Short Summer

Since Tori's party, we've been busy with a few trips and more house work.  4th of July weekend we made a long trip to see many family members Tori's great Aunt and Great Uncle, Tori's Great Grandparents and Grandparents.  Tori stayed with her Grandparents for a week and had lots of fun.  She started that week off with watching the fireworks on the 4th of July.  Tori, Eli and her cousins enjoyed them.  While we went back home with Christian, she and Eli stayed the week.  They went swimming at 3 different places, went to World's of Fun, out to eat, on a boat ride and a few other activities.  They met us in St. Louis for the trip back home and we spent the day at the zoo.  That night we went to Dave and Buster's for video game madness!  Tori ended up with a stuffed Monkey with her tickets.  Finally she headed home on Sunday.

We found a present on her head when we got home...LICE!  Luckily the boys didn't get it because their hair is too short.  Tresa has been taking care of it.  Tori is getting to the point where she doesn't want anyone to see her naked anymore.  So, I'm out of a lot of situations by default.  She still gets embarrassed by her parents kissing and Eli running around the house naked.  He thinks it is funny, so her laughing just eggs him on!  The lice are 99% gone and it looks like we won't have to shave her head!  

This past weekend we built a retaining wall in the backyard.  TOri and Christian helped load 100 retaining wall bricks into the wheelbarrow and get them out once I got them down the hill.  They were struggling with the weight of 1, but they did it.  This weekend we are mulching that area and all 3 are helping then.  

Tori has a few plans still for the rest of the summer, but school is coming up quick.  Tonight she's trying Kuk Sool Won begrudgingly.  She's got an overnight party at a hotel with a friend in August and Eli's party too.  We've got a couple days home with them cause their sitter is taking a vacation.  Then school starts the 18th.  Not much time left.

Midway Through Summer

It’s hard to believe that school starts in about 6 weeks. It has been one busy summer. First was the laminate floor, which took about 3 weeks to fully complete. Then, Christian had an allergic reaction to some shots, Grandma moved out and Tori had a birthday party. Now, Tori and Eli are getting ready for their annual trek to Grandma Tip’s and their weeklong stay at Grandma Marie’s. Christian is done with the weeklong stays and is just coming along for the ride, looking forward to a stop at the Lego store on the way home.

Tori’s party went ok. We had a few injuries, starting with a splinter in a finger, followed by scraped knees, followed by a hurting side. Then, there was the broken nose in a beanbag incident in which no one really knows what happened. Two girls say one thing, and two say another. Thankfully, the little girl is going to be ok and will not need any surgery. Whew! No more beanbags at slumber parties and a lot more rules next time, including a decent bedtime. No more staying up until 4:30 a.m.

As though life has not been busy enough, we also got two new kitties. We were aiming for one, but Christian got suckered in fast. We have Princess Leia and Tater Darth Vader or Tater Tot King (Eli got to pick the middle names). Princess is a gray and white tabby, and Tater is black. They are so rowdy I like to call them Frick and Frack or Seek and Destroy.

The babysitter just got a pool, so our kids are going to get in a lot of swimming this summer. Don’t worry. The youngest kids can touch the bottom, and there will be adult supervision. Good luck to Sharon on keeping her house clean with that many kids in and out of the pool.

Happy Birthday!

Nine years ago today, our one and only daughter was born. She has grown into a lovely little lady with many friends. Tonight we celebrate her birthday with pizza, gifts and a few hours with her friends. She was a sweet, laid back baby, always smiling then and now. She’s our Tori, and we love her and wish her the best birthday ever! Happy Birthday, from Mom and Dad and your stinker brothers! And from the cats as well, including your new little Princess kitty.

Too Itchy

Today was school pictures for Tori and Eli. Eli chose jeans, an orange shirt and Snoopy. Tori got fancy and chose her glitter red dress, black tights and red shoes. I could tell she was not thrilled and urged her to go change before we had to leave. She resisted, but of course, she started crying when she got into the car. It was too itchy. Lucky for her, we let her change. She came back downstairs with the same thing she wore for her spring pictures last year. So, minus the teeth that are finally coming in, she should look the same. Oh, except this year, she brought her newest American girl doll. That girl! I told Huts she was going to change her mind. I could just tell.

