Monday, August 31, 2009

This photo makes me laugh.

A Sling & A Stone on air at 91FM - cir. 2006
(l-r) Scott Smith, Josh Ewert, Drew Molleur, Dea Newsom, Coy Cypert, Jim Dowing

I found it on an old drive awhile back and it reminds me that there are just some seasons of my life that are incredibly near and dear to my heart...

....seasons AND the people who are bound by them.

A Sling & A Stone was born out of Cornerstone. What started as a 3-piece group grew to be a 7-8 member (depending on when you're talking about), sometimes folky but mostly rockin' band that led believers into worship through music each Sunday morning at C3 and eventually at other worship events. (phew! - I'd rework that sentence, but the ankle biters are biting...)

I wasn't in the band. I was just their #1 fan and hired hand.

I took this quote from the original PR piece we made to promote the band.

"The band's ministry and mission is simple and straight forward. People cannot fix people. It is not our job as a community of believers to offer worldly advice, opinions, or the latest talk-show host solution of the month. It is our job to offer encouragement, support, and the truth that only God can fix people and the only way to God is through His son Jesus Christ."

And while that was the core mission for the band, we managed to squeeze in some fun too.

I have a few favorite memories...

:: The first Night of Worship at C3. Before any songs were recorded. Probably before any talk of recording. And Jayston played the congas.

:: The Stone Choir - "you satisfyyyyyy...all I've ever wanted". (The members of C3 standing at the front of the (old) church building singing the chorus to a song we couldn't hear and clapping (very badly) while Scott recorded us for the album.

:: NOW at Wacker Park. Wig & Dan Smith. Even Jessie Fig! Enough said.

:: Driving back and forth from Shawnee to Pauls Valley every weekend in our little blue Toyota Camry listening to the rough mix, dreaming of being a part of something like that. Little did I know....

:: Staying at the Smith's in Pauls Valley with Drew, Luke, & Josh on Saturday nights so we didn't have to drive on Sunday morning. We had not yet moved to Pauls Valley. Ben was a baby. Uncle Hershel & Aunt Sawmilly made breakfast.

:: Driving from Shawnee to a high school football game in Wewoka to pick up my brother at half time (he was in the HS band). Driving said brother and his guitar gear from Wewoka to Elmore City for an ASAAS show following the Elmore City HS football game. (I'm gonna let you MapQuest that bad boy, but I can tell you there were dark & scary roads involved...)

:: Hiding under the sound booth with Danny because we were giggling so much during a fairly serious moment at a youth event. So bad. Sorry. But they were playing Carmen.

:: Driving nearly 3 hours to I-have-no-idea-where, OK. Setting up EVERYTHING on two trailers in a rodeo arena. Watching the storm come. Tearing down EVERYTHING in the pouring rain. No music played. Drove home.

:: Flying to Las Vegas on a Friday night to meet up with Dea and our husbands who were there for the PBR Finals Rodeo (Dea's husband is a pro bull fighter). Staying in Vegas less than 24 hours and then flying home with Dea to just barely make it to an ASAAS show in Norman. We felt like rock stars.

:: The album photo shoot in 31 degrees and sleet. My first photography adventure. 35mm. Sheesh! Wish I'd had my DSLR.

:: Singing harmony with the band at an event in Shawnee. I was scared to death and you probably couldn't hear a note I sang, but it was an important step for me. Good grief, did I mention I was scared?

:: Watching ASAAS from the balcony at Wewoka FBC. I was running Power Point and Mackey was on sound. It was good. The kids loved them.

:: C3's 5th Anniversary Celebration with the band in the field next to the church building. (Was it 5?)

:: Working with my hubby on the album cover and all the promo material for Seven.

:: Calling all the "old men" in the group to see what they were wearing to the show.

:: Club Drew. When Passion came together. Cold chills and goose bumps.

:: When Ben pulled the fire alarm during a show in Davis.

:: Falls Creek with Country Estates. It was loud. But it was good.

:: The Cube in OKC. Where they had the digital sound board that saved all the settings (suh-weet). And the band played the new song that has no name, has never been recorded and to which nobody remembers all the lyrics.

Festival in MWC...

Recording Seven at C3...


traveling sound man. he loved it. no matter what he says.

Opening for Edison Glass & Roper at the PV Fair Barn (thank you Bobby Reeves!)...

Perhaps the band should have been named "Men In Jackets"...??? I told you, it was freezing...


Most people thought Scott looked scary as a bald dude.
But I thought he looked bada** in the pics...

The musicians I've been hanging around lately are much cuter...

And though the days of A Sling & A Stone are in the past, I've got them cranked on my iTunes today and am having a blast remembering. I'm thankful they let me along for the ride. And thankful for the message of truth in the songs that still roll through my head.

PS - Clearly I didn't do my job as marketing guru since their album isn't on the shelves at your local Mardels - there are, however, albums on a shelf in a closet in Pauls Valley if you'd like one.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

I have to keep staring into these beautiful eyes....

because my washer and dryer are in the middle of my kitchen floor.

Friday, August 28, 2009

{Friday Morning Outtakes}

Technically, these shots are horrible. But they tell the story of how Miles wanted to "hold you Elya!".

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Our friend Steve - "Teef", sayeth Miles - was here for a visit earlier this month. Steve was a willing victim of my "I-wanna-be-a-pro-photographer-can-I-practice-on-you" plea. Here are some of the results...

For the record, this is how I know I have not yet obtained pro status.

Things like this went on between shots.

