Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Just Shoot Me

The older she gets, the more Abby's been upping the pressure to get her ears pierced.  After some thought and coaxing her father to go along with the idea, we finally decided she was old enough to handle the responsibility of taking care of pierced ears.  Today was the day Abby took another baby step toward being a big girl.

We laid out the rules: getting your ears pierced means you're a big girl; it means not only taking care of them, but knowing that you don't brag about things you have that others do not.  In other words, stop making your sister feel like garbage because you have one up on her.  She has no idea how much this works in my favor!  She also has no idea that after Lauren saw how painful it is, that was enough to turn her off to the idea of getting holes in her own ears any time soon.  Another plus in my column.

Abby hopped up in the chair at our favorite hometown beauty salon for a quick hair cut and the moment she'd been waiting for.  She knew three things: she would get to pick out the earring she wanted, it would hurt, and there would be a gun involved.  She had only question, "Will it be loud?"


It was truly hard to do anything but smile.  As soon as Sue pulled out the box that encased the gun, I knew it was the same one she'd used decades earlier to pierce my ears.  I also knew my little miss sensitive would be in pain, and for that I was partially grateful.  If she knows how much it hurts, I hope she knows well enough to keep the rest of her body free of piercings and tats.  I can tell you so far, it's worked.


{Just Shoot Me}

{Lauren Pushes Her Buttons}

{A Closer Look at Her Piercings}

{Big Girls Celebrate with Dairy Queen}

There were tears.  Lots of tears.  But all-in-all she was brave.  She only sees two types of people now: those who have their ears pieced and those who don't.  She's so grateful to finally be part of the club.  And as much as I hate seeing her grow up so fast, I'm glad she's part of our club, too.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Bar Superstar

Christmas in Ohio has found its own unconventional tradition in our family.  Typically we open gifts the Sunday before we leave for Minnesota; usually packages sent by our family in Washington, and other misc. gifts that may be too big to cart back & forth.

However, this year the girls got one of their gifts (and might I add, the very best one!) a little earlier than the norm.  We stumbled upon a great deal on a gymnastics bar, and because keeping them out of the basement is nearly impossible it became an early, early gift.

Geoff was amazed when he saw what Abby can do now on the bars.  I can only imagine what having her own at home now will do to beef up her skill level.

Our bar superstar....


Thank you, Grandma & Papa, for the gym mats.  They make for a softer landing and a tumbling dream!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Flashback Friday

Tonight we treated ourselves to supper at Pizza Hut.  We've never been to Pizza Hut as a family of four, but the girls wanted to cash in on their Book It! coupons and I was grateful for a culinary vacation.

Consuming nearly half of the dining area was a birthday celebration for one lucky girl's sweet sixteen.  Of course the girls wanted to attend.  As we sat in our booth watching the party unfold around us, it brought back giggles & belly laughs as we recalled another birthday party crash from days gone by....

It was about two years ago.  Geoff took the girls on one of their Daddy Days Out for an afternoon of play at The Magic Castle.  A popular birthday destination for young ones, it's common to get mixed up with party-goes on weekend trips to the MC.  On this particular trip, Abby was feeling especially celebratory and doing as Abby does, she quickly made friends.  Having lost track of his oldest daughter, Geoff scanned the giant play land only to find her smack in the middle of a birthday party photo op.  The crowd of picture-takers had no problem with the stand-out snuggling up with her arm around her new BFF and, in fact, insisted it was fine that she be in the picture.

I'm sorry I don't have a copy of that photograph, although the story itself is probably just as good without it.  And yet I wonder.... somewhere, in some Indian family's collection of pictures is a birthday party picture of their daughter and all of her friends.  And Abby, the token white kid.  I can just imagine the look on her face.  I'm sure she had no idea.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Ten on Tuesday

1. Heros never make excuses.

2. Nothing.  Nowhere to go.  Nothing on the schedule.  Except me & my babes tonight.  I love it!

3. Just when it seemed to feel like the Thanksgiving fairy had passed us by, this just might be one of our best Turkey Days yet.  Tomorrow the girls & I will come home from school & bake our pumpkin pie, and on Thursday we'll work together to prepare a small, yet hopefully tasty turkey dinner.  Wait.  We're having chicken.  But that's another story.

4. I have a new love & appreciation for Iowa.  Great girls weekend in Le Claire with family!!!



5. Confession Alert!  When Geoff came back from his last trip to Florida disgusted, I felt an incredible sense of relief.  Finally he was seeing what I saw all that time.  I will honestly be happy if I never have to go back there again.

6. Lauren is busy practicing songs for her upcoming school concert.  Bath time is when she hits it hard.  From time to time we'll fill the room with a lovely duet.  Then she stops and asks me how I know that song, too.  Oh, Lauren.

7. How can it be time to decorate for Christmas again already?!  Almost time.  Three more days!  And in three more days I'll be much more tolerant of all of those Christmas carols, too.

8. I am finding it hard to contain my excitement over some of the gifts I'm giving this year.  It's awfully hard to keep my mouth closed.

9. A weekend of firsts.  It was the first time I'd driven nearly the entire route back to Minnesota without my girls.  It was the first time either of the lovelies had been ice skating; and Lauren has the bruised elbows to prove it.  And it was the first time the girls cleaned toilets & vacuumed with the full-sized vac.  Rumor has it they really got into the cleaning spirit.  Geoff, you're my hero.

10. It sounds like their Daddy Weekend was a blast.... fire on the deck, dinner out, ice skating birthday party, Polar Express movie night.  I'm thankful my girls have such a great daddy to make memories with.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Lauren Songafies

The unfortunate side affect of finding this catchy G-rated YouTube video is that our impressionable offspring now sing Can't Hug Every Cat.  From time-to-time we catch them recording it on their own digital camera.

Introducing Lauren's version of Can't Hug Every Cat rolled into a whole lotta random....



{The picture is unviewable.  The audio is priceless.}

If you're looking for addtional YouTube favorites by Lauren, check out Double Rainbow Song.


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Let Me Translate~À la Quatre

They're at it again.  The girls are working their way through the English language one mix-up at a time.

Abby

Melt Cup: Malt Cup
Errtificate: Certificate
Barber: Bobber
Prooverty: Puberty
America of a Mall: Mall of America
Right Outside: Right Side Out
K-Zeus: Jesus
Spit-a-Man: Spiderman
Robin Noodles: Ramen Noodles
Wing: Wig

Lauren
Burt's Weed Whacks: Burt's Bees Wax
Tip Stand: Kick Stand
Toot Toots: Beans
Bafoon: Perfume
Sparkly Eyes: Eye Shadow
Get a Piece of Fire: Light a Match
Twizzers: Tweezers
Squirt Stuff: Spray 'n Wash
Surprise Box: Prize Box (in kindergarten)
Soury: Celery
Wienies: Wheaties Cereal
Baroom: Maroon
Instruments: Ornaments
Vinepapper: Vampire
Baskwards: Backwards
Low-No Wayne: Lo Mein
Hop Suey: Chop Suey

Friday, November 4, 2011

Flashback Friday

My Lauren is never more comfortable than when her hands are behind her head.

I love my Tiny.

March 9, 2007

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{About Me}

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Fairborn, Ohio, United States
I'm a teacher by trade, writer at heart & mom in every sense of my being. I never considered writing as a profession, but after I got married and began moving around the country, I began sharing my adventures, misadventures & updates through a sort of e-mail newsletter. I found a true passion in unconventional story-telling that has followed me into motherhood.