Our Last Band Camp!

My Friends,

Let me tell you that this week has been the best camp ever! Our kids are amazing! How you can take 87 kids and give them 5 days and how hard they try and succeed at learning new music and marching steps is beyond me. We are doing Wicked! What a week. Jacob has shined like the bright star that he is. How I love him. With him being my youngest, my heart aches with everyday that passes. (OMGosh, I'm crying already!) Jacob is such a clown, Harkness (our band director) told me he doesn't know what he's gonna do without Jacob next year! Jacob adores Harkness. I'll post afew pictures that I have now, plus more when my friends get me the main disc.

The Seniors got to have a swimming party that only they can attend. They got to skip 3 hours of practice so they could enjoy their special party. What fun we all had! Thanks to Ann for sharing her home and pool! You are the best!

Camp ended today at noon and so many didn't want to leave. I feel blessed that God let me have a relatively easy week with my RA. I worried every night that I'd wake up in pain and so stiff that I wouldn't be able to work camp. Thank goodness for Tramadol and Flexerill, they keep me going! We'd get up at 6:30am, rush to get ready, Jacob would eat his cereal on the way to the school, arrive @ 7:30, start practicing at 8am and we would run pretty much non stop till 9pm. I am so tired. I'm happy it's over, but I will miss this next year. For the past 4 years, Band has dominated my life. I'm thankful for my husband who has made this past week extra special! He has not once complained or made me feel guilty and I love him for that. He was so jealous of all the time that I spent with the band, but he sees the end of the tunnel, and after meeting these kids and seeing how much they love me, he's softened his heart and sharing me. I think it surprised him when we were shopping one day and I saw some of my kids, and of course they rushed us like crazy. ( I kept telling him that these kids need me! ) So thank you baby! I love you!

No stitching, but camp is over and I just picked up my new glasses! What do you think?

I've missed ya'll this week, but I'm back and I can't wait to check up on all of ya'll!

DaisyGirl

I'm thankful for all my band kids! I love everyone of them! They are the best!

Whirlwind week ahead.......

Just letting all of my friends know that I will be extremely busy this upcoming week. Camp runs all week long. I also have inservice for myself too. I am gonna be very tired. I can't promise that I'll be able to blog this week. I'll try, but it will all depend on how my time works out.
With John still out of work I don't have to worry much about being home to have dinner ready for him. Monday and Tuesday will be tough as I won't be home each night to after 9pm. Wednesday is my all day school inservice workshop. I'll only be able to help out at band camp after I get home. Same goes for Thursday. Friday is up in the air, don't know if I'll have Friday free yet.
Baby Alora is hanging in there. A small poop issue is weighing us down. The baby needs to be able to have bms on her own. I guess she has given the nurses problems in keeping in the pill in the bum, I think it's way to funny. Momma told me that they tried taping her little cheeks together to keep the medicine in. Alora is telling them "No Way" to that. Give'm hell Baby Alora! Show them that you are a fighter! Continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
I'll take pictures of this week to show you all later. Until later!
DaisyGirl

Wacky Wednesday!

I hope everyone is having a superb week! Ours has been busy, what time is? Band time! I am seriously gonna crash and burn next year without this to do! I do love it so. Remember when I said I was gonna have helpers? Well, life threw my helpers a couple of curve balls. One had to go back to work sooner than they thought. The other, sick parent that needs care out of state. I'm glad that I was able to get alittle help last week. I will be in overdrive till next Wednesday. A small wrench was tossed in my lap. Band pictures will be the end of next week! Yikes! (Now, why did I think this year was gonna be easy? hahaha)

Jacob, Michael and I were goofing off in the uniform room. One thing about my boy is, you can never stay mad at that one! He really is fun to be around with. Plus his friends are truly blessings from God. This one, pictured with Jacob is such a weight conscious fiend. He's on the Varsity Wrestling Team, he was boohooing to me about needing to cut 16 pounds. Now Michael doesn't have and extra 16 pounds to lose. What is it with these coaches? I worry when they come to me, you gotta play it cool and they know Mama B is there for any of them. OMGosh! I'm gonna miss these kids. I better start taking more pictures!

On to stitching news, I have picked out what I'm stitching for my Christmas Yearly Exchange Ornie! I'm thrilled, I got the best material for the backing! I know Julianne is gonna love it! No pictures! I put my linen for the last Quaker RR in the Q-Snap to work on tonight! Yea! I'm not even gonna complain about the devil's horns!

Well friends, it's supper time, and both my boys are hollaring "What's for supper?" Burgers and Dogs!

DaisyGirl

I'm thankful for my little fan in the uniform room! It helps keep me cool!

Wonderful Sunday

As to cleaning on yesterday, I did do quite abit. I still need to clean off my stitching table. I forgot to let Ulla know to start watching the mail. Our Halloween RR is almost finished and I will be glad. I still have to stitch the last round of Quaker and Halloween. I'm terribly sorry friends that I have fallen behind. I can't see a dang thing without my clip on magnifiers. One of my RA/PA drugs causes blurriness and I can't stitch for long. Tomorrow I will see my doctor for my check up. The meds really have helped so much.


