Congrats to S! Hurray!

Yay! That's so awesome!

Yes, they've come a long way from where we all began, haven't they?

Love watching them group up and thrive in what they love!

I have been trying to comment since yesterday! The boards finally allowed it. Go S!!!

14 is a great age :)

Happy Birthday to S, wishing her the very best this year!

Happy Birthday!

That was our yesterday...

My yesterday as well. Lots of weird customers. One accused me of being rude when I thought I was being nice. :0

One word. Chocolate. Take 3 and call us back in the morning!

Yay, hope they have loads of fun!

Lovely. Have fun!

Fun!

Oh no! Hope you get it fixed soon...can't have you away for too long!

Ack! Enjoy the break!

We'll miss your wisdom. Read something great while you are off. :-)

I don't know if I should give you a hug in loving empathy or giggle at all the exclamation points which paint a picture of their own. Each one has their own special way of graduating to womanhood. It is really exhausting sometimes.

Yes, the each do it their own way, for sure. My happy, sunny child was a bear for about 6 months. My "difficult" child will no doubt find a way to take things even further - that is her thing. I will strive to maintain a sense of humor. And grace.

Rest, food, exercise, shower. Don't forget the Jessie Wise solutions during puberty. Each one of my kids has required more of two of those- just different two - so far.

Enjoy your clean kitchen!

Math can bring out the worst in all of us! Good for you for getting something productive done in the midst of the frustration!

I hear you. I am ready to send both of mine to school today.

Oy, that's awful! Hope it's fixed soon, inside and out!!

Thanks, guys. We have fans running in our closet and up in the crawl space above my office, and they are going to pull out and replace the ceilings. At least my office is back up and running for now. I want it to rain again soon so we can be sure that the leaks are actually plugged!

so sorry about your leak! 8K is a lot to spend on a roof that still leaks!!!! am very very glad it seems to be getting fixed.

Happy Birthday!

I hope she had a great birthday!

Have a wonderful 13th year Shannon!

Congratulations to you and your girls

Congrats! That is so exciting!

Congratulations to both girls!

Hugs. Put on some music maybe? Or watch a Ken Robinson Ted talk?

How exciting!

Congratulations. Showing horses teaches great skills. Wishing your dd many happy experiences.

You are so right, Lisa. She is maturing so much, learning to overcome fears, and learning both self-reliance and trust. And she has such a nice group of friends at the stable - horse girls are the best!

VERY glad to hear that!

Wow! That's quite an extra feature on your carpet cleaner.

Yes, burning wasn't exactly the stain-removal method I was going for!

A friend of mine made a piece of art for Burning Man and in it was a key, which was the only thing left from a house that burned down in the Oakland Hills firestorm. Newcomers look at the Oakland and Berkeley hills and never realize 3K+ houses burned down there. People do go on, but are never the same.

True. But I think of those areas as higher-income, residents more likely to have insurance, etc. That's definitely not the case in Lake County

That's very true.

Woohoo!!!

Yummy! We completely forgot this year. :( I've been so absent minded. Must treat boy to something this week. Glad you are having fun!

Sounds like a plan! We need to start that.. hmm where to go? I honestly don't know.. McDonald's, Denny's or Home cooking??

We live in town, but it's a small town, we're near the river. This is our first skunk encounter. It's truly horrific. The baking soda/peroxide thing worked on the dog, but the whole yard and back of the house reek.

Yikes! So sorry. I remember our dogs getting repeatedly sprayed when I was a child. (I remember b/c I would have to help give them tomato juice baths. But your HOUSE! Oh my! I hope you can find a simple solution.

Gross!

Yeah, she overtopped her grandma at 9. But I didn't think it would happen to *me*!! LOL

Obviously, it happened overnight and by MAGIC. [My eldest is within an inch of me, but I think she's done growing. DD#2 might overtake her sister & me if she keeps growing at this pace.]

If you feed them, they will grow!

Oh my gosh, i'll be somewhat close to you when visiting ds once he moves to Mountainview!

Well, I highly recommend setting something up if you can manage it. I knew I was going to be within shouting distance of Chrysalis Academy while I was visiting a friend in CA, and all the stars managed to line up for us to have lunch together. Do it if you can!!

I'll probably go up north to Wine Country when it is whale watching season.

Mountain View would be near enough to me.

Yay!

Awesome!

:)

First meeting last night went well. We'll spend the whole day together, with other family members thrown in. Thanks for all the good thoughts, it's sure an interesting family dynamic.

Interesting, certainly. Stressful too. ((hugs)) and hope it continues to go well.

Best of luck to your family in mending the relationship.

You're working on your practicum as we speak. ;-)

True dat!

hugs

Love this!

I always plant my garden on Mother's Day :)

It's a great tradition!

Wonderful!