Kidz Update

I have several things to update, but I'm starting with the girls. Rachel has reminded me that I blog about Tye a lot, so I'm going to start with the girls today...

Rachel has been very busy this summer. Summer Spike volleyball in Fairfax started immediately after school was out. She was a bit nervous (me too) because she has never really played volleyball. But she needed to figure it out since she'll be playing interscholastic at school this fall. She made amazing improvements, and she (and I) don't think she'll embarrass herself too much! Ha! Actually, she's doing pretty well and she did really have fun with it, and I thought it was a lot of fun to watch. She also went to the high school volleyball camp, which she enjoyed also.

She decided to stay on swim team this year. I hope she does again next year so I can have all three of my kids in the same activity for at least one summer! She seemed to still enjoy it, and she knows it is great exercise. We've gone to the pool a lot, but sometimes we go in spurts. Now that I think about it, we haven't been for a few weeks (thanks to the interesting fall weather).

She loved loved loved music camp. Again, the social side of her makes her really enjoy things like this, but she loved the music. She and her friends already have plans to actually stay at the dorms next year.

She is also babysitting for my sister's kids once a week. This has been a great way for her to make money and get babysitting experience, and she enjoys spending time with Tori and Don. She has had the chance to do a little bit of other babysitting, but would love to do more.

Rachel has been very social this summer. She keeps busy on the computer and texting, and she meets herself coming and going a lot. She goes from one activity to another, and has a hard time understanding that we want her at home with us too. She loves to hang out with friends, go on bike rides, talk on the phone, just sit and chat. She is a very fun kid to be around!

She got her top braces off. The bottoms had to wait another 6 weeks, and will come off tentatively on Aug. 20. She has had her tops on since the first week of September 2006, and I am just amazed that so much time has passed. She has grown up so much, in so many ways! I would have been ok if the doctor would have just said for her to leave her braces on for a few more years because she looked a lot younger with them! One night we were out to eat at Applebee's with Brian's parents, and we had all ordered a drink. She asked if she could get one too, and then she ordered a strawberry daiquiri. She barely paused to tell the girl that she wanted it non-alcoholic, but before she could, the girl kind of looked at her like hmm. I cut her off and said...virgin please. She said...I thought she wasn't old enough. I said...um, she's 12! She looked at both of us like, no way! I looked at Rachel and thought, ok, she doesn't look 12 but she sure doesn't look 21, does she?

Rachel also went to tennis camp, which gave her a chance to simply learn how to play the game. The kids and I all got tennis rackets in our Easter baskets, and now she can play instead of just walking around hitting the ball.

She is gearing up for 7th grade, and the fact that her schedule will be very hectic with all the activities she is involved in. I love chasing her around to everything, and she loves being involved and staying active.

Amberlea has also been busy this summer, but not nearly as much as Rachel. She enjoyed swim team also this year. She is in that really odd stage where she is too young for everything. Too young for tennis camp, too young for other activities that Rachel was involved in. She also doesn't have nearly the social life that Rachel has (Rachel didn't at her age either) but that is hard for her to understand Rachel always having something to do. It is sometimes hard for Rachel to understand that Amberlea has nothing to do, and she needs to spend time with her instead of other friends. I have been able to spend a lot of time with Amberlea, just the two of us. She has slept with me several times, and I chuckle because she talks and talks as soon as we get in bed. She has a very funny sense of humor!

The other day we "shopped" through her school supplies from last year to see if anything could be reused. She remembered that she had a brand new backpack in her closet from 2nd grade. I had forgotten about it, in the midst of Brian dying and us moving. I said...well, go get it. She said...um, I think it is full! So we dug through the supplies from 2nd grade also! She has always been my keeper...she hoards things and finds use in all kinds of things. Like once she kept a pair of tights that had a rip in the thigh...she cut them off to make socks, then figured out that they wouldn't stay up! Another time when she was about 2, I couldn't find my calculator and she went and looked in her bottom dresser drawer and found it. Last year when I painted the bathroom, she begged me to let her keep the empty paint can because "I have always wanted one". I shouldn't complain because we were able to cross off over half of her school supplies from the list!

I find Amberlea to be a typical 2nd child. She has a hard time realizing that Rachel is doing things that we didn't let her do at Amberlea's age. I think I have finally convinced her that Rachel has some things she will need for school that she just doesn't need, but she will need them someday.

I've already updated a lot of Tye. He went to the dentist for the first time yesterday. No cavities! Always great, of course. I have wondered about a front tooth of his on the top left because in the past several months, I noticed that it seems pushed forward. Before he lost the other teeth, I originally thought maybe it was just loose. He would comment once in a while that it felt funny, but it didn't feel loose to me. Then he lost the bottom two, one in May and one about 2 weeks ago. The x-ray showed significant root damage. The dentist said it looked like it was caused by trauma, that he had likely bumped his tooth at some point. He asked me if I remembered anything, and of course I didn't. It did make me think about the story of Brian, as he lost his front teeth a few years too early when he hit the handlebars on Uncle Rog's motorcycle. So he had no front teeth for a few years! Anyway, so the dentist said he wanted to check a little more, and while he was starting to look at his mouth again, said it looked like something that could become a problem. He said it would not be a vital tooth since the root is dead. He was still in the middle of explaining it to me, saying that we would have to watch it so it didn't develop a red area or like a puss pocket, when he lifted Tye's top lip and there it was...a big red area that clearly showed an abscessed tooth! So he stopped mid-sentence and said...the tooth fairy needs that tooth! So Tye is schedule to go "float on a cloud" and get that tooth removed on Aug. 10th. Now I kind of wish he would just bump it out because I really hate paying to pull a baby tooth that will probably fall out in the next 6 mos. anyway! But I could see it too, and we looked again on the x-ray to see the damage and infection in the root...it was also messing with the incoming tooth and causing it to not be even with the other one. His school pictures in Aug. will be interesting, with just one front tooth (if it lasts that long because they loosen up pretty quickly when they are the only one doing the job).

The kids are all at vacation Bible school. Rachel is actually volunteering this year and loving the little preschoolers. Tye and Amberlea are enjoying the songs, and I was able to go on-line and buy the CD. The summer is quickly winding down! I have been the mom taxi all summer, and I am thankful for being a teacher so I can do it instead of having to hire someone. I have been all over the place!