She Did It

She's been thinking about it since way back in 2007. Yesterday, she finally gave in and did it. Here's the result.

It's not exactly what I had in mind, and it's a good bit shorter than I think either one of us were thinking, but she seems to be in love with it. And that makes it all good with me.

HIJACKED!!!

Can anybody out there tell me how this ended up here:

My recent blog post was published, without any notification to me or permission from me, in the current publication of this paper. CAN THEY DO THAT???? Can they just copy and paste my words and sell them for profit like that? When I did research papers with my 5th graders last year, we talked about this little thing called plaguerism. I even taught them how to cite the websites they used to gather their information. Surely I have some friends - English teachers, photographers, college students, graphic design artists - who can offer me some insight here. In the meantime...

New Year's Lesson Learned: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST ON HERE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE IT MAY END UP!!

ELEVEN

It's a bit of an awkward age. One day you're watching Nickelodeon and playing Littlest Pet Shop. The next day, you're trying to straighten your own hair. It's the age where you transition from being the big kids at the elementary school to being the little kids ("awww...look how cute they are..." say the 7th graders) in middle school. It's the age where there are more non-toys on your Christmas list than there are toys, but it's still the toys that really excite you. It's the age where you need braces and deoderant.

When you get a group of 11-year old girls together, you get a lot of noise - shrill voices, raucous laughter, singing that sounds more like shouting. When you get a group of 11-year old girls together, you hear a lot of talk about boys, always including words like "ugly, disgusting, stupid, annoying" following by hushed whispers and quiet giggles.

Today, #2 turned 11. When it was time to get dressed, she asked what shoes would match her new top best and asked me to straighten her hair in the back where she couldn't reach. Her first "gift" of the day was getting a pedicure with a BFF. They talked and laughed the entire time the nail techs were painting polka dots on their toes. Tonight, I took her and four friends for pizza and a movie. I let the girls have their own table at the restaurant, watched them order their own food and serve themselves. I sat behind them at the movies, watching them whisper to each other about funny parts and squirm during the parts that made us all cry.

This side of eleven is one that I love. Yes, they're awkward and loud. But when a familiar song came on the radio and all five of them were singing at the top of their lungs, I honestly wanted to keep on driving rather than turn in the driveway. When they were playing tag inside the house, I just waited out the squeals and tried to stay out of the way of 10 running and sliding feet. Eleven-year-old girls love life. They're not yet consumed by clothes or hair or make-up, they're not yet obsessed with thoughts of which boys are hot, they're not disrespectful or know-it-alls. They still like me, each other, and themselves. They're just trying to squeeze in as much fun - playing with dolls, jumping on the trampoline, shrieking with laughter - as they can. I almost think they're aware of what's coming. I know I am. And it's not all that fun from a mom's perspective. So for now, I'm enjoying this side of eleven.

It's going to be a long night. Those four friends are spending the night. Right now, it's 11:30 and they're getting set up for Guitar Hero. They'll be up and down the stairs a dozen times after midnight. They'll burst out in a fresh round of laughter just when I think they've finally gone to sleep. They probably won't go to sleep until 3 or 4 a.m. But it's all good. They're just eleven.

HAPPY ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY, #2! I LOVE YOU!

Christmas '08 Highlights

(In no particular order...)

• Clint's Christmas gift to me was closing in a small area of our back porch to make a new room on the house - looks great, hubby!
• We got to see #2 perform in her last school Christmas musical - she was a swooning cheerleader!
• Hosted a Christmas party for #1 and the basketball girls - lots of pizza, gag gifts, giggles, and Guitar Hero
• Tortured the girls by making them hunt for their gifts on Christmas morning
• Got to play with the cousins at Penny's house on Christmas Eve - we were amazed at B's vocabulary and outgoing personality, and G-man may very well be the cutest baby around
  
• Had our last Christmas Eve at Nanny's house - while she is already missed, it was precious to have one more Christmas in her home
• Played games with the girls and the grands on Christmas Day - Harry Potter Clue and Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly
• Took #2 and K ice skating at Chehaw - I love to see the laughter when ten-year-old girls are having fun together!!
• Successfully watched Bedtime Stories - third time's the charm!
• Gave donations as gifts to many family members and friends - Bibles for the Quechua people of Peru
• Saw the house in Callaway Lakes with the dancing lights - and the woman who brought her own chair and toddy to watch :)
  
• #1 organized a Christmas dinner/gift exchange with 10 of her closest friends
• Had new PJs for Christmas Eve

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas... and it's not over yet! :-)
Hope yours was great too!

