Living on a movie set!!

What an amazing weekend!

Every spring downtown Franklin is closed down and transformed into a big production - the Main Street Festival. There are all kinds of vendors....artists, crafts people, any kind of "fair" food you can imagine, a beer garden and lots and lots of live music. One whole street is set up as a child's dream....inflatable castles and slides, petting zoo, pony rides, rock-climbing wall and much more. We look forward to this weekend each year.

As an extension of the festival there is a small carnival that sets up a couple blocks from main street and it arrives a few days early. So we began our weekend by spending friday night watching the dear boy ride all of the little kid rides....which he adores! He also got brave enough to ride his first big-boy ride...the ferris wheel...I love! So he and I got on and Josh waited...he is not a fan. I wasn't sure if he would love it or hate it and on the first time around he screamed bloody murder...I thought it was all over. But on the second time around I put my hands into the air and began laughing and to my surprise he did the same. He is officially converted....loves the thrill!

Saturday we had a soccer game and then Josh and I went into Nashville to see Jason Mraz and the Dave Matthews Band play at Vanderbilt Stadium. Such a blast! Dave Matthews always makes me think of college. The dear boy stayed home with a babysitter...he loves her so everyone was happy!

Sunday after church we spent the whole afternoon at the festival. We bought some new art for the house, listened to some amazing live music, had lunch and the little guy exhausted himself at the kid's area. The funny thing is each year at this event I overhear visitors to our sleepy little town...they always say the same things....our town is like out of a movie, or like it isn't real...too good to be true. This always reminds me how lucky we are to live here and how life is good living on our little movie set.

Today I was riding in the car with my son, on my way to replace the glasses I broke in the night. Strangely enough I sleep in my glasses, odd I know. I can't stand the feeling of waking up and not being able to see. But I digress....

So he was talking non-stop but quietly so I asked him who he was talking to and he said "Invisible." I said how nice it must be to have an invisible friend and asked his/her name. I was informed that Invisible is NOT an invisible friend, but rather the invisible form of my son. So I'm guessing we now have my dear boy's subconscious riding around with us and weighing in on everything we do. 

I asked for a lunch suggestion. The dear boy replied he would like a healthy salad from Meridee's (local restaurant) but that Invisible insisted we go to Chic-fil-A. Sad thing is....Invisible won. You really do have to pick your battles and I refuse to fight this one!!

On a side note there is an amazing new artist I am just in love with. Bibis Ellison. Her voice reminds me of the Baptisit church "singings" I went to as a child...pure talent. 

Check her out...Dear boy said and I quote "whoa she is something awesome!" The video is a little gift from the folks at Southern Gothic Productions. They will be producing Bibis and bringing her to us digitally very soon. I personally can't wait. Thanks guys!

What makes a king?

Picture it...Tupelo, Mississippi....April 7, 2009    

I am visiting my sister and her family with the dear boy. Josh stayed home to work. It is spring break. We are in the car.   

dear boy - moma why are there no sidewalks where aunt joannie lives?

(my sister lives outside the city on several acres)

me - aunt joannie lives out in the country because she doesn't like neighbors

dear boy - how does cooper(cousin) walk downtown like we do at home?

me - he can't do that out here

dear boy - well i wouldn't want to live here because there are no sidewalks

me - well we aren't moving to tupelo so don't worry about it

dear boy - why do some people move to tupelo?

me - lots of reasons...but one thing tupelo is known for is that Elvis was born here...do you remember talking about who Elvis was?

(we live in franklin,tn where there are all kinds of music references all over town...one being a lifesize cutout of Elvis in our favorite meat 'n three)

dear boy - he is a rock 'n roll guy

me - he is called the king of rock 'n roll

dear boy - why moma? does he have a castle?

me - no..not a real king and no castle...he lived in a tiny little house here in tupelo when he was a boy...and then a big house in Memphis but he passed away a long time ago...would you like for me to drive you out to see his house? you can go in it

dear boy - are there sidewalks at his house?

me - I don't remember sweetie...it has been several years since I was there...but I don't think so

dear boy - then I don't want to go....what kind of a king doesn't have sidewalks!!

Just goes to show...you may be one of the most popular artists of all time...have tons of number one hits...have a shrine that is flocked to like mecca...but if your childhood home doesn't have sidewalks, then my four-year-old thinks you are a sad excuse for a king. No sidewalks...geezzzzz!! 

The old stuff store

So yesterday I spent a couple hours in antique stores in downtown Franklin with my son, who is four and a half (the half is very important you know!). It is easy to see he has been doing this since birth because he enjoys it - calls it going to the old stuff store. Anyway, I was looking at a quilt and really wanted to buy it but thought it was really too much to pay...knowing it would end up on the floor...covered in cheerios...or outside...as all my others do. The dear boy and I walked away from the quilt and he said "moma why didn't you buy that cover you loved?" To this I replied "because, baby, it was as high as a cat's back".

I kept walking and he was silent. Then he said "moma, you sure say a lot of funny things." In that instant I realized he was right. We southerners have a whole slew of "funny" ways of expressing ourselves. Clearly, this one was new to him, but there are many others that are already a part of his venacular. These "funny things" we say in the south are passed down from generation to generation like true heirlooms. My dear boy has already inherited much at his tender age.

When I tell him not to be ugly, which is often, he knows that his moma is not referring to his looks but his behavior. He knows that hearing he is being 'too big for his britches' is a warning. By the way, he calls all pants, britches - so cute! He understands when an older person tells him they are going to 'put a brick on his head' they are saying how big he has gotten. He knows that at night we eat supper - never dinner! He even gets what it is to be 'up a creek without a paddle' (after much explanation.) And one time he asked me why some kids have a mommy and others have a moma. I said "its a southern thing" and he said "well I like it - moma". And so do I.