Mind Doodles

Blood Report

Kelsey, our senior, recently organized Two American Red Cross Blood Drives.  

She did this for a couple of reasons:

1.  The Red Cross is always in need of blood.  It's a great cause.  It was also an incredible opportunity for Kelsey to use her mad organizing skills.  It took a lot of work, but she did an awesome job and had many people respond.

2.  The Red Cross has a program called Blood Stock, where students can work for a scholarship by planning, organizing and executing a blood drive.  We heard all about this from our friend, Cat. (We're always looking for college money.)

Well, last night, Kelsley got the call that she received the scholarship!!  There were 25 students who were eligible.  They put everyone's name in a hat and drew out the winner.  Can you believe it?  Kelsey won! We were so excited!

Lots of you guys came out and gave.  It was so encouraging to her.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone AND  blood is the gift of life for someone!

Living in Harmony

I came home from work a little under the weather today.  I have been lying on the couch, resting--in and out of consciousness.  I just awoke to the most beautiful sound. . .

My girls singing in the other room.  I don't even know the song they are singing, but the harmony is lovely. (And I'm not just talking about the notes.--there is something really special about hearing your kids sing together.) 

Ahhhh--I feel better already.

Family Picture

At the end of our trip to Colorado, I realized that we hadn't had a family picture taken.  So, I insisted. Unfortunately, we were on our way out of town, in a parking lot when I decided that this would be a good idea.  Everyone was all warm in the car and I dragged us all out.  There was nowhere to take the picture except on a snow bank.  

On the way over to the snow bank, this is what I heard. . .

"It's too cold out here!"

"I don't have the right shoes on."

"I don't want to have my picture taken".

"I'm NOT going to smile."

Sometimes, you should just let well enough alone.

Here's a picture of what happened when we climbed up on the snow bank.

Notice that Kelsey and Courtney have sunk down into the snow.  

We finally pulled it together for a picture. My photographer brother just zoomed in and cut off their legs. 

But, you now know what was really going on in the picture!

Splink--Help for Parents

So many of us, as parents, want to connect spiritually with our kids, but we just don't know how.  

Well, I recently learned about a tool called Splink.  

It’s a hot new way to link your families together spiritually. Parents can sign up and get a great email each week that will help them be the family God wants them to be.

I've been reading some of the ideas and I really like them.  I know we need all the help we can get.  Maybe there will be something to help you, too.  

Check it out.

There's Nothing Flattering About Ski Clothes

We're back--and all in one piece.  No bones broken this time!

We LOVED being with our family.  

The Christmas Surprise--Part 2

In a few minutes we begin Part 2 of the Christmas Surprise--

Skiing in Winter Park Colorado!

Yes, Courtney will be in a cast. . .but the way I look at it, at least her wrist is protected from any falls.

We'll probably let her ski, but no snowboarding.

We're hoping that Part 2 goes better than Part 1 did.  

Basic Black

Today Courtney visited the Orthopedic Doctor.  The wrist is undoubtedly broken.  He put a cast on it, but it doesn't stop there.  Tomorrow they will do a CT Scan to see if she will need surgery.  (This is turning out to be an expensive mishap.)

When it came time to pick the color of her cast, she went with black.  Hmmmm.   Interesting.

The reason?  The Homecoming Dance is next week and black goes with everything. Basic black is always a sure thing. Instead of signing her cast, she is asking her friends to create an artistic design in Silver Sharpie.  

Girls. . .they're always thinking of how to make the accessories work for them.

Part One of Our Christmas Surprise

This year, Greg and I decided that instead of buying our girls more "stuff", that we would instead give them an experience for Christmas.  

Part one of the experience happened today. . . . .

Snowboarding lessons at Wintergreen Virginia.

It started out nice.

This was just after getting our boards.  Everyone's excited about the new experience.

We had a great lesson in the morning, took a break for lunch and it was "downhill" from there.

Courtney fell on her wrist and had to spend the afternoon with the ski patrol.

Of course, they were really great to her.  Here she is with her own ski patrol doctor.  

He put a splint on it, wrapped it up and said we needed to go to the emergency room as soon as we got back to Raleigh.

So, Greg is at the emergency room with her now.  Who knows how long that will take.  

Kelsey got in two lessons and did great!  But, her knee didn't fare too well.

Greg had some really hard falls on his bottom.  (I won't include pictures of that).

Amazingly, I'm the only one that didn't get injured.  

BUT, I'm not much of a risk taker in the snow.  I took it pretty easy AND spent the afternoon in the Ski Patrol Office with Courtney.  

I think I'll stick with skiis next time.  

UPDATE---Greg just called from the hospital.  It is broken in 2 places.  

The Best and the Worst of 2008

I haven't loved 2008.  It won't go down as one of my favorite years. I can't even put my finger on it, but it wasn't  a very good year for me.  I'm glad to put it behind me.

 But, there are a few things that are noteworthy:

1.  My favorite new blog discovery:  http://tsharrison.blogspot.com/

This blog is by my friend, Trevor.  I love reading his thoughts on things, seeing the books he's     reading, even listening to some of his music picks.  It's been fun to reconnect to an old friendship through his blog.  

2.  A year without a vacation is a rough one.  

We had a busy year.  Lots going on.  So, we didn't take a vacation.  It's not a good pattern.  In the past, we have found that what works best for us is a two week vacation--anywhere.  In two weeks, you can truly disconnect from the pressures of daily life and really recharge.  That didn't happen this year. Not even a short vacation. We're changing that this year--in fact, we are starting right away.  On Jan 9, we are flying to Colorado to go snowboarding with my brother's family. It's only for 5 days, but it's a good start!

3.  The teenage years--who says they're bad?  We have  LOVED our teenagers!  In 2008, we have seen some incredible things happen in the lives of our daughters. 

a. They traveled to Haiti on their first mission trip--it was life-changing for them!  They fell in love with the people and will be returning this year during spring break to help lead a soccer camp.  

b.  Both of them have really stepped into leadership roles.  It's been great to watch them embrace this new phase. 

c.  Kelsey became an adult and Courtney became a driver.  Their dependence on us is decreasing.  That's a good thing, right? 

d.  We have all survived the first boyfriend and break-up.  AND came out on the other side in good shape.

4.  Greg's business continues to grow and provide for us, even in these tough economic times.

5.  We have some pretty incredible friends in our lives.  I'm really thankful for them.  It's so important to have people that we can be completely transparent with.  Every year I realize what a gift that is.

Looking ahead to 2009--Happy New Year!

Christmas Snapshots 2008

This Christmas has truly been a Sabbath of sorts for me.  I haven't done much but hang out with my family and take naps.  Here are a few of the highlights.  

I never got around to getting the Christmas cookies done.  The batter had been made and in the refrigerator.  I decided to bake them on Christmas morning while we were waiting for the girls to get up.  Courtney woke up and came in to help me decorate.

 The time Kelsey finally got up.

Remember those Christmas mittens?  I told you they would hold a lot!

 

Here's the funniest gift we got--a book from my Aunt and Uncle.  Looks like we got the wrong one!!

Okay, maybe this is the funniest gift. . .

Greg got 6 cans of black olives from our friend, Bonnie. 

He tried to eat a whole can at once!

 

                                                      

Merry Christmas from the Stoners!