Hot Rod Race

Recently, my cousin Tammy found a video of my grandfather's song, "Hot Rod Race" on youtube.com. He is also on Wikipedia. WOW! Arkie was my maternal grandfather. He and my grandmother also ran a restaurant in California and later, opened "Dixie's Cafe" (named after my aunt Dixie) on Main Street in Van Buren in the 1970s. He passed away two years before I was born.

So I thought I would share a bit of my grandfather's history...

Arkie Shibley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arkie Shibley
Birth name	Jesse Lee Shibley
Born	September 21, 1914(1914-09-21) Van Buren, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	September, 1975 (aged 60) Van Buren, Arkansas, U.S.
Genres	Western swing
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1950s
Labels	4 Star (Gilt-Edge)

Jesse Lee "Arkie" Shibley (born Jesse Lee Shibley, 21 September 1914, Van Buren, Arkansas - d. September 1975, Van Buren, Arkansas) was a country singer who recorded the original version of "Hot Rod Race" in 1950. The record was important because "it introduced automobile racing into popular music and underscored the car's relevance to American culture, particularly youth culture."^[1]

Shibley had relocated from Arkansas - hence the nickname "Arkie" - and, around 1948, began hosting a regular country music show on radio station KBRG in Bremerton, Washington.

Although the writing credit for "Hot Rod Race" is given to George Wilson, this may be Shibley's pseudonym. He offered the song to 4 Star Records in Los Angeles, but was turned down, and Shibley decided to release the song on his own Mountain Dew label. The record was credited to "Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys", the line-up being Shibley on rhythm guitar, Leon Kelley on lead guitar, Jackie Hayes on bass and banjo, and Phil Fregon on fiddle.

The record became popular and was reissued on 4 Star's Gilt Edge imprint. Shibley's record raced into the country charts in January 1951, peaking at # 5, with cover versions on major labels by Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan on Capitol, Red Foley on Decca and Tiny Hill on Mercury. The Hill version also crossed over to the pop charts (# 29).

In 1951 Shibley recorded four sequels to his hit, all performed in a Woody Guthrie-like talking blues style: "Hot Rod Race # 2", "Arkie Meets the Judge (Hot Rod Race # 3)", "The Guy in the Mercury (Hot Rod Race # 4)" and "The Kid in the Model A (Hot Rod Race # 5)". He subsequently disappeared into obscurity.

There were later countless variations of the song, the most successful being "Hot Rod Lincoln", a hit for Charlie Ryan (recorded 1959, charted 1960, # 33 pop), Johnny Bond (1960, # 26 pop) and Commander Cody (1972, # 9 pop). Shibley's record also directly influenced Chuck Berry's "Maybellene", Gene Vincent's "Race With The Devil", and the succession of hot rod records by the Beach Boys and others in the early 1960s.

Click the link below to see the video and hear my grandfather's famous song! (You may have to copy and paste the link below into your internet browser)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvuoJlCDLxg

9th Anniversary!

This past week, Jim and I celebrated our 9thwedding anniversary!

September 23 was this past Wednesday. Andrew was at Mother's Day Out, so I was able to meet Jim for lunch, just the two of us!
We enjoyed a yummy and relaxing lunch at Table Mesa in Bentonville.

Last night, we had tickets to the Rogers Little Theater for the production of "Over the Hill and Through the Woods". It was a great show, so funny and very touching. We loved it! Plus the food was delicious! I am so blessed to be married to the most wonderful man in the world! Jim is a great husband, father and my best friend!

Me and my boys

Just a lazy Saturday morning enjoying some time together with my boys on the couch! Now that Christian is in school, I really cherish those relaxing mornings that we can stay in our pajamas and cuddle together! And yes, Andrew is chewing his toes in this picture. :)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Each fall, we like to go to the "pumpkin patch" (better known as the tent that sells pumpkins by the highway) and pick out our family pumpkins.
This year we got 4 pumpkins...one for Jim, me, Christian and Andrew.

