Wednesday, December 23, 2009

December

My PC got a virus, and crashed...
My cousin recovered it, but I still couldn't access the internet...
Perry decided I needed a Mac...
I got a Mac, but realized I had a steep learning curve...
It was December and I had to do my Christmas shopping...
All of that, and more, to explain my long absence.

(Wow...I just realized I never even posted any Disney pics!) We went to WDW for a surprise trip over the Thanksgiving holidays. Here's a slideshow. More pics to follow.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Rethinking Christmas

Thanks to a church series and a very powerful Advent Conspiracy video, we are trying to change our approach to Christmas. We'll still have a very commercial Christmas, I'm sure, but I hope we can make enough changes to also make it more meaningful.
We are creating a Jesse tree (well, we're actually creating two!) in order to learn more about Christmas. We've replaced the candy and trinkets in our countdown calendar with fun family activities, like singing Christmas carols, making Christmas cookies, writing letters to our Compassion International child in Guatemala, and buying presents for a needy child. But our biggest change this year is to give up one present, and use that money to donate to charity. Sarah and Abby readily agreed to this arrangement, so tonight at dinner Perry asked them what was on their Christmas list, and what they thought they might want to take off the list. Abby said she could do without a DS. I was shocked - this is a must-have item on her list. I really thought it was her #1. But then she said she'd do without it, because all she really wants is a horse!!
When she isn't making me crazy, she's making me laugh!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween 2009

Pics from Halloween night and both of the girls' class parties:

No Time to Sleep!

Abby doesn't have time to sleep - she's much too busy. This is what I found in her bathroom when I went up to get her Friday morning at 6:00. No telling how long she'd been up!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

They're VERY Different!



Friday was 60s day at school. The kids danced to 60s music in the gym and everyone dressed up. I love that S&A picked such different outfits. Sarah was a hippie chick, which totally fits her personality. Abby found a shirt in my closet, and we made a few adjustments so she could wear it as a dress with her go-go boots.





Thursday, October 29, 2009

It's THAT Week Again

Red Ribbon Week.

Drug Awareness Week.

My least favorite week of the school year!

Sarah told me that she wasn't going to drink tea anymore because it's a drug. After lots of probing, I figured out that caffeine is one of the drugs they learn about in counseling. But, since I make decaffeinated tea, she doesn't need to worry.

Later she asked if she could have some Skittles, or if they were a drug; somehow I think 6 is too young for drug education. I remember her crying last year when Perry drank a beer on Halloween night, because he was doing drugs. I guess the idea is to start the dialogue now, so it won't be a taboo topic when they get older, but I really think third grade would be early enough. I mean, I know that some kids are drinking and experimenting with drugs in middle school, but even Drew Barrymore didn't drink until she was 10!

At least it's a fun week for the kids. Every day has a different theme - today was team spirit day. You could wear your team colors or wear a uniform or other outfit from your favorite sport. Abby was a USA cheerleader and Sarah wore her tennis outfit.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

NOT Hannah Montana

Many months ago, we got tickets to the Miley Cyrus concert. I had concerns about it even then, because I think she is much too "old" for S&A. I rarely even let them watch her TV show. But the girls love her music, and Perry & I thought it would be a great concert for them.

In the past few weeks, however, my concerns grew. I saw reviews and video clips of her new tour, and saw how she is trying to change her image. Hannah Montana is gone, although she still sings a few HM songs. Her wardrobe consists mostly of too short shorts and leather. And her new music is much harder and edgier. I seriously considered telling the girls that we couldn't go. But, we had friends coming to town to go with us, and so ultimately we decided to go. We figured we would have many "teachable moments" to discuss with the girls when it was over, but at least we were prepared.

Last night was the big event. We went to dinner before the concert and saw all the Miley Cyrus tour buses at the Galleria, which was thrilling for the girls. We intentionally arrived at the concert an hour late in order to miss the warm up band (Miley's older, rocker brother). As we walked in the doors, Miley took the stage. Our seats were far from ideal- we were one row from the very top , on the far side of the stage, almost at the back. I thought this would be disappointing, but it really turned out to be a blessing. We had friends with great seats, and they were appalled by Miley's skimpy outfits and suggestive dancing. We couldn't see any of that from our seats, and instead just enjoyed the music and special effects. The highlight was definitely the flying motorcycle, as Miley rode above the audience while singing "I Love Rock n Roll." We also enjoyed our back-stage view, as we watched Miley fall backwards onto a mat and rush under the stage to change outfits (about 7 times). Both S&A said they really had fun and enjoyed the concert, but I definitely think that Abby liked it more. She sang and danced all night. Sarah was very serious throughout the whole show and never danced or sang. I think she was a bit overwhelmed.
It was a much better night than either Perry or I expected, and I hope it's a night they'll remember for a long time.
A note on the pictures. Abby insisted on wearing her Hannah Montana wig (she's going to be HM for Halloween). Fortunately, she took it off at the restaurant because it itched, and she didn't put it back on. As for the signs, all three girls worked on their signs for a long time, but then didn't want to carry them into the concert, so we put them back in the car after we took the picture.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Charades

S&A love to play Charades. Unfortunately (or fortunately, since laughing is good for everyone), they're not very good at it. Abby is VERY literal - even her teachers have noticed it and mentioned it to me. So when she sees something on the paper, she can't think about acting it out in any way other than what she sees on the paper. She won't see the word "table" and think about setting something on a table; she'll just BE the table. Sarah's pretty funny too, although not quite as literal.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

New Vocabulary Word

I can't believe I forgot to post this!

A couple of weeks ago, we had teacher conferences. At Abby's conference, her teacher said she had a funny story to tell us. She begged us not to be upset or mad at Abby and suggested that we probably shouldn't even mention it to her. Of course by this point we were starting to get very concerned about what she might be about to tell us...
She said that she had the whole class on the rug, and they were playing a word game, where you start with one three-letter word, then change one letter at a time until you get to another, completely different 3-letter word. The beginning word was "bit," and they were trying to get to "dog." So they'd changed some letters, and were making progress, so she told them they were getting close, but they needed to start thinking about words that were kind of like "dog." She asked, "Can anyone think of a word that's kind of like dog?", and Abby raised her hand. When she called on Abby, Abby said, "I know a word that's like dog." "Great! What is it?" asked the teacher. With a sweet voice and an innocent smile, Abby said, "bitch." Seriously. Fortunately Abby's teacher is a quick-thinker, so she just said "that's great, but we're looking for 3-letter words. Can anyone think of a 3-letter word that's like dog?", and they moved on without any conversation about Abby's new word!
Where did she learn such a word, you ask? Well, all I can think is that it came from a book. For two straight weeks she brought home non-fiction books about dogs from the school library. We didn't read them together, but she must have read them by herself. And she obviously has great comprehension!
This story has entertained most of the faculty and administration at school. The following day I saw the Assistant Principal, and he said "oh, there's the mom of that first grader with a foul mouth." Yeah, ha ha.

Saturday, October 17, 2009