Good Morning,
Happy Mother's Day to those of you women who have children, pets or feel like you have taken on the role of a mother at some time in your lifetime. I love Mother's Day. It is one of my favorite days of all. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children and to think that "only" God knew how much I would love being a mom. I remember there was a time that I was totally content knowing I would not have any children. Now I honestly believe that being a mom is my most favorite thing I have ever done.
I am also blessed to have a beautiful mother. She is beautiful from the inside to the outside. Maybe one year I will make it home on Mother's day so we can celebrate the day together, "I love you Mom".
Today is also Dad's 80th birthday. "Happy Birthday Dad, I love you too." Needless to say I'm feeling pretty homesick today. It would have been a great day to be in Wisconsin to help celebrate this double event. Thank goodness for telephones, right?
We had some excitement this week in our family. Keegan came home from their annual high school Thespian awards banquet with 4 trophies. (Thespian simple means anything to do with theatre on or off stage.) She was nominated in 5 categories. She won 4 of them. "Best Actress" in a leading role. (This was from the last play she was in where her character had leukemia.) She also won "Best Actress in a One-Act" and "Best Student Writer", (she wrote and directed a play that was performed in front of an audience, I thought it was excellent). The award she is most proud of is for "Best Senior Thespian". All of the nominations and awards were voted on by her peers. We are so happy for her, she worked very hard this past year in theatre. Actually all 4 years of high school, especially since she has been in Wichita. I have attached several pictures.
The other excitement this week was that yesterday our whole family decided to travel to Oklahoma to watch Dawson play in his last lacrosse game/tournament for the season. Because it is a traveling league, half of the games were out of state. Keegan and I have not yet traveled with the boys. I could tell Dawson was so happy that his sister and I were going along with them.
They played 2 games. The first game was good, the second game was a nightmare. The other team was so mean, just flat out mean. A couple of times I think David had to hold me down so I wouldn't run out on the field to beat the crap out of the player who kept knocking Dawson flat on the ground. I was getting mad and I was afraid that someone was going to get hurt. Sure enough one of our players got hit so hard that they had to call 911 for an ambulance/EMT. Shortly after his friend was hit. The same kid who hurt his friend, then hit Dawson right across his chest with the stick while he was running. Dawson flew up and fell backwards on his back. It knocked the wind out of him. We watched him walk off the field very slowly. When he got over to the other side of the field I saw him take off his helmet and he was walking around really weird. I told David to go over there to see if he was okay. A few minutes later I saw Dawson laying down and a bunch of people were around him. When I got over there he was shaking and having a hard time breathing. He kept saying his fingers and arms felt numb and tingly. At this point I was scared. Some of the men from the EMT and the firefighters that showed up for the 1st boy came over to help Dawson. He had about 4-5 paramedics trying to calm his breathing down. They even had to put an oxygen tube in his nose to help his breathing back to normal. He was fine after they calmed him down. One of the paramedics told me that he believed that Dawson was hyperventilating and possibly had an anxiety attack. I didn't know this, but I guess when you hyperventilate it affects your neck and head, it also makes your extremities start to tingle and feel numb. Here is my medical opinion, I think Dawson got scared when the wind was knocked out of him, he said he was very dizzy when he walked off the field. I think he started freaking out thinking something was very wrong with how he felt, then his mind took over and he started to hyperventilate. I also don't think it helped him when he saw his closest friend being worked on by the EMT. I found out later that another friend of Dawson's had a concussion in the 1st half of that game. I hope they do something about that other team. Someday they are going to severely hurt someone. By the way, after that kid hit Dawson the referee threw him out of the game. Too bad he wasn't thrown out when he hurt the 1st kid. I'm sorry if that was all very hard to understand. We had a safe trip home. I am also glad I was there. I told Dawson "no more lacrosse", he just laughed at me. Whaaa.....!
This Thursday we will watch Keegan graduate from high school. There are almost 550 students in her class, so it will be a long program. The 4 of us will probably go out for dinner or ice cream afterwards. The following weekend Keegan has been invited to several graduation parties. I just can't believe it is even possible that my baby girl is graduating from high school.
May God bless you always.
Love,
Marjie
Salt Lake City, Utah
Picture taken on Thanksgiving weekend 2013.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
First and Final Choice
Hi Everyone,
I know it seems too soon to hear from me already, but I had to let you know our exciting news.
Keegan has made her final decision on where she will be attending college in the fall. Washington University in St. Louis will be her new home for at least the next 4 years. Last night she made the final commitment in writing and we paid her "non-refundable" deposits. It's a done deal. No more looking and no more waiting. I know that David and I are so relieved, so I'm sure Keegan is. Dawson is happy too. He was just as involved and encouraging his sister every step of the way.
It seems very ironic to me how this was the very first university she looked at a year ago during Spring break and it just happens to be her final choice. She fell in love with WashU back then and all year long kept thinking about her 1st love. In less then a year we visited 14 colleges in a total of 7 states. She applied at 5 colleges and loved all of them. Each of them had something unique that she liked. She kept wishing she could find one college that had everything. It finally had to come done to what school would give her the best scholarship. WashU (nickname from now on) has offered her an extremely generous financial award for the next 4 years.
Keegan worked her tail off throughout her high school years, she is now going to reap the rewards. We are so unbelievably proud of her accomplishments. In the meantime she has encouraged Dawson to work just as hard through his high school years so he can hopefully benefit too. He is already reading about certain colleges and making big goals for himself.
