[digiscrap: OOOO Where Do I Start??]

SO much to say ... and not sure where to start. So I'll start with this:

Don't you just hate the yo-yo effect of life sometimes? I mean, a few days ago I was - once again - feeling gloomy and lonely, isolated and bullied all at the same time. What's with that??? Then the sun comes out (literally) and my own clouds of gray are lifted. I'm wishing that the weather didn't predict my own mood *grin* for there seems to be a real co-insiding of the two.

I went from these sad emotions to a glorious Sunday. I love my home church and the people in it. There's a real sense of "family" birthing there - and I have the privilege of being involved in the music there. Nothing is greater than people joining together in worship. Nothing. And for me, that says a lot - because I love to do a lot of things *grin*. So I came home in a state of euphoria - a real sense of who I am and why I'm here. Such a contrast to the day before ... such a yo-yo. Such a pain *grin*.

Then - I get this comment from "Yin". Did you read it? OH MY WORD. The woman made my day. Now - to those of you who DON'T know who she is, she is a digi-queen and has a bazillion (well, not quite) hits on her site to prove it. She creates fantabulous pages and gives out freebie templates from time to time. I snatch them up as quickly as she gives them out - and got brave a few days ago to tell her "thanks" for the ideas. I left my blogsite there, inviting her to come and check out my pages - NEVER thinking she would. But she did ... and left kind words to boot!! She actually asked if she could put some of MY pages on HER site. **clonk**. Sorry. That was me, falling over.

SO - now I have to step it up just in case she makes her way over here again *laughing*. And I'll need to start posting "credits" of the products I use too - which will be a huge deal b/c I have so much digi stuff on my computer - it's a little crazy. And if she reads this - she'll probably be horrified that she made my blog topic. But maybe she'll smile, and I'll have validated her the way she validated me *grin*. How nice would that be??

Ok. Tomorrow? Tias' very first Music for Young Children class (you can see him drumming videos here) is in the morning ...then off to see Toopy & Binoo (what on EARTH am I thinking??). Our dinner guests canceled, so it will be a quiet night of "Big Brother" and digiscrapping.

For you? I wish you a glorious day full of sun and no yo-yo-ing. Have a good one *grin*. And here are some of my recent layouts. Enjoy. Or not *grin*.

click images to enlarge

[talk: My Little Drummer Boy]

I'm not really sure EXACTLY when it started - but as long as I can remember, Mattias has been drumming. We would keep him occupied in restaurants by turning over glasses and giving him straws to hit them with.

For his first birthday, we gave him a single drum and by Christmas the same year, he had a little set with 2 toms and a cymbal. He played them so much, we had to use paper plates to repair the "skins" of the toms. Then - for Christmas, as the age of 2 - we got him a miniature kit including bass kick, high-hat and snare. It only took about 2 months for him to establish a simple 4/4 rhythm and play along with me as I played the piano & sang.

This year, at preschool, he brought his kit to class for "Show & Tell". It was a HIT ... it even brought in staff from around the building. One lady came up to me later and told me she had a jr. kit with real skins and wanted to know if I'd be interested in borrowing it. UM. YES!! So - Tias has 2 kits put together now, has a cow bell, and a Sabian Cymbal that he got for Christmas.

I'd be lying if I said he played everyday now. He doesn't. Mainly, it's my fault ... he used to play for an hour or two during the day, but with Josiah sleeping - I've had to curb that. And with the sunshine out - he's really not interested.

In the fall, he'll be in a 10wk music program with a focus on percussion. If he enjoys it, and I can handle Josiah through it, we can continue in 10wk classes.

Here's a video from that day at preschool. If you're interested in seeing more, go to www.youtube.com/taniakiwi . There are about a dozen or so there.