School is in! and halfway done!

Wow. There are no words for my inadequate blogging. So...school started again obviously and they're already halfway through the year now.

We took some amazing summer 2017 vacations to Washington, D.C., NYC for the Statue of Liberty and then Yellowstone with a short stop at Mount Rushmore again on the way home.

Sophia has her learner's permit and she's turned 15 already and we're trying to find time to get her driving so she's ready for drivers' education and an actual license when she's 16. She's not ready at all. She's smart and fun and has a really great group of friends at school. She's a great flute player and looking forward to marching band next fall.

Alexis is finishing fourth grade, turned 10 in the fall and is way too smart. She's a master negotiator and has a great group of friends as well.

Let's pretend I'm going to update again soon.

The girls at Spook Cave in Oct. 2017

School is out!

The last day of school was yesterday - May 31st. No snow days this year, no late starts, no interruptions besides the normal days off (professional learning and clerical days). So the year ended before June, which is rare and awesome.

They are both wonderful girls - growing up so fast. Sophia has become a really great flute player, and she has a great small group of friends that care for each other so well. She's got her drivers' permit as well. Lexi has become a great softball player - playing for the CRPrairie LadyHawks again this year - on the 10U team. She's had some really great hits and you can see them on my facebook posts if we're friends. She's made great friends in school and is ready for 4th grade.

It's been a great and very fast year. Next up is a summer with some more softball, a couple camping vacations and then I guess we'll be back to school - I have a feeling it'll fly by.

Seriously the worst.

There should be an award for worst blogger. I would win. Seriously, the last post was October 2015. It is now January 2017. Wow. So..to continue..here's a short and sweet post (for the year, ha!).

• My girls are still the best. They are 14 and 9 now, and growing so big but still little, you know? The 14yo isn't yet interested in her drivers' permit, which is fine with me, but makes her dad a little crazy. The 9yo still loves minecraft and softball, the 14yo just performed (flute) in the NEIBA Honor Band in December which was really wonderful. We're looking forward to more camping again this year with them, before we probably lose the teenager to a job or omg-camping-with-parents-ugh attitude.
• The dogs are still insane. Both fluffy and cute, but complete idiots.
• Families are doing pretty well I think, holiday season was full and crazy but also fun and relaxing. The kids all had 11 days off in a row and we tried to fill them as best we could around work and other things.
• Softball kicks in for the 9yo next week, so we'll be busy with practices for the winter and games will start in the spring, hopefully we'll be able to camp those as well to make it easier to make it to games on time and be ready to play. She's a slow starter, so we need to be nearby and start early :)
• The 14yo has a band concert coming up as well as a Solo/Ensemble performance piece she's working on. She really does seem to love the flute and the better she gets at it the more annoyed she is by those that don't work harder at it or understand the basics at this level. Which is frustrating for her and both frustrating and entertaining for me.
• Our 20th anniversary was in May 2016, so we'll be coming up on year 21 before too long. It sounds like forever but doesn't feel really all that long.  Which I think is good, right?
• We also paid off the house this summer, which is super awesome. Not to have to worry about the mortgage payment is a huge relief. We can focus on other smaller debt (camper) and start to consider some home improvements (hardwood floors? new paint, baseboards? remodeled bathrooms...yes please.)

That's it for now I think. Maybe I'll post more as the kids are getting older and less reliant on me, but let's not pretend - we all know that most of the time i'll decide to watch TV vs write a blog post. 

My girls are the best

Seriously, these kids of mine are just fantastic. As they grow and get older and less baby-ish and more independent, they're just becoming awesome. I know, I know, your kids are great too. Whatever.

Conferences for the oldest were last week and she's just a great student. She really loves changing classes this year, having different teachers for different subjects, different students in each, so she's not stuck with the same....kids....every hour. She loves most of her classes and tolerates any others. The school grading system is still crap, but she's doing well enough I can overlook it mostly. Conferences for the youngest will be the third week of November and I expect the same sort of report from her.