Her plan is to take the summer off and do a lot of reading and writing. She will continue to apply for more scholarships and she wants to enter some of her stories and poems into several contests. Hopefully she will keep making money to put towards her cost of living. Every little bit of money helps, right? I think she needs a break before she starts the whole school thing all over again. She will be in another honors program at WashU, it is considered to be very rigorous. Yikes, here we go again! :b
It's kind of exciting to think of all the things we need to do now to prepare her to be on her own. I get a little nervous when I think about how much she depends on me for doing probably too much for her, but I know Keegan, she is very mature and ready for the challenge. She has already grown up so much. Plus we will do a lot this summer to get her ready. I too didn't know how to cook, do laundry or a million other things when I left to be on my own. Huh, I guess I still don't know how to cook very well!!
I only hope she calls us and still will find time to keep in touch. Did that sound pathetic? Yes, I'm going to miss her like crazy, but not so much that I would want to keep her from her dreams and goals. I know it will be hard and I'm sure there will be lots of tears on my part. I just wouldn't have it any other way.
Not much more to tell except Dawson is going back to his lacrosse practice today for the 1st time after hurting his tailbone. He is doing so much better. I'm sure he will be sore tomorrow after being out of the game for so long. This summer he plans on playing on the lacrosse team, high school soccer starts up again. I'm sure he will be spending a lot of time at the gym and hanging out with his friends. Oh, and driving a bunch so he can get his drivers license next year.
Sorry, I didn't think this blog would be so long. I'm just so happy the college search is over, at least for a couple of years!! :/
The kids are almost out of school for the summer. Dawson has about 17 days left of school and counting down. Keegan only has like 7 days left, but in those 7 days she will be taking 4 very hard IB test. The day before the test date, the school gives the IB students the day off to study. She will even miss her graduation practice because one her IB test is scheduled during the same time and can not be changed. She said the only reason IB would reschedule a test, is if the country/world went into war!! No kidding. She will just have to follow the person in front of her on graduation evening!
Love to all of you. Thank you again for all of your prayers.
God Bless you,
Marjie
I know it seems too soon to hear from me already, but I had to let you know our exciting news.
Keegan has made her final decision on where she will be attending college in the fall. Washington University in St. Louis will be her new home for at least the next 4 years. Last night she made the final commitment in writing and we paid her "non-refundable" deposits. It's a done deal. No more looking and no more waiting. I know that David and I are so relieved, so I'm sure Keegan is. Dawson is happy too. He was just as involved and encouraging his sister every step of the way.
It seems very ironic to me how this was the very first university she looked at a year ago during Spring break and it just happens to be her final choice. She fell in love with WashU back then and all year long kept thinking about her 1st love. In less then a year we visited 14 colleges in a total of 7 states. She applied at 5 colleges and loved all of them. Each of them had something unique that she liked. She kept wishing she could find one college that had everything. It finally had to come done to what school would give her the best scholarship. WashU (nickname from now on) has offered her an extremely generous financial award for the next 4 years.
Keegan worked her tail off throughout her high school years, she is now going to reap the rewards. We are so unbelievably proud of her accomplishments. In the meantime she has encouraged Dawson to work just as hard through his high school years so he can hopefully benefit too. He is already reading about certain colleges and making big goals for himself.
Her plan is to take the summer off and do a lot of reading and writing. She will continue to apply for more scholarships and she wants to enter some of her stories and poems into several contests. Hopefully she will keep making money to put towards her cost of living. Every little bit of money helps, right? I think she needs a break before she starts the whole school thing all over again. She will be in another honors program at WashU, it is considered to be very rigorous. Yikes, here we go again! :b
It's kind of exciting to think of all the things we need to do now to prepare her to be on her own. I get a little nervous when I think about how much she depends on me for doing probably too much for her, but I know Keegan, she is very mature and ready for the challenge. She has already grown up so much. Plus we will do a lot this summer to get her ready. I too didn't know how to cook, do laundry or a million other things when I left to be on my own. Huh, I guess I still don't know how to cook very well!!
I only hope she calls us and still will find time to keep in touch. Did that sound pathetic? Yes, I'm going to miss her like crazy, but not so much that I would want to keep her from her dreams and goals. I know it will be hard and I'm sure there will be lots of tears on my part. I just wouldn't have it any other way.
Not much more to tell except Dawson is going back to his lacrosse practice today for the 1st time after hurting his tailbone. He is doing so much better. I'm sure he will be sore tomorrow after being out of the game for so long. This summer he plans on playing on the lacrosse team, high school soccer starts up again. I'm sure he will be spending a lot of time at the gym and hanging out with his friends. Oh, and driving a bunch so he can get his drivers license next year.
Sorry, I didn't think this blog would be so long. I'm just so happy the college search is over, at least for a couple of years!! :/
The kids are almost out of school for the summer. Dawson has about 17 days left of school and counting down. Keegan only has like 7 days left, but in those 7 days she will be taking 4 very hard IB test. The day before the test date, the school gives the IB students the day off to study. She will even miss her graduation practice because one her IB test is scheduled during the same time and can not be changed. She said the only reason IB would reschedule a test, is if the country/world went into war!! No kidding. She will just have to follow the person in front of her on graduation evening!
Love to all of you. Thank you again for all of your prayers.
God Bless you,
Marjie
Thursday, April 12, 2012
♫♪ It's Raining, It's Pouring ♪♫
Happy Easter everyone,
I hope you all had a nice Easter day. We didn't do much. The kids still don't believe there should be an age limit on finding eggs and baskets. The good thing is teenagers don't wake up early!
I'm only scheduled for 20 hours this week at THD, so I thought I would catch up on my blog. As you guessed by the title, it is raining outside. It has been off and on all week. My flowers are starting to bloom. Especially my roses. I picked a few this morning and put them in a vase. Our grass is so thick and green. I think we have had more rain these past few weeks than we got all last year. Everyone in Kansas is very happy about the rain. Hopefully this year the farmers crops will survive.
