Save the Ta-Ta's!

When you don't get to spend all day, every day with high school people, you can tend to believe the trends, statistics, and horror stories you hear. I, however, am blessed to be able to spend my days with many exceptions to the rules of high school hellions. Pictured above are two of my blessed exceptions. Taylor (left) and Lauren (right) have both been in my private studio for two full years and are starting their third year with me. I was talking with a friend from college today about our college vocal coach, and I mentioned that I thought of Mrs. Hodges as more of a life coach. Mrs. Hodges inspired me to return her influence in my life to others who come to my studio. Goodness, I hope they learn more than solfege from me! Anyway, these two beauties are both freshman at good 'ole FHS. Lauren just made 6th chair in the high school all-region choir and Taylor missed district choir by two chairs...as freshmen! Such an accomplishment. I want to focus for just a minute on Lauren, though. Lauren is my student who always asks me, "Can we do that just one more time?" "Before I leave, can we put it with the accompaniment?" She works so hard. She is so wonderful to share with me often how much she enjoys our times together, for more than just singing. I absolutely love teaching Lauren. I love just hanging with Lauren. The last year for her family, though, has been hard to say the very least. You notice the shirts we are wearing...Tigers for a Cure. Lauren's mom designed them just after her final surgery from her long, hard-fought battle with breast cancer. Lauren's maternal grandmother passed away this summer after her battle with breast cancer. This freshman understands the brevity of life in a very real way. Lauren leads out on our campus for awareness of breast cancer, its survivors, and its victims. On the day of our high school all-region auditions, the Lubbock Race for the Cure was being run. Lauren was understandably upset to have missed being with her mom on this day to celebrate both of the precious women in her family who have been touched by this haunting disease. But, in true Lauren form, she showed up that morning wearing her Race for the Cure shirt, including her mom's and grandmother's names on her back as if she were running that day. She was, instead, singing...representing her mom and grandmother in an incredible fashion. She kicked tail, too. I mean...really kicked tail. I am so blessed to have Lauren and her family in my life. Thank you, Lloyd and Suzanne, for sharing your precious girl with me.

Don't give up!

This is going to be incredibly random! Today was a frustrating day at school. I bragged a few weeks ago about my students, how well they did at our first audition. The problem is that they have been working on this music since July. They are tired. They are busy. They are high schoolers for crying out loud! The music is very difficult. The time frame is shorter. These are all of the things I heard today from my precious students. Here is what I felt like during one part of my day...I felt like I wanted this worse for my students than they do for themselves. Frustrating. I have some new ideas for tomorrow, though. Its a fresh day. A new start. My students will be fine. They will kick it into gear. The best part is that tonight, as I was laying with Jakob in bed, he looked up at me and said, "Don't give up, Mommy." Ah...thank you, God, for speaking to me through the still, small voice of my child. So, on with the fun, random stuff!

I hope this is the only time I have to see him 'assume the position!' He was so proud of himself for climbing up onto that part of his bed. He called it his 'trick!' Too funny!

I just love this! Last weekend, Jakob was really fighting a nap, so Daddy fixed it all in the recliner. Daddy was out a long time before Jakob was!

This is my brother, Brandon, and Jared during Red River Rivalry (it will always be the Red River Shootout in my heart!) weekend. We had a great time with Bubba until he got the stomach stuff! We will be gracious Sooner fans, though. We are just hoping for a Big 12 National Champion this year! Maybe Tech will have their chance again the Horns! We'll see! Have a great week!

Homecoming!

Okay, Barclay! Here they are! We had a great Homecoming football game this year...Tigers win! Really, that isn't all that unusual since we are 7-0. Jakob gets more and more into it each week as we watch the Tigers on Friday night, the Red Raiders, Sooners, and Longhorns on Saturdays, and the Cowboys and Colts on Sundays. He really has no hope!

Under the Friday Night Lights with one homecoming date in my arm and my other homecoming date in my ear!

Bryce, Jakob, and Barclay...Thank you, Barclay, for looking at my camera!

Rachel (Bryce's date), Bryce, Jakob, and Barclay

Whitney, Jakob, and Becca

Uh, oh! He's seeking wisdom from 'Brok-wee!'

Jakob helping Daddy out after the game!

Jakob ran around the field afterward yelling, "Mommy! I a Frenship TIGERRR!"

We needed to have a little conversation about mommy's needing a photo-op! Jakob just doesn't get it sometimes!

My two favorite Tigers on the "Big Bwue Paw"

We weren't even out of the parking lot yet! What a night!

Well, good morning to you, too!

