Here is the pink prom dress...

Okay, I did have fun chaperoning the Prom... Here you see the pose of the evening captured by one of my teachers... The pink dress - I just love it... not sure where else I will wear it... but I love it.

Reverse Psychology

Dylan is going through a phase of whining and pouting etc... I have mastered getting her to smile and snap out of it... I could charge you for this information, but I will give this away for free :)... it is so silly...

When Dylan is in a "mood" I look at her seriously and use a stern tone to tell her "there is to be no smiling at my house, do you hear me?" I don't even have to finish the phrase to get her to crack a smile and giggle... every time.... she loves it - she will try to fake disappointment to get me to say it to her again and she can't do it...

Doesn't work with Tyler :)

Nothing Takes the Place of a Little R&R...

Three days into vacation time and I am relaxed! I missed the last day of school - didn't have to deal with the M100 explosion, four fights, or the water bombs... rather I was out cycling and enjoying some time with Kirk - reconnecting with each other...Kirk Dylan and I are heading to San Diego tomorrow for time on the beach, tennis, and some Sea World fun. You read correctly - my teen does not want any part of the vacation... she will be with a friend while we are gone. It bothers me that she doesn't want to go, but at the same time, I know what happens when I force her to engage with the family... and it's not pretty or fun...so Dylan is excited to go see the penguins... in the whole brochure - penguins is her reason to go to Sea World :)

We will enjoy the break... right when we return it is back to work, Dylan will start at her new school, and I will be back to night school... and Tyler's swim team workouts will begin nightly... our week of R&R will be much enjoyed by all four of us...

Okay, so I am not as organized as I thought...

Well, I had all intentions of staying current with the blog... No excuses, I will just get to the update! :)  Let's start with Tyler... she is doing well - School is out for the summer in two days (not that she is reminding us daily). She is getting reading for the rigors of summer swim team... daily work outs and she will be walking to and from which is a work out in itself...Then she will fill up the rest of the time with friends and "hanging out". Her current favorite thing to talk about is the upcoming 13th birthday. She wants a co-ed swim party at our house with parents on their best behavior...followed by an all girls sleep over. So this is sounding like 24 hours of giving up our privacy, peace and quiet and in general our home... sure, why not right? How could I forget the frog she brought home from school today... she is the lucky student to keep the frog over the whole summer... joys of life :) she is happy and Dylan will love it...and the best part, we get to give it back at the end of the summer... a pet with no long term commitment.

Now Dylan is also doing well, she is getting ready to change to a new Montessori preschool. her school is closing (very sad story)... but we found something real close by that is just perfect... they even have daily yoga! It is just going to be great. Dylan acts like it will be "no big 

deal" so I hope that continues. She starts June 8. Right now her preoccupation is getting mommy into the swimming pool with her... she loves to kick around or play on the steps... she has two pretty swimsuits and loves to wear them. She is exercising a lot of "will" these days and challenging authority or mainly mommy... doesn't like to go to bed... she thinks owls are in there (when she hears the wind whistle through the windows... ) sort of cute. 

Kirk and I are as fine as we can be... one or both are going through mid-life crisis and don't enjoy each other's company... but we will survive. I am enjoying a short break in graduate classes (another two weeks and back to work). 

 As if I need the stress, I am in the running for two additional principalships outside of my district... one of these days, it will be my turn... have to keep trying - you just never know. Kirk is still a cycling maniac on the road and on the mountain... he reads everything on the topic and has the scientific formula for checking his cadence, heart rate, etc.... to determine exercise effect etc... He is "into it"! 

My biological sister, Sheila, was driving through Chandler... remember, she is a long haul truck driver... and gave us a call so the girls and I got to "hang out" at the truck stop with her for two hours... that was fun... how could it not be with candy, junk toys, and ice cream all right there - we had fun visiting and playing with the toys...Dylan was especially fond of Sheila... cried a lot when it was time to go, wants Sheila to come to our house to visit and play with her. 

So in summation... we are all doing well enough, progressing through life in our appropriate stages and staying relatively happy. What more could we want? Maybe I will get another post in before another month passes us by... 

Week End Shuttle Service

Wow, not to sound ungrateful, but I think I might scream if I have shuttle teen agers to and from the mall one more time this weekend - aaaagggghhhhh! I could say no - but then they would be at my house hanging out telling me they are bored... Dylan and I are headed out to the park to play... you would surely laugh if you could see what she is wearing... tank top, mismatched pants, and red glittery ballerina shoes (her new favorite)... I did tell the salespeople at nordstroms I would quit shopping there if they continued to put out sparkly shoes that match nothing out where my daughter can see and reach them... yes, I could say no, but if you notice a trend, that is not my forte... off to enjoy the sun... just a few more weekends before our pool will be warm enough for that to be our weekend fun time... summer is hear (weather wise) ... fun fun fun... 

