May 14th

I was getting breakfast for Ariana the other morning and she walked into the kitchen and asked me if it rained last night.  I looked out the window and said, "Yes, I think so."

Then she responded with, "No, I don't think it did."

"Well, it's all wet outside so I am pretty sure it did.  And why are you asking me if you already know the answer," I asked.

She went to the window and looked out.  After seeing that everything was wet Ariana decided that it did  indeed rain.  I then asked her why she always argues with me.

She replied, "No I don't."

"Yea, you do,"  I said.

"Na-ah," she said.

Then I gave her that really-you-are-going-to-argue-with-me-on-this-too look.  And she laughed.

Growing up

May, 6, 2011,

I was watching Julia walk to school a few weeks ago and as she was walking away I noticed she grew up on me.  She looked like a young women in her skinny jeans, tall boots, and styling winter coat.  It was a sad and happy moment.  She is my oldest and I have felt like I needed to push her to grow up.   I didn't want to hold her back.  I needed to give her a push so she would start to spread her wings.  And she did.  But when? I missed it.  She was my baby one day and then the next day she wasn't.

I'm happy she is maturing and growing.  She is doing more and more on her own.  But I am also sad when she doesn't need me anymore.  And it's funny because I have been telling her that she needs to do things on her own and then when she does, I'm a little sad.  But don't worry I know she still needs me.  Without me who would wash her clothes, cook her dinner, be her dance manager/taxi driver.  See she does still need me.

Now Ariana is a different story.  She is the baby.  I hold her back too much because she is the youngest and I feel she is too young most of the time to do things.  I know a part of it is I don't want her to grow up.  I want her to stay my baby forever.

I love both of my girls so much.  To me they are perfect.

Spring

April 26th, 2010,

Spring is here!  At least today it was.  Ariana and I got to go on our fist bike ride the other day.  It was so nice to be out in the sunshine and warmer weather together.  We rode around the neighborhood and got some fresh air.  We stopped and looked at the lilac bushes.  They have buds on them.  Can't wait for them to bloom and smell them.  They bring back good memories.

I am really looking forward to many more bike rides with Ariana and Julia this year.

Movies

April 7th, 2011,

It's spring break and of course it is cold and rainy.  We are trying to make the best of it though.  The girls have been keeping busy by watching movies and hanging out with friends.  So far we have watched Despicable Me, Alice and Wonderland, Megamind, and Julia and I watched Romeo and Juliet.  Julia didn't know the story about Romeo and Juliet so she was a little sad about the ending.

This weekend is suppose to be nice so hopefully they can get out there and burn off some energy.  I know they have cabin fever just as bad as Trevor and I, or maybe even more so.

Being a Mom

March 28th, 2011,

I don't know what came over me last night but out-of-the-blue I started talking with a southern accent.  It was not a pretty accent either.  I sounded more like a southern man than a southern gal.  The kids started laughing so I kept on talking.  Then they started to get annoyed so I really kept on talking.  It was pretty fun to turn the tables on them and annoy them for once.  I had never seen Julia do the dishes so fast!  She wanted to go in the basement where she wouldn't be bothered by me anymore.

As I was talking I kept talking about Texas and oil and any crazy thing that came to my mind.  When I was putting Ariana to bed she said we couldn't ever move to Texas.  She said that in Texas they have to catch and kill their own food.  There aren't any grocery stores there.  I started laughing.  She was serious too. I told her that wasn't the case and that there were grocery stores there.  She still said she didn't want to live there because she didn't want to talk like that and I sounded dumb.  I guess Ariana won't ever be moving to the south.  My crazy talk might have scared her for life.  Oops.  Oh well.  There are lots of other places she could live.

Dinner

March 9th, 2011

I was in the kitchen tonight getting ready to make dinner.  I had thawed ground sirloin and was trying to deciding what to make with it.  We hadn't had meatloaf in awhile and everybody loves it so I decided to go with that.  I heated the oven to 400 degrees and put the meat in a bowl.  Then Julia walked into the kitchen and asked if she could help.  "Of course!" I said.  She keeps growing up on me and I am finding it difficult to spend time with her. She is always busy and doesn't have time for her mom. Ariana and I have our photo challenge but Julia and I have nothing.  When she asked to help I was thrilled!!!!

