Wordless Wednesday

Hannah said, "Now I'm triple safe!"

Tutti, Dyson, Twilight

We went to Tutti Frutti today (which is becoming a regular occurence) for a delicious frozen yogurt treat.  The cherries are massive and my favorite part!  I love that you can see the ingredients of each type of yogurt and pick the one that fits best with your diet.  After yogurt we went and bought my Dyson!  So far it is AMAZING.  The amount of dirt and dog hair it picked up was gross.  I can't remember when my area rug has looked so clean!  Next, we headed over to Bath & Body Works and loaded up on nice smelling lotions & potions.  Abby and I both got body spray that has glitter in it.  My absolute favorite scent is Twilight Woods and after I took my shower I used the glittery body spray, so I am loving the way my shimmering body smells right now.

Hannah enjoying her Tutti Frutti

My yummy yogurt with HUGE cherries!

Friday Night Leftovers

• Abigale has lost 20 pounds. We had to go buy her some new clothes today because her shorts were literally falling off of her. I just can't believe the clothing selections she made. She has always been a tomboy and until today her wardrobe consisted of gray, brown and black t-shirts. Today, she got a bright orange shirt, a really cute, form-fitting white t-shirt, a black pair of jeans, and several tank tops to layer under stuff. My girl is really growing up. Sniff, sniff.  
• Report cards came home this week.  Overall, they both did good.  Abby is still struggling in math, but she is trying much harder and doing better. :)
• I am sick of the rain. Our backyard stays a gigantic mud pit and the three dogs bring in the dirt everytime they go outside. We literally scrape dirt off the floors. Thank goodness we mainly have non-carpeted floors.
• The rain has saturated the ground so much that the little wind gusts we had this morning blew a pine tree over onto my parent's house. It completely destroyed my dad's workshop and damaged their roof and gutters. Thank God, no one was hurt.
• I had my second biggest sale this week. A full page ad for 12 months at my new, increased rate!
• I am ready to launch my second magazine. Since Abby has to go to summer school I may as well work those weeks and vacation around her schedule. I can't decide if I want to launch close to my current publication or do one in Katy where I live. I am leaning towards Katy, I just need to get approval. Wish me luck.
• We still haven't lived in Texas a full year so we are still experiencing the "seasons" as we go along. Who knew spring would be in February?
• We have discovered that we have an orange tree in our backyard. It already has 3 oranges.
• I yelled at Jay today because I am tired of him smoking in my car.
• I used the word literally twice in this posting, now three times.

My Budding Artist!

Abigale went to a birthday party for her friend, Abbey, tonight.  The party was at this cool place called Painting With A Twist.  The person throwing the party gets to choose a painting and during the party they have an artist that sits in front of everyone and step by step teaches them to paint that image.  So, when everyone is done, the paintings should all look similar but have an individual creativity as well.  Abby has always been the most artistic in our family and her painting tonight turned out so good.  The best part was Abby really liked it and said she wants our whole family to come back and do a painting together.  :)

Abby's Painting

 

Abby & Hannah posing with the birthday girl



Abby's Running Man Sculpture she just completed in art class



It's OK to be good...

I feel like my whole life I have been ridiculed for being good. Most of the time the person ridiculing me is someone that makes less than desirable choices for their own life, so me doing the right thing really irks them. And, trust me those same people are the FIRST ones to point out when I do make a mistake. Its like my mistakes validate all their miserable choices. Obviously, I'm not perfect and trust me when I tell you that I have my fair share of regrets. But most of the time, I strive to do the right thing. I am honest, almost to a fault, I work hard, and I invest a lot of time and effort in things that I find important, like parenting. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot feel bad about being successful in my marriage (always a work in progress), as a mom, and in my career.

Anyways, I love my new haircut. It is so easy to style and all that gray just blends right in. I can't believe how cheap it was too! In Virginia it would have been twice the price. I have also noticed lately that a lot of my friends that are the same age as me are starting to get crows feet. Thank goodness I don't have any yet, not even a sign of them! Hopefully I can make it through my 30's without having to battle crows feet - gray hair is bad enough...

