Loved!

Miss 10 is at that age where she is trying to be her own person, and not just my daughter. She's been fighting me on things here and there, mostly on math and getting dressed on the weekends. She attempts and succeeds at doing more things on her own without mine or anyone's help. She loves to make us laugh out loud, she's silly when she should be doing something we asked, she's pouting when we get after her for her lack of getting something done, and she's angry when she doesn't get her way. We argue, we cajole, we talk, we "discuss" and we threaten. Usually none of it works, and we resort to tricking her into things: "First one upstairs gets a hug from Mom!", "First one done with their snack (getting dressed, etc) gets to pick the tv channel." But she's getting too smart for that now and usually calls us on it.

She's also getting very, very strong. Swimming over an hour a day five days a week does that to a body. Her very favorite recreation with us right now is beating up on her father. She pushes him around, wrestles with him and throws her weight on him. She's 90lbs and nearly 5 feet tall. She's developing in places I don't want to think about. She's not my little girl anymore, and it makes me sad.

But, check out the above drawing and caption. Yes, the caption is hard to read, but it does say "Best Mom Ever." My scanner is being all wonky...
Despite our differences, despite her pulling away, I still get the hugs that come on spur of the moment, the kisses out of the side of her mouth in church, and the random, "I love you!" that she is famous for. And, I get drawings and notes that make tears well up in my eyes and my arms long for the little girl who sat on my lap and rocked, just because she felt like it. Happy Love Thursday.

She Got Me!

Here's how you play:
Go to where you store your photos on your computer.
Pick the 4th folder.
Pick the 4th picture in that folder and explain that photo.
Tag 4 people to play along.

Here's my photo. It's a picture I took out of the window of the semi as we were driving a load of field peas to be delivered 120+ miles to our east. Miss 10 and I went with Hubby for the day. It was a bouncy, bouncy ride! But we had a nice day. We went out to eat, shopped a little and enjoyed a sunny drive.

Most people who read here have already been tagged! I'm late on this one. So I'll just let you check out La Reveuse, Mia and You a Travelin' and Allen Fieldhouse to see how they played. Enjoy!

Love List

1. Coffee in the morning, with creamer and while reading the newspaper or a good book.

2. The brief few moments at night before Hubby and I go to sleep and we discuss our day.

3. A hot shower after spending all day being chilled.

4. Real potato chips and french onion dip. (I love it, I don't eat it, but I love it)

5. A hot summer day in my back yard hopefully sitting on the deck with a cool drink.

6. Watching the kids swim in the lake when they were younger and we vacationed at a lakeside resort.

7. Jigsaw puzzles

8. A good book and nothing to make me feel guilty for sitting and reading.

9. When my house is clean, not just when some of it is done, I mean when the floors are done, the bathrooms, the dusting, the windows, etc. When it is at the point where I know I have nothing left to clean.

10. When my family is all together and we play a game of some kind that has all of us laughing.
Happy Love Thursday!

Your turn. Give me your love list, or link to it on your blog. It has to be 10 things, not people, things that are personal to you. Ready, Go!

Big Deal!

Late last year (2008) Miss 10's teacher was missing a lot of school, her father was dying and she and her siblings took took turns staying with him. Because of that, Miss 10 had a substitute teacher. I've written before about Miss 10's learning struggles, so I won't bore you with the background. The papers Miss 10 brought home while having this sub were less than stellar, and these were papers I helped her with, with things marked wrong that in no way were wrong. Hey, I'm not saying I don't make mistakes, I do, but these are 5th grade papers that I have taught and corrected before, the things this sub marked off for were ridiculous. Miss 10 was becoming quite disheartened and convinced that she was "dumb."

Fast forward to this week, Miss 10's regular teacher is back, and has been back since after Christmas break. Report cards came home, papers are coming home and in general the school attitude has been considerably better. We still have lots of homework most nights, but it's not unmanageable. We work hard, and Miss 10 is much more willing to try a little harder.

This week alone we have had milestones that I am so grateful for.
- Social Studies Test on Tuesday 100%
- Spelling Test on Wednesday 100%
- Science Test on Thursday 100%
- Book report due this week, 100% PLUS she is 4 book reports ahead of where she needs to be!
- Math papers that came home this week: 100%, 90%, 100%, 100% and she is a full assignment ahead of the class, which allows us time to really work on things.
- Report Card came home on Tuesday with percentage grades increased in all but one subject, and S and S+'s in everything else.