I went to get the eggs and discovered we were out so we were just going to have to wing it.  When I cook I like to change things up a bit and I hate to measure.  That might be why I don't like baking.  We added Montreal Steak Seasoning, some chopped onions, chopped garlic, and salsa.  Julia then started mixing it all up.  She loved it!  She said it was like playing with play-doh.  LOL.  Next she divided the meat into four quarters and made four small loaves.  This makes it cook quicker.  We put it in a baking dish, drizzled some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) over it, and popped it in the oven.

Julia and I peeled potatoes next to make mashed potatoes to go with it.  You can't have meat loaf without mashed potatoes.  Ariana then came into the kitchen and wanted to help.  We already had enough potatoes but we let her peel an extra one.

Julia was so proud tonight.  Her dinner was amazing.  We all loved it.  Who knows maybe she will love cooking and this can be our "thing".

March 6, 2011

Ariana lost her podometer and was so upset.  She really liked the one she had because it was clear.  She was also upset that she lost it because it showed that she was not responsible.  She didn't want another one she wanted the one she had.  She cried and cried and cried.  Julia found an old one that she had and gave it to Ariana but Ariana didn't like it.  She said it always resets and that wasn't going to work.

I was driving back over to her Uncle's house where she lost it and Trevor called to say Matt couldn't find it.  I then took Ariana to Target.  We found one but it wasn't as cool looking as her old one.  Ariana said she was sorry for the way she acted and that this new one would work.  She just really wanted the other one.  I gave her a big hug and told her it was okay.

Life

February 27, 2011

We have family game night tonight and the game we played was life.  It is a long game but we all had fun. Ariana's career was being a policeman.  She liked collecting $5,000 from us every time we spun a 10.  Julia was an accountant then got fired and became a athlete.  She then went back to school and became a veterinarian.  Trevor was a lawyer and was rolling in the dough.  Ariana sued him twice and Julia sued him once.  Ariana was then sued by Trevor and Julia.

I was a sales person, then went to school and became a hairdresser.  I then lost that job also and became a mechanic.  Ariana landed on the hidden treasure and won $500,000.  She was so excited she started to do a happy dance.

Julia was the banker and we all decided that she could never be a banker in real life.  She kept messing up all the money.  Ariana was the game manager and made sure we all knew what was going on in the game and on the board.   I was the rule director and Trevor was the lawyer who made all the money.

Ariana ended up beating us all and she was the only player who never went to college.

Sunday Night

February 13th, 2011

Tonight Julia wanted me to straighten her hair.  It took forever but boy did it look great!!!!  Today was also Ariana and I's third week in our phototastic photo challenge.  Ariana and I were going to go take pictures of the sunset but then decided not to.  Instead we wanted to take pictures of candy hearts since it was Valentine's Day tomorrow and I taught her about aperture.  It was a lot of fun and not something I would normally take pictures of.  I set up a mirror and lined up some candy hearts.  That night we watched the sunset out the window and realized we missed a really really great sunset.  Ariana was sad we missed the sunset but I told her there were would be other sunsets and one day we would get that sunset.

Lately, when I am tucking Ariana into bed she always tells me that she misses me and that we don't spend any time together.  She tells me wishes she didn't play downstairs so much and that she stayed upstairs with me.  I was hoping this phototastic challenge would help because it is time we would be spending one-on-one with each other.  I want her to play.  She doesn't need to be upstairs bored with me.

Tonight I was going through my text messages and noticed a message I received on my birthday.  When I was out to dinner I got a message from a friend asking how my birthday was going.  I replied, "I'm drunk."  Well I realized tonight that my friend, Julia didn't text me.  It was really my daughter, Julia!  I told my daughter I was drunk!  Great. Just Great.  Mother of the year award for me.  lol

Valentine's Day Party

February 10th, 2011

Ariana told me today that she wanted me to go to her Valentine's Day party tomorrow.  I told her I couldn't because I had to work.  She almost started crying and said all the other parents would be there.  I told her no not all of them would.  Then she said she would feel left out when all the other kids' moms were there and then she would get sad and not enjoy the party.  I told her she would still have fun and not everybody's mom would be there.

When I went to work that day I found out didn't have patients in the afternoon on Friday and that I could go to the party.  When I picked Ariana up at dance I didn't tell her the good news right away.  I wanted to wait until we got home and surprise her.  On the drive home she told me it was okay that I couldn't go to the party at school.  She only wanted me to go so that I could drive her home.  She hates the bus and wanted a ride home from school.  She also told me she would rather have me work and make money instead of going to her party and not making any money.

