NOTHING TO CHEER ABOUT

Well, Kierstin didn't make cheerleading. She really tried hard, but just didn't make the cut. She will talk to the coach to see what she needs to work on for next year. Bless her heart- she was crying and all upset and then mad and then accepted it. What a trooper. My heart was just breaking for her. She doesn't really play any team sports, so this was the thing for her. She is trying out for drill team now and also doing track, which I'm wondering if she'll stick with. Drill team, she says is different. We'll see how it goes... Keep your fingers crossed for straight A's from both girls! We'll find out next week where they are at so far...

Abby Felter

Laura's basketball teammate, Abby Felter, was injured in a skiing accident 8 days ago. She will hopefully be going home today. The inspiration that her family has given me is amazing. They are very much a family of God. It shows. It really shows. Not only do they openly talk about God's amazing grace, they are proof of it! Abby was REALLY banged up, and today she's going home to finish her recovery. Thank you GOD!!

The pictures are of the day after the accident to the day she'll be going home. Amazing!!!

YOUTHQUAKE

K and I went to a YouthQuake event this past weekend in Wichita. It was a total and complete blast. We both had a great time. I can't wait till next year when L goes too! Although, I'd almost rather not drive next year. I have too hard of a time catching up and then I'd get mad that I'd have to go 80 mph to do it. So, we'll see... There were 2 bands there: Captive Free and Fuller Still. They were both great (and very different from each other). Captive Free had this 7 foot tall dude named Rick with a mohawk that ALL the kids adored. He was cool. You could invite any of the band members you wanted to eat lunch/dinner with you. He was booked solid early on and we didn't get to him fast enough to get him invited with us. Maybe next year.... Anyway, there's this kid Mike that went. He and his mom went to the Heit's Point retreat at Lake of the Ozarks a few months back. So, when I see Mike this weekend, I ask one of the other leaders there with me if they know if he is sick or not. He's just almost dead looking. Pale skin, you can see his cheekbones, and he's WAY too thin. She said she didn't really know him that well for her to compare how he looks now. I asked a couple other adults too. No one knew anything. So, he pretty much just stayed in his room and slept. He did want to go swimming, but we told him no. So, I guess now we find out he's had strep this past week. He brought no medicine that we know of with him. He came back early and was rushed to the hospital and then got put in ICU. Now the family is mad at us. Well, you shouldn't have sent your sick kid away for the weekend!!! I do hope he's okay. I've been praying for him... The weekend was very good for me spiritually. I learned a lot and feel good about it. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

THE BIG DANCE

K had her first junior high Valentine's Day dance last week. We had to go buy a dress and shoes, the whole shebang. Thank goodness we found amazing sales at Kohl's! She ended up with a black halter dress that came above her knees and little slip on flip-flop type black shoes with an inch heel. So cute. She didn't dance with anyone but her friends (mostly girls) and that's fine. She was SO nervous getting ready for it. It was so cute. She even put on fake nails. I wish she would just let hers grow. Anyway- that's it for the dance. I even gave her $5 to have her picture taken there but she ended up not doing it because she thought the background looked dorky. I told her they ALWAYS look dorky and to ALWAYS get one taken. Gotta have something for the scrapbook, right?

RA RA REE KICK HIM IN THE KNEE, RA RA REE KICK HIM IN THE OTHER KNEE

K had a cheer competition over the weekend. We had to do her hair in baby doll curls high up on her head. That was an ordeal! We borrowed sponge curlers from next door and after she had showered, blown dry her hair and put it up in a high pony on her head, we hair sprayed each piece of hair before rolling it. Then it was sprayed again. Her hair was SO freaking sticky!!! She slept in it, then we took it out for church the next morning. They were so cute! Then, after church and Sunday School, they started to fall. So, I had to spray them and put them up in the rollers again. They worked really hard on their dance and cheer they did. Her squad got 2nd place in cheer and 3rd place in dance. She has 2 medals and her squad has 2 trophies now. She's so proud, she even had me bring the medals up to school so she could wear them like the other team members are doing. Oh- she's in the spelling bee today! I'll let you know how that goes. I'm so proud of her.

CRIME / PUNISHMENT AND MAKE-UP

Wow. Sometimes you just have to be firm with these kids! K didn't get her homework done before spending the night at a friend's house over the weekend and now she is seriously being punished! J came up with the list. Sometimes I think he's too strict. But, I guess that's how they learn. He gets mad when I try to make it a lesser punishment sometimes. Other times, I agree with him. K has to keep her room clean at ALL times, keep her bathroom clean (no dirty clothes on the floor), can't talk on the phone after 7pm and can't sleep over or have anyone else spend the night till spring break. She has 2 birthday sleepovers she'd already been invited to. Now, she still gets to go, but can't spend the night. I'll pick her up to come home at 11pm. At least she still gets to go. All of this is because her original punishment was a week's worth of grounding from after school activities and church fun activities. Then, she said she's missed too many BB games and can't try out for cheerleading if she misses 2 more. Being grounded for a week would make her miss those 2. I guess we'll see how bad she really wants it. I do hope she makes the cheerleading squad at jr high. She doesn't play any other sports and it would be so good for her to be on the team. So, after spending the night at M's house, she comes home with fake nail on and mascara and eye shadow and blush. I guess I'm a little put out because she thinks it's no big deal to have that stuff on. I personally don't think she needs it. I know, I know! All the girls are wearing make up mom! Come on! Well, we all know not ALL the girls are. I guess a little now and then wouldn't hurt, but it would have been nice to at least be asked if she could start wearing it! They are developing at such a young age! Both are getting boobs and hair "down there". Both are shaving their legs (not underarms yet). Periods are coming soon I'm sure. I just want them to be good kids and not get into trouble. I know I can only teach them so much and then the rest is up to them. I do know this. It's just hard to accept sometimes. There's a Valentine's Day dance coming up in a few weeks. I just want her to remember the rules. No dating till she's 16 and no kissing till then either. Many of her friends have already had a couple "boyfriends". I know what kind of reputation that leads to and I don't want her to be seen the wrong way. So, here's to raising your kids the best way you know how and hoping they have been listening... I'll let you know how the dance goes...

