Moments With Meg

The Girls Keep Growing!

Family Pictures, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, School Issues, Summer Fun 1 Response »

May 112012

As it is mid-May and summer is upon us. My girls are revved up and ready to start the long summer days full of camps, swimming and a lot of nothing! The fact that they are growing up slaps me in the face almost everyday.

Ella bridged from being a Daisy Girl Scout to a Brownie Girl Scout. She is extremely proud of this and the fact that her first overnight camp will be this summer.

Meg went to sixth grade camp. She climbed the Alpine tower and is planning on zip-lining this summer. Adventure awaits her for sure.

Mita is furiously making plans for becoming a sixth grader that include playing soccer and the cello. She will have to be at school at 7:30am next year, and while she thinks it is no big deal, I am dreading getting her up that early!

Enu, in Fourth grade, hit the jackpot for field trip years and has been busy running around the state visiting Amish Country (not a real country mind you), the high school FFA ( a different world) and has plans to visit the State House soon. She is ready to rule the intermediate school next year in the fifth grade with NO other sisters to bug her.

Goodbye 2011-2012 school year. May we have a long, long summer full of fun times, empty afternoons reading in the shade and popsicles. Lots of popsicles.

Sunburned from camp!

So Proud Of My Girl

A Mom's Job, Moments With Meg 1 Response »

May 092012

Meg has been working very hard on her Girl Scout Silver Award these past few months. The Silver Award is the highest award a Caddette Girl Scout can earn. It is 50 hours of learning, planning, and teaching a sustainable project that is targeted towards your community, not just Girl Scouting.

She choose recycling as her topic. She learned about recycling jeans into insulation for homes and part of her project is to collect denim to send to the Cotton From Blue To Green program. She almost has 100 pairs. She has gone to several Girl Scout meetings to teach the girls about her project, and to do a craft with them using old jeans (cup cozyies). Working on her speaking skills she presented her project and asked for sponsorship money to two groups of adults and her own troop. She toured a local recycling plant to learn how plastic is recycled, and also planned a “Fashionable Recycling” event for the our community. Meg has taken this very seriously and knows that earning her Silver Award and eventually her Gold Award will help her get college scholarships. She does think this far ahead on her own. It’s genetic she is a mini-hubby.

She held her event today. A very busy day for our community with baseball, prom,and a local festival. Her turnout was not what she had hoped for. My heart ached for her. She held her chin up, taught the kids (mostly her helpers) and the adults about her project, played games, made bracelets and then came home and went to her room for a while.

She didn’t cry, complain or whine, but she wouldn’t talk to me either. I told her that today was a success. She planned, organized, brought together volunteers, got door prizes and hosted a wonderful learning event. Today was a success. I hope through her disappointment that she can see what she has accomplished and take some learning lessons from it and move on.

Her project is not quite done, she has a few more hours to go and more jeans to collect. She will finish though. She will probably also turn a lot of today’s work into a fair project so the work will not be in vain.

I cannot be more proud of my girl. Living the disappointment and successes of your children is a roller coaster ride. I want to jump in. I want to fix things. I want it all to be rainbows and unicorn farts (a favorite saying of my girls). I also am glad to know that while disappointment is rough, that learning how to deal with the disappointments in life when you are young makes you a tougher more tenacious person.

My Meg is going to set the world on fire, just wait and see.

Getting Her Ready For Social Media

A Mom's Job, Family, Frustrated Mommy Moments, Moments With Meg, My Soap Box, Parenting, Safety, Teendom No Responses »

Apr 252012

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have an almost 13-year-old that is bringing the whole social media thing and her use of it to my forefront. I have several ideas running through my head on how to approach this, but I still have time. I don’t think I am in denial, I just like to procrastinate. Ask Hubby if you don’t believe me.

Meg (said almost thirteen year old) has a blog. She started it not quite a year ago and reviews books, movies and a few random posts. She is an obsessive reader, likes to write and is currently writing her first novel, which I find amazing, I know I am a her mom, but it is amazing. From time to time though she gets writers block and for some reason thinks it is my responsibility to help her through it. This conversation just happened this morning:

Meg: Mom, I don’t know what to write for my next blog. Tell me what to write. (Read in a whiny voice).

Mom: Write about Earth Day, write about your Silver Award project.

Meg: I’ve tried and I cannot. I’ve tried and tried.

Mom: Just start writing and throw out your first paragraph, a lot of writers do that.

Meg: I can’t, tell me what to write! (whiney voice is louder and more annoying)

Mom: (Watching a TV commercial about cars) Write about how you feel when you start daddy’s car in the morning. It could be a good father’s day gift for him.

