Some Christmas Pics

Christmas is here. Yesssssssssssssssssssssss.



My dad (grandkids call him Cuz) spent Christmas with us. I am not sure if he was ready for the noise that is us. But even Flash couldn't contain his joy for Cuz being here.


Me and my Christmas babe. And my new scarf.


I am raising my kids with Jesus in their hearts...and Macs on their laps.


Christmas faces.



This girl woke me up at 6:30am looking just like this.


This boy had to be woken up. And he looked just like this.


Fun times.


Cuz got a stocking, too.


Flash was the happiest of all with his stocking goodies.

Christmas Movies

Hey! I hope everyone is having a great Christmas. I am sitting here watching on of my top 5 movies ever...and I thought I would take this quiet moment to say hello. My dad is on the couch over to my left. the kids are in the basement playing their new Wii (this game could be bad for me...I have a very addictive personality...and I am feling the draw to go play the bowling game even as I type). Angela is running around all over the house...wrapping a little, picking up a little, cooking a lot. Fear not...I am not leaving all of that to her. I am just taking a few moments to chill.

OK...I hate to even say this because I know the reaction I am setting myself up for. But, as I prepare to list my favorite Christmas movies, I must make a confession. I have never seen a black and white movie in its entirety. Well, that's a lie...I saw one ("Stranger On A Train"). I saw part of "It's a Wonderful Life" about 10 years ago. And of course I have seen "The Wizard Of Oz" a thousand times, but only part of it is black and white. That's it. I have not seen any of the Christmas classics. Truthfully, U haven't seen some of the current Christmas movies either. I never saw any of those Tim Allen Santa Clause movies. I have not seen either of the "Miracle On 34th Street" versions - new or old.

There. I've confessed my Christmas cinema depravity. Now that that's over, I will tell you my favorites (in no particular order). And be forewarned...this is an uneventful, unoriginal list. I am not breaking any rules or originality records here...

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas
2. Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the original AND the Jim Carrey one)
3. Elf - I am currently watching on TBS...I can't tell you how much I love this movie. Will Farrell is beyond funny.
4. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
6. While You Were Sleeping - Angela says this counts as a Christmas movie...so I'm counting it.
7. Does "Die Hard" count?
8. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

What's yours?

Merry Christmas!

Hey, everybody! Merry Christmas to you. I hope your Christmas eve weekend is off to a good start. We are in Boone, NC with my family. We have a short visit here before we head home for Christmas on Sunday. My dad is riding back with us to Franklin to spend Christmas with us. We are so excited to have him with us in our home. It has been 6 years since he has been able to come to our house (he wasn't able to travel for years when my mom was sick and still with us). Woo hoo! Cuz is coming to town!

I have had some friends from my past lurking around this blog this year. And I just got an email from one of my favorite teachers ever - my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Surber, this past week. You people need to let me know you are out there!

My sister is frying bacon as I type. Just the smell of bacon frying makes me happy. I mean really happy. Is it wrong to enjoy this bacon while my kids are watching Charlotte's Web?

I am so mad that I missed the "Clash of the Choirs' show on NBC. Yes, I read Beth's blog about it. I even made the mistake of calling them during the last 5 minutes of the final show. She was all out of sorts because she thought I was calling about the show (which I wasn't). She loved the show. Rats! Will they re-run it? Somebody let me know if you hear anything about that.

I did watch Duel a couple of times. Did anybody else watch it? I watched because the host - Mike Greenberg - is one of my favorite sports journalists. I listen to him every morning on talk radio. The game was hard to figure out at first. But I liked it. I don't know if it will last, though. Any thoughts? I love game shows, and it's a life goal of mine to be on the Wheel one day. I am a master of the Wheel. Bring it on, Pat and Vanna.

I hope you all saw my best buddy, Denver, take 3rd place on "The Next Great American Band." I am so proud of him. They did a great job. I would have to see him win, of course. But I am glad he is free of having to be bound to all of the contracts that the winner finds themselves tied to. So he is free to do whatever he feels led to do. Yippee...we are proud of you, Denver!

I will close with some Christmas pics of my kids. I hope your Christmas is filled to overflowing with the love and peace that Jesus came to give us all. Blessings to you!

The Sound of High School Musical

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Random Stuff

Hey, everybody...hope you all are having a great week. I am in Houston. I have been here since Wednesday. I am singing in a Christmas program at a church down here. We have two performances on Saturday and one on Sunday. I am excited about it! Nobody throws a Texas-sized Christmas program like Dick Hill. Dick is the worship pastor here at Champion Forest Baptist. Dick is also my "worship daddy." He has had, over the years, more influence on me as a worship leader than anybody else. He is THE BEST. And I love spending this time with him.

This is my second year in a row to do their Christmas program with them. And Dick does a really smart thing: after rehearsals all week, he gives everybody Friday off to rest. Smart, huh? So nobody has to sing or do anything involving the program, in order that we can all rest up.

I love coming to Houston...some of my best friends in the world live here. So it's a great chance to see them, eat some great food, and have a fun time.

Angela and the kids are coming here on Saturday to join me. And they are going to love the program. We don't have these huge production-kind-of-Christmas programs in Nashville. The kids are going to flip out when they see one of the kings ride in on an elephant. Yes I just said that.

OK...some random stuff from the past week:

- My family and I have discovered the joy that is Marble Slab Creamery. Oh, yes. Thank you, Lord. Even my no-dairy wife has developed a thing for the sweet cream flavor. Run, don't walk. Unfortunately, you will likely see the fruit of this new love the next time you see me. Ouch.

- Lily Kate prayed for Miss LaToe last week. Think about it. Say that name fast.

- I stood in the checkout line at Hobby Lobby beside Carrie Underwood last week. She bought a Christmas tree and 3 scarecrows (which were 90% off for the post-Thanksgiving Day sale). Even idols love a good bargain.

By the way, I went to Hobby Lobby 3 times that day, fighting with Christmas lights. Christmas lights are beautiful. And evil. And no man should ever have to go to Hobby Lobby 3 times in one decade, much less one day.

- Speaking of American idol...our very own Mandisa was nominated for a grammy yesterday! Can you believe it? I am so excited!! I will never get a grammy nomination myself...but I can say that my former secretary did!! Woo hoo!

- I start work on a Christmas CD in January. We are busy picking songs...new and traditional. Dang. I have TOO MANY songs I want to put on this project. Christmas music is my favorite music.

- Speaking of Christmas music, I just found another new Christmas cd that I love. It's Mel Torme, and it's called Christmas Songs. My friend Brad Day (worship pastor at a church in Mississippi where I did a Christmas concert last weekend) got me hooked on it. It's awesome. If you can, go to iTunes and download it.

I also just downloaded the soundtrack to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, featuring Burl Ives. It's awesome.

- Everybody PLEASE watch The Next Great American Band tonight on Fox (8 eastern, 7 central). My buddy Denver and his band, Denver and the Mile High Orchestra are STILL ON. They are in the top 5. We find out tonight whether or not he makes it to the final four. According to the spoilers on the web, he does (cough, cough). So please watch, and PLEASE VOTE more than usual tonight. If they make it to the top three, they are in the finale.

- My alma mater, Appalachian State University, is in the semi-finals of the Division 1-AA national tournament tonight. Go APP!

You guys have a great weekend...

TC