School has begun

The girls were off to school EARLY this morning. I offered to walk them to the bus stop & got a defined NO! I stood in the driveway & watched until the bus got them, but caught heck about it when they got home. No problem, I will stay in my PJ's, make sure they get out the door, and go back to bed....good for me. I am sure I will drive them the 4 houses up if it is pouring rain.

This was our best summer ever with very few fights, and no one "I'm boared" form them. When asked what I would do when they are at school, I was told save money-no shopping all the time. Now this is true. The day so so very quiet with them gone and I do miss them.

There was excitment from Sara when she got home, as usual at full level, first telling me that one of the boys she liked last year is not in any of her classes, and she does not see him at all. I am thinking good, now you can focus on SCHOOL!

Ruth on the other hand is mello and just told it was OK. She had to have 3 schedule changes until they finally got it right and she has friends in all of her classes and found friends to eat lunch with, so she will be OK.

Ruth is trying contact lenses now, but has not managed to get them in before school. We will see if this happens

Preparing for High School

The clothes are bought, the shoes are selected, the hair is cut...sounds like school to me. The schedules are in hand, along with a map for poor Ruth, who actually has a good route through the school. Sara had every one of the 8 classes in different halls, some up & some down. They only have 5 minutes between classes, so she better hoof it.

This morning the girls walked their schedule so they have an idea where they go next, and Ruth found the stairs/bathroom/nurse, so she should be ready, yet still a little nervous thought she would never let on.

As for me.....I will still get up at 5:30 to shake them on their way. This year the school begins later so they have to be at the bus stop at 6:30-15 mins later....yea!

remodeling #3-Sara

Knowing Sara, she did not want to be left out so we redid her room too.  It is now all zebra print.  We found a papasan chair at a garae sale for 10.00 and I bought fleece to make a zebra cover for it.  New curtains, bedspread/ sheets, lamp shade.  I even repainted a sidetable white and added a few zebra stripes.  The sad part is that she put up all of her very cute collections that she had....

I will wait until it cools off to do more painting in her room.

remodeling #1-bathroom

Just before we left for Colorado, I got a contractor in to redo the girl's bathroom-told it would only take 3 days and they began July 5th.  Simply add tile, new sink faucets, replace light.  They did the demo really fast, then of course then you are stuck. 

The tile in in wrong, and on the wall they did not always use spacers so some slipped down.  They did not finish grouting the tile.  They used both the girl's good wash cloth and bath towel for rags....now trash.  Removed the mirror, cut off the water, took out the toilet, and left....never to be seen again....literally.  The contractor lives two houses down from me and I know he is home, yet not in communication w/ me.

I have finished it myself with the help of a plumber twice, one to put in the toilet and get the shower going, a second time to fix the leak in the new shower-but need them again since on of the new faucets is leaking.  A mirror company who cut down the mirror and put it back in. A very patient husband who rewired the new light fixture.  Two kids and myself who did the two coats of paint.  I have left to paint around the new light and add trim to the tub.

NEVER AGAIN will I hire a contractor.  I can call and get people in myself........

braces be gone-sara

Today Sara celebrated and got her braces off. She does have a beautiful smile, but then I always though so. Next is the perminate retainer that will be glued behind the lower teeth, and the invisaline retainer for the top. Let's see how long that lasts until she loses it.

remodeling #2-Ruth

Ruth asked if I could repaint her bedroom. I have not done anything really to her room since she was 3, so it was about time. Of course it included much more than paint. The room is now teal blue with black/white damasc accents. She now has a better reading lamp for her bed where she loves to curl up and read for house...sort of like a little nest. It is so grown up looking and beautiful, just like her. We also get new curtains, bed spread and sheets.

Colorado Vacation

We are home from our 1 1/2 weeks in the mountains of Colorado....where the highest temp was 78. We get home and it is 108! Where did we go wrong? Coming south instead of staying put for another,,,,,month or two.

We had a great time and about 48 family members arrived in shifts. I enjoyed the scenery and the peace and quiet. Also, visiting with relatives I have not seen some in 3 years. My, how the children have grown.

I did get to read two complete books, and we only had kitchen duty one day, thus I did not have to clean up after anyone for MANY days, of course everyone does pitch in to help the cooking team when possible.

The food was like eating at a 5-star restaurant every day. The altitude was a kicker and I never fully got into that. Loved seeing the wildlife wandering by, but not the howling cyotes at 2am. Finally they left us in peace.

The girls were on the go including Zip line, white water rafting, shopping, archery, shopping, go carting, shopping, some crazy trampoline thing w/ ropes around your waist, shopping, bumper cars, huge slide, and shopping.

We did do the drive over the mountains and back. Always breath taking.

One sad thing is, as you all know there have been some terrible fires up that way, and we saw two very close while we were there. Even got a too close up view of the helicopters carying the water.

We played kickball, volleyball, teatherball, badmidten. washers, and horse shoes. Also cleaned up at Bingo.
Sara made me 5 beautiful pairs of earrings and one matching necklace at the craft shop.
Basically, I would love to do this every year, as long as I am out of there before the cold weather.

New driver, sort of..

Today Sara finished her book portion of driver's ed....got a 98! Way to go girl. She will take her first behind the wheel on Tuesday, so I strongly suggest anyone in N TX get off the road that day.....SERIOUSLY!!!!!!