Meg: (Silence)

Mom: (….ah silence)

This is what she came up with When I Start The Car. I think she did a great job sharing her emotions and I am very happy that I was able to help her out for once. Maybe now she’ll listen to me sooner, but I doubt it.

It is times like these that make me think she may be ready to dip her toe in the tumultuous ocean of social media. Not because writing a good blog makes you savvy to the ways of Facebook, but because she has demonstrated that she can share her feelings effectively to the world (or me). She writes, she proofreads, she edits.

She recently sent a text that hurt her friend’s feelings. We were able to talk about how texting and emails don’t show the emotions that your voice does. You cannot say somethings with a text. It’s just not done. A painful lesson, but on a smaller scale thankfully. I cannot help but mourn for the girls who have texted much worse to people such as inappropriate pictures. Our children have the whole world in their hands, literally. The power they have is daunting, yet we seem to let them treat it way too lightly.

To many I may be over thinking the social media thing. I may seem obsessive or over-protective with my kids. I cannot help but be careful with my girls though. Social media is the way of the world. Bosses are checking your Facebook page. Colleges are tracking your movements. Your social media footprint follows you much like your credit score, and you have to protect it. On top of that you have crazy people trying to meet with your children in hotel rooms (we have one of those down the street).

I hope when Meg clicks post on Facebook she looks at her post not as a brief update on what she is doing after school, but as a little piece of her that she is sharing with the world. I hope she can look at it objectively and think “Does the world need to know this about me?” “Is this a safe thing to share?” “Would I share this with a stadium full of people?” “Is this fair to other people?” “Will it hurt someone’s feelings?” That is a lot of questions to go through someone’s mind, but with time and practice I think we can learn to take a double look at our contributions to the world. Even if they are only 140 characters or a pin.

Wordless Wednesday: Proud Of My 5K Girl

Moments With Meg, Wordless Wednesday 1 Response »

Mar 282012

Movie Review And Rant: The Hunger Games

A Mom's Job, Books I Have Read, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Reviews, Teendom 1 Response »

Mar 262012

Okay. So I wrote that this is a movie review and a rant. I will rant first. I know I am not the coolest mom ever. Or the coolest mom. Or a cool mom. But I am a mom and I did fork over close to $50 yesterday to take my two oldest darlings to see The Hunger Games. Nevermind that I would have seen it anyway if they hadn’t wanted to watch it because I am in love with this book series. Gas, tickets, popcorn aren’t cheap. You would think I would get one lousy picture of my girls having fun at the movies…..noooooo. Not one picture of them in front of the movie poster, in the theater, posing with tickets. Nothing. I took a picture of my lonely little ticket to remember the day. Maybe when Catching Fire comes out I’ll not take them unless they sign a contract saying they will pose for one picture. Don’t they know that these events are the memories of their childhood? Don’t they know that they need to have them documented in photos so they will have hundreds of Shutterfly books to look through with their own children, my grandchildren, to show what an awesome ~~mom~~ childhood they had? Enough of the rant and on to the review.

I’ve read enough book series turned movie franchises to know that it is impossible to put everything from the book on the screen. The movies would be five hours long. I would still pay to see it, but apparently the movie people don’t know how die-hard readers can be! The Hunger Games the movie was close enough to the book to please me. I can excuse the few missing characters, though I miss them.

If you have not read the books and only seen the movie the way Katniss gets her Mockingjay pin is not correct, and it loses some of its value I think in how she obtained it. In the books Cinna is one of my favorite characters, he is very flamboyant, yet supportive. The movie Cinna is certainly supportive, kind and him and Katniss work well together, but he was lacking in some of his charm. Except for his eyeshadow, he wasn’t that WOW as he was in the book.

What I loved about the movie. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch was great, I enjoyed his portrayal. Katniss was the Katniss from the books, I think she nailed it. Peeta was perfect, Gale had a small part in this first film, but I feel he is going to be perfect in this role. I hate the whole Team Gale/Team Peeta thing. This is about Katniss! She is not a prize to be won, she is a stand alone person. Trying to tell this to my giggly girls is aggravating.

The violence in the movie was PG-13 for sure. It was really hard to watch children kill children. The books can be hard to read, but as I am a visual person, it was hard to watch. I questioned letting Mita and Meg see it on the screen. They had read the books, I’ve tried to discuss the issues with them as they read them. I still don’t know if they get the entire picture, but I feel they are on the right track. I would be hesitant to allow a young tween/teen see this film if they hadn’t read the books and started digesting the whole fight to the death theme of the books. I don’t think murder should be glorified.