Jakob and I are just getting our day started. You know, typical Monday morning filled with thoughts of praying something happened to cancel school today...no such luck! As I am getting his breakfast ready, he runs into the kitchen a bit panicked. (On a side note, does it bother anyone else that panicked has a 'k' in it when used in the past tense? I'm a bit annoyed at that!) He tugs on my leg, wrinkles his forehead in great concern, and begs, "Mommy! Get the booger out!" Fear not! Mommy and Kleenex to rescue! Looks to be a funny day!

Tippie Toes!

***UPDATE***Jared wasn't exactly thrilled that I posted these not-so-masculine pictures on the blog! If you see him, please tell him how strong and manly Jakob is looking these days! It will help me get out of the doghouse! ;-) Have a great Sunday!

These are a few weeks old, but I thought they were perfect for today! Jakob and I are watching the Red Raiders play, and hopefully stomp, A&M right now. First of all, I don't know how many of you know this, but there are no commercial breaks on Playhouse Disney, which is the only channel Jakob really watches. So, when you are watching a football game, it is hard to explain to a football-crazed 2 year-old why there have to be breaks in the action. He is entirely frustrated at the advertisers and continues to ask in a very whiny tone, "Why more, mommy?" We just scored our first touchdown of the game! Jakob, with hands above his head in perfect position is screaming, "TOUCHDOWN RRRED RRAIDERRRS!" I hope you can hear the thick Texas 'r's'! Okay, so anyway...I digress!

These pictures are from another Saturday of college football. Jakob came out of our bedroom chanting something about the 'Textek rrred rrraiderrrs' while modeling the latest in Red Raider fashion. This child bleeds football, red and black (Tech) or blue and gold (FHS) to the tip of his toes! Have a great football-filled Saturday! New post from Homecoming last night coming soon!

Blog-votional

I love it when some of you e-mail me or tell me in person how my blog makes you laugh. I love being able to share our quirky stories to bring some joy to your day on occasion. This post, however, is not fun and games. Its not bad, just a bit more serious. These last two days have been really weird for me. I have just felt a rustling in my spirit; a knowing that I needed to hear Something from Someone. I just wasn't quite getting the signal, I guess. I have been burdened since the death of our student three weeks ago. I hesitate to write any of this in great detail because I do not know which of our students read my blog. I never want to say anything that could be misleading or hurtful, so I will tread lightly and pray that those of you who are believers in Jesus Christ can read between the lines. After Felysha's death, I have been ever more aware of Christ's depiction in me. Do they see something different, really different, when they walk into my office? Am I, as the Avalon songs says, a dirty window for Christ's love to shine through? Is there any part of my life that would lead a student to know the saving power of Jesus? I am bound by laws that close my mouth in the halls of FHS...but, does my life speak where my lips cannot? Am I more interested in my students' register consistency (common voice issue) than there eternal salvation? May it not be.

So, in this thought process, I have just been seeking wisdom from the Holy Spirit, asking Him to reveal the areas of my life that must be changed in order to truly minister to those around me, especially my students whom I love so dearly. As I have wrestled with these things over the last few weeks, satan has been quick to attack. I have been anxious, scattered, and mostly...fearful. I have begged that God would show me the opportunities He orders in my day to minister to my students. But in these last days, I have been so incredibly fearful that God's name may be glorified in great loss...my great loss. In fact, last night, I was close to petrified of great loss in my life. What would people see if I had to walk down the road of losing my precious husband or my beloved child? Is that the most transparent way to show the Prince of Peace to an unbelieving world? I have been frozen in apprehension, beseeching God that He would allow other ways for me to show Himself to my world.

Last night, I somehow ending up on Bring the Rain, a blog that I don't even know how I got to! Goodness knows that I can blog-stalk with the best of them, but something was different when I went here. Know this...I sat for hours last night and into this morning reading this woman's heart. I cried. I worshipped. I sought out my God in my breakfast-bar stained recliner...and He delivered, just as He always does. Tonight at Bible Study, I had the privilege of sitting with a woman who lost her husband suddenly around 18 months ago. (That date is a 'to the best of my recollection' moment. Don't quote me on the time frame!) I listened intently as she shared her story, shared her encouragements to us. Here is what I know...my God is sovereign. He is in control, no matter how much this world reeks of chaos. He is my Comforter. My Provider. My Strength. My Refuge. My Peace. My Joy. He is all of these things and so much more. Am I still dealing with some crazy thoughts and fears? Yep. But, tonight, I have a renewed since of calm. My God is in the heavens, on His throne. I encourage you to check out the blog. She has an incredible gift with words and has quite a story to tell.

