Homecoming 2016

Last night was BVW Homecoming.

Annie went with her boyfriend, Noah.

We like Noah.

The boutinniere...

(Yep, same shoes as prom.

They're so tall.)

"I can do this..."

His Mom helped.

"I tried!"

The corsage...

getting it out of the box was challenge #1

it wrapped around her wrist.

  

lots of wrapping...

He's not done yet.

Gorgeous!

What a couple cuties.

What a beautiful group!

Annie, Noah, Arden, Matt, Chloe and Dawson.

Pink hair rules!

This is Matt, he told his family he was dying his hair

 after he got his Senior Pictures taken.

They didn't believe him.

They went to dinner at Webster House.

It's fancy.

It's downtown near the Kauffman.

Annie had duck breast.

She said it was delicious!

What a fun night!

xo

A day to celebrate!

Today is Jake's 19th birthday!

How can this kid be 19?

Unfortunately, I didn't get any better pictures of him today.

He was having fun with Pilot... although I don't think Pilot felt the same way..

I love that smile!

We tried a Baskin Robbins

Polar Pizza, instead of DQ ice cream log.

It's a chocolate chip cookie crust

with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream on top.

YUM!

I think next we'll try the brownie crust 

with Heath ice cream on top.

I think it's fair to say Jake got spoiled.

The flip flop socks from his Grandma 

got a great reaction.

Jake tried them on with Taylor's flip flops.

Jake left early, heading back to school for a fraternity meeting.

I think he's liking school.

-----

Meanwhile, I got a text from Annie's boyfriend, Noah.

He said he was going to ask Annie to Homecoming

and asked if I wanted to be a part of it.

His mom and I are planning to go to coffee soon, so that

was my backstory and she had no idea when we walked into his basement what was waiting for her.

We walked into a dark room, 

with a blacklight shining in front of the sign.

Annie was completely taken by surprise.

He is so good to her.

What a great ending to a fun day!

xo

Getting lost in the clouds

Thank you God for creating the universe, 

painting such a majestic sky and 

giving me eyes to admire it.  

Last night the sky was so beautiful and changing so quickly I had to capture it.  I was driving home and it was almost distracting.  I pulled into a parking lot and sat for a bit.  It was mesmerizing.  At the time I had no words.  I just sat in awe and marveled that the sight before me.  

I have a thing for clouds and looking at the sky.  As we approach 9/11 there are several memories that stick out in my mind.   Having to tell our miliary neighbors to go inside and turn on the tv when I picked up their son for gymnastics that morning was hard, they rarely watched tv.  And knowing they would soon leave for the hospital for a scheduled C-section made me almost sick as I walked up to their door.  Then, as the boys and I walked into the gym there were the cirlces in the sky as planes reroutining to the nearest airport. It stopped us in our tracks.  We stood in silence with several other groups and stared until the contrails disappeared.  In the weeks following there was an eery absence of contrails in the sky.  Every day I would look for them and when they finally appeared it brought me comfort, something was normal again.  

This morning I read an article about unknown knowns, here's the link - Why the green great dragon can't exist.  If you have a moment it's worth your time.   It makes me glad to be a native English speaker!  

I thought about using a big, long, fancy sentence full of adjectives  to describe the sky last night... but nothing I came up with was close to capturing it.  I'll let you come up with your own description, if you choose.      

It's amazing to think about the things known and unknown.  And about a year ago I remember feeling a sense of urgency teaching the kids everything they needed to know about being on their own, being an adult.  It really opened my eyes to the things I thought they knew - that I thought everyone knows but doesn't.  I had to stop and think and said I million times you may already know how to do this but let's review for my sanity.  Many times they looked at me with blank faces and said they had no clue.  Which makes me think "OH GOD, what did I miss!?  What did I forget?" but I don't dwell on it.  I can't. Introduction to adulthood is trial and error.  And some of us learn the hard way.  That's when I trust and pray.  I trust my children.  I know God is watching over them and I pray he guides them into making smart choices.  And even if they don't, they'll figure it out one way or another.  I'm living testimony to that. I learned some things the hard way.  It was character building.

Peace, grace and love,

xo

Sunflower's at Grinter Farms

Grinter Farms

Sunflower Field

Our Sunday fun day adventure.

Enjoy!