Crazy week for Keegan. I know what you are thinking...what's new, right? Most kids are happy that school is almost out for the year. Instead Keegan gets this sick look of anxiety on her face. I can tell she is thinking about how much school work, projects and IB tests that are scheduled yet. Each night she has been getting very little sleep because of homework due each day.
The Spring play that she is in starts this weekend. It is called "Marvin's Room". Rehearsal has been late every night this week. Last night at dress rehearsal, I had to learn how to put an acrylic bald head on Keegan. It was not fun to apply and less fun for her to wear. During the play she has to wear 3 different wigs. I don't know much about the play, but I do know her character has leukemia. Keegan won't tell me if she dies or not. Regardless I'm taking a bunch of tissues. Keegan has expressed how sad she will be to perform her last play in high school. Personally I will be glad when this weekend is over. Needless to say when she doesn't get much sleep she starts to feel sick. She's been fighting a cold and a froggy voice all week.
I know you are all wondering if she has made her college choice yet. I think so, but you never know what could happen in the next 2 weeks. Her favorite place at this point is Washington University in St Louis. They have presented the best financial package so far. It won't be long and the final decision has to be made by May 1st.
Dawson has been out of sports the past few weeks. He fell hard on his tailbone! The 1st night he came home from practice after hurting it, he was in excruciating pain. We were going to take him to the emergency room but then we started reading about it online. According to what I've read, the tailbone usually has to heal on its own. It takes a long time, but it will heal. He is moving around rather slowly, but at the same time he is doing much better than when he first got hurt. His lacrosse team has not been doing so good lately. They seem to be on a loosing streak. I don't think it is because Dawson is out, but I'm sure it doesn't help his team either. This week he was supposed to play lacrosse in Arkansas. He's pretty bummed out that he can't make the trip with his team.
Dawson is really looking forward to the end of the school year. He is counting down the days and saying he is almost 1/4 of the way through high school. I'm not sure what he will be doing this summer. He wants to get a job. Although there aren't many places that hire 15 year old kids. He has also mentioned playing on a summer lacrosse team and possibly going out for the high school soccer team again.
One thing new with Dawson that I almost forgot to mention, he just got braces put on his teeth. The 1st week was hard for him. Not so much because of the pain, but because his food was limited!! He is now back to normal and eating enough for 3 people. He is sad because he can't have his daily apple and almonds in his lunch bag anymore. You can hardly see his braces. On his top teeth his braces are clear. On the bottom teeth they are silver, but you don't notice them when he smiles.
I will attach a few new pictures along the side bar. Hopefully I will get more pictures during Keegan's play this weekend to send at a later time.
I will continue to keep you all in my prayers and please do the same for us. I know that I say this often, but I just can't say it enough. So many times a day I turn to God for help. It seems like lately not just day to day, but even moment to moment I have to stop and ask for help to not be feeling so much pressure and full of anxiety. God brings so much peace into my heart and mind. Thank you for your prayers.
I'm not sure where our travels will be taking us this summer. I think it will all depend on when and where we will be moving Keegan into college. If we do any visiting this summer we will probably be mooching off of everyone "AGAIN"!!
I love and miss all of you,
Marjie
I hope you all had a nice Easter day. We didn't do much. The kids still don't believe there should be an age limit on finding eggs and baskets. The good thing is teenagers don't wake up early!
I'm only scheduled for 20 hours this week at THD, so I thought I would catch up on my blog. As you guessed by the title, it is raining outside. It has been off and on all week. My flowers are starting to bloom. Especially my roses. I picked a few this morning and put them in a vase. Our grass is so thick and green. I think we have had more rain these past few weeks than we got all last year. Everyone in Kansas is very happy about the rain. Hopefully this year the farmers crops will survive.
Crazy week for Keegan. I know what you are thinking...what's new, right? Most kids are happy that school is almost out for the year. Instead Keegan gets this sick look of anxiety on her face. I can tell she is thinking about how much school work, projects and IB tests that are scheduled yet. Each night she has been getting very little sleep because of homework due each day.
The Spring play that she is in starts this weekend. It is called "Marvin's Room". Rehearsal has been late every night this week. Last night at dress rehearsal, I had to learn how to put an acrylic bald head on Keegan. It was not fun to apply and less fun for her to wear. During the play she has to wear 3 different wigs. I don't know much about the play, but I do know her character has leukemia. Keegan won't tell me if she dies or not. Regardless I'm taking a bunch of tissues. Keegan has expressed how sad she will be to perform her last play in high school. Personally I will be glad when this weekend is over. Needless to say when she doesn't get much sleep she starts to feel sick. She's been fighting a cold and a froggy voice all week.
I know you are all wondering if she has made her college choice yet. I think so, but you never know what could happen in the next 2 weeks. Her favorite place at this point is Washington University in St Louis. They have presented the best financial package so far. It won't be long and the final decision has to be made by May 1st.
Dawson has been out of sports the past few weeks. He fell hard on his tailbone! The 1st night he came home from practice after hurting it, he was in excruciating pain. We were going to take him to the emergency room but then we started reading about it online. According to what I've read, the tailbone usually has to heal on its own. It takes a long time, but it will heal. He is moving around rather slowly, but at the same time he is doing much better than when he first got hurt. His lacrosse team has not been doing so good lately. They seem to be on a loosing streak. I don't think it is because Dawson is out, but I'm sure it doesn't help his team either. This week he was supposed to play lacrosse in Arkansas. He's pretty bummed out that he can't make the trip with his team.
Dawson is really looking forward to the end of the school year. He is counting down the days and saying he is almost 1/4 of the way through high school. I'm not sure what he will be doing this summer. He wants to get a job. Although there aren't many places that hire 15 year old kids. He has also mentioned playing on a summer lacrosse team and possibly going out for the high school soccer team again.