The theme of The Hunger Games being a reality TV show is very important for this upcoming generation especially. It shows how real live human beings can be turned into mearly characters to play with. Watching the behind the scenes people come up with dogs, fires and darkness to add to the games appeal is reprehensible and yet it rings a bit to close to home. Reality TV is not reality. We see people turn into diva monsters all the time for a few minutes of cheap fame. A great discussion starter with the kids about the realities of reality TV and how human lives should not be treated lightly.

I encourage parents to read this series if they have kids reading or watching them! If you want to learn more about them Scholastic has a great site to check out. Have you read the books and seen the movie? Did you allow your tweens or teens to see the movie? What are your thoughts.

Here is Meg’s blog about the movie. Notice how much time she spends on Peet and Gale! Arghh!

Trying To Figure Out The Social Media Thing For My Kids

A Mom's Job, Entertainment, Family, Moments With Meg, My Soap Box, Parenting, Safety, Teendom 1 Response »

Mar 092012

I must tell you that the knee-jerk reaction I have when I think of my kids joining social media is no, absolutely not, never and lets just not even go there. Why do I feel this way? Well, it is just one more thing to monitor for one, and I just don’t need anything else to my list to check on. My daughters also see their friends five days a week if not more, so they are not lacking socialization.

My oldest daughter, Meg, does think it is somwhere she needs to go. Hmm. Now I have to do that parenting thing and not the dictatorship thing that comes to naturally and makes my life that much more easy. Meg will be the magic 13 this October and is already being strategic about getting onto Facebook as 13 is the legal age to have a Facebook account. I will repeat, Facebook allows you to have an account when you are 13. I repeated that because many parents don’t know this or don’t care about this rule. I recently learned that everyday Facebook kicks off around 100,000 underage kids. It irritates me that parents allow and encourage their kids to break the rules. Go ahead, teach your kids that rules don’t apply to them, we need more entitled kids in this world (sarcasm).

I have noticed that many of Meg’s friends are on Facebook (underage) and even have open to the public accounts. Not even the basics of safety have been undertaken. That scares me. Are we just ignorant as a society or in total denial that bad things can happen to our children?

Okay, back to my own house. I know my kids will be exposed to social media at some point, Actually they are already on Yoursphere network. I love Yoursphere and have tried to get Meg’s friends on it so they can talk and be social online together in a safe place, but it didn’t take. The kids were already on Facebook. I even recommended it to the middle school principle and PTO as a fundraiser and a solution to the social media problem at the school. No go. This at a school that at the orientation spent the majority of the time talking about “mean girls” and social media problems that they were having with behavior.

At a recent Girl Scout event they offered a Hip Pop session for parents/leaders covering social media basics. The one thing I really took away is that we want our kids to be innovators of social media/computer not just consumers. Meaning we want our kids to learn and create things not just stare at a screen. He suggested that we get our kids blogging, making movies, even writing apps. I was pleased that Meg already fits in this category with her blog.

To sum up this all over the place post, I am working towards a plan to raise media savy kids who are productive in our techy climate. I will share my plans and ask many questions on this quest.

I have a headache already. Why can’t they just stay little and be happy with a few places?

Don’t forget to enter my St. Patrick’s Day giveaway! Ends March 11, 2012

Worry Much?

A Mom's Job, Hubby, Moments With Meg, Parenting 1 Response »

Feb 082012

So the bad news is that I am neurotic and the good news is that apparently my condition is getting better.

Nine years ago Hubby surprised me with a seven-day cruise to the Western Caribbean. When I say surprised, I mean total shocker. We hadn’t talked about it or anything, I just opened up my Valentines card and there it was. Lovely man, I know.

Nine years ago I only had one little one. Meg was about three. I was still perfect mom. You know what I mean, I did it all right and I could tell anyone how to raise a perfect kid. Meg was a dream child in so many ways and I attributed it to me. Hubby too. But Me.

I was a wreck about leaving her. I was sure we would die on the plane and not be around to enjoy watching her grow up. I was positive that a week with her grandmas would spoil my perfect child. So I did what every perfect mom would do and I created a pamphlet, yes a pamphlet, for the grandmas. The title of the pamphlet was: How to Raise A Meg. Really, that is what I called it.

The trip came and went, all was well. Apparently my perfect child at one point jumped up on the counter and called my father in law a “lily-livered-codfish”. I, of course, thought that she was a genius for reciting Peter Pan (a personal favorite) but my father in law wasn’t impressed! She did fine and was not spoiled forever, we lived to see her again and the pamphlet was forgotten.

