this is only a test :

We’ve been home for over two weeks and it seems time I finally make up for not blogging every day and barely since. Let me preface what I do write by saying that I really did require one full week to recover. Besides doing the eight loads of laundry, cleaning up the bus and the house (thankfully, Josh didn’t live like a total pig while we were gone), and nursing some very sore feet, I contended with Miranda and Kaity, who each decided to surprise us with some post-convention milestones: Kaity began to crawl (watch out world!) and Miranda finally lay down the bottle. Tee-hee. That last one is an answer to prayer, though it also has meant a lot of trial and error with cups, straws, “choc-ate milk,” spills, throws, tantrums, and prevention of dehydration. Whew!

Speaking of tantrums and dehydration… NQC! No, I’m kidding… and getting ahead of myself. Being home for so long prior to recording our experiences has allowed me to put aside some of the emotions of it, and that’s a good thing. Now I have decided that instead of cataloging NQC08 chronologically or trying to keep track of every funny/poignant/notable thing, I’ll give you a “10 things” list. It’s not a top 10, it’s not “10 things I hate about you…” just 10 things that stick in my mind from our time at the 2008 convention. (Let me add here that these are my opinions, and not necessarily my husband’s. He is generally a more patient and mellow person than I am!)

1. Who cares about our table? Answer: just me

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While I continue to digest NQC and prepare the time to post about it, here’s a glimpse into home life tonight from my personal blog:

so much for that

Tomorrow, we had big plans: possibly the ‘mommy’ group I have been praying for since Miranda was born starts in the morning, and tomorrow night was scheduled to be “we have our house all to ourselves” for Rod and me.

So naturally, Miranda woke up a little while ago to a bed full of pot roast and carrots… and not because she had smuggled leftovers in a napkin, let me tell you.

As I held her and felt lovely warmth roll down my back (ew!), I really did smile and thank God for my babies. Earlier today, I read a blog from someone who had two miscarriages this year. So what is a little puke, a little chaos, a few more thwarted plans? It’s very little to trade for my miracles.

She is sleeping on our bed now, and we’re waiting for Rod to come home with the Pedialyte. I am a little worried because the new no-bottle thing means she didn’t drink very much today to begin with. We don’t want any IVs this time…

WE’RE HOME!

And… most of the time we were gone, I didn’t know where my computer even WAS, much less did I have time to sit and blog.

Sigh.

But, it was an amazing week and I have a lot to say about it.

(By the way… I didn’t run while we were gone either, though my feet hurt as though I ran a marathon! Flip side is that most of the days were so busy I only ate once a day…)

As for now, I am in the midst of catch up… about 6 loads of laundry, cleaning house (thanks to Paige and Josh for their help, and to their school for being canceled due to flooding today), grocery shopping (check!), putting STUFF away, and trying to get these poor babies some sleep in their own beds. Miranda is in here screaming right now, so I have to go.

Today was another day packed to the gills with activity. First we hung out some more at Aunt Sue’s. Then we went to Frische’s so Rod could inhale his first Super Big Boy plus onion of the week. Then, Aunt Reba sprung for Paige to get her nails done, so I got to spend another hour and a half in a salon (at least they fixed my mani from last night!). THEN, we made our major NQC-try-not-to-forget-ANYthing Wal-mart trip, after we went the wrong way, causing Rod to have to maneuver the bus through narrow curves and over a scary bridge, twice.

NEWS FLASH: I am typing this on Rod’s laptop and I hate it. Anyway…

We had fun at the expo center as soon as we got here. We met a new friend who is here for the first time and particpating in “our” showcase. The best part of this craziness is meeting new people. We unpacked a little and then I went to work on the tables in our booth while Rod looked pretty (inside joke) and Paige chased Miranda around. Oh, and Kaity just hung out and took it all in and smiled and giggled. She gets a kick out of the rest of the Burtons as we run around like crazy about everything. I love my little angel.

All the angels stayed on the bus after we dined on amazing Kentucky Aunt Leftovers… meatloaf, sweet potato casserole, orange sherbet salad, and so on. Miranda is starting to make “mmmm-hmmmm” noises when she eats, and the food we had over the weekend has been very worthy.

Rod and I spent quite awhile on the booth trying to make it look “perfect.” For the record, it doesn’t. There is so much more I would like to do with it, so many details I didn’t have the time or resources to cover, but it looks pretty good, especially considering it’s only our second year here. What a difference a year makes! Last year we walked into this huge and hugely populated event having no idea what to expect. And this year, we sort of feel like we have the run of the place.

Rod said he feels like this week could be life changing. I suppose it could be. I almost always feel like I am on the edge of something, so I say, “Amen”… in the traditional sense of “so be it.” Let the life changing week begin…

… after I finish my Oreos and chocolate milk with a cough medicine chaser while watching I Love Lucy. Does life get better than this?!

PS: It could… Bobby and Sharona, WE MISS YOU!

We made it through Friday incident-free. It took us about 3 hours, WITH my dad watching the kids, to load the bus. Once on the road, it took me about an hour to put everything away. Yes… a singer, his wife, a teenager, and two babies living in 400 square feet for 10 days. Just imagine.

Rod’s concert was at a great church that holds Friday night singings in the basement, complete with dinner and an open mic time. These are great venues for loud toddlers, and dare I say, talkative senior citizens. I am really protective of my attention when Rod is singing. Like, if Miranda gets hungry, I’d feed her a dust bunny just to keep her quiet (c’mon!). But there was a sweet, scripture-minded lady there that found me and wanted to talk. All night. Well… at least I will get to hear “Walking in the Light” a few times at NQC.

