Traditions

Traditions are a funny thing. Sometimes, they seem to be far more trouble than they are worth. Other times, they are too good to give up! We have one such tradition that is fairly new, but far too fun to stop!

This particular tradition began in September. It was homecoming. The Boy and The Girl go to a school in which the middle school kids also have a homecoming dance. It's pretty cool. They have a lot of the things the high schoolers have...sports, dances, etc. So, after the homecoming dance, we knew the kids would be hungry. We took a group of them to Steak 'n Shake.

Since then, after every dance, we take the kids back. Last night was no exception. Last night was the Valentine's Dance. We always have a large group of kids (no fewer than 6...last night there were 9) and at least 4 adults (last night we were 8). We always have the same waitress (who, on our first visit, had blue eyeshadow all the way up to her eyebrows). She never gets our orders quite right. We have found it does not really matter what we order...she is not likely to get it right, but she is usually somewhere close. But she is funny. She is also slow, but she is entertaining! And the kids always get their little Steak 'n Shake hats, and they always wear them. And we love that they are so busy being kids!

Next year, the majority of the group will be in high school. In fact, they all will except for The Girl. Hope they still want to continue our tradition. I have a feeling they will!

Family NOT SO Fun Day...

I suppose we all knew that EVENTUALLY, one of these "Family Fun Days" was going to be not so much fun. I mean, with a name like "Family Fun Day," nothing could possibly go wrong...right? RIGHT?

Thought so.

SO...our family fun day this week started out with my forgetting the bar oil for the chain saw. The Husband was pretty miffed that I did this because it meant we could only run the chain saw through ONE tank of gas. Except (yes, I already said "except") that The Husband forgot to grab the tool that tightens the chain, and anyone who owns a chain saw knows that the chain in-explicitly loosens while sitting and NOT DOING ANYTHING. Our chain saw was useless.

I was not in the least bit deterred by this. I knew we had gathered plenty of smaller pieces of wood that we could burn. The high temp for the day was to be in the mid to upper 30s, so a fire was DEFINITELY in order. I began, at once, to get it started.

While I was working on starting our fire, The Husband was getting the kids' dirt bikes ready to ride. These are new and the kids love them. Being the safety-conscious parents we are, we were certain to make sure each child has a well-rated helmet to wear AT ALL TIMES while on the bikes.

Things went along well. Kids were riding their bikes and we were burning off a good amount of debris. Then, The Girl dumped her bike. She picked it back up and got right back on. Good girl. Then, we ate lunch. While eating The Girl tried to open a package and, in doing so, stabbed her index finger. We should have taken this as a sign, but instead, we scolded her for being irresponsible and careless with a knife.

After lunch, The Husband took The Girl for a ride on our Rzr. (In case you do not know what that is, here is a photo.) Please note this picture is from the Polaris website...this is NOT us!

So...as I was saying, The Husband took The Girl for a ride. He had taken me for a ride earlier. It is fast and fun and The Husband tends to get a bit crazy in the corners. The Boy and I were finishing our lunch and sitting by the fire when we look up and see the Rzr on its side...with The Husband and The Girl inside (both wearing seat-belts, mind you)!

Once again, we should have packed up and gone home, but NO...we were having FUN, remember?! After picking up the vehicle, The Husband took The Girl back out for another ride to make sure she was not scared. They had a blast.

I went back to tending to the fire. The Husband was helping and both kids were riding their dirt bikes. Suddenly, The Girl screamed...again. We went to see what was wrong. She was standing there NEXT to her bike. We told her to pick up the bike (The Husband was raised that if you could not pick up the bike, you could not ride). She went to do so, but then we noticed the blood. There was a good amount of it...enough to make me swoon. The Husband (man, he's amazing...have I mentioned that ever before? Because really...he IS) went right into "Calm, Control" mode and took charge. He ordered The Girl to sit down and calmed her down as he checked her leg. The foot peg caught her in the shin. She was not wearing boots. It was a pretty ugly gash (I can't say for sure, as I only first saw it today!). The Boy (who, incidentally, is almost as amazing as The Husband) clicked into gear and did everything necessary to help The Husband while I did all I could to keep myself from vomiting. (I suck under this type of pressure and am NO good with blood!!)

