Word of the Day

Alison got off the bus yesterday and came bounding into the house and yelled, "Hi Mom, I'm abode!" I asked her to repeat what she said and she replied, "I'm abode. We're learning a new word everyday at school and today's word was abode, which means home". Could my daughter be any cuter?

Alison and Rachel both auditioned for the Springfield Ballet Company's Nutcracker. We knew Rach would get a part, since she's a Trainee w/ the company and has been in the Nutcracker for the last 2 years, but Alison was just old enough to audition and they don't take but a couple of 8 year olds. Well, Alison didn't get in. She handled it so well, though. She already knew that Rach didn't get in when she was 8, so I think that helped a bit. Rachel was cast as a flower. It's not the waltz of the flowers flower (that's for Company girls), but it's at the beginning of the 2nd act before everyone comes in prior to the variations. It's her first part on pointe!! She's so excited! It's pretty cool, because she's going to be dancing w/ some company members and she's the youngest one doing this part. We're so proud of her!

Patrick has been having some troubles in school. His grades are decent, but not what he is capable of doing. It's so frustrating.....I just don't know if he's working hard enough. I want him to realize how important school is.

Feeling like an adult

I've always had this problem with feeling like I'm an adult. I have no idea why that is, but I always feel like I'm not quite up to the same level as other adults. I don't mean that I'm immature or anything...it's kind of hard to explain....I just don't usually feel all that grown up. The past few days have changed that a bit. Thornton and I have had to step up to the plate to convince his Dad to have his mom hospitalized to figure out her medication situation. She is on way too many meds and, in our opinion, can take them innappropriately so that she is often very sedated during waking hours. It's been going on for a long time and I have felt it coming to a head lately. It had to stop and now it hopefully will. All of her medications have been stopped and they're starting over from scratch. We just got all of the medications out of the house. I kept telling Thornton that I hoped we were wrong in some of our accusations, but it doesn't appear that that is the case. She is going to have a difficult time coming up. It's going to be equally hard on my father in law, who recently retired and is now home to see what we've seen for far too long. And, it's hard on Thornton, who is angry at his mom for doing this to herself. I have to look forward to a positive end result. It may be a bumpy road getting there, though.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend. My in-laws own a house on a private lake about an hour from here, so we all headed out there. My brother in law, his wife and two kids (ages 4 and 3) and my MIL/FIL were there too. Granted, all those people in one house can be a bit hectic sometimes, but really, it all went well. The kids all love to swim in the lake, so we spent a lot of time doing that. Rachel and Patrick are great game players, so we played a lot of Scrabble and a game called Quiddler (a card game similar to scrabble and very fun!). I didn't win anything! Nothing. In fact, in one game of Scrabble, I didn't even break 100. I got whipped by my 11 year old. I guess I should feel proud that she's such a smartie, but seriously....I was pathetic. I got a nap in every day, which was sublime.

Now, we're back to the grind. School is back in full force. Dance has started back up. Rachel dances 11 hours a week now! Alison's taking a class too, so I will now be spending my evenings driving back and forth to town. I know I'll miss it when they're grown, so I won't complain.

Both girls are trying out for The Nutcracker a week from Sunday. Rachel has been in the last two productions, and since she's a Trainee w/ the Ballet Company, we feel pretty secure that she'll get a part. She'd love to be a Party Girl in the opening scene, but we'll just have to see. Alison is finally old enough to audition....you have to be at least 8. But, I've tried to ready her that there are a lot of little girls that audition and very few make it. Rachel didn't make it her first year auditioning. Alison tells us that she understands and won't be sad, but I'm not sure I believe her. I see this glint in her eye that thinks she can do anything. Good for her...but I would rather not have to deal w/ the fallout if she doesn't make it. Maybe I should just be as confident as she is, eh?