She’s back!

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Tessa

We picked Eve up from camp today. She was so bouncy and happy to see us! We all had brunch together, then Eve gave us a tour of (some of) her favorite places.

Someone was happy to see little sister!

Siblings reunited!

Brunch in the dining hall. (Ignore that pile of carbs on Lex’s plate.)

Eve took us on a tour of her favorite places. (This is kind of a trippy picture!)

See the pretty horses.

She told us stories the whole way home and then went right to her room and almost cried from exhaustion. I thought she would take a nap, but she listened to music and worked on a friendship bracelet while I took a nap! 😄

My favorite story came when I asked if she got the package I sent her with the disposable camera in it. She brought her toy camera to camp, but it takes terrible pictures and probably ran out of battery, so I made a special trip Wednesday to the drug store and post offic to get her a camera. I envisioned pictures of her friends and her counselors and the horses. Ya know, camp pictures! I had plans to make copies of some of them to share with the other two families. My plans evaporated when I ask her about the camera and she said, “Yeah, but it was really confusing. I mean, it had no screen so I didn’t know if the pictures were good, then I couldn’t figure out how to make it work, and I think it needs something called film?!” I was laughing so hard!!

Now the neighbor kids are over. We couldn’t say no to them because they are leaving tomorrow for a month long vacation! I think everyone will sleep well tonight. I know I’ll be happy to have Miss Eve back in her own bed. ?

PS. Lex and Asher saw the camera on the counter after I unpacked Eve’s stuff. Eve peeled off all the stickers and wrappings so its just a weird black box. Lex figured out how to take a picture, but I had to show him how to scroll forward to take the next one. The boys took a few pictures of each other but got bored when they realized they couldn’t immediately see them. Hahaha.

Save

Miss Eve goes to camp

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Tessa

We dropped Eve off at Girl Scout Camp today. She is there with two friends from school. She was so excited!!

All packed and ready to go!

Her friends came over to our house this afternoon and we caravanned up together. It was great to have her friends and MY friends there for support! :)

She was so excited! She rolled down her window and said hello to every councelor that gave us parking directions along the way. Look at that smile! <3

Three eager girls heading to check-in!

Her GIANT Valentine’s Day puppy went to camp too! :)

We parked and headed to the check-in lines. Fortunately all three ended up in the same camp sight (there are multiple sites with many cabins/tents/treehouses each). We had a little scare with them being in different groups, but when faced with a few panicked mothers the nice councelor fixed the problem asap! LOL!

Head checks for all the girls. Of course, I checked her this morning! I DID NOT want to be the parent bringing her girl home with head lice before camp even started! :)

This way to Tall Timbers!

Eve’s cabin. It is small and HOT!

Eve got the top bunk because her buddy wanted the bottom bunk. Her other friend is in the other bunk in the cabin, with one other girl who they don’t know. They promised to be nice and inclusive with her! :)

Her shelves, fully stocked.

It was great having the other families and all the siblings there. The moms helped the girls set up and make beds while the dads/boyfriends/friends chatted with councelors and played with siblings. The girls made name tags, met their councelors (at least two of them, one named Pickles and the other named Hatter — both camp names, I’m assuming!), found the water fountain and bathrooms, and generally settled in. The mom’s laughed, exchanged advice and support, and everyone parted in good spirits.

Saying goodbye to brother. Neither of them seemed too upset. I’m curious how they will feel later in the week.

I have been texting with the other two moms and that has been fun. I’m very glad to have their support. One’s daughter has gone to visit family for weeks at a time and the other girl goes to visit dad on a regular basis, so I’m the only one with separation anxiety, but they are nice and supportive and giving me gentle loving grief.

Eve will either have the time of her life, which is what she’s expecting, or it will be miserable. The temps will be pushing 90° all week with rain in the forecast for two of the days, though not a cooling rain. I hope she has a great time!

Now we are watching The Martian, a movie that’s not appropriate for her, and staying up late. Lex has karate camp this week so I will have a few mornings to myself again! Hello naps! LOL!

PS. Since this is the digital age, camp now has an email system. You can send an email and they will print it and deliver it with the daily mail call. If you would like to email Eve, let me know and I’ll send you instructions.

Save

Girls on the Run

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Tessa

Eve and I participated in the final 5K for Girls on the Run. We had a super fun time. Eve ran the whole way (so did her friend!), and I ran most of it, only walking briefly on the two big hills! 😁

Hair spray. She was most excited for this!

Silly girl.

I love this girl. She's radiant!

Some of her GOTR team all sillied up!

These two are so cool.

I tried to get a good photo at the start line, but these silly girls weren't up for it. 😄

All done!!

