Making Memories

It seems like after this school year life as I know it will change.  Big K is getting married on New Years Day and Little K will graduate from high school at the end of May.  Even our exchange student L will be going back to Germany in June.  I'm going to go from three kids in the house down to 1 during the first week and June and then 0 in August. 

God has blessed me with wonderful children who are no longer children at all but beautiful young adults.  The hour glass of life is just moving too quickly for me.  So with that said - I put the hour glass on it's side to stop time for a day.  It's fall break so the Little K and L had no school, Big K was done with classes at noon and B and I took the afternoon off from work.  We loaded up the van with jackets, hotdogs and chips and headed to Vala's Pumpkin patch for a family day of fun.

On weekends it is nothing to wait for 45 minutes for traffic to move just to get a parking spot and walk yet another who knows how far.  But on a Tuesday we were blessed with a front row parking.  

Originally when I reserved a fire pit we had about 10-15 people coming. Since plans changed and we were down to 6 they changed our location - again what another blessing.  It was beautiful and full of color.

We went to the Pig Races.

Played in the corn. 

Ate Smores.....                                          

And just acted silly.... 

And of course we had to go out to the pumpkin patch to find that PERFECT pumpkin.

 It was a wonderful day.  One I will hold dear to my heart for years to come.  Thank you Lord Jesus for the beautiful fall day, the wonderful colors, and being able to spend the time with my family.

The Kitten

He had no choice, he was taken from his family and put into a new environment, in the blink of an eye his life changed as he knew it.  

He is scared and nervous, what will become of him?  Everything familiar has been replaced with things and smells he's never experienced before.   Why is this happening?  He may never know, he may never understand.  

He embraces the life he has been blessed with as he explores the new surrounding, what does this new life have to offer.  As he investigate he finds places of comfort; a soft blanket, food and water, a warm and loving lap.  He also finds places that cause him stress and worry, the banister he can climb on but not sure how to get off or the dogs who come up to him suddenly.  

It's in these times that he relies on his master to rescue him, to wrap him in their arms and whispers soft words in his ears letting him know that everything will be all right, they will take care of him.  

So as life would have it for a cat he continues in his feline ways, everything is a toy to be played with, he lives in the moment knowing that his master will take care of him.  

We are no different.  In the blink of an eye our lives can change as we know it - never to be the same again; the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or physical injury to ourselves or someone else putting us in unfamiliar territory.  

Like the kitten we may never know or understand why it has happened.  It's during those times of change we need to live in the moment and rely on the master to rescue us, to let him wrap us up in his arms and whisper those soft words assuring us that He will take care of everything.

 When I said, "My foot is slipping, your love, O Lord, supported me.  When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.  Psalm 94:18-19

Morning Detour

When Big K first got her drivers license I practically panicked each time the phone rang when she was gone.  I was  just sure she was calling to tell me she'd been in an accident. After about a month later that fear diminished. 

When Little K started driving the fear never returned and one month to the date she received her drivers license I received a call saying she had an accident.  That accident ended up totaling her car.  You can read more about her accident here.

About 10 minutes after Little K left for school this morning the phone rang.  It's Little K and she's very excited; my first thought was "crap, she's had an accident."  Why do we mothers put ourselves through that?

She started to tell me how she was on her way to school, the car in front of her swerved and all of a sudden there it was - a black lump in the road.  She proceeds to pull into a drive way and retrieve a little kitten.


"I couldn't just leave him there mom to get hit, what do I do with it?"  she asks.  I'm think to myself  "yeah, what do you do with it?"  Being the cold, stern mother I am I said, "Fine, bring it back home we'll figure something out." 

And here he is:

He's so cute, but something had to be wrong with him.  When Jake sniffed him (mind you the cat is smaller then Jake's nose) the cat didn't even move.  When I tried to stand him up he just fell.  He didn't act like he was in pain but something just wasn't right.

My fear was Little K was going to beg to keep him but instead she asked me if I wanted her to take it to the humane society; and that's was she did.  We will never know the destiny of that little kitty but it warms my heart to see the compassion in Little K's eyes when she was taking care of him.

Take care little kitty may God bless you.

Update:  Little K called the humane society and found out the kitty is just too injured and will have to be put down.  She is upset and just doesn't understand.  Please prayer for her understanding. 

You found it where?

I woke up this morning to find this in the living room.

  

Now I will admit, we always have a box of kleenex in the house - somewhere.  Usually not where you want it but we do have at least one box :)

The thing that made me shake my head was the the bigger picture.

