Life lessons

There are some things that you go through in life that, though are horrible at the time, mold and shape you into a better, more compassionate person, therefore, more Christlike. Some are huge life-altering lessons and some are just bumps in the road that most everyone experiences at one time or another. Well, Gracen just experienced one of these "bumps", although to her, at 12, it seems huge. And, it breaks my heart, as her Mom, to watch her go through it. For Christmas almost 3yrs ago, she asked for "something alive, something with a beating heart." YIKES, that grossed me out so bad, but Gracie is a major animal lover and she wanted something of her very own, unlike Maizie, who is the "family's" dog. She begged and begged for months for a hamster or gerbil or something along those lines. (I had to draw the line on lizards or snakes! YUK!) It was the only thing she wanted for Christmas. So, finally, I relented, and on Christmas Eve, we went to Petsmart and she picked out the cutest little black gerbil with a little white stripe on his chin. To say Gracen was ecstatic would be an understatement!!! She immediately named him "Pepper". So we brought Pepper and all his "stuff" home. What the people at Petsmart had failed to tell me is that gerbils are nocturnal! He would make the loudest racket at night...eating, running on his wheel, grinding his teeth on the bars of his cage, etc etc and sleep like a baby all day! Pepper wore out his welcome in a hurry, but Gracen still loved him, so he stayed. He actually had a very sweet personality. He would let you scratch him behind the ears, would come up and put his front paws on your finger and he never once made an attempt to bite anyone. I wasn't sure what the lifespan of gerbils was, but he thrived on the tons of love and attention he got from Gracen. We soon found his favorite food was sunflower seeds and he would take them right from your hand. It was so cute. Anyway, 2years went by and Pepper flourished and Gracen loved him...alot. The past few months I noticed he was slowing down some, not near as active at night, not eating as much and getting a little gray around the mouth. ( I could sympathize with old Pepper!) Well, Tuesday night while we were at the Athletic mtg @ school, Pepper passed away. Gracie has been devastated ever since, she just cries and cries. I try to make her feel better by telling her that Pepper led a wonderful, long life being loved and cared for by a precious little girl who has a God-given gift of tenderness and love for all animals. She wasn't buying it, she sobbed uncontrollably. She wanted to stay home from school Wed, but I told her she needed to go to keep her mind off of it. What really touched my heart about the whole thing was her brother, who normally bickers constantly with her and they never have a kind word for each other, was the one who gingerly removed Pepper from his cage and wrapped him up in a paper towel and dug the grave and buried him. It was so sweet, I was so proud of Barrett. What I don't get, however, is how cruel some kids can be. She called all her friends Tuesday night to let them know what had happened, since they were all quite acquainted with Pepper. They were all so kind, offering condolences, except one. When Gracie told her, she just died laughing and said "Get over it! He was just a rat!" I cannot even imagine being that cruel and cold-hearted and I am so glad that she isn't my kid. I'm thankful that my own children are kind and sympathetic, especially to their friends. Anyway, that is what we are dealing with right now. In the grand scheme of things, pretty insignificant, but right now, it is a big deal.

