Punk rock or Rainbow Hair?

Ryan (my 5 yr old) attended Vacation Bible School last week at IBC. This year he actually loved it! We tried it last year, but it didn't work out. He cried most of the time on the first day, and he had told me he didn't want to go back. I think it was too overwhelming for him....300 kids screaming and singing...it's a lot for a 4 yr old to take in.

So this year, it worked out great....he was so excited! After the first night he literally talked the whole way home! He just had a blast.

This year's theme was SonWorld....learning about Christ through an amusement park. Each night was a "theme"...such as tacky tourist, where the kids had to dress up in mismatched outfits, or groovy night, dressing in 60's fashions. One night was crazy hair night. Since Ryan is a boy and has a short haircut, I had to get a little creative.

How's this for creativity?And mommy got into the fun too.




We were rockin the hair do's.

The 3 "r's"...reading, writing, and revising

I haven't posted about my book in quite some time. Just wanted to update on the progress. Yes, progress has actually been made!

I am currently revising/editing, and am finished with Part 1! Woo hoo! That was the hardest one to revise though...I had a lot of changes to make and rewriting to go along with that.

Part 2 and 3 shouldn't take nearly as long since it's more minor changes. Then I will have Monica read through it again and make more changes. It's a never ending battle!

But yes, I still am working on it. It's slow going, but it's still in progress. Hopefully someday you will be able to pick it up at your local bookstore! :)

Pictures from the Great White concert

Some pics as promised from the Glendale Heights IL show. I took almost 50 pictures, but I only put a few here. Check out my myspace page if you want to see all of them! Jack Russell, the lead singer, and Mark Kendall, lead guitarist.

Michael Lardie, rhythm guitar and keyboards, and Scott (ok, please forgive me, I don't know his last name! He's only been with the band for about 2 months), bass
Me with Michael Lardie :) He is sooooo gorgeous!! *sigh*

The party girl lives

I haven't posted at all about all the concerts I've been going to. Remember back in Dec I went to Night Ranger? Yeah, well, that started it all. Then in Jan I saw Great White and actually met Michael and the rest of the band. After that, I was "hooked". If they were coming within a 2 hour distance of me, I was THERE.

I had to wait until June, but I was so there. I again saw Great White in June in Waukesha, opening for Bret Michaels. It was a good show. Not the best I'd seen, since they were opening they had a shorter set list and didn't do a meet n greet afterwards. But I did get to hang out with my friend Julie and her two teenage kids from Indiana, so that was cool.

July 2 I saw Night Ranger again down in IL. I met up with Pattie, though I didn't get to hang out with the band this time around since they had to head out for their next gig right away. But it was an awesome show....they sounded incredible and I love their new song! (check out their new CD out in stores now! LOL)

July 12...I saw Great White again..playing in IL. I was debating on going since it was a longer drive and almost all of it done in construction (IL is completely redoing their expressway....so it's a big pain to drive), but I couldn't turn down the chance to see them. Come on...my favorite band of ALL time? yeah. Had. to. go.

Good thing I did...because it was the BEST. SHOW. EVER. It was at a festival in Glendale Heights IL..a northwestern suburb of Chicago. Only takes about an hour and a half to get there. To be perfectly honest, I definitely prefer the smaller festivals/venues to the bigger ones. The smaller ones you have a better chance at front row and a better chance of seeing the band. :)

I got there about 3:30pm. I received a call from Julie telling me she was at the hotel and wouldn't be coming until about 4:30pm. no problem. I just hung out at the festival...went on a ride, had a funnel cake, walked around a bit. I was just about to sit down in the area by the stage when she got there. We hung out for a while, until we saw Dave and Gayle. We sat down by them and chatted. The worst part about going to a show is the waiting beforehand!! I always like to get there super early to secure a front row spot. I passed by the time by talking quite a bit with Gayle (great woman...she is awesome!), and Dave showed me his pics with the band. (Dave is a roadie with the band).