  

Jake and Taylor

Half the adventure was getting there
since Waze took us on several roads with
signs saying "Bridge Out"
Luckily, we never got to the bridge.

We were on the way to 
Lawrence to
celebrate Jack's birthday
with some of my family.

The field was crazy busy.

We were stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes.

We saw one car accident.

There were so many visitor's the Sheriff closed 

it down yesterday for several hours.  

Too many people, traffic & car accidents.

We'll be back again next year!

xo  

1st day(s)

Today was Jake's first day of college.  I asked him to send me a picture...

and this is what I got.

Beggars can't be choosers, right?

Jake's roommate moved in on Friday.  All we've heard about him is, "he seems cool."  And his only comment about his classes today was "I didn't get any homework."  Honestly, I'm so glad he's communicating in more than one word answers.  He hasn't started working at Panera, yet.  I'm not sure what going on but he gets to figure it out.  I trust he will figure it out soon.  

Speaking of jobs - I have made some changes.  My position with BTH changed a bit and while I was doing some billing and "busy" work, the timing just wasn't right for Marena to relinquish the office management responsibilities  I haven't quit.  I'm just taking a break.  

In the mean time, I applied for a part-time job at The Container Store and Fat Brain Toys. My intent was to work one.  Well, as luck would have it I was offered and accepted both. The Container Store is only scheduling me about 10 hours a week, so it shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and the shifts will be most likely be from 5:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.  It's a good thing I'm a morning person.  My first real shift was this morning and it felt like the first day of school.  I was really excited, and a bit nervous.  I am one of 15-20 people on the crew that restock shelves the morning after truck delivery - they say this is the best way to learn the store / products and I believe it.  After my training is complete and my knowledge of the store has increased I will hopefully be placed on the sales team.  Fat Brain Toys needed help in the evenings and on weekends, so I will be working 20+ hours a week.  I work Friday and Saturday evenings this weekend.  FB Toys does a lot of community events, so I'm looking forward to that aspect of the job.  BUT, so far, so good.  :-)

Jack survived his 1.5 days of jury duty.  Was he happy with the outcome?  No.  It's actually been eating at him for several days.  It was very disappointing, for him and me, to hear that a woman on the jury was very anti-police.  She announced her decision of NOT GUILTY, as soon as they walked into the deliberation room, "and no one's gonna change my mind!" She also called Jack a "do gooder."  !?  I think the experience was a bit disheartening to say the least.  The best part of jury duty is that he won't be called again for at least a year. This was the first time he was called to serve.  And he's still glad he didn't get chosen for the other case, because it's probably still going on.

Annie is doing well.  She's settled into school.  She's already busy writing college essays. She is blessed with a great group of crazy smart friends that are tapping into each others knowledge by proofreading each others papers.  They really do an amazing job of supporting each other.  

Pilot is good too... he's been busy chasing things.  Thankfully, he hasn't brought anything into the house recently.  (knock on wood)  

More to come soon.

xo

He flew the coop

The time has finally come and Jake has flown the coop.  I can write without trepidation, only happiness and excitement.

We left home around 11:00 a.m.

That's the kids, following us.

After a quick stop at the gas station, Jake lead the way to the dorm.

I forgot to take a before pic but it was basically this...

on the other side of the room.

We raised his bed as much as we could.

It was enough for his fridge, microwave, dresser 

and some miscellaneous items.

And he didn't waste any time getting unpacked and settled.

All he wanted on the walls was a couple Command hooks.

And a few last pictures  

Annie, Jake and Deacon

They insisted on this.

No, I don't understand it.

A family pic.

Yep, all smiles!

His bike was the first on the rack.

In front of his dorm, Scanlon Hall.

His address is:

MWSU

Jacob Diemer, Scanlon Hall, Rm 311A

4525 Downs Dr

St. Joseph MO  64507

We weren't able to stay long.  We grabbed a quick lunch with Jake then we took our exit. Annie and Deacon had to work at 4:00. 

I was thankful we didn't have a long, awkward, drawn out goodbye.  This was short and sweet. He gave each of us a hug then we went one way and we went the other.

I'm so proud of my brave boy!

xo

In the blink of an eye...

Yesterday was Annie's 17th birthday.  Her "Golden" birthday - 17 on the 17th.