First day of school

The first day of school 07-08 came and went pretty uneventfully. Both Barrett & Gracen seem to be impressed with their teachers. Gracen declared that she didn't think there was a mean one in the bunch! (So, she's got that going for her :-) Even though I dread school starting, it was nice to have the day to try to get my house back in order after the chaos of summer. Both kids are in athletics (Barrett in 8th gr & Gracen in 7th) so I guess our days of Kids Inc. are behind us now. I never thought I would say this, but that makes me a little sad. Gracen was a bundle of nerves for the first day, since it was also the first day of a 2wk process of trying out for the volleyball team. Even though she is great player, her confidence is a little shaky. She was just convinced that there would be tons of transfer students that were all awesome v-ball players and she wouln't make the team. That, thankfully, didn't turn out to be the case. There are quite a few transfers, but I would stack Gracie's v-ball skills against theirs any day. Now her concern is that she will be on the silver team while all her friends will be on the gold. I'm telling you, the kid has no confidence, and I can talk til I'm blue in the face about how great a player she is and it goes in one ear and out the other. Personally, I think it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be on the silver team, she would get more playing time. It will all work out for the best, I'm sure.
Barrett will be on the football team again this year. Last year, he broke his arm the first game and was out until the very end. I'm secretly hoping that this will be his last year to play football. He just doesn't have the size or speed and I'm afraid he is going to get seriously injured. But, I'm just Mom, what do I know? Right now, in middle school, being on the football team is the be all, end all, and if you're not on the team, you're just a total dork. Middle school......gosh, I don't miss that time of life.
BTW, I forgot to mention that as a surprise for Gracen, I bought "Hannah Montana" concert tickets for Dec in OKC. I know, I know, what was I thinking? Right? The things we will go through for our kids. First of all, HM tkts are not that easy to come by. I read on the internet that all the venues were selling out in less than an hr. So, I went online to get tkts for the OKC concert, but, in order to be able to "pre-buy" them before they went on sale to the unwashed masses, you had to become a premium member of "mileyworld.com" for the low, low price of $29.95, then, and ONLY then, you can have the priviledge of paying $55 each for a prized ticket!! What a racket!! I think I will get a cheesy wig and slap it on Gracen and proclaim her "Alexis Texas", add some boots and sequins and see if Disney will give her her own show and then we can go on tour and rake in millions and millions from 'tween girls and their stupid mothers who will shell out hundreds of dollars and travel hundreds of miles for the priviledge of sitting in the nose-bleed section with a pair of binoculars! (but I'm not bitter or anything!! :-) I guess I should consider myself lucky, I've heard on e-bay the tickets are going for as much as $500! I may be stupid, but not THAT stupid! The one consolation I get from all this is that I know Gracen will be thrilled and it will be a great pre-Christmas surprise. Whew!! I feel much better after venting that out!

Time flies!

My "baby" turned 12 on Sunday, August 19th. Can't believe it! In a year, I will have not one, but two, teenagers! On her actual birthday, we were in Dallas, at the Soiree, so my sis-in-law got the cake for me. I had emailed her a pic of Gracen in volleyball camp, it was a great picture. The cake had the picture on it and also all these bright colored flowers, it turned out so cute and she absolutely LOVED it! I remember bringing her home from the hospital, when she was 3 days old, with an IV in her head because she had contracted Group-B strep during labor and finally had to be delivered by C-section. When she was born, she wasn't breathing and was very pale and floppy. Her first Apgar was a 2! They had to resucitate her with a bag and mask. (Thank God I didn't realize any of this at the time) Anyway, she came around pretty quick, but she was still very sick, due to the strep. So, for 7 days after she came home from the hospital, Lon & I had to administer antibiotics to her via the IV in her head. Very upsetting for Mom! I remember the nurse coming to our house right after we got home with her and having to place a new IV, because the old one had blown her vein. In order to put the new IV in, she had to shave her head a little bit, so she asked for Lon's razor and gave her a little reverse mohawk. She said "First haircut Mom!" about as nonchalantly as you please as she shaved my precious new baby's beautiful blond hair! Then she asked me to hold her down and keep her still while she put the new IV in the top of her head. Well, Gracen screamed bloody murder when she poked her, obviously! I was crying, my mom was crying, Lon was crying.....everyone was crying! As I think back on all this, I cannot even believe they expected me, the mom, to put the medicine in her IV and to hold her down while they jabbed her with a needle!! Unbelievable! Well, we all survived and now she is the most beautiful, smart (of course!), loving 12 yr old you would ever want to meet. Every birthday, my mom always says to her "I remember you coming home from the hospital with that needle in your head." and Gracen just grins & giggles. Happy Birthday my precious baby girl. Love, Momma

Random thoughts.

