LOVE- DAY 3

First, let me say that

I REALLY Love this girl!

But that goes without saying.

(Although I do like to say it. Everyday. Multiple times.)

What I want to say about this girl I love, is that I LOVE how diligent she is about her school work. She has gone where no other of my children has gone before, and that is to public school full time this early.

Was it a little bit scary? Yes. Was she a little bit unsure of "the ropes" of pubic school all day? Yes (but just a little). Was she nervous about knowing everything she needed to know to academically be where her peers are? Yes, but unnecessarily so.

And you know what? She just jumped right in with both feet! She figured out how to navigate lunch time. She figured out how to get from class to class on time. She figured out everything! She tried out for a sports team and the school play and the talent show. She hasn't let set-backs deter her. She handled an uncomfortable situation on her own (I still don't know what happened). She understood right away that she really does need to get her homework done and turned in on time, no negotiating with the teacher (unlike the negotiations we had with home-school!). She has had straight A's both quarters now. She is doing so well.

I had no doubts. She is an awesome girl!

Ch-ch-ch Changes

It has been a rough couple of days

mainly for one person in our family

but of course that ripples out to others.

It's not like she wants to be miserable

or to create misery for others.

She is such a wonderful daughter

and she tries to do what's right

and to be happy and cheerful.

But there comes a time in life

when the pain is just going to come

because things change.

Eeeeyyyy-ouch!

My teeth ache just looking.

This afternoon she declared that

her teeth finally don't hurt.

It has been a little touchy since Thursday

but I think we have our Abbie back.

We're good for 8 more weeks...

Hair We Go Again

Oh my goodness!

What is this?

What does this mean?

Where did this come from?

How did this come to be?

Well, I'll tell you:

First, you have your daughter wash her hair

and you comb it out nice and straight

and then you gather that hair together and make a braid

and then you chop it all off!

Easy-peasy.

But then you have to kinda work at it for a bit

and get it somewhat even

or at least as even as you can with a cheap pair of

haircutting scissors

and no real idea of what you're doing

(degree in Heath Science, not hair-cutting).

But in the end, it looks okay enough.

It has been a couple of days now

and I need to go back and tweak it here and there.

But Daughter is happy to live a

tangle-free life.

She's happy.

So I'm happy.

But I will admit:

it was really hard to finally agree to do this.

I'm In Trouble Now

There is a whole world out there

full of sugary concoctions

of all flavors and varieties

which I have purposefully avoided

to some extent.

I didn't want to get swept up in all its tempting varieties.

Because, you know, if you put one foot in,

just take one step,

you can get lost in all of the possibilities.

*sigh*

I took a step.

And this is what I stepped into:

Bakerella's Cupcake Bites

as shown and taught on The Pioneer Woman's site.

Miss Abbie and I spent time together yesterday

 

melting candy

and dipping the balls into the candy and the sprinkles

and it was messy

and it was fun.

I'm going to keep my eye out for different colors of candy melts

and different varieties of sprinkly-things

so that when we make these again we can have more

variety.

The Pandora's Box has been opened.

Pray for my soul.

THIS Girl...

...is AMAZING!!

Just look at her:

She just finished riding a bike for over 46 miles.

Ten years old

and her first long-distance bike ride.

She is so awesome!

 

But let me back up.

We arrived in Wellesville Friday evening around 5:30

and the festivities were under way.

The theme for this year's

Little Red ride was...

Hawaiian

There were lots of vendors and people milling around.

A very fun atmosphere.

We picked up our registration packets

and were interviewed for the Logan paper

and looked around for a bit

then left to check into our hotel.

Our start time on Saturday morning wasn't until 9:30 AM.

That was kind of nice for a change.

I took a quick picture of us and then off we went!

It was a beautiful day for riding.

And Cache Valley is a breath-takingly beautiful place to ride.

Regularly I asked Abbie how she was doing

and she always said, "Fine!"

Truthfully, I wasn't sure how this was going to go.

I took the map for the 35 mile option just in case Abbie felt like she couldn't do 

the 46 mile loop.

You see, we haven't *ridden more than 10 or 11 miles 

in our "training"

and Abbie would pretty much complain the whole way!

But Saturday?

Not a complaint

except close to the end when she said she was getting tired

or her toe hurt.

That was okay.

I was getting tired too.

And my shoulders hurt.

After our last rest stop

we paused to take pictures of

HOME 

painted on the road.

We were on our way!

Only 7-ish mile left.

We were really going to do this!

And we did. 

We were on the road from 9:30 until 3:00

 but our actual riding time was

4 1/2 hours.

Isn't she the most amazing girl?!