Eve and her "battle scars." She is quite proud of them! She fell about a mile into the race, scraped up both knees and her side, but got up and kept on going!

After the race we stopped at Solar Show and Tell to pick up Lex, who was there with Alan representing the energy commission.

Time for some quiet "recharging."

They also had a bouncy house (solar powered!) at the Solar Show and Tell, so we hung out there for awhile while Eve got even more big muscle activity!! 😄

Then we got lunch at Panera did some birthday present shopping, came home for a bit to clean up, then back out to drop Miss Eve off at a sleep-over birthday party!! She is going to be a wreck tomorrow!! Most of the party girls were also at the 5K, so maybe they will all go to sleep early!

Girls on the RUN

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Tessa

I was so proud of Eve and her confidence yesterday! So happy that I was there to witness it. Yesterday was our final Girls on the Run practice before the big 5K race on Saturday. We were running laps around the field and the goal was to get 12 laps, which equals three miles. We joke a bit that our team should be called Girls on the Walk, because they aren’t real motivated to run this year, but yesterday Eve decided she was going to run the whole time and get those 12 laps! That alone was awesome. She was running with her best friend for a bit, then her friend started walking and Eve kept running. She caught up with me (and by caught up I mean I was a full lap behind her!) and, quite upset, told me that her friend was crying and mad at her because she wanted to keep running but her friend wanted them to walk together. She had told her friend that she was trying to do her personal best (something we talk A LOT about) and that she had set a goal for herself and wanted to achieve it. I totally encouraged that!! She kept running when I had to stop and walk too. I caught up with her friend soon after and we had a nice long chat. It’s hard to tell girls to just do their personal best and not try to compare, because they do compare and her friend was really upset that Eve’s “best” was better than her “best.” She was also upset because she wants to run the whole 5K with Eve and cross the finish line together, but since Eve can run it and she can’t, she thinks it won’t be fun. I felt bad for both of them. Eve wanted to run, but didn’t want to make her friend sad, and her friend just wanted to hang out with Eve and be together. I chatted with both of them and Eve made a plan to do her best, then jump back on the track when she saw her friend finishing so they could cross the finish line together (Eve for the second time).

I was so proud of Eve for standing her ground and working hard though. She ran 13 laps and was so proud of herself! She is now confident that she can run that 5K and excited for Saturday. Growing up is hard to do, but I’m so happy to see her growing confident and strong and still being a good friend. She often finds herself in tricky friend situations because she wants to be friends with everyone, but she’s hit the age where the drama begins. We talk a lot about how to navigate that scene while still remaining true to yourself. I’m so proud of her!

Girls Day Out!

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Tessa

Eve and I had a fun girls day out today! She earned two tickets to Girls Expo from her cookie sales so we headed up there today to check it out. It was an expo alright, in the Exposition Center, with lots of booths selling stuff and lots of activities and lots and LOTS of girls! :)

On the way in we had to pause and think hard about which way we wanted to go! Eve said, “It’s a good thing Grandpa Tom isn’t here!” :)

Making a Bristle Bot with terrible instructions and incomplete parts.

Fortunately Eve is a smarty and figured it out anyway!

Checking out the gymnastics bus. Eve loved it! There were trampolines and bars and rings and lots of other gymnastics things in there. And no grownups allowed! :)

Building a grow box. I think you’re supposed to plant seeds in it and watch it grow but Eve wants to just use it as a display box for her stuff.

I was surprised in this workshop at how many mothers did most of the project for their kids. I saw mothers opening the bags and spreading out the pieces while their daughters just sat there and stared. I saw girls running around while the mothers were reading directions and trying to figure out how to build the things. I saw mothers talking with each other and complaining that the instructions were too hard and didn’t make sense. Seriously, they were little wooden building kits. Eve did hers without even reading the instructions. Not really that hard. I helped her hold pieces together and helped hammer the nails all the way in, but otherwise she did it all while I watched the other people and realized that maybe the reasons girls grow up helpless is because their mothers are hovering over their heads, doing the work for them while simultaneously complaining how hard it is to follow simple instructions and hammer in a few nails.

Painting canvas totes. Eve met her friend, fellow scout, and neighbor there and we hung out with her for awhile. Eve makes beautiful faces, doesn’t she! :)

Back on the bus.

Eve ran a pedal-powered blender and peddled her way to a delicious smoothie!

We ended the expo here. These blocks are awesome and so fun to build with, but Eve was loopy and getting rowdy with them, so I decided it was time to head out.

We left the expo around 2:30 and headed out to do some clothes shopping. Poor Eve is wearing holey, too small clothes all the time these days! I figured it was about time to get the girl something that fits. We stopped for pizza along the way. There was a bakery next to the pizza place, so after lunch we went into the bakery to get some dessert. Faced with donuts and cookies and cakes and all sorts of treats, Eve decided she wasn’t ready for dessert and we left. I could have eaten everything in there, but I took advantage of her will power and we got the heck out of there!