After quickly assessing the situation, it was determined a trip to the ER was in order. I started packing things up while The Husband bandaged The Girl the best he could. Then, The Boy sat with The Girl and kept her calm as we loaded all our stuff.

The rest of the story is pretty boring. Luckily, it was not nearly as bad as The Husband had first thought. No fracture or anything. 9 stitches and 3 hours later, we were all at home trying to relax. The Husband was really beating himself up over the fact that The Girl wasn't wearing proper boots to protect her shins.

Today, The Girl stayed home. The Husband stayed home with her...and also ordered several hundred dollars worth of protective gear. We are expecting a large shipment of bubble wrap very soon!

Hmmm...so THAT's how this works!

So it seems it isn't enough to *think* my posts...I actually have to take the time to *write* them as well! Perhaps that is why there have been no posts since August!!

To be honest, once school started this year, I became incredibly busy. It was unreal. The Boy was in football and The Girl was a cheerleader. There was A LOT of running around. Quick recap: The Boy's football team had an AMAZING season. They finished the regular season as the number 2 seed, won their playoff game, and played in the "Superbowl" against the only team to whom they'd lost all season. Sadly, they came up short and were not crowned champions by the league. They *were* champions to us, though. It was an incredible season.

The Monday after football ended, basketball began. That has been a whole different story! The team is not as good at basketball as it was at football, but it's been a tremendous experience watching The Boy blossom into a basketball player. A few weeks ago, he had a career high 14 points in one game. It was a lot of fun to watch. It was also a bit sad because we all know this is the last season he will play basketball. He will not pursue it in high school; his focus is football and we all know it. In fact, he has even decided not to bother playing baseball at school this year. The Boy has played baseball every year since he was 4, so it will be strange for him not to play. He said he may play in town...just not at school. The football coaches are quite pleased with his decision!

The Girl is, as we suspected she would be, an excellent cheerleader. All those years of gymnastics paid off and she's also a lot of fun to watch. Once basketball season ends (this weekend), we will look into putting her back into a tumbling class so she can practice, reinforce, and maybe even expand her skills. She is pretty excited about that.

There is so much more happening in our lives right now, but I will take my time getting you all caught up. It is too much for one post!

I really hope this is the start of my return to the blogosphere...I've missed you all and hope you have not forgotten me!

Backward Desserts

Yes, you guessed it. Backward desserts is STRESSED!

I know, I know...most people prefer to look at it the other way around. I wish I could, but right now, it's more stress than dessert and I'm hoping to try to stay AWAY from the desserts!

You see, there comes a time in every Jewish child's life when he or she is called to the Torah. It is a time of joy and happiness. It is a signal of adulthood. It is an occasion to be celebrated.

With that celebration comes a party. With the party comes stress. Are you following me here?!

We are within the 6 week countdown to the event. There are fewer than 40 days between now and when my head will explode. Have I mentioned that school starts back up inside this block of time so I will have the added stress of the new school year and all it entails as well as all else on my mind?!

The Boy is not exactly counting down the days. Yes, he's excited about a party, but not so much about the service. The Girl is pretty excited about both aspects. I am still stressed. (Have I mentioned that yet?!) The Husband is taking it easy and not worrying one bit. After all, that's what he married me for, isn't it?! His job is to sit back and relax. MY job is to go crazy!

So...if you don't hear from me, fear not. I am somewhere losing my mind as I try to finish planning and preparing and counting and such.

Incidentally, I am already planning The Girl's elopement!!!!!!!!

Interior Design...sort of!

The Girl is not particularly happy with her bedroom. I can't blame her. While it is plenty large enough, it doesn't work. It has far too many obstacles and no good bed placement options. She has, in her room, 3 doors, all of which open in. Additionally, she has a large window that is roughly 75" long and *not* centered on the wall. Setting up this room is a nightmare at best.

