Thursday, February 16, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Manic Monday
1. Snow! Finally! Yipeee!!
2. This weekend we kept our niece Amelia overnight and had a great time.....not "I think I want to have another kid" fun, but FUN.
3. Tess had a basketball game this weekend and gave me a mind full of thoughts. She was being an aggressive player and it made parents on the other team mad. Unfortunately I happened to be sitting near them and overheard, not that they were trying to be discreet. The mama bear in me raged, the rational adult in me just sat quietly and smiled(okay, it was a smirk, because I did think they were being ridiculous). Here is the deal. Tess does play aggressive and she does have A LOT to learn. She loves the game and loves to hustle....sometimes acting before she thinks it all the way through. The good news is we can help her acquire the skills to make her a good basketball player, but we can't teach the competitive spirit she has....she was born with it and we just have to help her learn to use it in a smart way. Of course I had several snarky comments I wanted to say to these parents, but ultimately it just hurt my feelings. I had to remind myself that these people don't know my daughter or know what a compassionate, loving girl she is. She doesn't have an evil bone in her body....but she DOES happen to have several competitive ones.
4. Speaking of Tess and sports, we have had to have the "talk" about making choices regarding what sport she wants to continue to play(realistically) and what it will take to continue to the next level. Tough to do. It feels so wrong to have to "discourage" your child from playing a sport she loves, simply because she needs to start focusing (already, at age 10) on her future. Looks like softball is getting the axe, much to her dismay.
5. Our Samantha played in her first softball game of the season for Drake. They head to the southern states in a few days so hopefully it will be warm and perfect for playing ball. We pray that her hip is strong and steady for her. Can't wait to spend some weekends this spring watching softball. I feel a trip to Des Moines in our future!
6. Last weekend we had three clients committ suicide. tragic. Makes all of us at work feel small and inadequate, like we didn't do enough, even if they weren't our specific patient. I know it is part of the business, and surprisingly it is rare, but it doesn't make it any easier. Especially when they are young people. Such a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
7. Speaking of death, I am sad about Whitney and I am really irritated by all the people demonizing her for having a substance abuse problem that probably led to her death. Seriously people. I appreciate that many many people/heroes die every day and don't get the publicity that Whitney's death has gotten. Well, they didn't lead the public life, and if they were true heroes, they wouldn't have wanted the fuss anyway. Quit the bitching and enjoy some tribute music honoring a musical icon. Addiction is very real.
8. Tess is scheduled to get her braces off in three weeks. Initially I panicked thinking this was it, she was done with braces and I am NOT nearly impressed enough with the results. There have been some milestones in what the spacers and expander accomplished....however there are some teeth that have shifted to weird places and she still has several baby teeth left to lose! She gets fitted for a retainer and will wear that for an unknown amount of time before getting more braces I guess. I have already set the bait for Tess to be uber conscious of keeping track of her retainer. I explained how expensive they are to replace, and that most people lose it at least once. If Tess manages to keep track of her retainer without losing it, I will give her part of the money it would have cost us to replace it. And yes, I know that is $$$. I am hoping the incentive works. Tess loves a challenge.
9. Anyone else enjoy The Grammys last night? I love me some LL Cool J and thought him opening with a prayer was just WOW. loved that. Bruno Mars totally blew me away. Adele is just adorable. I wanted to hug Bon Iver. Paul McCartney's Valentine song was smooth and made me want to download it....I could hear Andy singing it.
10. I both love and hate big decisions. I love when change is happening and the feeling of excitement and rush of adrenaline from the unknowns. I also am a control freak and fight like crazy to avoid previously mentioned unknowns. We are right in the midst of deciding what to do about our future home plans. Sell, buy, build, BLECH. So much to think about. Sometimes I do not even feel old enough to be making these types of decisions. But then I am reminded that this is the future of my family and I need to suck it up and make some smart choices.
2. This weekend we kept our niece Amelia overnight and had a great time.....not "I think I want to have another kid" fun, but FUN.
3. Tess had a basketball game this weekend and gave me a mind full of thoughts. She was being an aggressive player and it made parents on the other team mad. Unfortunately I happened to be sitting near them and overheard, not that they were trying to be discreet. The mama bear in me raged, the rational adult in me just sat quietly and smiled(okay, it was a smirk, because I did think they were being ridiculous). Here is the deal. Tess does play aggressive and she does have A LOT to learn. She loves the game and loves to hustle....sometimes acting before she thinks it all the way through. The good news is we can help her acquire the skills to make her a good basketball player, but we can't teach the competitive spirit she has....she was born with it and we just have to help her learn to use it in a smart way. Of course I had several snarky comments I wanted to say to these parents, but ultimately it just hurt my feelings. I had to remind myself that these people don't know my daughter or know what a compassionate, loving girl she is. She doesn't have an evil bone in her body....but she DOES happen to have several competitive ones.