Saturday we went out to a local RV place (that we've been talking to etc, this wasn't spur of the moment) and finally decided on and bought a travel trailer. We plan to camp as much as possible over the next two years or so. We ended up getting a Jayco White Hawk 28DSBH which has all the things we need (bunks, queen bed) and most of what we want (solid surface counters, outside tv mount, electric stabilizers, etc) and we're super excited to start camping in the spring. The girls are super excited too, partially because we'll stop dragging them to RV places, and partially because they're really looking forward to having their own spaces in this camper (vs camping with the grandparents).

So we were sitting around on Sunday with not much to do. Laundry was done, homework was done, no obligations. Bored really. So it was sunny, not windy, and the fall leaves are falling so we took advantage and headed out to a state park for some family pictures. The dogs were super nervous in the car - is this a vet visit noooo - but loved it once we got there, walking everywhere, leaves to sniff and they sacked out in the car on the way home. The girls were super cooperative and smiled pretty and we got some really great photos.

Worst Blogger Ever. aaaaaannndd Updates.

Seriously, I am the worst blogger ever.  I read a pretty good list of blogs regularly, multiple times per week (or when my twitter feed tells me someone has posted something new). I am and will forever be amazed by those of you that blog regularly along with full time jobs, multiple children and everything else. I feel like to even consider blogging regularly would require some sort of outside hired help...an assistant, a nanny, a chef, ghost blogger, something. So, I guess I just accept that I am terrible at this.

So...since last time...school has started back up again. Yay! The last couple years were a little rough for the youngest, she just wasn't prepared to be away from me for long days and she's not a fan of the unknown. This year, second grade, she's a pro. She rides the bus, has joined running club and has a nice set of friends with party invites on the regular. She's really grown into her second grade self and it's super fantastic. No one cries when they get on the bus. It's so awesome. I am still giving her one half of a children's dramamine in the morning to combat bus motion sickness, but I feel like she'll eventually grow out of that as well. She's just gotten back some testing scores and she's also/still doing really well academically, so that's also fantastic. She's still catching all the colds, but her little body is doing better at fighting them each time, so her immune system is helping and also thanks to children's nyquil (dries her up, so cold doesn't automatically mean vomit anymore).

The oldest is now in seventh grade.  This is the first year she's changing classes each period and managing dressing for gym. So far it's been really great. Each kid also 'checks out' a Chromebook for the school year, to do their homework etc (who are they kidding, all they do is watch Minecraft Youtube videos) and that's working pretty well. She takes her responsibility for it pretty seriously, keeps it charged, and tries not to forget it. Before school started, she mentioned that one of her friends had pointed out her hairy legs, so I made it a point to show her how to shave her legs, etc...and the other day I reached out and tested a leg. It was not smooth. She said 'Yeah, I got lazy. It's just a lot of work...so...' which I find to be super hilarious. Peer pressure got her to shave and now she just isn't going to worry about it as much. I love it. She's still doing really well in classes (as far as I know, who comes up with these grading systems) and still enjoys playing flute in the band (even though she complains always about lessons and practicing). She's joined Art Club and loves that as well.

I am really really enjoying being able to put each kid on her bus each morning, and get to work right away, without worries about an upset kid or what might come up during the day. They've both just grown so much, and it's really just wonderful. Yay for happy smart kids.

Awhile back we started talking about camping. The husband used to go camping all the time with his family as a kid, in popups and travel trailers. The in-laws now have a 2 bathroom RV which the girls love to camp in. They usually get a few local trips in during the summer, between the in-laws trips to other places.  The husband remembers it so fondly, we've decided we think it's something we should do over the next few years. Before the oldest gets too old to go (has to work, thinks we're uncool, etc) and try to get some travel in, and some monument/national park experience. So, in order to do that, we had to consider trading in the 2009 Chevy Colorado. Originally we traded a Nissan Titan for the Colorado, to save on gas, awhile back, but now we need a full size truck again if we're going to pull anything. So the plan was to get something used/older, that would work, while we paid off my car. So the husband went looking. He found a really super nice - NEW - Chevy Silverado High Country (with a towing package) at a local dealer, and the deal paid my car off, so we get a new truck that can pull anything, pay off my car and still only have the one vehicle payment (until we buy that camper of course).  Not quite the plan I counted on, but I think it's going to work out beautifully. So now...to find the perfect camper. Our plan is to go to a couple local RV shows over the winter and figure out exactly which models and floorplans we like and then make a buying decision towards the end of winter so we can hit the ground camping in the spring.  We want bunks for the girls, and at least a partially separated bedroom area for us, so we're considering travel trailers and fifth wheels with those options. It's been fun searching and we're looking forward to the in-person shows and finally picking one to buy. We'd like to go to Mt. Rushmore, Canada (to see sister in law), Disney (we have 3 free 2-day tickets) this year. So anyone with opinions on campers and/or campgrounds for us - feel free to email me or find me on twitter.