I talk about the struggles a lot, and I felt that these accomplishments were as worthy of being talked about as the struggles. Miss 10 has worked hard to get these grades, we study for tests at night and again in the morning before school, and that is by her asking, not because I make her. We preview math assignments and pre-read reading assignments, we have the spelling words in advance and start on those early, this week we saw our hard work pay off. Nice work Miss 10!

Seasonal

There is whining and then there is justified whining and the amount of snow where I live leads to justified whining! Although, where my mom lives it is much worse, so she can whine even louder if she likes, I'll let her. In fact the building Mom works in is being closed today due to too much snow on the roof. They are worried about the weight of it bringing down the roof. How scary is that?

Hubby just called me from the farm. He went out to move snow today. He says the yard, equipment and roads are completely buried, like nothing he has seen since he was a kid. Our backyard is that way as well, Miss 10 has been having a blast playing in the snow pile that Hubby has created for her. It's taller than I am! In her lifetime, we have never had snow like this, so it's all a new experience for her.

I used to say the snow we can handle, it's the cold that kills me. At this point, I'm not sure on the accuracy of that statement. The cold is bad today, -14, but the snow is just as bad.

The lack of sunshine is leading to me feeling like a slug. I also think it is leading to the same problem for Miss 10. At least I hope that's all it is. Sure, she is still her busy, talkative self, but she's also being snotty and less than respectful. I am praying it's just the weather sticking it to her, and not a change in her personality leaning to the tween attitude.

The cold temps around here also lead to interesting runs from house to van to school to pool. The van slides around every corner we try, and our shoes slip on ice patches we can't even see. The girls' hair freezes in the brief walk to the van from the pool, and that's with hats on!

That global warming phenomenon that I hear is happening, could it maybe happen here, for a day or two, please?


**don't tell me that global warming is what's causing more snow, either. I know the theory on that, but my frozen brain will not listen to you! LALALALALALA

What Not in 2009

Instead of making resolutions (yes, I know I'm late!) I decided on a few things I am going to try hard not to do in 2009.

1. I am not going to take it personally when one or all of my children are incredibly crabby. It's not my fault. (repeat as needed)

2. I am not going to berate myself for not looking like I did the day I got married. (well, I'm going to try not to do this, it's not easy!)

3. I am not going to stress over every little detail in our lives. There are things I can't control, I am not going to try and control them. (As someone used to tell me repeatedly, "let go, just let go." It hasn't worked so far...)

4. I am not going to make myself sick with nerves when Miss 15 is swimming and I'm worrying about her heart. She can handle herself.

5. I am not going to feel like a worthless parent when Miss 10 struggles with her school work, we do the best we can, anyone who knows us knows how hard we work.

6. I am not taking it personally when Mr 19 refuses to go to church with us anymore. I am not assuming he will never go again, it's just a phase. Right??

7. I am not letting guilt be a reason for me to do things that I don't want or need to.

8. I am not running away to join the circus. The clowns scare me, seriously.

9. I am not joining a rock band and going out on a world tour. My ears will thank me.

10. I am not going to eat anything I don't like just because it's good for me. There are many options, why eat something gross?

11. I am (most definitely) not going to encourage my husband to attend his 25th high school reunion.


So, there are my nots. There are a lot more, but I'm tired of saying not, and now it looks wrong when I type it out. I hate it when that happens!

Let me know what your nots are, put them in the comments, or put them on your blog and leave me the link.

Happy 2009 everyone!

Wrap Up

Our Christmas and New Year's Eve was highlighted with the joyous jubilant noise created by two little monsters under the age of 2. Our Niece and Nephew kept all of us on our toes and laughing until our sides were tired. They wore us out and energized the party, all at the same time. My 3 children spent a lot of time playing with their cousins, they helped, they held and they teased. They shared gift opening with them, and helped them play with their toys. It was eye opening for me to see my children as the "older" cousins and they joy they got watching their younger cousins play and misbehave (sometimes!) All three of my children were very, very good (in my humble opinion) with the little ones. They were helpful and patient, and surprised both Hubby and I with their gentleness. It was an opportunity for us to see our children in a way we aren't used to.