Parent Teacher Conferences

This afternoon is Eli’s and Tori’s conference. We are getting them done early this year. We got lucky and got one of the first spots with their teachers. I am hoping for good reports, minus the fact that Eli cries a little too much. Tori may too. They are such sensitive children. Huts says it comes from him. Perhaps. Christian has grown out of it, for the most part. Hopefully these two will soon.

It’s a busy week ahead. Tomorrow night is Christian’s last night of scouts forever. He has had enough, and tomorrow night is the Gold & Blue Banquet. We are bringing chicken. With any luck, Eli will behave. Wednesday night is Eli’s first soccer practice. Huts has an assistant coach this time. A parent volunteered, so I no longer have to worry about sitting on the sidelines and helping substitute kids in and out. Thursday night is Christian’s student-led conference and then grocery shopping. Friday is eye appointments and then shopping in Bloomington. It is the kids’ first day of spring break. Yahoo! They are so excited about having all of next week off.

Sleep Over

Tori is having a sleepover next weekend. She has been to her friend’s house a couple of times. Now it’s her turn to host. The two want to go to Monkey Joe’s and run around and bounce, so that will probably be the activity for Friday night or early Saturday. Eli wants to go, too, so I guess he will tag along with them.

We’ve had a few warm days, helping melt some of the snow. We all seem to be tired of it, everyone but Tori. When I mentioned the snow melting, she says No! I don't know why she wants it to stick around. She refuses to play in it now. Says she is tired of that. Maybe she just likes the sight of it. It can be pretty!

Too Many Snow Days

Tori is suffering from school-itis. She has had quite a few days off from school recently because of all of the snow. That, along with the fact that there have been a lot of changes in school personnel and too much time cooped up indoors, has resulted in complacency. Tori isn’t interested in school, and she has been hurrying through everything, creating some messes and redos. Huts and I are trying to get her head back into the game, and the teacher is helping. She came home this week more focused than she has been in some time. She still complains every night about her class talking too much and having to stay indoors, but at least she is reading things and paying attention now. Keep your fingers crossed that there are no further snow days.

Tori may be having a sleepover next weekend. She has been over to Shaylee’s twice now. It is time Shaylee came to our house. Tori tells me. The two love to play with the boys and pull any and everything out of her room. They play with this and that, and make a lot of videos. I am trying to think of something fun for them to do, like the bounce houses or something else. They are getting bigger, so I am not sure what works for them now. Thinking, thinking, thinking!

Sleepover maybe

Tori has good friend, Shaylee, whose sister’s birthday is this weekend.  Her sister is having over four teens, and Shaylee told Tori that she might be able to have her over. Shaylee’s mom usually lets each girl have a friend over on birthday weekends. I will see them all tonight at the PTC meeting at school, so I guess we will find out then if Tori is invited or not. If not, maybe we can find a time for Shaylee to come over to our house. It is our turn to have her over.

Christian is also wanting to have a sleepover with the next door neighbor. He wants Matthew to stay the night at our house. I was hoping to wait for that until it is warmer, but I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon. Guess I better find a good weekend for everyone to come over and have some fun. Maybe they can go sledding in the backyard.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and the kids get to wear red or pink. Tori is ecstatic. She has a pink outfit all picked out and heart earrings. She got her valentines done last weekend, and her dad is going to help out at her party. I spent three hours last night making 48 brownies for her class and for Christian’s.  With any luck, Huts will get to sneak down to Eli’s class and check out things there. The kids are sure to have a good time and come home hyped on sugar!

Sims

Tori has discovered the Sims game and is having a lot of fun with it on the iPad. She has been making people, aging them and giving them unusual jobs and names. She has created her own little worlds, poking fun at whatever her heart desires. Her imagination is flying high right now, and she is on a roll.

On another note,,Tori has started getting up on her own in the mornings. She turns off the alarm clock, pulls out her own clothes, gets dressed and flies down the stairs. Sometimes she is the first to make it down. She is still a night owl, but she is a responsible night owl now.

Emma & Katie

Tori has no sisters sadly, but she does have two American Girl dolls, which she has now decided are Emma and Katie. Emma is the older one of the two with bangs and blue-green eyes. Katie is younger with silky straight hair and brown eyes. They do resemble sisters and Tori, too.