Christian picking out our pumpkins and putting them on a wagon

He is so proud of his pumpkins!

Below are some pictures taken at their pumpkin display. All the pics have an "orange hue" because of the lighting under the orange tent.



Happy Fall Ya'll!

Feet

I like to take pictures of my feet. My feet of vacation, showing off my fun pedicured nails, my feet while lying on the beach, my feet with a view of the mountains, etc.

Yes a bit weird, but fun. This picture has to be one of my favorite "feet" pictures. No need for a vacation...just Andrew and I relaxing on the couch watching football. ;)

Stewie 1999-2009

Stewie, aka Stew the Woo, Woo the Stew, Sta the Wa, Wa the Sta, was put to rest and went to kitty heaven on September 25, 2009.

He enjoyed open windows, laying around, eating fake floral arrangements, puking and pole dancing. He had a good life.

Seriously, I took Stewie to the vet this week to get checked out because he has been sick. His head had bad bloody sores, his hair was falling out in huge chunks and he was puking way more than normal. He was also spending most of his time hiding in the back of the pantry or behind the downstairs couch, which was unusual. He was also not eating as much and would puke whenever he ate.
Vet said he had masses in his stomach and bowels (possible stomach cancer) making him puke, hair falling out, etc. His bumps and sores may have been from the stress his body was going through. He gave us the option of surgery but I figured Stewie lived a good life and I would rather him die in peace rather than suffer through a surgery that may not make him better. Plus, I refused to have a cat on IV meds and a colostomy bag.

Even though I had been complaining about wanting to get rid of the cat for awhile, I was the only one that got a little emotional over it. Weird, I know. Jim was fine with it and Christian said, "Well, we can just go over to someone's house that has a kitty."

At least I don't have to keep our bedroom door closed all the time anymore (He would always puke on our bed which was GROSS) and I can actually put out fresh flower arrangements now.

Stewie, you will be missed. Sort of. ;)

Stewie with Christian when he was little

5 months old!

Andrew turned five months old last week! He is now sitting up on his own, not propping himself up, and will reach out for toys in front of him while sitting up! He is growing up fast!

I also wanted to thank everyone who gave us diapers before Andrew was born!!! We actually have not had to buy any diapers until last week! 5 months supply of diapers was AWESOME!

I have been taking some random pics of Andrew so here are some of my favorites...

Bathtime! He is now sitting up in his little bath seat in the sink! No more baby tub!

Chewing on his toes is his favorite thing to do right now!

just being cute


Sitting in his little rocker

Check out those dimples!

Uncle Will got him this little "Monkey" shirt before he was born! I love it!


Can you see his bottom two teeth???
(click on the picture to make it bigger)

I love this little man so much!

I am so blessed to be able to stay home and spend my days kissing on him and holding him tight! Even if I am covered in spit up and rice cereal...and sometimes don't get a shower until noon (if I am lucky) but it's all worth it! Being a mom is the BEST job EVER!

First Tailgate of the season!

GO HOGS!

Saturday was the first Razorback football game in Fayetteville this season! We played Georgia...it was a LONG game full of penalties and bad defense on our part...and in the end we lost, but we had fun getting to tailgate with our family and friends! Plus, Christian was REALLY into the game this year! He was cheering on the Hogs and saying "Go Hogs...come on!" on almost every play!

I also have to share what Christian said on the way to the game....
He asked, "Mom, I am just going to watch the football game, right? I am not playing?"
Jim and I laughed. "No, Christian, you won't be playing football, just watching the game with us."
He replied, "OK, good. I am not ready to play football." HA! Mom isn't ready for him to play football either...EVER! ;)


Pops and GoGo always provide an abundance of treats to eat before the game.
GoGo even put out a vase of flowers. Too cute.

Is this not the neatest cookie cake??! Loved it!


Christian was being the best little host....offering a chip to his cousin-in-law, Kevin.

