Today is Amy's birthday, and I can hardly believe she is twelve, but I don't know why not.  She wears a size 11 shoe and she is 5'9 1/2" tall -- it's about time her age catches up with her size! Come to think of it, she started out long. But NOT skinny.  See this?  Would you want to make this baby mad?  lol!

I think Amy is praying that she will stop growing early.  I know I am.  I feel short and fat next to her now. Amy is lovely and willowy, but you know, it is really hard to find long shoes and long skirts in a small town!  She and her Dad are getting ready for their big birthday date.  This is a tradition with us.  Daddy escorts the birthday girl to dinner and a treat -- this time it is mini-golf and the free birthday ice cream scoop at Coldstone Creamery.  (On other birthdays it might be a trip to the dollar store -- cheap date.) By their twelfth birthday each girl is to sew herself a dress or skirt and top to wear on their date with Dad, so they can be all dressed up and pretty in something new.  This time Amy made her skirt, but I had to do the blouse for her.  We started this project, oh... last spring??  And as usual, I had to make alterations in the pattern.  (Has anyone tried to find nice patterns for young teens lately?)  I don't seem to be able to leave a pattern alone, for some reason.  Oh, too bad, I cut off her arms in the birthday photo with Dad. Just thought you might want to know she is wearing short sleeves.

It's been a busy week here in the windy, 70° desert, but a good one.  (Sorry, I am bragging about 70° as if I am responsible for the weather.)  We had missions conference/revival meeting at church last Thursday through Tuesday.  I was totally blessed to hear my kids say they wish the preacher could have stayed and preached a couple of weeks longer.   I did one of those things pastor's wives do, and that is I hostessed twenty, twelve, and thirteen people, respectively, for lunch three days in a row. (Including my own family.)  What a blessing, I survived and even enjoyed it immensely. It's nice to know that, as the old song goes, "He's Still Workin' On Me". A big THANK YOU to all of you ladies who helped out by providing food and keeping me under control, lol!  I did my best to be a Mary, and not be cumbered about much serving, ala Martha, but hey, the serving does need to be done, too.  Hopefully I was half Mary and half Martha. 

In other news... I am ordering Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 for Alison today.  We debated about whether or not to have her do geometry first, but other than a² + b² = c², I can't remember a single thing I learned in geometry.  And neither can our school principal.  It would be very frustrating for all of us to try to help her though that.  And why make her eat dreaded green beans, when she really likes other choices that are just as good for her, such as broccoli?  (Those of you who know my DH know who came up with that comparrisson, lol!)  I doubt she will use much of what she learns in Algebra 2, but she enjoys algebra, and it is good brain exercise. 

Thinking out loud here... I am otherwise thinking about maybe, possibly, perhaps switching over to ACE for school for Alison.  I would then feel like she is getting everything, especially now that we are in her high school years, but I know that is baloney.  There are always going to be... okay, what is the word I am looking for?  (I have a serious case of Noun Deficiency Syndrome today.  By the way, if anyone has seen [and has saved] the email that went around about that condition a while back, please let me know.  It fits me to a T.)  Back to what I was saying... what was I saying??  Oh yes, no one fills in all the blanks, or holes, or deficiencies (what is that word??) by the time high school graduation rolls around, anyway.  Hopefully we realize there are always going to be things that we don't know yet, and with some motivation, we can find out about all the stuff we are interested in, or that we think is worth learning about.  To me, it is more important to teach my kids how to learn than to make them memorize the life cycle of a gymnosperm or the dynasties of China.  Now if I could just restore the joy of learning, which we seem to have lost somewhere along the way...

In conclusion, here's a little gem from my email today:



If you have left comments here, thank you from the bottom of my little heart.  I have been too busy to get around the bloggy world this week, but I want you to know you are appreciated!  Hope you're all having a happy week, if not a warm and cozy one.