Oh, our new favorite treat is frozen yogurt. We have visited two different self-serve frozen yogurt shops this week. Our favorite is Tuitti Fruitti. I like it because they list the ingredients for you and also tell you which ones are low-fat, have specific vitamins, etc. Abigale likes it because it is apparently the cool yogurt shop, and Hannah just likes trying them all out. So far, Cake Batter is my favorite and I am still trying out all the wonderful toppings. The cherries at Tuitti Fruitti are AWESOME. I will try to post a pic the next time we go.

Stay tuned!

Punishment is served!

Well, to follow up on yesterday’s post, Abby got her punishment today for looking at pictures on her iPod in class when she clearly wasn’t supposed to be using it. They went easy on her since this is her first offense, ever. She got after-school detention for one hour on Thursday. The funniest part is that when she found out in school today, she texted me to tell me the verdict. A clear violation…I suspect she may not have learned her lesson…

Stay tuned!

PS
I still can’t type in Blogger, there is like a 20 second lag time. This is unacceptable.

Abby & Sammy

Maybe this week will be better!

Last week was a rough week. I was busy with work, volunteered at Hannah's Valentine's Day class party, got my hair cut/colored, went out to dinner with my parents, and dealt with the evil shenanigans of my two little darlings.


Abby got her iPod taken away in gym for looking at pictures. She then proceeded to text me on her phone to tell me about it. So, when daddy went into the office to get her iPod back, the secretary wanted to know how he knew about it. He said that Abby had texted me and they said that was another violation and that they would be disciplining her in school. Before she left, her grade Principal told her she would see her in her office on Tuesday morning (Monday is President’s Day) and Abby is petrified that she will get ISS (In School Suspension). I’m just glad this is one punishment I don’t have to dish out at home.

Hannah is a different story. Her bad deeds were done at home so they must be dealt with at home. The short version is she stole a dollar from her sister and then lied about it when she got caught. So, she had to miss Parent’s Night Out at her gym and Abigale and I kept our date and went to dinner and the movies without her. Yes, I almost gave in and let Hannah come, but I didn’t. I am hoping that next time she is tempted to lie or steal that she will realize there are consequences for her actions. At the very least she needs to know that once she is caught, she is caught. Don’t lie, don’t try to worm your way out of it. Admit what you did and take your punishment…We’ll see.

And, the real annoying thing is that entire blog had to be written in Word and then copied and pasted into Blogger. I couldn’t get Blogger to work. There was like 20 seconds lag time in what I was writing. If blogging becomes too much of an effort, I won’t do it…

New Hairdos

Will You Marry Me?

Hannah came home today and told me that a boy at school told her a secret and that she promised not to tell anyone.  I asked her what it was and she said she couldn't tell me.  I dropped it because I know my girl and I knew she wouldn't be able to hold it in for too long. 

About an hour later, she muted the TV and said we needed to talk.  I closed my laptop and gave her my full attention.  She said, "How do you ask someone out?"  I said, "You mean, like out as in boyfriend/girlfriend?" And she said yes.  I asked her who the lucky boy was and she revealed that it was the boy who had told her the secret.  I asked if his secret had anything to do with her question and she said yes.  Then she said, "I guess I can tell you because you are my mom.  He whispered to me that he is going to marry me when he grows up and then he ran away.  I didn't have a chance to tell him that we should date first."  Wow.  2nd grade and she is already talking dating and marriage.  I asked her if she liked him or if she was just responding to his secret.  She admitted then that she really just likes him as a friend for now but that after he told her he wanted to marry her she wasn't sure.  So, I told her that if she didn't really like him in that way it would be best to just remain friends.  I also passed along some advice that my dad told me when I was a kid.  I told her that if anyone ever confesses that they like her or ask her out and she doesn't want to be their girlfriend to never ever make fun of them or make them feel silly about revealing their feelings.  I explained that getting up the nerve to ask someone out is hard and that it is OK to not feel the same way but to never make them feel like an idiot for having those feelings.

Will they wind up boyfriend and girlfriend?  Who knows?  I think the best part is that she talked to me about it and really values my opinion.  It made me so happy that she trusted me enough to talk about something that she was confused and nervous about.  But, I will admit when she revealed that a boy that liked her last year pulled down his pants on the bus to show her his underwear and that they were Star Wars and the light sabers covered his private part, I was left wishing she had kept that tid-bit to herself.  Lord only knows what else she hasn't told!