Thanks to Hope for watching Andrew for us! We are looking forward to when he is old enough to join us at the Razorback games! But I did have him dressed in Razorback red...


GO HOGS!

Nicknames...

I am not big on nicknames but when you have a baby, it is so easy to start calling them "sweet pea" , "sugar boogers", etc. when I talk to him.
So Andrew has taken on some pretty funny nicknames...

Little Man
Bigum Boy
Bigums
Stinkpot (my grandma used to call me that, weird I know)
Drool bucket
Fuss bucket
Booger Bears
Andrew Dandrew (Christian came up with that one--kinda like the "name game")
Sweetums
A mess

But there is one nickname that we refuse to use...Andy Bob. ;) For those that ask, "Will you call him "Drew" or "Andy"? Our answer is "We named him Andrew and we will call him Andrew."
Now, when he is in high school and his buddies start calling him that, well, I guess we may have to go with it. But for now, he is all of the above! ;)

200th post!

This blog post marks by 200th post! WOW! I started this blog back in June 2008 and have been enjoying it ever since! I love being able to share pictures with family and friends! Plus, it is like an online scrapbook of our memories (since I don't have time for actual scrapbooking anymore)! :)
I have been told by so many people how much they enjoy our blog! I just wish I knew how many people check it out. So if you are reading this blog entry, please either sign up as a follower (on the right hand side of the page, click the "follow" button) or please leave a comment so I can say thank you to all my readers!
THANK YOU!!!

Feeding time!

Feeding Andrew rice cereal has been fun and messy! :)
I can't believe how big he looks in his highchair.

Yum!

Christian wanted to share in the fun...

Christian enjoys giving Andrew a spoonful or two but then he says "Andrew's messy!" and he is done. :)

Fayetteville Farmers Market

Last Saturday, Jim and I went to the Fayetteville Farmers Market. Christian had spent Friday night with Pops and GoGo so we just had Andrew with us. We really enjoyed the beautiful weather and strolling around with Andrew. It was a great morning to spend on the Fayetteville Square!

Jim was buying tomatoes.

Fayetteville Town Center fountain

There were a couple businesses that had booths selling coffee and baked goods too. These were the biggest cinnamon rolls I have ever seen!

We met Pops, GoGo and Christian for lunch at Hugo's, one of me and Jim's favorite places to eat in Fayetteville. Looks like Andrew is trying to decide on what to order. ;)

GoGo feeding Andrew his bottle. He loves his GoGo. :)

Update from Dara...

Here is an email update from Dara regarding the police report of the person who ran their car through her house...

Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers. The rebuilding process on the house is going to be a slow one, but we have started it by getting the insurance adjuster out here, and having some different people give us estimates on some portions of the work to be done. We’ve ordered new brick which should be here tomorrow. Zach has obtained our building permit from the city already and this afternoon picked up the police report that was finally ready. Many of you were asking if we knew more about the driver. She lives off of Electric Avenue, less than 2 miles from our house. As we suspected, she was under the influence of alcohol. 48 year old Rosa Castaneda was charged with DWI #2 and Careless and Prohibited Driving after she blew a .24 (3 times the legal limit.). Again, it is such a miracle that none of us, or Ms. Castaneda, were hurt or killed. We know it was God who protected us that day! ~Dara

Power of Prayer!

Thanks to my friends and family for all the prayers this past week. I had my first mammogram and breast ultrasound at 9am this morning. Good news, the doctor says my lump is just a cyst, which he says is common. He recommended I come back in six months for a follow up.
Yeah! I was so glad it was ok. Thanks again to everyone for thinking of me and praying for a positive outcome! Hugs and love to all of you!

Andrew's 4 month old picture!

Andrew's 4 month old picture
courtesy of Legacy House Photography

A near tragedy...

