Living on the Edge

My baby's almost 14!

Yesterday was the 8th grade graduation at Q's school.  She did awesome...lots of awards for being an awesome human being and a great student.  Just the kind of thing to make a parent happy!  Took pictures...but I'm too tired to download them right now (and I'm such a big dork that I would probably forget to put the digital card back in the camera...then not have one in the camera for CC's 6th grade graduation tomorrow!)...So I'm playing it safe and will post pictures this weekend!

I can't believe I'm going to have a daughter in high school and a daughter in junior high too!  How did they grow up so fast! (they are still shorter than me--just to know!)  Q finishes 8th grade today and tomorrow she turns 14! Yup...total teenager now.  CC is only 12...but she hit the teen years already...such the overachiever!

Q's big birthday request, beside getting her hair colored blonde (yes, I know, her hair already is blonde!) she wants a day of shopping with just me.  Yeah! what fun...Oh, I mean, I love shopping!  Did I sound like I meant it?  I love spending time with her, but shopping???  How did I get such a girly girl?  She didn't get that gene from me...that's for sure! LOL

On a side note...not sure daddy is going to survive teenage girls.  With two bathrooms and two hair dryers, he still barely got them out of the house and to school on time!!!  LOL!

Is It Summer Yet?

I need time to sleep, time to exercise, time to read a good book, time to fold laundry....but mostly time to keep up with cleaning up after a pre-teen, a teen, a husband who works nights and sleeps days, and a teacher who is trying to wrap up a school year!

So this is embarrassing...but you won't judge me will you?  I hate clutter in our home. Having a messy house isn't quite so bad...but pictures of my messy house,,,well, that's just nuts.

Did I say I hate clutter?  I can't get things done when I see cleaning that needs doing....ugh!  Drives me crazy.  I used to clean my dorm room before I could study for a college test.  Right now I keep looking across the living room at the laundry basket that has half of its contents folded.  It's so hard not to stop typing and go deal with it.

As if it isn't hard enough to keep up after myself and my hectic schedule...try keeping up after three others!  I came home to find this mess in my living room recently.  This is the result of emptying out a backpack and binder...she assured me she would pick it up...eventually!  Notice she is nowhere in the picture!

   

As a mom, I use special techniques to find my children.  I know exactly where my kids are at any moment.  I just follow the trail of socks!  Can't wait for summer, then it will just be flip flops!

 

Then there's the leftover mess after I make dinner.  We are working on a monetary bribe system with the girls.  Money makes the world go around you know...and the dishes clean too!

 

Then there is the mystery of dishes on the kitchen counter....Just to know...the dishwasher is EMPTY!  Yes, empty!! I love finding the pile of dishes on the counter...darn, maybe the door was stuck.  Or aliens took off with the sponges.  Or my children developed a sudden allergic reaction to dish soap!

 

Who knows what the reasoning....I just know if summer would finally arrive...all will be better!

Watching the Grass Grow...

Yes, literally!  We are watching our grass grow.  Huge sigh of relief.  We've had record rainfall SINCE we hydroseeded our lawn...it figures!  So we've been nervous about if it would grow or if the seed was washed away. 

 

Looks like it is surviving the rain!  Today was incredibly beautiful.  It was sunny with just those white fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by all day. Perfect for making the grass grow!

 

We went to the Post Falls Parade...the girls were in it with their cheer team. It was a perfect day for a parade.  The weather was beautiful after the torrential rain we had all week!

   

Practicing while we waited for it to start...

 

Q showing her dance moves :-)  and she has them!  She's got some swagger!

 

CC wearing the pink! Gee, I remember the day...just a few years ago, when I asked her to pull her clothes out of the closet that didn't fit anymore.  I came back later and found a huge pile of clothes...they were all pink!  Now she lives in this pink shirt! 

 

Both girls performing

 

Q wanted to keep this little cutie!  She has a way with animals and small children!  Maybe she will be a teacher an not a vet.  I saw her working with the little ones at the gym.  She was teaching them the cheer...man was she good!

