My Daughters, My Life.

Our fabulous daughters Sarah, Emily and Lizzie

We were fortunate to all be together at the SEC Competition in Athens, Ga.  It was fun to watch the girls.  It had been 4 months since we'd all been together for Christmas and Sarah and Lizzie got to have some one on one time with Emily.  I know they each appreciated their time.  


Emily said to me a couple of times, "I forgot how funny they are!"


As sisters, they will have a bond that I will never fully appreciate (having 4 brothers!).  I know they know things about each other that Eric and I will probably never be privy to which is fine!  I'm sure one of these days, years from now sitting at the Thanksgiving dinner table, we will hear conversations of "remember when...."


A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added.  ~Chris Montaigne


More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you've been bad and good.  ~Linda Sunshine


Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.  ~Carol Saline


Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way.  ~Pamela Dugdale


Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize.  Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks.  Borrow.  Break.  Monopolize the bathroom.  Are always underfoot.  But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there.  Defending you against all comers.  ~Pam Brown


We know one another's faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how long we can each hang by our hands to a bar.  We have been banded together under pack codes and tribal laws.  ~Rose Macaulay


She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities.  She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway.  She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark.  She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink.  Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child.  ~Barbara Alpert

Hello Flu....

I'd like to start by saying that I will be 50 this year (I promise this has nothing to do with that!) and I've NEVER had a flu shot.  Nope, don't need it.  When I came home from taking Sarah to the doctor this afternoon, I told Eric that I would be standing in the flu shot line!!


This is how our last several days have gone:


Friday:
 Lizzie runs 102* fever all day


Saturday:
 Sarah wakes up, says she doesn't feel well.  I took her temperature and it was 100.4*.  To top it off, she was taking the ACT test.  Eric and I look at each other..... Sarah says she will go.  She has been taking the online prep class and taking prep tests and had been gearing up for this day!  We pump her up with meds, give her some and to take and tell her the exact time to take them.  I drop her off and watch as she shuffles to the room.  It was 7:30am.  At 12:40pm, she calls and says she is done and feels terrible.  When I pick her up, she proceeds to tell me that she threw up three different times...... yes, you read that right.  I about died, I felt so bad for her.  First of all, I would have thrown the pencil in after the first time throwing up!!  No way would I have stayed which really says a lot about the two of us.  She is clearly better than me!  
Lizzie woke up, came downstairs to the kitchen and Eric said the next thing he knew she was passed out on the floor!!  (This took place while I was taking Sarah to the ACT)  He got her up and got her upstairs..... what the heck!  But I have to tell you, miracles do happen!  There was a school dance that night and God healed her.  I'm certain that all of her friends being there had nothing to do with it..... I did bring her Panera home for lunch and I think that was actually what healed her.  And with the cost of items at Panera, it better have!  She felt 100% better after eating Panera!  We let her go to the dance for 2 hours.
When Sarah got home, she went straight to bed.  That is where she stayed until Sunday morning!


Sunday:
Lizzie felt much better but has a persistant cough
Sarah still feels bad and achy but got caught up on A LOT of TV!


Monday:
Lizzie goes to school coughing....
Sarah goes to school for an hour and comes home


Tuesday (today)
Lizzie goes to school still coughing
Sarah goes to school for an hour and comes home.  We go to the doctor this afternoon.  They rule out mono as she doesn't have the symptoms.  They did a quick strep test and it was negative but they will send it to culture.  Looks like the flu bug is the winner!!!  


In the meantime, I've been pumping myself and the girls up with Esberitox which is basically a supercharged Echinacea!  Get some!!  


Here is another thing I've found out.  These kids drink after each other at school!  From their water bottles!  Gross!!  Germs, germs, germs!  Please tell your children to NOT share their water with their friends!  I don't care if their friend is about the pass out from heat stroke!  Well, that could be an exception.... but then tell your child to not redrink from it!  Ugh!


That's it, we're getting the flu shot....

I'd like an Easter basket until I have children of my own....

 These words were spoken to me this morning by Emily who will be 20 in July.  


Eric and I were out yesterday and I said we needed to get Easter things for the girls.  


