was in July while we were in Ocean City with my friend Michelle and her girls. Look how wonderful a day it was:



After that, it was all downhill. We did have one more overnight trip with Chris's mom, which was fun, but by then I had a cough that started a downward spiral of my health for the rest of the summer. Getting caught in a massive rainstorm didn't help.





That was the beginning of months of sinusitis, bronchitis and MONO (for crying out loud!). I was weak, sick, tired and miserable for months. I'm only now starting to feel better, although I have also been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

So that's why no updates, no cooking, no baking, no pictures. I hope to get this back on track, if anybody is still reading. We'll see how it goes.

Anybody know the song in the title?

We spent a week in Pigeon Forge last month, where we rented a cabin in the mountains. God, it was nice up there. Chris's parents went with us, and we brought all three dogs (Sandy, Jack and their dog Misty). Sandy and Misty were fine, but Jack was stressed the whole time. ("This is not my beautiful house...How did I get here?" - once again, know the song?)

I'll have to write about the vacation in a few posts, since I took a lot of pictures and we did a lot of stuff. Especially eat. LOTS of eating. But that's part of the fun of vacation. Not the extra pounds I came home with, but trying delicious new foods and restaurants.

As we were driving around Pigeon Forge that first day, Becca saw a place where you could mine for jewels. She completely obsessed about it and talked about it until we took her there a day or so later. I thought it was going to be a cheesy rip-off, but it turned out to be fun, and the girls and I actually had jewelery made from the stones they found. Grandma also had jewelery made for stones she mined.



( More pictures this way... )

More to come!

OK, not really. I mean, we're definitely having lots of fun, but it's not a normal blazing hot summer this year. Which means less outdoor pool time, but we've still been doing a lot of stuff.

June 16th was the last day of school (ridiculously late if you ask me). A couple hours after the girls got home, we picked up Grandma and headed to Ocean City for a couple days. It was downright chilly! It rained a bit on the way down, and was just gloomy. But I had taken that into consideration since we'd had a crappy spring, and booked a room at the Francis Scott Key Family Resort, which has several pools, including an indoor heated one. Definitely a good move; it never got warm enough to swim in the outdoor pools or the ocean.

We got there in the early evening, so after settling in, we headed right to the indoor pool. The girls loved it.



( More this way... )

The past couple weeks of school have been a whirlwind of activities, especially since both Lauren and Becca are "moving up" to new schools (high school and middle school, respectively). Field trips, parties, dances, picnics, etc.

Unfortunately, Becca has been sick this past week with a fever and nasty cough, so she missed out on her picnic and "graduation." That sucked, because she received The President's Award for Educational Excellence, which is a big deal. So we didn't get a picture of her being awarded the certificate and pin by the principal.

With so much going on, it was inevitable that I would forget something or screw something up. However, I didn't expect to end up extremely embarrassed.

I was under the impression that there was going to be an 8th grade "graduation"/celebration like there was going to be for 5th grade, and that it was Wednesday morning at 8:30. I got up early, let Becca skip school to attend it, and dressed up a little. So Chris, Becca and I are sitting with the other parents, parents that I KNOW, when a mom I know asks how many kids are in the 8th grade class. I said I didn't know, so she turned around and asked another mom, who replied that there are about 200 kids in the class. I said to the mom that couldn't be right, because there were very few reserved seats for the kids. That's when she gave me a weird look and said that the seats were reserved for the Presidential Award winners, and showed me the list of kids in the program. Um, Lauren wasn't on it. Apparently, this ceremony was by INVITATION ONLY. And there was the White Family, sitting among the award winners as the program is about to start. We had to quickly leave in front of everybody (all the parents we're friends with and who are the parents of Lauren and Becca's friends), and the whole time I was DYING. I still am. And Chris and Becca are STILL laughing about it. Chris actually hauled ass out the door once realization dawned, dragging Becca with him. But I couldn't just leave without saying anything, so I confessed my faux pas to my friend Annette, who is probably still getting a little chuckle out of this once in a while.

Anyway.

The 8th grade field trip was last Thursday, and it was in DC. Thankfully the deranged shooter didn't pick that day to flip, because the kids were dropped off and picked up right in front of the Holocaust Museum. I drove separately, because I had to take Lauren back early for a band event. Nice way to travel for a field trip - in my own van, by myself, iPod cranked, iced coffee. Oh, yes.