Well, we just watched the final game of the Little League World Series, and the US won again this year!!! The SE team from Warner Robins, GA beat the team from Japan in a walk-off homerun. Yesterday, Warner Robins beat the SW team from Lubbock in the US championship. I think the Lubbock team was trying to "save" their best eligible pitcher for the championship game and got behind early and never were able to catch up. What I thought was really cool, in the championship game, when the kid hit it out to win the game, the SE team was obviously ecstatic, but the Japanese team was crying, really hard, and the American kids and their coach went over to them and started hugging them, very classy. It's kind of sad for me, because the LLWS always signals the end of summer. I was telling my friend, Arlene, this morning that I always dread the start of school because it seems like once school starts, the year just flies by and next year, Barrett will be starting high school. I am soooo not ready for that! I know every parent says this, but, it seems like only yesterday when I was holding his hand and walking him into kindergarten. (He won't let me hold his hand on the 1st day of school anymore!) Our minister wrote an article in a local magazine that really hits home for me. It was entitled "Crying through the Joy" and was about he and his wife crying on their daughter's birthdays, even though they are thrilled she is growing up, they are sad for what is being left behind. He said, "We cry because we are losing what our children were in order to welcome what they are becoming." That was comforting to me because I have always quietly chastised myself for being sad that the kids are growing up so fast. I always told myself that I should be thankful to God that my kids are healthy and I certainly had no reason to cry. (Which, believe me, I AM SO thankful for my healthy kids) But still, with each passing year, I am a little sad, and this article kind of nailed how I feel. He talks about rejoicing over each new development, yet knowing that these things slip through our fingers in the blink of an eye, each new development is also tinged with a little sadness. Yes! that's it! He went on to say-"I think what we are longing for is something the Bible calls eternity. We are trapped in this tyrannical force called time. It grinds down everything and leaves only dust in its wake. For creatures designed to live in God's eternal presence, we find this time-bound existence painful.....We long in our spirits to be set free and live in God's renewed world where time cannot steal from us any joy, blessing, or person." AMEN! Dan.
2007 Soiree has come and gone another year. Lon is the youngest of 7 (yes 7!!) kids and every summer they get together for a reunion called "The Soiree". This year it was held at Lon's sister's house in Dallas. The kids always prefer to go to her house because she has a pool. When Lon & I married, the "little kids" were the children of Lon's sisters and brothers. Now, those "little kids" have kids of their own. My kids are kind of in the middle, with everyone being alot older or quite a bit younger, so when we go to Dallas, they just hang out in the pool and I don't have to listen to whines of "I'm bored." Anyway, this year was sad because Lon's sister, Jean, passed away a few months ago. Everyone seemed more subdued. Usually, we could count on at least one alcohol fueled, heated argument over politics or religion or both. Didn't happen. Oh well, maybe next year.
I need to go and get school supplies organized and get ready to say goodbye to Summer 07, so I better get off the computer. Hopefully, this won't be my last post until January! :-)

Mission Lazarus

In October, 2000, my cousin, Curtis Jones, of Portland OR, passed away of cancer at the age of 45. His oldest child, Meredith, was a senior in high school at the time. Since then, Meredith graduated HS, received her nursing degree from ACU and, as of the last few months, has taken over the directorship of Mission Lazarus clinic in Honduras. She is a young, single woman who is so focused on making a difference and following God's call on her life. I am so proud of her I can't even tell you. I know her father would be also. I am also so honored to be able to support, even in the tiniest way, her mission work. I would ask anyone reading this blog to please add her to your prayer list. You can also read about her work here: http://meredithljones.blogspot.com/