So the questions remains:  Why is there a roll of toilet paper in my living room?

Prom Night

Do you ever get bloggers block? Don't know if that is a word but it is for tonight. It's been kind of a weird week for me. Even though I didn't get my blog updated I have been reading and commenting on several through out the week. I love keeping up with my blogging family.

This was prom weekend and for us it was extra special because it was Sr. Prom - my baby's last high school prom :(

When I asked her to describe the day and night she simply said "amazing". Yup, that's what a mom wants to hear. Well I thought since I haven't blogged for a while I'll make it up with this post, sorry for all the pictures but they are what tell the story. Now mind you, my only part in this day was to pay for the dress and hair and oh yeah...like any good blogger I took lots of pictures. My final role in this event was to get up at 3:30 in the morning to hear all the "amazing details" before she took off to spend the rest of the night with a friend.

The day started at 7:00 for Karissa and her friend, hair appointments at 7:45 a.m. and you can't have a formal event with out going out and getting your nails done. I know she spend some time at the mall but I'm not sure for what, guess it's a teenage thing.

The girls came home in time to put their make up on and get dressed.


Notice the tiara?

Here is the back of Karissa's hairdo.













Jake felt it was his responsibility to make sure no one got in there way while they were getting ready.

















Note to self: put hoop on first, then the dress. We had quiet a laugh but we finally got the hoop tied tight enough to prevent it from sliding off as she walked.



Here's her dress.
















The forecast was for possible thunderstorms and even though it did rain in the morning, the day turned out beautiful.













Look at those dresses and how grown up they are.


Okay, may be no too grown up :)
















Off they go.........






Fast forward to midnight, prom got over and the girls came home to change into their "after prom" dresses. In my day we had one dress and it didn't look anything like what they're wearing now, but that's another story.

My husband and I finished the movie we were watching and went upstairs to get ready for bed. This is what I walked into:

Do they not realize other live in the house also?

















This was my favorite find. This dress was left out also and no one was even planning on wearing it.



















She didn't get much sleep but I give her credit, she still got through her volunteer time at the humane society.

I am thankful she had an "amazing" time as she puts it, and that God kept her safe and free of harm.

Sheryl

Run KE Run

A cold wet track and hurdles do nothing for a mother's heart.

I've seen too many kids wipe out.

KE had an invitational today involving 12 schools.

She placed 4th in the 100 yard high hurdles &

6th in the 300 yard low hurdles.

Go KE...Go KE...Go KE...

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Going down memory lane:

Going back 13 years, I walked out the front door and found KE (4) and my niece (5) involved in the following serious conversation both shaking their heads:

KE: I think it was a kitty.
Niece: No, I think it was a puppy.
KE: No, no it was a kitty.
Niece: No, it was a puppy.

I stopped and listened to them for a little bit and couldn't figure out what they were talking about. I looked out into the yard and realized what had their attention we had our yard aerated earlier that day and didn't have a chance to sweep the side walk yet.

Kids....

With graduation about 6 weeks away I'm sure I will be doing a lot more reflecting.

Sheryl

Yea Saturday.....

Yea, it's Saturday - the best kind of Saturday - no commitments.

Not that I don't have things that need to be done but at least I'm not required to be anywhere. We are in a winter storm warning through tomorrow, possible blizzard conditions, so time to kick back and relax and get some things done around the house.

DRAMA - for those of you who have girls you know there is a never ending supply of drama. Well today can and will be full of drama, to which degree I don't know - Cheerleader Try Outs. We'll know the results this afternoon, I'll keep you updated.

Well off to start a load of laundry, my family has this thing about clean clothes - go figure.

Go forth and make it a great weekend.

Sheryl

You signed us up for what-when?

You have just got to love your children - regardless the age don't you?.

Ok, so I'm sitting in the chair last night all wrapped up in a blanket because my body decides to wait until spring to catch a cold. I receive an email on my phone, it's not like I keep it with me all of the time, gee I might miss something I get the following e-mail from the cheer coach:

Sorry for the late notice, but xxx told us recently that they added us on April 5th..........

I've talked to some of the girls at tryouts today and here are the one who said they could work:

You guessed it MY name was on that list, and when was my daughter going to tell me?

Here's the conversation (of course I text her and tell her to come up stairs):

Me: Tell me about this email talking about the concession stand on Sunday.

Her: Oh yeah forgot to tell you, they needed help and I figured we've done it before no big deal. - then she walks off.

Me: O.........K........