I only got a few field trip pictures since I wasn't there long, but they are cute.

Lauren and one of her BFFs:



( More goofy girls this way... )

My computer crapped out a while back, and even though Chris got me a new one the same day, he had to get everything back on. Unfortunately, that didn't include the photo editing program I was familiar with, so I had to learn a new one. Chris can tell you I don't like new programs on my computer. So it took me a while to have him show me what to do, then I forgot and had to learn again. I think I've got it now. And I like this program better, which often happens, even though I do my best to resist change.

First, though, I promised Malcolm a book fair story a few weeks back.

It's the last day of the book fair, first thing in the morning, when it's at its craziest with tons of kids thrusting money and merchandise at the volunteers and me. In the middle of this, I hear some woman talking loudly to one of the parent volunteers, and he looked like a deer caught in headlights, so I ask what the problem is. She starts going off on me that I overcharged her precious by $3.00 for a poster. OK, I checked it out, and he was overcharged - by accident. Every poster we sell is $4.50, EXCEPT that one that had a tiny sticker in the corner that said $1.00. Scholastic didn't mention this one single poster was on sale, and we sell like 25 different posters. I apologized, took the difference out of the cash box and went to hand it to her. "HAND IT TO HIM, HE TOOK HIS OWN MONEY OUT OF HIS PIGGY BANK AND YOU RIPPED HIM OFF!!!". Whoa. I responded it was an honest mistake, and she said "I DON'T THINK IT WAS. I THINK YOU RIPPED HIM OFF AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HIM. AND YOU SHOULD BE WRITING OUT RECEIPTS FOR EVERY CHILD THAT BUYS SOMETHING!" This is not feasible. If someone pays with credit card, they get a receipt. Otherwise, since we know almost every child in the school, if someone has a dispute, we don't question it and do what we can to make it right. AS I WAS DOING.

At this point, I'm really pissed. But since I am a book fair chairperson and a PTA co-president, I couldn't let loose. So I just clenched my teeth in a poor imitation of a smile and said "You are welcome to attend a PTA meeting and give your suggestions. Otherwise, we are done here." She huffs off, and I'm left pissed and shaking. Fortunately, there were many witnesses - teachers and staff who had had run-ins with this woman themselves. Apparently, I am now a member of a not-so-exclusive club. And not only did this woman get in my face, SHE TOLD ON ME to the Assistant Principal! And then that night, at our Family Dance, she was STILL telling everyone who didn't run away from her how I ripped off her kid. What a freak. I could go on and on about this woman and the things so many people told me about her that day, but suffice it to say that EVERYBODY HATES HER, and she's a miserable person. And that's good enough for me.

OK, onto the pictures. I met a friend for lunch last week. She and I went to high school together, and are still good friends after almost 30 FREAKING YEARS. We met Freshman year, 1979. And now Lauren is starting high school in 2009. Ugh. Anyway, here we are (with her little girl Emily, who is too adorable for words):



Crappy picture of me, but there you go.

And here's a not-so-crappy picture of me, taken by Lauren at Harper's Ferry a few weeks ago:



( More this way... )

Some 8th grade stuff in the next post!

Becca was one of a few kids chosen at her school to read a poem she wrote for class. Her teacher said the poem just blew him away. I was so proud!

Becca was pleased she was chosen, but scared to death because she had to read the poem at Valley Elementary's Poetry Night at Barnes and Noble. Using a microphone. In front of a lot of people. The day of the reading, she was so nervous. And I thought she was going to burst into tears as soon as we walked into the bookstore. There were quite a few people there, but they were all Valley families. I told her all the kids would be supported by all the families. Luckily, some of her friends read, too.

All the kids did wonderfully, and I was so proud of Becca. My heart was pounding as hard as hers was, I know. As soon as she got to the mic, I could tell she was so scared. Her voice shook a little, but she did such a great job. I think she was in shock after it was over, because she was shaky and didn't even want a cupcake from the cafe!

Here she is, our little Poet Laureate:



And here is her poem:

Falling Leaves
by Becca White

Falling leaves and wilting flowers

shovel and rake

chilly, so cold

getting a backache

working then sleeping

lookin' forward to a project

"Really?"

This makes Autumn another insect

copyright 2009, Becca White

It's been a month since my last update! Shameful, I know. Now that we're heading towards the end of the school year, it's getting really busy. Plus there's that little Facebook addiction I have no intention of fighting. No interventions, please.