I wanted to do something crazy but not insane with my hair, and I've seen a lot of twitter ladies doing some undercoloring or highlighting with bright colors. So I opted for a vibrant purple, on the underneath half of my hair. I love it. I wish I could see it without using a mirror, and I sort of maybe wish i'd done a little more, or a streak on the top part, or something just a little more noticeable. Next time maybe. It's still cool and I love it.

This morning, I keep hearing this super annoying beep. I thought for sure there was a meter maid or something outside reading hte water or electic meter or something. Beep Beep. Beep.  Beep Beep. Beep. Over and over and over. Nope. It's our cordless phone. It's no longer able to sit correctly in its cradle for whatever reason, so it's connected to charge, then disconnected, then connected...then ahhhhhh stop. So my solution was to use a coaster and the wall to make it stop. I had to prop the phone up somehow so it could 1) charge and 2) STOP BEEPING. Why does it lose its ability to sit correctly in the cradle? I do not understand that.


Ok, that's it for me for now. Obviously for awhile probably since I'm so terrible at this. I shall continue to read ya'll and every few months, remember to do it myself.

Whatever. I can be crafty. Sorta. (DIY necklace holder)

The oldest kid (12) has amassed quite a collection of earrings and necklaces. She rarely changes her earrings and almost never wears the necklaces. Nevermind all that, what we need is a place to display them all that isn't in a wad of chains shoved into a jewelry box. I gifted her the jewelry box awhile back when she started having jewelry, and she's outgrown it. Obviously I have a standing jewelry armoire as well for all the jewelry I never wear. So we looked and googled and pinterested until we found a good solution.

So we started out with this thread rack from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I specifically went to the store vs. ordering online, because some of the reviews sounded like when shipped they fell apart. The store was running a sale when I was there, so I got this for less than $5.

http://www.joann.com/30-spool-thread-wood-rack-w-legs/9080607.html

 She decided she wanted it the teal color we used on her DIY bracelet holder, so I spray painted it in the garage...in 15 degree weather. Wasn't quite as terrible as it sounds, with the garage door closed and gloves, it didn't take long so I didn't freeze to death. And here is how it turned out. I obviously didn't do the best job with the spray but in theory, we can take the necklaces off and touch up the spots in the spring.

It turned out pretty great and since it's not really that heavy and it'll be holding necklaces and not...bowling balls, mounting it to the wall wasn't a big deal either. I'm a huge fan of the 3M Command Strips and I'm forever trying to figure out where else to use them. So I'm using the velcro type picture frame hangers for this project. Here is her dresser area before we hung this. The jewelry box on the left is where they all used to live, and you can see the DIY bracelet holder there as well. I recently bought her a jewelry tray at TJMaxx to hold her many earrings, so she'll pass that jewelry box to her little sister once she's fully cleaned it out.

The dresser BEFORE

She recently cleaned up the dresser top...like two days ago..so it's looking pretty nice. And now with the jewelry a bit more under control, maybe it can stay that way for longer.

