family

Mayhem and the Mandolin

/ Katie / 8 Comments

Y’all, my heart is so happy.

My parents came to visit last week. Graham’s work has been insane, and some nights he’s been up until 3:00 a.m. or later. We were struggling. We were both tired, our house was a mess. The cat’s feeling neglected. I don’t even want to talk about laundry.

We needed help. And we got it, and more.

My family has always done music. I’ve posted about it a lot, and I’m just so elated that Lucy seems to love music, too. My dad brought out his mandolin, and she was just fascinated.

Absolutely entranced. And she wanted to try it for herself.

She cried when he put it away. She’s never done that before, with any toy. (We got it back out and gave it back to her, of course.)

These little moments, they just keep coming. Lucy is an easy baby, but life around her has been generally chaotic. These sweet new memories make all that chaos seem like nothing at all.

Music and Family (and a Crowd-Pleasing Singalong!)

/ Katie / 17 Comments

In my family, it’s not a reunion unless there’s music. There’s always a guitar or three, someone singing, a harmonica and a mandolin in the background – you get the picture. A family day just isn’t complete without some good noise. And now that Graham’s family is part of my family and vice versa, it seems only right to share the music. Which is exactly what we did this past weekend.

And of course, I want to share it with all of you, too. 😊

So, here’s a favorite of mine and my dad’s, written by Gillian Welch:

And here we are goofing off on a crowd-pleaser, Wagon Wheel, with a family singalong and a cute mash-up.

We had so much fun, and I think the family did, too. I hope we all get to come together again soon, but until then, I’m grateful for the time we had, and for the happy memories.

A Weekend Break

/ Katie / 15 Comments

Graham and I will be spending time with family this weekend. We’ve not seen some of these folks in ages, and we’re so excited. 🙂 So, in light of that, I’ll be taking a short break from posting. I’ll be back on Wednesday, June 22nd, though, hopefully with some good stories to share and good memories to keep.

Be sure to check back next week, and in the meantime, happy creating, y’all!

Making (Musical) Christmas Memories

/ Katie / 8 Comments

Hello from the other side! Of Christmas, that is. We had a wonderful holiday – busy, but so good, and I’m grateful for it. We ate lots of delicious food, spent time with my parents and a few good friends, and made so many happy memories.

And, you know me. Of course, there was music. So we made some musical memories, too.

I mentioned in a post a few months ago that Graham had really taken to the mandolin my Dad brought the last time my parents visited. This visit, we were able to actually sit down and play a couple of songs. It was so much fun, and so cool to see Graham get more comfortable. And luckily, my mom took a couple of videos. I wanted to post them here, because good memories, and especially good music, should always be shared.

This one’s an old gospel song I used to hear all the time growing up.

And here’s a new classic.

Both songs were keyed a little low for me, but it made things a little easier on Graham, so it’s all good. 😊 I hope you enjoyed listening!

And I hope you had a lovely holiday – or, just a lovely weekend – as well!

True story, y’all…

/ Katie / 11 Comments

My mom and I were having a funny conversation a couple of weeks ago, talking about how stubbornness runs in the family. Like, both families. My dad’s and my mom’s. And so I come by my stubbornness honestly, and I told her that. I added that out of the three of us, I thought I was probably the least stubborn, and my dad was the most. She said she’s much less stubborn than me. I told her she’s absolutely more stubborn than I am. (Though we both seemed to agree that my dad is the most stubborn of all of us, so there’s that, I suppose.)

This (good-natured) back and forth went on for a little while, and then Graham (poor Graham), came upstairs to make a cup of coffee. So of course, I asked him to settle the matter and declare which of us – my mom or me – was the least stubborn.

“Your mom,” he said. “You’re so much more stubborn than your mom.”

She burst out laughing. I objected. The conversation eventually moved on.

And then I sat down today to write a poem for the blog. I wasn’t even thinking of the stubbornness conversation. Honestly, I was sitting in my chair looking outside at the sunshine and the cardinals in the yard, happy as a clam.

But, well, this is what I wrote:

Please, by all means,
tell me I can’t.
There is no better way
on the face of this planet
to ensure that
not only can I,
I will.

Y’all, I think Graham may have been right…