It's already late, but I do want to finish up posting about our activities during spring break. And speaking of spring, where the hell is it? It's warm, it's cold, it gets hot for a day, then cold. Rain, rain, rain. Seriously, this is not the kind of spring I remember from my childhood. We actually played outside on Easter Sunday and wore light, spring clothes with no jackets! Global warming my ass.

Anyway.

Our big outing was the DC trip, but we did a few other fun things that week. Pretty much INDOOR things, of course. On Wednesday, we saw the movie "Monsters vs Aliens," and we saw it in 3D. It was a very fun movie, and I really enjoyed the 3D experience. It's come a long way from the blue/red glasses.

Here are the girls getting ready to watch the movie:



There are several 3D movies coming out this summer that we're looking forward to.

( More indoor fun this way... )

So that was spring break 2009. Only a few more weeks until summer, and it's going to get absolutely crazy here. Both Lauren and Becca are moving up to new schools (high school and middle school, respectively), so there are dances, picnics, parties and celebrations coming up. I have taken some cooking and baking pictures and will post those soon as well. I'll try not to let a month go by until my next entry!

Well, not really. We had planned to go to Tennessee for spring break. We had rented a cabin in the mountains, and were really looking forward to it. But the weather had other plans for us. Cold, rain, snow, fog and maybe one sunny day the whole week. SUCK! So we decided to stay home and postpone the mountains until June. Hopefully by THEN we'll have some nice weather!

I still let the girls take off the two days from school they would have if we had gone as planned. So we had about ten days off from school, which was much needed and enjoyed. We had a few nice days, and did a lot of fun things.

Sunday the 5th was a beautiful day. Sunny and in the mid- to upper-60s. So we decided to spend the day in Washington, DC to check out the cherry blossoms and other sites. First we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite places in nearby Urbana, Foster's Grille. They make AWESOME burgers.

The cherry blossoms had faded some, and many of them had blown away the day before with the strong, gusty winds, but they were still pretty.



( More DC fun this way... )

Next entry - Staycation, Part 2

I got permission from Becca's friends' moms to post their pictures here. I found out yesterday that all the kids earned over $5000 for the American Heart Association.

Becca and her friend Becca (they are both Becca W. and in the same class!):





( More girlies this way... )

Becca celebrated her 11th birthday last week (sob!). She has been coveting Lauren's iPod since Lauren got hers last summer for her 13th birthday. We told Becca we'd be happy to get her one for her 13th birthday, but she COULD NOT WAIT. So we gave her an option - skip having a birthday party, and we would give her $100 towards an iPod (approximately the amount we'd spend on a party), since she had enough in Best Buy gift cards from Christmas to make up the difference. She went for it, of course. She got her iPod and I didn't have to plan a party. Win/win!

But Chris and I still wanted to get her an actual gift from us. I asked her several times what she wanted, but she couldn't think of anything - except a hamster. I had promised her one at the end of the school year for consistent good grades. Then she asked if she could re-arrange her room instead and put her bed by her window. Well, Chris didn't want her sleeping near the windows while it's still so cold, so we nixed that idea. So Chris and I talked and decided to get the hamster now and let her re-arrange her room at the end of the school year.

So after the Read-a-Thon, Lauren and I stopped by PetSmart and picked out a cute hamster and all its paraphernalia.

*Proud Mom Moment*

First we went to Target, because Lauren wanted to buy Becca a birthday gift using her OWN money. I thought she'd pick up some little trinket, but she actually bought a Sims 2 Expansion Pack for $20, and insisted she didn't mind spending that much on Becca.

Anyway, we happily surprised Becca when we got home. She was thrilled and excited. We got the hamster set up in his new home, and were glad when we realized the pets had no interest in it. Becca named him Charlie. This is what the little guy looked like:



However, it became very apparent after a few days that this is what he really was:



He hissed a few times, was very anti-social and aggressive, trying to bite Becca whenever she went to feed him, and succeeded once, drawing copious amounts of blood. I could tell Becca was very unhappy and hurt. The hamster came with a two-week guarantee, so I offered to let her exchange him for another hamster that would be nice.