4. Speaking of Tess and sports, we have had to have the "talk" about making choices regarding what sport she wants to continue to play(realistically) and what it will take to continue to the next level. Tough to do. It feels so wrong to have to "discourage" your child from playing a sport she loves, simply because she needs to start focusing (already, at age 10) on her future. Looks like softball is getting the axe, much to her dismay.
5. Our Samantha played in her first softball game of the season for Drake. They head to the southern states in a few days so hopefully it will be warm and perfect for playing ball. We pray that her hip is strong and steady for her. Can't wait to spend some weekends this spring watching softball. I feel a trip to Des Moines in our future!
6. Last weekend we had three clients committ suicide. tragic. Makes all of us at work feel small and inadequate, like we didn't do enough, even if they weren't our specific patient. I know it is part of the business, and surprisingly it is rare, but it doesn't make it any easier. Especially when they are young people. Such a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
7. Speaking of death, I am sad about Whitney and I am really irritated by all the people demonizing her for having a substance abuse problem that probably led to her death. Seriously people. I appreciate that many many people/heroes die every day and don't get the publicity that Whitney's death has gotten. Well, they didn't lead the public life, and if they were true heroes, they wouldn't have wanted the fuss anyway. Quit the bitching and enjoy some tribute music honoring a musical icon. Addiction is very real.
8. Tess is scheduled to get her braces off in three weeks. Initially I panicked thinking this was it, she was done with braces and I am NOT nearly impressed enough with the results. There have been some milestones in what the spacers and expander accomplished....however there are some teeth that have shifted to weird places and she still has several baby teeth left to lose! She gets fitted for a retainer and will wear that for an unknown amount of time before getting more braces I guess. I have already set the bait for Tess to be uber conscious of keeping track of her retainer. I explained how expensive they are to replace, and that most people lose it at least once. If Tess manages to keep track of her retainer without losing it, I will give her part of the money it would have cost us to replace it. And yes, I know that is $$$. I am hoping the incentive works. Tess loves a challenge.
9. Anyone else enjoy The Grammys last night? I love me some LL Cool J and thought him opening with a prayer was just WOW. loved that. Bruno Mars totally blew me away. Adele is just adorable. I wanted to hug Bon Iver. Paul McCartney's Valentine song was smooth and made me want to download it....I could hear Andy singing it.
10. I both love and hate big decisions. I love when change is happening and the feeling of excitement and rush of adrenaline from the unknowns. I also am a control freak and fight like crazy to avoid previously mentioned unknowns. We are right in the midst of deciding what to do about our future home plans. Sell, buy, build, BLECH. So much to think about. Sometimes I do not even feel old enough to be making these types of decisions. But then I am reminded that this is the future of my family and I need to suck it up and make some smart choices.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
First Girls Rule Family Slumber Party (plus one dude)
Amelia Haskamp, first sleepover EVER=success.
Another Girl in the House!
Welcome to the fun house, please come on in!
Bath time
Story time before bed
Girls Rule!Kate is Golden!
Kate performed at the boys basketball game halftime last Friday night. She had a total 90 minutes of instructions from the Kearney High School Golden Girls on the Wednesday evening before the performance. This girl didn't miss a move and I am so proud of her. She does the routine with spunk, she smiles, she PERFORMS. I have another daughter that likes to be in the spotlight, but has never even considered doing the cheer and dance camps. Not her thing. Not at all.
The best part was seeing her expression when she realized how well she did and how much people noticed her skills. Can't make up that kind of confidence. She killed it and she knew it. This is her with three of the Kearney Golden Girls...the equivalent of a superstar in Kate's world.
The best part was seeing her expression when she realized how well she did and how much people noticed her skills. Can't make up that kind of confidence. She killed it and she knew it. This is her with three of the Kearney Golden Girls...the equivalent of a superstar in Kate's world.Friday, February 10, 2012
The Hunger Games
This week my 10 year old baby girl came home from school excited about a book club her teacher was wanting to start with her and several of her classmates. The first book was to be the new reading/movie craze, The Hunger Games. I quickly scanned my brain for what I knew about this book as I have not had a chance to read the series yet. Our oldest, Samantha, read the series over Christmas break from college and LOVED it, talking about how engrossing the story line was. She also gave me a quick synopsis because as of that time I hadn't heard about the books.
Anyone know where I am going with this? Want to take a wild guess?