The dresser AFTER

I need to clean up the shelf above her dresser also...I really never understood that kids are basically packrats. Never wanting to throw things away or donate or clean out. They NEED everything!  I'm mostly kidding, my girls don't LOVE getting rid of things, but they do enjoy the new clean space after they do.

loaded with necklaces

There are 60 posts on this thread rack, which hold a lot of necklaces. I could see adding a second one, and repositioning them so they look right in the space, or even adding a third if it became necessary. It was a pretty easy project once I acquired the rack. Maybe now she'll actually wear some of these necklaces, now that they're visible and easily selected.

School photos

Fall school picture days have come and gone. I thought for sure I blogged about it, but alas, I have not. The 6th grader had picture day the 2nd week of school, the 1st grader, the next week...not even into the groove of things and pictures are taken. They'll take spring pictures again in March or April of course, and i'll have to get a few of those also.

The oldest. Almost 12. New Glasses.

The youngest. Just turned 7. Shy with the photog.

Happy Birthday kid!

So the first grader turns seven today. SEVEN! We had a party for her and a few friends on Saturday at a local paint-your-own-pottery place. Her cousins (and sister) came and the three non-family friends we invited came too. It was pretty great. We haven't really thrown her a party since she turned one and it was time. I try not to go overboard with parties, and we haven't with her, but she's the second kid so she sort of was getting...shorted. The oldest had a party at one, six, seven or eight...and so she'll have another this year too probably. But the youngest...she came along when the oldest was nearly five, so..she just didn't get parties after that one year mark. So we thought she was due.

Painting her ladybug

We had seven painters, so we asked them to stick to the $6-$10 price range on the pottery they selected and they were all very accommodating, choosing a penguin, ladybug, cupcake box, bunny, duck and kitty. I thought for sure they'd never get done painting in time to get to presents and cake, but in reality they painted super fast and the party was essentially over after an hour (and we had an hour to go). So we passed out the goodie bags and the girls played with those items while we waited for parents.

Happy Birthday cake (with her cousin)

Party goers

She got some great gifts and had a great time with her friends. The cake was delicious in spite of my having to ask the bakery to change her name from Laxi to Lexi. It should be a rule in cake and engraving...allow the customer to PRINT the words they want.  And Sunday she and her sister put together the two Lego Friends sets she got, and we got out the Doh Vinci set and she's decorated a cute little vanity/storage piece.

All in all a great weekend. And then Sunday night her nose started getting stuffed up (and her sister's too) and she woke up feeling awful on her actual birthday. I drove her to school so she could sleep in a little...and she threw up in the car just before we got out. So home we came and she's been relaxing and watching TV and waiting patiently to open the rest of her presents from us tonight.

Happy Birthday kid!

Birthday loft

So my stepmom is a dumpster diver. It sounds weird, but she works (and used to live) in a college town so the students are always throwing away things that should not be thrown out. She brought home a perfectly good folding table - worked really well for the garage sale, as well as some sort of old-fashion-y small suitcase things for the girls to store their art supplies or whatever. Very cute stuff.  Her latest acquisition is a loft bed. A metal frame PBTeen loft bed. Whoever discarded it threw away all the bolts that held it together, but for $12.50 she and my dad assembled it in their garage. And they offered it to the 7yo. We weren't sure if she was old enough for it, I don't want her to fall off, and she has a tendancy to puke when she gets a cold, so how difficult would it be for her to get down, get to a toilet, get to a puke bucket in those instances...it doesn't happen as often as it used to...so...we went for it.  Her room is only 10x10 so a loft would really open up the space for her. Her older sister has a loft that her dad built for her which is equally heavy and a little more bulky. This one is also not quite as tall so she wouldn't be quite as close to the ceiling as her sis.

The loft came home two weeks ago and she LOVES it. Dad has build a nightstand shelf that sits over the top rail so she can store a book, water bottle, her clock and tissues and whatever else girls need high up in the air at night. Its super heavy duty and the gray finish goes fine with her purple room. All dumpster dives are allowed now, it sounds like an odd practice- but what a score!

loft pre-shelf

Thanks Grandma C!

We replaced her ceiling fan with a light fixture and bought her a clip on fan to keep her cool. We'll also buy her a wall mounted fan in the spring when it warms up again. She loves it.