One thing new with Dawson that I almost forgot to mention, he just got braces put on his teeth. The 1st week was hard for him. Not so much because of the pain, but because his food was limited!! He is now back to normal and eating enough for 3 people. He is sad because he can't have his daily apple and almonds in his lunch bag anymore. You can hardly see his braces. On his top teeth his braces are clear. On the bottom teeth they are silver, but you don't notice them when he smiles.
I will attach a few new pictures along the side bar. Hopefully I will get more pictures during Keegan's play this weekend to send at a later time.
I will continue to keep you all in my prayers and please do the same for us. I know that I say this often, but I just can't say it enough. So many times a day I turn to God for help. It seems like lately not just day to day, but even moment to moment I have to stop and ask for help to not be feeling so much pressure and full of anxiety. God brings so much peace into my heart and mind. Thank you for your prayers.
I'm not sure where our travels will be taking us this summer. I think it will all depend on when and where we will be moving Keegan into college. If we do any visiting this summer we will probably be mooching off of everyone "AGAIN"!!
I love and miss all of you,
Marjie
Monday, March 12, 2012
Happy Spring?
Hello,
Where has the time gone? My last blog was "Happy New Year"! It seems like our winter flew by so fast. I think we had 3 or 4 dusting's of snow this year. The kids didn't have any snow days. Now our trees are starting to bloom. It's hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner. We have had some nice rain showers these past few days. I just hope the summer isn't as dry and hot as last year.
We are busy as usual and trying to keep up with the kids. I have a few days off, so maybe I can catch you up on what's new with the Hughes family. Sorry that it is old news for some of you.
Dawson has been in his glory. He is in the middle of his Lacrosse season and loving it. He was playing 7 days a week. Monday-Friday practice, Saturday games, and Sunday night, indoor Lacrosse games. His indoor team finished in 1st place. They were undefeated! I went to a few games and it was definitely exciting to watch. The ball stays live most of the time because they play off of the walls. The game is very fast paced, so it's hard to always see who has the ball. Plus the indoor ball is a lot lighter weight. Almost turf ball weight. It's so light the guys would continue to run thinking the ball was still in their net, meanwhile the other team has picked up the ball and running the other direction. Kind of comical to watch. David was able to attend all of the games and was even their score keeper once in awhile. I think he wishes he could play Lacrosse too.
Dawson is the only freshman on the varsity team and he is a starter. He was pretty excited about that. His practicing has paid off. He spends a ton of time at the YMCA in an indoor racket/hand ball court. They let him take in his lacrosse stick and ball and hit off the wall. Because it's not a real common sport, it is not unusual for Dawson to have an audience watching him since the entire court has clear walls.
As you all know I hate how rough the sport is. Already Dawson has sprained his ankle, possibly broken a finger and has been knocked down silly a couple of times. Like the Energizer Bunny...he keeps on going! I was finally able to watch him play in 2 games this weekend. After one play, there was a huge pile up of guys, after each of them got up, I saw Dawson stand up from the bottom of the "pile" and walk away. YIKES!! Did that make any sense at all?
David can keep taking Dawson to the games. I will watch occasionally. It is a traveling team, so when they aren't playing at home, they are at another state. Last weekend they traveled to Oklahoma. The two of them have a good time together. Plus Dawson has been getting in some driving time. :b
Keegan has been buried with everything you could possible imagine. Maybe the worst yet as far as having too much on her plate. Since my last blog instead of semi-finalist for National Merit Scholar, she is now a finalist. She has also been nominated as a Presidential Scholar, which is quite an honor. We won't know the final status of each award until the end of April. We are proud of her no matter what happens.
The first weekend of March, Keegan preformed with her high school musical group. Kind of like a glee or swing choir group where they sing and dance to popular songs. She was so glad when it was over and she has decided, that it is the last musical she will ever be in. (I really doubt it!) She has always preferred plays over anything musical. Speaking of which, she just found out last week that she got the lead part to the upcoming Spring play. She was so thrilled. She has gotten a lot of big parts but this will be the largest part yet. It will be a nice ending to her senior year.
Okay, back to Keegan's busy month of March. This past weekend she was invited to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She had such a fun time. She met so many people and was able to do a lot while she was there. I don't know if that will be the college she selects, but it was a great experience. She said it was fun getting a taste of the college life. I was so happy that she kept texting and calling me to keep me informed of what she was up to. They even had a web-cam in one of their main buildings. So one day we were talking on the phone together, meanwhile I was also on the computer, then she walks up to this web-cam and I watched her talking and waving to me!! The web-cam is called "Hi Mom". How cool is that? It was so nice to have her safe at home on Sunday.
This week Keegan and her Drama Club are taking off for New York City and Chicago. It will be a 10 day trip. They will see 9 Broadway shows and a bunch of famous sites during their trip. Coming back from NYC they will stay in Chicago to see a few more shows. Before she travels back to Wichita, she will be flying out of Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri alone. Before the weekend is over Washington University in St Louis has invited her to attend their Scholars weekend. She will have another opportunity to check out a different University before making her final decision.
Keegan has until May 1st to make her decision. We were kind of hoping that she would get to feel the cold temp while she was in MinneSNOWta, but it was pretty nice there during her stay. It won't matter anyway, I would be shocked if that becomes the reason she decides not to go there. It will all come down to who gives her the best scholarship.
She is getting blasted with homework. She will be loaded down from now until the end of her senior year. It is very hard for her to fit in all of these trips on top of everything else, but we keep telling her this is her future now. High school is pretty much over. Do well, but don't miss out on any important opportunities.