Vegas Vacation

Wow! Where has this summer gone? The last days of summer always make me a little melancholy. I absolutely love the summer and always hate to see it go, but then, school starts and everything gets back into a routine, which is good. The kids & I just got back from our vacation to Las Vegas. We went with my sister and 2 of her kids and also my mom. (Lon didn't get to go, they are very bogged down at work :-( he & I will go later this fall :-) The kids have always begged to go to Las Vegas, since Lon & I go every year, but I wanted to wait until they were a little older and this year, everything just fell into place--we had a free room (lon & i don't gamble that much but we do get our room comped and a few free buffets!) and one free flight, so it wasn't that expensive and it was fun for the kids and I to save money in our "Las Vegas fund" all summer. They kicked in a large portion of their allowance, which was good for them. We had an absolute blast!! The only thing that would have made it better was if Lon could have been there. (and less crowded of course!) I always forget about the crowds, even during the middle of the week! Usually the crowds don't bother me that much because Lon will be in the sports book or at the tables and I will head out on my own to do whatever, either shopping or .....well its always shopping!! But this time we had a group of 7 and it felt like I was dragging a ball and chain around, trying to make sure everyone was with the group. Plus, my mom has sciatic nerve pain in her leg and she always lagged a little behind. It was so sweet though, Gracen and Addie (my neice) always stayed back with her so she wasn't by herself.
First thing on the agenda was to head to the Rio for their seafood buffet! All the crab legs and lobster you can eat! My kids (especially Barrett!) were in heaven. It was hilarious to watch Barrett cracking those crab legs, shells and juice were flying everywhere. Mother said she got a crab juice shower! Anyway, that was fun since lon & i don't usually do buffets (except for breakfast) they are usually pretty crowded and gross and there too many fantastic restaurants in Vegas to waste your time at a buffet. But, this was a whole different trip than what lon & i usually take.
Next, we went to the Coke and the M&M stores, they always have cool t-shirts and souvenirs. (that they are extremely proud of!! Oh well, it was vacation!) And while we were down that way, Barrett & Corbin rode the rollercoaster at NY,NY. It was a full day, we were exhausted, especially Mother!
We were staying at the Mirage, where the dolphin & white tiger habitats are. The dolphins had just had a baby in June, he was soooo cute, his name was Sgt. Pepper, going along with the whole Beatles-LOVE theme of the Mirage right now. Gracen said that was her favorite part of the trip. Also, our room looked right out where we could see the volcano erupting, pretty nice.
There were a few things that we did that, though I'm glad we did them, I don't feel the need to ever do again. One was the Hoover Dam, the traffic and crowds were a nightmare, plus, I'm terrified of heights. As far as I was concerned, we couldn't get out of there fast enough! Although, I gained enormous respect for the men that built it, very scary! Two- was the Stratosphere, the hotel that resembles the Space Needle. Again, like I said, I'm terrified of heights. Barrett & Corbin even rode one of the rides on the top! So scary and I don't EVER want to go back. and 3-the downtown area, that place is skanky and nasty and every casino reeks of cigarette smoke. Yes, all casinos have cig smoke, but the newer ones are much better ventilated. The Fremont Street Experience was not that impressive, no need to ever go back.
We also spent time shopping at an outlet mall, which was typical of EVERY outlet mall I have ever been in, no need to go back there either. But, the Fashion Show Mall is great, I go there every time we go to Vegas. And swimming, the Mirage pool is beautiful, with palm trees and waterfalls. Plus, the pool is always good free entertainment, you would absolutely not believe what people will wear to the pool when they are on vacation! Potbellied old geezers in speedos are a common sight!! Mother, Cristi & I laughed so hard our sides hurt!! And what is a trip to Vegas without going to a show. We went to a magic show on the strip that had white tigers, it was OK, but not as quality of a show as Siegfried & Roy used to be.
It was fun to watch my kids reaction to everything. They have really led a sheltered life and have rarely traveled outside of TX/OK. There are some cultures that have no concept of "personal space" and will run you right over without a second thought or stand really close in an elevator. I hadn't thought to warn the kids about that and it was funny to see their reaction and watch them stare at all the "different" styles of dress! Eye-opening for them.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip. The kids had a blast and really made some good memories with their cousins and Granny. Now, they can quit nagging Lon & I about going. :-) Oh, I almost forgot---I got a PF Changs fix!! We ate there for lunch on Tuesday, it was delicious!! Kung Pao shrimp and Gen. Chang's chicken! But, somehow, not quite the same without Lon. We will definitely have to hit it again when we go back!