handbell chorus christmas concert

Connor joined the 2nd grade handbell chorus this year and they recently had their first concert.  He rocked it!

nashville traditions

I'm a sucker for traditions and at Christmas there are tons.  Just another reason to sing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year..." at the top of my lungs.  One of my favorite traditions involves my love and a concert.  Except for two very sad years, we've been able to see Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God for the past nine years.  Most of those years have been at The Ryman in Nashville, a beautiful venue full of history, and last weekend, full of music that tells the coming of Christ in a most special way.

Usually our trip to Nashville at Christmas is a less than 24 hour excursion.  This year thanks to my parents and some church transitions, we were able to get away with friends for a little longer.  We left Saturday afternoon and arrived just in time to meet the Cardozas for dinner at a swanky restaurant to celebrate their anniversary.  The only downside was that we didn't know it was swanky so there might have been one of the guys in a pair of hiking pants and another in a Star Wars t shirt.  Needless to say, we blended in well ;)  

After dinner the celebrators headed to the movies and left the four of us to go shopping.  We headed to Parnassus books and spent a long time browsing.  Children's books are my fave and I haven't been to a real bookstore in years because the book section at Target most definitely does not count.  I found a few books to put on my wishlist and a new children's series for Connor to try.  But mostly I just looked at pretty covers and smelled new pages.  

Next stop was Green Hills Mall and looking in all the ridiculously awesome but super expensive stores.  I decided to forego the $10,000 couch at Restoration Hardware and get the $3.82 mercury glass ornament instead.  

Sunday morning started with breakfast at Noshville, another Nashville Christmas tradition.  Then after another bookstore we headed to Reese Witherspoon's store Draper James.  It was cute and fun and never will I be able to afford anything in it.  After some boot shopping in Downtown Nashville and a quick stop at a park so that the two Zachs could climb a dragon on a playground we got ready for the reason we were there in the first place.

The show was amazing as usual.  It always seems to go by way to quickly.  This year, because AP had been sick, they added a new element and the crowd sang the song titled Behold the Lamb of God.  Such an amazing sound when a thousand voices are lifted in praise.  It's definitely Christmas time now!!

brass bands

Logan and I met Connor and his class at the square last week for the last fall lunch concert of the year.  Despite the fact that the majority of 6 year old boys and girls are not super fond of sitting quietly on cozy blankets and listening to live music, we had a good time.  There was a small brass band performing and Connor's ear for music and comparison kept him interested in what they were playing and kept the conversation between the two of us going as he told me what other song he was reminded of as he listened to each one being played.  Just another fun experience with my boys.

behold the lamb of god

 After Connor's performance and party on Thursday Zach and I left our babies at the house with Grace and Donovon and headed up to Nashville with our friends the Ames (aka Other Zach and Lisa) for the Behold the Lamb of God concert at the Ryman.  

We think this is our 5th year going to the concert there and it is always amazing and this year might have been one of my favorites.  There was not one song I didn't really love during the in the round part at the beginning and there were two specifically that touched  my heart completely.  Unfortunately neither one have been recorded yet but I'm hoping I can at least track down the lyrics.  

Sitting with Zach listening to the story of the coming of Christ in one of the most beautiful ways told brought tears to my eyes many a time!

In other, non spiritual, information about the trip, we went to Noshville which is our favorite breakfast place before we left on Friday and I was peer pressured into stealing two pickle ornaments that at some point must have been used for decoration but were lying on a window sill.  So yeah...I'm a thief...

talent show

Our church had a talent/no talent show last weekend and three of my fellas did the song Always together.  Zach played guitar, Connor sang with some help, and Micah played guitar. 

It was so sweet and so cute.  Micah was SUPER nervous to have people staring at him and spent a lot of time maneuvering himself behind music stands while playing so no one could see him.  He did really good but I know he did more in practice when he was relaxed.  His highlight was jumping on the kick drum to get it to make a sound and having his little head bop up and down.  Connor was a comedian and added some extra stuff in his voice when he was hitting some notes.  Leslie got it on video and Magda held Logan for me so I could get a few pictures.  I didn't get a close up of Micah because he was already nervous and I didn't want to add to it!

look closely for Micah in the background :)

mr. eric

Last summer we went to a few of our libraries special programs. One of our favorite was a former teacher named Mr. Eric who is now an author and performer. We had the best time at his show, bought his book and one of his CDs and it quickly became one of the boys favorite! Mr. Eric was coming back again this year and today we got to see him :) Micah was looking forward to today soooooo much and it didn't disappoint. I took Micah, Connor and Silas (who is hanging out for the day) to meet up with Sarah and Natalie for the show. We got great spots on the floor and all 3 boys loved it! They clapped, jumped, danced and listened really well. Mr. Eric's first book was Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and he has a new book coming out next month called Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. We can't wait! I absolutely just love the positive spin he puts in his stories/songs and encourages you to keep going because it's "alllllll gooooood" If you've never heard of Mr. Eric please check him out!! I'm sure you'll love him as much as we do :)