A big surprise for Em and T

Jay bought tickets to the American Idol summer tour. He even kept the info from me. I am not that interested in Idol but Jay and the girls used to watch it faithfully whenever it was on. Also, it is Emily's passion to watch You Tube videos of all the idol contestants. She also looks up their bios and can tell you many details of all the contestants' lives.

So we took them down to Columbus yesterday. We told them it was to see Easton mall. We walked around and then we told them that there was a bigger surprise in store for them. (Incidentally, we mulled over calling you Columbus dwellers, but we figured you guys wouldn't like a visit with no notice.)

We drove to the Ohio State coliseum to check it out when right outside was a big truck with AMERICAN IDOL printed on it. We quickly tried to get the girls' attention away but they saw it. But they didn't know what it meant. We then drove to a Starbucks and video taped them getting the news. I want to show their reaction. Maybe I'll post it to You Tube or something. Emily started to jump up and down and practically lost her breath. It was like someone just told her she won the lottery. Tara? Well, Tara was tired and hot and just stoically stood there and stared at the camera. I guess she isn't as in to Idol as Em. But at the concert she perked up.

When we got to the 10,000 seat arena, we were in the true nosebleed seats. We were so high that when we got up to our seats, we all felt a bit of vertigo. Emily held on to me for about ten minutes totally convinced she was going to fall to the bottom of the arena. Every five minutes, Emily jabbed me in the side to ask how many more minutes were left. 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, any minute now.... Then the Idol singers came out one at a time and sang a few songs. Emily knew who would come out before it was announced. She was telling us their hometown, what they'd probably sing, who they were dating... I was truly impressed.

The show was great but dang was it LOUD. It was so loud that we couldn't even hear the words after a while. It was so loud that the mother in me wanted to cover their ears. I suppose a little exposure to that won't make them go deaf. I hope not anyway.

Then we left and got the girls photos of their two favorites after standing in a really long line. It was then off to try and find our car in a sea of cars. We sat and waited for close to an hour in the parking lot waiting for it to clear enough to leave. It was a long drive home and the girls were wonky, to say the least.

I don't think Em and T's first concert will ever be forgotten. I loved seeing Em's excitement the most. She screamed and pointed at the tiny singers (remember nosebleed seats). She was like "They're here! That's really them!"

Gainfully employed!!!!

That's right, I got a job!!!!!!! I got called by A. Public Schools earlier this week to come in for a second interview. I got offered the job today and I took it. It's for a middle school Intervention Specialist. I am really happy. And to add icing to an already wonderful day, I came home from the interview to find out that I passed my Praxis. Yes indeedy, it doesn't get much better than this.

Balloon to God

When the girls were small and a helium balloon would escape them and go up to the sky, we'd tell them it was a present for God.

Today Tara wrote on a balloon. She didn't realize that it was a regular balloon (not a helium one). It was her letter to God.

She wrote. "Dear God I just wanted to say Thank you for saving Shadow my baby hamster love, Your friend Tara (she added her last name) Ps here's my favorite God song."

Then she had the lyrics to Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Done with summer school dance!

Tara at VBS today. She's wearing the t'shirt she won from selling Girl Scout cookies. I think she'll wear it until it falls apart. :)

Millie got shaved today. She looks so cute.

Emily today. Sundresses are so comfy. She looks pretty in this dress.

The last project went fine. I edited it on the spot because the class pretty much warned anyone before the prof. came in that if they went past 3 minutes when presenting, they'd be sorry. I thought I was in a Godfather movie. Ha ha. But I did it and kept it short for obvious reasons.

The girls are at VBS right now. I am tired but done done done done done!

Did I mention I was done?

Skip skip skip to my lou!!!!!

Oh boy. Oh boy. Now I can drink lemonade and read fun books like Amy suggested. Good ideas Amy. Unfortunately, I have no interviews set up for jobs. But I'll keep trying. One of my profs said that they may be waiting until I officially graduate to contact me. Oh well.

Found!

The baby hamster is found and back in the cage drinking and eating heartily. She was found downstairs and hid behind the piano but came out when we put food out and I grabbed her. I can't believe she lived four days w/o food and water. Tara said she prayed very hard that Shadow would be found and her prayers were answered.

This is my last week of summer classes and it's crazy busy around here. The girls are in vacation Bible school. They came home tonight with their faces painted like tigers. I don't know why.

I have to do a creative project to summarize what I learned in one of my classes. I'll present it on Thursday. I decided to do a video with Jay and the girls. It is a bit campy but it'll have to do. It starts with me pretending to talk to Jay in the Bahamas and then you see Jay with zinc oxide, really toothpaste, on his nose, a hat with a fan built in and a massive water bottle. The backdrop was the tv hooked up to the computer showing a beach scene. I messed up the taping because it was so dark and you can see the outline of the tv the whole time. There was a point to all that, I think. Then I asked the tired and cranky kids intellectual questions on the video, after they came home from VBS. They humored me. They're used to my shinanigans for school. Then Jay put a close-up of my face as I tried to sound smart. My head looked incredibly, disturbingly, alarmingly round. But that's what I'm presenting. I am past being vain or a perfectionist. I just want to get out of school.

Oh how I will be relieved on Thursday night when these classes are done.

It was a perfect day until...

we got home from grocery shopping and found that the girls had left the lid off the hamster's cage.
Goldie- there
Sandy - there
Babies - check, check check - one missing.

Before the drama, Jay and I had played racquetball. We had a blast. It is amazing how I can find the energy to do that but walking out to my car after class seems like such a long walk.

The girls swam. Well, no water passed their necks which is their version of swimming. They have amazingly dry hair after swimming for an hour. But Tara had her goggles on all the same. Emily gave one kid a dirty look when he got too close to her with his splashing.

I brought my book on the Industrial Revolution into the swimming area. Yeah, that never got read. I have a report to do for a class. But, the good news is that summer school will be finished by the end of next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh goodness this baby hamster could be anywhere. We checked under furniture, etc. Millie is looking rather pleased with this sudden turn of fortune. This sucks. The girls have totally no concept that we may not find this baby hamster. They think it's funny. Grrr.

Naps are great

The picture is of Tara covered in her favorite blanket today right before I went off to school. The blanket is old and is ripped in parts, but she doesn't want me to sew it. She likes it that way. She told me how she likes how the blanket feels cold and how she wakes up and adjusts it so that she stays cool. She says that Emily's hands are cold but hers are always hot so she needs her cool blanket.

She and Emily are often having sleepovers in each other's room. I let them because it's summer and I think it's cute. But they don't get as much sleep as they should. Too many giggles and playing with toys instead. Thus the nap. The red bag behind her holds all her treasures. It has a view master. Remember those? It also holds her play cell phone and play CD player. There's a book about fairies, a bracelet and a hat. It had a dollar she earned for doing her chores until she gave it back to me because she says she loves me. She is such a doll, my little Tara.