Church was poignant today for me. I hate that I can't seem to make it through a service without crying. For all my friends who care about faith, you all know my struggle. I am such a demanding person and God knows it. He knows I am fighting to give up control. I like control and I hate crying in front of people. You know what it is for me? It is the music that seems to make me cry more. Poor Jacob, bless him, he normally goes with his buddies and I was already sitting in our usual spot, I think I surprised him being there. All his friends are so sweet to allow me to sit with them. Enough on that. I would hate to think I rambled on about my faith and turn people off. I would never want that.


As to stitching, I will start the devil's horns again! Arggg! Well, I will save it for the last part I guess. I've been working on exchanges too, so no pictures. Sorry :(


I've been given a award from CindyMae, thank you for that. I feel blessed that maybe something I said or wrote brought a smile to a friends face!


I have to nominate someone, I'll have to say Vonna is the one person who most inspired me with her super mom attitude, caring friend when all else fails, now I won't say that I'd ever want 4 kids to deal with, but I see alot of my Mom in her. You rock Vonna! (It's ok if you just want the nomination, you don't have to continue the tag. Because I know there are so many friends who deserve the award!
Well, I guess I ought to pry myself from the computer screen!
DaisyGirl

Saturday!

Well, I have been so very busy today. I hate to even say it, but here goes: I cleaned! I'm talking move the bed, vacuum under very dusty bed. I found a lost slipper for John, thank goodness for that. That slipper was a LLBean Wicked Good slipper. John kept telling me it was gone, lost, I've already looked under the bed. Well, I figured it was under there somewhere.

I have this little area that I keep all my stitching and stuff, so I've been cleaning that out too. How do I come up with all of this stuff. I need to cull I guess. I hate to throw away stuff. You never know when you might need it. I love magazines and catalogs, I have quite alot that I might just cut out the project and put in the plastic sleeve and put in a binder.

Keep your fingers crossed, Jason has job lead that was posted at our church. I'm gonna pray extra for him that the company will give my son a chance. Jason has had no real job history. I have not made my kids go get a job during their high school years. I want them to enjoy their youth while they can. Being an adult and having to work is hard and can sometimes be a burden for the newly young graduates.

Busy week ahead. Band camp will be alittle sad for one young lady. Her Momma just passed away, Allision's Momma fought cancer and even though she was sick, she'd come out to see her daughter march. I'm sending blessings for her whole family.

See ya!

DaisyGirl

I'm blessed to be alive and Lord open your arms for Allision's Momma!

Is the heat bothering you?

Whew, last night was a doozy! Practice was terrible. The school is conserving on electricity I guess, so band practice was rough. The uniform room was horrible. It was smothering and made fittings seem like an eternity. We've got 26 new freshmen and I was only able to fit 15, ugh! I managed to make it till 8:15, then that was it. I had to quit or die. Thank goodness practice let out a little early last night. By the time I got home I was sick. Heat exhaustion is not fun friends. I took a cool shower and rid my stomach the sad way, then made it to the bed and woke up around noon. I will be bringing a fan on Thursday! Plus plenty of water! It's almost humorous because I'm the band nurse. It's usually the kids that fall out! Not me. But it was very hot.
News about Alora. My niece Aaryn has finally held her angel, and we are proud to say that little Alora had a poop! Now that is good news, because that means her little intestines are beginning to work! Praise God! We've still got a long road ahead of us, but she is coming along. Hurray for Alora!
I must stitch tonight! So I'm off to do just that!
DaisyGirl
I'm thankful for beginning to hear God's word again in my heart!

Summer Fun with my Girls!

My sister has a teacher seminar this week, so my nieces are staying with us for a couple of days. I've got the girls Sunday night thru Tuesday afternoon. Band practice would be very boring for little girls! Today has been busy. We went to the fountain to play in the water, then lunch was gobbled up quickly so we could go to Barnes and Noble. I am a firm believer in the written word. Books are a cherished commodity in our household. The thrill of a new book is always fun in our house. I bought a new Miss Potter book for myself! Then home to play with Jacob. It's now 7:15pm, we are gonna make milkshakes in just a few. Wanted to get the pics up just in case my sister checks my blog.

I'm tired friends! Having little girls over is tiring! I'm not used to waking at 8:30 in the morning! During summertime I keep horrible hours just for me! I stitch late into the night, sleep in, wake up around 11 or so to let the dog out. Geez! My summer is almost over for me. I go back to school on July 28th. Agggg!

Well, milkshakes are calling! See ya!

DaisyGirl

I'm thankful for Jacob! He has been a champion with the girls! Love ya Jacob!

Taking a stroll down memory lane...........