We drove toward Richmond, KY until we were about to pass out (meanwhile, it took Kaity and Miranda FOREVER to reach their sleep points). We spent today with a small Burton family reunion here in Richmond. I was forced to eat carb-laden, buttery, fatty, sugary foods until I could have rolled off to happy land. Then I was forced to leave the babies with Rod, Paige, and the Aunts while I went with cousin Mindy to get a mani/pedi. Yep. Awful day

Tomorrow we head to Friche’s for a Big Boy, Walmart Supercenter for just about everything, then to the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center to set up our booth. NQC, here we come!

We leave tomorrow for a TEN DAY road trip on the bus… Rod, me, Paige, Miranda, and Kaity. It’s going to be interesting to say the least. Rod sings in Indianapolis tomorrow night. Then we head to Richmond, KY (just outside of Lexington) to spend Saturday with his relatives there. None of them have met Kaity yet and several of them are GREAT cooks. Last time we visited there we were doing Atkins and had to miss a lot of homemade biscuits, cobbler, and casseroles. NOT THIS TIME! (Yes, I am bringing my running clothes).

Sunday, we head to Louisville for National Quartet Convention. We will be “expo-ing” there Monday-Saturday, which is basically displaying ourselves and all our wares for 5-6 hours a night while catching up with gospel music friends from all over the country while meeting and networking with new ones. Oh… and possibly eating ‘Aussie chips’ and deep fried SNICKERS. It IS all about the food for me, friends.

The big thing, at least for me, is the Angelic Showcase » Continue Reading

Two weeks since my last post, two weeks until National Quartet Convention.

We had a road trip this past weekend, and we are in full speed ahead NQC prep mode. Hence, not much time to write here. I have stories to share aplenty. Please stay tuned.

I don’t have a lot of profound things to say right now. I am feeling really grateful for where my life is. God has recently given me a sense of focus, peace, and assurance that I have been missing. I am feeling secure in my current ‘role’ in life. I am grateful for my family and friends. I am excited about our future.
That said, this past Saturday night was a culmination of many of those things. Last week, sitting on our bus with my mom, I asked her if she ever thought in a million years she’d be riding on her son-in-law’s bus with her daughter and two baby granddaughters. Of course, she said no. Life in the Chicago south suburbs, and life for me in general, never really pointed in this direction. It just happened. And what happened on Saturday night was a celebration of Rod’s new CD (I am so proud of and in love with it), and our baby girl Kaity, who was dedicated to the Lord.

We had a lot of family and friends there with us for the concert/dedication/party. And especially of note, we had the Jay Stone Singers there. We just met them in February of 2007 when Rod was singing at the Northmen’s homecoming. And it was just one of those things… we clicked with Bobby and Sharona Carter and have become like family. Our kids, who are different ages and have led pretty different lives, act like siblings (though I’ve told Stone he has to pick one of our three daughters to marry…). Though they live in North Carolina, we have been with them five times already this year and will see them again before it’s over. On top of this, their music has blessed us.

So it was quite a pleasure to have them with us, and it was so much fun to hear Bobby and Sharona sing live with Rod, as they did most of the background vocals on the new CD. They are also Kaity’s godparents, and together with Rod, they sang “Eagle Song” for her. It was beautiful.

It was also fun to introduce Sharona’s parents, Mr. Jay & Mrs. Mary Stone, to downtown Chicago. Of the many memories of that day, this picture is one of my favorites:

~.~

Now for something totally different, something I can’t shake: Did you see any of the interviews that the Steven Curtis Chapman family has given in the last week? They appeared on Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and in People magazine to talk about the accidental death of their baby girl Maria… and the amazing healing of the Lord in their lives. I have hesitated to write too much about it here. I don’t want to seem like I am exploiting their pain. But, I have been so incredibly moved and touched and affected by this, partly because of the generous, respectful sharing of the man who runs this blog. I am not sure why… all I know is that I continue to cry for them and pray for them… and I also believe that God is going to do incomprehensible, amazing things through a truly awful situation. If you don’t believe me, Christians in particular, check out this video. Imagine a world in which an icon like Larry King is changed by the testimony of others. I am imagining it, praying for it, and liking that possibility. Let’s challenge ourselves to show the kind of faith that moves everyone around us.

There are reasons I haven’t posted in several weeks. They include:

- Miranda being hospitalized overnight for dehydration. Talk about a perspective check! Even though I knew she was going to be fine, spending a night with my baby crying for a drink and not being able to give one to her… it makes me see a lot of things a lot more clearly.

- Seeing clearly is a good thing, because last week my family suffered a blow that I’m not sure I can blog about publicly yet. I will say that someone we loved has passed away, and we were not reconciled with this person, and essentially, the passing has brought about opportunity for others involved to remind us just how “un-reconciled” we are. Yeah… Even so, I have had such amazing peace in the last seven days that once again, my faith in the Lord’s goodness and grace has been completely strengthened. He has brought to my heart and to the forefront of my mind (which has been quite the battleground since this happened) one simple and amazing truth: He does not always give us what we want, but He always, always gives us what we need.

- During the week in between Miranda’s hospital stay and the death in the family, Rod and I were terribly sick. Turned out I had a sinus and throat infection and bronchitis, and he had a sinus, throat, and ear infection. Because we both waited far too long to go to the doctor, we spent several restless nights and challenging days because, as you know, we can’t always just stop the world and crawl into bed when we feel bad. Miranda was still quite ill and not herself and therefore in need of “MAMA!,” and her little sister Kaity, who thankfully did not get sick, is still only 5 months old and kind of needs me, too. All of this was an exercise in patience and humility. Sometimes, we make bad decisions, and sometimes, we need help.

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