I know I always carry on how well Keegan does academically and I don't say much about Dawson. It is not because Dawson doesn't do well in school, he is doing an excellent job. We couldn't ask him to do any better. It's just that sports is his life. Just this week the boys and girls basketball teams from his high school "both" won the state championship, naturally Dawson was a huge fan.
It seems like the older the kids get the less pictures I take. I have my camera in my purse at all times, but finding the right moments is half the battle. Although I was able to get several pics of Dawson playing indoor and outdoor lacrosse. Only a few pics of Keegan. I will try to better. :(
Nothing new to report about David and me. We still are thankful to be employed. We are loving being entertained by our children.
Take care and may God bless you. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Keegan's safety during all of these trips she is doing on her own. I will never understand why people do not turn to our loving God for help. I have had to turn to Him so much lately and handing everything over to Him so I am not so anxious about Keegan stretching away from our comfy nest and Dawson playing his rough sport.
Love to you all and miss you so much.
Marjie
P.S. Update on Keegan since I started writing this blog. She is in NYC and having a great time. She has seen 3 musicals on Broadway and getting ready to see 2 more today. They get back to their hotel each night around midnight and they get up around 6 AM to have breakfast at their hotel, then off to the Big Apple to have fun. Keep Praying.
Where has the time gone? My last blog was "Happy New Year"! It seems like our winter flew by so fast. I think we had 3 or 4 dusting's of snow this year. The kids didn't have any snow days. Now our trees are starting to bloom. It's hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner. We have had some nice rain showers these past few days. I just hope the summer isn't as dry and hot as last year.
We are busy as usual and trying to keep up with the kids. I have a few days off, so maybe I can catch you up on what's new with the Hughes family. Sorry that it is old news for some of you.
Dawson has been in his glory. He is in the middle of his Lacrosse season and loving it. He was playing 7 days a week. Monday-Friday practice, Saturday games, and Sunday night, indoor Lacrosse games. His indoor team finished in 1st place. They were undefeated! I went to a few games and it was definitely exciting to watch. The ball stays live most of the time because they play off of the walls. The game is very fast paced, so it's hard to always see who has the ball. Plus the indoor ball is a lot lighter weight. Almost turf ball weight. It's so light the guys would continue to run thinking the ball was still in their net, meanwhile the other team has picked up the ball and running the other direction. Kind of comical to watch. David was able to attend all of the games and was even their score keeper once in awhile. I think he wishes he could play Lacrosse too.
Dawson is the only freshman on the varsity team and he is a starter. He was pretty excited about that. His practicing has paid off. He spends a ton of time at the YMCA in an indoor racket/hand ball court. They let him take in his lacrosse stick and ball and hit off the wall. Because it's not a real common sport, it is not unusual for Dawson to have an audience watching him since the entire court has clear walls.
As you all know I hate how rough the sport is. Already Dawson has sprained his ankle, possibly broken a finger and has been knocked down silly a couple of times. Like the Energizer Bunny...he keeps on going! I was finally able to watch him play in 2 games this weekend. After one play, there was a huge pile up of guys, after each of them got up, I saw Dawson stand up from the bottom of the "pile" and walk away. YIKES!! Did that make any sense at all?
David can keep taking Dawson to the games. I will watch occasionally. It is a traveling team, so when they aren't playing at home, they are at another state. Last weekend they traveled to Oklahoma. The two of them have a good time together. Plus Dawson has been getting in some driving time. :b
Keegan has been buried with everything you could possible imagine. Maybe the worst yet as far as having too much on her plate. Since my last blog instead of semi-finalist for National Merit Scholar, she is now a finalist. She has also been nominated as a Presidential Scholar, which is quite an honor. We won't know the final status of each award until the end of April. We are proud of her no matter what happens.
The first weekend of March, Keegan preformed with her high school musical group. Kind of like a glee or swing choir group where they sing and dance to popular songs. She was so glad when it was over and she has decided, that it is the last musical she will ever be in. (I really doubt it!) She has always preferred plays over anything musical. Speaking of which, she just found out last week that she got the lead part to the upcoming Spring play. She was so thrilled. She has gotten a lot of big parts but this will be the largest part yet. It will be a nice ending to her senior year.
Okay, back to Keegan's busy month of March. This past weekend she was invited to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She had such a fun time. She met so many people and was able to do a lot while she was there. I don't know if that will be the college she selects, but it was a great experience. She said it was fun getting a taste of the college life. I was so happy that she kept texting and calling me to keep me informed of what she was up to. They even had a web-cam in one of their main buildings. So one day we were talking on the phone together, meanwhile I was also on the computer, then she walks up to this web-cam and I watched her talking and waving to me!! The web-cam is called "Hi Mom". How cool is that? It was so nice to have her safe at home on Sunday.
This week Keegan and her Drama Club are taking off for New York City and Chicago. It will be a 10 day trip. They will see 9 Broadway shows and a bunch of famous sites during their trip. Coming back from NYC they will stay in Chicago to see a few more shows. Before she travels back to Wichita, she will be flying out of Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri alone. Before the weekend is over Washington University in St Louis has invited her to attend their Scholars weekend. She will have another opportunity to check out a different University before making her final decision.
Keegan has until May 1st to make her decision. We were kind of hoping that she would get to feel the cold temp while she was in MinneSNOWta, but it was pretty nice there during her stay. It won't matter anyway, I would be shocked if that becomes the reason she decides not to go there. It will all come down to who gives her the best scholarship.
She is getting blasted with homework. She will be loaded down from now until the end of her senior year. It is very hard for her to fit in all of these trips on top of everything else, but we keep telling her this is her future now. High school is pretty much over. Do well, but don't miss out on any important opportunities.