Eric, "Sharon, I think we're past that stage"
Me, "What?  Are you kidding?"
Eric, "Trust me on this one....."


Wow, was he ever wrong! 


 Yesterday when I spoke with Emily she asked if we'd sent her an Easter basket.  (Why can't they ever ask Eric these things?!)  When I told her we didn't, you would've thought I had told her that we were no longer going to pay for her college.  And of course, I felt terrible!  So I said, "Remember the cute purse and things I brought you the weekend I saw you in Texas?  Let's pretend that was your Easter gift!"  That was last month and she didn't go fall for it, but it was worth a try!


This is the text I got from Lizzie this morning.  She spent the night with her girlfriend Alex.

  She got a bucket of candy and a gift card to Starbucks.  I did add "brat" as my next text!


This is what we got Sarah and Lizzie:

Moral of the story:  Don't EVER think you are past the stage of Easter baskets.  


This cute solid milk chocolate bunny.... not quite as exciting.  Even when they are in college, they will forever be kids at heart!  My words to Eric this morning, "This will never happen again....."  


Question from Lizzie when I handed her the chocolate bunny, "Was this in the basement from last year?"  For the record, the answer was NO!


I transferred money into Emily's account to pay for Easter brunch with her girlfriends at school.  It wasn't the cute basket of goodies but she did appreciate it!  


Lesson learned.  Some things you just don't outgrow.... until you have children of your own!

Eric replaces the garbage disposal

It's Good Friday and we've been to church so I'm counting on some extra Grace because Eric has decided to replace the garbage disposal.  Anyone who knows Eric, knows that things like this are NOT his strong suite.  To give you an example of how bad it usually is, Sarah and Lizzie went to the mall when he started.....


When he got into the car with his Heavy Duty Motor, Multi-Grind, Sound seal disposal, he informed me that there was a sign that read, "Disposal replacement $110 per hour"


Eric, "Now don't get me wrong, I'm no professional but I did watch the video and it took the guy 5 minutes.  Who would pay $110 for 5 minutes?  And I'm not saying it will only take me 5 minutes but that's ridiculous!"


Just for the record, he started at 5:07pm.  I'll let you know when he is done....


Eric, "I think I should turn the TV on"
Me, "To drown out the cursing?"
Eric, "yes"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


50 minutes in, the old one is out, the new one is trying to be installed....


Eric, "Gosh!  In the video he just popped it back in!"
*back to watching video again.


I am happy to report that at 6:11pm the new disposal is in and working!!  No cussing and very little annoyance!  


I would say that if you need help replacing a disposal to call, but I think that might be pushing it!!  Baby steps!


I love my husband!

SEC Equestrian weekend

The 2012 SEC's was held in Athens, Georgia at the University of Georgia.  The three teams competing were Auburn, Univ of S. Carolina and Univ of Georgia.  The Dawgs ended up 2nd after the weekend was done.  It was an exciting, sitting on the edge of your seat competition and in the end, we couldn't pull out the win.  Hopefully this loss will make the girls hungry for Nationals which will be next weekend in Waco, Texas.  There will be some tough competition for Georgia but staying focused and strong, the team can pull off another National title!  Best of luck to everyone next weekend!


The highlight of the weekend, of course, is spending time with Emily.  Time spent with this wonderful young lady never gets old.  Our family was together for a weekend, sisters spent precious time together and Sarah even cleaned Emily's bathroom!  Sarah truly proved her love for her sister by doing this... not sure I would've tackled that bathroom!

I am continually thankful for each of these young ladies and what they bring to our life!  I wouldn't trade a single moment so far and I look forward to many more moments that will continually shape who we are and who we will become.

Hunger Games Midnight Premier

I admit it.  I was one of the people (crazies, fools, etc) that arrived at the movie theatre at 10pm to wait for a midnight showing!  Now in a thumbs up to us, we were the first in line for Theater 11 !!  Whoo hoo!  So we sat on the floor for two hours and waited.  And because I LOVE to people watch, I was not be to disappointed!  People actually dress up as the characters!  I, on the other hand, arrived in sweat pants, sweat shirt, no make-up and glasses.  I'm a thinker and planned the 3am home arrival!!