I'm not ashamed to say I love 80's music. I was such a fanatic musician back then, if my boys could have met me back then, they'd be wowed! I was in two bands as a teenager, I was 17 and I rocked. I'll never forget the one and only time I got my parents to show up at the bar where I was performing, that night a fight broke out and a woman pulled out a knife(I was up on stage singing my heart out!) After the cops removed the women who were fighting, I didn't even realize anything had happened! I come down off the stage to go to Momma and Daddy, OMGosh, the look on their faces: Donna Mae, you need to come home right now, it's not safe, you will get killed! I had to fight to stay the night. My friend Morgan the drummer promised that he'd see me home safe. That was my first band. Momma hated it!
I wished I had followed my dreams instead of letting my parents plant fear in me. I try so hard not to be condemning or hold my kids back. I just wished they could have seen their Momma back then.
My first concert was Kiss, you should have seen the horror in my parents faces when I was really following rock. Devil music! (Wrong Momma!) I wanted to go to New York so bad, I could taste it. Momma encouraged me to give it some time at home, get a job to save some money, yada yada, then I met Johnny. I was 19 and that was it, I was sunk, in love, dream vanished. I don't regret it, but I often wonder what or how my life would be if I continued to sing. I was in 3rd grade when I first sang in front of my school auditorium. My principal took me around to all the classrooms to sing. I still sing, but not often, I think it's time to start back. It's been missing me.
Jacob laughed when he heard me playing some of my music, so that's how tonights post came to life. I'm hoping everyone enjoys the few songs I've picked out. I used to be able to belt out Sweet Dreams with no problem. I love that song!
Night Friends!
DaisyGirl

It's that time Friends! Band Season!

(Jacob worn out after practice! You were awesome!)

It is bittersweet yet exciting still the same. This is Jacob's Senior year and tonight was the first band practice for the season. I'm glad he's an officer, he feels proud to help the new freshmen. He's such a great kid. He instinctively honed in on a new freshmen that was struggling to fit in and I tell you what it makes my heart proud to see how he took away a young freshman's fears. I guess I haven't done too bad after all. I love you son!

Band camp is such a fun yet very demanding time for any band student. This is how it will play out over the next few weeks. Practice Tues. and Thurs. nights 6pm to 9pm. We do this schedule for two weeks. Then it's practice all week just in the evenings, then the last week of July is the tough one. 8am to 9pm all week. 85 students who all need fitted for uniforms. I've been doing all the sewing these past 3 years, and I am so happy to say I finally have 2 parents that will help with the uniforms. I thanked both of these new mommas who have willingly given me their time for their children. It's a hard job, but I tell you what, tonight all my veteran band students all swarmed me with hugs and cheers. I'm their mom, their nurse when they are hurt or sick, Mama Bennett: my snap came off! Can you sew it quick? You gotta babe! But most of all, these kids are mine! I may not have birthed all of them, but they know who to turn too.

OMGosh friends, what will I do after next year? This is gonna be a hard year for me! Plan on it now that I'll have to show lots of pictures.

Back to the schedule: It's now first week of August. They get the week off. Then Aug.10 school starts and they practice twice a week and Friday night football games for 2-3 months depending on how well the football team does! Whew! Worn out yet?

Jacob had his first set of Senior pictures taken. Next week we hope to do the next set. Cha ching! John better hurry up and get back to work steady so we can get everything for Jacob. Letterman's jacket, senior ring which gets ordered the third week of July. You know what friends, I might just sell some of my old gold jewelry to help pay for all of this.

Now a little news about my Jason, he's about to get a taste of what a real job is. He's gonna be a gofer/labourer putting in insulation. I hope he doesn't crash and burn, but maybe seeing this will show him that college is what he needs. Good luck buddy, try your best.

I have totally blown ya'll all away with my chatter tonight.

See ya later!

DaisyGirl

Baby news

Not much to report on baby Alora. She has successfully come through her surgeries, apparently they will not totally close the wound and let it close on itself. Continue to keep her in your prayers, new momma Aaryn is distressed because I don't really think it sunk in the enormous amount of time Alora would be in the hospital. Aaryn has yet to hold her sweet babe in her arms. At least Aaryn has a bed in the baby's hospital room to be with her as much as possible. I'm sorry I don't have any new pictures of her. I'm holding off buying clothes yet until she comes home so I'll know what size to get her. I so wish we were there to help her with comfort and hugs. Kyle, please consider moving down here when the baby gets better. You have a big family waiting down here to help. :)

Vonna, I received your package today. Haven't opened it yet, will open it later tonight.

Sorry it's a picture poor post. How about a picture of my precious kitties.

Hugs,

DaisyGirl

Happy 4th of July

Be safe and enjoy your family!

Hugs,

DaisyGirl

Happy Birthday to my little brother Patrick!

Happy Birthday to Patrick! I know he reads my blog, I did try to call you, the phone line has been busy all evening. Check your phone, I textd you a message too. My little bro is the big 4 0 ! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's all down hill buddy! hahahaha

I haven't heard any news today about baby Alora. I'll call my SIL tomorrow to check up on Alora.

We are having a combined birthday party on Saturday for Patrick, John and myself. I always have a 4th of July party so this year we are doing it up big! John's gonna smoke ribs, chicken and dogs for the younger crew who may not want ribs. I'm looking forward to the family being over.

I wanted to show the cute little summertime pillow I got for my birthday! It is so cute! Thank you Heather for my birthday goodies.

Tomorrow is a busy day so I'll sign off for the night!

DaisyGirl