 

CC basing...she would rather fly.  And Coach Jennifer has a pyramid in the works...so she is happy to base right now.

 

We have so many pretty girls we have up here in North Idaho!  Now we just have to keep the boys away!

This was only the start of our day.  After the parade we went to North Spokane to a birthday party at a roller rink.  Then back home to get food for our hungry chickens and ducks, DD put a window in their coop and swimming pool in the orchard while I worked in the vegetable garden.  We didn't eat dinner till at least 8:30!  Isn't there some saying about making hay when the sun's up...or something like that?  Today, I think we made a huge share of hay! 

It was an amazingly productive day, that by the end of it we are sunk into the couch exhausted! 

End of the Year Concert

CC had her one and only band concert this year.  I will refrain from any further comments regarding that.  I will only say that we are giving her our blessing to not waste her time in band during junior high---with the understanding that she will do it in high school!

So here are some shots I got of her during the very brief concert.

   

Another flute player in the house.  She sounded good.  They didn't play much.  It's just not the quality music program that they had in her last school.  Too bad, because they have a lot of students who are interested in participating...until they do...then they change their minds!

 

Let me tell you about the hair.  She spent a bunch of time straightening all her natural curl out of it, then she asked me to help her curl it!  I tried to explain that I didn't understand why....but then I gave up.  She's 12.  That's the only reason she needs!

 

It is always hard to get a good shot of my girls.  They are short and end up seated behind the largest girl in the band.  This time I am stuck sitting on the floor of the too small gym to get any pictures of her at all.  Apparently they didn't multiply the number of kids times two to figure on the seating.  There was standing room only.  Or in my case...sitting on a hard floor!

 

One positive thing was the perspective I had. No I didn't do a 'grammy' and cut her head off.  I took this photo for a reason...I had to chuckle....Her cell phone is sticking out of her back pocket.  Wonder if she was getting any texts during the concert.  Fortunately I didn't see her check it :-)

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

 

Yes...they are on the roof!  Why does every daddy project requires them to go on a roof!  And no...they do not feel bad giving me a hard time about it either!!

Make Mama Happy!

{Alternatively titled:  Remember, It’s my day honey}

Now I’m sure there are mama’s out there that love jewels and fancy dinners out or maybe a show.  But I’m actually pretty darn simple…some could say boring probably.  But here’s this Mama’s Mother’s Day shopping list:

• Don’t wake me up (and that means the dog too!) Let me sleep until I wake up.  No alarm clock.  No cold doggy nose.  No dog toenails pacing on the wood floor!  Granted I will probably be up before 9 a.m…but then that’s just how I roll baby!

• Ban on Laundry. No sorting, washing, drying, folding or putting away of any clothes on my day!

• No Teen ‘Tude Today. Tie, gag or duct tape them to a wall if need be, but I don’t want to feel the angst of 12 and 13 year old hormones today.

• Nobody asks me “what’s for dinner?”  I’m not cooking today…so surprise me…or we can fast…it’s better than that darn question!

• My car will not go anywhere that doesn’t include the word Garden in its name. I hate shopping.  Mall is a four letter word!  So don’t even go there!

• Queen of Nag. I’m passing the crown today.  I will not remind anyone to wear their retainer, unload a dishwasher, do their homework, feed a dog or give water to a duck or chicken! 

• No comments on the food I choose to eat. I will revert back to my pre-carnivore days without anyone making fun of my choice of food, even if it is humus, bran, beets or any other non cow food!

• Nobody makes fun of my camera usage! I will take pictures of my family, our pets, food, scenery…anything I so desire today with nobody ridiculing me!  You are all fair game!

That’s not too much to ask for is it?  I’m hoping to have a rocking day…and I hope you do too!  Have the Mama’s Day of your dreams this year!  Enjoy all your little idiosyncrasies!

On Being a Cheer Parent

We survived another weekend as cheer parents.  I have to say, hearing that term still makes me cringe.  Sitting on seats all day, sometimes it's bleachers--ouch-- and other times it's padded seats--yeah...but mostly it's a LOT of sitting. But watching those girls compete...well that is so impressive. 

