Ashley entered us in the Mother Daughter contest over at Growing in Grace Magazine.  We didn't win, which wasn't the main point of entering anyway~ we just thought it would be fun (though they did give away an awesome prize package!)  Anyway, what do you think?  If it had been a Mother Daughter Look-Alike Contest, would we have won?!

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I just read a hide & seek story on my dear friend Ginny's blog and it reminded me of a few of our own that I should share.......

This afternoon, Ashley was packing to go on a weekend youth retreat.  She came downstairs and announced that she had put her glasses (in their case) on her bed and that, when she went back for them to put them in her suitcase, they were gone!  OK, now where can a pair of glasses (in a case) go?  Certainly they couldn't have grown legs and walked off, right?!  So, Gracie and I set off upstairs to help Ashley retrace her steps.  We searched her bedroom high and low.  I pulled back the covers of her bed, one at a time, and searched between them.  I felt around the pillowcases and down between the matress and headboard.  No glasses.  Gracie searched the floor and Ashley was making sure that she didn't actually put them in any of the  bags she had packed.  Nothing.  We checked both girls dressers, and pretty much turned their bedroom and the bathroom upside down.  Still nothing.  Ashley does have contacts, so it wouldn't have been a huge tragedy if she had to go away for the weekend without her glasses;  but she does like to have them for back-up.  I had mentioned her hamper, but she said "no", she had already looked there.  In disgust, I gave up and came downstairs, telling her she'd just have to live without them for the weekend, and deciding that they had, indeed, grown legs!  Not long later, Ashley came  back downstairs to report that she had found the glasses and that they were in the hamper, after all.  Apparently, she had picked up her clothes from this morning to throw in there, and the  glasses went along for the ride (however, unlike the clothes, the  glasses had sunk all the way to the bottom.  Mystery solved!

This whole story reminds me of another glasses "scare" we had several years ago.  We were vacationing in Ocean City, New Jersey (a yearly event for our family).  Ashley had gone down to the beach with my mom, two of my aunts, and some of my cousins.  She was playing in the water and had forgotten to take off her glasses.  Suddenly, a big wave came and knocked her over, and her glasses disappeared.  It was Ashley's first pair of glasses and the story behind them was that we never inquired about how much the glasses would cost us when we ordered them.  We went to pick them up at the eye doctor and the bill was $269!  I about flipped!  $269 for a child's glasses?!  Goodness!  And now they were gone~ lost in the waves.  I think Ashley was afraid to tell my mom that they were gone, but she knew that she had to.  My Aunt Vicky immediately suggested that they stop and pray about it.  Sure enough, not long after, Ashley found her glasses.  Now, I'm thinking they could have washed up on the shores of England, or at least somewhere very far from where they happened to be on the beach.  But, God heard the prayers of His children that day, and those glasses were found! 

So, next time something is lost at your house and you're starting to panic, stop and say a prayer!  At least it's in the house and not lost in the ocean!  (FYI:  those expensive glasses were nothing but trouble~ we ended up having to replace the nosepads on them at least 5 times!  We've learned our lesson and order our glasses from the "cheap rack"~ nothing's ever gone wrong since!  LOL)

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Ashley was recently contacted by Sonya Haskins, author of the new book The Homeschooler's Book of Lists, to do a review of this book on her blog!  Not only was Ashley thrilled~ as this would be her first review that Mom had NOTHING to do with~ but also because it's a great book!  She's been reading over the book for a few weeks now~ making lists of the lists!  She posted her review today~ go check it out!  And be sure to check back again tomorrow when she posts an Author Q&A with Sonya!

This has been a great opportunity for Ashley~ and, yes, I'm pretty proud! 

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Ashley has been blessed with such a great group of friends.  We truly couldn't ask for better.  Friday night, several of her friends came over for snacks and fellowship.  One of her good (homeschool) friends has an older sister (homeschool graduate) who sells Mary Kay (in addition to her full-time job).  She  graciously gave of her time to come and teach the girls the proper techniques for applying and using make-up.  I think the girls had alot of fun.  I know I had fun watching them.  Here's a picture of the whole group of them~ AFTER their make-overs!

Out of the 7, 4 are homeschoolers (2 are Crystal's daughters), 2 are friends from church, and 1 is my best friend's daughter.  Don't  they look pretty?!
(For those of you who don't know, Ashley is in the back row, 2nd from the left)

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.....Ashley was born!

So, today, we celebrate!

As a mother, it's so hard for me not to still look at Ashley
as that precious, bubbly little 5-year old.

But, she's so grown up now~ quite the young lady!

Ashley, I'm so proud of the person that you are becoming~
You are very mature and helpful,
You are fun to hang out with,
You are making good choices,
YOU are SPECIAL!
I'm glad that YOU are MINE!

Happy 14th Birthday, Ash!

(If you'd like to wish Ashley a Happy Birthday, you may do so at her blog.)

