Katie has been sharing some of the things that happened at church camp last week…it’s interesting what a 9 year old finds interesting.
First off, she didn’t find “true love”. Her friend LeAnn apparently has, however. Katie went with two of her girlfriends and they have the typical “threesome” issues…one always seems to be left out. It’s usually Katie, because she isn’t as old as Trisha and LeAnn. They’re 11, she’s 9. LeAnn found a boy that she liked and Katie says they were practically “attached at the hips”…she was disgusted. (thankfully) I asked her if there were any boys that she had liked and she said “no!” with a scowl on her face. THEN I asked her if there were any boys that like her, she said, “Well..there was this ONE…” (uh-oh mom alert)”but he was goofy-looking!” (can mom say PHEW!?!) It seems he had long blond hair and had to keep hiking his shorts up – either he was really skinny or he was en vogue, I don’t know which. But she DID seem to know an awful lot about him not to have liked him….(hmmm, a mom says).
Secondly, she is a superb swimmer. She won first place in swimming and holding her breath. She is like a fish when she gets in the water – I have no idea how or why, since we don’t swim all that much. I used to love swimming as a kid – in the days before everyone had a pool at their home and you had to pay to go to the public swimming pool. I think it cost us 75 cents each. But she has a couple of friends who have pools and whenever she visits them, she swims. Our ladies ministry at church recently had a swim party and she was the HIT. OF. THE. PARTY. I’m thinking maybe I need to get her involved with a swimming team or at least let her take swimming lessons….I dunno. Any ideas?
And finally, she says she had a great time…I’m sure I’ll hear more over the next few days. I did mention that she comes back with some really strange behavior. Last year, it was something to do with a handclap. This year, she has learned to trill her tongue against her top lip and make the LOUDEST sound I’ve ever heard from a 9 year old’s mouth. And she wants to do it at the most inconvenient times, too. Like in the car (can we say excellent acoustics?) or at the kid’s naptimes? Some things never change…..
Touch Up Artists, Unite!
Whoa…I came across this and had to share. I knew many of the photos you see on covers are touched up nowadays, but I had no idea it was to this extreme. Check out the before and afters…
Retouch
It’s no wonder more and more people are addicted to porn…if we can take a young girl and make her look like a big breasted, blonde-haired, blue eyed star, then why would any man want the average girl next door anymore?
Calling All Homeschoolers
If you haven’t already done this, you really ought to do it. I have been getting our school year lined out and discovered the Vark Questionnaire. It is an analysis that tells you what kind of learner you are. You can also download a printable version for your child and find out what kind of learner they are – I think it’s an extremely valuable tool for any homeschooling parent. I have always known Katie is a kinesthetic learner, but did not know what I was.
Here is my assessment:
The VARK Questionnaire Results
Your scores were:
Visual: 6
Aural: 0
Read/Write: 8
Kinesthetic: 1
We are like night and day! lol No wonder some days I want to pull my hair out when teaching her!
GO here to take the test: click here
Good luck to you!
Only A Mother Would Understand…
After church yesterday afternoon, I drove to my friend Angie’s house and dropped Katie off so she could spend a week with LeAnn at church camp in Arkansas.
On the drive back, while my two toddlers were napping, I had the unusual opportunity to get lost in thought and do some planning for the week ahead. Not only am I planning on getting all of Katie’s school year mapped out, but I am also going to have my youngest (20 months) potty trained by the time Katie comes back.
She’s been showing signs of readiness for the last 2 months to be honest. I just didn’t want to admit that my “baby” was growing up. Isn’t that stupid?!?! I have the chance to save $50 a month in diaper fees and I’m not just jumping at the opportunity?!?! I know, I know…it’s dumb. At least that’s the conclusion I’ve come to. I could take that $50 and invest it in something that’s going to return more than a stinky garbage pail and a rash on my daughter’s behind.
So last night I was sitting on the couch with her, reading a book to her and I felt that “mommy instinct” kick in. She was very, very still and very very intent. That meant one thing. She was about to do a “poo poo”….I swept her up off the couch and without much fanfare asked her if she needed to potty…and she said, “uh-huh”…so off we went. She sat and sat and sat…she resisted at first, because it’s probably not a comfortable feeling your first time going and having all that air under you when you’re not used to it. Her little hands kept gripping the sides of the potty handles that sit on top of the toilet seat and she kept looking at me like, “What are you DOING to me?” I smiled, she relaxed and out it came.