Until last night. Going through old pictures, by mom showed it to me at our Super Bowl get together. Oh my gracious. How embarrassed was I? Reading this pamphlet was eye-opening. I must have been an obnoxious bitch of a mom at that time. I am able to laugh at myself, but it was enlightening to see how condescending I was back then. At least I hope it was back then.

We are leaving for Hawaii on Sunday. When I say we I mean, Hubby and I. That lovely man did it again and surprised me on my birthday last year. The kids are staying home mostly with my mom. My mom in law and my sister-in-law on deck to help out as needed. I’ve called in a few favors to help with the picking up and dropping off that is needed with school age kids. There will be no pamphlets this time around as I do not have the time to make four of them, nor is there room on a piece of paper to explain all the craziness in my head that is parenting. I do have a schedule made out, a menu planned, general rules for the girls and the necessary permissions for my mom, dad and mom in law to take care of the kids.

So the good news is that I am no longer, neurotic mom. Or maybe it’s not that I’m no longer neurotic, it’s just that I don’t have time or energy to be. Hmmm.

Pure Delight

A Mom's Job, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Parenting, Teendom 1 Response »

Jan 072012

Watching the girls grow up is downright amazing. I’ve said in the past that when they are small you are so exhausted and tired of saying “no”, of doing the diaper thing, the potty training thing, the sharing thing that you tend to not pay attention or appreciate fully the gains. You are just happy to be through them.

As they get older and the achievements are more out of the hygiene realm, watching them grow, learn and become who they are meant to become is nothing less than miraculous. I have found that every morning they come out of their rooms one step closer to adulthood and it makes me want a pause button in some ways and an applause button in other ways.

Where did Meg, long-legs Meg, get her confidence? Both Hubby and I didn’t have great self-confidence growing up, yet she is strong, solid and humble in her self. I’ve had teachers and other adults tell me how kind she is and how she isn’t a braggart in her accomplishments.

Mita. My dear Mita has blossomed into a young woman (seriously, have you seen her?!). She is quiet and works so hard. She is reading up a storm and is a straight A student. Straight A’s for a child who four years ago knew no English! Her room is her castle and she loves to clean it and take pride in her appearance. The outfits she puts together dazzle and are stunning. How does she make sweats look glamorous?! Her heart. Her heart has had more sorrow than many have had in a lifetime, and yet she is healing. She gives me spontaneous hugs and I love yous. She calls me Mommy sometimes. I love to just stare at her. She doesn’t like that so much though!

Enu. Enu is the child who is teaching me patience and perseverance. She is growing by leaps and bound physically and emotionally. She is finding herself slowly, but it is happening. She is great with young kids and as of right now she is helping me watch my niece. She will be a great babysitter in just a few years. Her smile is contagious, and she really is quite funny. It will be great to watch her harness her energy in the years to come.

Elle. Elle is my elfin fairy for sure. She is now seven and I look at what Meg was like at seven and they are so different yet alike. Elle is becoming very funny, almost a dry sense of humor in some ways. Her comebacks make Hubby and I look at each other and smile. She can take care of herself just fine in a pack of four sisters! She still plays with toys, which makes me sooooo happy. For Christmas she got an iPod and a Lalaloopsy doll and she will walk around playing with both at the same time. She still cuddles which makes me think she will always be a cuddler! Yeah! My baby reads. My. Baby. Reads.

Watching my girls grow is truly a pure delight. I am overwhelmed with how fast everything is going. Meg is talking about college (of course she has always talked about college, but now I picture it happening!). Hubby and I find ourselves talking about a third car for the girls to share.

I know that talking about your kids growing up is a well-worn topic. I’ve heard for years how it goes by quickly. It makes me ache that this is so true but at the same time I love, love, love watching them learn, grow and burst into the world. If I have anything to do with how wonderful these children are it is my greatest honor in life. My work is done, everything else is a bonus.

The Brilliance Of My Eldest Is Blinding

A Mom's Job, Moments With Meg 1 Response »

Dec 022011

Meg and Hubby

Can you tell that I am a proud mama from the title of this post? Meg has started her own blog reviewing books, DVDs and other things important to her.

I give you MegsMumboJumbo! Check it out and leave her some love!

Thanks to @FireMom for working out all the techy stuff!

Time Capsule Letters…I Am Better Than I Thought!

A Mom's Job, holidays, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, NaBloPoMo, Stuff 3 Responses »

Nov 262011

Photobucket
Hubby got down the Christmas decorations on Thanksgiving afternoon per our normal tradition. The girls carried the boxes in from the garage and I opening up a lid on the first box. On top was an envelope that said “Time Capsule 2010″. Hmmm. My hand writing. Wow what a great idea! I’m so glad I thought of that, and then forgot it?!

