Mexico, the photo entry

Happy Birthday Bampa

I miss you.

When I Get Where I'm Going
Brad Paisley

When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly

I'm gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain

CHORUS
Yeah, when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah, when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every moment since he left
Then I'll hug his neck

CHORUS

So much pain and so much darkness
In this world we stumble through
All these questions I can't answer
So much work to do

But when I get where I'm going
And I see my Maker's face
I'll stand forever in the light
Of His amazing grace
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
Hallelujah I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Yeah, when I get where I'm going

Run Chip Run

Each week, Bam-Bam has to do homework for preschool. They have a letter of the alphabet assigned to each week and every Monday they have to bring in pictures of two items that start with that letter. Last year at this time we were flipping through magazines trying to find things to cut out that start with the letter of the week. This year I've smartened up and have decided that Google Images works just as well thankyouverymuch.

The first week, the "A" week, one of the other boys in Bam-Bam's class brought in a Ziplock baggy with acorns he'd collected from his back yard. I wasn't all that impressed with the individuality of it because they said to bring in two pictures. Whatever smartass.

Anyway, when they got into their circle and each kid talked about their two "A" items, the teachers explained to the class which animals ate acorns for food with a particular focus on squirrels. Now, I remember kindergarten and I remember that we learned the little ditty called "Squirrel Gray" which goes a little something like this:

Squirrel gray with a bushy tail
I have an acorn in my pail
Here is an acorn just for you
Here is another one when you're through.

It made complete sense to me that the teachers were making the connection between the acorn and the squirrel gathering them for the winter. I was also proud of my boy that he piped in that whitetail deer also eat acorns. Something his daddy has taught him on their scouting expeditions in preparation for Bam-Bam joining Tall Boy in the woods one day to shoot his first deer.

At the end of the day, the kids all gathered their coats and headed to the back yard of the school to hang out on the playground until their parents came to pick them up. With two teachers bringing up the rear, Jacob (acorn boy), Michael, Bryce and my boy Bam-Bam saw, chased and caught a chipmunk! With the teachers running toward them screaming for them to put it down, all 4 boys held and pet the chipmunk as if it was the class guinea pig.

Thankfully they managed to release the animal before any of them got bit and before the teachers each had a heart attack. Since then, I've been trying my damndest but have yet to hit one with my car. Guess I need Michael to drive for me.

Chuck Norris, look out!

That's Bam-Bam in his new Tae Kwon Do uniform. The pants and sleeves were all rolled three times just to be able to see his hands and feet. I'm in the process of doing a rough tacking job to get them up off the floor. Took me an hour last night to do one pant leg and let me tell you, it's not pretty but it will work until Grammy Honda is able to do them on her machine.

He's loving TKD though and he's doing really well. He does his forms well and is starting to remember what the moves are by name when asked to do them which is exciting. He still won't demo them for Daddy but we're getting there.

I'm praying that we see the discipline benefits pretty soon. He's not quite making the connection between the courtesy and self-control that Mr B talks about in class and having to behave outside of class but I love having names to put to what our expectations are of him.

Off to continue tacking. I need to get the other pantleg and both sleeves done before class tomorrow. Wish me luck!

As a slow roll back into the swing of things....

Now that my internet connection has been restored, I have a TON to catch up on but I'm just going to start tonight (or is it this morning) by playing along with the Preacherman's game. I should say before I do this that my dad was a private party DJ back in the day so I know all the songs so it's either love it or leave it with me. There is no indifferent.