As we sit on our behinds and get out of shape, those girls work their little behinds off!  Each competition we see flips and cartwheels, girls being thrown high into the air and sometimes landing hard on the ground. There are tears at times.  Tears of pain, tears of frustration and tears of happiness.  Sometimes all three at the same time.

We hold our breath, gasp, yell and cheer.  We applaud teams that try hard and succeed as well as those that try hard and fail.  We also dream of what we would like to do with the parent that chose to bring and use an air horn to cheer their child on...puh-lease people, be reasonable. 

Our girls make new friends and so do we.  We sit for hours with other parents from other teams, other cities, other states and sometimes other countries.  We compare notes on travel, expenses and our respective teams.  We point out our children and compliment theirs.  We hope they will do their best and are there to console if they don't.

Being a cheer parent is not exactly what I thought it would be.  It's just really like being a parent of a child doing any other sport!  It does have a huge benefit over soccer though, rather than standing in the snow, cold or rain in layers wrapped by blankets and covered with an umbrella, we sit in stuffy gyms surrounded by other warm bodies.

This weekend we didn't need to travel further than Spokane.  Local competitions are nice because we still have a weekend to enjoy at home.  Next weekend we only go to Coeur d'Alene...an even shorter trip!

In the next month we will be traveling to Orofino (never heard of that town until now) Idaho, Helena (never been there...but can't wait to go) Montana, and down to Portland to not only compete, but to visit family!  It will be nice when we are done with the travel...lots of it crammed into three months...but it's a great chance to get to know more of the Inland Northwest!

Here are some photos from today:

  

Q is the fourth one from the right with her hands on the flyers feet.

 

The team got third place.

 

Q is on the right side as a base for this flyer.  She didn't wear her glasses for the competition because they have a tendency to get knocked off.  It's not a sport for the timid!

 

The best thing are the friendships she is making!  Plus, she is wearing a bow in her hair...haven't gotten her to do that since she was about 3!

Diesel: Dog of Dignity

We had a little visitor the other day.  This is Diesel.  He is a little feller.  Behind the bat ears is a little dog with a big dog attitude!  He is just the right size for the girls.  They love the fact that they can pick him up and hold him in their lap.  It's awful hard to pick up an 80 pound dog!  Sorry Buddy and Lucy...you haven't been replaced yet...but step on our feet a few more times and we may have to have a heart to heart! LOL

  

Now he did bring his human friend along because he couldn't drive the car all by himself from the Bluff,  but I'm not sure that CC noticed.  For her it was all about the little lap dog!  Sorry LAB...she does like you too!  :-)

Look Who's Driving!

One of the scary things about living in Idaho...kids can get their learning permit for driving when they are only 14 1/2!!  Q is 13 1/2 and she can see over the dashboard.  So what does any loving daddy do to win his daughter's heart? 

 
TEACH HER TO DRIVE!

Yes, this is a little scary, but she can see over the dash and the pedals are adjustable in his truck.  All I have to say is--better him than me!  If I had to do it, she wouldn't drive until she was 21!  But then I would have to drive her to college every day.  Now that wouldn't work....

I haven't had time to do all the playing on my laptop that I used to...new year's resolution--though I don't make them--would be that I keep up with my blog posts.

We live further out on the edge now and so there are changes in our life that I would like to keep track of and since I don't have time to keep up with the scrapbooks or letter writing...this is the best way to document our lives.

I don't know about anyone else, but I feel like as I get older, the memories of my girls being little are fading. That's one of the reasons why I've been catching up on my scrapbooking. But in the meantime, new things are happening on a daily basis. it's hard to keep up with the girls and their busy lives. Hmm...what did DD and I do before we had kids? Did we have a life? Did we have hobbies? Did we talk to each other?

Well here is the picture of the day. My dog lover CC was feeling left out because Lucy was in Q's room and Buddy was in mine. So she called one of the dogs up onto her bed, but the other one quickly followed!

Not much room for CC to sleep when 180 pounds of dog are sitting on your twin bed!