If you even came close to making it to the end of this...bravo. Next time, I promise to post something funny...

New Hair Style?

So, I found this really funny website thanks to my Oklahoma blogger buddies! It cracked me up with their pictures, so I decided to see myself in a new way. What do you think? Should I take the plunge of a daring new hair style?

Carla, 1952 I think I look a lot like my grandad here.

Carla, 1960 Jakob thought that I was my mom when he saw this one! I like the glasses, though!

Carla, 1966 Is it just me or does this style make my hips look wider?

Carla, 1968 I actually like this one a lot! Too bad there is NO way I would spend this much time in the mornings to fix my hair!

Carla, 1974 Do blondes really have more fun or do they just have better lighting?

Carla, 1978 See, this is really just a bad hair day for me in 2008!

Carla, 1980 This is the year I was born, so I was sporting more of the bald and beautiful look!

Carla, 1994 I swear to you that my sister had this hair style, and I wasted many-a-bottle of Aqua Net trying to get mine to stay this way. I think I ended up looking more like a stiff, tangled mess, though! Leslee, however, rocked this look!

Carla, 1996 I tried SO hard to have this hair! SO hard! I knew it would have looked good if only my hair would have cooperated...well, maybe not!

Carla, 1998 This is the year I graduated. I wish I knew where my senior picture was. I would scan it in to prove that I kind of had this exact look...a little longer, a lot darker, and a lot frizzier!

Let's see here...

Okay, so I just realized today that we have a webcam on our computer. Dumb. I know. But, I tried to figure it out since I have absolutely no clue how to upload a video from my actual video camera. Jakob was in a really silly mood tonight, as I am sure you will see! Hopefully this will work!

These Are a Few of HIS Favorite Things!

I have never been blog tagged...until now! Sweet Shalie tagged me to list some of Jared's favorite things, so here I go!

1. Jared loves to play Halo online. He loves it. He has played since we were early married. He loves it. I must say, though, that I am a pretty mean spotter for him. Did I mention that he loves it?

2. Jared loves to do anything outdoors. He enjoys to hunt and fish very much. He doesn't necessarily like to mow, but he deals with it fantasically!

3. He loves all things Frenship. He is a home-grown boy who came home to teach and help build the program who built him. He is a fantastic teacher and an even better musician.

4. Jared has a true passion for leading worship. He is incredibly gifted at planning, leading, and facilitating worship through music. He is really a fantastic guitarist and vocalist.

5. Jared is a fantastic cook when he has time to do it! He paid his way through college cooking at various restaurants in Lubbock and Plainview. Thankfully, he has a great memory and can reproduce many of our favorite recipes...especially Abuelo's papa con chile!

6. Jared enjoys weird and creepy sci-fi/horror movies. I can't stand them, but he enjoys them greatly! He is, however, very kind to endulge after Jakob and I have gone to bed!

7. We love watching football together...Texas Tech, Frenship, Indianapolis (in the good and the bad years), Dallas, OU...whoever!

8. Mostly, Jared loves Jakob and me. He is an incredible husband and father. He is a crazy-good kisser (our students will totally be grossed out by that!) and more fun that I can even say. I love to laugh with him, make music with him, and just sit watching football with him. I am so blessed by my God with the gift of my husband.

Hope you enjoy some old school pictures of the Hardy Three.

Next, I tag Erin and Becky!

Who knows?!

So, while trying to post my last entry, I deleted my bloglist! I don't even know how I accomplished this, but I did. So, if you don't see your blog over there, and you would like to, please leave a message, and I'll get you added! I still need "Blogger for Dummies."

Potpourri

What a week! Last Thursday morning, Jakob threw up and had 'the other stuff.' We thought, nay hoped, it was just something he ate. He kind of moped around for the rest of the day and was fine by Friday afternoon. Tuesday of this week, however, we figured that it wasn't a food issue...it was a bug! I crawled out of bed Tuesday night lunging for the toilet. Yuck. I am feeling much better tonight, though. We are hoping and praying (your prayers are appreciated too!) that Jared doesn't get it and that Jakob doesn't get it again! Ah! Anyway, I thought some new, random pictures might be nice! My brother is coming in for UT vs OU this weekend. My mom tried to teach Jakob to say 'Hook 'em Horns' while she was here last week. I think we've almost ridden him of that awful tongue! We'll see, though! There should be great pictures from our weekend together! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Look how focused he is!

Jakob is turning into quite the artist! Thank goodness for old-school 'water-color' books from garage sales! Its painting for the paint-free household! I don't exactly know why we painted such a sad face...hmmm.

