On a side note: My blog is my main source of family record keeping so bare with me as I give a rundown of what the girls have been up to of late....
Kyleigh
She is LOV'in highschool! This pic was taken before attending her first official football game as a sophomore. Between her classes..{there are some hard ones}...Honors English, Chemistry, AP World History, Algebra II, French 3 etc., 9 hours of dance a week, throw in either a tennis practice or a match after school, range or road driving for drivers ed, AND a social life. It's nuts! I don't know how in the world she's still vertical at times but she just keeps plugg'in along...often times up late, {way too late}, studying or finishing up homework. Her head is often times just above water, but she's sure enjoying herself as she is slowly drowning in highschool-ness. We keep saying when the tennis season is over in three weeks, things will calm down. Hopefully for mom and dad too, as there is continuous drop off here, pick up there sorta thing going on...
Haven't been able to get an action shot of her yet this year but she's had a good tennis season so far. She's won all her matches except the ones against Skyline. They are a hard team to beat!
K so...I can't forget to mention a few things that have gotten myself and Kyleigh a little riled up these past couple of weeks. First, the BOY DRAMA. There is this boy who hit on Kyleigh the second day of school and he is still pestering her despite Kyleigh taking him aside at the Seminary social nearly two weeks ago and as kindly {as possible} telling him she was not interested in starting up a relationship with him. AWKWARD! He's such a persistent fellow, {ya have to give him credit for that}, but just way way too forward. There is so much more to the story but I'll leave it at that. I'm trying to be nice here but he really is {in the words of one of Kyleigh's guy friends} "a clueless creeper".
Second thing...all this HOMECOMING DANCE business...Trying not to get on my soap box here but I'm just a little surprised {which I know I shouldn't be} upon hearing how many Mormon friends or acquaintances of Kyleigh's are going to the dance even though they aren't 16 yet. It's very interesting to me to see who's parents are firm with that church guideline of not dating until you are 16 and which ones are more lenient. From what I hear, most kids justify it that it's really not a date since they are going in a group. Umm..wait a sec here...you do have to be asked by someone of the opposite sex to attend this thing..and you will be paired off.... it is a dance, duh! And unless things have changed since I was a teenager I thought being asked out by a guy was considered a date. No? I wonder at times if parents think they are depriving their kids of an once in a lifetime opportunity, or their child will appear less popular if they don't let them go to such things as this. Anyhow, I know every situation is different, some kids are days or just weeks away from turning sixteen once the dance is held. Would I let my girl go if that was the case? I think that is something that I would have to consider {I can be flexible} but when you are months and months away from the big 16, as is the case with Kyleigh. It's a no go! I myself couldn't date or drive until I was a Junior, as I have a very very late birthday. However, my dad made one exception and let me go to the VERY last dance of my Sophomore year as I was asked by a good friend. One of those nice, sweet, seminary president type boys. And yes, we were in a group. So it was pretty harmless, as I'm sure the majority of Kyleigh's friend's experiences on Homecoming night will be. But my overall feeling, now that I'm a mother of five daughters, is that you have to set a firm standard right off the bat with these type of situations. and not waver. If you ask me, you are just better off obeying your church leaders and waiting til you are 16 to start this dating business. Plus, whether Kyleigh likes it or not, she is the role model for 4 younger sisters. We've got to do it right the first time.
And lastly, this Chemistry class of Kyleigh's I KNOW is going to drive me bonkers. We have a parent/child science activity due once a week so that we can know what our child is learning in class. Are you flipping kidding me? First of all, I dislike anything science related and secondly, I seriously don't need homework. I was making freak'in play-doh with my 15 yr old the other night so that I could learn the properties of matter. {Not happy about that} Don't get me wrong, I try to be very supportive of her school endeavors and I'm more than willing to listen to her tell me what she is learning in Chemistry, but please don't have me waste my time doing homework busy work with her. Especially when it takes away much needed homework time with my two who need my help more. Some say the witching hours of motherhood are from 3-6. For me, the homework, the whole bedtime routine...and trying to remember everything I need to do, be, and not forget, I often wonder if my head is going to blow...I declare my witching hours are more from like 8 pm til my head hits the pillow somewhere before midnight.
EMMA
This is Emma's latest project from her summer semester of art...They had to pick a carousel animal to draw. It think it's beautiful!
She continues to be my little homemaker. One recent Saturday she made an apron for Kate and whipped up wheat waffles {from scratch} with a variety of toppings. Another fine result of her efforts in the kitchen lately was a pumpkin pie shake. Delicious! That recipe I'll be sharing soon.
She's also been reading up a storm in the last two weeks..she recently finished FOUR books of Shannon Hale's....Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born. She is hating band right now! She made 2nd chair flute but its been tough. She skipped a whole grade in band and now the music is way too challenging. On the other hand, her chanter teacher says she is almost ready for the bagpipes!...{well within the usual year it takes to prepare for them.} She is way excited about that! So is Grandpa Bell, and mom too!
Hannah
Nana Bella started art lessons this past summer. This was one of her projects from her first semester. I was so so impressed! Of course it would be giraffes..her favorite! She is loving 6th grade. They are currently learning about Egypt and mummies and she is finding it all quite fascinating. She's been teaching me a new way to do a certain kind of math and we've been enjoying reading several books together which I'm going to do a whole other post about. Having gone swimming with her this past weekend I can't believe what improvement she's made this summer in her swimming. It helps when your best friend has a pool. I wish you could try Hannah's peanut butter chews that she can make by herself. They are tasty!
K...I'm running out of time and this post is getting a little long, so I'll post about B. Olivia and Kate in a part II!
No comments:
Post a Comment