I know I always carry on how well Keegan does academically and I don't say much about Dawson. It is not because Dawson doesn't do well in school, he is doing an excellent job. We couldn't ask him to do any better. It's just that sports is his life. Just this week the boys and girls basketball teams from his high school "both" won the state championship, naturally Dawson was a huge fan.
It seems like the older the kids get the less pictures I take. I have my camera in my purse at all times, but finding the right moments is half the battle. Although I was able to get several pics of Dawson playing indoor and outdoor lacrosse. Only a few pics of Keegan. I will try to better. :(
Nothing new to report about David and me. We still are thankful to be employed. We are loving being entertained by our children.
Take care and may God bless you. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Keegan's safety during all of these trips she is doing on her own. I will never understand why people do not turn to our loving God for help. I have had to turn to Him so much lately and handing everything over to Him so I am not so anxious about Keegan stretching away from our comfy nest and Dawson playing his rough sport.
Love to you all and miss you so much.
Marjie
P.S. Update on Keegan since I started writing this blog. She is in NYC and having a great time. She has seen 3 musicals on Broadway and getting ready to see 2 more today. They get back to their hotel each night around midnight and they get up around 6 AM to have breakfast at their hotel, then off to the Big Apple to have fun. Keep Praying.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Happy New Year
Hello again,
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas season and brought in the New Year doing something special.
I wish we had. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true. I still feel kinda bummed out. Our family was very lazy and didn't do or go anywhere for New Year's Eve. David and I were watching TV. The kids were off somewhere in the house doing their own thing. A few minutes before the stroke of midnight we all rounded up together, did the count down, said "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" hugged and kissed, then went back to doing what we were doing before our gathering. What does that mean? I think we were all just content and didn't feel like we had to make any big deal out of the occasion. I have to say it is very unusual for us, but that's what we did. At the time it seemed perfectly ok. Now I'm putting too much thought into it and wishing we had celebrated a little bit more. Last year the kids both had their friends over. Maybe that's the only difference. This year the kids chose to have a quiet evening at home.
Or...maybe we were feeling a little melancholy because our company had just left that morning. They headed back to Wisconsin and Illinois before the sun came up. We had such a fun time with my sister Linda and her youngest son, Daniel. Also my brother Steve and his wife Nancy. They all came out together to visit us. It was Steve and Nancy's first time here.
The first day they were here we gave them the grand tour of Wichita. After that each day we just hung around the house and played board games. We also had some good quality visiting time. Plus my sister and I stayed up late each night for hours catching up on everything.
I loved having everyone here. It just seemed like such a short visit. Although I must say our home is not very accommodating for many people. Oh well, it didn't matter, we made it work and had a great time. Except... I am so frustrated with myself. I usually take so many pictures that I annoy people. Nope not this time, I didn't take 1 stinking picture of anyone during their visit. What the heck was I thinking. I just completely forgot about taking pictures until 6 am the morning they were ready to leave. I was too afraid to line everyone up and say "SMILE"! I am still kicking myself over this. So there you have it, no pictures of our company. WHAAA!!! :'(
The kids only had 3 days of school this week. They were thrilled about that. They both immediately started their busy after school schedules. Keegan's rehearsals for an upcoming music program and Dawson started Lacrosse practice. Needless to say the vacation is officially over! It's now Friday afternoon and both kids are off doing whatever with their friends. I will probably do something fun tonight, like go grocery shopping! David is working tonight, so it is me, myself and I hanging out together.
That's all. At a later time I will post some pictures, but for now this is it. But not any pictures of my company...WHAAA :'(
My thoughts and prayers are with each of you. May God bless your new year and show you His unconditional love every day.
Love,
Marjie
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas season and brought in the New Year doing something special.
I wish we had. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true. I still feel kinda bummed out. Our family was very lazy and didn't do or go anywhere for New Year's Eve. David and I were watching TV. The kids were off somewhere in the house doing their own thing. A few minutes before the stroke of midnight we all rounded up together, did the count down, said "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" hugged and kissed, then went back to doing what we were doing before our gathering. What does that mean? I think we were all just content and didn't feel like we had to make any big deal out of the occasion. I have to say it is very unusual for us, but that's what we did. At the time it seemed perfectly ok. Now I'm putting too much thought into it and wishing we had celebrated a little bit more. Last year the kids both had their friends over. Maybe that's the only difference. This year the kids chose to have a quiet evening at home.
Or...maybe we were feeling a little melancholy because our company had just left that morning. They headed back to Wisconsin and Illinois before the sun came up. We had such a fun time with my sister Linda and her youngest son, Daniel. Also my brother Steve and his wife Nancy. They all came out together to visit us. It was Steve and Nancy's first time here.
The first day they were here we gave them the grand tour of Wichita. After that each day we just hung around the house and played board games. We also had some good quality visiting time. Plus my sister and I stayed up late each night for hours catching up on everything.
I loved having everyone here. It just seemed like such a short visit. Although I must say our home is not very accommodating for many people. Oh well, it didn't matter, we made it work and had a great time. Except... I am so frustrated with myself. I usually take so many pictures that I annoy people. Nope not this time, I didn't take 1 stinking picture of anyone during their visit. What the heck was I thinking. I just completely forgot about taking pictures until 6 am the morning they were ready to leave. I was too afraid to line everyone up and say "SMILE"! I am still kicking myself over this. So there you have it, no pictures of our company. WHAAA!!! :'(
The kids only had 3 days of school this week. They were thrilled about that. They both immediately started their busy after school schedules. Keegan's rehearsals for an upcoming music program and Dawson started Lacrosse practice. Needless to say the vacation is officially over! It's now Friday afternoon and both kids are off doing whatever with their friends. I will probably do something fun tonight, like go grocery shopping! David is working tonight, so it is me, myself and I hanging out together.
