My Big Weekend!

Well it's here!! The weekend I have been waiting for has arrived. I am excited and nerveous! I have the karaoke contest this Saturday and then we are participating in the Gospel Sing on Sunday. I have to say the gospel sing will be fun...the karaoke is going to be nerve racking...the idea of being judged is just freaking me out!! I know I need to just relax and have fun with it....but it is impossible sometimes for me to keep my nerves in check! I guess I will reley on relaxation and prayer to get me through.

I will post about all the excitement on Monday!!

Siblings

They look innocent enough don't they? One is 16 and one is 3 but when they are bickering it seems as if I am dealing with two 3 year olds! The other day we were riding home...from church I think...and I heard the fighting begin. They were arguing, over of all things, elbow placement between their two seats. G of course is in her car seat which has arm rests on it and C, my 16 year old, was sitting beside her. C made the mistake of resting her arm on G's armrest...which she wasn't using...and the fight was on. I glance in the mirror to see them elbowing each other back and forth so I say, "both of you knock it off NOW". Silence fills the van but as I glance in my mirror again I see G elbowing C again...in silence this time to avoid my attention. I tell her again to stop and she replies, "but C is poking me". Ugh!!!

I used to worry about G being so young and not having a sibling young enough to relate to but the more I think about it the less I worry. Our kids have adjusted so easily to our family. I know within the next 4 years my two oldest may be moving out and going away to college and sometimes I worry about how G will cope. She will be 7 then and I worry it may be too traumatic to suddenly become an only child. Then I remember that I was only 13 when my older sister moved out and I wasn't traumatized at all....instead I took her room over and I adjusted just fine.

I love to watch or listen to them interact. The three of them have their own special way of communicating with each other and there are times that the love between the 3 of them is just so explicitly evident that it's all I can do to hold back the tears. I pray that love will last them a lifetime and keep them close even after I am gone.


"J ,my then 12 year old, reading to G"


All three in the sun reading and playing with bubbles...

God's Plan

My last post said we were going to have to wait to finish the six tracks on our CD for two weeks due to everyones schedule being so tight...but apparently God had other plans! Within hours on Wednesday we suddenly had plans to camp in the studio Thursday night until all six tracks were done with the exception of editing which we don't have to be there for. As we began last night in the studio my partners voice was stressed and I was mixing up lines from a song. We were doing second and third takes on a song for the second time and we realized what was missing...and took a break for prayer. Afterwards the Holy Spirit took over and the night just flowed along. We had fun...and we finished all 6 tracks last night. Our studio guy says he has an open schedule today so he will have the editing done by this evening! According to plan I will have a shiny CD in my hot little hand this evening around 5 or 6!

Wednesday afternoon we got a CD with two of the completed tracks on it. G thinks it is just totally amazing and now as soon as we get into the van she announces "I want to hear the Mommy and Ms Dawn CD!" She sits in her seat belting out every note along with us and then says, "play it again!". She is our #1 fan!

Now people are talking bar codes and marketing and although we are as small town as it gets I still feel caught up in this whirlwind of anticipation.

I am still in awe that this has all come about so quickly and so easily. It just all feels so right. Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me. I have had a couple of people ask me what we call ourselves. We have decided on 'Ascending Praise'. I placed some of the definitions of ascending below...even though we all know what it means the actual meaning gives new light to how we view our music.

as⋅cend⋅ing

/əˈsɛndɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-sen-ding]

–adjective

1.	moving upward; rising.

2.	growing or directed upward

1. To move upward upon or along; climb: ascended the mountain.
2. To succeed to; occupy
3. Moving or progressing toward a higher level, (I especially like this one!)
   

Indescribable...

It's the only word I can think of to describe working last night on the CD! The down side is our next studio time isn't for two weeks, but we are so busy with other projects right now that I know the time will just fly by. We got two tracks down last night and the guy doing the recording for us will be working on the mixing and editing in the meantime. I had only been in a recording studio one other time and that was when I was about 17 years old so I had forgotten the magic of listening to a song 'come together'. It was truely indescribable...

Now we have the county fair quickly coming up. I am in a karaoke singing competition and in a 'gospel sing' there too.

G is still sleeping and it is 8:38am as I am typing. Thats a little odd. It's funny how she chooses mornings that I am inevitably awake early to sleep in...but any morning that I am able to sleep in,(sleep in being until 8am), she is up by 6:30 or 7!

I have Christmas on the brain and I know that is adding to the slight euphoria that I have been feeling the past couple of days. It doesn't help that Walmart has set up their Christmas section when it isn't even Halloween yet! G saw all the trees and decorations and now it is a mandatory stop to ooooh and ahhhh every time we enter the store. The kids have been giving me Christmas list items already too!

I truly love this time of year! I feel the season brings the world a little closer for awhile. There is a little more kindness, a little more compassion, a little more giving and a little more peace. The gearing up for the celebration of the birth of our Savior brings more thankfulness also. I am thankful this morning. Thankful for my family, our health, our home and our needs met. I am thankful for the joys in my life and the sorrows that help me to more appreciate the joys. I am thankful for the friends I have , especially for one that is becoming closer everyday and sharing this new spiritual and musical adventure with me. I am happy today and I know it comes from beginning to fulfill a dream I have carried around with me for a lifetime....

thank you Dawn...

It's Going to Happen!

Tuesday night my singing partner and I are meeting at a local recording studio to begin laying tracks for our first CD! I am nervous but oh so very excited. We sat down on Saturday and discussed what songs we want to include on it and everything just seems to be moving along swiftly. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like! I have so many things musically and spiritually going on I feel like I can hardly contain myself!!