Along with Katie, Tori got many other things for Christmas. She is stocked with Monster High dolls and took a suitcase of those to the sitter’s. She also has enough mini LaLaLoopsies to choke a cow and enough of the larger ones to fill a trunk. Walk into Tori’s room, and you are in doll world for sure.

Tori’s teacher got married over break, and we are all now trying to call her Mrs. Turner instead of Ms. Roach. Her principal is still on leave, and an interim has stepped in. Her name is Mrs. Cushing, and apparently, she is very nice. Other than that, not much is going on. Tori still does not know what she wants to do this summer, but she did try roller skating over break and she was catching on to it. Christian, meanwhile, learned how to do it in school and is a whiz at it.

Coasting Along

Things at school are finally coming together for Tori, and she is just zooming along. She has been reading books and taking AR tests, more than I thought. She also knows her spelling words this week. Math is not so easy. But she is coming along in that too. The daily drop-in-the-bucket math sheets have stopped, and that seems to have improved her attitude. She is finally getting into multiplication and division. We are not sure how they are teaching that, so we are just helping however we can. She keeps saying seven rows of five, so they must be teaching them to group the numbers together rather than just memorize the multiplication tables. Interesting the ways they teach math now.

Tori is looking forward to Christmas, and hopefully, the arrival of a new American Girl doll that she intends to name Emily. She already has a doll named Emma. She lives under her loft bed in her own room. She has a bunk bed and is waiting for her sister to come. Here’s hoping Santa has a doll under the tree for Tori on Christmas Day.

Candy Is IN

The Fannie May candy has arrived. We have delivered most of it, excluding the ones we need to ship. It is coming soon, I promise. The school made $19k + on it, so thank you. This is their only major fundraiser, and every dollar counts.

Tori and Eli were very good deliverers. They took the candy to the neighbors willingly, and delivered it to the people next door all on their own last night. Eli has no qualms about ringing doorbells or speaking to people. He also helped the scouts last week place sacks for a canned food drive in people’s doors.

Tori got an A on her spelling test last week. Hooray, Tori! Huts found an app that has been helping her practice her spelling. Now, we need to find an app that will help her with multiplication.

Attitude

Tori started off the school year as usual, struggling a bit. She had forgotten a lot and had to climb back up the hill. She is there now, and her attitude proves it. Instead of feeling dumb, she is now using that as an excuse to not do her best. Christian is the smart one, not her, so therefore, she doesn’t have to work as hard. Case in point, a 65% on her last spelling test. When I asked her about it, she told me she did not care and would write the words she missed 100 times. When I told her that if she said that once more, she really would be writing her words 100 times, she shut up and gave me a mean look. So, the attitude is here, and this week, she is once again resisting homework. She doesn’t want to read her book or study her spelling words and pretty much threw a fit about it last night. Too bad, so sad. She did writer her spelling words, and she did read her book,, and she will be doing both again tonight. Wish me luck!

Tori started off the school year as usual, struggling a bit. She had forgotten a lot and had to climb back up the hill. She is there now, and her attitude proves it. Instead of feeling dumb, she is now using that as an excuse to not do her best. Christian is the smart one, not her, so therefore, she doesn’t have to work as hard. Case in point, a 65% on her last spelling test. When I asked her about it, she told me she did not care and would write the words she missed 100 times. When I told her that if she said that once more, she really would be writing her words 100 times, she shut up and gave me a mean look. So, the attitude is here, and this week, she is once again resisting homework. She doesn’t want to read her book or study her spelling words and pretty much threw a fit about it last night. Too bad, so sad. She did writer her spelling words, and she did read her book,, and she will be doing both again tonight. Wish me luck!

LaLa's Still Hot

If you don’t know by now, Tori has been a fan of LaLa Loopsy dolls for a very long time. She has several of the larger dolls, and almost all of the minis. For a while this summer, she wasn’t playing with her LaLas, and we wondered if she was growing out of them. She even gave us some stuff for the yard sale. Now, she is back into them, watching the TV show and asking for five of the larger LaLas for Christmas. She has done her homework on the dolls, and yesterday, she told me that she did not want the My Little Pony dolls. Whew! Glad Santa has not bought any of those.

On another note, we are selling Fannie May candy right now. $12 a box. Thanks to all who have ordered so far. We will ship it to you should you want to order. All proceeds go right back into the school.