That's all. At a later time I will post some pictures, but for now this is it. But not any pictures of my company...WHAAA :'(
My thoughts and prayers are with each of you. May God bless your new year and show you His unconditional love every day.
Love,
Marjie
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas
It's 6 am Christmas morning, not a creature is stirring except me and my cat! It used to be by this time I had 2 sets of eyes starring at me wanting to march downstairs to open presents. The last thing I said to everyone before I went to bed last night was..."let's sleep in tomorrow". I guess I meant everyone except me. I woke up at 5 am to start our traditional homemade cinnamon rolls. I'm hoping by the time my family wakes up the rolls will be ready to pop in the oven. Yummy :b
A long time ago (before kids) Ben gave me one of the neatest gifts ever for Christmas, a bread machine. I use it all the time and not just to make bread. I use it for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks and dinner rolls. I have even found a recipe to make pretzels that I want to try. Now I think about Ben more than ever when I use my machine. I would definitely go out and buy a new one if something happened to this one.
You know what I really love about living in Wichita? I'm sure you are all curious about the answer to that question. I love that we have only lived here for 2 years and my brother Dick and his wife Cindy have been here to visit, my sister Linda and her boys Brian and Daniel have been here. My Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Orville have been here 3 times to visit. Now this week my sister and her son Daniel are coming out to visit again, along with my older brother Steve and his wife Nancy. That is exactly why we moved to Wichita instead of our other choice in Salt Lake City. I know Dad and Mom would visit if they could, but that's okay, because for Christmas they received an iPad and can communicate with us like they were here visiting. I know they are going to have so much fun with their new toy. I really want to thank my brothers for thinking of such a neat gift for them. I think I will benefit more than anyone in our family.
Today will be very quiet for our family. Our plans are to open presents, eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast, watch football then have our traditional Christmas dinner...steak and lobster. Then watch more football! I know some of you are thinking you wish your Christmas could be that quiet. I really miss my relatives and get somewhat homesick during the holidays. If I could I would travel every year to be with our families. The holidays are the worst time for David to get off of work. That is usually when the Postal Service needs him the most. Oh well, Keegan and Dawson will always remember our simple little family traditions.
You might also guess what I am thinking about, what next Christmas will be like. We will be bringing Keegan home from wherever she will be going to college. I know I will be so excited to have her home for the holidays. I know, I know, she will be off hanging out with her old high school friends, but that's okay it will still be nice to have her home.
Not much is new with our family. Both Keegan and Dawson are on their winter break. They were so ready for it. Because of their perfect attendance in school neither one of them had to take their final exams. So their last day was the 19th. I'm sure they will enjoy having a nice long break and well deserved. As soon as the break is over it will be back to chaos again. Dawson will start with indoor Lacrosse and Keegan will start rehearsals with a music program called "Nights of Broadway".
Thankfully David has been able to work over time. Even my hours have been okay this winter. Although I'm sure it will change. January is usually very slow for The Home Depot. I am so happy to also take a little vacation time between Christmas and New Years day. It will be nice to see our company in a couple of days. Hopefully the weather will allow them to travel to Wichita.
That's all for now. I hope you have all experienced and have felt the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Last night when we went to church, right in the middle of an old Christmas song I felt the Holy Spirit rush through my soul. I love that He is always with us wherever we are at in our lives. May God Bless all of you and fill your hearts with His unconditional love.
Until next time, have a very Merry Christmas. {{{hugs}}} and ***kisses*** to you.
Love and miss you,
Marjie
P.S. My cinnamon rolls are ready to pop in the oven. So everyone can wake up anytime!!
P.P.S. The kids just got up it's time to go. (8:10 am)
It's now 10:15 am, I decided to finish off my blog by writing a little bit more after we opened presents and ate our breakfast. We have had a wonderful Christmas so far. We all received gifts we've been hoping for, plus a few more things. The cinnamon rolls were superb. Now we are down in the basement hanging out watching Keegan play her new Zelda game.
Hope you can read this blog Mom and Dad on your new iPad.
Again have a Merry Christmas.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
Good Morning,
I couldn't sleep this morning. I had "Twas The Night Before Christmas " song in my brain over and over and over! It was The Home Depot's version!! What? Yep, for the last 2 days starting on Black Friday, @THD they have been playing Christmas music. Blah.....Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music, but not so soon and not the same songs all day long. The really funny part is that the part of this song that is stuck in my mind is " While visions of sugar plums danced in their wee little heads... and ma in her kerchief and I in my cap... had just settled down for a long winters nap." How ironic huh? I've tried so hard to sing something different, but it keeps returning :(
Moving on to more important things. We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. Uncle Orville and Aunt Gretchen joined us for the holiday. This is the 2nd year in a row. I told them it is now a tradition and they need to continue this every year. They are snow birds leaving Wisconsin headed for Arizona, but their rest stop is in Wichita, Kansas. I'm so glad they have a nice RV park here and it is very close to our home. We had fun playing domino's and ate lots of food. They arrived here on Wednesday evening and I think they are hoping to head out today (Sunday) for Arizona. Yesterday it was so windy, that they were afraid if they left the wind would damage their motor home. Today isn't supposed to be as bad.
Not much has happened since the last time I blogged. Keegan's musical performance was last week. As usual it was outstanding. All of the kids are so talented. I was able to go behind the scenes each day and help some of the girls with their hairdos. They all had to have their hair swept up into a Gibson bun. The last day Keegan came down with something. She was so sick, but had to go on. I felt terrible for her. I think she said she had 6 or 7 costume changes. The musical was called "Ragtime". It was not your typical cheerful musical. It was during a time period when black people and immigrants were treated so poorly in our country. It was a sad story. Thank goodness she had this long weekend to get better and recuperate.