So once all the decorations were up (the kids did an awesome job by the way, it is great to have kids who are old enough to actually help with things!) we sat down and I read the letters. They were simple questions like:

What was your favorite song in 2010?

What was your favorite movie in 2010?

What do you remember most about 2010:

What do you hope happens in 2011?

It turns out that none of the girls’ predictions came true, Elle doesn’t have long hair and Mita didn’t get to go to Washington State. We did make it to Chuck E. Cheese as Elle had hoped for and Meg did get to perform more in 2011 between her choir and being in Children’s Letters to God. Enu did not get to spend the night for a week at her friends house, but she did start doing her hair better!

A nice moment for us. I think this year I will add a few more question and have Hubby and I do one to. I am going to add this to our Advent activities (Oh yeah, haven’t started planning those yet either.)

I wonder if I will forget next year? Maybe I should go back and see if I blogged about my idea? Echinacea anyone?

Growing Out Of Halloween

A Mom's Job, holidays, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita 1 Response »

Nov 012011

The planning of Halloween is more fun for me than the actual Trick or Treating. I love planning with the girls, looking for the good deals and finding the perfect costume.

This year Meg was…well I don’t know what her costume was, but she was cute. Purple and black with a funky hat. Very twelvish! It was all about the candy for her.

Mita wanted to be a bumble bee. I was thrilled that she wanted to dress up. She has never really embraced Halloween and the two previous years she didn’t wear her costume at the last-minute. This year she wore her costume, but put on a sweatshirt the whole time so I never saw the whole suit and of course she didn’t let me take a picture :(

Enu wore the same costume as she did last year, Tiana. She looked beautiful, but this year is definitely the last year for that costume! It was snug to say the least. On our second round of Trick or Treating she went as a golfer. Girls change their minds a lot it seems.

Enu as a golfer

My baby is almost seven. This year for Halloween she dressed up as Rapunzel. She loved dressing up and her outfit was completed by a Gecko and a frying pan as well as a smaller Gecko and small frying plan. If you have seen Tangled, you will understand the frying pan thing. She is still excited about the costume. How many years will I have left with her excitement? How long will it take for her to say M &M’s correctly?

Ella as Rapunzel

As I write this the girls are trading their loot. Heavy negotiations going on. It brings back memories of my brother Josh and I when we were little. The fun part was trading and pulling one over on him! Of course in about a week I will combine all of the candy into one pile to save space, but they seem to have forgotten that fact right now.

I wonder about next year. Will I have only two costumes to plan for? I guess there is always the grandchildren in 20 years!

In Defense Of Not Being The Best

A Mom's Job, In Defense Of, Moments With Meg 6 Responses »

Oct 282011

Meg likes to golf. Hubby has been taking her and Mita out for a few years now. She likes it. She enjoys learning about the game. She was so excited to be able to join the golf team when she hit the sixth grade. At our school the six graders can practice with the team, but are not guaranteed playing time. So she practiced this fall. She didn’t seem to be enjoying herself though. She said she wasn’t going to be on the team next year.

Hubby was disappointed, but was fine with that until she said she still wanted to play golf and learn to golf better, but she didn’t want to play on the team because the other girls were better than her. Hmmm. That changes things for me as a parent. Meg is the oldest and very much has the oldest kid mindset, outgoing and stubborn, responsible to a fault at times and all around lovely kid. So why does she have to be the best at everything in her mind?Why can’t she just play for the love of the game?

Are we teaching our kids (knowingly or unknowingly) that things are only worth their time if they are the best at it? Is this a new phenomenon or is it age-old and I am just experiencing it with my oldest child for the first time? More experienced parents please help me out here.

I want my kids to have fun, enjoy activities, have hobbies. These are all things I didn’t concentrate on when I was young. I read books and avoided almost all activities save for concert going. I want my girls to have a life-sport they can participate in forever to stay in shape and enjoy themselves.

Hitting my stride later in life has been a struggle for me and off course I want to be a good role model for my family. I started running and really enjoyed it, even completed my first 5K, then got an infection and havn’t been on a run in weeks. Maybe I need to start running again and show Meg that while mommmy will never win a race, she can still run for the fun of it.

I hope she goes out for golf again next year. I’ll be crossing my fingers and encouraging without nagging (is that possible?).

If you are reading girls, just play, have fun. In 5, 10, 20 years who played better golf in the sixth grade will not be the topic of conversation for people. I promise.