At 7pm there was an opening band called Backstage Pass. They actually were pretty good. They do covers of 80's rock. I love that they were really into the crowd...the guitarists came down off the stage and into the crowd, the lead singer came out onto the platform up front frequently, touching people's hands. They handed out "backstage passes" haha to people. It was just their little gimmick, but it was cute. They also handed out white roses to the females....so I ended up with a rose. Very nice.

After their set, was the one and only, Great White! woohoo!! They came out pretty much on time, and started the show with Call it Rock N Roll. They sang many of their hits, plus Mark sang Rooster, Jack sang Paradise off his For You CD, and Michael sang Lovin' Kind :) They were totally amazing at this show. The sound was perfect..absolutely no sound problems at all, Jack sounded incredible...his voice was flawless. And all the boys were in really good moods...constant smiling and goofing around on stage. The crowd was into it, which I think made the band more into it. It looked like they were just having a blast out there.
I know Michael saw me...he was looking my way quite a bit. Not that I know he was looking at me directly, but he was looking my way a lot! :) They played for about 2 hours. The best 2 hours ever! LOL

After the show we stuck around the stage for a while, then wandered our way to the merchandise table. Dave said they wouldn't be doing a meet n greet; the boys were going to go back to the hotel. I stuck around with Gayle for a while..she had to wait for Dave as he was her ride home. Good thing I did stick with her! After the police decided to kick everyone out of the festival, (it was after closing time), Dave told us to come backstage so we wouldn't get kicked out. So I followed Gayle (since I felt like a duck out of water LOL) and we went in the tent where the band was. Michael was standing behind the table and silly me didn't say anything to him at first...and Gayle looked at me like I was crazy! She asked me "Why didn't you say anything to him?" And I said "I can be shy." And at that exact moment, Jack, the lead singer, who was standing next to Gayle but had his back turned, turned around and looked at me "Shy? Aw, Why are you shy?" LOL I ended up talking with him a bit..shook his hand. But I was so taken aback at his comment I never even thought to get my picture taken with him. Duh. LOL

After that Michael was around again, and Gayle called him over. I got up my nerve and said Hi. :) I even got bold enough to ask him for a hug!! :) *sigh* And yes, I did get a hug...a very nice, long, wonderful hug, with a little squeeze. :) He is such a good hugger! I like hugging him because he's closer to my height....my chin rests on his shoulder so it's nice and comfy :)
Afterwards I asked for his picture so I got my picture taken with him. It turned out perfect...he has a nice smile on his face..and well, I'm beaming. LOL
I also asked him if he will ever reply to my message...rather bold of me but well, it was now or never. He had a dazed kinda look on his face, so I wasn't too sure he remembered me. I started to explain who I was, when he said "I know who you are!" LOL He knows me!! :) Of course, at this point in time, I don't know if that's a good thing or not!! haha But he never answered my question since he moved on to someone else. I'm not too sure he wanted to answer it....probably thinks I'm a psycho fan!! (get this crazy chick away from me!!LOL)

I also got to talk to Scott for few minutes. He is the newest member of the band...and he is so sweet. He fits in so well with them...like he's been playing with them forever.
I didn't get to talk with Audie or Mark this time. Hopefully next time.

Then it was all over. The band left, and I was on my way home. It was a late night...didn't get to bed until 2:30am, but so well worth the loss of sleep. I was running on pure adrenaline the whole next day!

I will post pics in the next post. This one is long enough!! It's taken me all day to write it! LOL

Again..the BEST. SHOW. EVER.

I will be seeing them again Aug 23 in Greenwood. They are headlining with LA Guns and Nelson opening for them. The whole gang will be there so it should be a rockin good time. Can't wait!

Are you worthy for Toby?

I know, this is a silly little high schoolish quiz, but I had to.

One of my favorite shows is Degrassi (both Old school and the Next Generation), and when I saw this quiz I thought it was cute.

Am I worthy to date Toby?

Answer: You bet I am!!

Boys in a tree

My boys seem to love being in trees. I guess they are training to be "Men in Trees" haha.
I have a picture of Ryan sitting like this in a tree when he was about 17 months, so we just had to do it for Kyle too. It turned out perfect. They love to be outside!