Do these kids never think that maybe we already have something planned - like maybe we have a life too? Like a "Women's Challenge Kick Off" on that very Sunday. One that I am leading and really need to be there for.

So after texting my friend about my dilemma, she says, "can B work for you?". Well, duh didn't think of that. So I explain the situation to my husband, he finds a couple of excuses not to work the concession stand and I come up with solutions. He finally said. "I would rather go lead your women's group after worship." That made my jaw drop to the floor, I said, "You're kidding?".

Well, I'll just have to figure out how to be in two places at once.

By the way.....I have to teach my daughter to check the weather 1st, Sundays forecast:

Eeekkk Rain, snow, and 44 degrees. Does that really sound like baseball weather to you?

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HELP: Can anyone tell me why blogger will let me put in paragraphs in one post and not the other. Sorry that this was hard to read.

A Day At The Park

It's that time of year again, cheer tryouts. KJ has cheered for the last two years - boy can that take a bit of the budget, and she is going to try for year three.

One of the fund raisers the squards and their parents can do is work in the consession stand at the local ball park. Right now the Huskers are playing, this summer it will be the Saltdogs.

KJ and I worked Wednesday afternoon, 54 degrees is a little cool for a ball game if you ask me - but nobody did. We had a great time, it gave us mother/daughter time and a chance to watch/listen to part of the game.

I am not a cap person with my hair up and a cap on I look like a chipmunk with my cheeks full, at least one of us looked cute.

I am thankful for:

• an employer who let me off for the afternoon.
• the opportunity to raise money towards various cheer expenses.
• the opportunity to spend time with my daughter.
• and I was so thankful when I came home and found out praise team practice was rescheduled for Saturday. Why does spending a day out in the fresh air make us to tired? We won't talk about the fact that my feet were not on speaking terms with me for the rest of the night.

What are you thankful for?

Season Over

Alas, the swim season is over and marks the end of KE's high school swimming career, such a bitter/sweet meet it was this morning. Even though both girls did a great job in the pool this morning neither one qualified to go back tomorrow for finals. God has blessed them with talent and a great year to reflect back on.

When God closes one door he always opens another, well the other door is "Track Season" starts on Monday. So they're lacing up their running shoes and will soon be running and jumping.

Did you see on the news where First Lady Obama gave Laura Bush a journal telling her this isn't the end but only the beginning? I thought that was so cool. I am thinking about giving KE one for graduation.

What doors has God opened for you when another was closed?

Thank you for all the "Good Lucks"

Sorry it took me so long to update you on the Swim Conference Finals, I finally got the pictures down loaded. The pictures are a little blurry but that's what happens when you bounce your camera off payment.

KJ placed 3rd in the 50 free setting a new school record and she qualified for state in the 100 free with a new school record as well.

KE set a new school record in the 200 IM placing 9th and sixth in the 100 breast stroke.

Both girls have worked really hard this year.

Tomorrow is the first day of state competition-preliminaries. It will be a bitter/sweet meet, KE is a senior so this will be her last high school state competition.

Good luck girls and "Kick Fish Fins".

Thanking God For Family Time

These pictures were taken in June of 2008 when we went on a mission trip to Jamaica.

As I was getting ready to write this post I realized that my two teenagers are never in the same picture together. What's with that!

So this is my way of getting back, I'll post silly pictures of them. You will notice that I am taking author's privileges and not posting my snorkeling picture.

My oldest graduates in June and will be leaving for college in the fall. As I read so many other blogs about young families it reminds me time and time again how my girls have grown and that our little family of four is growing and sprouting wings - as it should.

God blessed us with a great night last night, it all started with dinner. Our goal, regardless of how busy we are, is to eat dinner as a family every night. We hit that goal about 90% of the time which I think is great.

The wonderful husband I have made dinner as he usually does. He likes to try new things once in a while, last night was one of those nights. We had bread less chicken cordon bleu (which was great), frozen string beans (not so great, but we could live with them), and instant sweet potatoes. Yes I am hearing you now, some of you are saying ok sweet potatoes are good, but I, along with my family, are with the other half......GROSS! Some things are just not meant to be mashed or instant, they tasted like mashed potatoes with honey in them.

It was quite comical. KJ's portion never made it to the table, and the rest of us gave them a good sporting try but the facial expressions said it all. We had a great laugh about the meal, thankful we had food to eat and made a mental note NOT to have that meal again.

