Spirit Week & Homecoming Slide Show

Spirit Week & Homecoming

Well... last week was an exciting week for the kids as it was Spirit Week for Homecoming. Each day was a different dress up day and the girls had a great time with that. Tina was a good sport and dressed up silly with Ciara. In Germany they don't have school dances or sports in their school, so this was a pretty exciting time for her especially. Brandon marched in the parade last Friday with his snare drum and did a super job. Ciara walked along side the Junior Class Float (which was the best by the way!) and Tina filmed the parade for their multi-media productions class. They are making a video yearbook, fun huh? The girls especially had a fun time with homecoming - but Brandon got in on the action with marching in the parade and again that nite at the football game. We got smoked by Smith Center, but oh well. We beat Norton tonite by 1 point. WOO HOO!!! That was a sweet victory.

So, I hope that you all enjoy the fun slide show from Homecoming. Please post a note sometime, would love to hear from you. Love & Hugs.... Jami

Growing Old

Growing old... it makes me sad to think about it. I mean... how long are we really supposed to live? God decides when our time on earth is over, but I pray that He will spare me a life of misery in my old age, whether it be mentally or physically. My grandmother has Alzheimer's disease and just celebrated her 85th birthday on September 13th. The kids and I visited her and took her a gift. She lives in the nursing home, and let me just say that that is a sad place. I don't know why, but for some reason that day... there were so many residents in the hallways etc., that were in a vegetative state, hooked up to oxygen, or sitting by the nurse's desk crying. When we got to Grandma's room she was laying on her bed and I could tell she was upset. She sat up and I hugged her and wished her a happy birthday, she said she forgot it was her birthday. She began to open her gift but stopped and began crying about a spat she had that morning with another resident regarding some weird looking angels that they were making out of neck ties. Apparently the lady thought that Grandma was bragging about her mad crafting skills or something because she had words with Grandma. It didn't end well and several hours later she was still crying about it and couldn't let it go. I apologized for the lady and said that she shouldn't let it upset her and ruin her birthday, but rather should remember that her family loves her and was there to wish her a happy birthday. She also got flowers that morning from my Mom, but she forgot that Mom had been there. She cried until we left. It was horribly depressing. It's such a helpless feeling, since there's really nothing we can do. She is so forgetful that she doesn't know she is in the nursing home. She keeps saying that "her mind is getting so bad she won't be surprised if she ends up in the nursing home."

We had a birthday party for her yesterday with our family, my parents and my uncle and aunt from Larned... we were there for over 2 hours and had ice cream and cake, we sang happy birthday, opened presents and visited and looked at pictures, she seemed to enjoy herself until she brought up the little neck tie angle incident again and was carrying on about it, my aunt told her to let it go and quit worrying about it, so she got upset, she was mad at me for not allowing her to take the rest of the cake to her room, and mad at my mom for saying that she doesn't have any room to bring more furniture into her tiny little room that she shares with a room mate. She was in such a tizzy that she didn't get to go out and enjoy dinner with her family for her birthday celebration. It makes me so sad, because at that point there is nothing anyone can say or do for her to make it better. The nurse came in the room right before my uncle left and she asked her ,"how was the birthday party?" Grandma said, "what birthday party?" A day later my aunt talked to the social services director at the home and she was told that Grandma was complaining about having nothing to live for because her family never comes to see her. (sigh)

The bible says that pure, undefiled religion is caring for widows and orphans. (James 1:27)
I pray that God will give me the wisdom and strength to be able to do this, because mentally and emotionally... it's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again; REJOICE!” (Phil. 4:4) This is the verse of the day today on my blog. What a great reminder that in the midst of everything (always… regardless of circumstances) we are to rejoice! No matter how rough things seem to get, there is always something to praise God for.

Today I’m praising God that none of Luke’s co-workers were hurt or killed in the Love Box fire yesterday. (God... you're awesome!) My biggest challenge is being still enough to hear his voice. Our world is so busy, and it shouts louder than God sometimes. It’s in the quiet moments, when the house is still and there are no guitars, pianos, kazoos, radios, or kids making noise – that I can truly feel as if I can tap in to what God has to say to me. Today I have an overwhelming sense that God would have me rejoice. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself because it’s just so darn hard to be the mom of teenagers! (GRR) I have to say that I mostly feel unappreciated and dumb. What a complete struggle it is some days. You just don’t think that your precious angels will ever change from “I love you Mommy, You’re the best Mommy in the world, I never want to move away from you and daddy because I’ll miss you too much”… to… snorts, stomps, scowls, grouchiness, sullen or “you’re so stupid” facial expressions, and exclamations of “I can’t wait to move out!”
(it would seem that there isn’t a place far enough away!)

I have nearly always thought that I was a fabulous mom, apparently that one is up for debate. I do so love my “babies”, they truly are good kids, and I recognize that things could be so much worse. My kids don’t drink or do drugs, they desire to live a pure life in a world that is saturated with sex. (UGH!) I guess what I’m trying to say is… even though parenting teenagers is a challenge, it has its definite rewards. On a drama free day our kids are loads of fun! They have such a weird, wacky and fun sense of humor and keep us laughing. We can also have intelligent conversations and go places and do things that we couldn’t do when they were younger. So… I shall rejoice, because one day my children will be adults and possibly even parents… and they will KNOW how hard it is. And perhaps their mother will be fabulous once again!

What do YOU think? Is there something you're rejoicing about?

Love Box Company Fire

This is what Luke saw when he got to work in Wichita Tuesday morning. Love Box Company was on fire! We are praising God that nobody was hurt, which is really a miracle since there were 3 explosions and fire hot enough to melt "fire proof" ceilings. Here's what the news had to say about it:

Fire causes $2 million in damage

at Love Box Company

Watch the Video

WICHITA, Kansas, Sept. 11, 2007 –

A fire at Love Box Tuesday morning did $2 million in damage. The fire started around 7 a.m. in the 700 block of East 37th Street North. Investigators say the 3-alarm fire was caused by a generator malfunctioning.It took firefighters about an hour to put it out, even though the flames were discovered and reported to dispatchers quickly.

"There wasn't anybody directly in this building," Battalion Chief Rob Hughes, Wichita Fire Department, said. "There were people in close proximity to it and they heard the explosion and they investigated and quickly found the fire and alerted 911." The flames were contained to the one building, but there's heavy smoke damage in that area as well as damage to generators and boilers.

Luke spent most of his morning helping people set up temporary offices since their building was blocked off and smoke damaged. It was quite a day. While he was discouraged that he didn't get any work done all morning... he was so thankful that there was not even 1 person injured.

Thank you Lord, for your protection!