A Dozen

birthday, Moments With Meg 1 Response »

Oct 102011

It’s not possible.

Twelve

TWELVE

A DOZEN

10 + 2

2 x 6

XII

Don’t forget to enter my Dinosaur Train book giveaway!

Wordless Wednesday: Life’s A Beach

Family Pictures, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Travel 2 Responses »

Sep 212011

Tech Week Is Not For The Weak

A Mom's Job, Family, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Stuff 1 Response »

Sep 132011

Meg and Mita are in a play this week. Children’s Letters to God will be put on by our local children’s theatre. This is Mita’s first play and Meg’s third. Meg loves it. Mita says she will not do another one, drags her feet for practices and moans a lot…but at practice she seems to adore it. Hmmn. It will be interesting to see how she does for the performances and if she will think all the hard work is worth it.

It is amazing how differently siblings handle things. Meg is in stealth mode. She eats, sleeps, goes to school and golf and then it’s all about the play. She loves it. Period.

Enu and Elle are not loving it so much. They hate running sissies back and forth to practice. All they do is mumble about how boring it is. Yet I think they are going to love the actual show. I know they will love it.

Tech week is basically very long, late practices every night before the show. Last night the girls got home at 10pm. We will see how they get up this morning. Tech week is fast food week, spend a ton in gas week and no time for anything week. It is hard on the family no doubt. Hubby says we are taking a break after this from the theatre. I agree with him, but do so love to watch them stretch themselves, learn and have fun.

As a family with four kids we really try not to over-schedule our lives. We want the kids to have free time to play, read and just be kids. Now that Meg is in middle school, we are seeing an increase in activities that she wants to explore. I encourage her to explore but not all at once! Being in a performance such as the kids are in right now is a real stretch for us. One that we decided to go with this time around, but know that we cannot maintain this pace if our house is going to remain standing, with clean laundry, clean hamster cages and sane parents!

I will be ready for it to all be over, but I will treasure watching them on stage.

What activities does your family participate in that push the limits on family schedules, money and sanity? Is it worth it or are you toning it down a bit?

(email me at fouragainsttwo @ gmail . com if you want info on tickets)

Art Credit

Reading With Meg

Books I Have Read, Moments With Meg, Stuff No Responses »

Jun 132011

I love this picture of her. Her face is just like when she was a baby. Serious.

Once upon a time. A long time ago. I was an idealistic mother who couldn’t wait for her daughter to grow up and read all the books her mother loved so we could sit around and talk about them together. I made a list of books I wanted her to read, categorized by age appropriateness and reading level.

Fast forward ten years later and some of the list has been read by Meg. I have discovered a few things along the way. One is that Meg is Meg, not me. Two is kids like to talk, a lot, but not about things you want to talk about. Three is that Meg has given me my own list of books to read.

While Little Woman and Little House on the Prairie will always hold dear to my heart I have fallen in love Harry Potter. I recently read a fun book entitled Schooled. I read The Hunger Games trilogy and am discussing it with Meg as she completes it herself. The 39 Clues series is on my reading list as she really enjoyed them.

She likes adventure, mystery, strange languages and hard to pronounce names. I like history, clean and fun romance and moral courage throughout the pages.

Watching her read a book reminds me of me at her age as I would read all day long, switching positions (Chair. Floor. Hanging upside down off couch.) just as she does now. She will read for hours until a book is done, just like I can. She gets twitchy if she doesn’t have a book, like me.

Having a child is such a mystery. She is so Hubby. She is so me.

I’ll read what she recommends any day!

A Sixth Grader In The Family

Moments With Meg 3 Responses »

May 242011

Meg and her best bud.

It is hard to believe that my first baby is going up to Middle School next academic year. I hadn’t been emotional about it until today. Today was Intermediate Idol (5th grade talent show) and the 5th grade recognition ceremony and it all hit me like a ton of bricks. Tomorrow middle school then High School, then college. Someone hit the fast forward button and it got stuck!

I was so pleased that Meg participated in the talent show. She choreographed a dance to Dynamite by Taio Cruz and danced with four other girls. All dressed in crazy socks and Tye-died shirts.

Talent show dance. And yes they all dressed like this!

Then came the recognition. Such an outstanding class. She received many certificates, but I was proudest of the American Citizenship Award she earned. Two kids from each class were awarded it for a positive attitude toward classmates, school and community, possess strength of character and courage to do what is right, participate in school activities and help promote citizenship with their school or community. That is my girl! Okay – Mine and Hubby’s girl :)

Sometimes

Moments With Meg, Stuff No Responses »

Mar 292011

Sometimes they still like you enough to goof around.

