"You are my sunshine....."

A really cool thing happened last night. M again pulled her "I can't go to sleep" routine, but I came in and sat down on her bed and wound up singing her a lullaby. When she was a tiny baby, we had to drive in the car quite a bit to pick up her big brother, E. When she would get fussy, I would sing a song that was really a combination of "I Love You Conrad (insert child's name instead of Conrad): and "You are My Sunshine". She would stay quiet as long as I sang that song...over....and over....and over...and over - sometimes for an hour or so. My voice would HURT. To this day, my kids think Sunshine is their song, that I made up just for them. Whenever they hear it, like on VeggieTales, they say "Mom! They stole your song!".

Last night I literally sang my 6 yr old daughter to sleep. I watched her drift off as I sang it. I got a very precious gift; a glimpse of the baby she used to be.

As much as I marvel at the little people they are turning into, physically, intellectually, and emotionally, it is really neat to be reminded that a simple lullaby can do amazing things. Turn back time, for one.

It Starts.....

Well, despite my very strong feelings that no one would really want to read anything I have to say, I've decided to give this blogging thing a go. I'm not really sure why, since any effort I've ever made to keep a journal in that past has lasted, oh, about 5 days. But we'll see. Maybe I'll let my family know I've done this, since they live on the other coast and we don't get to see each other that often. Heck, I'm pretty rotten about even calling on a regular basis.

So, just to establish who I am, I am first and foremost a wife and mother to four kids (21 - stepkid, 16, 6, and 5), next I'm a semi-professional flutist, also an accountant. I'm active at my church, in bible study and choir, and I like to volunteer at my kids' school. I'm a voracious reader, and really like to bake. I lead a pretty average suburban life, except that not too many suburban families can brag that they have monster trucks living in their backyard (more on that another time).

Can I just say, as part of this first entry, that my daughter (6 yr old), is as stubborn as a mule, and is just SO not a morning person?! She stayed up way too late last night SINGING to herself and complaining that she couldn't go to sleep. Well, duh. Then she got up around 10 pm to say that she needed to see what time it was on *another* clock (the one in her room is a digital). As a result of all this nonsense, little missy was an absolute beeeyatch this morning. We finally succeeded in a) getting her dressed, b) feeding her something that her fussy little self would eat, c) brushing her hair (our daily morning screamfest), and d) getting her and her brother on the bus. She's due home in about 10 minutes, and I sure hope she's in a better mood now.

So wish me luck....I'm gonna need it.