Cadet Winter Guard Videos

Here are a couple of videos of practices of Kaycie's cadet winter guard.

The first video is their practice the night before their first performance on Saturday.  In case you can't tell, Kaycie is in the front row and has wording on the front of her black shirt.  (This video is the same one as on Facebook.)

click to see video



This second video was taken about a week earlier when they just received their costumes.  I did not take a video of the actual performance so this gives you an idea on how cute they looked. :)

click to see video

Believing Truth

This morning my devotion was entitled "Believe What God Believes About You" and the scripture was 1 Corinthians 13:4-13.

Here is an excerpt from it:

It's important to believe that we have value and that we are worthy to give of ourselves. This begins by knowing and accepting what our Heavenly Father believes about us. Christian psychologist Dr. Dick Dickerson has written a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 which beautifully summarizes how God looks at us.  Read this aloud to yourself each morning and evening for the next 30 days, then evaluate how your feelings about yourself have changed:

Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me.

Because God loves me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

Because God loves me, He does not treat me as an object to be possessed and manipulated.

Because God loves me, He has no need to impress me with how great and powerful He is because He is God.  Nor does He belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is.

Because God loves me, He is for me.  He wants me to mature and develop in His love.

Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.

Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets a chance.

Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don't trust Him and love Him as I should.

Because God loves me, He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and stand up under the pressure of life for His name's sake.

Because God loves me, He keeps working patiently with me even when I feel like giving up and can't see why He doesn't give up with me too.

Because God loves me, He keeps on trusting me when at times I don't even trust myself.

Because God loves me, He never says there is no hope for me, rather, He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

Because God loves me, He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might.

(15 Minutes Alone With God - Emilie Barnes pp 245-247)

Why is it so easy to believe the lies that the world tells us instead of believing what our Father has and is telling us of who we are?  We are more than conquerors!  We are joint-heirs with Jesus! Sons and daughters of the King!  We are saved by grace!  We are a new creation in Christ Jesus! 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will whisper these truths and more in your inner being and mind, and that you don't brush them off as insignificant because they aren't insignificant and neither are you! Stand firm on the sure foundation and allow the Spirit to lead and guide you as you walk this journey of life.

Bathroom Remodel

It has taken 30 years, but mom finally has an updated main floor bathroom which now includes a shower.  Here are pictures of the before, during and completed project.

Looking into bathroom from kitchen area

Notice -  just a wall.

View of bathroom from the door shown above.

The door, shown in a couple of pictures above, was at that blue wall.

Cutting out the wall for the shower.

Shower :)

New door that goes into hallway by master bedroom.  The original door was the slotted one, right in front of the stool.  They moved it back to the hallway.  (I just realized I did not take an "after" picture of the door, but it was painted white.)

Took out whole floor to joists to make sure floor would be level.

New flooring.

New vanity

Here you might be able to see how far the door was moved (shower is on the other side of the left wall).

It's done! Here are the "after" pictures.

New shower

New vanity, medicine cabinet and light fixture.

View from hallway by master bedroom.

View from the above entry area.

First Day of School

Today marks the start of yet another school year for the girls.

I now have a 6th grader, a 3rd grader and a 2nd grader!

It's so hard to believe that Allyson has finally reached middle school, but I guess you can't stop time from marching on :)

Here are a few pictures from this morning.

My Elementary girls

I told them to be silly . . .

Can you tell who the one who said she wasn't nervous but was excited?!  :)

More goofiness!

Time to be more proper :)

Once again I said to be silly . . .

My Middle School girl

Today was also the first time that I did not either walk or drive all of my girls to school.  I must admit it was a bit hard to watch Allyson walk down to the neighbors to wait on the bus . . .

but even harder to see her get on and ride away :( 

No tears were shed, but still tough to watch.

I know Allyson is going to have a great day as well as Janae and Kaycie.  

It will just be nice to have them home and hear how their day went.

The End of an Era

It's hard to believe that the days of attending elementary school for Allyson have come to a close.  I can easily remember that first day of school and how excited and nervous I was that my baby girl was starting school, and now her last day of 5th grade is just hours away!

First day of Kindergarten - August 2009

Coming home from school (one of the first few days of school)

Allyson attended school by herself until the 3rd grade when Janae was old enough to start Kindergarten.  And for the past two years, she has had both sisters in the same building.  Now with starting middle school in the fall, the next time Allyson will have a sister in the same building as her will be when she is a Senior and Janae will be a Freshman!

A picture review of the last 6 years:

Kindergarten

2009-2010

Age 5

Mrs. Wilson

1st Grade

2010-2011

Age 6

Mr. Anglemeyer

2nd Grade

2011-2012

Age 7

Mr. Haywood

3rd Grade

2012-2013

Age 8

Mr. Goertz

4th Grade

2013-2014

Age 9

Mr. Nice

5th Grade

2014-2015

Age 10

Mrs. Longcor / Mrs. Edwards

~~~~~~~~~~

Receiving her diploma

(Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Banes, Mrs. Peters)

Certificate for participating in orchestra and Presidential Gold Award

WOW!  Class of 2022! May it not come too quickly . . .

Dead or Alive?

This morning as I was sitting on the couch, I happened to glance outside like I do quite often when relaxing or watching TV while on the couch.  This time, however, when I looked at the trees I felt that the Holy Spirit was showing me something.  I'll try my best to explain :o)

If you know where we live, then you know that the lot just north of us is nothing but a big lot full of pine trees and evergreen trees.  Not only do we like not having neighbors right beside us, but it's also a great wind block from those cold northerly winter winds!

From the outside, the trees look great . . . tall, green and quite nice to look at too.

But if you venture to the inside, well, it's a whole different kind of story.

It's dead . . .

Very little sunlight and greenery . . .

and quite dry and barren.

I felt like God was saying this.  How many times do we put on a good front to those who come in contact with us?  We are always happy and smiling, always got it together, putting forth our best so that others won't come inside to know how we are really feeling . . . dead, abandoned, broken and dry.

The reason the trees on the inside are like this is because the sunshine can't get to the inner most parts of the lot.  These same trees look great from the top and from the sides because it gets all the sun.  In the same way, if we don't have the Son in our inner most parts, then we may look good to those on the outside, but on the inside we are just dead, not thriving and living as the way our Father God intended for us.

If this is how you feeling, ask Jesus to help thin out the trees (junk), so that the Son can come and shine in and through you and that you might truly be alive!

There you have it . . . nothing earth moving and nothing you probably haven't heard before.  But realizing God is speaking to you through simple things is still quite humbling and encouraging (to me at least).  Be blessed and encouraged today!