Signs of Life : The Brownie Chronicles

A while back, I blogged  about the differences in rearing a Deaf child compared to a hearing child.  Something else came to mind this week as we were playing and being silly with the boys. In the past, when my kids were toddlers and were upset about something, I could often soothe them by singing a song with their name in it.  Other times, when we were dancing or being silly, I would have them follow me while I marched and chanted their name.  They would always look a little stunned, then grin from ear-to-ear and even get a little shy at the sound of their name expressed in such a fun way. Not long after getting back to the states with the boys, we were marching around the couch, playing follow-the-leader.  The kids and I started chanting Tian's name over and over again while clapping in unison and he loved it!  He reacted just like my older kids had when they were...

Several weeks ago, my friend Adrienne was perusing the internet and saw a call for nominations for a distinctive mom to win tickets to go see Motherhood the Musical and be named "Mother of Distinction."  She kindly thought of me and sent in a nomination.  I later learned a committee was formed to decide the winner and about 12 nominations were sent in. Earlier this week, she got a message saying that I had been chosen to receive the award!  I felt quite unworthy receiving such an award, but then I considered the title.  Mother of Distinction . I like that.  I was chosen because our family is certainly distinct.  Some would say weird, different, unique...distinct.  The fact that I'm the mom and wife in my family of distinction makes me a mother of distinction. Ken works very hard so that I can stay home and teach the kids here.  It was Ken who sparked the events that shifted our family and changed our lives forever...and for the better. ...

Continued from Part 1... Bring in iTunes and a few new downloaded albums: Lemonade Mouth: Lemonade Mouth  The kids wanted this after seeing the movie.  The songs are catchy, fun, and have encouraging lyrics. Toby Mac: Tonight  We love Toby.  We got the extended album and can't listen enough.  The kids want to hear more of Toby's son "TruDog" Truett.  I don't know why I didn't get this album sooner. The Afters: Light Up the Sky  Fun CD, the title track being my favorite song, but they are all good. Listening to one of Toby Mac's songs, Hold On, I actually had tears well up as I thought how glad I am they have these words in their hearts and minds instead of songs that end with "I wanna have you naked by the end of this song."  (And you who know me know I love me some Justin Timberlake.) Here's a portion of the lyrics from "Hold On."   (The portion that made me tear up. Mostly because I was thinking about my girls and how,...

Last week, I downloaded a few new albums.  After trying to listen to Mix 102.9 for a while, I decided it just wasn't worth any of us having that mess in our minds.  And I didn't even understand many of the lyrics we were listening to. Just out of curiosity, I looked up the lyrics for this week's top 40 in pop music. #1 Katy Perry Last Friday Night  All about getting drunk, acting stupid, being naked, having a threesome and ready to do it again next week. Starts of "There's a stranger in my bed."  Nice.  Number one song.  Wow. #2 LMFAO: Party Rock Anthem Again, party, drink a lot, lose mind, wanna see a girl naked. Actually one of the tamest of the top 5. #3 I was sad to read some of the lyrics from "Moves Like Jagger" because that song is so good.  The kids and I love the chorus, the sounds, the beat, and love Adam Levine when he's singing clean music. #4 and #5 Super Bass by Nicki Minaj and Lighter by Bad Meets Evil (Bruno Mars a...