I blinked and she went from 12 to 17.  How does that happen.  She blows me away with her talent, humor and kindness.

xo

Already making the newspaper

When we were in St. Joe, Jake and Taylor got their picture taken and somewhat reluctantly talked to a reporter from the newspaper.  I just looked and found the article and this unflattering picture of the kids.

/textbooks-remain-while-digital-tools-improve  (double click on it, Dad)

Of course, this was not the first digital device Jake will have ever used.  He's used different pieces of technology in the classroom since Kindergarten.  The way the woman approached them kind of threw him for a loop.

Happy Sunday!

xo

Time for SCHOOL! ?

At first glance I thought Jake was sad his sister is a senior... growing up...

but then I realized he was just sad because he would be at work 

longer than she would be at school.

Ha ha ha ha!

Welcome to adulthood, Jake.

Yep, these are the best I got.

These two hams had it all planned out, too.

Thanks, guys.

(Can you believe how tall Jake is? When did that happen?)

----

Annie started school yesterday.  I can hardly believe it's already time.  And it's by far the earliest they've ever started.  Personally, I feel they should wait until after the Olympics are over, every four years.  

Here is Annie's schedule and I've included some explanation for some classes that you may not be familiar with.

Field Biology

Advanced Repertory Theatre - is more than just set design and construction. It's a year long course made up of Juniors and Seniors who are leaders in the department.  Each crew head, Annie is the crew head of sound for all productions, oversees a crew in accomplishing tasks that help prepare the department's productions.  During this class student leaders have a chance to meet, discuss, and plan events and activities for the rep theatre student and the theatre department as a whole. 

Photography II - we're talking old school black and white / darkroom and all.

Portfolio Seminar - this portfolio preparation class is designed for students interested in post-high school study of art.  Students will work mostly in two-dimensional form.  This class is designed for the highly motivated student.  October 22 is Portfolio Day - the day she will meet with art schools.  December 1 is when college applications are due.

AP English Literature

Painting II

Textile Design & Fibers - this course includes both the creation of woven and meshed materials and the surface decoration of pre-woven fabrics. The elements of art and principles of design are stressed as they apply to form and surface decoration. Annie has taken this class before, this time she will be working off a list of projects the teacher has never done before.  Annie is very excited.

Yes, that's seven classes.

When she got home yesterday I asked, "How was your day?"  She said, "It's frustrating when I got use to being around students that actually wanted to learn."  She was referring to her time at Kansas City Art Institute.  I had a feeling this might happen.  I can say with certainty her attention right now is to focus on building a strong portfolio.  But after that she will probably be counting the number of days she has left in high school.

All I know is it's going to go WAY too fast.

Jake and I, and his girlfriend, Taylor, drove up to St. Joseph this morning.  We stopped at Panera and he talked to the manager about transferring.  The store is a lot bigger than the one he currently works at and the manager scared him a little.  She's going to call his current manager. 

Then we went to Mo West (Missouri Western) where Jake got his books, student ID, and parking pass.  He wanted to talk to one of his music instructors but he wasn't in.  And he wasnted to check out the dorm, but guess what!?  We couldn't because there were still Chiefs players living there.  That was a surprise.

None the less it was a fruitful trip and we were back home by 12:30.

I think Jake is excited.  He moves in a week from tomorrow.

Jack is still plugging away.  Please keep him in your prayers.

I am not getting as many hours at work, so decided to add something totally different.  I applied for a part-time position at The Container Store at 119th and Roe.  I had a group interview on Wednesday evening.  There were 7 applicants and 2 managers.  We were given a homework assignment and each took turns presenting... thankfully that did NOT mean standing in front of the group.  It went really well and I left excited about the company and prospect of working there.  Today, I got an email asking my availability to come back in for a one-on-one interview.  I will hopefully go back sometime early next week.

Pilot just came running in like his tail is on fire - super excited - doing victory laps.

He is such a weirdo but we sure love him.

xo

Kites Wings & Roots

A friend told me about this poem.  Wow, how appropriate... but I prefer to think one.  

Yesterday morning Jake had to work at 7:00 and Jack wandered down to make sure he was up.  Jake was in the bathroom.  I can't remember his exact words but Jake said he didn't think it was necessary for Jack to do it anymore.  This morning Jake had to work at 7:00 again.  At 6:30 Jack didn't hear any movement and went down to Jake's room and woke him up.  

It's almost poetic.  

There's no reason to tell him we aren't done with our job yet.  

xo