Rest easy

The girls got out of school at 11:30 today for Thanksgiving Break. Our afternoon went like this:

ate lunch. watched a tv show. one fell asleep on the couch. one asleep in my bed. and one in her bed with a headache and cramps, texting. i started feeling lethargic myself. ahhhhhh, what a nice way to start a vaca!

Tomorrow I'm planning on taking them to try on shoes and clothes, so I can get some sizes for Christmas shopping.

Christmas came early

Friday evening, I was invited to a Southern Living party. I didn't go because I've had a pounding headache all week that I just couldn't shake. The girls spent the night with Pop and Gran. Jason watched kung-fu movies and I went to bed (due to the headache).

Saturday, I worked all day. Brooke had basketball practice and Bella had a birthday party. When I got home, I found out that all 3 of the girls were spending the night out again, but at friends houses. I have been bugging Jason about getting some Christmas shopping done early, but to no avail. I decided since we'd be alone, that this would be a perfect time to get a major present out of the way!

Note: There was some good info in this space, but realized that the girls could easily click on my site and read it all....So, I had to do some deleting!

Tehya had her first JO team practice. There are 11 girls on the team. I found out we will travel to places that can be as close as 10 minutes away or 5 hours away. We are still excited, but with that many girls she's gonna have to step up her game to get some playing time in.....

A new hobby!

After reading a book that was based in a knitting shop, I decided to knit. No, I've never knitted before. I got a sewing machine for Christmas last year and attempted to sew the knee holes in my brother in laws pants. They looked like a voodoo doll by the time I was done with them, so it sits and collects dust. Back to knitting! I watched several You Tube videos Saturday night and Sunday evening I bought some needles and yarn, and went at it. It really isn't hard at all. I think my yarn sucks and I should have bought a bigger sized needle. Mine are a size 10. I also should have bought some wooden ones, mine are metal and the yarn slips easily. I can get to about 5 rows and somehow I mess something up. It's like the yarn splits. I try to work through it, but it makes the yarn get really tight, so I throw it away. My daughter is waiting for her scarf!

Christmas wish lists

I have been asking the girls for months to tell me what they want for Christmas. They really don't know. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. They've come up with a few ideas.

Isabella (5): bike
fake pet dog that walks
Ipod, she has an mp3 player
clothes

Brooke (9): bike
dr. stuff, she enjoys playing dr's office
clothes
American girl doll

Tehya (11): digital camera
bike
clothes
Vera Bradley purse
cell phone cover

We are getting them a Wii with guitar hero, and some rainbow flip-flops for whoever wants them. Movie gift certificates also. Maybe a certificate to MegArt. It's a place where you can paint pottery. We went before. They need things to do while on Christmas break. I thought about going skiing or tubing for a day. That would be a nice present. We might just give them money for the clothes so we can go shopping for them together. I can pick stuff out for Brooke and Bella, but Tehya is hard for me to fit. She is so worried about what people will think of her clothes, like if it is too goth or preppy looking. Brooke is not afraid to step out of the box and try funky clothes and colors. And if Brooke will wear it so will Bella. This is all we've come up with. Any ideas?

Bullybaloo

Last week we get a call from the principal saying that Brooke has been "bullying" people in her class. When I hear the word bully, I think of taking lunch money, giving wedgies, that sort of stuff, but name calling has also moved into that category. Her school uses bully reports (I'd never heard of them either) where the victim or witness can write down what went on with the bullying. So, here is a little run down of what's happening.....

Brooke and a boy cannot get along. They call each other names. She fills out a report on him "Jordan called me a loser", he fills one out on her, "Brooke called me a baby". So on and so forth. The guidance counselor talks about it with them, if need be the principle gets involved, which is what happened with her calling us. Evidently, Brooke has had "multiple" (5) reports filled out on her and they were talking suspension if it happened again...OH, HELL NO!!!!! Now we don't condone name calling, but to get suspended for calling someone a loser is ridiculous. He was in the same situation. Basically this report has turned into a form of tattling.

So, Jason and I meet with the principal and guidance counselor. They can't switch classes "because they are always going to have people they don't get along with" to which I replied, "Okay, so you suspend them for 1,2,3 days, they come back and they still have to deal with each other". We have decided to have Brooke and Jordan meet with the counselor for some more in depth discussions and role playing together to try to solve this issue between them. They had a meeting yesterday and it sounds like it was a good and successful one.

So, all that happened last week....then Monday my husband tells me he gets a call from the principal regarding Brooke. Read on for more excitement....

Brooke a boy in her class who LOVES to eat his boogers. He tries to hide it she says, but not very good. She watches him out of the corner of her eyes. I mean it has to be awfully hard to eat a booger in the middle of 18 children and a teacher, right? So, they were walking outside and he said to her, "I'm going to give you Jay germs", he picks his nose and wipes a booger on her, so she immediately pushes him to get him away from her. Yes, yes, yes, she got into trouble for pushing him, but he didn't get into trouble for putting nasty ass boogers on her. She had to sit in a 3rd grade class for the rest of the day.

I understand that pushing him was wrong. We have told Brooke this and that she needs to get her emotions in check. If she had told the teacher, maybe he would have gotten in trouble (doubt it), but she definitely wouldn't have. I don't know what we are going to do with her!

A travelling we will go

Our girls absolutely love volleyball.
Isabella isn't old enough to be on a team yet, but she is at every practice and every game. During this time she is constantly "bumping" the volleyball. She also likes to practice against the wall in my room. She cannot wait for her time to come.
Tehya has been playing for 3 years, Brooke for 2 years.
On Sunday, Tehya tried out for the Junior Olympics volleyball team (JO).They don't go to the Olympics....it's like challenge soccer. There were 20 girls trying out. She did really well, but I did not think that she was going to make it. There was some stiff competition....but SHE DID!!!!! We were so excited. Jason said he wanted to cry because he was so proud of her. We were heading to Subway when we found out. Jason went straight into the restroom...probably to shed a tear. We do know travelling will be involved as to how much we don't know. We aren't sure yet what we have gotten ourselves into, we'll find out more in 2 weeks when the first practice begins. We do know the dates of tourneys and the season lasts through April.
I'm so excited for her to learn some amazing things. This can all be passed on to Brooke and eventually Bella.
I have to say it feels like the Olympics for us!!!

Pumpkin Fest 2008

Brooke as a base

Isabella in her stunt

Tehya and friends

Auntie Amber munchin' on some grindage

The Pumpkin Fest was last weekend. i have been waiting all year for this. I had a gyro from one of the vendors last year. It was loaded with meat, and veggies, and the sauce......I couldn't wait to get another one. I also had to have a funnel cake. I didn't eat breakfast that morning, so i'd have room for the goods. There was lots of great food and entertainment. Isabella and Brooke's cheerleading squad performed a couple of cheers and a dance routine. They did such an amazing job. We had a great time and the weather couldn't of been better.

I'm back......

First 3 are Brooke's team. Last pic is Tehya's team!

I haven't blogged in about 3 months, been reading, just not writing. So, we've been busy with school and sports!

Tehya is in middle school and loves it. They just completed a fabulous volleyball season. I'll post a pic.

Brooke is in 4th grade and doing just as great. She completed her volleyball season with two trophies. Season champs (undefeated) and tourney champs.

Bella is cheerleading as well as Brooke. Their tourney is still going on.