Summer, School and a Smart Kid

So, summer is over. We've been on vacation, it's been a difficult summer. I don't really want to talk about it right now. Maybe when it's a distant memory and we've overcome some of the hurdles in our way right now..maybe then I'll talk about it. Anyway, we went on vacation to the Iowa State Fair and Adventureland...it was mostly fun. The first grader had a really great time.

We went to Adventureland first and the first grader rode two roller coasters pretty much all day. Until the adults with her could no longer stomach another lurching ride. She's just brave and grown up, in a flash.

Of course there's face painting at the fair, which I promised we could go straight to so they'd have paint all day long. They loved it.

We also discovered the oldest needed glasses. I took her to the eye doctor and while we were waiting she was looking at the letters on the mirror/screen and reading them oh so very wrong. I was surprised...and I guess I'm really glad that flute lessons showed us she needed glasses. The left lens is prescription, the right is not, but I imagine as she ages her bad left eye will bring down her good right eye. Heh. She looks great in them.

She couldn't stop grinning when she got the glasses.

It's been a long summer. It's been beautiful weather, but not really great for swimming, until today, when it's super super hot. Today 91F, tomorrow 72F...honestly I'm glad they're back in school and learning and scheduled and in a routine. Next summer will be better.

And this first grader of mine, is smart as a whip. Obviously all parents think that of their children, but I got confirmation today from her teacher. They've done reading assessments and she came home to say she read at a 2nd grade level, which I wasn't surprised to hear. She's been reading Junie B Jones   over the summer...but it turns out she's actually PASSED the 2nd grade assessment, so she's really closer to 3rd grade reading skills. So she'll be taken out of her class four times per week for 20 minutes with a special teacher that will challenge her in reading. I couldn't be more proud.

 

Face painting at the state fair. Elsa of course.

To be fair, the 11yo is also very smart and a really great reader, she just wasn't this far ahead at this age.

Summer catchup

Really, truly I am the worst blogger. I always believe summer will be fun and relaxed and slow. It is not. Summer is a mad rush to do as much fun things as possible, while still working and doing home improvements and anything else you can't fit in during the school year. I really think I would hate (and my children would) year round school, but sometimes it seems like it'd be a little more predictable for planning breaks and vacations.

So far this summer we've done nothing. We'll be taking vacation in August and then we'll likely visit the state fair and/or an amusement park. The oldest really wants to horseback ride again, so I need to look into that. We're expanding our deck, which is looking amazing and we're trying to get into the pool as often as possible - which has been difficult with the coolest July ever.

I'm subscribed to the HGTV Handmade channel on Youtube, which has given us a few cute ideas for storage and display items this summer. Here's the bracelet holder the oldest and I made, it was fun and cute and pretty easy. I also spray painted my iron table and chairs that were on the upper deck, but will now be a beautiful sea breeze blue/teal and moved to below the new deck. I'll get a picture of that when it's all done.

Two paper towel rolls, a dowel cut to length, platform

Don't Stop Believin'

We've just had a general music concert and a band concert for the oldest. She is not a fan of the singing class, but loves playing the flute.  Feel free to watch the other videos in the channel. I've done some catching up today...

Speaking of too grown up...again

Finally got back the Kindergartener's spring photos. I swear, it's some conspiracy between the photographers and my cute kids to force me to buy all the pictures. Fine. They win. She loves this shirt with it's tank top under and the pretty flowy top.

too grown up and beautiful

We got back Spring photos for the oldest today. She is so beautiful..and she looks so grown up. I'm a little afraid of our future with such a pretty smart girl.

  

We've been on spring break and such also, maybe i'll get around to posting about that someday.  It's just so busy with work, and both of them in school.

Abduction

I am fairly sure...let's say 80%...that my 6yo has been abducted and replaced by a completed different child. Starting in late September and up until last week, I was driving her to school. She had motion sickness and was throwing up on the bus, she even threw up in my car a couple times when I started driving her. This week, I kept her home sick on Monday - we were both sick really - so she could fight her cold just one more day. Tuesday it was super windy and cold, so the roads got a little slick. So there was a two hour delay for school. I suggested maybe she wanted to try the bus, since she slept in and had plenty of time to be ready. She agreed.

