As LL Cool J might say, “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” No, literally. I’ve been here for years. This blog will turn 8 years old this summer. And like it once did so very long ago, this blog will rule once again. (What that probably means is that the next time I’ll blog will probably be, like, in September or December of this year.)
To start us off, I’ll treat this post kinda like ESPN’s Top 10 Plays in which they cover the top ten sports plays from the previous week of athletic play. But mine will only be five. And it will cover the last, well, several months. And there’s nothing that really qualifies these random five events/things as “top”. So I guess this post really isn’t anything like ESPN’s Top 10 Plays. Not at all.
Rain on it. Here we go.
#5 We bought a house. Our very first house ever. We’re a little late to the house owning party but we’re here and we plan to be the life of the party. The weather heading into our move-in weekend was amazing. The front of our house was just waiting to welcome us.
And then there was moving day. Hello, five inches of thick, heavy, wet snow. Nice to have you. In the middle of March. Sigh.
But check it: It totally didn’t hinder our excitement and it didn’t stop the nine amazing guys who traveled in the snow to help us out. [Um, not one person mentioned to me that owning house means that I no longer have a landlord to fix all of my problems. You're all fired.]
#4 So I’ve always had a bit of a, ahem, spare tire hanging out on my midsection but, well, it’s grown. So I decided to be diligent in my workouts and follow my so-called dieting rules [nothing but water to drink, no seconds on meals, no sweets, no eating after 8 PM, etc.] just to rid myself of the extra weight I gained. It didn’t work. This getting old thing sucks. I used to be able to shed extra pounds pretty easily. Now? Not so much. So I decided to embrace the poundage and throw it a party complete with wings and Dr. Pepper. Yahoo!
#3 I read my students the book Holes. For the character Mr. Sir, I used my best gritty, Texas drawl. For the Warden, I used a slow, southern drawl. I had the kids eating out of my hands. [Not literally because that would be gross. Really gross. For them and for me. But mostly for me cause my hands are really clean most of the time.] They couldn’t get enough. When we finished the book we watched the movie. Before the movie, I asked how many of them thought the movie would be better. All but one thought the movie would be better. After we watched the movie, every one of them realized the book was so much better.
#2 This summer, I’ve decided to tutor one day a week and conduct a mini home summer school for Sophia and Ira the rest of the time. Sophia’s struggling with math and Ira needs to keep up the work he’s started at school. I’m totally pumped to turn the basement room into a little school room. It’s gonna be fun. These kids of mine are gonna make big gains this summer. Just watch.
#1 I’ve talked about the church that Laura, the kids and I attend. It’s called Union Avenue Christian Church. What I love about Union Ave is how seriously it takes its communal worship time. There’s a lot of thought that goes into each Sunday’s service. One Sunday, we walked in to find two random guys sitting on the stage. Turns out they were percussionists. They joined the choir that day and played various instruments. (“During this morning’s service they will be playing this collection of instruments: djembe, kenkeni, songba, udu, kalimba, shekere, rattles/shakers, timpani, didjeridoo, Orff glockenspiel, metal water bottle, cymbals, gongs, wind chimes, buffalo drum.”) Being a part of that service was amazing. I even got out my iPhone to capture a video of the moment. It doesn’t do it justice but check it out here:
Did I say five things? I can’t end this post without mentioning Ira’s 6th birthday. He celebrated his 6th birthday yesterday on the 21st. He literally consumed my thoughts the entire day. I made this video six years ago and posted it on this blog six years ago. He’s come a long, long way.
Ira Lester Hays, you, sir, mean the world to me.
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CONGRATS on the new house! It’s beautiful! And Happy Birthday to Ira! What an exciting time in life! : )
Joe, loved the blog and especially Ira’s video. You and Laura should be so proud of that incredible family!
Great update. I will never forget sitting in my office (can it be 6 years ago??), watching the video and reading about Ira, and just weeping and praying. So very thankful to read this post.
I remember seeing this video 6 years ago and crying. What a beautiful son you have! Blessings to your family.
Praise God for that little boy’s life. I don’t know why, but I am so connected to him. He is like everything that Noah wasn’t. I saw this today and it comes the day after we celebrated Noah’s birthday. I think it was harder to see today than had I seen a week ago. But I am so thankful that you have Ira, your son, in your life today. I look at him and I see Noah.