Edie Wadsworth

My son,  Taylor-on acoustic and vocals

Andrew-on guitar and keyboard
Stuart-on bass
Daniel-on electric guitar
and Jay- on drums…..new drums,  his mom told me….
They were the opening band for a concert called YouthQuake that featured Jeremy Camp,  Stellar Kart, Superchick, ArticleOne,   and our boys…..The Verity!
They played three songs and did a great job.    I suppose I could possibly be just a wee bit biased…..but they are really talented musicians and are really great kids…ahem…..young men,  I mean.    
They played to their largest crowd ever…
and to very excited family members….you could even call these family members giddy….
They got there very early on a gorgeous,  albeit chilly October Saturday,  to set up all the equipment…..Taylor’s cousin Corey was a great help.
While cousins and girlfriends  and sisters drank hot chocolate trying to stay warm….
Taylor tunes his guitar……

 takes time for hugs for his Grannie,  Aunt Gina, and cousins……

while Morgan,  Caiti, and Kaley  work the ‘merch’ table….(that’s concert lingo for merchandise….I’m learning all kinds of stuff)
and Emme ‘hangs’ onto Morgan (Taylor’s girlfriend) the whole live-long day!   Thank you Morgan.   And our dear little (or not so little anymore) Hope celebrates her 12th birthday!
We saw talented performers such as Stellar Kart……
Article One…..
and Superchick…….
and although Cindy and I were given ‘backstage’ passes to take pictures of the performers…….(apparently the real photographer was very late to show up)
we were mostly just in awe of our own young men…..those same young men who were just yesterday playing t-ball and learning to swim and fiddling around with the guitar.   Our boys are leaving us very soon and I couldn’t be prouder of the men they are becoming.   The concert promoter who requested our photography skills may be surprised when I email him 138 pictures—127 which are of  Taylor.    I don’t need a backstage pass to get these kind of photos. 
 As the evening wore on,  it got darker and colder…..and we got tired……..
and hungry, while we waited for Jeremy Camp to perform…..
who finally did….but by that time……
some of us were…..
too tired to enjoy it. 
It was a long fun day and I’m so excited for the boys that they got this wonderful opportunity to be a part of such a big event.   This post and this scripture are dedicated to them.

  

We started the day with this on the board:

then we studied this:  
and Elea decided her fatigued little fingers couldn’t color one more thing….
and Emme decided she couldn’t see AT ALL without wearing MY glasses…..
so in my hormonal/psychiatric/crisis state of being,  I loaded them up and we went to the courthouse and McDonald’s.    Don’t be scared.  No,  I am not planning to feed them burgers and then turn them over to state’s custody.   Although they may request that by the end of the day. And Emme for some reason thinks that wearing a tank top over whatever else she has on is quite stylish.   I didn’t fight it.  I don’t even trust my fashion sense right now.
and when we got to the courthouse to renew our vehicle tags,   Elea had brought no shoes…..so we dug around in the car and found jazz shoes.   As if the dirty shirt,  dishoveled side ponytail, and McDonald’s paraphernalia weren’t ghetto enough…….
Jazz shoes……this is not subtle folks…….
and tank tops over everything…….
So,  to top off our afternoon ‘outing’  there was a ‘wedding’ of sorts going on in the hallway of the courthouse right beside the county clerk’s office…..in the hallway…….but who am I to pass judgement?  My daughter has on jazz shoes.   She fit right in with the ‘wedding party’  who were wearing black jeans,  black concert/nascar t-shirts,  with the groom sporting a ball cap.   Elea could have been a make-shift flower girl….heck,  she could’ve  done a little jazz number for that matter.  Had we known.    My girls discussed at length the peculiarity of wedding vows just a few feet away from the vehicle registration.   I’ve got my own crisis here…..which I can’t explain….so what makes you think I can explain this?    Homonyms and insect body parts…..I get.     Weird, lengthy ‘funks’ and shady courthouse weddings in nascar apparel,   I don’t get.

To keep our afternoon from leaving us with more questions than answers,  we went to the park.

which always makes everything make more sense.   At least shoes are optional here.  Any advice for shortening the duration of ‘funks’ would be welcomed.  Thus far,  I’ve tried chocolate,  new boots, exercise, blogging,  crying,  herbal remedies,  and repentance.    Repentance is winning out so far.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

So,   there we are….our unique little blended family of  Malachi (25),  Savannah (24),  Marcus (21),  Nicholas (18),   Taylor (18),   Caiti(16),  Emaleigh (8),  Elea Grace (6)……and Steve and Edie who will remain ageless and timeless.    Just kidding.  I wish.     Given the ages of our children,  can you guess how old we are?  And for those who don’t know us…..the first four children listed  are Steve’s,  the next two mine,   and the two little ones “ours”.   It’s hard to believe the changes that life brings from year to year.   It also might be hard to believe that we often speak of adopting.   Maybe some people were just meant for big families!   Maybe certain people think it’s just as easy to make four loaves of bread as two or two pans of lasagna as one. We are both just ‘those’ kind of people who will never quite fit the mold….who will choose to be home over almost everything else and who will choose the road less traveled.   Nearly every time.