When we got home I told her I could go to the party.  She was so excited and gave me a big hug.  Then she told me she only said those things in the car because she didn't want me to feel bad for not being able to go.  She wanted to make me feel better.  Awwww she is so sweet.  But I don't buy it.  I know she really didn't want to ride the bus.  :)

Julia told me today that I never hug her anymore.  :(  That made me sad.  Now I am going to make sure I hug her lots everyday.  I know I hug her.  I guess she just needs more.

The Value of Work

February 15, 2011,

Whenever Trevor or I see that the girls: left the lights on downstairs, or the heater on, or left food wrappers laying around, or food, or crap they were suppose to put away - we collect $1 from them.  I put the money in an envelope labeled with their name and write down the date, the amount collected, and why we collected it.  Over the past seven months we have collect quite a bit of money, around $20 from each of them.

The other day I collected $7 from Ariana and she was mad because I was taking her last $7.  I told her she could earn back the money by doing extra jobs around the house.  "Like what," she asked.  I told her she could vacuum, clean up the living room extra nice, fold clothes that weren't hers, stuff like that.

Today after I picked her up from dance she told me she did some extra stuff around the house.  She took all the dirty clothes downstairs.  "That was a hard job," she said,  " because Julia's laundry basket was so full it was over flowing."  And she let me know she put some of Julia's clothes away and saw that Julia had a couple sweaters on the ground in her closet.  She said she wasn't trying to get Julia in trouble but thought I should know.  I said that maybe the sweaters fell.  Ariana didn't think so because they weren't where the other sweaters were but decided maybe that could be the case.  She also told me that she cleaned up the living a little bit and did all of her normal jobs.  I told her I would talk to dad and see what we were going to give her.

After talking to Trevor we decided to give her $0.50.  She spent about 5 minutes doing the extra work and felt that amount was fair.  I went into her room and told her I had money for her.  She sat up in bed and held out her hand.  I gave her two quarter and she just looked at them.  She asked it that was all she was getting and I said yes.  Then she said she didn't do the extra work for the money.  She did it because she wanted to.  I didn't buy that that.  Then she got up to put her money away.  She took a tiny decorative round box the size of a quarter off her dresser.  She started to put the money in it and I asked her what she was doing.  She said she was going to keep all the money she earned in this box.  I told it wasn't very big.  She said, "Well, I don't expect to make very much if I'm only going to get 50 cents."

I started laughing so hard I had to leave the room.  I went into my bedroom to tell Trevor what she said.  We were both laughing and then Ariana and Julia came in and we were all laughing.  All Ariana could say was, "Well It's true!"

Library

February 9th, 2011,

Julia has to read a non-fiction book this semester and she wanted to get a book about dancer or a famous dancer.  We made a trip to the library tonight as a family to look for some books.  Trevor and I searched for dance books but could only find childrens books and they would not work for Julia.  I did find Three Cups of Tea and a book on the Holocost.  Julia thought there were both interesting and wanted to read the.  The Three Cups of Tea is about Pakistan.  She is doesn't know which one she wants to read and torn between the two.  She thinks she is going to read about the Holacost.

Ariana picked up two disney fairy books this evening.  She was so excited to read them to me.  I told her to start reading without me and that I would be in the room in a few minutes.  She kept reminding that I wasn't in there yet.  I was out in the living room talking to Trevor.  After 30 minutes she came out and asked if I would please go in the room now.  I did and she read to me for 40 minutes.  It has been a long time since read the Disney Fairy books to me.  She started reading them in 1st grade when she had Mrs.  Heinke.  Mrs. Heinke brought them to school just for Ariana to read.  Those were our special moments together.  Now she has Mrs. Heinke again and she is reading the Disney Fairy books to me again.  Awwwww.  What sweet memories we'll have.

Ice Cream

February 8th, 2011

Julia got a letter in the mail from her school congratulating her on achieving all A's during the first marking period.  As a reward they are having the students who received all A's, miss part of 6th hour and get ice cream!  She was soooooo excited.  Trevor and I are both very proud of her.  She worked really hard to get those grades.

Ariana was feeling very loving today.  She kept coming up to me and giving me kisses and cuddling with me.  She is very affectionate and like hugs.  I hope she never grows out of it.

Mommy and Daughter time

February 6th, 2011, 

Ariana and I went to Dodge Park this afternoon.  When I asked her if she wanted to go she said no at first.  She wanted to just stay at home, watch television, and have a tea party with her webkinz.  I asked her if she was sure and told her she would probably be disappointed if she didn't go.  I also told her that we wouldn't be gone that long and that I had a really cool place in mind that we should go to.  She then decided to go so we gathered up all the camera gear and put on our winter garb.  

