Updates on the girls....

Just a quick update on the girls...A's team won their game on Tuesday. A is not happy with some things going on with softball right now, but she's handling it pretty well. She's learned a lot about sportsmanship and I'm very proud of her.

B auditioned for school chorus and was selected. She was also chosen as a student council rep for her class. She's so excited about that! A was also on student council and was vice president one year. She did not inherit my love of all things government/political science/civics...social studies is her least favorite class, where it was always one of my favorites. Perhaps B will inherit this penchant? Time will tell.

This week is standardized testing at school and both girls are bored silly. I remember being the same way during testing time. B-O-R-I-N-G!

A thought......

I haven't been able to find the thing I wrote about 9-11. I will continue to look...it wasn't my best writing ever, but I was proud of it.

In the meantime, I spent a lot of time thinking yesterday about 9-11...what it was...what it did...what it meant..and what it continues to be, what it continues to do, and what it continues to mean.

It means my children will never really remember a pre-9-11 world. It means B doesn't remember a time that we weren't at war in Iraq. While I can't think of a generation, ever, that has not been touched by war, I think this one has made the most impact on me. Not because of me...but because of my children.

I remember the panic I felt immediately upon hearing/seeing the news about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. I watched the entire thing unfold on TV. A was on a field trip about an hour and a half away...in a big city, downtown with big buildings. The only thing I could think about was making sure she was safe and getting her home. And I remember realizing that she would not have a lot of clear memories of the world before 9-11. I remember wanting to shield her from the world, from the news, from reality. As a parent, my job is to keep my children safe. To protect them. To provide a safety net from the cold, cruel realities of life. And suddenly, in an instant, I felt that I had failed. And that I would never again be able to provide that safety net.

I know that I was being somewhat irrational. But that's how it felt -- like I would never be able to keep my children safe again.

I know the war is not popular. That does not change the fact that there are many, many brave men and women who put themselves in harm's way every minute of the day to protect us. To protect my children, and your children. To protect our way of life. To protect the rights of those who vehemently disagree with the war -- to protect their right to speak out and to say mean, cruel, hateful things. Those men and women deserve nothing less than our complete respect and support.

In life, it seems there aren't many absolutes. "Death and taxes," as the saying goes. But there is another set of absolutes -- right and wrong. Unfortunately, the right thing is very rarely the easy thing.

So, allow me to paraphrase the words of a very wise (albeit fictional) man, Albus Dumbledore. I have used parentheses to indicate where I have changed wording:

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are..."

and "Remember (9-11). Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of (evil). Remember (9-11)."

When faced with the choice between what is right and what is easy....remember that there are absolutes. And while the right thing may not be easy, popular, fun, or enjoyable...it is still the right thing.

Always remember.

Never Forget....

Last year (or the year before) I wrote some thoughts about 9-11 and remembering the events of that day, for an e-mail group I belong to. I'm trying to find what I wrote so I can post it here.

In the mean time, I just want to say....I will never forget. We will never forget.

A quick update....

I hope to have the next installment of our trip report done in the next day or so. Last night I uploaded all of the pictures to an online developing service...even with regular shipping and regular processing the total cost was more than I had anticipated. That's what happens when you take hundreds of pictures! LOL I've already bought a lovely black leather album, paper, some embellishments, etc., so once I have the pictures in hand I really don't have any excuse to not get started on the scrapbook. Well, maybe one big excuse...my scrapbooking room is a complete disaster and I can't even get to my work tables, let alone actually have space on the tables to work! I guess I'll have to deal with that before I can get working on the album. My goal is to have the scrapbook finished by Christmas. We'll see how it goes....

A's team won their first softball game of the season last week. She played really well -- a double play, three runs scored, a fabulous bunt (according to those who know much more than I do, it was perfectly placed), and overall good play. The team really needed the morale boost they got from that win. We'll see how the rest of the season goes. She's learning some good lessons this season...lessons she really doesn't want to learn, but it's good for her and she's finding that she is able to play well at every position they put her in, although her heart is definitely on the pitcher's mound.