Hard Day

Lately, Abigale and I have been arguing...a lot.  I am disappointed in her grades and her overall bad attitude.  I have always only expected her best and I don't feel like she is giving her best at school.  I could tolerate the bad attitude if she was giving her school work the attention it deserves, but she isn't.  So, that makes the bad attitude even harder to tolerate.  Sure, I have a good reason to be upset with her and she needs to know that the grades she has are not acceptable. And I am her mother, so it is my job to discipline her and guide her through these tumultuous years.

The problem is, I forgot something that is even more important than discipline and guidance.  Love.  Tonight Abby and I were watching TV and she looked at me and said, "Mom, do you hate me?"  I said, "Of course, not. I love you.  You know that."  She said, "No mom, I don't.  All you have done is yell at me all week and I don't think you like me anymore."  My heart sank.  She was right.  All I had done was tell her how disappointed I was and how she had 2 weeks to bring up her grades or she would lose all her privileges and how she didn't care about anything but herself and her friends.  Never once did I tell her that I loved her.  Never once did I show her any compassion.  Never once did I think about what it is like to be 13 living in a new city and going to a new school. 

And, on top of all that, she has a cute, little sister that is 8 years old and very easy to love and be around (at this moment) and all she sees is that we have fun with Hannah and shower her with love.  In her mind, all we feel for her is disappointment and all we feel for her sister is pride and love.  I tried to explain that they are just different ages and that we don't have the challenges with Hannah that we have with her because Hannah is only 8, but I'm not sure I convinced her.  We talked for a while and she is now happily chatting with her friend on the phone, but I am still smothered in guilt and absolutely determined to make things right again.

You can bet that a lot of Mommy-Abby time is in our future.  I will continue to get on her case when necessary, but I will also make sure to point out all of the positive as well.  And, there are A LOT of positives.

Abby & Me

Lessons Learned

When Hannah was little (really up until she was about 7) she had a record of lying and so we worked on teaching her to always tell the truth.  Over the past year or two I have seen a significant improvement and she now understands why lying is wrong and that it usually is best to just go ahead and tell the truth up front or pay much worse consequences later.

So, the other night Jay drove her to gymnastics classes and then afterwards got her some tacos from Taco Bell for her dinner.  Abby got bummed that I made her a frozen pizza for dinner instead of taking her out for fast food and since Jay knows his daughter so well he asked Hannah not to mention it to Abby that he had gotten her tacos or she would throw a fit.  Well, after they got home, Hannah asked me what Abby and I had for dinner and I told her.  Then, I asked her if she had eaten anything and she said, "No.  Why are you asking me that?"  I said I was just wondering and asked if she wanted me to fix her something and she declined.

About an hour later Hannah asked me if I could get her a bowl of cereal, but she whispered it to me so Jay wouldn't hear.  I said sure and got up to get it.  She told me not to let daddy know and I said that Daddy wasn't going to be mad that I was getting her a bowl of cereal for dinner, especially since it was 8:00 and she hadn't eaten anything for dinner.  After she eats her cereal, she comes over with worry all over her face and says, "Mom, I need to tell you something but you can't tell daddy. I did eat dinner earlier because he got me tacos and that is why I didn't want him to see me eating again."  I said, "Why didn't you tell me the truth in the first place?" And she said, "Well, daddy told me not to tell Abby because he didn't want Abby to get mad and when you asked me if I had eaten she was in the room."  I told her thank you for telling me the truth and that I understood why she did it and that it was important to keep a secret like that and that Daddy was right, Abby would have gotten so mad. 

What a pickle my little lady found herself in and I am so glad she worked it out in her head and told me the truth.  Sometimes doing the right thing is hard.

Hannah & Sammy

Love her angelic face :)

60 Pounds...

Most people don't know that I have been working at losing weight since June.  I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease in May of 2009, which basically means my body attacks my thyroid.  I knew something was wrong from the time I was pregnant with Hannah in 2003 when I kept gaining large amounts of weight each month even though I was eating healthy and keeping a food journal.  Everyone blew me off and just assumed I was lying about the food I was eating, even though I had maintained a healthy weight for years before the pregnancy.  From the time Hannah was born in December of 2003 until May of 2009 I tried on and off to lose weight.  No matter what I did, I could not lose weight.  I did tell my doctor about it a few times and she just told me to go to a dietitian or nutritionist and never took my complaints seriously.  Over those 5 years I gained 85 unexplained pounds. 