So there ya have it. Her first #2 on the potty. Woo hoo! Of course, we made a big deal…and we couldn’t flush it till daddy got home an hour later so he could see and make a big deal out of it all over. We celebrated that first poop for and hour and 30 minutes!
Today, she’s wearing her “big girl panties”…we’re going to the potty every 30 minutes so we don’t have any accidents (who am I trying to fool? lol) And yes, I have the carpet and stain remover ready once again…the febreze is on standby and ready to be used at any moment, and we’ve got clorox wipes in the bathroom again for all the times we “wait just a wee bit too long”.
It’s something that only another mom could understand…for the next week, I’ll be on the pee and poop cheerleader brigade.
Garage Sale Blues
Well, the day has come. The one thing I said I’d never do again. I’m having a garage sale tomorrow.
Is there anything worse than having a garage sale?
I don’t think so. Really, I don’t. Just the THOUGHT of haggling over stuff I have bought and KNOW the value of makes me cringe. I’m the type that will usually put a price on the item thats what I think is “really fair” and it just irks the crud out of me when someone wants to talk me down. Okay, the store price tag says $40, I have a sticker that says $5 and you want it for $3? Get out of here! I don’t need your money! :o) Okay…I’m not quite that bad, but I really, really, really hate it.
On the other hand, we really, really, really could use the money! (hence the sole reason of having a garage sale…you want to DO something that requires money you DON’T have)
So, off I go to set up for those early Friday morning risers (the paper says 8am, but I’m not stupid – those crazies start showing up as soon as they see you pulling stuff outside!). Wish me luck!
Happiest of Thursdays to you, mates!
If He Were a Frog, I’d Have Kissed Him!
So yesterday, our air conditioner went out.
Yep, kablooey. Out. No more cool air flowing through the ducts in our house.
Did I mention it’s hot here in Texas right now? Like, 110 in the shade hot? The heat index IN THE SHADE is 110. Not cool. H. O. T. As in Hades hot. Our inside house temp rose to a nice balmy 95 degrees. Have you ever tried to get two toddlers to take a nap in that kind of heat? Hot, sticky, icky, sweaty, nasty heat? Here in Texas, we are SOOOOO fortunate to be able to lay claim to that whole thing about, “Yeah….it’s not the heat that kills ya, it’s the HUMIDITY” At times the air feels so thick you could slice it with a knife.
So I call our A/C guy. He’s at work (he owns an a/c company on the side) and says for me to call him back after 3 p.m. It’s now 11 am and the house is already hot. Sigh. Okay, I’ll call you back….the hours slow to a C-R-A-W-L. Three kids, hot house, nothing else to do but fill up on popsicles!
After consuming an entire box of popsicles over the course of 7 hours (he didn’t get here until 6:oo p.m.), the air was fixed! How long does it take to get your house from 95 degrees to 78?(which is where I leave our thermostat in the summer) It took about 5 hours for the poor a/c to get it cooled off to just 80 degrees. See, we have vaulted ceilings in our house…that’s not good.
All’s well that ends well, though. He only charged us $50, he got it fixed fast, and I was able to get out of bed this morning without feeling like I had just gone swimming.
I’m telling you, I could have kissed him.
Yep, kablooey. Out. No more cool air flowing through the ducts in our house.
Did I mention it’s hot here in Texas right now? Like, 110 in the shade hot? The heat index IN THE SHADE is 110. Not cool. H. O. T. As in Hades hot. Our inside house temp rose to a nice balmy 95 degrees. Have you ever tried to get two toddlers to take a nap in that kind of heat? Hot, sticky, icky, sweaty, nasty heat? Here in Texas, we are SOOOOO fortunate to be able to lay claim to that whole thing about, “Yeah….it’s not the heat that kills ya, it’s the HUMIDITY” At times the air feels so thick you could slice it with a knife.
So I call our A/C guy. He’s at work (he owns an a/c company on the side) and says for me to call him back after 3 p.m. It’s now 11 am and the house is already hot. Sigh. Okay, I’ll call you back….the hours slow to a C-R-A-W-L. Three kids, hot house, nothing else to do but fill up on popsicles!
After consuming an entire box of popsicles over the course of 7 hours (he didn’t get here until 6:oo p.m.), the air was fixed! How long does it take to get your house from 95 degrees to 78?(which is where I leave our thermostat in the summer) It took about 5 hours for the poor a/c to get it cooled off to just 80 degrees. See, we have vaulted ceilings in our house…that’s not good.
All’s well that ends well, though. He only charged us $50, he got it fixed fast, and I was able to get out of bed this morning without feeling like I had just gone swimming.
I’m telling you, I could have kissed him.