Updates are in order...

I really am trying to be more diligent about keeping this blog effort current...but life gets in the way of recording history :). So here are the updates that I can think of.

Tyler: Grades have been great for the past three weeks! Mid-Term Progress Report= ALL A's and B's in the core classes! I knew she could do it, and hoped she would prove it to herself and she did... ! All assignments turned in, extra credit done when available and she is actually doing homework. She has her phone back from 7-9pm each night and on the weekends. So while she considers that "lame", she does follow the directions knowing I will take it back if she defies me with the phone. She is not grounded and is making better decisions about friends and the activities she is engaging in with friends. She still thinks I am a pain (but then again, those of you who know me have thought the same thing at times)... but she does understand the new rule - "we do not YELL at mom" and with a few reminders she is staying in line with that edict. Tyler struggles with the moods during her time of the month and I just have to remember to be patient and Kirk just has to remember to be scarce... (doesn't like to know about the whole period thing... freaks them both out). She had an accident at school and had to have her grandma pick her up some clean clothes to deliver to the school (Kirk and I were not available to make that clothing run)... all worked out well and none of the kids saw what happened... but I was mortified that Kirk's mother was in her room! Her room is a nuclear disaster - clothes shoved in every crevasse and just an overall pigsty... I try to remember that I was awfully messy like that, but I was trying to keep it a secret from Kirk's mom... I am still apologizing for the mess :). Tyler is doing well with swimming, she likes it and is looking forward to swim team... so am I - I just want her to participate in something I can cheer her on in and she can see the attention focused on her... she misses that and in the other aspects of her life, it is challenging to cheer her on as I feel like she is a horse and I am pulling with two hands and both feet to get her to move... so I am excited to cheer for her every Saturday this summer while she is participating in swim meets...

Dylan: Cute and ornery mixed into a tiny package! She is very determined to dress herself each day. I have made the mistake (over and over - I am a slow learner apparently) of telling her what to wear or dressing her while she is sleeping... only to find that she will take it all off and stare me down screaming... not a battle I like to have while running late in the morning. So many mornings she wears the same outfit she has worn for the previous several days. Every now and then I pose a compelling argument and she wears something different... the problem is I am grasping at straws with this technique and can never remember which compelling argument worked so I have to start from scratch each day... I even tried putting the outfits in the laundry or "hiding" them only to have her throw a tantrum until I miraculously find them - I wonder if that is considered enabling? She is fixated on mommy - loves to be with me and gets so excited when I come home... everybody needs somebody who is fixated on them - makes all the stress and/or gloom go away instantaneously! She is just beside herself with joy regarding her new neighbors...kiddos her age....

Kirk - Kirk doesn't change too much, he is still cycling and playing tennis and puttering around the house.  With the girls and I being "such girls", it is nice for all of us to know we can count on Kirk to maintain some sense of "even keel"... we count on his level headed consistency :) One has to have some sympathy for the guy with two of us with inconsistent hormones (on the same schedule anyway) and the little one ... He actually has made a habit of spoiling Dylan... I spoiled Tyler as a little one but Dylan is definitely Daddy's girl...

Me - Work, Grad studies, Exercises... all just fine and keeping me busy. I chaperoned the junior prom last night... fun to see the students dressed up... I bought a pretty dress to wear :) (any excuse to shop I suppose)... it is a pink satin dress and it was so nice to buy a size 8 and have it fit just perfectly. I have recovered enough from my bone fractures (third rib from top on right side and right hand - palm) to cycle and play tennis. I ran through it all along but now I can exercise and breath freely. I made it through with no pain medication so I am proud of that... Now I just have to get my confidence again on my bike. I have ridden since I fell, but now I am a bit timid on risky trails but in time I will be back to my usual self. I am investigating road bikes I think my next phase of exercise insanity is to start training for a triathlon... there are some short distance ones in Arizona to get into good shape, but my goal is to sign up and finish the Iron Man in Tempe, Arizona in November 2011... right before I turn 40... that gives me 1.5 years to train... by then I will be knee deep in my dissertation so that will be a great distraction :) So much for living in the moment... LOL never been my forte... I like to have long term in the distance goals.  

Well, it is a beautiful day outside so I think I will head out with the family to play some tennis at the park. Hope you are all doing well - 

"Prettyful"

Little kids are what make everything okay - at least that is what I have decided... they are so darn cute and they say the most precious things. Dylan has created a new word - "prettyful"... she has dresses that are prettyful, and toys that are prettyful, and when she wants her mommy to be happy she says, "Mommy you are so prettyful". You can't help but smile at that stuff.