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If you read my previous post, I just want to add:  back when Gracie was spouting off those funny lines on a daily basis, I felt so sad for Ashley.  She was already a "tween" and her days of saying funny things were long gone.  She still makes me smile alot, but it's not usually "bloggable".  Last night was an exception........

Ashley and I decided to make a late-night run to the grocery store.  Now, that is no easy feat, as we've been going to a grocery store about an hour away, and the drive requires a trip over a mountain (and I HATE mountain roads!)  So, for our trip home, we each grabbed a soda and we were sharing a bag of our favorite snack~ Gardetto's Snack Mix (I'm curious how widespread that stuff is~ have you tried it?)

Anyway, we're heading up over the mountain on the way home and here's what I heard Ashley say: "I'm stuffed".  Well, anyone who's ever driven over a mountain knows that your ears can play tricks on you when you're in a higher elevation!  So, just to make sure I heard her correctly before I said "Go ahead and close up the bag" I asked "You're stuffed?"

She was quick to respond: "Oh no!  You're not getting away with the rest of the bag that easy!"  LOL  Bless her heart!  She had actually said "I'm stuck."  (And now you know how much we love Gardetto's!  Too bad this isn't a paid post!)

[And "why?" you ask, do I travel so far away for my  groceries?  Good question!  Well, there's a local grocery store chain that we like to shop at and I'm even a part of their online community (which earns me $10 a month toward my grocery purchases).  They have one store (that I know of) that offers DOUBLE DOLLAR coupons~ so if I have a $1 coupon for a product, I actually get $2 off!  It's so worth the trip~ last night our bill rang up $180 and we ended up paying $76!  And THAT'S the rest of the story!]

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Letitia asked if that was really Ashley in the picture of the two of us that I posted awhile back.  Sure enough, it IS Ashley!  And, the funny thing is, the picture of her in my blog topper was just taken in April.  I think what makes her look so much older (and, unfortunate for her, so much more like me!) is the new 'do. 

Here is a picture that was taken of her just yesterday:

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A few weeks ago, I blogged about Ashley's day at our state capitol, serving as a guest page for our state representative.  Finally, we got the picture back, and I wanted to share it here.  Ashley's on the right, her friend Hannah is on the left, and in the center is Representative Harris.

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Today Ashley had the opportunity of spending the day at our State Capitol building~ serving as a Guest Page to our State Representative Adam Harris.  PA's capitol building is one of the most beautiful capitol buildings in all of the US. 

This morning, Ashley and her friend actually got to sit in on Session~ she brought home a video showing them  being introduced as Representative Harris' guests.  They also got to attend a few meetings with him this morning.  A photographer took their picture with him~ they will be putting it in the mail tomorrow~ so I will share that when it arrives. 

In the meantime, here are a few picture of the inside of the capitol building.  These first two are the ceiling and walls of the Hall of the House:

And here is Ashley with her friend Hannah:

It was a great opportunity for these homeschooled girls!  Ashley said that she'd love to do it again sometime;  but she's pretty much decided that she does NOT want a career in politics! 

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Last night, as we were all preparing for bed, the girls and I started hearing this awful noise.  At first, we thought it was someone outside screaming, but it went on for a long time.  Finally, I realized that it was a cat fight.  If you've ever heard a cat fight, then you know how awful they sound;  if you haven't, then you can't even imagine.  Sometimes it sounds like a  baby crying~ shrieking, really.  I said to the girls, "I always wished that someone would drop a baby on our doorstep~ maybe I should go check!" 

Anyway, the noise went on and the fighting continued.  We were reading for awhile, and I finally told the girls they would have to go to bed.  Ashley adamantly declared that there was NO WAY she'd be able to sleep through that awful noise. 

Then, she said something that I just KNEW I had to post on my blog.........
"Mom, why do those cats have to fight for that long?!  People don't even fight that long!  Wars don't even last that long!"  I started laughing and Ashley said "Mom, you must be really tired~ it wasn't THAT funny!"

The thing is, it reminded me of one of those "kids say the darndest things" moments~ kinda like the cutesy little things that Gracie is always saying that I just have to post and share.  And, I remembered that, not so very long ago, Ashley was a little girl too~ and I wished I could freeze her.  I remember how she couldn't pronounce the word "crayons"~ we got so many humorous variations of that word~ I can still repeat them but couldn't begin to spell them!  She couldn't say any word that started with a double-consonant blend (such as school or smell).  I used to worry that she'd need speech class.  Then, one day, the speech problems disappeared;  and, before I turned around twice, she turned 13. 

Wow!  Time flies!  I want to make sure I savor every moment with my kids~ what precious memories. 
Ashley has a category on my blog, and I haven't even used it (until now).  Hard to believe she's  busy sharing her life on her own blog!    This morning, we sat for awhile and worked on making some changes to her blog~ making it more "her".  Yes, she still needs me (very much) to be her Mommy;  but I'm really beginning to enjoy these moments when we can also be friends.

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