( More of the story... )

I've wanted to update before now, but I got hit with some kind of virus over the weekend that's had me down for the count. We couldn't go to Kelli's Valentine party (which is a good thing since I probably would've infected all the guests) and Becca's birthday was pretty low-key. Lauren and I did do the Read-a-Thon Saturday morning since we had made the commitment. It was actually relaxing to have nothing to do but sit and read for a few hours. I got this email a few days later:

Thank you for participating in the first In Love with Literacy Read-A-Thon. Your efforts helped raise nearly $2, 500 for the tutors and students of the Council. The event also had a great turn out with nearly 75 readers!

You can look at pictures here. Lauren and I are listed as "BMS Readers."

Although I don't know yet how much Valley Elementary raised during the Jump Rope for Heart, I'd like to share a few pictures of that day. These pictures are of only Becca; I have some with her friends and I'm waiting on parent OKs to post them.



( A few more... )

Thank you to everyone, both online and offline, who donated to our fundraising efforts!

Here's hoping whatever this virus is, it will quit kicking my ass soon!

Get it?

It's been a week since I've updated. I've been both very busy and sluggish. It's possible to be both at once. Seasonal depression takes away my energy, but knowing that I must pull it together for the kids gets me moving. That and making lists. LOTS of lists. Lists keep me somewhat sane and feeling less pressure.

We hosted both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which may sound like a lot (and it is), but I prefer to stay home and have everyone come here. I do like making lots of food for people, plus I hated leaving my house on Christmas Day when I was a kid, so I don't make my kids go anywhere. Although there's a lot of cooking, baking, cleaning and other prep beforehand, being in my own home makes me feel a little less stressed (and every little bit helps).

So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were busy, but Friday through today was nothing but hanging out. Friday was actually a jammies and ponytail day (I did shower, though!).

Monday I spent doing last-minute shopping and my grocery shopping. Although it was cold and windy, the sun was out for a change, so that helped a lot. There were idiots on the road, but the stores were actually pretty stress-free. And I'm one of the those crazy freaks who loves grocery shopping. It's somewhat relaxing.

Tuesday was spent baking. Becca had two requests - the peanut-butter cookie with the Hershey kiss in the middle, and fudge. But she decided on mocha fudge, so after making that, she decided she didn't like it. I'm not sure I did either. I need to try it again before I decide to just throw it out.

Here are the girls starting our marathon baking session:



( Lots more this way... )

So another Christmas done. All of our Christmas decorations, including tree, are down as of today. Actually, I got the most wonderful gift of all today - Chris let me sleep in and when I came downstairs, everything, including the vacuuming, was done. He and the girls did it all while I snoozed peacefully and obliviously. Now THAT is a Christmas miracle!

Although I've been overwhelmed and stressed, not to mention fighting my usual seasonal depression, I have been able to get it together and get in some fun stuff. We were supposed to go to Hersheypark tonight to see the Christmas lights, but it's so damp and dreary and miserably cold that we decided to go next weekend. But we did get a bunch of cookies baked today.

I have some cookie pictures but no recipe yet; they are Chris's mom's recipes and I'll get them from her in a couple days and post them. These cookies are DELICIOUS. And it wouldn't be Christmas without them. Here is a picture of just a few; they recipe made a lot. And we all ate a lot. Seriously, they'll be gone before Christmas.



( More cookies this way... )

In our town, the volunteer fire department sends Santa out through the neighborhoods on a fire truck. He is followed by several other rescue vehicles, and they have the sirens going and lights flashing. It's pretty cool. For a donation to the fire department, Santa will make a special stop at your house and visit with your kids. My friend Michelle did this a couple times a few years ago, making a party out of it. It was fun. This year we just hung out in the court until he came through. He passes out candy canes to everyone. The dogs howl and bark up a storm while all this is going on.





I like to check out local beach cams, and I grabbed this one from the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware cam the other day:



And finally, check out my little elves gettin' down to some country music:

Yesterday I posted that the day after Thanksgiving is our lazy day. Here are the pictures to prove it - all of them were taken from my recliner, and the brown plaid blanket at the end of some of the pictures is on my legs! No pictures of Lauren because her idea of a lazy day is spending it on the kids' computer in the other room.

Becca in her jammies; we had on a Spongebob marathon all day. Luckily, I do like Spongebob. However, I don't think Squidward approves of our sloth.



She also watched TV in this position; she only turned her head towards me because I called her name to get the picture. How can you watch TV upside down?



