Since I've been sick, I've stayed out of the schools so I'll reduce my chances of catching something else. However, although I'm not PTA president this year, or a homeroom mom, I have been a Band Mom. Lauren joined the high school marching band, and absolutely loved it. But I had absolutely NO CLUE just how much time and money this was going to take up! First of all, there were two weeks of band camp the first couple weeks of August - and the first week was from 8am-8pm every day! And then we had competitions every Saturday throughout September and October, and football games on Friday nights. Not to mention practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8 after school. I admired Lauren for giving up so much of her time.

The marching band season ended Friday night, but now Lauren is talking about joining indoor guard and working in the pit (percussion). We'll see how that goes.

Here are a few pictures from band season. Lauren (and the rest of the kids) looked so sharp and professional in their uniforms and were amazing performers. They played in the rain, the cold and the freezing wind. My heart bursted with pride at every competition and football game. Here are just a few pictures of the season:



( More this way )

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!

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

It's funny - Lauren doesn't want me volunteering anywhere near the middle school. I had the audacity to walk by her math class last week when I was helping out with the book fair. The look of horror on her face was priceless.

But when it comes to field trips, she always wants me to go. I don't know why, but I definitely like to go when I can.

This past Thursday was the middle school band adjudication, where all the middle school bands are judged on performance and sight-reading. Since there are 40 kids in the 7th and 8th grades bands (the 6th graders don't take part in this), the teacher needs a few parent chaperones to keep the kids corralled.

Since we had to leave the school around 8:20, I decided to just let Lauren sleep in a bit and miss the bus since she usually has to be at school at 8:00. I figured being late wouldn't be a big deal. I stopped at McD's for some coffee, and we got to the school around 8:10. As she was signing in on a late-arrival log, the secretary asked why she was late, so I explained we were going on the band trip. Then Miss Lauren pipes up "But we would've gotten here earlier if Mom hadn't stopped at McDonald's!" Nice.

I really didn't do much chaperoning. Apparently, I was wanted for my storage space:



( Band geeks this way... )

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:

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?

She actually made dinner last week, but with Halloween and other stuff going on, I didn't get a chance to post about it until now. I think it's about time Lauren started learning to cook, so I started her off with something easy - tacos.



( Dinner is served... )

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?

Friday night, Lauren and the rest of the 8th grade band were invited to participate with the high school marching band at the football game. She's been wound up about this for weeks. She can't wait to join the marching band next year, so she thought it was so cool to hang with the high schoolers for a few hours.

They marched onto the field and played The Star Spangled Banner, then sat in the stands for the rest of the game playing pep songs. The marching band did an elaborate routine during half-time, but the 8th graders weren't part of that. It was FREEZING, so that was a little miserable, but we still had fun. Our team won the game, and there were several exciting moments. Getting back to the van after sitting on cold metal bleachers felt great. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home (and so did everyone else at the game, it seems) and got steaming hot, salty fries. I don't think they've ever tasted that good!



( More weekend this way... )

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.

The girls started school last week, but yesterday was the official end of summer. I know that September 22nd is the first day of fall, but for intents and purposes, summer is now over. Public pools are closed, the Ocean City boardwalk is closing up shops, amusement parks are only open on weekends. Before long, we'll be hitting the pumpkin patch. I do enjoy fall, but summer is my favorite season and I'm always sad when it's done.

I think the girls had a good summer. We did fit in one last overnight beach trip the week before school started. We had a good time, but it was a little melancholy since I knew it was probably the last trip of the year.



( More OC pics this way... )

We'll still have fun during the school year. As mentioned, we have the pumpkin patch coming up, which has been an annual tradition for us since the girls were tiny. There are various school functions, and once again, I'll be running the elementary school book fair. Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful times. I usually run into trouble around January; that's when my winter depression really kicks in. I hope to find ways to keep it at bay this year.

With the kids making a fresh start at school, I have also made a fresh start and re-joined Weight Watchers. I have gained about 15 pounds since the beginning of the year and don't want to gain anymore! The first time around with WW, I lost almost 50. I swear, maintaining is so much harder than losing! You just get so complacent and lazy, and then one day you're once again laying on the bed to zip up your jeans.

One of the hardest things about the new school year is getting up early! I am NOT a morning person, and in the summer, I'm sleeping until 9:30, sometimes even 10 or later. I do get ragged on occasionally by my friends (you know who you are!). But my natural rhythm is to stay up late and sleep in late. During the summer my sleep schedule is usually 2am to 10am. So waking up at 7:50 is HURTING! And I know, poor me, right? I know most of my friends and relatives get up much earlier, but we're talking about me right now. Is it the weekend yet?

One last beach picture from the Summer of 2008:

Lauren's slumber party was last week, but I waited until I got permission from all the parents to post the picture of the girls. They're a great group of girls, and I'm so glad Lauren is part of that group. I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends for Lauren, and they all have awesome parents as well.



And here is Lauren with her cake. I didn't make this one; it's a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, which is one of my favorite things in the world:



Lauren is finally embracing her curly hair, and actually makes an effort to style it now!