Yawn!

Hello everyone! Isn't it absolutely beautiful out this evening? I love days like this. It was a bit too warm for my taste earlier but it is perfect right now!
I can't believe that I only have 7 more days of school left. Em has 10. As much as I love where I work I am SO ready for a break (thus the YAWN as my blog title.) :)
I've been debating whether to ask Em's ear doctor if he will put another set of tubes in her ears. I think this would make it set number 7. I know she's almost 12 but she has had 4 or 5 infections since something like September and she has another one. This time it is in both ears. She can't seem to get a break! Of course this means absolutely no swimming at all for the summer or for that matter maybe forever. She is deaf in her left ear and we don't want to take the chance of her going deaf in her right one as well which could happen if she continues to battle these infections.
On a lighter note, she is growing like a weed! I had to buy her a new pair of ballet shoes and a new pair of jazz shoes so her toes wouldn't be squashed for her dance recital on June 5th and 6th. I think she is going to be all legs. :)
Not much happening to blog about tonight so I will say adios for now. Did I spell that correctly Jessie?

The 3rd times a charm? Not so much. :)

As many of you know I have a son and 3 daughters. You'd think I'd be better at shopping than I am by now. Today the girls and I went bra shopping. Obviously I didn't have to help the older 2. It's been quite a few years since I've done the whole "first time having an actual bra" thing for one of my girls. A LOT has changed in 7 1/2 years. Not only are there bras in every color and design you can imagine, but the bra makers have decided to try and make the tween population into women way too soon. Some of the bras we looked at were seriously sleazy. I kid you not. Why on earth does an 11 year old (OK, I know she is almost 12) need under-wires, padding, or push up features in a bra? I think we had to go through 50 different bras before we found a couple that were actually kind of made for a preteen. Maybe we just went to the wrong store. Who knows? Thank goodness we were successful in our quest.
Next problem: Finding a pair or two of jean shorts that has an actual waist and isn't made for a girl who has no shape. Emma is small. That's a given. BUT, she does actually have a smaller waist than hips so she is shaped like a girl should be and not like a pole. The solution would seem to be to buy her the jean shorts that have adjustable waists. Not so fast. The size 10/12's fit her in length but even pulling the sides in 5 slots on each side doesn't do the trick. It just makes her look like a puffy butt. So, we have to find a store that sells slims with adjustable waists. Even then they are made for a girl who has no waist. At least we only have to pull them in a notch or two and she doesn't look puffy. So far I have only found 2 stores that sell slim sizes in jean shorts. They are Kohl's and Old Navy. Sometimes I can't even find them there. Hopefully one of these days the creators of jeans and shorts will realize that women and preteen girls that are actually shaped like most women and preteens are will decide to one again have jeans that fit us. We have waists!! I find it very hard to find jeans for myself too. So do my other girls. We have smaller waists and bigger hips. YAY FOR US!!! :)

What a busy week!

Em has had quite a busy week! Actually we have BOTH had quite a busy week. Em normally has ballet for 2 hours on Monday nights, piano on Tuesday's, modern/jazz on Weds. afternoons, then religious ed Wed. evenings. This week she added another piano practice on Wed. before she went to modern/jazz class, and a fun Wii session with her Aunt Janet on Thursday night. Between all of her scheduled things she was constantly practicing for either her try-out for the variety show that her school is putting on or her piano pieces that she has to perform next Sunday for a recital. Oh! And don't forget the homework that she has made sure to get done and turned in ever since she has decided that she is going to either Princeton or Yale someday. :) Yesterday after school and into the evening she spent time with the friend that I had gotten upset with for ditching her the day before. I know, I know. It was silly of me to get upset especially since Emma really didn't. She loves her friends. That's just who she is. Today when she finally decided to grace me with her presence she decided that she'd start the day out with wanting chocolate and ice cream for breakfast (which she did NOT get--she settled for cereal and o.j.) and then cleaned her room a bit. Not sure why she decided to clean but I am NOT complaining about that. Back downstairs to practice for her piano recital then trying to sort out puzzle pieces from several different puzzles that somehow got mixed together. I am really glad that she had her day planned out because I was still a bit under the weather. Shortly after noon she decided it was a day to go fishing and then to Hartman Reserve to walk the trails. Her dad could barely keep up with her on the trails. She likes to hike quite quickly. After they got home she watched an episode or two of MacGyver then took her dad to see the movie, "Robin Hood", at College Square Theatres. That is where she is at right now. I'm really not sure why I decided to blog about her day. I think she just intrigues me. She likes to do so many different things and can keep going and going and going all day. I think she'd go all night too if I'd let her. :) I do believe she'd outlast the Energizer Bunny!
Not that this has anything to do with this blog subject but I was just thinking about her friends and how much I like them: Ariella, Charly, Alana, the Ethan's, Dallas, Hannah. There are more but their names escape me at the moment. She even calls herself Alleira which is the backwards spelling for Ariella. I wish she could spend more time with them but with her busy schedule it's kind of hard. Thank goodness summer is coming so she can!

Some Days Are Just Like That

Today was a different kind of day. It started off with the typical kind of crazy morning before I dropped Em off at school. She was very excited about getting to have a friend who had never been to our house before over for a bit after school. She had set the whole thing up earlier in the week so it was a done deal and not a last minute thing. I am not a last minute thing kind of person. Em will attest to that. I was waiting in my usual place for Em to come out of school when I noticed her walking to the car alone. When she got to the car she told me that her friend decided to spend time with a different friend that afternoon. She looked so sad. You have to understand, Em doesn't have friends over very often so this was a big deal for her. I guess if they hadn't made plans earlier in the week it wouldn't have made me upset. Em being who she is told her she understood. My guess is that this friend's mom had no idea that her daughter was with this other girl and not Em. Or maybe she did know. The point is that it was just an outright mean thing to do. If I ever found out that Em pulled something like that she'd be in SO much trouble. We had fun anyway. We met Laura and Allison at Cup of Joe and Allison's boyfriend showed up too which made Em's day. After that she spent some time with her Aunt Janet playing Wii Sports and other Wii games. She had a great time. :) Thanks Aunt Janet. We love you!
To be continued...