He is also incredibly interested in food. He has a TON of plastic food that he 'cooks' for us all of the time. He puts the plastic cookies on the piano bench and then scoots the bench under the keyboard calling it his oven! He will bend over to 'look into the oven' and check the food. He'll get it out with his winter glove from last year and bring to us saying, "Careful...its hot, mommy!" So, I decided to let him 'help' me make some brownies last weekend. He helped stir the mix and then spread it in the pan. Obviously, I need to get better at letting him do it since my hand is still in the fat middle of this picture! Oh, well...the brownies were awesome!

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Gosh, I love these two goobers!

I apologize for the sad picture, but I wanted to give you a full image of what our home has been like over the last week. I mentioned two posts ago that my mom bought Jakob of ton of really great pj's, and that he wasn't taking them off. Well, from Spiderman to Batman on this day. He really didn't want me to take his picture which is why he has the awful face, but I just thought it was too priceless to leave out the full picture. Grey Converse and all...love it!

Jakob turned Daddy's chair into Jakob's chair tonight. Looks pretty comfy!

Too successful?

Well, I promised that I would report on our big day on Saturday, and here it is! We started this music in July and will continue in the process with those who move on each week until January with the All-State concert in February. Needless to say, this is a big undertaking! We started with 73 students at Frenship. This year, the music was incredibly difficult so I put new things in place to make certain that our kids were prepared. We ended up with 31 students going. Last year we had 13 students make the Region choir. This year, I was hoping and praying that we would have 15 students. Our Region put in a new guideline that I feared would hurt some of our kids. But, we worked incredibly hard to polish the music and went hoping for the best. In the end, 23 students from Frenship made the choir, more than our choral program has ever put in during its history! I could not be more proud, more tired, and more hurried at getting things together for the next round of music. Our next audition is November 14. We'll see! I hope that we will continue to expand on our success from last year when we sent 8 students on to the final audition. Needless to say, we are off to a good start! In the Hardy House, All-State season is like high school football...C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-V-E! We eat it up! Here's hoping that we have a full plate!

sol-mi-do

This weekend was our first All-State audition. We have three auditions total, but this one is the one that I really had my sights set on this year. I'll talk more of that later. My mom came to spend the week with us as she so graciously does anytime we have a crazy busy week with our 'other kids' so that Jakob doesn't have to move into the choir room with us! I cannot express how much I truly appreciate her doing this over and over again! Not only did she care for and entertain my sweet boy, she cleaned my house!!! I could die! Laundry, floors, dishes, toys...she will always by my mommy. I am forever in debt to her and in awe of her. Jakob had some great moments that she shared with us while we were off doing our day jobs! She brought with her a ton of new pajamas! Praise God! Jakob was still squeezing into the 18 month things! Anyway, they are great! She brought a pair of SpiderMan pjs that have 'webs' under the arms. They are like wings. He LOVED them! He slept in them Tuesday night and didn't take them off until Wednesday night after we literally peeled them off because he got refried beans all over them at dinner! That's right...Jakob ran all over Lubbock in SpiderMan pjs saying, "I Spider Man Jakob Hardy." Too funny! Here is Jakob and Nana this summer.

When Nana is here, one of Jakob's favorite things is to sleep in Nana's bed with her. On Friday night, as we were getting set for bed, my mom noticed that Jakob's feet were really dirty from running around barefoot all day long. She said in a joking voice, "You can't get in my bed with those dirty, black feet!" Jakob looked at his feet and said, "My feet not bwack...dey white. My friend Chief is bwack." Clarification...Kashif is one of our top students who is African American. I cracked up and was curious as to how he saw our other 'bwack' friends. So, I asked him what color Kandra was. Kandra is another of my private students who Jakob knows well. She is also African American and is much darker than Kashif. But, she always wears pink. Jakob informed me when asked, "Kandwa is pink." Then he began to name off other students...all caucasian in 'real' color. 'Bryce is yedow. Brokwee is red." He said it all so matter of factly. Then, it all made more sense when he started singing, Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world! I was rolling and so did our kids when I told them!

On Saturday, while Jared and I were gone for so long, I wrote Jakob a note for mom to read to him. He held it all morning long close to his heart and continualy asked Nana to, "Read Mommy to me." It was precious! He knows our choir kids so well, so it really did make sense to him to know that we were singing with our big kids. At one point in the day, however, Jakob was asking for us and mom was reminding him of where we were and what we were doing. She said, "They are singing with the big kids. You know, 'La!La!La!'" Jakob crinkled his face at her and said, "No, Nana! Its 'Sol-Mi-Do!'" Jared and I could have died! He is warped...no doubt about it!