Posing

I spent a few hours with Bailey this morning, taking pictures for her senior year. These are the casual shots that kids seem to be doing these days, and then they still get their formal (professional) shot for the yearbook. We took about 130 pictures, so it's hard to choose a few of my favorites. Not to mention the whole bias thing about being her mom and thinking they're all good.

These were, of course, all taken on the grounds of our mansion.

Happy 17th

I warned about the scanning, but since today's Bailey's 17th birthday I couldn't resist. Thought I'd share a few of my favorite pictures from when she was little.

I love this one. I love how her pupils are HUGE and how there's a little piece of gum sticking to the front of her tooth. Why anyone (probably her grandmother!) was letting a toddler chew gum is beyond me.

I like this one because her hair was short, and it wasn't short for very long. It tips me off that she couldn't have been more than two or so. I like that the pink hand-me-down bed is in the photo. I like that the grey and white stuffed dog is there, and her swimming floaties are on the bedpost. And I like how Bailey is looking at the person taking the picture, which I'm almost certain was Addison.

It's grainy and blurry, but I LOVE this picture. It is sooooo Bailey. Her dad and Addison and I are riding away in a little motor boat while Bailey's staying on shore with her Papa because, NO ONE KNOWS. She got upset and mad all the time about things that we never knew. That child would not explain what was bothering her, ever. We'd just shrug our shoulders and give her space, because the slightest acknowledgement that something was wrong just made it worse. I love how her Papa is totally ignoring her little "mood" and acting silly as usual.

Her hair started growing quickly after she was two or so, and grew and grew. It had reached her lower back by the time she was four. I remember brushing and drying her hair and always telling her how much I wanted her hair for my own. It was beautiful.

She was just a beautiful child and still is. I'll have some updated pics of her this weekend. Happy Birthday Bailey!

Role Model

I have to brag on Alan. Yesterday Bailey was in a minor car accident in which she was at fault (hit another car from behind). Alan and I happened to be home and only a few blocks away, so we both drove over to the scene. Alan was so nice. Hugged Bailey repeatedly, told her it was okay, made sure she was okay, acted very calm, etc. Regardless of past history, he never made comments about how much it was going to cost, how much the insurance rates were surely to go up - you get the idea. I was reminded of how well my mother and stepdad handled similar situations with me. They never made me feel stupid, which you're already feeling as it is. I just think it's so great when parents follow the Golden Rule, which is something I'm trying to get better at as the years fly by. Alan's a good dad.

Sixteen Candles

This will forever be my favorite photo of Bailey.

I like that it's personal and intimate, and that only the people who really knew Bailey at this age understand what they're seeing in this photo. Much has changed since the day I took this picture of her pouting on the trampoline for reasons only she understood, and I'm anxious, nervous, and excited to see what the next few years will bring. Happy Sweet Sixteen, Bailey!

The girls

I suppose it's another mom thing, but there's just something about seeing your kids together, like this, that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. When you have more than one child, you essentially are giving them the irreplacable gift of each other. Yeah, it's a little melodramatic, but true!

Happy Day!

What kind of a mom am I? I not only forgot to sing Happy Birthday to Bailey and have her blow out the candles, I also forgot to post anything about it being her birthday on Tuesday. PLUS I have no pictures of her 15th birthday, because my camera is broken. A new camera just replaced everything else at the top of the must-haves list.

And just as I was about to post this, I picked up my camera again, turned it on, angrily messed with all the buttons, took a picture, and it works just fine. I'm relieved and mad at the same time. But mostly relieved.

Pretty and Not Pretty

Bailey left for church camp yesterday morning and arrived at Lake of the Ozarks, MO around 1:30 a.m. this morning. She's sharing a room with six other teenage girls, including two of her best friends. I'll consider the week a success if those three can stay out of trouble. Here's where she's at:

Here's what she left:

She may never come back.

Divine health

I'm setting myself up for certain illness by writing this, but I'm just so surprised I haven't gotten sick yet. Every day for the past 2-3 weeks I've been around sick kids with sore throats, fever, and the flu, and yet I haven't had as much as a sniffle. But If I don't come down with something after today, then my immune system has surely been touched by God himself!