1988

1. Faith, George Michael
2. Need You Tonight, INXS
3. Got My Mind Set On You, George Harrison
4. Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley
5. Sweet Child O' Mine, Guns N' Roses
6. So Emotional, Whitney Houston
7. Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Belinda Carlisle
8. Could've Been, Tiffany
9. Hands To Heaven, Breathe
10. Roll With It, Steve Winwood
11. One More Try, George Michael
12. Wishing Well, Terence Trent d'Arby
13. Anything For You, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine
14. The Flame, Cheap Trick
15. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car, Billy Ocean
16. Seasons Change, Expose
17. Is This Love, Whitesnake
18. Wild, Wild West, Escape Club
19. Pour Some Sugar On Me, Def Leppard
20. I'll Always Love You, Taylor Dayne
21. Man In The Mirror, Michael Jackson
22. Shake Your Love, Debbie Gibson
23. Simply Irresistible, Robert Palmer
24. Hold On To The Nights, Richard Marx
25. Hungry Eyes, Eric Carnen
26. Shattered Dreams, Johnny Hates Jazz
27. Father Figure, George Michael
28. Naught Girls (Need Love Too), Samantha Fox
29. A Groovy Kind Of Love, Phil Collins
30. Love Bites, Def Leppard
31. Endless Summer Nights, Richard Marx
32. Foolish Beat, Debbie Gibson
33. Where Do Broken Hearts Go, Whitney Houston
34. Angel, Aerosmith
35. Hazy Shade Of Winter, Bangles
36. The Way You Make Me Feel, Michael Jackson
37. Don't Worry, Be Happy, Bobby McFerrin
38. Make Me Lose Control, Eric Carnen
39. Red Red Wine, UB40
40. She's Like The Wind, Patric Swayze
41. Bad Medicine, Bon Jovi
42. Kokomo, Beach Boys
43. I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That, Elton John
44. Together Forever, Rick Astley
45. Monkey, George Michael
46. Devil Inside, INXS
47. Should've Known Better, Richard Marx
48. I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love, Chicago
49. The Loco-Motion, Kylie Minogue
50. What Have I Done To Deserve This?, Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield
51. Make It Real, Jets
52. What's On Your Mind, Information Society
53. Tell It To My Heart, Taylor Dayne
54. Out Of The Blue, Debbie Gibson
55. Don't You Want Me, Jody Watley
56. Desire, U2
57. I Get Weak, Belinda Carlisle
58. Sign Your Name, Terence Trent d'Arby
59. I Want To Be Your Man, Roger
60. Girlfriend, Pebbles
61. Dirty Diana, Michael Jackson
62. 1-2-3, Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
63. Mercedes Boy, Pebbles
64. Perfect World, Huey Lewis and the News
65. New Sensation, INXS
66. Catch Me (I'm Falling), Pretty Poison
67. If It Isn't Love, New Edition
68. Rocket 2 U, Jets
69. One Good Woman, Peter Cetera
70. Don't Be Cruel, Cheap Trick
71. Candle In The Wind, Elton John
72. Everything Your Heart Desires, Daryl Hall and John Oates
73. Say You Will , Foreigner
74. I Want Her, Keith Sweat
75. Pink Cadillac, Natalie Cole
76. Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
77. Electric Blue, Icehouse
The Valley Road, Bruce Hornsby and The Range
79. Don't Be Cruel, Bobby Brown
Always On My Mind, Pet Shop Boys
Piano In The Dark, Brenda Russell Featuring Joe Esposito
82. When It's Love, Van Halen
Don't Shed A Tear, Paul Carrack
84. We'll Be Together, Sting
85. I Hate Myself For Loving You, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
86. I Don't Want To Live Without You, Foreigner
87. Nite And Day, Al B. Sure
88. Don't You Know What The Night Can Do, Steve Winwood
89. One Moment In Time, Whitney Houston
90. Can't Stay Away From You, Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
91. Kissing A Fool, George Michael
92. Cherry Bomb, John Cougar Mellancamp
93. I Still Believe, Brenda K. Starr
94. I Found Someone, Cher
95. Never Tear Us Apart, INXS
96. Valerie, Steve Windwood
97. Just Like Paradise, David Lee Roth
98. Nothin' But A Good Time, Poison
99. Wait, White Lion
100. Prove Your Love, Taylor Dayne

Now, don't pass out at the fact that I didn't chose Desire as my favorite song. Desire is actually one of my least favorite tracks by U2 and Love Bites surpasses it several times over.