The other day, I was browsing one of my new favorite sites, Pinterest. There, I found a cool website on which you can design your room. It is called The Make Room and it is from Icovia. I went to the site and set to work designing The Girl's room. I went upstairs and took meticulous measurements to ensure all would fit. Here is what I designed:The Girl really likes the design, although we've already modified it some. We have decided *not* to put a desk between the closet doors because it is too crowded. Also, her dresser is not as large as the one pictured, but that is because she needs a new, larger one. At this point, there is no chair in the corner yet. Again, we don't have one, but she definitely knows what she wants.

The "rug" in the middle of the floor is a cool shaggy blanket. The color is the same bright green as on her bedding, shown below.

We are, for the most part, pleased with how it all came together. The bed is pretty close to the door when it is opened, but there isn't much we can do about that. One closet door does not open all the way, but The Girl doesn't really use that side much and, without putting a desk in, she will be able to access it with no trouble.

Next up...The Boy's room!

Jealousy

Today, I took The Boy and The Girl down to the creek behind the neighbor's house. The neighbor's teenagers came with us.

To call it a creek is not exactly accurate. To me, a creek (or brook, as I grew up calling it) is a small, steady stream of water.




This creek is big enough that it has large pools suitable for swimming...and decent logs from which one can jump (as long as one is careful)!



The kids had a BLAST! Personally, I'm not a huge fan of swimming in anything other than a pool (although I'll make an exception for the ocean), but this was fun. We all kept our shoes on, though, to protect our feet. I did not swim; I followed around in the shallow parts and shot lots of pictures.

After an hour or two, we returned home. Both boys remained in their swim trunks. No big surprise there. The girls, however, did too. Both wore bikinis. Both stayed in them with no other clothes on for the rest of the day and evening. We ate dinner, they baked cupcakes, and everyone ran around the neighborhood some.

I'm jealous super proud of the girls because they both have the self-confidence to wear their bikinis all day long. Grant you, if I had the body to pull it off, I might consider doing the same, but I don't and I won't!

Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th!

Madhouse

First, I'd like to report that the blood work on The Dog came back good. According to the vet, The Dog is fine. I'm not 100% convinced. I still won't allow free access to water because she is still overdoing it. She gets water in the morning and if I give her more, I make sure she is outside. Just last night, I had her out back and gave her some; she drank it too quickly and puked a little back up.

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Last night, this place was a mad house. One of my neighbors has four kids; two teens and two toddlers. Another neighbor and I decided to take all the kids so my first neighbors could have a date night. Since I have teens, I took the older two; my friend, who has a 3-yr-old, took the younger two. In addition to the two I took, The Boy had another friend over. I had 5 teenagers ranging in age from 12 - 15.

My first challenge was feeding all these kids - 3 of whom are boys! That proved easier than I'd anticipated. Pizza. We ate around 6pm, so I knew there would have to be a second round of feedings! For that, I loaded them all up and took them out for ice cream. I realize many of you think it would have been cheaper to buy ice cream at the store, but to be honest, it was less than $20 to take them all out (including me) and they were able to get a better variety this way.

Everyone stayed up WAY too late. I called it quits just after midnight. At 2:30 AM, I had to yell at them for standing outside my door arguing (that would be MY darlings, not their friends!). I did not hear another peep until I got up. I went in search of bodies and found them sprawled out all over the floor in the bonus room!

I was concerned about breakfast, but all three who stayed had to run home to get ready for church, so I did not end up feeding anyone breakfast!

Overall, they all had a blast. I know mine are tired and I definitely see naps in our future. Luckily, it's a rainy day, so it's a perfect excuse to 'lay up sorry' all day long!

Pseudo Spa Evening

For Mother's Day this year, The Girl really wanted to give me a day at the spa. As flattered as I was by the offer, I had a few problems with this idea.