A boy who was not feeling well used my cell phone to call his parents, and then clearly stricken with nausea, rushed towards the restroom where he promptly vomited in the hallway. Back inside the classroom, I sat there looking at my lovely gold Razr, wondering how to avoid all those active germs. All I could come up with was to squirt sanitizer on my hands (which I've been applying about 10 times every day) and when it was almost dry, rub it all over my phone.

I then came home to Bailey who is now running a 100+ temperature.

Dress-up time

The Lee volleyball banquet was held a couple nights ago, so here's a pic of Bailey and a few teammates. When you mostly see these girls in jerseys and ponytails, it's so cute to see them all girly-girl in their dresses and heels. The season was so much fun, and although I was sad to see it end, we found out this week that Bailey made the 15-yr old team in club volleyball which starts next month. I can't wait!

Gee, thanks

Bailey played great in the volleyball game against Abilene High yesterday. Played the whole match, did a little hitting, some setting, had an awesome kill. Or so we're told. We didn't actually get to SEE the game because no one managed to tell us that the time on the printed schedule was incorrect. So we drove the 2 hours to Abilene, grabbed some lunch before heading to the high school, and got there just in time to see her team walking off the court. We weren't the only parents who showed up and missed it, and I think the coaches may have gotten the message that they better make an effort next time to inform the parents directly, not leave it up to the girls to pass on important information that like.

Bailey's volleyball team pic

http://www.ladyrebelsvolleyball.com/freshman.htm

She's the one on the right holding the ball.

Headed for New Mexico

I just have nothing my brain can wrap around as interesting, not even remotely interesting. So here's an update of the goings-on.

Addison and Bailey started back to school this week. (Duh - like every other kid.) But it's kinda weird to have both my kids in high school now, Bailey being a freshman and Addison being a junior. Bailey's playing volleyball for Lee Freshman, and Addison just started a new job as a receptionist at a very nice retirement community.

Tomorrow Alan and his dad and myself leave for Albuquerque for the marathon on Sunday. Alan's race starts at 5:30 a.m., meaning he has to be on the shuttle that takes him to the starting line around 4:30. When the 5K is over that Leigh and I are running, I'll have plenty of time to walk back to the hotel to get my camera for when Alan crosses the finish. I can't wait!

Last night we went out for mexican food with Addison and her boyfriend, J. It was a lot of fun, and we got to know J a little more in the process. He seems like a great guy.

Since this was the first week of school, I wasn't expecting any subbing jobs. But I have been receiving several requests, anywhere from September through to December. Hopefully I'll stay fairly busy.

See? It's a slow week.

TotaLEE cool

Bailey made the freshman volleyball team this week, and they're wasting no time. The first scrimmages are today, followed by a couple more tomorrow. I'm trying to curb my enthusiasm, but it's pretty cool to me that she's playing for the Lee Rebels.

The headaches are getting out of control. I've had to make sure that I get as much accomplished in the mornings because I know I'll have a headache shortly after lunch. At least it's predictable and therefore I can plan. But seriously, what is up? I don't want to pay for a comprehensive doctor's exam - I simply don't believe they'd be able to figure anything out or worse, that they'd tell me I'm allergic to EVERYTHING. Mostly though I just don't have faith in doctors around here. I guess I've become cynical, maybe unfairly, but I only have to look at my mother and her years of procedures, surgeries, and prescription drugs to believe that some doctors appear to be figuring things out as they go. I want them to know their business.

I could also skip the whole exam and just go for the pain pills. But if the solution is to take a pill every time, then I'd have taken a good 30 pills in the last 40 days and that's just not for me. Something tells me the problem all these years has been food allergies...I'm not sure I want to have that confirmed. So stop complaining then, right? NOPE. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to. :-)

What we do for fun

So far we've being doing a little of this:





























And a little of this:














And besides tennis and birthdays and eating a lot of Whataburger and Rosa's, we've gone shopping, played hours of Guitar Hero, and have plans to go swimming today. We need them to stay several more days to get everything in!