She has ridden the bus every day since.

EVERY DAY.

This morning, I took her to the stop (it's four houses down the street, which is awesome) and when we got there her neighbor friend came as well. The 6yo turns to me and says "you can go now".

See, clearly she's been replaced.

I have no words. I am both super excited that I don't have to drive her, super excited that she's growing and learning and comfortable with her friends, the bus (her Grandpa drives it), and school...and I'm also sad, just a teeny tiny bit..that she doesn't need me quite as much anymore.

Terrible Blogger

I am really terrible at this. Most of the time I feel like whatever I might have to say isn't worth saying out loud, or in writing, because no one cares about it but me. So then I talk myself into not writing anything and end up with a blog that hasn't been updated since November. Well. Sorry. How about a general catchup...

We smoked two turkeys for both sides of the family on Thanksgiving which was delicious and fun. I went out that night with my aunt-in-law and mother-in-law for some black friday..or brown thursday as I prefer to call it..shopping. I bought a couple small gifts but didn't find much and fighting the people was not worth it. I did find the perfect comforter set for my bed though, on sale, at JCPenney. I love it. It's the Galaxy 10-pc Comforter Set and I did NOT pay that price for it. It looks fantastic on my bed because the walls are the cream color and my curtains are the brown..and green is my favorite color, so it's perfect. I almost didn't buy it, but my cohorts convinced me I could always return it if it didn't work vs not buying it and it going out of stock or something. So they were right. I love it.

Christmas was crazy. We planned to smoke about 16 pounds of pork shoulder for a large husband-side dinner/birthday/Christmas but the weather cancelled those plans. So we still smoked some pork, the gathering was just smaller. Still delicious. The husband's sister and her husband and toddler came up from GA to visit and it was really great. To see them and see how big she's getting. I got a Hoodie Footie from the husband and some really nice silver hoop earrings. The girls got me more socks (I love socks for some reason) and bath&body soaps. The girls got what they've always wanted, Deluxe Webkinz accounts and stuffed Boo animals, among other things. It was a great week.

New Years was uneventful, the kids spent the night with the grandparents, and we played Final Fantasy XIV most of the night. On New Years day we headed over to the in-laws to watch a bowl game (Go Hawkeyes! they lost.) and do some puzzles. I love doing puzzles, I just never make the time to do it.

School break started a day early due to snow..and was extended by two days due to super super super freezing temperatures. It was -40F here at some point with the windchill, -27 without...it was a little crazy. So the kids stayed home, the rest of us worked and they finally went back to school last Wednesday.

We tried a new restaurant with some friends recently - saturday night - which was really great fun. However, I woke up at 230am on Sunday with what I think was food poisoning. I don't know whether to blame the pork belly from the restaurant or the frozen yogurt from the dessert place. Either way, I'll be avoiding both for awhile. After three days of queasyness - which feels disturbingly like morning sickness - today my stomach seems much better. So Monday I stayed home sick, and I kept the 6yo home as well because she's working on a cough/cold. Tuesday it was super super windy here, which was freezing some roadways, so school was delayed by 2 hours. So the 6yo agreed to ride the bus, since she had plenty of time to get ready and read and play beforehand. So loved it and Grandpa loved getting her hug when she got off. So this morning, she wanted to ride the bus again...and she did. So it's possible (shhh don't jinx it) she might be fully ok with school now. I'll still drive her anytime she feels like sleeping in a little, but it was really great to see her ready and happy to ride the bus with her friends. Now if she could just stop catching colds from all of them.

ELEVEN !

That's right. I now am in possession of an ELEVEN year old girl. She's smart and tall and beautiful. She has loads of friends and she's learning the flute and she's started caring about what she wears and what matches and her hair. She still hates bath/shower night and going to bed for school, but she also hates waking up early. But she loves the bus rides and her friends and fifth grade. She's pretty fantastic.

This happened.