First of all, I am not interested in The Girl spending that much money on me. We have a few spas here, and despite the fact that they are relatively inexpensive compared to larger cities, none are affordable on a 12-yr-old's "salary" (read allowance).

Another problem I have is time. I barely have enough time to get done all that needs to be done in any given day. To find a way to make the time to spend several hours at a spa seems impossible to me.

The last "problem" is less of a problem and more of a issue with the entire spa day process. If I'm going to spend my day relaxing at a spa, the last thing I want to do is get in my car and drive home, because Lord knows some idiot will end up in front of me and the fruits of all those hours of relaxation will be gone in an instant when I get irritated at said idiot! (Not that I suffer from episodes of road rage or anything...)

Tonight, The Girl and one of her best friends decided the spa treatment could wait no longer. They informed me this afternoon that there *would* be a spa evening and it was to be tonight. I arrived across the street (smart girls to remove driving from the occasion) just before my treatment was to begin. I was lead to the living room relaxation room where I was attacked by one of two naked 3-yr-olds fresh from the tub greeted warmly with a hug from a junior staff member. My neighbor and I had appointments at the same time, which was pleasant. My first appointment was for a massage; hers was for a pedicure. Then, we were to switch.

My massage was quite nice. Soft music, champagne, dim lights...all that was necessary for the proper relaxation. After the first half of the spa treatment, we were led to another relaxation room where we were serenaded by the sound of rapid-fire machine guns and other death noises produced by Call of Duty: whatever version more up-tempo sounds. I was then led to the pedicure room. I was seated on the potty seat in the chair and my feet were placed in the hot, bubbling water. My pedicurist did a wonderful job and even put a small daisy design on each of my big toes while one of the 3-yr-olds clambered into my lap and watched intently I was showered with more affection.

Sadly, as all things do, my spa evening had to come to an end. (After all, the champagne was gone!) Overall, it was a wonderful evening and I truly enjoyed every moment of the experience. I highly recommend this particular spa and will definitely be returning!

A new sport

I received an email about a month ago about middle school softball. I was confused when I read the part that said something about "you are receiving this because your daughter has expressed interest in being on the team."

What? MY daughter? The same child who, at 4-yrs-old, wandered around the ball field asking if she could come in now? The one who sat in the outfield picking flowers? The one who tried like hell to quit the season early because "It's HOT, Mommy!"?

OK - Just checking.

I have to be honest when I say I wanted her to back out. I wanted her to quit before it began. The Husband was in favor (but had his doubts), and I wanted her to say, "No, Mommy, I don't want to go." It would make my life easier. And, really, it is about me!

So, Monday night was the first practice. It was a lovely 90+ degree evening as we headed to the field. It was the kind of evening where breathing made one sweat. I warned the mom in charge that The Girl hadn't played ball since she was 4 and that I wasn't sure she could even catch one. She was using The Boy's old baseball glove. I refused to spend money on a sport she was *trying out* to see if she liked. No cleats, no bat, no helmet: nothing! She wore shorts, a t-shirt, sneakers, and the above mentioned glove.

Well, was I in for a treat. The Girl can catch. And throw. And run. And, the best part? SHE'S NOT AFRAID OF THE BALL!

I suppose this is a good time to mention that I played was on a softball team when I was younger. I sucked. I was deathly afraid of the ball and closed my eyes whenever it came near. We even have a photo of me in my catcher gear (what was I thinking?!) where my eyes are closed and if you look closely, you can see the ball is actually bouncing OUT of my mitt! But I digress...

The Girl...she's not afraid. At all. The coach even threatened to throw a ball at her. She stood there showing him she knew it'd hurt for a bit, but not for long and she'd be OK. Wow!

After the long and sweaty practice, The Girl came off the field with a huge grin. "I LOVE IT!" she said. To be honest, I'm proud of her and thrilled she loves it. She will now have to juggle cheerleading and softball throughout the fall. We know the football games are Saturdays so there should be no conflicts there, but she'll have to worry about practices. She'll manage. She always finds a way!