ELAINA, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S

Okay. So, now my sister J has adopted this gorgeous baby girl from Guatemala. She went to pick her up on the girls bday and came back on the 21st. Just in time for her first Christmas and her first Bday on the 28th. It was an emotional homecoming. I have never seen J happier. Really. Even my hubby commented on it. She's gonna be such a great mom. Well, let's see... Santa was good to me this year. Brought me a dvd recorder that I wasn't expecting at all. Now I can finally transfer to dvd about 50 or so camcorder tapes. I never did get any of them copied over to vhs. thank goodness! now they will go right to dvd. I know, in a few years I will need to move them from dvd to something else, but that's okay. I will feel safer having them on dvd instead of 8mm tapes that can deteriorate or get wet. The girls made a bracelet for me at global gems. I'm so mad they moved. Oh well. Time to find a new bead shop I guess. This year has got to be better for us financially. No more eating out. No more extras. We have got to get our debt paid off. I really really want to try the Dave Ramsey method of being debt free. I listen to his show everyday at lunch during the week. Not brain surgery, I know. It's just common sense stuff that apparently is working for thousands of people. The W get back from Ireland in a few days. I know they had a great trip. Hope it's not too hard for them to leave D. Sally Mae has been squawking like crazy when I go over to fill her water/give her food. She misses them like crazy. Oh- that reminds me. I should check the litter box to make sure it's not overflowing. I know- like you needed to hear that! Anyway- the kids got MP3 players for Christmas. They wanted IPODS and cell phones, but clearly that wasn't happening. They are absolutely thrilled with the MP3's. L starts her orthodontics this month. Spacers then braces I'm sure. She's not looking forward to it, but I'm thinking the sooner we start, the sooner we can be done with it. They will so appreciate it when they are older. I know I did. (thanks mom and dad!!) We spent New Year's Eve at home. I prefer to do that anyway. No sense being out amongst the crazy people. We watched Air Buddies (new movie Santa brought them) and had sparkling grape juice to toast with. J got a wild hair up his ass and bought a bunch of liquor. He wanted to make Kamikaze's and Cosmo's. I bought myself a bottle of wine. Riesling. Yummy! He made me a cosmo and it was terrible!!! YUCK!!! So, that's why the grape juice. For dinner on New Year's Day, I boiled some awesome large shrimp and we had twice baked potatoes. Now that was some good eatin'!! God Bless this New Year. May everyone prosper and be happy.

BIRTHDAYS AND BOYFRIENDS

So, the girls turned 12 and 13 on Saturday. J thought it would be a great idea (to help keep the cost down) to let them each have 5/6 friends over for a slumber party. I came up with the idea for a photo scavenger hunt at the mall. They took digital camera pics of items at the mall in ABC order. Each letter had a point value assigned to it. For example, Q was 50 points. A,B,C were each 5 points. You get the idea. Anyway, L's team won because they found a queen in a chess set. K's team didn't find any Q item. The prizes were gift cards to various stores. Then, we came back to the house for $5 pizza hut pizzas. After that, K's group was out back because some guys from school stopped by the back gate. L's group ran outside and yelled in unison,"K your bra is laying on the floor again!" She got so embarrassed. I thought it was a funny prank to play. Boy, did they get them back! L's group was SO waiting for K's group to fall asleep so they could grab their underwear/bras and get them wet then stick them in the freezer. But, they never fell asleep! L's group went to sleep first (I think around 4 am). K's group put shaving cream and shredded cheese and butter on L's face. I guess while they were doing it, she moved and some of it went in her mouth. That pretty much pissed her off so she had to cry about it for awhile saying she couldn't get the taste out of her mouth. Ahh, paybacks are hell, aren't they? Then, after it got to be 5 am, I put my foot down and made them all go to sleep. They slept till 10 and got up for Krispy Kreme donuts. Game over. Whew!!! I still can't believe I have a teenage daughter. Wow. Time has flown. It's funny. My twin sister J is in Guatemala right now, as I'm typing this, to pick up the baby girl she adopted. She will find out soon enough just how rewarding it is to be a mom. I love it and am so very blessed! So, L's "boyfriend" Mauricio (he's Italian/Mexican) got her some nice stuff for her birthday. A big box of chocolates and a little Ty teddy bear holding a present with Happy Birthday ribbons on it AND a bottle of Charlie perfume!! Can you even believe it?? This guy is really sweet. They haven't even held hands yet. They just hang out at school, play soccer at recess and then talk on the phone when she gets home from school. (Remember, no dating till they are 16).