When we got to the park I noticed the entry wasn't plowed.  I didn't want to try and drive the car through the snow so I went to the other opening on the north side of the park to see if that entrance was plowed.  It wasn't plowed either.  I then drove back to west entrance and parked across the street.  We were going to have to walk in.   Ariana was a trooper and trudged threw snow to the park.  It wasn't a far walk but walking in the snow made it a little tough.

When we got into the park we saw a van that was there and it was stuck in the snow.  Good thing I didn't try and drive in.  I did not want to deal with getting suck.  After I looked around and found a good spot for us to take pictures, I set up the tripod and taught Ariana a little about aperture and shutter speed.   I put the D60 in the tripod first and had her take some pictures.  After she was done I put the D700 on the tripod and I took my pictures.  Ariana continued to take pictures without the tripod.  We got some really good shots.  After awhile Ariana started to get cold and was ready to leave.  I made sure to snap a few shots of her before we left.  


We both took some outstanding pictures.  I am really enjoying this photo challenge we have going on.  Wonder what next week will bring.

To see more pictures and to read about the photo challenge
click here.

Movie Night

February 4th, 2011

It was movie night tonight and Julia and I watched Harry Potter 3.  She had finished the book awhile ago and I promised she could see the movie.  Ariana hasn't finished the book yet so she could watch the movie.
Ariana and Trevor had a daddy daughter night while Julia and I had a mommy daughter night.  Ariana played Epic Disney on the Wii and Trevor organized the DVDs and Wii games.  She ask him to play the game when she got stuck.  Julia liked the movie but said the book was much better.  The movie left out a lot of stuff.  She was glad I made her read the book first.

Ballet Tea Party

Feb 4, 2011

It was the Ballet Tea Party this afternoon and we had two sick ballerinas.  Ariana had stayed home from school the day before and Julia had come home early from school not felling well.  As the day progressed and the medicine kicked in Ariana felt great and Julia felt a little better.   They put on their best smiles and dance at the Tea Party Show.  You couldn't even tell they were under-the-weather.  They looked so adorable with their hair in perfect buns doing plies and jumps and turns.  It was a beautiful show and we all enjoyed it.

Breakfast for Dinner

February 2011,

It was getting late in the afternoon and I noticed I didn't take anything out for dinner.  I didn't know what to cook.  I started looking around in the freezer and fridge.  Then I spotted bacon.  I decided to make breakfast for dinner.  The kids LOVE when I do this.  I started cooking the bacon and got the egg mix ready for the french toast.  Mmmmmmmm.  After a little while I heard Ariana come running up the stairs yelling, "It is that bacon I smell!?"

Yep, bacon, scrambled eggs, and french toast for dinner.   All our tummies were very happy.

Report Cards

January 2011,

Julia started a new semester at school and now has gym and art.  She finished the second semester on a high note, all A's and one B+.   For the semester grades she received all A's!  Woo Hoo!  Way to go Julia.  We are so very proud of her.  :)

Julia is also tying to earn herself a phone.  We told her she needs to keep her grades up and do her responsibilities around the house.  She needs to be more responsible at home.  Having a phone is about responsibility.  It is also expensive.  It's like paying for another dance class each month.  We told we are not going to bring up the subject of the cell phone again.  She will need to come to us and tell us why it will be beneficial to us for her to have a phone.  After we told her that, she looked confused.  lol  I am curious to see what she will come with.  She did start trying to be more responsible.  She shoveled some snow and brought in the garbage cans, once.  Now if she will start doing the dishes like she is suppose to.  :)

Also when I picked her up from dance she told me that a boy walked out with her because she asked him to.  Oh man, we are in trouble!!!

My BDay

January 22, 2011


It was my birthday today so I guess I am a year older.  I don't feel older so that is good.  The girls had ballet rehearsal today and Julia was invited to her friend's birthday party.  She wasn't going to go because it was on my birthday.  I told her I would be sad if she didn't go so she better go and have fun.  We were having dinner with some friends later in the evening, so Ariana was going to her grandparents' house for the night.   Ariana wanted to spend some time with me before dance so I brought her shopping with me.  I met Renee and my mom for lunch.  Then Renee, Ariana, and I went to the mall to go shopping for mom's birthday gift.  Later after we dropped the kids off at dance, Trevor and I met some friends for dinner at Pepino's.  Dinner was great and we all had a wonderful time.


