Growing Up

If you've read any posts from the past year, you probably know that I had many frustrations surrounding Lauren's behavior. I do believe that my little girl is growing up before my very eyes. First grade is doing wonders for her. I always love watching how excited she is about school. Either that or turning six has suddenly changed her overall demeanor. Believe me, Lauren is still just as dramatic and spirited as ever, but she seems to have a different attitude. She still thinks that life is "all about her" (John would say she gets that from her mother lol), but she has a calmer, sensitive nature about her. I wish I could view life from her eyes for just one day and can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

Good Citizen

I was so incredibly proud when I received a phone call from Zack's teacher, Mrs. King, letting me know that he had been selected for the Outstanding Citizenship Award for the 2010-2011 school year. I couldn't tell him, however, because it was going to be revealed at the annual awards assembly. I didn't even tell him that I would be attending the assembly, so I wasn't surprised when he gave me a funny look upon entering the gymnasium and noticing not only me but Grandma Converse, Grandma Grisham and Bud. Aunt Patty, Uncle Rich, Bryan, Brooke and Camryn were there as well since Hayden was awarded the same honor for his class. Zack kept staring back at us; not sure what was going through his mind. Haha The moment for announcing outstanding citizenship awards finally came. The look on his face was absolutely priceless when they called his name. He was truly shocked! The best part was watching him interact with his classmates after sitting back down. He was smiling ear-to-ear showing off his certificate and pin. It was a great day for a very proud Mom! :)

Could the Phase Be Over?

I had conferences Thursday night for both Zack and Lauren. It was so nice to hear that the teachers love them! The best part was hearing from Lauren's teacher that she has officially turned the corner. I've noticed major improvement at home, but I'm so glad to hear that it's the same story at school. I pray this phase is over! She seems so much happier and well-behaved. :-)

Catching Up

Well it's been a few months since I last posted anything. Life has been busy!

I started a new job as Controller at Freedom Motors USA. Check out the website to see what my new career entails. I thought about leaving Plante Moran several times throughout my 13 years there, but until this job offer it always overwhelmed me. I knew that this job was meant to be when leaving was such an easy decision. While any job has its challenges, I can happily report that I LOVE it. As if enjoying my new position wasn't enough, I met the most amazing friend in the process. I thank God daily for bringing Danielle into my life!

Zack is same as always... a great boy with a good heart. I don't know what I would do without his quiet support. He always seems to know when I need some lovin' and seldomly causes trouble. He has been riding on cloud 9 lately as he was the only (and yes he will repeat "only" a few times haha) child in his class to get a 100% on the science test earlier this week.

Lauren is as strong-willed as ever. I keep meaning to plan a trip to Barnes & Noble in order to buy a book that I have researched to help me parent her. Since she was too young to comprehend our divorce two years ago, she is finally doing so now. It is so difficult to explain why Daddy and I are not getting back together. I refuse to bad-mouth her Daddy in any way and feel she deserves to form her own opinion of him. Until she is old enough to understand, I just have to wipe away the tears and remind her how much she is loved regardless of the situation. Besides the divorce, she seems to be struggling with overcoming her strong-willed attitude since starting school. I think it is primarily due to exhaustion. She gets worn out and turns evil come evening. That may be a bit of an exaggeration... but not much. Haha I can only hope that this is a phase!

Spooktacular Crop

Mom and I began our girls' weekend this morning! We had a peaceful drive to Gaylord and checked in for three days of cropping, shopping, eating and relaxing. I decided to bring nothing but my computer with me on this trip. They are holding two digital scrapbooking classes that we are scheduled to attend. I'm excited to see what knowledge I might be able to gain. In the meantime, I'm working off the self taught skills I have. Here is my first page of the weekend. I hope to finish ALL of 2010 before heading home late Sunday afternoon. Challenge on!

Emotional

I absolutely love my daughter, but she has been stressing me out quite a lot lately. She is stubborn just like both of her parents, but her emotions seem to be running wild. I pray that it is just a phase... that she's developing new hormones... but I'm truly worried about what this means about the years to come. This particular picture was taken at the playground behind our condo. She wanted a ride in the baby swing and stomped off pissed when I told her that she was too old for the baby swing but could go on the regular ones. She didn't care that I offered to swing next to or push her. It took a good 15-20 minutes before I was able to get her to snap out of it. Monday night was my breaking point. I took the kids with me to Meijer in order to get groceries before heading home. Lauren has lost her respect for authority and has become spoiled. I know the part I have played in it, which is probably why I cried the entire way home. She was upset that her brother was allowed to pick out gum as he was paying for it with his allowance. As she had already spent hers over the weekend, she was not allowed to pick any out. She stomped through the store and constantly reminded me of how "mean" I am. She cried the entire time we were checking out and the entire way home... it didn't stop as soon as we pulled in either. We must have been a sight! The driver is crying along with her daughter in the back seat, and her son is annoyed with both. I just had a rush of emotions. I was upset that being a single-mother was NEVER how I'd envisioned raising my children. That led to being pissed at my ex-husband for putting me in this position. And it ended with disappointment in myself for giving in too many times in order to take the easy way out. Now it's time to reverse the effects, but that's going to be a painful process.

Clash Day

Today was Clash Day at school. As this is Homecoming week, the kids have "special days" to look forward to. Monday was Hat Day (although neither one remembered to wear one), yesterday was Favorite T-Shirt Day, tomorrow is Pajama Day (quite unfair that their father gets to take advantage of that easy morning haha) and Friday is Purple and White Day. The kids have been looking forward to today more than any other. Of course, you have more options for mixing and matching with girls, but we tried our hardest with Zack too.

Besides the stack of jeans in his closet, these new camouflage pants were the only pair with pattern available to us. Of course all of his shirts tend to have those same color tones, so this red and gray striped shirt was the most mismatched we could find. You can't tell since his pants cover them, but he is also wearing two different socks (one navy and gray striped, the other white). And being the boy that he is, his creative brain picked two different shoes of the same color; but they are different nonetheless.

Lauren really had fun preparing her outfit for the day; especially since this is her first go-round. Her navy and hot pink dress clash quite nicely with her brown, light pink and yellow striped leggings. She is wearing one purple sock and one blue. To finish the outfit off, she has on one twinkle toe shoe and one brown mary jane. But being a girl, we couldn't stop there. We decided to have fun with her hair too and gave her one pigtail. She was quite the happy girl walking out this morning! =)