I will take her driving...God, please help me...on Sunday at the school parking lot. I do not know how my parents survived doing this w/ 4 of us. I think what scares me the most is that Sara had no sense of fear. It is only one speed....FULL SPEED AHEAD....and thinks later, after I am cleaning up what she broke....oh my goodness, I can not afford a new car now! Maybe I will wear a hard hat. At least the school parking lot is across from the hospital that we always visit with Sara.....I think they know us by first name now.

Updating bathroom

Jeff, and mostly I, have decided it is time to redo the girl's bathroom. Tired of tripping over the pealing floor. New tile onto floor, around the tub, new tub, new lights and fixtutes. So far, it is going must slower then promised, of course. The overall look is OK, but since I am a perfectionist, it is frustrating to me. Hope this is done soon.

Driver's Permit

Early this morning I took Sara to the DPS to get her driver's permit.  It went well and luckily we did have all the necessary paperwork.  Now she is inline for the behind the wheel portion....and is signed up in a week.  I guess I will hold my breath and take her to a very large and EMPTY parking lot and see how long until she crashes my van......PRAY!  I guess I would not be so nervous if she wasn't so excited.  Maybe a little fear would go a long way in this one.

BTW--Thanks mom and dad for having the love and patience to teach all 4 of us how to drive....this the gray hairs.

Cast away

Today we are back to the surgeon. The cast is gone! This time he used dissolvable stitches and did a wonderful job. The incision is much nicer. NEW PROBLEM---since removing the very long screws from the bones, this leaves holes that now have to heal and he said best not to do any falling for 3 months.....3 MONTHS! Trying out for select soccer this upcoming season is out again, and for a girl that lives for soccer........

Since the break until 3 months until she can get back into it will be 13 months! That is a very long time for a broken arm to heal. May be heading back to PT also...very limited motion in the wrist again.

Surgery again for Sara

Today we had Sara's second surgery on her arm, this time to take out the "hardware". No longer is she a bionic girl, just one with a long scar. The did take out the old scar during the surgery and did more of a plastic surgery sewing in the end. Now 12 days of ice, pain pills and elevation and we will see if it is better. Too bad she doesn't like snakes, it would be a good beginning for a tatoo.

School's out

The girls were very casual the last day of school. Ruth is now going into 9th and High School. Sara is going into 10th. They will be in the same school now and both on the bus....good bye to car pooling for now.

We have had another sucessful year. Both girls ended with 7 A's and 1 B. NOW, I have 2 high school girls, and at my tender young age hehehe. Sara will be a sophmore and Ruth a fish. It is unbelivable how fast this year went by.

my family

My oldest sister Kathy and husband Mike.  Next to them niece Jennifer, an optomatrist, and very tall husband Marc who is a Materials Engineer working on his masters.  Sitting is Ashley, who lives in LA and works on movies, and Megan who lives in Houston and has a masters in accounting.



 Next oldest sister Chris who teaches 2nd grade and husband Jimmy who does outside sales in metal buildings.  Next to Jimmy, and taller hehehe is Jason who has his masters in church music.  Then daughter Julie who just got her masters in social work this past weekend.
Of course my dad, Dave, and my mom Edie (short for Edith)

Finally my little sister Lisa, and her husband Rick.  They live by us in N. TX.  Lisa is a Paralegal and Rich is a contract manager of a large construction company.

more beautiful Ruth

Ruth National Honor Society again

This evening Ruth was inducted into Jr. National Honor Society for the second year....no suprise here says the proud parents!  In planing for this  we picked out her dress a few months ago.  It is form fitting and show that yes, this child had a fugure and we are not totally sure when that happened.

Sara took time with her, great big sister, and did Ruth's hair and makeup.  I understand the eyeliner was a big to-do and everytime Sara went at her with it, she would blink, and then giggles all around.....I stayed out of the way for the final reveal.....and it was amazing.

Check out our beauty!

Color me....black?

Sara is planning out the upcoming soccer banquet with school.  Next she wanted to color her hair with a deep auburn like a friend of hers did. RULE #1----only temporary color!!  So we get something that we think will work and hit it and it came out......black.  There is a little bit of color in the sun if you are looking for it, but her hair is too dark to do, at least as a temporary color and that is all I am going for now.

Ruth the Artist

Today Ruth went to an art competition through school.  She took a bus and it was an all day event.  She took a first place (1) ribbon for her drawning.  It is really good and will for a while hang in the school on display.  There were maybe 15 other kids from the class that took a 1.

Model is born

Man, I need to invest in a better camera!!!

Tonight Sara had her first modeling job. She did fantastic. This is the first outfit she had. It included her cowboy boots. She was a natural, much better than she did yesterday at practice. I think I will look into some modeling for her.

EASTER

We had a good Easter. We went to my parent's house for the extended family get together. This of course included wonderful food. I loved the fact that for the first time, my kids helped w/ the dishes and I did not have to do any....love them!

We had of course the traditional egg hunt for the "kids" which incluse 14-29, so we use the term sparingly. This year there was cash in all eggs, of course when Ruth and I helped my mom with the last 38, we included monopoly money, a rock, pine needles, key chains, some mulch, and any other strange thing we would think of.....we are heading to the "let's get silly with this and have a few laughs" phase of life.

We had some great games of washer, a game of croquet, lots of card games, and lots of love.