A trip to the dentist

Yesterday, The Girl had to have some teeth pulled. Our first attempt at this was back in April. She had an appointment for April 22. She needed 4 teeth pulled so she can get her braces on. That trip did NOT go well. At all. The Girl hates shots and such. I did not even tell her why we were going to the dentist because I knew she'd freak out. When she figured it all out, guess what happened? She freaked out! The only thing that angered me about the entire thing is that I had asked the dentist for one Valium for The Girl to take prior to the appointment and the receptionist acted as though I'd asked them to build me a meth lab! "We don't do that here!" was her reply.

Um...OK. Whatever.

We finally got in for another appointment; this one was to discuss our options. Whatever. Just pull the freaking teeth. They are baby teeth and none need to be cut. It's NO biggie!

The plan was made that we would come in and they'd give her some meds to "relax" her. Um...didn't they just act like I was crazy when I suggested that?! Whatever! Yesterday was the big day. The Girl was to eat nothing after 1pm. We had to be at the dentist at 4:15pm for the meds; they'd do the procedure after hours. Fortunately (for The Girl, as she'd have been footing the bill) they did not charge us for the meds nor did they charge us an after hours fee.

While she was nowhere near as funny as David, she was, in fact, amusing. At first, she insisted she felt nothing different. After the gas, though, she was pretty darned loopy. She never fell asleep (she was not supposed to), but she was definitely somewhere else. This girl who claims to have a morbid fear of needles chatted with the dentist the entire time he had needles in her mouth. After about the 9th shot, she said, "Am I going to get a shot now?" We all laughed.

The teeth came out without incident. Our biggest trouble was that her gums bled longer than we'd anticipated. When we ran out of gauze, a friend suggested using a tea bag. Just wet it a bit and use it the same way you'd use gauze. It totally did the trick.

Today, The Girl is talking a little funny, but that's about all. She is fine and in no pain. She is still working on the vanilla shake a friend brought her last night...but she is eating it with a spoon!

Post Project/Post Election life

The Boy turned in both projects this week. On the zoo project, he earned a 94%. On his Social Studies project (the report about a country) he earned 100%. I'm so proud of him.

On a sadder note, The Girl did not win the VP election. Even though she said she would not care, she does...although she CLAIMS she only cares because the boy who won is a trouble-maker and she's concerned for her class. She is upset all offices were taken by boys and that if the girl against whom she was running had won, she'd be happy for her (and, to be honest, I believe she would).

Next week is exam week. Then, we relax!

The blondist redhead alive!

It's official. Underneath that beautiful red hair, The Girl is blonde - even more than I am!

This evening, we were out to dinner with some friends, one of whom is now her cheer coach. First, the coach showed me (on her phone) a picture of next year's cheer uniforms. The Girl's first question: "Is that the top or the skirt?"

Really? REALLY? 'Cause skirts now come with v-necks and arm holes, ya know.

Just sayin...

Then we were talking about last year's uniforms. The girls will have those and the new ones this year so they each will have two. The returning girls will get their old uniforms back - or first pick if they need a new size. The new cheerleaders will then get their uniforms. The Girl is rather small, so I asked the coach who was the smallest girl to move up.

The Girl answers that it was one of her classmates.
I just looked at her.
"Moved up!" I said.
"What? Moved where?" she asked.
"MOVED UP!" I answered.
"Who moved?" she asked.

By now, the cheer coach was surely rethinking choosing The Girl for the squad! We explained what we were saying. The evening continued much along those lines. I offered to let the cheer coach take The Girl home for the night if she wanted. Shockingly, she said no thanks!

Running again

Not literally. That would be silly. As much as I'd absolutely LOVE to shed some excess weight, I'm not all that committed and not yet willing to put forth any sort of effort. I'd much prefer the weight to simply disappear. Sounds bizarre, but it *has* happened in the past. 15 lbs simply vanished over the course of about a year, and stayed away for another year. Sadly, they have reappeared over the last year. But I digress...

