Lego and Sanity

While on my trip I received this e-mail from Tisha after a couple of days of being out of touch:

I was going to write you Saturday after we got back from shopping, but what was supposed to be a triumphant trip turned into a mini insurrection. Allow me to explain.

Lee and Laura sent a belated birthday gift to Aidan. $20.00!!! Since we were already going to Target I told him he could take his money. Guess what he wanted to buy? Indiana Jones Legos. Well, we did our shopping but they did not have the Lego set we were looking for at Target. Aidan was sad so I took him to Toys r Us. NO INDIANA JONES AT TOYS R US! Okay, so I broke my cardinal rule and took him to Wal-mart. They did not have the one he wanted either but there was one he would accept and at this point he was not going home without some kind of INDIANA JONES. I had had enough about two stores ago, Mia was stuck to me like glue because she didn't want to get lost in Wal-mart and Ian was threating Aidan with his life if he hummed the Indiana Jones movie theme just one more time. We grabbed the set, stood in line for about twenty minutes (I hate Wal-mart) and rushed home. Everybody was happy, until.

As I was unpacking my other purchases I hear from upstairs," Oh no! It's Annakin Skywalkers head!" Yes, the Lego company had packed a Annakin Skywalker head instead of a Indiana Jones head in the kit. Let me tell you, an 'A' bomb went off in this house that measured on the Richter scale. Well, I'm going to make a very long story short by saying first of all I can just imagine how insane this all sounds coming from a thirty six year old women. Now imagine the way I had to explain this to the very nice customer representative from the Lego company. I had to pinch myself a few times during our conversation. While other sensible people my age are solving the worlds problems I am saying,"No, Annikan has a scar on his face and has blue eyes, and Indiana has a beard and dark eyes. Yes, I have the part number."

Would someone please slip some cyanide into my coffee!

So, in about ten business days we should be golden. I took some Mommy time after all this and shaved the dog's head. I hope your having a good trip. I'll write you again after school today.

Love you, Tisha

There is never a dull moment in my house!

PS - Lego made good and Aidan now has his Indiana Jones head for his mini-figure.

Our Big Date

It took me a little while to get back to that blog to tell everyone about our big date, but that's not because I didn't have fun, I had a blast!

After eating dinner we hit the road for Greenville and my mind started turning (I didn't know where we were going if you remember). I was thinking we were going to the Bilo Center. I was wrong. We headed down town and Tisha ask, "Know where we're going?" I guessed the Peace Center and she said I was right.

Neither of us had ever been to the Peace Center before, so this alone was a treat, it is a beautiful place. We parked, went inside and Tisha picked up the tickets. They were for Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby. Now any of you that know Tisha knows she loves Bruce Hornsby. In fact, he was the first musician she introduced me to when I met her. I have to admit thought, I was a little unsettled about the whole Ricky Skaggs/ bluegrass thing. I was thinking, "Two hours of bluegrass. I'm not sure how I feel about that." But I was pleasantly surprised!

I knew Bruce Hornsby, but I wasn't as familiar with Ricky Skaggs. He is an incredible musician! He can play a mandolin like no one I've ever heard before. Everyone one in his band was outstanding as well.

We got to hear many of Skaggs' songs, and they played Hornsby's songs in bluegrass too. My favorite song of the night though was Super Freak. You haven't lived until you've heard Super Freak in bluegrass! It was fun!

The night was a great success, especially for Tisha because as much as she has loved Bruce Hornsby all these years, this is the first time she's had a chance to see him live in concert. I was happy for her. My wife is great, and great fun too. I guess it's my turn to plan a surprise date. This will be one that is hard to top though.

Image: skaggs.musiccitynetworks

Things to do on a Rainy Day

Today was a cleaning day for mom and dad. Our friends the Gretzingers are coming to stay with us tomorrow, so we thought we’d use the rainy day to our advantage and tidy up.



Ian and Mia spent part of the day practicing their guitar. Mia has been taking lessons and Ian has been following alone on the side. He can’t decide if he wants to start taking lessons too. Sounds like he’s doing well either way though. Here they are practicing La Folia.

Later in the day, Ian and mom spent some time together...

... while Mia and Aidan watched Cinderella...

... and dad studied for his lesson tomorrow.

Tisha has planned a date for us tonight, unbeknownst to me. I'm not sure where we're going; it's a surprise.

Dad the Babysitter

We had a big time at The O'Donnell Clan last night. Mom when out! Ahhhh! Whatever shall we do? I know! Movie time!

One of the kids favorite movies is Alvin and the Chipmunks. So I (Jim) when out and bought a copy. The kids were elated! After a nice dinner (that mom fixed, I am hopeless after all), we set off on our evening of fun:

Mia and dad get ready to start making some popcorn.

Waiting for the first pop!

Mia suffers her first injury of the night. See was a little too close for that first pop. (Fortunately, this was her only injury.)

We got the movie ready...

... and Aidan spent the rest of the night laughing his guts out!

When the movie finished, the credits started up and so did the music. So that meant it was time for Mia to dance...

... while Ian and Aidan played some guitar with the music.

It was a fun night!