B is thoroughly enjoying soccer. She got her hair cut again on Saturday -- I thought it was adorable the way it was but she said it was too long and hot for soccer. LOL We also had an "almost" catastrophe...somewhere along the way Friday or overnight Friday she lost an earring. She noticed it Saturday morning. I had a hard time getting an earring back in that ear but we managed it without her getting woozy and passing out. She has a high pain tolerance...for everything but her ears. Not sure why that is.

Work is in full swing. Very busy. Crazy. I worked several hours on Saturday and the girls came with me. They actually did pretty well. I brought a portable DVD player, they brought snacks, books, and GameBoys, and played hide and seek while I worked. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did.

A and I sewed a cute tote bag yesterday afternoon. We'll be making tote bags with the Beehives at church tomorrow night so we decided we should probably go ahead and make one so we knew exactly how to do it! It turned out really cute and it was SO easy. The girls won't have any trouble at all making these and I think it will be a lot of fun for them. I have to go tonight to buy the rest of the supplies and then I'll put together a kit for each girl so they don't have to cut anything....just fold, pin, and sew (with lots of adult assistance). The tote bags are so quick and easy...I have a feeling A and B will want to look at placemats whenever we go shopping and pick out new ones for new tote bags! Uh oh! Well, at least they're not expensive...total cost for the tote bag we made yesterday afternoon was about $3 for the placemat and ribbon. Not too bad!

And that's life in my little universe. Not very exciting, is it? LOL

Vacation, Day 4

Sorry for the delay! There aren't a lot of pictures to go with this day's adventures...unfortunately I wasn't feeling well at all much of the day and that cut short our adventures in Disney's Animal Kingdom. The picture of A & B to the right is taken in front of a photo station where Expedition Everest (the newest Disney roller coaster/attraction) is in the background. Sorry you can't see it well...visually it reminds me of the Matterhorn at Disneyland, but much bigger. Since neither of the girls wanted to ride this ride, we were able to cut out a lot of walking and waiting.

Originally we were going to follow the touring plan and TourGuide Mike this day and go to Magic Kingdom, but we decided that this was the park with the fewest "must see" activities for us and by Tuesday night the girls were really worn out...we were all worn out...and we decided we needed to change the schedule and have a lighter day on Wednesday. I'm glad we did, since I woke up feeling pretty sick Wednesday morning. We took our time getting ready and I enjoyed my (by now) traditional WDW breakfast of a chocolate filled croissant and the nectar of the Gods (Coke, for those of you who don't know). It was incredibly humid this day, probably due to the incredible thunderstorm from the night before...it was muggy from the moment we stepped out of the hotel room and that made it seem even hotter than it really was. It was going to be a scorcher! As you can see from this picture (one of the first we took that morning) -- as soon as we took the lens cap off the camera, the camera fogged up! That happened most of the day, so we had to let the lens unfog before we could take pictures.

Even though we veered off the touring plan by going to a different park than recommended, we still followed the touring plan in the park...except that we cut out a lot of things because (1) we didn't want to do them or (2) because we decided to only hit the high points because I was feeling so sick.

A little bit about this park...it is the newest park and I found its layout to be the most difficult to navigate. I never did really get a feel for the layout of the park. The walkways are much more narrow than the other parks, and there are trees everywhere. It really has a jungle feeling to it...but it also seemed to make it more humid. There were misting fans were all over the place and they really helped -- even at 9:30 in the morning -- we were already hot and sticky by then.

The girls liked this park o.k. and wanted to do a couple more things than we did, but for us this park never would have been a full day park, anyway. The girls wanted to go on the safari and Kali River Rapids, and I wanted to see the Lion King Show. B wanted to do the petting zoo but we didn't. Other than that, there weren't any "must sees" for us in this park. Next time we go we'll definitely do more, but I don't think it's a full-day park for us.

When we got to the park, we got our FastPasses for the safari, and then wandered around for a bit. We decided to go to the Festival of the Lion King show...we got there early and waited a while. The show was worth it -- we all really enjoyed it. It was fabulous! The animatronics, singers, dancers, gymnasts...everything was fabulous. This was one of our favorite shows (and is the reason I'm seriously thinking about getting tickets for all of us to see the Broadway production of The Lion King when it's in Atlanta next year). I highly recommend it!! After that we headed over to the Safari and waited no more than 10 minutes with our FastPasses. The regular line was about 90 minutes -- why on earth would you wait that long for a ride??