David and Dawson drove to Topeka yesterday to watch Dawson's high school (undefeated) football team play for the state championship. They lost in the last 3 minutes. They were winning throughout the game, so they thought they were going to win. Dawson was so crushed. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be undefeated...Yes, now I'm talking about the Packers. Can they be undefeated AND win the Superbowl? What are the chances? I'm really cheering for them. I know that everyone else is too that is reading this blog, except for you Linda :# Our family wants to know where WE went wrong...how can a Wisconsinite come out not liking the Packers?? Were you adopted?? (LOL) I'm just joking!!!!! Only Linda knows that I used to tease her when we were little and I was a mean sister and told her often that she was adopted. I know I'm bad :(
Only one more day of work until my day off. I plan to put up our Christmas decorations. I'm excited because I bought a new tree @ THD last year after Christmas. I hope we like it because I dought they will let me return it! Our old tree is as old as Keegan.
I guess I need to start getting ready for work. Every Sunday for the month of November I teach a tile class in the flooring department. I kind of fell into it one Sunday when nobody else in that dept knew anything about installing tile except me. Not good huh? I had never done it before, I had only told people how to do it. I was so nervous the first time, because you have to demonstrate how to adhere the tile then grout it. I now really enjoy teaching the class. I have many people stop by to watch. Sometimes they even get involved and get their hands dirty with me. Although they never offer to help me clean up, which is of course the hardest part wiping the grout off of the tile and the tools.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
As you are preparing for the Christmas season remember to turn to God and invite him into your heart so you may experience the true meaning of Christmas.
During this time with the way the economy is hurting, most everyone is ok without materiel things for gifts. I challenge you to be creative this year. Think of what you can give that doesn't cost money or very little. You don't have to make something if you are not crafty, but you can do something like express your feelings toward your loved one in a letter or do a task for that person. I loved the coupon books my kids used to make for me in school. (ex: I will wash your car for you or I will do your dishes for a week). Just a thought. Have fun with it.
Remember God loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend.
I love and miss you {{{hugs}}}
Marjie
I couldn't sleep this morning. I had "Twas The Night Before Christmas " song in my brain over and over and over! It was The Home Depot's version!! What? Yep, for the last 2 days starting on Black Friday, @THD they have been playing Christmas music. Blah.....Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music, but not so soon and not the same songs all day long. The really funny part is that the part of this song that is stuck in my mind is " While visions of sugar plums danced in their wee little heads... and ma in her kerchief and I in my cap... had just settled down for a long winters nap." How ironic huh? I've tried so hard to sing something different, but it keeps returning :(
Moving on to more important things. We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. Uncle Orville and Aunt Gretchen joined us for the holiday. This is the 2nd year in a row. I told them it is now a tradition and they need to continue this every year. They are snow birds leaving Wisconsin headed for Arizona, but their rest stop is in Wichita, Kansas. I'm so glad they have a nice RV park here and it is very close to our home. We had fun playing domino's and ate lots of food. They arrived here on Wednesday evening and I think they are hoping to head out today (Sunday) for Arizona. Yesterday it was so windy, that they were afraid if they left the wind would damage their motor home. Today isn't supposed to be as bad.
Not much has happened since the last time I blogged. Keegan's musical performance was last week. As usual it was outstanding. All of the kids are so talented. I was able to go behind the scenes each day and help some of the girls with their hairdos. They all had to have their hair swept up into a Gibson bun. The last day Keegan came down with something. She was so sick, but had to go on. I felt terrible for her. I think she said she had 6 or 7 costume changes. The musical was called "Ragtime". It was not your typical cheerful musical. It was during a time period when black people and immigrants were treated so poorly in our country. It was a sad story. Thank goodness she had this long weekend to get better and recuperate.
David and Dawson drove to Topeka yesterday to watch Dawson's high school (undefeated) football team play for the state championship. They lost in the last 3 minutes. They were winning throughout the game, so they thought they were going to win. Dawson was so crushed. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be undefeated...Yes, now I'm talking about the Packers. Can they be undefeated AND win the Superbowl? What are the chances? I'm really cheering for them. I know that everyone else is too that is reading this blog, except for you Linda :# Our family wants to know where WE went wrong...how can a Wisconsinite come out not liking the Packers?? Were you adopted?? (LOL) I'm just joking!!!!! Only Linda knows that I used to tease her when we were little and I was a mean sister and told her often that she was adopted. I know I'm bad :(
Only one more day of work until my day off. I plan to put up our Christmas decorations. I'm excited because I bought a new tree @ THD last year after Christmas. I hope we like it because I dought they will let me return it! Our old tree is as old as Keegan.
I guess I need to start getting ready for work. Every Sunday for the month of November I teach a tile class in the flooring department. I kind of fell into it one Sunday when nobody else in that dept knew anything about installing tile except me. Not good huh? I had never done it before, I had only told people how to do it. I was so nervous the first time, because you have to demonstrate how to adhere the tile then grout it. I now really enjoy teaching the class. I have many people stop by to watch. Sometimes they even get involved and get their hands dirty with me. Although they never offer to help me clean up, which is of course the hardest part wiping the grout off of the tile and the tools.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
As you are preparing for the Christmas season remember to turn to God and invite him into your heart so you may experience the true meaning of Christmas.
During this time with the way the economy is hurting, most everyone is ok without materiel things for gifts. I challenge you to be creative this year. Think of what you can give that doesn't cost money or very little. You don't have to make something if you are not crafty, but you can do something like express your feelings toward your loved one in a letter or do a task for that person. I loved the coupon books my kids used to make for me in school. (ex: I will wash your car for you or I will do your dishes for a week). Just a thought. Have fun with it.
Remember God loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend.
I love and miss you {{{hugs}}}
Marjie
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