Car Talk

Normally, when driving in the car with my kids, I only hear one thing out of their mouths - "Turn IT UPPP!!!"

Usually when the request is made I'll have just started an important conversation like "What did you learn today?" only to be rudely interrupted by the demand that music be much louder, and my talking non-existent [I am allowed to sing however, well at least for the time being....].

And ironically, after the radio is turned up just loud enough that your ears are starting to think about bleeding, that's when they'll choose to continue the conversation we'd previously been having; which in turn forces me to have to turn the radio back down just to hear what they are saying, and the vicious cycle starts all over again.

But driving home in the car last night, things were different. There were still the usual demands of course, but a few fruitful discussions ensued.

For instance, when "Sweet Child of Mine" came on there were inquiries about instruments and which one makes what sound, just what is a guitar solo and why is that guy singing "Where do we go now?" , why does he want to go somewhere?

And when Peter Frampton came on with "Show Me the Way" [sincere apologies to my husband that I did not change the channel] we had our very first lesson about the talk box. A conversation which I'm sure will prove itself to be influential later in life. Especially the first time we drag them to see Bon Jovi.

But by far my most favorite conversation we had was not necessarily music-related, well, at least not directly. The boys had just come from Awana Cubbies, where they had learned all about the Bible story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus .

Hayden was retelling the story in detail and when I asked him what Jesus had done for Lazarus he said this "He brought him back to life, Mommy! Just like he did for Elvis!"

Of course.

How had I not made that connection? Especially after last week's conversation.

Sigh....

This proclamation from the mouths of babes can only mean one of two things. Either I've succeeded ten-fold at teaching them about Eternal Life, or instead I'm raising a couple of complete Elvis fanatics. Hmmm. Maybe its a little bit of both.

There's No I in Team.

But there is one in Playmobil.

F.A.V. goes Elvis

Yesterday would have been Elvis' 74th birthday. You know this. You also know its no secret that Elvis is big at our house. My kids were so excited it was his birthday yesterday that they asked me if we could make him some birthdays cards. Sure, I said, but we'll have to send them to heaven, because that's where Elvis is.

Don't ask me why I chose that route. I could have just said, "Sure lets do it!" and pretended to drop them in the mail. But no, I had to be truthful. I just couldn't lie. I've always sucked at lying. Just ask my parents.

So what started out as a innocent conversation turned into a full on discussion on heaven, how many years do we stay in heaven, why do we have to go into a box [this question being left over from a previous death discussion], how do you know when its time to go and lastly if Elvis doesn't live in his house anymore, who does? And can we go there? There was also some discussion over elves, and whether or not we are allowed to laugh at how small they are, though I'm not sure what that had to do with anything.

It was a rather deep conversation for the three of us, but it couldn't have been more appropriate. Discussing death on the birthday of the king of rock n' roll? This is exactly how I wanted parenthood to be.

So in honor of the E-man and my mothering skills, you'll be treated today to some of my favorite Elvis moments. You don't even know how lucky you are.

Tiger Man from the '68 Comeback Special...I never really thought Elvis was attractive...until I saw this. And you can be sure I'll be wearing sequined Elvis sweatshirts when I'm 80 because of it.


If I Can Dream, also from the 68 Special. This is Cash & Hayden's personal favorite. Which is a bit odd, since the usually proclaim "BOOOOOOORING" every time they hear a slow song. I guess they just know true genius when they see it. And you should see them perform it...



And lastly, Suspicious Minds. Because my favorite Elvis is early 70's Elvis. When the jumpsuits had just started and he was all about the dramatic ballads. If you only choose to watch one of these, I'd suggest this one. It's totally worth it for when he sings "Shove it up your nose" and for the all the killer dance moves, most especially the ones at the end.


And you? Do you have a favorite Elvis? Or a favorite somebody else?

It Went A Little Something Like This...

A re-cap. Of sorts. Most people wrote about their Christmas 2 weeks ago, you know, when it actually happened, but whatever. I like to make my own path. So what if it's a tardy one.

Our Christmas started with two glorious nights at Opryland Hotel. A place where everyone still thinks sequined blinking christmas -wreath sweatshirts and furry santa purses are 'appropriately festive'.



Oh, and they have something like 2 million lights all lit-up and stuff. It's real fancy. And real crowded. It was kind of like Disney, but with a lot less mice, and a alot more uh, scooters.



From there, it was on to Huntsville, Alabama - THE Rocket City, where we spent our Christmas.



This guy showed up too. I can't seem to shake him. He followed us everywhere...


[and he totally forced me to write a series of dumb notes and tell a few too many lame elf-themed jokes]

After Huntsville, we stopped in Birmingham, where my children schooled their great grandmother and great-great aunt on the plot developments of Spongebob Squarepants.


The Finer Points of Spongebob from emily hartley on Vimeo.

Next, it was time for the Queen City, Cincinnati. Home to Skyline Chili and some flying pigs. And me. There, we had Christmas. Again.



You'll never guess who tagged along.



He later spilled that powerade ALL OVER one of his notes I'd worked really hard on. Really. This guy was soooo starting to try my patience. I mean, it was after Christmas already, and he was totally starting to overstay his welcome.

Many important firsts happened on this leg of the trip....

1. My grandparents threw a bowling party. Possibly the best Christmas get-together in family history. Ever.



2. After my children expressed much love for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' we gave them their very first taste of Wayne's World. Which kind of just ended up making me feel really, really old. They loved it though, and that was totally worth the personal humiliation.



3. We made some gingerbread trees that could only be referred to as MASTERPIECES and then thought it was a good idea to let the boys actually EAT them. Later, all of their teeth fell out. Oh well. Saves on toothpaste.



4. And most importantly, my little Jedi finally got a couple of Lightsabers.



Wanting to master their skills of lightsaber handling and aunt and grandparent manipulation, the boys elected to stay a few extra days in Cincy, while Aaron and I headed home. Quickly. Before anyone could change their mind.

This plan resulted in many things, a little rest & relaxtion for us, much fun for my family, and my children mastering the lyrics to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" [sung here to the tune of uh, our spaghetti dinner]. I should be um, proud, right?


Pouring Some Sugar from emily hartley on Vimeo.

They got the chance to road trip back home to Nashville with my dad, which is always a treat, and hardly ever dull [Just ask me sometime about the great pepsi-as-winshield-fluid incident of '92].

Saturday night, I put away all the Chrismtas decorations [cuz you know I know how to party!]. I was really kind of proud of myself, as I usually really drag my feet on this part. I gave myself a big pat on the back of congratulations only to find this face staring back at me from the couch:



Our eyes met and only one word came to my mind. And I'm not typing it here. Let's just say the little guy is now on a very long vacation. To the Bermuda Triangle.

I can hardly believe the holidays are already over and we're already slamming right into 2009. I'm not sure I've completely recovered from all the excitement yet, nor have I even begun to catch up. I think this last picture pretty much says it all, so I think I'll just leave it at that....

F.A.V. New Years Edition

2008?

Officially the year that never was. I blinked and it was gone.

Hmph.

Story of my life.

[I'm just gonna pretend I wasn't pissed I couldn't embed this video. Talk about bad luck. The man is just trying to keep me down. Like some kind of ball and chain.]

Happy New Year y'all.

Love you, and you, and you, and Mike Ness? Love you too.