We enjoyed the Safari. There was a cute storyline built in and it was neat to see the animals. I was worried that we wouldn't see many because of the, heat but we really saw a lot. This was a fun ride -- we will definitely do it again. After the safari we got FastPasses for the Kali River Rapids and had lunch at Pizzafari. There is a real lack of places to eat in Animal Kingdom and not one table service restaurant (other than Raintree Cafe which isn't a Disney restaurant, just co-located on the property). One of the counter service restaurants is being converted to table service...I think it will open next year.

After lunch we went to Kali River Rapids and got right on in about 10 minutes with our FastPasses. I was the only person in the raft who put on a rain poncho....and guess who was the only person in the raft to get drenched? Yes -- me. How on earth did that happen??? A wave came up over the side of the boat and hit me just right...went in the hood and down the neck of the poncho. I was absolutely soaked! It was a fun ride, but very, very short and not really exciting (according to the girls). They liked it and said they would ride it again if we come back. They said the river ride at Lagoon (an amusement park in Utah) was much better. But the cool water felt good, although it didn't smell great.

After that ride we left and went back to the hotel to rest and swim. It was already about 2:00. It felt great to rest and swim and I felt much better by mid-afternoon. Dinner that night was at O'Hana at the Polynesian Resort. We took the bus to the Ticket and Transportation Center and then took the monorail to the Polynesian Resort. Dinner was amazing -- way more food than we could eat -- and I have already collected several of the recipes from our meal. In fact, we made the bread pudding with banana caramel sauce a few weeks ago and it was good! During the meal there was a lot of stuff for the girls to do...hula lessons, limbo contest, dancing, etc. It was a fun family atmosphere and we were seated by the window, with a great view of the Lagoon. We loved it and will definitely go back.

After that we made our way back to Disney MGM Studios to see Fantasmic, since it had been rained out the night before. We sait and waited and waited and waited for over an hour for the show to start...it was a good show but I don't think it really lived up to all of the hype. DH would have been just fine if we had skipped it (LOL) and the girls and I enjoyed it ok....but maybe we were just to hot, sticky, and tired to really appreciate it. I love the way they used sheets of water as a projection screen and the pyrotechnics are neat, but parts of the show seem kind of disjointed. We did enjoy it, though, and I'm glad we saw it.

After that we made our way back to the hotel...dreams of the Magic Kingdom in our heads...tomorrow we would finally make it there!

Here We Go Again.....

I thought we weren't going to do this again. I really, really, really thought that last year was (to use a British phrase), a "one off." Just once, and that would be it. Never again. Really -- just once. Isn't that how it goes? Just once...only once...doesn't turn out to be just once?

A participated in her school pageant last year. She wanted to participate the year before but we managed to talk her out of it. Last year we weren't so lucky. Ccould it have been the "let's just see how it is run and what it requires the first year, and then think about it next year?" line of reasoning we used two years ago...which didn't work because A never forgets anything? Whatever it was, we were in pageant Hades last year. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I expected -- A kept her head and was wonderful throughout. I can't say the same for other participants, some of whom were rude and obnoxious (one 12 year old girl yelled at her Mom in the dressing room!). A placed well in the pageant last year and I hoped that was the end of it.

The biggest struggle we had last year was finding a gown...floor length, age appropriate, and MODEST. That last one was the kicker. It's downright impossible to find a reasonably priced, MODEST gown for someone A's size and age. We finally found a dress but it wasn't ideal and it wasn't without pain, aggravation, and frustration....and expensive alterations.