After seeing Tess so excited to start this book series, I was hesitant, but told her I would look into finding the books....silly girl thought she could just go to the library and say "Hi, I want to read The Hunger Games, please" and walk away with the books.
Nope. The library's website even says that due to high demand they are ordering more copies.
Anyway, that morning I went to work and googled the book. I also texted Samantha for her opinion. Even sent Tess's teacher an email with my concerns, hoping to hear back. I have not.
Needless to say, I made a gut decision to say NO to reading the book.
My research from online and friends revealed that while this book receives GREAT reviews it is labeled in the Young Adult genre for a reason.
There storyline is of self preservation, fighting, and eventually killing other humans to "win" the game and stay alive. The are also many "morally complex choices the characters must make that fall into the gray area of right and wrong"...all to promote their own survival....as well as "the ambiguity of violence" in order to save herself and her family. I got those descriptions from Wikipedia, by the way. Not to mention a twisted love story between the two main characters.
I described it to the teacher and to my husband as "some pretty heavy themes that need to be processed with an adult so they are understood and not just glossed over". Wikipedia sounds better, I know.
There is no doubt that Tess could read the book. Supposedly she reads at a 12th grade level(whatever that means) but that does NOT mean she thinks like a 12th grader. Thank the Lord.
What really irritates me is that I have not heard one word from her teacher. No heads up email to the parents. No permission email/note. No thoughts on how these kids are going to acquire this $40 book series. Not even an email telling me that she did NOT suggest a book club, and it might be her and her classmates wanting to read a book and using the teacher as the sponsor. That is actually what I am hoping for. Meanwhile, I am left with the crying kid who doesn't understand how I can be so wrong in my decisions, even though I saw the surprise in her face when I shared with her the actual description of what the book was about. She knew the basics, but not all the sub-plots.
I guess I am ultimately hoping my daughter is deceiving me so she can read a book. Can't decide if I should be (superficially) proud that she wants to do something educational so badly she will lie to do it, or if I should be upset that she is lying in the first place, IF she is even lying.
Talk about a complex morality issue.
Anyone know where I am going with this? Want to take a wild guess?
After seeing Tess so excited to start this book series, I was hesitant, but told her I would look into finding the books....silly girl thought she could just go to the library and say "Hi, I want to read The Hunger Games, please" and walk away with the books.
Nope. The library's website even says that due to high demand they are ordering more copies.
Anyway, that morning I went to work and googled the book. I also texted Samantha for her opinion. Even sent Tess's teacher an email with my concerns, hoping to hear back. I have not.
Needless to say, I made a gut decision to say NO to reading the book.
My research from online and friends revealed that while this book receives GREAT reviews it is labeled in the Young Adult genre for a reason.
There storyline is of self preservation, fighting, and eventually killing other humans to "win" the game and stay alive. The are also many "morally complex choices the characters must make that fall into the gray area of right and wrong"...all to promote their own survival....as well as "the ambiguity of violence" in order to save herself and her family. I got those descriptions from Wikipedia, by the way. Not to mention a twisted love story between the two main characters.
I described it to the teacher and to my husband as "some pretty heavy themes that need to be processed with an adult so they are understood and not just glossed over". Wikipedia sounds better, I know.
There is no doubt that Tess could read the book. Supposedly she reads at a 12th grade level(whatever that means) but that does NOT mean she thinks like a 12th grader. Thank the Lord.
What really irritates me is that I have not heard one word from her teacher. No heads up email to the parents. No permission email/note. No thoughts on how these kids are going to acquire this $40 book series. Not even an email telling me that she did NOT suggest a book club, and it might be her and her classmates wanting to read a book and using the teacher as the sponsor. That is actually what I am hoping for. Meanwhile, I am left with the crying kid who doesn't understand how I can be so wrong in my decisions, even though I saw the surprise in her face when I shared with her the actual description of what the book was about. She knew the basics, but not all the sub-plots.
I guess I am ultimately hoping my daughter is deceiving me so she can read a book. Can't decide if I should be (superficially) proud that she wants to do something educational so badly she will lie to do it, or if I should be upset that she is lying in the first place, IF she is even lying.
Talk about a complex morality issue.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Manic Monday
brought to you on Tuesday.
1. Last week Kate had a 12 hour stomach bug. She woke up, didn't feel good. She went to school, didn't feel good. She came home, still didn't feel good. She threw up and felt GOOD. Not sure how the rest of us managed to miss out on that but I am thankful.