Princeton here I come!

Em and I were talking this morning while she was getting ready for school. She wanted to know if UNI was a good school. I told her it was very good especially if you wanted to be a teacher or wanted to major in actuarial sciences like her sister is doing. I then told her that Allison chose it over Princeton even though Princeton called wanting her to come there. She was flabbergasted. She couldn't believe that Allison chose UNI over Princeton. After all, Princeton is kind of like Yale! (Her words.) WOW! Now Em wants to go to either Princeton or Yale when she graduates from high school in 2016. I told her that if she really wants to go to one of those schools then she needs to turn in all of her homework from now on and not keep it in her folder like she tends to do. I also told her she needs to buckle down and pay attention in school at ALL times not just when it interests her AND she has to strive to get A's in all of her classes. She's decided that from now on she can do all of the above. LOL. It's not that I doubt that she can do these things but her attention span at times is a bit sketchy. I applaud her for having the ambition to want to go to an Ivy league school. I will do what I can to help her achieve her goal but ultimately it is up to her to make it happen. I will be happy with whatever she chooses to do with her life as long as it is what she truly wants to do AND it makes her happy. I didn't find my true calling until I was 43 but I did find it! :)

Hair predicament...should I or shouldn't I? Emma and her sisters.

I really get a kick out of my girls. Every Thursday at about 4:30 we go to Cup of Joe. That's our thing. Sometimes our friend Emi comes along too. I've come to the conclusion that I have the funniest girls in the entire universe. Today the discussion was on whether Allison should shave her head. Laura's idea of course. Allison's hair is past her waist. It is very thick and wavy and also very beautiful. She has never dyed it nor does she ever intend on dying it. It is an interesting mix of different blond colors and turns nearly white-blond when she is in the sun a lot. My vote is a big, fat NO!!! I am sure she'd look beautiful but NO WAY! Laura shaved her head over 3 years ago and she did look beautiful. I kid you not. She is one of those people that has a perfectly shaped head for baldness. My dad even thought she looked pretty. Laura also LOVES make-up and experiments with it a lot. Allison used to think make-up was the devil but will wear it every now and then. Laura is "artsy fartsy" in Allison words. Allison isn't that way. She is left brained while Laura is right brained. Emma is somewhere in between. Of course Em voted NO to Allison shaving her head but then she decided that maybe she herself should do it. That, of course, is another NO! Could any of you imagine Emma bald? With her caterpillar eye lashes she would probably look pretty darn cute but it will NOT happen. Oh the joys of having 3 very different but oh so fun-loving daughters! Daniel, my son, has his work cut out for him being the big brother to these 3. As far as I'm concerned, he is the best big brother and son anyone could ever wish for. :)

Just Wow

Drama, drama, drama. Why do people try to compete? My kid is smarter than your kid. My kid is popular and I am SO glad that she is! My kid is better at...well, you get the picture. Does it ever bother anyone else when some parents seem to think that their kids are perfect? Mine are far from perfect. I think that is what makes them the unique people that they are. I enjoy their quirky qualities and their different views on life. So Em has some special needs that she struggles with. You all know that. Yes, she struggles to keep her grades up in some classes but she is also gifted in a few areas. She's a dancer, an actor, a musician, and most importantly, she is a dreamer. She considers her ADHD as a gift that happens to be a part of her. It doesn't define who she is and neither does her tourette's or her hearing loss. Everyone has their struggles in life. We all break down from time to time. Em's "problems" may seem trivial to some of you but they aren't trivial to us. Yes, meds. DO help some of her ADHD symptoms but they make her tics worse. And nothing will ever bring back her hearing. She can't even go swimming for fear she'll get another ear infection in her good ear and need yet another set of tubes. She's had 6 sets already. She can't take the swimming unit at Holmes next year because if she does get an ear infection it could damage her good ear leading to more hearing loss in that ear. Em never lets any of this stuff bother her. She is stronger than her mom in this aspect. I worry about all of it. Maybe someday I can think of her disabilities as a gift too! I love you Em!

Crazy Day!

I've come to the realization that Monday's are going to be crazy! You would think I'd have come to this realization years ago. Emma is always hard to get up in the mornings. That is normal for her. If she has to do something extra like take a shower then I just try to get her up 20 minutes earlier than usual. This morning she was the chatterbox queen! I think she started talking the minute she got out of bed and talked, sang, and danced her way through the entire process of getting dressed, washing her hair, eating breakfast, and brushing her teeth. Man oh man! I love to listen to her chatter most of the time but when we are trying to get ready and out the door on time I literally have to tell her to STOP for a few minutes so she can concentrate on getting things done! I don't know about you but I can't figure out how to sing and brush my teeth at the same time. Em can do it! I had to laugh as she was getting out of the car as I dropped her off at school and she still hadn't stopped chatting long enough to take a breath! I did manage to get a, "Bye! I love you" from her as she exited the vehicle and before she continued on about this, that, and the other thing. :) When I picked her up after school she continued on as if she hadn't stopped talking all day which made me smile. It pretty much continued on at Cup of Joe and at Walgreen's. I wonder if she's talking her way through dance class??? :)