Then, in April of 2009 I went on Slim Fast and followed it to a tee for three weeks.  The whole family was supportive with eating a healthy meal each night for my one meal of the day and Abigale was my "coach" for exercising.  I didn't weigh the whole three weeks and when I finally did weigh I had the whole family around me for the big moment.  I gained 3 pounds.  Devastated doesn't even begin to explain how I felt.  Embarrassed, angry, confused, and defeated also topped the list of my emotions in that moment.  I made an appointment with my doctor and went to see her the next day.  I absolutely insisted that she run tests to find out what was wrong with me.  I was emotional and angry and she told me that she was very sorry she hadn't listened to me earlier and that she could see now that there really was an underlying problem.

A few days later we had the answer, Hashimoto's Disease.  This meant that I had NO metabolism and that in order to maintain my weight I would need to be on a vigorous diet plan and exercise a minimum of an hour, 4 days a week, and losing weight was basically impossible.  The good news was that although there is no cure, there is effective treatment and that now that we knew the problem, I would one day be able to lose weight.  The bad news was that they had to start me out on a very low dosage of the medicine and check my blood every three months.  If my blood work showed that my thyroid was still off then they would increase the dosage and retest in another 3 months.  This process went on for 22 months and during that time period I gained another 60 pounds. Until March of 2011 when I stepped on the scale and had actually lost 3 pounds.  We were sure that the medication was finally at the right levels and the blood test results confirmed it.  From the time I had suspected a problem and the diagnosis I had gained 145 pounds.

It took me a few months (we moved to Houston and I began the launch of my new magazine) but I finally started dieting and exercising in June of 2011.  Atkins is my diet of choice just because it is easy and allows me to eat until I am full.  During the summer months I swam laps every day at our neighborhood pool and then when the pool closed in the fall I began working out on the Wii.  At first I thought it would be lame, but I was so wrong.  It tracks my progress, gives me an awesome work-out and I have lost 60 pounds as a result.  I still have a long way to go and haven't even told most folks that I am dieting, but if you read this blog then now you know.  Someday I will post pictures, but I have a little more to lose before that happens.  Stay tuned!

I hate going through school again!

My second grader is not thriving in school right now.  She has horrendous handwriting, and I mean absolutely atrocious.  She can spell when she applies herself, but often she rushes and makes silly mistakes.  And, for some reason, I cannot get this child to learn her math facts.  We do math drills every night, I make up problems for her, I have printed worksheets from online and time her on those. I have drawn pictures, showed her how to count on her fingers (as a last resort) efficiently and quickly, and no matter what I try she doesn't memorize her math facts.  She gets how to regroup and how to borrow, but she gets the wrong answer because she doesn't know her basic math facts.  We wind up fighting every night and it brings back memories of me and my dad fighting at the kitchen table over fractions, but that's a whole other tangent. This kid is bright, she has always excelled academically, and so I just don't know how to break it down for her any further. 

But let's not forget Abigale.  She is a very solid A-B student, except in math.  She has always hated math, even though she eventually winds up getting it enough to at least squeak out a C on her report card. Well, now that she is in middle school I can no longer help her with her homework and even if I could there is absolutely no way that would ever happen.  We only see her for brief minutes at a time and usually there is a meal involved.  Anyways, she has always gotten a C, until this year. We have six, six week grading periods here and so far she has gotten an F for the first 3 grading periods.  We are now half way through the 4th grading period and she currently has an F. She does test retakes, attends tutoring sessions after school, has gone for various amounts of time grounded, and no matter what we/she tries, she winds up with another F.  If she doesn't somehow miraculously pass the last two quarters with high grades AND pass the overall math exam at the end of the year, then she is going to fail 8th grade math .  I guess that means summer school is in her future and I have no clue how she is going to get through Algebra next year. Goodbye summer vacation plans, hello summer school.

I hate going through school again. :(  Stay tuned...