Luke fiddling around with chords.

I love watching and listening

to my Luke fiddle around with chords.

He loves playing with the top

of the upright grand piano open

so the resonance is better.

He says he can

feel the music better that way.

And I love watching it.

He's got the touch!

(Just to be clear - 

this isn't a song.

He's just playing).

Luke Shelton 2020 Piano Recital

My Luke's 2020 Piano Recital.

May 23, 2020

His piano teacher held a virtual piano recital this morning at 10 a.m.

and this is the video of his piece.

"Carnival in Rio"

by

William Gillock

Great job, Luke!

O Holy Night (Anna - Dec. 16, 2012)

This is my Anna in December 2012.

She is singing "O Holy Night" 

in our church's Youth Choir Cantata.

I found it on an old phone today

and just wanted to make sure it got archived.

It is precious.

Her voice is beautiful.

This made me cry in 2012.

And it made me cry in 2020.

I love my Anna.

And I love her voice.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Wesley's First College Graduation

May 13, 2020

Today, 

my Wesley was supposed to be walking across a stage

to graduate from community college

after earning his Associate degree.

Due to the global pandemic which has caused

quarantines and lock downs,

there will, instead, be a

digital graduation

in June.

Since the graduation ceremony with students was cancelled,

Wesley's cap and gown order was also cancelled.

He can still order one at a later time

but not in time to take cap and gown photos for now.

Luckily, for us, 

Wesley's older sister's (Anna) first college graduation 

was from the same college back in 2016.

Although we could not find her cap anywhere,

we did find her gown, her 2016 tassel, her honor cords,

and her Phi Theta Kappa regalia 

(which Wesley is qualified to wear).  

Anna's gown was too short for 

my 6 feet 6 inches tall son

but we didn't care!

And, since we couldn't find Anna's cap,

I had to "make over" Wesley's high school graduation cap

from green to blue 

(which wasn't as easy as it sounds).

Thankfully, I had a reusable bag 

that was the perfect color!

I took a photo of Anna's 2016 on the tassel, doubled the 20,

and printed out a brand new 2020 for Wesley's year.

Not perfect, but it worked!

Wesley's reaction to all of this?

He said,

"At least there was a way to finish my semester

and I'm not like some of those who are having to 

postpone the rest of their year which will then 

mess up their future plans.  

At least I will get to

go ahead and complete my degree and transfer

to (the next college) and I will get to complete my

Bachelor's degree as I planned."

Of course, Wesley's response to not getting 

his first college graduation ceremony

was an "at least" statement.

For the most part in his life,

he always tries to keep "looking up."

(If you want to read what I wrote about that, 

click this link.)

I am proud of my boy.

He has worked hard on all of his class work 

and he has made the Dean's List every semester.

I am sad I won't get to sit in the audience 

with my camera's zoom lens ready to capture a photo

of my boy walking across the graduation stage.

But, as he said, I am thankful he was

able to transition to online classes

and finish his first college degree.

And, as for the cap and gown photos,

"at least" there was a way to

get those done as well!

I told Wesley we could retake his

cap and gown photos when he gets

his own cap and gown

instead of using Anna's things 

and the homemade version cap and tassel.

His repsonse was, "No, Mom, I want what

we did today. It matches what has happened.

A 'make do' cap matches my 'make do' semester."

We, in our family, 

know firsthand that the future is never promised.

So we always try to enjoy the moments 

in which we find ourselves.

Wesley,

I pray nothing will get in the way 

of me getting to watch you walk 

across your next graduation stage 

at that next college

in the future.

But, my Wesley Robert, 

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting 

to "make do" with this semester

and "make do" with your cap and gown photos

with a "made over" cap!

Congratulations, my Wesley Robert,

on your first college graduation!

I am SO PROUD of you!

I love you!

Always have!

Always will! 

Love,

Mama 

Mother's Day 2020

Mother's Day 2020

May 10, 2020

I enjoyed my Mother's Day,

despite the quarantine.

Since Anna has not been anywhere in public

for over 3 weeks and she is not sick,

I let her come inside our house

for the first time since January.

She was excited!

So was I!

So I was able to spend the weekend with

my Anna,

my Wesley,

and my Luke.

I received my Mother's Day phone call from

my Crystol and that made my 

Mother's Day complete!

They had fun picking some flowers for me.

I had fun receiving them.

And there were cards and a gift.

We had a great meal but the only photo

I took was of the strawberries on the cake.

It was a good day all around!

And, since I also want to remember

what they posted on their social media accounts,

I'm including screenshots of those.

From Luke:

From Luke:

From Anna:

(Wesley was busy all day finishing his college classwork that

was all due at 11:59 p.m. on Mother's Day Sunday so no post from him).

Lastly, I wanted to include photos of my mother.

She is in lock down at her nursing home

so we cannot visit her but I was able

to have some flowers delivered to her

for Mother's Day.

She has thoroughly enjoyed them since

they were delivered last Thursday

and a nurse was good enough to send

me some photos of her with her flowers.

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!