they still lived at home, they were quite the duo, one sang and the other played. and i found a lot of joy in just listening to them. then there is alyssa, such a wonder that she is even in the family, and yet somehow she belongs. and is even playing the piano, poor thing!! then there are my parents, who have made all this possible, with no great claims to fame for themselves. they just tried to give us girls what we wanted and needed. the only thing they really get out of it it that they simply enjoy listening as i do.

and now i am back to my first point, a little sadness. here is the second reason for my little bit of sadness. i dont play the piano or sing very well, but i love to sing with my sisters in the living room of my parents home. it is a favorite past time of mine, and one that has somehow gotten away from us. which makes me feel a little sad. we have spent many an hour in the living room singing our hearts away to no one other than our parents. i think little girls, and i know you have checked this already this morning, that maybe one weekend when we are all together, we should sing!!! for maybe if we sing, we wont argue!!! hehehe!! and wouldnt mom and dad enjoy that so much!! so for each one of you girls, here is your assignment for the day, remember back to one of those times, and see if it doesnt make your heart overwhelmed with love!! its music and its spring, a time for love.

and chad, i love you the most!!!