2. I said "Dude, chill out" to Jane one day and she replied, "I am NOT a dude, but you can call me sweetheart."
3. A co-worker purchased a meal planning guide from Groupon and has been letting me copy the weekly menus. This weekend I made four new recipes! One even included using active yeast and making dough rise.......((proud))
4. Now that I have become a chef extrordinaire I am going to need a bigger kitchen. With three girls(two under each arm pit and the third on a step stool in front of me) there is just not enough counter space to go around.
5. In respect to #4, we still have not officially decided what to do about selling the house. We have come to the conclusion that there are only three neighborhoods we are really willing to live in, all of which will require mo' money, mo' money, mo' money. I hope to make a decision soon because our target date of March is fast approaching and our house needs another detox after all the Christmas loot was added.
6. Fred, I am loving the "Baggage" message series at church. Really loved the story at the end of the "Letting Go of Other People's Baggage" message two weeks ago. It was perfect. Well done.
7. I get so tired of hearing people complain that they are "feeling" emotions. They come to me feeling stressed, sad, tired, anxious, angry, because of reality, and want us to help them cope with it through a pill. EMOTIONS are REAL, people. I can't tell you how many times I have said to someone "You have every reason to feel ______. What you are going through is _______. This is how that emotion is supposed to feel! I would be worried if you didn't feel those things. Good news! You are NORMAL." ((blank stare back at me))
8. Reading back over #8 makes me realize I need to take my own advice and know that listening to people say those things daily is bound to get to me and the frustration I am feeling is NORMAL. ((duh))
9. This weekend was great for watching sports. Tess played basketball on Saturday and hustled till her hustler was sore. The team lost but played hard, couldn't ask for more. The KU/MU game was a great evening of television with family and friends. Since KU gave the game away, I guess we will consider it a going away gift from the Big 12. The Super Bowl ended up being a super fun evening with friends. We had a small get-together of people that laughed, ate, laughed, watched the game, and laughed. Good times. We had a betting system on everything from the score to how many times they would show Gisele. We even placed bets on which kid would cry first. I actually won that one, but by default. Kate only cried because she injured her foot. But crying is crying and I needed the point!
10. Was told yesterday that I am old enough to get a baseline mammogram scheduled. ((sigh))
1. Last week Kate had a 12 hour stomach bug. She woke up, didn't feel good. She went to school, didn't feel good. She came home, still didn't feel good. She threw up and felt GOOD. Not sure how the rest of us managed to miss out on that but I am thankful.
2. I said "Dude, chill out" to Jane one day and she replied, "I am NOT a dude, but you can call me sweetheart."
3. A co-worker purchased a meal planning guide from Groupon and has been letting me copy the weekly menus. This weekend I made four new recipes! One even included using active yeast and making dough rise.......((proud))
4. Now that I have become a chef extrordinaire I am going to need a bigger kitchen. With three girls(two under each arm pit and the third on a step stool in front of me) there is just not enough counter space to go around.
5. In respect to #4, we still have not officially decided what to do about selling the house. We have come to the conclusion that there are only three neighborhoods we are really willing to live in, all of which will require mo' money, mo' money, mo' money. I hope to make a decision soon because our target date of March is fast approaching and our house needs another detox after all the Christmas loot was added.
6. Fred, I am loving the "Baggage" message series at church. Really loved the story at the end of the "Letting Go of Other People's Baggage" message two weeks ago. It was perfect. Well done.
7. I get so tired of hearing people complain that they are "feeling" emotions. They come to me feeling stressed, sad, tired, anxious, angry, because of reality, and want us to help them cope with it through a pill. EMOTIONS are REAL, people. I can't tell you how many times I have said to someone "You have every reason to feel ______. What you are going through is _______. This is how that emotion is supposed to feel! I would be worried if you didn't feel those things. Good news! You are NORMAL." ((blank stare back at me))
8. Reading back over #8 makes me realize I need to take my own advice and know that listening to people say those things daily is bound to get to me and the frustration I am feeling is NORMAL. ((duh))
9. This weekend was great for watching sports. Tess played basketball on Saturday and hustled till her hustler was sore. The team lost but played hard, couldn't ask for more. The KU/MU game was a great evening of television with family and friends. Since KU gave the game away, I guess we will consider it a going away gift from the Big 12. The Super Bowl ended up being a super fun evening with friends. We had a small get-together of people that laughed, ate, laughed, watched the game, and laughed. Good times. We had a betting system on everything from the score to how many times they would show Gisele. We even placed bets on which kid would cry first. I actually won that one, but by default. Kate only cried because she injured her foot. But crying is crying and I needed the point!
10. Was told yesterday that I am old enough to get a baseline mammogram scheduled. ((sigh))
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