The next day, Ariana went to her cousin Alec's hockey game and stopped by his house afterwards.  When mom and dad and Ariana were getting ready to leave, they told the boys they were going to my house to have cake and ice cream. Well now Brenden, Alec, and Devin wanted to have cake too but they couldn't go.  It was Sunday and they were gone all weekend and I don't live just down the road.  So my dad did the next best thing.  He went to the car and got out the cake Ariana and her grandma had made the night before.  Then they called me and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone.  I thought that was great!


On the way home Ariana had to call me because she was upset and missed me.  I talked to her for a bit and cheered her up.  When she came home I gave her a really big hug.  When I was tucking her in that night, she told me she had a hard time falling asleep the the night before.  She wanted to come home but didn't want to tell grandma and have grandma feel bad.  So she just cried and eventually fell asleep.  I told her it was okay and that she should have told Grandma.  Ariana said she was sad because she didn't get to tell me our special goodnight saying.  Every night before she goes to bed she always tells me:


Goodnight, sleep tight,
Don't let the bed bugs bite,
Let the ladybugs hug and kiss you.
You are the best mommy ever,
And you are my only mommy.
You are the best mommy in the whole wide world,
And I love you.


This saying started years ago.  I think she was about two or so.  It started with only: goodnight sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, let the ladybugs hug and kiss you.  Then over the years it evolved to the other sayings as well.


Tonight though she added to it.  She said that she thought I was really special.  I told her I thought she was really special too.  Then Ariana said, "You're special because I wouldn't be here without you!"  She is just so sweet.  I just want to bottle her up and keep her young forever.  Since I can't do that, I will just keep writing about our happy enjoyable moments so I don't forget them.

Dance Convention

January 10, 2011


It was dance convention weekend and of course it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.   The convention was in Lansing and it worked out great because we got to stay with our friends.    I also finally got to show Julia the State Capital.  She never got to go on the 4th grade school trip to Lansing because they cut it out the year she was in 4th grade.  We didn't go inside because we didn't have time but we did drive by.


We had a great weekend hanging out with our friends.  Trevor and Ariana joined us on Saturday.  Rachel and Mike took us on a tour of MSU while we were in town, trying to turn us into Spartans.  I have to admit, MSU has a really nice campus and the East Lansing is a very nice place.  And I do like the color green.....


At the convention Julia was picked by Dance Dynamics to be a Showcase Dancer for her age group.  One dancer per dance school was picked for each age group.  She was thrilled to have been chosen and we were so proud of her.


It was a long weekend of dancing but well worth it.  Julia had a great time dancing and we enjoyed being with our friends.

Another Year

It's the start of a new year so it is time to reflect on the previous year and make resolutions.  I feel I had a great 2010.  Yeah, there were some down times but there were many more up times.  I had some wonderful times with Trevor, Julia and Ariana over this past year.  We had some great family times this past summer at the beach, hanging out in the pool, going for bike rides, and enjoying life.  Trevor and I had an awesome time in Washington DC this past fall and we all had a blast ice skating at Campus Martius this winter.  I want to continue that trend into 2011.


One goal is to do at least one family outing a month.  There are some fabulous places I want to take the kids: the science museum, the natural history museum, the Henry Ford, Greenfield Village, DIA, planetarium, the zoo, Ann Arbor Hands on Museum, Cranbrook, Cosi Science Center, the State Capital, and many more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head.


I also want to take more pictures. Imagine that, me wanting to take more pictures.  I want to go on more day photo excursions.  I want to have an excursion once a month.  I had such a wonderful time taking Ariana to Holland last October and spending the day with her just taking pictures.  It is something I will treasure forever.  I also want to take Julia on one of those trips.  I will just have to work it around her dance schedule.


We have lots of things to look forward to this year: skiing at Boyne this February, watching the girls durning their ballet tea party in February and dance show in May, going to the west side of the state and hanging out at our favorite beach,  playing in our pool, enjoying the blooms of all the beautiful tulips I planted, summer BBQs, bike rides through the neighborhood, smelling the bloom lilacs, relaxing with a nice bottle of wine from our favorite Michigan vineyard, enjoying the sunsets, and maybe even seeing a few sunrises.  It is also Trevor and my 15 year anniversary and we are hoping to do something special.  Maybe a trip in NYC?????


I intend to enjoy 2011 and make it the best year yet!  I'll keep blogging so I can look back and remember all the fun, silly, and crazy things we did and said.  Happy New Year!!!!