Fast forward to this year. A wants to do the pageant again...and, like the sucker I am, I said yes. What was I thinking??? This weekend we started searching for a dress....because surely if we start looking this early we'll find something, right? My sister E and I searched online and found two dresses in the price range I was looking for and in A;s size. Unfortunately, she doesn't like those two dresses. We looked at two places in town and found one dress that can be modified slightly, without too much effort, that A likes but it wasn't quite as fancy as we all had in mind. The other place we looked at -- no options. Apparently they don't carry ANYTHING with sleeves. Well, a few bolero jackets and shrugs, but no dresses with sleeves. What do they have against sleeves? It's hard enough to find a dress when you're 5'2" and not enough pounds...but when said dress must have at least a cap sleeve, no plunging neckline, no plunging back, and no thigh-high split....well, it becomes nearly impossible.

I don't know many middle school aged girls who are built like Las Vegas showgirls...and I know even fewer who should actually be permitted to dress like Las Vegas showgirls. Sadly, there are many who do dress like that. Obviously, my definition of age appropriate varies dramatically from the way other people define "age appropriate." *Sigh*

Fortunately, we ended up with not only one but two gown options that will require only minor alterations. They're both the best possible price (free from an absolutely adorable newlywed girl at church who used to babysit my girls, both dresses worn only once). A loves both dresses -- they're really beautiful but very different styles -- so we're going to take them to a seamstress who specializes in pageant/prom/wedding gowns and see what we can do with them. One is a beautiful, pale pink and the other is black and white. A looks so grown up in them. We just need to get shoes and the evening gown competition outfit is done. We've already got jewelry. She's already working on picking music for the talent competition, and trying to plan out her casual/school spirit wear outfit.

*Sigh* Here we go again. My justification for letting her do this again this year? It was a great confidence builder for her last year, and she really had a ton of fun with it. She hasn't been bitten by the "pageant bug" and didn't get a swelled head from all of it last year. If we come out of this year's pageant the same way, it will have been a success (from my point of view). And hey -- we're already coming out cheaper than last year! LOL

Random Thoughts

Goodness, it's been a while! I need to post the next installment of our Disney trip report...will do that soon.

In the meantime, I thought I would post a few random thoughts....

1. I am now the mother of an official teenager. I'm really not sure how this happened...A growing up so quickly. She's now just a few inches shorter than I am and wears almost the same size shoes. She wears makeup (a little) and adorable clothes and loves softball. She is like me in many respects...loves shoes (see Random Thought #2 below), loves makeup, loves to look cute and put together and nice, and is very particular about certain things. We both have problems with keeping our bedrooms clean, and we both love to be busy, busy, busy. Reading? Love it. But she is her own individual person, different from me. She loves her chosen sport and is much braver at trying new things than I ever was. I am so grateful for her, and am glad she is part of our family.

2. Shoes. Love, love, love shoes! I went shopping last night and bought a few new pairs...if you're a shoe fanatic, get thee to Dillard's season clearance sale, going on now. 75% off -- gotta love it! I paid $15 for some $90 shoes...that's my kind of deal! Black leather sling backs with pointed toes and a fabulous heel ("wicked witch of the west shoes", according to my Dad). A couple of other pairs at amazing prices....and some adorable Steve Madden black pumps for A (age appropriate, of course -- rounded toe and low heel). Somehow, buying a new pair of shoes (at a great price) really lifts my spirits, and I needed that last night. Work is absolutely kicking my tail right now. Of course, I went shopping for a specific color/style of shoe and of course I couldn't find it (haven't been able to find it for 2 years)...but the other ones I bought were a nice consolation prize.

3. The weather has cooled off a bit and we've had rain over the last few days. We really need rain. It makes it terribly humid, but I won't complain (at least not too much or too loudly).

4. My sister M and her husband have been approved for adoption through LDS Family Services. We are so excited for them. There is a link to her blog on the left side of my blog...if you know of anyone who is looking for an amazing, loving, fun, wonderful family for their baby, please put them in touch with my sister M. She and her husband will be incredible parents and have so much love to offer. We are hoping the wait will not be long...

5. B is reading the Harry Potter books and has one chapter left in Book 2. She'll be starting Book 3 today. We have had some good discussions about the books. Her comprehension skills are amazing! Since getting her reading glasses, reading has became one of her favorite activities. She also started fall soccer this week and loves it. My girls are so different from each other...B can't stand softball, and A can't stand soccer. LOL But why, oh why, do softball and soccer seasons have to be at the same time??? LOL