It is Really Fun

My youngest daughter (blond girl - featured prominantly in the picture on the left) has a really neat group of friends. The core group is about 7 then of course each of them has individual friends that they drag kicking and screaming into the middle of things. These kids find a reason to celebrate on a regular basis. They are in band and choir and honors programs. They go to church together, they do musicals and recitals together and often they include the parents. Now I was raised that a mom should be a mom not a friend and that is pretty much how I set the tone with the other three. With blond girl that has just not been allowed consequently I have made some really really good friends along the way.

Anyway Blond girl and her group has decided that one of the things that they need to celebrate are birthdays, they are coming up on their sweet 16's and many have actually hit this mark, but each party is a celebration. Blond Girl's best friend commonly referred to as my 3rd daughter had a party last month and it was semi formal.. no jeans. It was great to see all these kids dressed to the 9's for a party. Dancing and goofing around, socializing and just looking great.. I hope they continue with this trend it teaches them so much. and face it today there is rarely an excuse to dress up and look good, I mean they wear jeans to church and the theatre, both places where I was taught to dress appropriately for.

The reason it is so great to see them dress up, besides the fact that they all just look great, is because it teaches them that they matter. That dressing nice can be just as fun as looking dowdy. I am so glad these kids are doing this and I hope they continue.

I Don't Know is at it Again

One would think as they age, I don't know and No One would grow up and leave the house... sadly they seem to be lingering in my household. The beasties are 21, 20, 18 and 15 now surely old enough for accountability.

Blond Girl got this really cute dress for a winter dance that was cancelled, so she placed it on the hanger and left it for another day. The dress itself only cost me 32.50 so it was a deal to say the least. The other day she noticed it was missing and she was a bit worried, she had a semi formal party to attend this weekend and she figured that the dress would be perfect. She tore the place apart finally finding it on a shelf ABOVE the closet and under some unused items, while still on it's hanger. Clearly someone had hidden it there. Now she wasn't worried cuz she found it but decided to go try it on. That is when the crises began.

The dress has one of those wonderful hidden side zippers, unfortunately the zipper had been opened from the bottom up and we were unable to fix it. Later that evening in a very nice and non judgemental manner I asked Word Girl and Pita Boy if they had touched it (Hair Boy has moved out) of course neither of them knew a darned thing. I know I didn't touch it and Blond Girl was in tears over it so we knew she didn't touch it either. Chalk it down to I Don't Know.. BUT Word Girl and Pita Boy are splitting the 30.00 cost of fixing the zipper since neither will cop to breaking it.

It does irk me though that the darned zipper is gonna cost me almost as much as the dress did originally and she has never worn it!!!

Word Girl is Going to Western!!

YAY!!! it is official.. well so she says but Word Girl is going to Western Illinois University..

GO LEATHERNECKS

Just a Few Pics of the Beasties

PITA Boy off to work... ok it is an old pic but I don't have any of him on the Zamboni

Blond Girl AKA, Tuba Girl is she sexy or what??

Homecoming for Blond Girl... are they Barbie and Ken or what??

and last but not least, Hair Boy and Word Girl... can we say attractive

A New Direction

Just taking a moment to stop in and say hey.. Life has been trudgin along full of potholes and teenage angst. Right now we are trying to figure out what college word girl is going to and whether or not pita boy is going to join the navy but it is Hair Boy who is offering me the most change.

This weekend, yes just four days away my baby (21 1/2 years old, 6'8") is moving to his own place. I will surely miss him. He is moving down state to go to school and get an apt with his friends. I am sure he will be checking in on me constantly because he is sure I can't breathe on my own and need constant surveillance but still, I will miss him.

I am still computerless so I am only on sporadically I am trying to be online once a week or so but if you look at the past few blogs you will see how that has worked out for me so far....

be well all.. enjoy those beasties in your life.. I mean if we didn't have them what would we have to write about?

A moment in Time

I didnt have the chance to get here last friday but I wanted to take the time to say Happy Birthday to Word Girl...

On Friday October 30, my gorgeous, insane, pain in the rear turned 18. I am ever so proud of her. Can you imagine what joy it is to be able to say that came from me... of course I admit I often say it in an extremely different tone of voice.

Word Girl is my complete and total do it yourself girl. At 3 she taught herself how to ride a bike, there I stood all read to hold the bike up so she could get her balance and wobble along but no.. "no mommy, I can do it myself" and sure enough she did. That was really the first time I heard those words from her but I promise not the last. She has made a career of doing it herself. I am so proud of the woman she is becoming (of course if she would just once let me have the last word life would be so much better....

anyway Happy Birthday precious girl

Senior Year

Word girl is going through her senior year. This is such an incredibly fun time filled with so many promises of things to come yet saying goodbye to what has always been. She is anxiously awaiting responses to her applications (ok, mailing them out then anxiously waiting). Currently she is hoping for UC San Diego or Hawaii Pacific. Me, I want, UC Santa Barbara or University or Oregon. The girl wants to study Marine Biology and she wants to escape the midwest so her choices stand to reason... (OK she wants to escape mom, I won't tell her that is how I ended up in the Midwest and yet mom is still there, leaning over my shoulder telling me how to breathe.. it is just life).

For each new adventure there is a bittersweet goodbye, I know she doesnt get it yet.. and since she has lived in a small town all of her life, everyone knows everyone else's business.. she isn't aware of the fact that sometimes you are alone, you actually WANT your family around. Of course if she attends Hawaii Pacific I can pretty much gaurantee monthly visits from some member of my family or other.. anyway, Friday night is Senior night for Marching band. It is when we get to stand up there and be acknowledged both the parent and the student. It is really the only time it happens. Most of the time the senior is acknowledged but not the parent so this is fun. After band night it will be senior night for swim team.. one more child to say goodbye to competitive swimming. This will be a tear jerker for me, it always is.. Of course Blond Girl will continue but she has always swam because well the rest of them did it and she looks great in a bathing suit.

Soon, there will be college ads and senior announcements, we already went through Homecoming, Prom is next.. what's a mom to do when all of her babies are suddenly all grown up.. Word Girl will be 18 this month... OGL.. world look out!!