Tuesday's Best, Wednesday Style

a day late and a million dollars short.  that's what they always say around our house.  and by 'they' i mean me.

it's tuesdays' best, wednesday style.

tennessee.

all focused on one thing?  it's a christmas miracle.

peek...

...a boo

Tuesday's Best : My Favorite Collection Yet

20 seconds before gerald vomited on m&m.  even when he's not feeling well he's smiling this big.

big love.

the return of the coolio braid.

mohamed started singing a song from church and sweet mamie threw her hands up
 and started singing along with everything in her.  love this girl.

whistling and a hometown shout out for mom.  golden gophers!

Tuesday's Best

gerald sang us a song.

mohamed played drums with josh and told us how he was baptized in the ocean on saturday.

mamie told us about her school work and we talked about the 3 children who left the center on sunday and arrive in america, their new home, today.

geraldine got bored and went outside to play.

everyone got stickers.

just as it should be.

happy tuesday's best,

m

6.

drums.

twins = twice as many stickers on the wall.

one soldier down and my favorite lone tooth.

so. stinkin'. pretty.

Book of John

tim mcgraw has a new record out.  

one of my dear friends, jenn, has the title track, 'two lanes of freedom'.

another of my friends and respected co-writers has an incredibly moving song on this record called 'book of john'.

this is what music is all about people.  this.

what a beautiful way to honor your beautiful mom.  i'm so proud of you, greg.

listen/buy here.

(from greg)

A lot of my close friends already know this story, but for those interested in where The Book Of John came from and why it is such a personal sounding song, here's the rest of the story… Last year I was visiting at the hospital with my mom in Boston while she was battling cancer and my dad asked me and my brother to run home and get them a few items, sweatshirts, overnight bag, etc. . When I went into his closet (first time ever) I noticed a shelf of keepsakes, pictures, etc. The private collection that everyone has somewhere tucked away, that you see every day, that reaffirms who you are, what you love, that all at once lifts you and grounds you. There were pictures of mom from the 1970's, a bunch of us kids climbing on my dad, his parents, sports memorabilia, etc

The day I got back to Nashville I had my first co-write with Jon Nite. A tremendous writer. I was so emotional given the circumstances of mom's illness and the difficult trip I had just come back from. Being the great writer that he is, we went ahead and wrote the song that was in the room that day, which was Book Of John based on the experience of getting to know a loved one at a whole new level by discovering their hidden scrapbook after they've died. That's right, a death ballad on a first time co-write.

Months went by and later that spring mom passed away. The day after she passed, I was in her office, tears flowing, going through her photo albums gathering pictures for the memorial service and came across a black binder filled with her 'private' collection of awards, letters, pictures of her and dad as kids, etc. the Book of Mom if you will. So at the exact moment that I'm flipping through the pages weeping (literally the EXACT moment), my phone starts vibrating and it's Jon sending me a text that Tim had called for a lyric on Book Of John.

Two days later on the day of Mom's funeral, Tim recorded it. Tim friggin recorded it on the day of her funeral, are you kidding me? As happy as one is about a McGraw cut, it's taken me a while to hear the song again after Mom died, but I have to say... it sounds pretty great to hear it again now. I hope that knowing this story you will enjoy it as well. Thanks Jon.Thanks Tim. And of course thanks Mom. .

Tuesdays Best, Happy Campers, and the Number 3

this tuesday's best was quite the party.  guest appearances included: 

aunty melissa

 her mom, aunty pattycake

uncle jason

aunty geraldine (baby girl's namesake)

we had 4 very happy campers today.  they are loved and they know it.  

we turned the computer around to show them our disaster of a living room that we are in the middle of painting.  the furniture is squished in the middle of the room, tape and plastic sheeting everywhere, and dust bunnies are freely blowing around... but that didn't stop mohamed from proudly declaring "that is my house!  that is mine and gerald's house."  ignoring the fact that he completely left his sisters out of this equation, this struck me as new thought from him.  we have never spoken to the kids about our intent to adopt them.  until it is so real that we are sitting together outside of a courtroom, waiting for our turn to speak to a judge, i will not breathe a word of it around them.  if anything were to happen that ultimately would prevent us from bringing them home i couldn't bear for them to be as heartbroken as i would be.  i'm not sure i could live with letting them down to that extreme.  so no, we haven't uttered a word to them about it.  but things are beginning to change for their friends... and mohamed is figuring out what that might mean for he and his siblings (errrr brother).

uncle jason and his wife, aunty erica, are the founders of the raining season.  they adopted from sierra leone years ago, and decided that the things they saw were not ok with them.  they have fought, tooth and nail, for everything that i am a part of when it comes to sierra leone.  jason and erica are currently on the ground at the covering and will return to their home in nashville next week with fanfare that will surely have me bawling like a baby at the airport.  after 3 years of tenaciously fighting for their family, jason and erica will arrive home with 3 additions in tow.  i am already working on the sign that i will be holding at baggage claim.  i am also already practicing my you've-got-this-pull-it-together-don't-cry-like-that-it's-ugly face.  it's a work in progress.

but until next week's inevitable tears, there are this week's smiles.

aunty melissa

pattycake (melissa's mom, pat)

the top of uncle jason's head.  super great screen shot, megan... way to go!

aunty geraldine

gerald's muscles

aaaaand mamie's muscles.  

happy tuesday's best!

xo