The recital through the eyes of MAZ

Today was my niece's senior piano recital. She did a wonderful job. She played 7 pieces.

I was amazed at how tiny a baby grand REALLY is!!!

I am confused as to why piano music would need to be Braille......since the fingers would be busy on the piano keys......

My sister lost it right before the program......."You better finish this and get out of my house! We have 5 more children!"

Apparently, since it was Memorial Day weekend, Amro did not have security and they let any guys in off the street......

If the guests did not accept the programs from my nephews, then they had to endure the Dutch paper cut torture.....

Sad that it had to occur on my niece's big day....but after over 40 years of her constant nagging and finger pointing in his face, my dad bit my mom's fingers completely off.......

And.....last picture.....

PHOTOBOMB!!....we all knew the two guys talking but the guy in the back was not invited.  He happened to work in the building and decided to watch us while on his break.

Well, I hope all of you enjoyed the recital through the eyes of MAZ.......

MAZ on Netflix

I have seen a ton of movies on Netflix lately!!
Here are a few reviews....

Rambo (the new one)
fabulous for violence
......but that is where it stops!! Horrible story....well actually, no story!
I give Rambo a great big BLAH.........

Up In The Air
This was a pretty good story. I liked it. It had great acting, good story, and comedy.
I give this movie 10,000 frequent flyer miles.

Inglorious Basterds
I luuuuuved this movie!!
It had a great story, great dialogue, great acting, great action!!
I would actually watch this movie several times!!
I give this movie TIN NATSEE SCALPS!!!

Flyboys
This is a great movie and we actually got to watch this one with the kids!!
This is a movie based on history. It had a pretty good story, acting and some great dog fights!!
I give this movie ////////// kills.

The Hurt Locker
This was a great war movie. The boys enjoyed it!! Great action. There was not much of a story but it was a great movie to show a glimpse of some situations in war.
I give this movie 10 flags of freedom.


The Bank Job
All I will say about this movie is.....
WHY WOULD YOU HAVE A MOVIE STARRING JASON STATHAM AND NOT HAVE ANY MARTIAL ARTS ACTION????
I did not know until the end of the movie that this was based on a true story.
This movie was horrible...choppy story, naughty scenes (even for MAZ)...just bad movie!!
I give this movie zilch round house kicks!!

Sherlock Holmes
This was a good movie. It had an entertaining story, comedy, action and Robert Downey Jr....I enjoy him!!
I give this movie 10 bowlers.

The Men Who Stare At Goats
I really enjoyed this quirky movie!! It has an enjoyable odd story, great acting, comedy and action.
I give this movie 10 cloud bursts.

DISCLAIMER:
Do not ever rely on MAZ for advice on movies for children. Our boys are allowed to see violence and hear bad language.
But no boobies.....

All I have.....All I can give

With this stupid allergy/sinus cold and Max's surgery and Jack's cold and Jeff's job.....well LIFE....I have not been sleeping well..........

..........well, what do you do when you don't sleep well??? I tend to over think things, dramatize things in my mind....rearrange my life....make plans.....etc

Have you ever noticed how at night when things are quiet....everything in life is so magnified???!!!

The other night I was staring into the darkness and listening to the night noises. I started thinking about how I have a wonderful family, great friends, great church and pretty good life and yet......I can't count on one person to not hurt my feelings, not let me down, be perfect, not be odd, not be crazy, be normal....etc....

I further realized that no matter how hard I try, at some point...or many times...or always...my boys will think I am crazy, weird, odd, unreliable, etc....I will disappoint them, I will embarrass them, I will annoy them, I will be different from them...

AND they will be different from each other....they will be crazy to each other....they will annoy each other...they will let each other down...they will disappoint each other....they will hurt each other!!

I can not give them stability, complete love, complete comfort, complete safety, complete acceptance, complete approval, I will not be able to give them exactly what they need!


Jesus is all I have.

Jesus is all I have to give my sons.

WHEW! That takes such a load off of me as a mother!

I can teach them about Jesus, lead them to HIS word, be an example, show them how to study their Bibles.......but I don't have to worry if I am meeting all their needs....I CAN'T.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz night night

Max's surgery update

We had to wait 3 1/2 hours for Max's surgery this morning. We ran into a problem. One part of Max's surgery was a biopsy of his nose. It would be sent to a lab out west. It is a rare test and turns out......... is not done in Memphis anymore. St. Jude is about the only hospital set up for this type surgery. Max's ENT is not the doctor that requested the biopsy but he was being very professional and nice and trying to accommodate our wonderful allergist. After several hours of calling several hospitals and lab facilities, we talked with our ENT. He decided to go ahead with the "tube" surgery, adenoids, etc.....the allergist returned his call right before surgery and he explained the circumstances. Apparently, even though Memphis is such a huge medical city......we will not be able to do the biopsy!!! WEIRD!!! 

Max's adenoids have not grown back....so the 3rd removal was not necessary. His left ear is still fine for now...

Max's right ear drum ripped while trying to replace his 8th tube BUT this ended up being a good thing!! Our SUPERHERO ENT was able to use "duct tape" to repair the rip which in turn will hold the tube in place!!! SOOOOOO hopefully this tube will stay in longer!!!!

Max's right ear drum is pretty thin so we are hoping this is a fix for NOW!!!!

Max (so far) has had the best recovery of all his surgeries!! He woke up with out any problems!! The anesthesiologists were aware of his sick issues so they gave him TWO (somethings) to keep him from getting sick. He came straight home and ate a cheese pizza from Schlotzskys!! He is laying on the couch watching Looney Toones!!!

WOOOOO   HOOOOOOOO

Praying the rest of the day goes just as well!!!

Keeping the spark alive!

After 18 years I still get notes from my husband...............they are just a little different!!