Christmas Lesson Learned

For several weeks now, I had been excited about what I had hoped would become a new Christmas family tradition. Having seen the previews for Disney's new movie Bedtime Stories, I had planned for all of us to go to the movie Christmas night. After several hectic days of cooking, eating, wrapping, opening, smiling for pictures, taking pictures, visiting with family, going to the next house...I thought this would be a calm way to end the day. I was excited. I LOVE to go to the movies, and we very rarely go as a family anymore.
We tried to go for the 8:00 show. Sold out. This should have been my first clue, but we went ahead and bought tickets for the 9:30 show. #2 was pumped about getting to go a "late movie" - that would be a first for her! So we returned to the theater an hour and a half later with tickets in hand. (Picture me at this point rubbing my palms together in glee.) Armed with a large Coke and a box of chocolate-covered raisins, we headed into our theater. This should have been my second clue. The noise level was such that I was afraid we might not be able to find four seats together, but when we rounded the corner, the theater wasn't even half full. We settled into our seats about four rows from the top (just where I like to sit), but noticed quickly that most people weren't settling anywhere. Large groups of teenagers would sit down in one area, only to get up a few minutes later and move to another one, all the while yelling at friends on the opposite side. I'm reminding my girls not to put their feet on the seats in front of them, and the kids around us are cussing & yelling. My girls are rolling their eyes at me, while I'm saying a prayer of thanks for private schools. Surely it would get better once the movie started, right?!? About halfway through the previews, the manager came in with a sheriff's deputy and about six employees. He gave a speech about theater etiquette, while the dudes in burgundy vests checked ticket stubs. No problem. Daughter #1 said they did the same exact thing when she went to see Twilight last month. The movie begins. Granted, the volume was too low, even for a calm theater, but with the noise all around us, you couldn't hear a thing. We were surrounded by the most obnoxious, inconsiderate, rude, unruly, disrespectful, and selfish group of teenagers I have ever been around in my life. The sheriff's deputy came back in, either yelling at people to put their cell phones away, or asking them to leave. Burgundy-vest-dudes tried to keep the theater quiet, but the "patrons" only argued with them. About fifteen minutes into the picture, when another sheriff's deputy came in, surely to eject them, we knew it was time to leave. (Picture me now with steam coming out of my ears.) The manager, bless his heart, was happy to refund the money for both our tickets and concessions. Honestly, I feel bad for him and his staff. They were fighting a losing battle. I think every family in that theater left. I can't tell you a single thing about the fifteen minutes of the movie that I sat through.
Lesson Learned: DON'T GO TO THE MOVIES ON CHRISTMAS DAY IN ALBANY, GA.

Disclaimer: We had a wonderful Christmas Day with family. Happy Christmas post to come tomorrow, after I go see my movie. :-)

I'm It.

I'm supposed to be baking brownies. I'm supposed to be sweeping floors. I'm supposed to be getting ready for the Christmas party I'm hosting in two hours. But okay, AL, I'll play along. :-)


The rules were...

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same

NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Here's my picture:

This was taken in June of 2007. I was sending my hubby and daughter #1 off to Peru. They were joing the SCA mission team for a 10 day trip to share the love in the Andes Mts. (#2 and I were headed to Disney World.)
Next Peru pics...I hope I'm in 'em!! :-)


Now it's your turn...Cass, Clint, Lyndi, and... do I have any other readers out there? I don't think so.

PEACE. LOVE. VAMPIRES.

Twilight. Yes, I'm an avid reader. But #1? She's obsessed. She devoured the books, like I've never seen her read anything else. She quite literally shrieked with joy when she got an e-mail that the movie tickets had gone on sale here. You can't have a conversation with her without some Twilight reference sneaking into it. She's had many a spirited debate on whether vampires "sparkle" (in the sun, as Stephanie Meyers' characters do), or die, as is the commonly-held belief in vampire lore. She bought the soundtrack the day it hit the stores, after agonizing on whether to purchase it off ITunes or get the real CD. She bought the CD because it came with a poster. She watched every movie trailer on the internet. She was counting down the hours (for several days, mind you) until she got to go to the movie tonight. She made t-shirts for her and the BFF to wear. I'd bet she had a hard time going to sleep last night just thinking about it. Her dad and boyfriend just roll their eyes. Personally, I find it endearing. If you know #1, she's calm and easy-going, nothing much gets her very excited. I think the twinkle she gets in her eyes at the mention of Twilight is so adorable, I talk about it just to see her reaction. I'm gonna pay to go see the movie with her tomorrow, just so I can hear the bubbly excitement in her voice. Obsessed? You bet she is.

Oh. The back of the shirts. "Bite me. PLEASE."

I love this girl!