We spent the next few draining hours at nearby outlet stores, trying on clothes and trying to be patient with one another. Neither of us really like shopping. Eve takes EONS in the dressing room then comes out dancing and singing and being totally useless. She argued with me about what fits (like too small overalls with no shirt – hilarious!) and I had to remind myself of the right questions to ask. Not “Do you want it?” but instead “Will you wear it?” Often the answer to those two questions was not the same!

After three stores and a big pile of clothes we decide to call it quits. We ducked in to a cute market and picked up some ice cream and chocolate, then swung by Dunkin Donuts for caffeine and bagel twists, then headed home!

Over all it was super fun and I’m so grateful to get quality one-on-one time with my growing girl. I am also grateful that tomorrow is a no plans day! :)

Eve love

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Tessa

A Birthday Weekend

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Tessa

We had a long weekend full of birthday fun for this growing girl. Thursday night we went out to a fancy dinner at Jesse’s. I encouraged her to pick somewhere other than the usual Panera Bread. :) I think we were all happy with her choice!

How is it possible that she’s nine already?!

Tic-tac-toe is always popular at classy places that give you crayons. :)

Mema and Grandpa Tom came too!!

I love this girl!

This super silly girl!!

The restaurant staff brought her a big birthday brownie sundae and sang her a birthday song. The best part is that our waitress was her teacher last year! A teacher that she loved. :)

She and I shared this brownie sundae and together only got about half way through!

We got distracted by the big rocks on the way back to the car. We were all a little hepped up on the excitement (and sugar!) of the evening!

The were pretending to be rock hopper penguins.

The sign is so big! They were amazed! It does not look that big from the road when we drive past all the time.

Strike a pose! It took us a long time to make it to the car. :)

Friday Aunt Rosy came to town and stayed in a hotel with a pool! Eve invited our neighbor to come along and we enjoyed pizza and swimming at the hotel.

They played an interesting game of basketball in the pool.

On Saturday Aunt Mandy joined the party crowd. She and Alan took Eve out for a birthday lunch and bike shopping! Eve has been riding a series of yardsale bikes these past few years and although she loves them, we decided it was time to get her a new “from the store” bike that was just her size.

Still pink and streamers though, of course. I wonder if she asked Alan to put her basket on it. She loved having a basket on her old bike.

We hung out, played, relaxed, cooked, ate a delicious dinner, then did presents and cake.

One roller skate?! I wonder what’s in the next box!

My last minute, on-the-fly, cake for Eve using box cake mix and leftover frosting. It came out delicious, with a mysterious hint of mint.

Happy Birthday my big little NINE year old!

On Sunday everyone went home, I took a nap, and this happened! She has been wanting to color her hair for weeks now and has been asking me to take her to the store to buy purple hair dye. It never happened, but she mentioned it on her birthday list and Aunt Rosy delivered. I’ll have to dig up an old picture of Aunt Rosy with her orange hair sometime!

We were going for just the tips, but I’m not much of a stylist and she’s a pretty wiggly customer, so it ended up being the lower three inches or so. Plus that part in the front that always hangs down. She calls it her “wish curl.”

Punky Purple Curls! I wanted to take a picture of the ringlets, but she brushed her hair before I had a chance.

She was pretty low-key about it last night. I’m not sure if she didn’t love it or if she just wasn’t feeling well. Along with all the presents she also got a nice head cold this weekend and her ears are full of sinus pressure. I’m curious to hear what everyone in school thinks of the purple curls today.

So that was Eve’s 9th birthday, plus her friend party from a few weeks ago. I feel like we’ve been celebrating all month and guess what just came in the mail?! A birthday present from Joyce. Let the celebration roll on!! :)

Happy Birthday 9th Eve!!

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Tessa

Miss Eve celebrated nine big years today! I have lots of pictures and it was a busy day, but this is all I’m doing tonight. I love this girl more than the world, even when she drives me crazy, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. Happy birthday baby girl!

Slumber party fun!

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Tessa

Last night we celebrated Eve’s birthday with a friend-filled slumber party! We had seven girls (eight, including Eve) come for dinner and fun. Two went home at bedtime and five (six, including Eve) stayed over night! It was wild and silly and fun! She has a nice group of friends.

When they arrived we had perler beads and Just Dance running on the XBox. A calm craft and an energetic activity. The girls bounced happily between the two.

Perler beads are plastic beads that you arrange on a little pin tray and then use a warm iron to melt them together. They take lots of concentration and fine motor skills!