My running has more to do with sports. It seems we will learn tomorrow or Thursday if The Girl has made the middle school cheer squad. Clearly, we are hoping she does. I think she'll make a great cheerleader; she definitely has the personality for it, and the years of competitive gymnastics won't hurt either!

Additionally, conditioning and practice has begun for basketball again. Apparently, it is against regulations for the boys to practice football, so they are no longer going to football conditioning. Only high school students are allowed to practice football all year. Today was the first day of basketball practice. The Boy said it went well. After practice, a friend of his came over. The two of them went into the garage and did box jumps and then ran hill sprints before going out back to practice shooting. I am very impressed with both of them.

So, my vacation from running to practices is over. It lasted a week. It's all good, though, as I was confused as to what I was supposed to be doing with my time, and my car really missed me!

How I spent my afternoon

My iPhone has been acting up; the battery has suddenly decided it no longer wants to hold a charge. I'm OK with this. I have no idea how old the phone is, but I've had it since July. My neighbor bought an iPhone 4 and I bought her old 3G-S. (I had a 3G). I am guessing she had the phone for at least two years because she upgraded. It is entirely possible that after three plus years, the battery might go bad.

My plan for this afternoon was to go to AT&T and get a new battery. I also planned to set up my iPad. I knew it would be a looooooooong afternoon of waiting, but I was prepared for it.

I definitely got my afternoon of waiting...a long time. I think I spent about 2 and a half hours waiting...but not at AT&T. Instead, I spent it at the ER.

The Girl came home from school saying her knee hurt and was wrapped and the school nurse suggested she have x-rays. Then, she showed us her knee. It was totally swollen. Apparently, it has been bothering her for over a week (she says she told The Husband, but no one told me). I could have called her pediatrician, but I knew it'd be a week before we could get in. SO, we went to the ER. (We have a minor-emergency center here, but they don't take my insurance). A hurt knee is not exactly an emergency, so we patiently waited our turn.

After an examination and some x-rays, the PA came back and basically said she didn't know what was wrong...some sort of inflammation (um...I knew that) and said The Girl was going to get a full knee-brace and crutches. She is to follow-up with her doc next week. The nurse came back but with only an ace bandage and crutches. Apparently, they do not have any child braces, only adult ones. The girl weighs a whopping 83 lbs (and is about 5 ft tall). The adult brace would wrap around her twice!

So...she is on her crutches and Motrin. She was THRILLED to get the crutches, which I think is silly because by the end of school tomorrow, she'll probably hate them! Guess I'll get a new battery another day!

The end of an era...or "free at last"

The Girl began gymnastics when she began 3rd grade. She went all through that year and began competing in the middle of 4th grade. We moved at the end of 4th grade and she moved right into a new gym. She competed through 5th grade and here we are, approaching the middle of 6th grade.

The Girl has been "done" with gymnastics for a month or two now. She does not feel as though she is treated well at the gym. She is not one of the "it" girls, and it shows. Her love for the sport has wavered...a lot. In fact, she no longer likes it. Still, we would not allow her to quit; she made a commitment and she was going to finish it. We paid for it and she was going to finish right.

Until...

Until I got angry about something. I wrote a letter to the coach expressing my frustration. Rather than sit down and talk about it, the coach kicked The Girl off the team. Because she was mad at me. Incredibly immature and totally ridiculous.

Today, The Girl came home from school. I asked her how she'd feel if I told her she never had to go to the gym again.

She cried.

TEARS OF JOY.

She was elated.

In an attempt to "hurt" us, the coach did us a favor. Not only did she kick The Girl off the team, she is actually sending us all our money back.

Life is good! The Girl is happy. We have our life back. The Girl is already making social plans!

A question of WHY

A friend of mine recently posted on a bulletin board how sad she was about how women treat each other. Her descriptive words included the following:

shitty
backstabbing
hurtful
click-y
disrespectful
unhelpful
sneaky

And you know what? She's right. In fact, there are several words she didn't use, but then again, she is far more classy than I. Had it been my post, I'd have used all those other unsavory words as well!