A drunk driver crashed through my friend Dara's house yesterday afternoon. The car completely went through her five month old baby girl, Charlotte's nursery and crashed through an inside wall into her three year old, Caroline's room. Praise God everyone is ok. Dara had gotten Charlotte up from her nap in the crib just a few minutes before the car crashed into the nursery, crushing the crib. Unbelievable. Many things in the girls rooms are a total loss--furniture, bedding, mementos, etc. but most all can be replaced. They were able to salvage some clothes from the dresser drawers but they cannot begin to clean up until an insurance adjuster comes, which will hopefully happen today before the holiday weekend. I spoke with Dara both last night and this morning and she is doing ok, but still shaken up about what could have happened. God was watching over them and protected her and her little girls. A true miracle! Praise Him!!!


Below is an e-mail from Dara that she sent out this morning with the details...


For those of you who know about the events of yesterday, just wanted to let you know—we are all okay. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers. For those of you that don’t know: Yesterday afternoon/evening, I was at home with the girls and Zach was on his way home from work. Between 5:10 and 5:15 p.m., I went into the nursery and changed Charlotte’s diaper while Caroline sat at her little table in our kitchen. I walked out of the nursery and put Charlotte in her exersaucer in front of the TV armoire in the living room. When I stepped into the kitchen, I heard an “explosion.” The baby monitor in the office was up to almost full volume as Charlotte had just gotten up from her nap at 4:30 and I was working in there, so I wanted to listen for her. It started roaring. Our smoke alarm started shrieking. Caroline started crying and screaming “What is that, Mommy?” I ran back through the house to the nursery and smoke/dust was pouring out everywhere. I saw headlights through the debris and realized that vehicle has crashed through our house. I immediately had visions of it bursting into flames. Caroline had followed me, so I turned around, grabbed her arm and led her to Charlotte, who amazingly wasn’t even crying. I picked up the baby, got my cell phone off the kitchen counter and we all three went outside. (I even had enough wits about me to put Zoë in the back yard!) I called 911 once we got out the door, and as I walked further out in front of my house, I saw my next door neighbor was also on her cell phone (with 911). Another neighbor asked if anyone else was in the house and if I’d seen the driver of the vehicle. He went inside to see if he could see anyone. About that time, the driver tried to put the vehicle in reverse—which of course, got her nowhere. I stepped around the side of the house and saw the end of a black, Jeep Cherokee barely sticking out. It had driven through the nursery, shattering the crib against the wall leading into the hallway, and crushing the changing table into the wall adjoining Caroline’s room. That wall was also knocked down and Caroline’s dresser was pushed on top of her bed. I cannot imagine how fast the driver must have hit our house to have that much force and to get almost her entire Jeep inside the house. The driver somehow got out of her Jeep and was unharmed. When the police, fire dept, EMS arrived, a crowd of neighbors and friends had as well. They ordered everyone back, as gasoline was leaking from the Jeep. They also turned off the power, gas and water to our house. The police administered a sobriety test to the woman, and she failed, so she was immediately driven away in handcuffs. Zach pulled up about 15 minutes after “impact,” but our neighbor had called him on his cell phone and warned him what he would be coming home too and also that the girls and I were okay.

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends, family, church family and neighbors. Zach’s aunt went to McDonald’s and got us dinner a little after 7:00, as we’d completely forgotten about dinner time! Caroline went to play with some other kids at one neighbor’s house, and Charlotte went to another neighbors, where we brought them a bottle from the fridge and the bottle warmer and they were able to feed her. People immediately starting picking up pieces of furniture and moving them out of the way. They grabbed little things (picture frames, stuffed animals) out of the debris, and by 8:00 last night, we had 2x4’s, 4x4’s, plywood and tarp up so there is not a gaping hole on the side of the house. Neither one of the doors to the girls’ bedrooms are still attached, so there is a tarp on the other side, covering those as well. I haven’t really been in the rooms, and we won’t start official clean-up until an insurance adjuster gets out here to assess the damages, but I believe most everything in both of the closets is okay. We did get a few pieces of clothing from Charlotte’s dresser, and from Caroline’s. After the adjuster comes, we’ll go through the rooms more thoroughly and see what can be salvaged. All furniture (including the bookshelf Zach stained himself) and bedding in Charlotte’s room are a complete loss, as is the dresser and Caroline’s bedding. Again, it could’ve been SO much worse, though. No damage was done to any other part of the house. We have water and electricity and were able to stay here last night. (Charlotte slept in the pack-n-play in the living room and Caroline slept on a borrowed toddler mattress beside our bed.) We are doing okay this morning, and are actually headed to take Caroline to her first day of gymnastics. (Zach is staying here with Charlotte and guys getting estimates to fix things.)