Way back in 1992, when Jeff and I were first dating, I was sitting in my 8 o'clock Abnormal Psychology Class. I sat in the very back by the only window in the room. It went from the ceiling to the floor. The professor was yammering and I was staring out the window. I looked down and noticed a paper taped to the outside of the window. It had tiny pictures and symbols drawn on the paper. It took me awhile but I realized that the pictures meant words and when you put them all together....it was a message.....THEN I realized that it was Jeff's drawings and handwriting! The window was partially opened. At break time I grabbed the paper! It was a secret message for me! How romantic and fun!!

Over the years Jeff did this less and less and after we got married the notes became very rare............

Here is an example of the notes I get after 15 years of marriage!
I woke up to this tacked to the living room wall this morning........just above an electrical outlet.....

Jeff is still a romantic!!!

Sip a drink, eat a snack, ENJOY!!

This weekend was packed with fun!!

My oldest niece graduated from high school! Thursday night was her senior prom/banquet. On this same night, my 2 sons and her 5 other siblings played in a concert. My parents and I transported the herd to the concert and then to taco bell.

Do you see the tall handsome boy in the green and blue striped shirt on the left???.....well the handsome boy in his armpit is my son, Max.....yea, he is there....look under the music stand...squint....there he is!!!

Next to him is the handsome boy in the red shirt, Andrew, my nephew.....pretty girl to the right....then the handsome boy on her right in the blue is my handsome nephew, Noah!

Now, look on the front row.....second boy....behind the music stand...that handsome head of hair hovering over the top of the music stand is my oldest son, Jack............now look all the way at the end of the same row. The girl in the pink shirt. The music stand hiding her pretty face. She is playing the saxophone....my beautiful niece, Hannah!.....Want to see them closer????

Max (10), Peter (8), Noah (10), Benjamin (4)

Jack (12), Andrew (12), Hannah (13)

My dad (Butch), My husband (Jeff)

Me (MAZ), My Mom (Trish)

Thursday night we had one set of kids and then Friday night we had another set of kids. We had Halo (xbox) playing and Hannah and I watched New Moon! It was 2 late nights, 2 early mornings and 3 very long days!!!

OK, I will spare you the details of the rest of the weekend....but I am going to share pics!!! sorry, no funny stories....actually, This blog might just be entertaining for family....but I hope any friends or Classic MAZ fans that brave the pics will enjoy it too!!!

Proud grandparents of a very smart, loving, respectful and mature young lady!!!

All the males playing nintendo gaming (Jeff on phone gaming) while waiting for graduation ceremony to begin!

Proud parents/teachers/school admin/principal, etc 

(David and Polly van der Bijl......my sister)

Megan Mijo van der Bijl, the Salutatorian for the MHEA class of 2010. She gave an excellent speech. Not only did the audience laugh at the appropriate times, they applauded in the middle of the speech!! She gave the best speech of the day! She even gave a better speech than the Commencement Speaker, the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court!

It was just too much for 4 year old Benjamin to watch about 100 graduates receive diplomas!

David van der Bijl, Tim Wright and Jeff Ziegenhorn....the "lucky" 3 guys that God tricked into marrying the 3 Armour girls! Thank you, Lord for making these 3 handsome men blind, deaf and dumb!! We 3 girls are incredibly blessed!!!

OK, let us take a moment of silence for Polly......this is her oldest, Megan....almost 19 years old and headed to college.......AND her youngest, Benjamin....almost 5 and not yet in Kindergarten......

Take a moment.....sip your drink, take a bite of your snack.....now move her name to the top of your prayer list! That is right! Polly will be in her 60s when Benjabuns is wearing this cap and gown!!

PARTY TIME!!!! there was eating and swing dancing!!

The beautiful girl in red is my niece, Nicole. She is almost 16 and belongs to my second sister, Teresa. She is dancing with Max (in red) and Jack is behind him (in white shirt). Andrew (nephew)  in back in red and his sister Hannah is in the grey Grizzly shirt.

My sister, Teresa and her daughter Nicole....Jack to the right...

None of us knew how to swing dance so we stood to the side and did various mosh pit, hip hop, slam dancing....and hoped we would not get thrown out of the dance!!

My handsome nephew, Stephen (Teresa's son...almost 14) and Jack doing the Charlie Brown dance!!

After several hours, they learned some of the swing dances! There were so many more boys than girls....so YES you may see some odd pics of boys dancing with boys! but they did not care....they used this time to slam each other down to the ground or against walls!

Megan in green shirt, Nicole in red dress, Hannah in grey shirt

Max in red shirt, Benjamin in orange shirt.(next pic) Nicole in red, Andrew in red, Jack in white, Stephen and Hannah in grey.

And to close the weekend....

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Corky's with the Ziegenhorns

OK, around the table we go....Julie (married to Jeff's brother, Nelson)..their handsome son, Jacob (11 yrs old)...Max (my son, 10 )...the "MJ" (Jeff's grandmother, Mama Jean)...skip...skip....(don't worry I got to them later)...then you see Jeff's dad, Lee and Jeff's mom Connie

TA DAAAAAAAH...my beautiful brother-in-law.....oops, I mean niece, Courtney and then Jeff's brother, Nelson...

Jeff and Jack and if you look close, me behind the camera...har har...

And across from me.......trouble........my son Jack (12) and my other handsome nephew, Alex       (almost 16).....take a look at life to come...

Now, I had to be annoying...I was in the turn lane and Alex was at a stop light. We pulled up beside him, stopped, and I hung out the window to get a picture. If you look closely, you can see that he has covered his face....but he is grinning!!.....AND I heard his small laugh. He has a great laugh! Watch out Memphis moms of teen girls! He will be a heart breaker!!!

Well, you survived my longest blog post EVER.....you deserve a brownie....