The Tween Room - Nearly Complete

The new carpet will be delivered and installed on Tuesday, but here's a sneak preview of the "Chrsiti turned Shayla's new 'tween room". I love it!




New paint, new carpet, new bedding and curtains - the "tween room" turned out really cute! I will say it was much harder than I expected to let go of "Christi's Room", but I love Shayla's new room so much one afternoon I said to her, "Can I sit on your bed and read? I just love it in here." We've now moved on to the long overdue task of redecorating the basement and removing our "Christi Items" from down there.....oh will this task and pain ever end?!



Ironically, this is the wooden box Christi painted in 2003 when she was five years old and we were living at the Ronald McDonald House. What were the chances it was going to be the same colors her surviving sister would pick out for her new bedroom?! Crazy! I'm not certain where Shayla will decide to display it in her room, but were were pretty amazed that the colors were perfect. I know this has been hard for Shayla too. She really misses Christi. She doesn't come home from school and hide behind the couch and cry anymore like she did right after Christi's death, but there are times when it brings her down too. May God comfort her and always keep her safe and from harm's way.

(Check out the orbs in this picture - the only picture with orbs. This picture was taken last Tuesday when Shayla came home from school and saw her new paint for the first time, then we went to rearrange the furniture to see where she wanted everything. We both think Christi would love these colors and this room.)



Bye Bye Sweet Christi's room. The "wallpaper removal guy" saved me some of Christi's wallpaper. I may arrange it in a shadow box or something. I really liked her little girl room. She'll always be my little girl, one of them.
(PIC: Christi's 8th birthday - playing in her room with Cousin Shelby)






Shayla had another nice weekend filled with friends. Her basketball team won their tournament on Saturday morning so I took her and a friend out for pizza to celebrate. (She's now started another basketball program - this one for the city, not just her school) She had a friend over Friday night and spent Saturday night with friends at a Japanese steakhouse and at the BGSU basketball game. Today she performed a little skit with her church youth group "Out Loud" and is having another friend over. Shayla will never know how much joy she brings us and how much we absolutely treasure and adore her. It's hard to believe it's almost SHAYLAUARY and soon she will be 11. Eleven? Wow! What would Christi think; she would be 12 now, if only she had lived to see double digits - wild!

For a couple of years actually, I've wondered how I would handle her 13th birthday - seems like that's such a big one. Well, in case I didn't say, "I love my new job" this week - I LOVE MY NEW JOB! For Christi's 13th birthday, I had thought off and on about having a "Teenager Birthday Party" but then wondered how terrible I'd feel if no one showed up - well THANK YOU BGSU, instead of sitting at home I will be spending Christi's 13th birthday with two other professors I really look up to and 9 amazing BGSU education majors touring some of the best schools in the world - far far away in another time zone where I'll need my passport! That will be an incredible (and needed) distraction. God is good! I am blessed!

(PIC: For Shayla's research project at HEIGHTs she's pursing the topic of "Marketing to Pre-Teens". She's not doing a topic like cats or basketball, so she's really struggling to find material. One day I came home and said that one of my students works at Justice, Shayla's favorite store. I thought she'd say, "Cool, mom! I love that store," but instead she said, "Perfect! I need to interview her." When I learned she was serious, I set an interview up. Shayla prepared her questions and during our meal at the Japanese restaurant she interviewed this amazing student I'm lucky to have in class. She's going to be a FABULOUS teacher! What a sweetie!

My new guestroom / office will be done in a matter of hours - YES!

This is one of my sweet (and very talented and athletic) students. She will be a fantastic teacher. One very lucky school district will snap her right up.
I loved watching her cheer last night and I pray she doesn't get dropped and hurt herself cheering on the Falcons! Those cheerleaders are INCREDIBLE!