Sweet sounds echoing through my house!

This morning I woke to such sweet, sweet sounds, aside from the rain hitting the window. I could hear children noises and kids' TV programs coming from my family room. The little ones were up! Rather than fly out there in my nightie with my hair standing up (wait, it is always standing up!), I took my shower and brushed my teeth before donning a gaudy caftan to greet my guests.

By this time little Grace had already fallen to sleep and was in their room catching a few more winks. But Pete and Lucas were having some fun watching "Happy Feet" on TV. Evidently it didn't hold Lucas' interest long as eventually the movie was changed to a Veggie Tales show. I'd heard good things about the "Feet" but had never watched it myself. If I remember correctly Twila took her great-grands to the IMAX near St. Augustine to see it more than once. It made me cold looking at the ice bergs, but I think the weather here had more to do with that.

My guests have now left for a day of outings to visit their grandparents, leaving Justin and me here with the cats. Today is Boots' last day in the condo, as he's found himself a loving home to move to---he's moving in with Paul and Emily!!! When they heard I was looking for a home for the two cats, they immediately offered to take Boots as they've grown to love him over the years, and Sarah is particularly fond of him. This was very cool with Justin, as now he'll still be in the family. (I can just see Paul doing his Godfather imitation at the word "family", that chin scratching thing that amuses me!)

Later this morning I am looking forward to hearing Robbie sing with some choral groups at UNF. A mass of singers, I guess you'd call it. It makes me happy to be personally invited and love encouraging him in his music. This makes me think of a Harry Chapin song from way back, "music was his life, but it was not his livelihood"....I pray that's not the case for Robbie. Go Robbie, or "Wobbie" as Timmy used to call him....

Justin and I had a great day yesterday. We had an opportunity to visit the Cummer Museum for an exhibit called "Art from the Ashes". We saw actual stucco frescos taken from villas built near Pompeii. Oh, I felt like I was on vacation, looking at these lovely pieces and having the Professor explain what we were seeing. Dee thinks the world of this art professor and has told Justin how fortunate he is to have her as a teacher. There is nothing better than an enthusiastic instructor!

The museum store is fabulous and guess what! They had a few pieces of Chihuly glass on display. Judging by the size of the bowl in Frasier's apartment and these smaller ones priced at over $5000.00......you do the math! Now I am more concerned as the Cranes go 'flying' past that bowl on their way to the coat hooks.....one of these days, that bowl is going to get broken. Remember now, folks, I haven't seen all the programs yet, so don't tell me if it does or doesn't get broken, okay? Justin came upon a Chihuly desk calendar which was more in my price range plus we picked up a book telling how he created the ceiling masterpiece in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Justin is quite interested in this, as am I. When we're done with it, I'll pass it along to Julia for her enjoyment, too.

Tarren took the kids to Clark Park yesterday morning, meeting the other Good Shepherd moms with little ones, had a picnic and such in what I'd consider the middle of winter. The high was only 50 above zero but the sun was out which made it more tolerable. Lucas told me that Justin's and my God-daughter put sand in his face. He seemed a bit surprised that this happened, but hey, when kids play in sand, things happen. That's the charm of it, getting sand in your hair and between your toes...oh, wait, that might be at the beach, which is my sand box!

Tarren and Laurie got to spend some grown-up time together last night and then came back here to chat. It was a welcome break for Laurie who rarely gets an opportunity to just hang out without her boys (4 of them!) and got to enjoy holding and playing with a baby girl. She was quite amused listening to Lucas as he took his bath, the baby monitor carrying the unending narration from his adventures in the tub. He tells stories, acts out the different voices, and according to his parents, NEVER STOPS TALKING! It really was fun to listen to and it sounded to me like he has the voices in his head with him like I do! I shared the story of the time we put Justin to bed and he kept chatting and chatting away when he should have been asleep. When I went in to tell him to be quiet, he said, "But Mama, I have words left over." Wonder from where he got that characteristic................

It was great to also hear the news that Emily got a job. She was contacted yesterday afternoon and is to start right away. Today she's going out to get a few outfits, suitable for the office. She's been at home with Sarah for a long time and is ready to jump back in there. Sarah will be starting at the preschool on Monday, I think, which makes Justin and me quite proud and excited. Another family from our church finally sold their home after months and months of waiting, allowing me a full day of rejoicing for the church family!!!!

Pete was going to be here last night with the children, Justin and I joined him in some home baked pizzas and even got in a game or two of Scrabble. I do not wish to discuss who won the games, but let me say this---I am a great hostess who allows my guests to run roughshod over me in Scrabble.....Actually, the first game wasn't such a huge loss but the second one--ugh! Humbling, very humbling. It still love to play the game, even if the floor gets mopped with me, so will dive right back in and perhaps come out victorious once. I'll get to play again Sunday at Pizza/Game Night, so will consider these previous games as "training".....didn't I say I wasn't going to discuss it?????

The newsletter is ready to go to press which I'll do this afternoon when I'm up at church. That will be my stop on the way back from Robbie's concert. It's my turn to clean the church and I can run copies at the same time. E-mail now carries the news letter to many member homes, saving paper and my valuable time. Or is it valuable paper and my time? Either way, it's more efficient to do it that way. Those who don't have e-mail get the paper editions with the rest being mailed away. Another deadline loomed and was met!

Have a great day everyone in Manty, celebrating the trio of birthdays at Pizza Hut! Reminds me of the old days when Grandma Sickles wanted to come along to Pizza Hut with us, for Lisa's birthday. Now Lisa's a big girl, has babies of her own, and is still celebrating at Pizza Hut...love it and love you all!

Wishing you sweet sounds today!