Halloween

Batgirl

 

Happy Halloween everyone. I'm grateful that it's over. Halloween should be moved so that it's ALWAYS on a Friday or weekend. Week night trick or treating is just exhausting. The 6yo went as Batgirl and had the best time. She kept seeing kids that ride her bus, which was blowing her mind. Apparently kindergarteners do not understand WHY they're on the same bus. It was hilarious. The friend in the picture is also a kindergartener and they ran into another friend which blew both of their minds. It was hilarious to watch. And then the 6yo started trying to make play dates. "You wanna come to my house sometime?"

friends on a candy hunt

The soon to be 11 yo (thursday the 7th) wanted to trick or treat with her friends. I think I was misled on the plan, but it worked out ok. She went with her friends, and her pumpkin was overflowing with candy. She said it was the best time ever.

11yo and friend on the hunt

It was around 45 degrees so we've had worse Halloween nights, but it stopped raining about an hour or so before we went out so that worked out pretty well. The kids are so excited that they don't get cold, so the 6yo had gloves on but kept refusing her coat. The 11yo went with gloves but at the end she was wearing her jacket also. I was wearing my big winter coat with gloves and I was still freezing. It was a pretty good night, and they were pleased to miss bath night and go to school again with pink hair. Of course, the 6yo's cold got the better of her this morning and she's had trouble from both ends, so I kept her home from school. I still have every confidence she'll grow out of this eventually. For now, she's bored on the couch.

And now, more halloween cuteness.

Growing so fast

We had church directory photos taken a few weeks ago. I intended to buy nothing...and bought everything. It's a racket for sure, but the photos were good and we hadn't had any family pictures in awhile. The girls are growing too fast..they should stop that.

We also got photos of them individually which are so good. The 6yo is always suspicious and the 11yo is always posing. It's a funny and adorable combination.

The 6yo is also doing much better with Kindergarten. I've been driving her to school for a little over a week now so she's getting a little more rest and she's avoiding the carsickness of the bus. She's fine on the way home because it's a shorter ride. She's the 2nd stop, so in the morning she has to ride an extra 30 minutes after she gets on, but on the way home, she's still the 2nd stop so she's off pretty early on.

Also, a word of warning. I've been giving her children's claritin while she's had a cold, to keep the snot that ends up in her stomach overnight to a minimum. So I give it to her at bedtime, it keeps her from puking first thing in the morning. After a few days,t he claritin kicks into her system and she...was...active. Let's say that..Active. So I put her to bed on Sunday night at 8pm because they take a little bit to fall asleep and they have to get up at 645/730 to catch the bus/get to school on time. at 825 we hear thumping upstairs...what the...she's standing in my room.

Me: "What are you doing? "
6yo: "I'm not tired."
Me: "Ok, but what are you doing in my room?"
6yo: "Staying up."

She'd also gone into her sister's room and climbed up her loft bed ladder, shaking the bed a bit, as it does...and freaked her out as she tried to fall alseep. So...no more claritin for a bit. The cold has mostly subsided so she can fight the rest. I'll not give it to her so many days in a row next time, giving it time to build in her system, hops her up.  The next morning she said she had been under my bed...I cannot even fathom why. She was hopped up :)

Birthday girl.

The five year old turned six a couple weeks ago. I know that I "should" have planned and thrown her a party with her friends, but it's just so much work. I'd rather wait until she's got a good group of friends and just invite them. Next year. Maybe. We had family come over of course, and everyone brought gifts which is really all she wants anyway.

Six

She got clip on puppy earrings, lip gloss and nail polish, a new Lite Brix set, a new webkinz pegasus and some things I can't remember. She came with me to pick out a cake and get some balloons and I think she had a great day.

Hello Kitty lip gloss and purse, puppy clip on earrings

She still doesn't want to go to school. She still throws up before she gets on the bus nearly every morning. So this morning I drove her myself. She still threw up before we left, but at least the bouncy bus didn't make her throw up again. She'll ride home on the bus like normal (she never gets sick on the way home) so she'll still get to see grandpa (he drives it). And maybe someday she'll get used to this whole going-to-school-without-mom thing. I'll drive her as long as she needs me to.