the car in the house! It crashed through the wall that Charlotte's crib was against.

Dara said it was like a tornado


the railing at the bottom of the picture is from the baby's crib

A true miracle no one was hurt!

Welcome Miss Violet!

Congratulations to my friends Tasha and Wes! Their baby girl was born September 1st weighing
6 lbs. 2 oz. and twenty inches long! I have a link to their blog on the right side of my page. Go check out the baby pictures!

Prayer request

I normally would not ask for prayers for myself, but I would like to make a prayer request to my friends and family. I found a small lump in my left breast yesterday. I immediately called my doctor and had an appointment today at 11:30. I thought maybe it is a clogged duct or something leftover from breastfeeding but my doctor did not think so since it has been almost 3 months since I was breastfeeding. So she referred me to the Breast Center in Fayetteville for a mammogram. My appointment is next week....9-9-09 at 9am. Weird, huh?! Well, number 9 has always been my favorite number so hopefully all will come back clear. I will know the results that same day. It's not the way I planned on spending my first "Mother's Day Out", but I am glad I will have childcare for Andrew during the appointment. Please pray that the tests show everything is ok. Thank you so much!

On a lighter note, Mom's Ministry class went really well today! We started our study and gained another new member this week! Gwen Rockwood, who is one of the co-creators of NWAMotherlode.com, one of my favorite websites! (The link is on the right side of this page).
I don't know what I would do without my weekly women's study group! I love you all so much and missed seeing you this summer! Glad fall is here and we are back together each week!

2 front teeth!

Andrew officially has two front teeth! His bottom front teeth broke through Monday. We can now see the tops of the teeth and man, are they sharp! He was in a MUCH better mood yesterday. :) Here are some fun pictures of my sweet boy...

Having fun in his crib! Look at those dimples!

Momma tickling him, he is ticklish like his daddy. ;)

He can now pull his feet up to his mouth so his favorite thing to do is to chew on his toes. ;)


Precious little face!

Lunch date with Christian

Monday, Jim and I went to have lunch with Christian at his school. (Andrew too, of course)
Christian's school allows parents to come have lunch with their kiddos in the cafeteria anytime so we thought we would check it out. It was "taco nacho supreme day" and it was yummy!
The only differences between today's school lunches and when I was in school is that the trays are Styrofoam (no washing trays for the lunch ladies) and the cost of lunch...$2.20! I remember lunches being 35 cents, but I was a "poor kid" on the reduced lunch plan. ;)
I think that's a bit much for a kindergartner so I pack his lunch for half that price.
We got to see all his little classmates and meet one of his best buddies he has already made at school. Christian was excited that we came!

The weather has really cooled off and it feels like fall already! When I was getting Christian ready for school Monday, I pulled out his pants from last fall and well, they were a bit short....he looked like he was ready for a flood. :) Luckily, we had one pair of pants that worked. So after school, we headed to the Promenade for some pants shopping. We bought pants and jeans for Christian and bought some cute bibs and some new sleepers for Andrew too.

Christian was such a great shopper, trying on clothes too, that I told him he could ride the carousel and we got ice cream too!


Christian loves to hang out by the fountain. It was SO beautiful outside. We sat and talked together while enjoying the great weather. Andrew took a nap in the stroller...


Christian took this picture of me.

I really enjoyed my special time with my big boy!