Why is this? Why are women like this? What is wrong with us? And - more importantly, why are we allowing this and perpetuating it?

Let's face it...we are not born mean. We learn it. We learn it from our mothers, sisters, peers, idols, etc. Being a MeanGirl is a learned behavior. When we are young, we love everyone. We are friends with everyone and we want everyone to be friends with us. But then we see the women around us excluding people. We hear them talking about how ThisWoman is not quite good enough and ThatWoman is not thin enough and TheOtherWoman doesn't wear the right clothes or act quite right. We see the women around us hug their DearFriends and chat about the latest and greatest only to hear them privately speak ill of each other when those same DearFriends are not around.

Why is this OK with us? Why are we teaching our daughters to be mean?

One of my other friends replied to this first friend by telling her "I'm finding the older I get, the more easily I can "scratch" crappy, dangerous or otherwise unhealthy people right off my mental "friend-list" and never look bad or feel bad about it!" Isn't that wonderful? How liberating that feels! Can you imagine having that power when you are in your 20s? Or - even better yet, imagine that power and confidence when you are in your teens!

I am ready to do something. I am ready to stop the toxicity in my world. I know myself well enough to know I will most likely continue to speak ill of people from time to time; however, I will do everything in my power never to do so in front of The Girl. She is 12. She deserves better than that. I know she will experience MeanGirls in her life; she already has. But maybe I can teach her to let them go a little bit sooner than I learned to.

Time Flies...

Today, The Girl turns 12. I can hardly believe it. These past twelve years have really flown by.

I remember vividly when I was pregnant with her, I *knew* she was a boy. I had just had a baby boy and I knew I was having another. No one had told me so; I refused to find out the gender of the baby during the ultrasound. I wanted it to be a surprise.

You see, deep down, I wanted a baby girl. I wanted one so much and I knew I wouldn't get one. It took me a long time to come to terms with that, too. I even told The Husband that I would love this little one as much as I loved The Boy, but that when *he* was born, I'd be disappointed. I told The Husband he'd have to be patient with me because it would take me a while to get over my disappointment and fall in love with this new baby boy.

We had a name picked for our second boy. It was Jarrett Nathaniel. In the delivery-OR (The Girl was delivered via scheduled c-section), I told The Husband I didn't really like the name anymore. It had taken us forever to come up with a boy's name, and here I was, on the delivery table, telling The Husband I no longer liked the name! It was in the middle of that conversation that the anesthesiologist looked at us and said, "It's a girl."

We were stunned into silence.

Not only was she a girl, she was a red-head. Not too long before, I'd given birth to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. We were expecting another. Instead, we had a red-head with grey eyes...and she was a girl!

I cannot express the joy and elation I felt at that moment. The Husband told the doctor to go look again and find that boy we swore was in there!

And here we are, twelve years later, with an amazing young lady on our hands. She is strong, smart, beautiful, compassionate, friendly, warm, kind, athletic, and everything else a parent could want.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Muffin!

Major downside to the whole working-outside-the-home-mom thing...

I've been a "working-outside-the-home-mom" for a few years now. I went back to work (outside the home...I am in no way implying SAHMs do not work; they do. I did for YEARS. It was a LOT of work. REALLY a lot!) when The Girl was in second grade. It had been my intention to go back when she was in first grade, but it didn't happen. Whatever.

Now that I'm a WOHM, things are hard. I mean, I *knew* it would be hard, but I wasn't ready for some of the emotionally hard stuff. Some of it sucks.

This morning, The Girl left for a three-day field trip. She went last year as well, and so did The Boy. I went too, as a chaperone. I wasn't working yet, so it was no biggie to go. This year, I could not go. I cannot take three days off right now. I am taking a half-day off on Friday so I can go pick her up from school when she gets back. Since we have parent-teacher conferences that day, I had to make up the time so I could meet with as many parents as wanted to. I gave up my planning period this morning for conferences. Of course that also meant I was not able to come in late; I was not able to bring The Girl to school this morning. And, of all days, The Husband had to be out of town overnight last night.