Catching up

This week....let's see. A/C broke again. Water heater had to be replaced (ouch). Bailey had oral surgery to have six teeth pulled. So it's been kinda busy. But everything's good and fixed and Bailey recovered easily. Only took one pain pill. The reason that's important (okay, besides the fact that she didn't have much discomfort) is because now we have good drugs in the house. And since I've had a headache every friggin day for the past three weeks, this is exciting stuff!

DeeBee and the kids will be here this afternoon, so we're pumped. Finally Alan won't be the only boy around here. And Bailey's birthday is Sunday, so it'll be really cool to celebrate it with lots of family around. She wants a trampoline by the way. She's 14, so I'm thinking it'll be used for about a year or so.

I have a few things to do before everyone gets here, part of which is making some sweets to fatten us all up over the next week.

Pictures proving my niece and nephews are the coolest are soon to be posted. :-)

The weekend begins

We had a pretty good time last night and a few more people than expected showed up. Everyone brought something, which usually makes me feel guilty when I start putting it all way, because we end up with everyone's food and really didn't provide a whole lot ourselves. My fruity Bellinis were a pain in the butt to prepare yesterday and were a total FLOP. Everyone drank what they brought. Anyway, it was fun and the weather was cool enough for Alan to finally put his birthday present to good use:



Bailey left this morning for Temple Lake with a friend and will be gone all weekend. I drove her crazy making sure she packed every necessity, but that's a mom thing I can't stop doing yet (sorry, Bailey!). I was sad to see her go, which is weird since she's living with us full-time now and I get to see her every day. I guess it's easy to get used to new routines.

Her music

I love taking Bailey's iPod when I go for a jog or walk. This is a typical shuffle:

Mariah Carey

50 Cent
Rascal Flatts
Mercy Me
Dane Cook (stand-up bits)
Cadillac Don & J-Money
Little Big Town
Nelly
Lit
Fergie

I think it's amusing that on the last two days, "Word of God Speak" by Mercy Me has played immediately following 50 Cent and Dane Cook. I wonder if someone's trying to steer me in another direction. ;-)

Bailey in action

We really enjoy these tournaments and didn't want to see it come to an end since this was our last one, so the parents are now considering the Regionals in El Paso. Hopefully it's not too late for us to get in!

Lone Star Classic

We had a great time in Dallas. This tournament was the biggest, craziest thing I've seen.

Try to imagine two huge (I'm talking cavernous) areas inside the Dallas Convention Center with 60 volleyball courts, 4 teams at each court. 60 courts! It was loud, spectators sat right along the sidelines of the courts, Starbucks and Maui Wowi stands in the corners, guys from Medieval Times walking around in their knightly duds, and volleyballs flying all over the place. And of course there were hundreds of screaming 13-14 year old girls.

It reminded me of scenes from "Bring it On" where there's organized chaos all around, and you walk by teams that you beat or that beat you badly at a previous tourney and you maybe exchange those looks. The picture doesn't capture the enormity of it all, but maybe you get the idea. More pictures and maybe videos to follow.

First Day of April....Aaaaahh.

Finally this morning I can see some light. Between grades being due, the refrigerator going out, and the volleyball tournament (for which I reluctantly volunteered to help out at), it's nice to know I have a full day today to catch up.

Submitting those FINAL grades was a weird experience. There is some finagling that goes on, more than I realized, but always to the student's benefit. Some kids will have happy parents and some....who knows what will happen. I wasn't about to tinker with grades to the point that a kid gets a grade undeserved. So will they be grounded, spanked, ignored, or will pissed off parents be at my classroom door the day after report cards arrive? Guess I better be prepared.

We have a new refrigerator, and the kitchen is a happy place again. Today we get to make a monster-size grocery run to fill it back up. It might be the one day I enjoy grocery shopping.

It was a long day yesterday at the tourney, but still a good one. I griped way more than I should have about having to help out, but I still don't like volunteering. Bailey's team voted her MVP. Alan and I were puzzled at first - not because she's not a great player, but...MVP? We think it's because everyone just really likes Bailey and there were a couple other girls on the team they were determined NOT to vote for. She shows up for practice, she plays hard, she's very likable and nice to everyone, and when her serve is on she can't be stopped. Still, I'm happy that her teammates recognizes that SHE ROCKS. :-)