To tease and hug you. To act silly and not worry about being cool.

I wish this could last forever.

My Playwright Daughters

Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Stuff 3 Responses »

Oct 142010

I can remember getting together with the neighborhood kids when I was around seventh grade and all of us writing and practicing a play. Our play was not totally an original. We were doing an episode of Family Ties. I think I was Mallory, but I’m not sure anymore. Anyway, we were ignoring that fact that this show was a sit-come and we made it more a drama-tragedy.

Our plot was that the father, whats his name, was on a airplane about to crash and we were acting out his last thoughts of his family. Now that I think about this, it’s funny how morbid we were! We never acted out the play, but had a lot of fun for a few days messing around with it. That was the extend of my theater experiences, except for taking Drama I as a freshman in high school and I don’t want to remember that.

My daughters are much more into the acting mode. Meg has two plays under her belt with our local theater and is currently in a Children’s Choir with Mita. The four of them together always equals drama so I wasn’t surprised when the plays started in our house. They are fun, and goofy and at times all they are is a bunch of giggles. But I have noticed that some never make the “stage”. Here is a skit that I just loved that never came to be performed for Hubby and I, due to extensive cast changes (the neighbor kids joined and confusion ensued to the point where they would rather play on the trampoline!) but I wanted to share it with the world.

I have kept in the typos and only changed the names to protect the innocent!

The Story of a Nightmare

Scene one

(Elle in bed with a teddy bear)

Mita: Juile did you brush your teeth?

Elle: yes

Mita: Did you set your clothe for tomorrow?

Elle: Yes

Mita: I will tuck you in before I go to bed.

Meg and mita: dreaming x 4.

Scene Two

(Elle wakes up)

Elle: Mommy where are you?

(Silents)

LOUD NOISE

( Enu comes in)

Elle: screams and runs out the door.

Enu chases her on and on.

Scene Three

Elle and Enu run in.

Elle: screams

(Green Frog and Pink bird run in to see what’s the matter.)

Meg: Run Juile while I distract him

Mita: follow me

Scene four

Elle: where where are we?

Mita: are in the Basement where no stuffed animal is brave enough to get us.

Only the Green frog and me have ever gone down here before

This is our hide out from the brown bear and other bad stuffed animals.

Enu: I will get you someday and eat you all like stuffing

And chicken.

Scene five

Elle: are you ok?

Meg: I am fine. I should be asking you are ok?

Elle: yeah I am fine thanks you guys I wouldn’t live if it wasn’t for you.

Mita: ohh it was nothing in fact it is our job.

Meg: Yes it is we are soposed to tell kids that they are just bad dreams and you can control them if something horrible is going to happen.

I have to say that the spelling of the word “Silents” and the quote “I will get you someday and eat you all like stuffing And chicken.” need to be copyrighted! And what does dreaming x 4 mean?

Photo Credit

My First Born Is Eleven!

birthday, Moments With Meg 3 Responses »

Oct 102010

The cliches are true. Time does fly. Your kids do grow up to quick. We moms are a sappy mess when they figure this out.

Eleven years ago today I became a mother. Meg came out grunting and left me quickly to get extra oxygen and didn’t nurse for about four hours. I was so worried that she wouldn’t nurse, but she latched right on and we nursed for fifteen months, tongue-tie and all. She was a serious, quite baby and a complete joy. I used to watch her sleep and miss her while she napped. Oh the joys of the first baby.

Meg is an amazing kid. She is kind and stands up for her beliefs. Of course I’m going to say that as she is mine. But that is what moms do, sing the praises of their babies! She has taught me so many lessons on life, motherhood and about people in general.

Bruised and battered, she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!

Always very dramatic!

Wild and free thinking young lady.

Thank you baby! You make us so proud.

Wordless Wednesday:Chalk on the Walk

Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Wordless Wednesday 1 Response »

Sep 292010

Meg won Honorable Mention for the 5th grade.

This was Elle's first year for Chalk on the walk.

Tes kissed up to the judges with saying school was cool!

Enu drew a farm and loved bringing home a new bucket of chalk!

For more Wordless Wednesdays check out this link.

Wordless Wednesday: Glasses Are Coooooool

Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Wordless Wednesday 3 Responses »

Sep 212010

(Okay, a few words! If you have girls with glasses help a fellow blogger out and send her some pictures.)

More Wordless Wednesdays

Our Week In Pictures

Family Pictures, girl scouts, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita 2 Responses »

May 202010

This has been a bit of a busy week. Most of our weeks entail me running around, mind you, but we had some major events this week. Major for us, anyway, the world didn’t stop spinning and CNN didn’t call. We did however, have two girls Fly Up from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts and it was Elle’s last day of pre-school today. Definitely a time for pictures!