And so, I had to send The Girl off to school on the bus, with all her stuff. She dragged her duffel bag and her bedding on the bus with her. In fact, because I had conferences this morning, I had to leave before she did. That sucked. A lot.

So there you have it. One of the suckiest parts about working outside the home as a mom. Don't get me wrong - I love my job - but I hate the fact that I was not able to be there for my kid this morning.

That will take some time to get over.

Blatant Bragging

Several years ago, when The Boy was in third grade, received an invitation to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. He was invited because in second grade, he had scored in the top 95th percentile on a standardized test at school. He was then invited to take an SAT-type exam, which he did. He scored in the top 10% for the state. He never took advantage of the programs they offered because he was so young, but each year, he was invited back to the program.

All these years, The Girl has asked when *she* was going to get *her* invitation. We moved just after that year and the kids took different standardized tests. Now that we've been back a full year, both kids took those same standardized tests. This year, The Girl was invited to participate in the CTY Search. She was thrilled. We have not figured out when she will take the exam or what programs, if any, she will participate in, but she is excited.

In other great news, The Boy was notified of his qualification for Duke University's Talent Identification Program! Again, it is because he scored above the 95th percentile. It will require his taking the SAT and/or ACT. He's not sure which to take and is seriously considering both!

Both of these programs offer neat courses over the summer. We're all excited about the prospects!

I'm a super proud mama...and The Husband a super proud dad!

Sports Recap

Wow! What a weekend! We went nonstop all weekend long and the results are positive!

We started our weekend with our usual double-dose of practices; The Boy had football practice while The Girl had gymnastics. The Boy's practice was a walk-through - shorts, t-shirts, and helmets. Because The Boy had tweaked his neck Thursday night, he did not wear his helmet Friday. They had a great practice. The Girl said her practice wasn't particularly good, which concerned us because she had a competition Saturday.

Saturday morning, I took The Girl back to the gym for practice. It was not necessary, but she wanted to go and her competition did not start until almost 8pm, so her working out in the morning was not likely to be a problem. After dropping The Girl, I came home to get The Boy and we all took off to the football game.

The game was extremely stressful; it was close, but in the end, our boys didn't have quite enough for the win. The final score was 24 - 20; it was a heartbreaking loss. I have never seen our boys play with so much heart. During the fourth quarter, The Boy scored two of our team's three touchdowns. That was so incredibly exciting, I cannot express it. He had even told us Saturday morning he was determined to score a touchdown! A friend had brought The Girl from the gym to the football game just in time to see The Boy score the first of his two touchdowns. THAT was pretty cool, too.

After the game (and lunch!), we all came home and napped. We were only half-finished with our day! We headed out to The Girl's competition. They were running a tad bit late, but it wasn't too bad. This was a huge competition for The Girl because she just moved up from Level 4 last year to Level 5 this year. If you don't know about gymnastics, it is a *huge* jump. We were hoping for the best because we knew The Girl had really worked hard and her practice Saturday morning was awesome.

They began on beam. In practice on Friday, one of the coaches (who is a trained judge) scored The Girl's routine at a 7.1. Last night, however, she managed an 8.5! After that, they moved to floor. The Girl scored a 7.9 on floor; although her tumbling and such were good, she messed up her pattern (meaning she wasn't always going the right direction and such), and that cost her. Next came vault. This is the first level for vaulting on the actual vault platform. The Girl scored an 8.650. We were so happy! Finally, they moved on to bars. During her warm-up, she could *not* get her feet onto the low bar in order to reach up to the high bar. I was truly sick to my stomach watching her because I was so sure she was going to fall. Luckily, when it counted, she hit it! Her score on bars was 7.9 for a total AA (all around) score of 32.950. She was bummed she did not score even one 9, but this was the first meet and I have a feeling she will improve next time.

Next weekend should prove relaxing as there is only a football game and gymnastics practice to deal with on Saturday!