( More laziness this way... )

And that was pretty much our day. We did get out today to run some errands; Becca got a new coat, Lauren got a new Twilight t-shirt and a book and I actually bought a Christmas gift for Becca, but I was so Ninja-stealthy she didn't know it.

Tomorrow night's a school night and that sucks; I've enjoyed our break. But only three weeks until Christmas break!

These were taken by Chris, but I wanted to post them as well.

( The girls... )

Every year, Sandy, Jack and Misty (my in-law's dog) gather around Pap while he carves the bird, hoping for some to fall on the floor.



Of course, they do get a few bites. Who could resist them?

Book fair week is over, and I am so glad. It's a lot of fun, but also a LOT of work and long hours. We have volunteers to help out, but my friend Kim and I are in charge, which means we do the setting up, schedule volunteers, fax in re-stock orders every morning, set up drawings and games for the students, and make sure at least one of us is always there in case there's a problem. Which means except for an hour or two here and there, we're there from 8:15am until at least 5:00pm. During our Family Night, I didn't get home until almost 9pm. But it looks like we made our fundraising goal, so it was definitely worth it. Plus, it gets the kids so excited and happy.

Here's the book fair during a quiet moment:



( This way to the Book Fair Safari... )

We were fortunate to have a beautiful day for Halloween - sunny and warm. Today was dreary and cold. I barely moved out of my chair! No cooking tonight; we got pizza. But that's what Sundays are for.

The girls seem to have recuperated from all the excitement on Friday. They were exhausted yesterday, but much perkier today. It helps that there is no school tomorrow and Tuesday.

It was pumpkin carving time when the kids got home from school on Friday. Chris finished work early since this is something the three of them do together. He used to do all the carving when they were little, but this year they did most of it themselves.



( More )

And finally, it wouldn't be Halloween without a black cat, would it? How about a possessed black cat?



( The pets like Halloween, too... )

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a little more than three weeks away?

The fifth grade party was so much fun. The kids seemed to have a blast, and so did the parents and staff. But even during all the fun, it was still a little sad knowing it was the last school party Becca will have.

Becca and her teacher, Mr. Nikirk:



( Party fun this way... )

Part 2 coming tomorrow - that will be pictures of the girls, freaky dogs, Jack-O-Lanterns and a possessed black cat. Stay tuned....

A couple weeks ago, we made our yearly pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch. We've been to a few different ones, but Jumbo's is really our favorite, so we went there. Plus it's only a few minutes away.

When we were Brownie leaders, Kelli and I took our troop there and let them go through the little corn maze to get to the pumpkins. This year, Lauren and Becca wanted to do the real corn maze. Now, when I was a Junior Leader for Lauren's troop, my co-leader and I took the girls to a moonlight corn maze that turned out to be a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. It was freezing cold, muddy, dark and we got lost for a couple of hours. We finally had to just bust through the corn stalks to get out because we were all getting stressed and upset.

But at Jumbo's, it was sunny, warm, no mud - how hard could it be?



( On our way... )

We were in that maze probably 30-45 minutes. Which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're claustrophobic like I am, it seems like HOURS. It was buggy, muggy, dusty, hot and stressful. I didn't get a picture of the kids at the end of the maze because I was just so glad to be out I sat on the grass to get myself together for a few minutes. I think I've had my fill of corn mazes.

The farm is beautiful, though. In addition to the pumpkin patch, there are baby animals, pony rides, hay rides, and other fun things. Here are a couple of the babies:

( Click for cuteness... )

Some pictures of the farm (that's the corn maze we just got through):



( More... )

And finally, the girls in the pumpkin patch:



( A couple more... )

And I got a pumpkin, too!

A couple weeks ago we went out to dinner for Chris's birthday. He chose Matsutake, a Japanese steak and sushi restaurant where they cook at your table. We've been there a few times and always love it. Very entertaining, and delicious as well. I always get the beef filet and have them prepare it medium-rare, which is the BEST way to prepare beef. Well-done is just wrong - I'm looking at YOU, Mom and Dad W.!

( Just a few pictures... )

And those who know me, know I love a good deal. I'm all about coupons and saving money whenever I can. Chris wanted a nice Fall jacket for his birthday, so I headed to Penney's. There were a few on sale, but not what I was looking for. I found one I really like for $36, which I thought wasn't too bad. But when the cashier rang it up, it came up as $8.00! They had put it on sale, but neglected to put a sign on the rack. SCORE! I swear, it made my entire day.