Meg later helped Enu get into her new Junior (green sash).

Mita wouldn't put on her sash, but liked the flowers!

The Flying Upceremony in Girl Scouts can be a simple affair or a major ceremony. The leaders for Mita and Enu planned this ceremony perfectly. There was food, goodie bags, some official ceremony of the pledge, the promise and a song and of course the girls walking across the stage (pretend bridge) receiving their badges and pins they earned over the last year.

Elle attended her last day of pre-school. Last day EVER! She starts Kindergarten in August and will be a full-time student for about two decades. She is excited of course, but I will miss our days at home with just the two of us. Don’t tell the other girls, but sometimes Elle and I would just watch TV or eat popcorn after the kids went to school. It was like having our own little Neverland, where she didn’t have to share with her sisters and I didn’t have to make her share! Here Elle is after I picked her up today. They did clown face-painting as a last day of school activity.

Not to leave Meg out…she had to decorate a potato as a book character this week. She choose to make a Hermione Grainger potato (big surprise there!). Hermione Potato Head was dressed in purple netting for the Yule Ball. I failed as a mother and didn’t get a picture taking of said potato before Meg took it to school. No big deal you say? Just take one when she brings it home from school? I would if some potato mashing bully hadn’t wrecked poor Potato Hermione at school! Ruffians. Anyway, Meg is confident she can repair her creation, so I may have a photo in the next few days!

How was your week?

Photo Credits Mandy W. 2010

You Capture: A Moment

Moments With Meg, You Capture 4 Responses »

Mar 252010

IMGP59972 This week Meg is in her second children’s theater production. They are preforming Suessical Musical and it looks to be a really great production! They have all worked hard, and I must say that Meg is going to be the best Hairdresser Who there every was!

Taking some pictures of her, I realized that it will only be a few more years of her needing me to put on her makeup. Granted this is stage makeup and quite heavy, but soon enough she will be putting makeup on daily and fussing over such things. IMGP5996 IMGP59801 I feel like I got a glimpse into the future the moment she asked to put on her mascara by herself. Ten isn’t that old is it? I still have time? Right?!

Check out more You Capture at I should be Folding Laundry!

Photo Credits: Mandy W.

The Wizard Came To Town

Moments With Meg No Responses »

Nov 242009

Meg was in a production of The Wizard of Oz this past weekend. She was a Munchkin counsel-woman with a line all her own! She tried out and has been working with PowerHouse of SEO since August and as a mom I must say I was really impressed with this production. Not only did Meg learn a lot about theater, but she ENJOYED it immensely! Meg is very serious and wants to do things right. She has never enjoyed her dance recitals and always looked as if she were in pain while on stage. This is not so with acting. She did a great job and had so much fun that she wants to do it again and so do her little sisters!

Meg went through more make-up in 5 days then I have in 5 years!

She really got into her part.

What a natural!

The last two weeks have made for a busy time for our family, and I haven’t had much time to blog, clean or do anything else. I have no regrets though and these pictures will show how great a time we had with this production! As I write this now, Elle is singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. I love it!

Double Digits

A Mom's Job, Moments With Meg 6 Responses »

Oct 122009

Meg

My baby, my first born, turned ten on Saturday. This past year I have been dreading this birthday and didn’t approach it with my normal birthday pizazz and preparation. When the magical day arrived I met it with an unexpected attitude. While I had been prepared for being sentimental and a little sad (and I did get a bit sappy) I mostly felt immense pride in my girl. I admire her for her confidence, her kindness and her attitude in life. She reminds me a lot of Hubby, in that she doesn’t put things off, she works hard and plays hard. She is easy to laugh, fun to be with and knows her own mind.

Ten years ago when I became a mom I had such plans and strategies to raise her into being a compassionate and amazing child. My plans have met a few curve balls and I have learned far more from her than she has from me. I am enjoying watching her become who God wants her to be and it is such a delight to be her mom. She has really grown into herself the last few months and it is a privilege to watch.

Age 2

Just in case Meg is reading this I must point out that while she is really amazing, she is not perfect and she will not get more allowance or a cell phone any time soon :)

Family Pictures, Moments With Meg 2 Responses »

Aug 022009

imgp1968 I just had to share this picture with everyone. The other day, Meg made me a breakfast of cheese, grapes and oranges in the shape of a face. Really sweet and yummy.

This is the second photo I have posted of one of my girls giving me food. Please don’t think all I do is eat!

Four Against Two