Van Halen's Eruption solo on violin. Bobby Yang is incredible...

For those of you who may like to know, this is on an ACOUSTIC violin, not an electric, he has developed techniques of playing that make it SOUND like it is electric. I hope everyone can appreciate that it is difficult to play even on the guitar, and transcribing it to the violin is so amazing that no other violinist has done it before. (There are those that have tried to mimic guitar solos/rock music, but NONE have even come close to the quality level of Bobby Yang..I think I am in love...) I highly recommend his albums, go to www.Bobbyyang.com

My little sister is getting married!

I know you got engaged over a month ago, sorry this took so long! Congratulations, Missy! I love you so much! August 14th is not far away! I will post your beautiful bridals when they come back. I will miss you when you move to Canada,... how 'boat you just stay here instead eh? ;)

We have a Fish-Child!

Robert's new very favorite activity is swimming. When we are at the zoo, or aviary, the animals aren't so exciting for him yet, but as soon as he hears a waterfall, or sees a pond, he perks right up, and is all smiles and laughs!! Daddy is a fish too, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Mother-warriors: The true heroes

Yesterday was a rough one. Robert was screaming while I was trying to make dinner, pulling on my legs nonstop, pinching, biting, pulled all of the garbage bags out of the cupboard, and had an explosive poop that got streaked across the floor. When dinner was made, I didn't get to eat it, because Robert was hungry. After Robert was fed, he refused to be by himself, but he refused to be with Daddy. He wanted me. I tried to eat dinner while holding him, but instead got teethmarks in my arm, and potatoes in my hair. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, but there was too much to be done to cry. The kitchen was a disaster, Robert now needed a bath, and a bottle, and I could have a breakdown only after everything was taken care of. When Robert was finally in bed, clean and asleep, I sat on the floor in our non-airconditioned apartment, sweaty, covered with grime, and spitup,completely exhausted, and I thought, "Why did I get myself into this...?" and was preparing for my well-deserved cry, when I thought of my mother, and my sisters-in-law, Mary, Emily, and Niki.

"How on earth do they do it?" I thought, how does anyone do it with one, let alone, 2, 3, or more?? I don't know how my mom has made it through all of these years with her fibromayalgia, hypothyroid, and many, many other physical difficulties and surgeries throughout the years raising us, plus having a job. She is a spiritual rock. She is the most amazing woman I have ever known. On days when she could barely get out of bed because of the pain, she would still make us breakfast, do my and my sisters' hair, and take us to school. I remember her crying one morning when her hands were too shaky and weak to brush our hair. Thinking about my mom, I was immediately humbled. I have none of the physical trials, and struggles that my mother has, and yet here I am complaining about how hard it is to be a mom. I thought of my sisters-in-law, watching them at family dinners, and how sometimes I just felt tired for them, with all their little kids running around, and yet they always seemed cheerful and happy. I suddenly felt grateful for their examples of incredible endurance, love for their children, and never-ending patience. Going the extra mile, and then some. My feeling of stress and discouragement started to ease. If they can do it...then it's not impossible. I can do it too. I am grateful for the mother-warriors in my life, and the examples they are to me, I hope they all know that they are sources of hope, encouragement, and strength that are priceless, and invaluable. I love you all.

Getting to know you

Brian and Niki are finally here! Our new little niece Charlie is just beautiful! Wes went down to Arizona to help them move, and wow, 14 hours is a really long drive. Wes has missed his brother, and I am excited to get to know them better. We love you guys!

Our first E.R. Visit

Robert gave us quite the scare a couple of weeks ago. He got very, very sick, just with the regular cold symptoms, coughing, runny nose, etc. At 1:30 a.m. on memorial day, Robert woke me up with extreme wheezing and coughing, he was really struggling to breathe, when I took his temperature it was 105*. We tried to cool him off, and get cool air for him to breathe. While Wesley was holding him, his feet and hands went pale white, and he started trembling, We immediately took him into the St. Mark's Emergency Room. They gave him some steroids to help open his airways, which really, really helped, and gave him a dose of something I'm not sure what it was, but something in combination with Ibuprofen to try to get his fever down faster. Robert was a champ through it all, and when they gave him the breathalizer to also aid his breathing, he started sucking on it like it was the best treat ever. (Here's a picture of it)

Robert also became best friends with the X-ray technician, and was straining to see his new friend while he took the chest x-ray. At 4:00 a.m. his fever was down to 102* and his breathing had improved drastically. Robert is all better now, and we are so glad. :)