And since he was the one supposed to be watching the kids...

Things like this happened.

"Steeeve, hold my bay-bee!"
(Rachel & Drew may have just cracked up...and any other Pablo Francisco fans out there...)

Monday, August 24, 2009

The "pop duice" experiment turned out A++++!

We shall now and forevermore have them in our freezer...

...And Ella can grab her feet.

It's Monday. That's all I got.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Brace yourselves.

Friday, August 21, 2009

I got up early this morning to go swimming. On the way home, I may have been lured to a garage sale... I couldn't help it. There was a sign. Works every time.

Now lately, I have resisted the urge to buy these on eBay about 47 times. I just never can bring myself to spend the money.

(Total tight-wad, huh?)

Today, however, they were just in my price range.

All that being said, Miles loves this cartoon called Special Agent Oso. It comes on Disney at 7am. It's actually a decent show and he does things like put his books away and pick up his toys to be "like Oso, momma". I also approve of it because it buys me 30 more minutes of sleep. He watches it in bed with us each morning.

Well, Oso - the helpful, special agent, 007-ish stuffed bear - helps kids do different projects. Recently, he helped a little boy make juice pops.

Oso's Mission: Lisence to Chill... clever, huh?

After we watched the episode this morning, and since I found such a hot-smokin'-deal at the garage sale, we made some juice pops of our own.

I love his adorable little hands.

"Dgreen one, momma!"


"Put it right dere, momma!"


"Pops duice, momma!"

And as we put them into the freezer for freezing... (you'll notice that 2 of the pops have upsidedown handles.....just discovered that)

there was a slight melt down.

"MY pop duice, momma!"

So not only did we learn how to make juice pops, we learned about patience as well.

Will let you know how they turned this weekend...

Thank God for the weekend!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

"The Week That Lasted For-ev-er"

That's the title of my new book.

Just kidding.

I'm not writing a book.

But it IS the longest week for some reason.

Here's the cuteness....







...to help get us through.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Ella rolled over for the first time today!

And now you get to watch 1 minute, 56 seconds of me trying to re-capture the moment...

Yay you!

Friday, August 14, 2009

I want a do-over for the last 24 hours.

:: Found a bit of evidence that we had a mouse under the kitchen sink. Set a trap. Forgot about the trap. Casually opened the cabinet door to grab the dish washing liquid. Made eye contact with the beady little eyes of a dead mouse (thank God it was dead). Screamed. Jumped. Stubbed my toe. High-kneed across the kitchen & living room to the couch. Pulled a groin muscle. Stood on the couch. Jumped up and down on the couch, further injuring myself. Screamed. Squealed. Shivered. Gagged. And later, couldn't close my eyes to go to sleep without seeing the creepy-little-dead thing. So I tried to refocus my thoughts...

:: Today, after disinfecting underneath the cabinets where the you-know-what was, I made lunch for some guests. While they were here I discovered a lizard in the dining room floor...

Britton even came home from work to rescue us from the lizard. I'm telling you, it was black with red beady little eyes and horns!

Yep. It definitely had horns AND big, fiercely sharp claws!!

It's clearly going to be a long road for this new-to-the-country-even-if-I-did-live-in-Pauls-Valley-girl.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

:: Yesterday I went to the local Farmer's Market. The very first booth as you enter the pavilion is a snow cone stand. There's a small sandwich board sign that has a stop sign on it and beckons everyone to STOP! and have a snow cone. Miles squatted down, pointed at each letter of the stop sign and said "S - T - O - P....STOP sign, momma". The little snow cone man nearly fell over!

:: Miles watches Thomas the Tank Engine. It's a British cartoon. Their language is a bit more formal that our okie english. As a result of his exposure to Thomas, when Miles watches any show and someone is upset/mad he says, "____'s cross, momma". Thank you Thomas & Friends.

:: This is what I woke up to this morning at 7:30 am {Miles just woke up and Britton brought him to our bed to watch cartoons} - "Howy cow! Mickey Mouse Cwubhouse!"

:: When I say "I love you, Miles", he says "too!". And when we're playing with Ella, I'll say "We love you, Ella" and he chimes in without missing a beat... "too!". But if I ever do get the whole thing...."I-vue, momma", oh, how it melts my heart.

:: Ella mostly HATES her car seat if she's not asleep in it. When we're driving and she's screaming, Miles will gently reach over, pat her and say "ssshh - ssshh - ssshh- Bayee Elya....OK".

:: Yesterday, Ella was in her crib watching the mobile. I was putting away her laundry. Miles came in and wanted in her crib too. He snuggled up beside her, looked into her eyes and screamed "Bayee Elya boo eyes!" Have I mentioned Ella has blue eyes?

:: Miles will use ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to make a train track. But lately, he's been adding mountains and tunnels to the mix. He'll put his train in a "tuwnel" and say "train tuck, momma! oh no! whatwedunnado?" {read: train's stuck, momma. oh no! what are we gonna do?"}

:: We've lived in the "yewwo house" for 3 months now. Probably one of the first days Britton came home from work after we moved in, I said "Daddy's home, I saw his truck!". To this day, when I say "Daddy's home", Miles follows up with "Isawhistruck!".

:: The boy loves to color. He's got a basket with all his coloring books and crayons that sits at the bar. He draws and colors all day long. Sometimes, he dumps his cup full of colors on the floor. They break. He'll lay on the floor among them and say "oh no! colors broked! whatwedunnado?!"

It's crazy fun to have a 2 year old...