I bought a dance game for the XBox and it was a HUGE hit! So worth the money!

When Alan came home from the gym he brought dinner with him. Pizza for all! Eve did her best to avoid all photos during this party. :/

Pizza and fruit salad for dinner. Yum! Duck Eve, duck!

Then time for presents. My phone camera was really lousy for this whole party. Dunno why. None of the pictures came out well. Maybe I need to clean it or something.

Presents and pjs.

Instead of cake, I made mini cupcakes and we did a fondue type thing.

The candles got a little interesting. :)

Everyone had fun using the tiny forks and dipping the cupcakes into frosting and toppings. I put out lots of options so there was something for everyone.

What’s a party without a giant cake bite picture?! :)

Then back to dancing! Gotta dance off the sugar. I found them running back and forth into the kitchen, eating cupcake toppings by the handful. I put a quick end to that!

Dancing the night away.

Just in time I remembered that we had a pillow case project to do as well! I had white pillow cases, stencils, and fabric markers for all the girls. They had a great time decorating them and signing each other’s pillow cases. It was really cute.

I found a cute poem on Pinterest and several girls used it on their pillow cases.

Now I lay me down to sleep… I’ll count friends instead of sheep…

Lots of hand tracing, well wishes, and positivity.

Her pillow case is all stenciled and so pretty.

Quick break for a game of darts. It’s good to have a receiver at the bottom to throw the darts back to you! They are magnetic darts, btw, no sharp objects flying around here!

I tried for a nice group shot, but where’s Eve?

Oh, there she is!

Things got a little silly.

Silly birthday hugs for Eve.

After the lateover girls went home everyone else brushed teeth and settled in for a movie. Eve chose to watch Duck Soup, a Marx Brothers movie that we had watched as a family last weekend. She loved it then and we had paused it a bunch of times for everyone to laugh. She was certain her friends would love it and said we would be pausing it every minute or two for laughter. Sadly, that was not the case. She loved it and laughed, but they were mostly just confused. I eventually made Alan and Lex turn off Minecraft and watch the movie, hoping their laughter might bolster Eve’s. Two loyal friends stuck it out for the whole movie, but the rest went upstairs to play. Eve didn’t seem to care. She was happy to be watching a movie that made her laugh.

I think Marx Brothers wasn’t what this Disney-raised crowd was expecting!

Everyone went to bed after the movie. In bed around 10:30, lights out at 11pm, and time for the serious voice at 11:30. They were all asleep by midnight! Thankfully! This morning I heard footsteps walking around at 6am, and when I got up at 6:15 I heard giggly little voices. Everyone was downstairs and dancing again by 7am!

Pancakes for breakfast, of course. With chocolate chips and syrup. But, wait, where’s Eve?

Oh there she is, avoiding my camera again. :) Silly girl. I try hard to respect her wishes and not take as many pictures, but it’s hard to resist at a birthday party!

Let’s keep this party going with an early morning dance-fest!

I learned from our past two sleepovers (Eve’s and Lex’s) that things are less fun in the morning and an earlier pick-up is better than a later one. Things went well this time, maybe because we had enough kids that no one had to work too hard to entertain anyone else, but still by 9am everyone was ready to go. Parents came, hugs and thanks were exchanged, and everyone went home.

I want to say she fell asleep at the table, but not really. She did get a Little Live Pet and had fun taking care of it and “feeding” it this morning. That head definitely went down on the table many times while she was playing though. :) Tired girl.

Alan went to work today (poor guy) and the kids and I are taking it slow. I just dropped Eve off at Girl Scouts and apologized to the troop leader that half her troop was up until midnight partying at my house last night. I hope they all survive.

Overall a super fun party though! Eve has great friends and I think everyone had fun. There was no fighting and only the slightest bickering. Everyone played together and no one seemed excluded. There was plenty of sweets and toys and balloons for all. Another successful party on the books! Now we have almost two weeks to recover before her actual birthday! :)

Last night

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Tessa

I went up to check on the kids before I went to bed last night and found sweet surprises in both room.

Eve had a really hard time falling asleep and was up very late last night. This might have been partly why. I think she’s getting excited for her birthday. :)

I’ll help translate a few:

1. Little Live Pets (official website, Amazon)
2. Mechanical dog. I think she saw one at KMart one time.
6. Non-permenant hair dye. She wants to dye her hair bright purple.
10. Surprises

I think the rest make sense without translation. :)

Lex, on the other hand, had no trouble falling asleep!

When I showed him these pictures this morning he was surprised he’d fallen asleep that way. He said he only meant to cuddle her for a few minutes then planned to put his head back on the pillow. I guess he was pretty comfy. ?

Calm and Chaos: Life with kids

Tag Archives: Eve