Edit: Ridden? What's ridden? I think the proper way would have been to say "We haven't gone on a ride longer than 10 or 11 miles."  But no. I have to write "ridden" and then not proof read this for a few hours after hitting the "publish" button.. Sheesh. Can I blame it on my brain being tired? Because it is, you know. Really tired. Tired, like I need to empty it of a few things. Do you understand what that means? 

Okay. I'm done.

(3:41 PM)

Hey There Little Red Riding Hood...

Okay.

Time to go.

Jersey: check

Cycling shorts: check

(yes, the tight padded shorts with spandex)

Cycling shoes and socks: check

Gloves: check

Water bottles: check

Helmets: check

Bikes loaded on top of van: check

Plans to get Abbie some road tires so she doesn't have to ride on the knobbies: check

We're off to Logan for the night.

Wellsville in the morning for the ride.

This will be a fun experience

to ride this with my daughter.

Her first big ride!

Doug and Jake are going to be volunteers

serving up food to the hungry riders.

Doug is great to be so supportive of this.

Okay then.

See ya!

Vicariously

I was born on St. Patrick's Day.

I have an Irish name.

For my birthday,

as I was growing up,

my Mom

always made a green cake

with a shamrock outlined in

those tiny silver balls.

But I was told that we have no

Irish ancestry.

I was Danish (lots)

and Welsh

and English.

It was heart-breaking to me

although I loved the

Danish-Welsh-English

mixture.

I felt Irish.

Every year my birth was celebrated

in an Irish-sort-of-way.

And when the fiddle would play

and the bodhran would beat

I would feel my

not-Irish-blood

dance.

About 12 years ago

I was searching in a huge book

of genealogy my Mom put together

and I found names I didn't know

with birthplaces in

Ireland.

I slammed the book shut

and sat there with my mind whirling

not knowing what to think

about this wonderful discovery.

I DID have Irish blood!

I knew it.

I knew it had to be true.

Now I had to find that page again

in the book.

What if I hadn't really read it correctly?

What if I couldn't find it?

But I found the page

and I read it over and over.

I'm Irish!!

(Maybe only a fingernail's worth. But still...)

My daughter,

Miss Abbie,

is doing what my old Irish bones will not.

In addition to her ballet class

she is also learning the

ways of the Irish step dance.

I love to watch her dance to the

music of the fiddle and the bodhran

that plays in her blood.

Twinkle Toes

On Saturday Abbie hit the Big Time.

She has been taking a satellite dance class this year through the University of Utah, and Saturday her class went to Kingsbury Hall to perform one of their dances with other classes involved in the program.

It was quite a thrilling experience for all the girls.

This is a blurry picture, but it captures the interior of the hall from the stage.

The girls did a warm-up in their street clothes, mostly so they could get a feel for the stage.

I have a real problem with most of the dance classes that are offered for girls these days. I don't approve of all the hoochie-koo moves that girls are doing. I think it is wrong for girls to do such suggestive dancing, and that is why I haven't had Abbie in any dance classes until now.

These classes are very expressive and creative and joyful and girls of all shapes and sizes were dancing-- looking and feeling beautiful. 

Even this quick rehearsal was pretty cool.

The big thrill was the dressing rooms under the stage, with the extra thrill of lighted make-up mirrors!

A quick photo of all the girls before they went on stage...

and then they danced their hearts out. I wasn't able to take pictures during the performance, but I sat there with tears in my eyes because it was just so cool!

It was a very joyful afternoon.

This Girl

May I just tell you

how much I love

this girl.

Still, after 10 years,

there will be moments

when I find myself

catching my breath

when I look at her.

I LOVED being a mother of sons,

just sons.

There was something very special about

being a mom

to those four sons.

But I always suspected

there was something different

about being a mother

to a daughter.

When Abigail was born

I felt it.

It was a very primitive sensation.

It had something to do with

passing on to my daughter

all the secrets and knowledge

of woman

so that she, too, could be

a Keeper

of all things mysterious to women.

How to bake bread.

How to hold a baby.

How to build a fire.

(The feeling really went back that far.)

Today we celebrated her birthday

with some of her friends.

Nothing primitive about today!

We went to the Rec Center

in the neighboring town

...and the girls did a little rock climbing

...to see how high up they could get

...and we spent HOURS

in the water

...swimming and water-sliding and jumping and diving

...and in the party room

Doug (Master of All Things Fun and Crazy)

got things going with the

ever-too-much-frosting-on-the-cake-so-what-should-we-do-with-it?

...and the girls got him back with a full-on-frosting-face.

(This was maybe a little primitive...)

It was a fun day.

We all had a great time.

And tonight, as I lay beside Miss Abbie on her bed,

and we had our quiet talk-time

before she went to sleep,

those feelings of

love

wonder

profound gratitude

connection with the ages

but mostly

love

crept into my being.

I really love this girl.