Dishes were cleaned up and we adjourned to the living room to watch American Idol, yes as a family. KE, my 17 year old, actually did her homework in the same room as us AND interacted. That was a wonderful hour that God blessed us with. My entire family together in the same room agreeing to watch the same program - and yes we were still laughing about those sweet potatoes. We talked, gave our opinion about the singing, played with the dogs, and everything else that just goes on when the family is in the same room.

At 8:00 the show was over and so was my family time. My husband and KE went to run an errand. KJ and I started to watch our weekly Ghost Hunters, until I feel asleep in the chair, and then at 9:30 she went to bed.

I thank God for all those precious moments. After KE moves out and life progresses, I will look back on those times together with fond memories, a smile in my heart, and a tear in my eye.

Conference - Going to finals

Sorry guys, time for a little mommy brag time on her little blessings.


For those of you who don't know me and my family, my girls have been swimming for 11 years. I guess I gave birth to fish :-)

Due to a snow storm on Friday our conference swim meet was rescheduled, preliminaries today and finals on Monday.









This conference includes eight high schools. To qualify for finals you must place in the top six positions in your event. Those six swimmers will come back on Monday (Finals) and swim for medals.

There are about 20 swimmers per event (four heats).

My oldest daughter (who graduates this year) placed in the top six in the 100 yard breast stroke, pictured above.

My second daughter (sophomore) placed in the top six in both the 50 Free Style and the 100 Free Style.






Both girls are on two relay teams that will also compete in the finals.

I am so thankful that God chose me to be their mother.

Girls - good luck at finals and better luck at state.

Mom

Gods Blessings

This past week has been hectic. I do the bookkeeping for the company I work for and we are short staffed in the office. So just trying to cover the phones, complete other odd duties and get all the paperwork ready for year end by January 31 has frazzled me some. Both of my daughters started getting sick and it didn't seem as if they were going to get better on their on. So it didn't help my week at work when I had to take off most of the day on Thursday to take each of them to different doctors.

Through all of the confusion God blessed me all day. We didn't have to wait very long for our appointments, we started a new health insurance policy and my co-pay was lower and then the prescriptions the girls needs were on the $4 list - perfect.

That night my youngest daughter, who is 15, settled in with me on the couch to watch a movie. She loves to do that when she feels out of sorts. There was a problem with that set up, not for me but for Jake our dog. He usually lays at the end of the couch. Now my daughter's legs were in his spot. He sat there looking at the end of the couch and whined. Finally he gave up realizing the legs were not going to move and jumped up and laid his 65 pound body beside my daughter who is now asleep and then he put his head on my lap.

I looked around the living room, my husband is in the reclining chair sleeping with a dog on his lap. By this time I have a small dog curled up beside me, a child laying on my side getting me wet because she didn't dry her hair before she cuddled up and another lap-dog-wonna-be laying beside me. I had to keep checking my daughter's face to make sure the dog wasn't smothering her.

I thought to myself, can life get any better? After a wild day trying to meet everyone's demands, here I sit with my family all around me - God's love was all around.

The only thing that could have made the night any better was to have my other daughter with us. She was at work but the night didn't end there for her, she came home after getting sick at work and continued to be sick almost every hour on the hour for the rest of the night. I thanked her for waking me up each time to share her misery which made for a very long night-seriously I did feel bad for her. I was able to get a few hours of sleep and God gave me the strength to get through the next day.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you so much for being here with us this past week. For all the blessing you bestowed upon us; from short wait times in the doctors offices, for medicines to help us feel better, to the open weekend so that we could rest. I thank you for our church and church family so that we may freely worship you with out the fear of being prosecuted. You are an awesome God who deserves our honor and praise.
I thank you for your grace and for not treated us as we really deserve to be treated.
Amen.

A Mother – Daughter Moment

Holidays are a time to share with family and friends and make memories together. Today was on of the memory making days.

My family and I went to see the movie "Marley & Me". You can see a preview of the movie here. I had already read the book so I knew what to expect but what I didn't expect was sitting in the theater sharing a good cry with my oldest daughter. The tears were just streaming down both sides of my face; I would look at my daughter sitting beside me and find the tears running down her face just as quickly. We would look at each other and then start to laugh.

During the teenage years mother/daughter moments are sometimes far and few between especially during their senior year when they are trying to spread their wings of independence as far as they can. I'll take those moments whenever I can get them, even if it means crying in the theater together.

By the way, the movie was great and I recommend it to all dog lovers, especially if you have a larger dog. As usual the book gives more detail so I suggest both reading the book and seeing the movie.

We are never alone.