I went to the movie with my two daughters and three of their friends.  I have not read the books and really had no idea what the movie was about!  I knew it was kids fighting each other with a love story twist.  I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.  The cinematography was great!

Arriving home at 3am was a bit painful.  Sarah and Lizzie had to get up at 7:15am to go to school.  I got up and came into the kitchen in full support!  After they left I went back to bed and slept until my mom called at 9am and woke me up!!  MOTHER!!!!  hahah!  I've been a mess all day.  I went to the grocery store and honestly felt like I had "cart rage".  It was difficult to have patience with people in the store!  Leaving the parking spot?!  Have you ever felt like everyone was out to get you when they really weren't?  That was me backing out of my parking spot!  Why did everyone have to come down the isle I was trying to leave?!!

I was thankful to be home.  With good intentions of cleaning out my closet, I spent most of the day laying on the couch!

I've decided that as exciting as it might seem to go to a Midnight Premier, there are more negatives than positives!!  The movie will be just as good the next day at "normal" times!

I'm just not as cool as I'd like to think I am!!

Equestrian Mom 101: Being an NCAA "roadie" Mom

I had the pleasure of attending three of the University of Georgia's Equestrian competitions this past weekend.  Three competitions in two days, in two states!  The bonus of this trip allowed me to see family that I haven't seen in a few years.


I flew into Oklahoma City on Thursday.  Two things that were a bonus to this particular flight.  One, it was my first time flying to the OKC airport and my hats off to you OKC!  Wow!  Snazzy airport!  And two, the Oilers hockey team was on my flight... need I say more?!  I was secretly (creepily) taking pics of some of the guys while waiting for our luggage and sending them to the girls.  All in the name of good parenting!


Picked up my rental car and started my drive to Dallas, Texas!  Having lived in Texas for many years and only remembering the heat, I was quickly annoyed to find it in the 40's and rainy.  I was leaving Michigan for this?


Our first stop was SMU Friday morning in Dallas, Texas.  It only seemed fitting that we should be greeted by longhorns driving into the farm.

UGA beat SMU 7-3.  The last girl got off the horse and they immediately loaded the bus to make the hour and a half drive to TCU in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Emily and Coach Lisa

Cheering on the rider while trying to stay warm!

Emily van der Walde

More than teammates, friends.

At TCU, both English and Western competed and UGA added another win with a score of 9-8.  

Saturday morning about 7:30am we headed North 4 1/2 hours to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take on OSU!  After a long day of showing, in the end, OSU captured the win 13-10 over UGA.  It was bittersweet but the girls all rode well and cheered each other on to the very end.

The night didn't end after the show.  The Haaland Family graciously offered to host dinner at their home after the show.  We all arrived at 10pm (that is not a typo, it was 10pm!) and what a lovely time it was!  The dinner was amazing, the home stunning and the overall atmosphere caused you to pause.  One of the riders, one of the mom's and the coaches all spoke to team and it was at that moment, as I was standing back observing that it hit me how incredible this team and coaches truly are.  I was able to spend three horse shows in two days with this group (that amounts to a LOT of time!) and I was so impressed.  The level of respect the girls have for each other, the bond they have as a TEAM.  They know that without each others assets, there would be no team.  They are teammates in the truest sense.  

The coaches:  Wow, amazing ladies.  I had the pleasure of meeting Hunt Seat coach Lisa Anderson this past fall at Indoors.  I was fortunate that through this trip, I was able to get to know Head Coach Meghan Boenig and Western Coach Mary Meneely.  Seeing their professionalism and how they interact with the girls is great.  I know I speak for other parents in saying that I'm thankful that these women are leading and being examples to my daughter!  

Coach Lisa Anderson - Hunt Seat

Coach Lisa with Carly Anthony

Head Coach Meghan Boenig with baby (due in June!)

Coach Mary Meneely - Western

Coach Boenig, Coach Mary 

Coach Mary and her "crew"

So after all was said and done, there were 3 competitions, 3 different hotels, in two different states, very little sleep with cold and rain!  Flying home on the plane today feeling completely exhausted, I couldn't help but smile when I thought of the weekend and yes, I'd do it all again!