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Meet Amy
I have struggled with the answer when asked, "What do you do?" and it isn't work-related. Ultimately, we settled on that I find things and untangle things. But I also read (a lot), pretend to wake surf, and watch Hallmark films.
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Raising two little girls presents some challenges. I think my girls are both beautiful, but there are times that they (okay, one of them) doesn’t think that she is. There are times when she’ll hang her head a cry because she doesn’t think she’s pretty because she doesn’t have brown eyes like Mommy and her sister. There are times when she’ll hang her head is shame because she has several [adorable] freckles that she wishes weren’t there. It is really difficult helping little girls understand what “beauty” is.
I try really hard to help them see that beauty comes from how they are acting, how they are treating others, and the tone that they are speaking with. I want them to understand that even some of the most physically “beautiful” people can appear very “ugly” if they are not treating people nicely. I’ll ask them how someone looked right after they have said a rude comment or pushed someone in line. If possible, I’ll point out a time when someone appears exceptionally “beautiful” because of their actions. I guess growing up with my parents telling me “pretty is as pretty does” made a bit of an impression.
The other day, Jade noticed that I had this really ugly cold sore on my upper lip. She started asking about it and saying how ugly my sore was. I decided to attempt a learning moment with the visual aid of my lip.
Jade- “Mom, what’s wrong with your face?”
Me- “I have a cold sore”
Jade- “Wow, it’s really ugly”
Me- “Yup” (so I didn’t jump right in to the lesson)
Jade- “Don’t you feel ugly with your cold sore?”
Me- “Should I?”
Jade- pause
Me- “Am I ugly or is my cold sore ugly?”
Jade- still thinking how she should correctly answer that question
Me- “Other than having a huge and painful cold sore, am I doing anything to make me ugly?”
Jade- “No”
Me- “Okay, so am I ugly?”
Jade- “No, but your lip is REALLY ugly”
Well, I’m not so sure she learned anything, but it was worth a try. And just to emphasize that I wasn’t going to let my “REALLY ugly” cold sore get the best of me, I went out of my way to get my picture taken with both of my girls and my cold sore. Due to my face being so shaded, you can hardly see it in the photo. (If you zoom in enough to see my cold sore, you can also see my age spots and my I-am-nearing-forty skin).
How do you help your kids know that beauty comes from within?
Today I decided to enter the L.E.N.S Photo Challenge…
The theme is Red, White and Blue. I took this picture of the desserts at my nephew’s graduation party. The front one is the Costco Chocolate Cake and then the Strawberry Trifle by my mom’s close friend. Last is Dan’s Chocolate Cake (that I’m trying to get the recipe for).
Swing by and see other Red White and Blue entries.
The week of the 4th of July is always very busy, but this year seemed even more so. I don’t know if it was because the 4th fell on a Sunday so the holiday seemed to be spread out through 3 full days or if it was simply because we had a number of family gatherings.
Sunday we celebrated my nephew’s graduation from high school. We had a lot of family friends gather for dinner and well wishes. Dax will be going to Oxford in the fall. We’re all trying to plan trips out to visit him.
Our cousin Dan made this beautiful cake for the party. I cut it before I photographed it. Oops, my bad. ***I WILL TRY AND GET THIS RECIPE FOR ALL WHO HAVE COMMENTED ON HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS.
With Dax leaving, my mom really wanted to get a group photo of all of the cousins. Jade and Ivy had to do a little bit of goofing around first. I love their “funky stank” faces. Hip hop has really helped them both come out of their shell. (As if either of them ever had a shell to come out of).
Here’s our handsome bunch of grandkids on my side of the family.
Years ago, we had a friend (Rachel Sandberg) take our family pictures. This is a little blast from the past to see the kids 4 years ago. Jade was the same age as Ivy is now. CRAZY.
My girls and I got up super early on Monday and went to the Balloon fest with Melissa and my mom. We got there after the balloons had already taken off, so we missed the really great pictures. But the girls were still really glad that they went and they did capture some fun pictures. Ivy’s camera broke part way through and the little lens cover didn’t fold up all the way, so we missed a bunch of what she loved.
We also went out on the lake with some of our friends that were in from out of town. I took hundreds of pictures of wake boarding, tubing and surfing. I think I share enough of those pictures here, so instead, here is one of my favorite parts of boating… TWINKIES!!!
Okay, I realize they aren’t healthy in any way. But, they aren’t messy (unless you eat them like Corn on the cob – which is apparently Ivy’s method of choice). They store well in a bag or in the cooler. The go on great sales plus Costco usually has them for a pretty good price. So, they are perfect boating food. Plus you can bribe any kid to try something new for a twinkie.
Hosted by Cecily and Serious Krystyn
There is only one thing in my life that I would change. I’m guessing it will shock many people when they read this, because it is not something that is very well known.
I worked for 5 years to complete this one thing. Actually, it was probably longer. See, I was not awesome at it. In fact, I had to work really hard to be above average. There were times when I would get frustrated and times when I would sail through. While I was working on completing the one great thing, I also had to work to pay for it, fun and everything else. Sure, my parents helped me out, and paid for as much of it as they could, but some of it was still up to me. During those 5 years, I made some of my best friends. We laughed, cried and grew together. Now, so many years later, we still talk, write or follow one another through our blogs or Facebook. It was an awesome 5 years, but I didn’t finish my time with what I had set out to complete.
There was no party for me. Only questions about when would I finish. Instead of a party, I started a career. A career that seemed fantastic to me – back then. Now, I’m just shocked that I walked away instead of just finishing. Sure, I got really sick and wasn’t allowed to drive for several months, but I still should have just finished.
If I had one thing to change, it would be that I never completed my bachelors degree. Isn’t that just ridiculous? I have FRESHMAN ENGLISH and BIOLOGY 101 left to complete my full degree. Oh, I took my advanced English courses and a lot of other science classes. I was a psychology major. But, with work, my major courses and my minor courses, I could never get the classes and the labs at a time that worked for me. One time, I got in the class, but the labs were all filled except the one that was during the class that I had finally gotten in to.
Then after I started working, it seemed to matter less and less that I didn’t have a degree.
In order to change my one thing, I’m going to find out what I need to do to graduate and I’m going to make it a priority. I’ll beg and plead for the support of those around me, I’ll figure out a way to fit it all in. There will be a party for me. Even if it is just my little family celebrating it.
Why? Will it change my life? Will I make more at my job because I have a degree? Nope, it won’t. But, I will feel whole. My husband will have one less thing to tease me about and my girls will know the importance of school.
What is the one thing you would change about your life?
The other day, I mentioned that my family SOOOO overdoes the 4th of July. But this year we actually scaled it down a bit. By scaled down, I mean we didn’t have a fierce competition with assigned teams and a trophy. Instead we watched some of the World Cup, did a craft, had an adult volleyball tournament and my mom rented a great big blow up water slide. We started the day later than we normally do, but I feel like we packed in just as much as every other year. Only without the fierce competition.
The craft was a hit and the , blow up slide was a blast! My sweet Jade felt really badly that we didn’t have the competition, because she is always on the team that wins. Plus it brings everyone together and starts the party.
After the day activities, we gathered outside for the “Cul de sac of Fire”. This year there were three bands. The first was “Love-capades” and the second was “He and She”. In between the bands was the children’s parade. And a specialty dance number by “550 South Fire Girls”. They were joined or rather replaced on stage by the hip hoppin cool guys of 550 South.
Finally the headliner show was ready to take the stage. This year we welcomed “Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband” to our ever growing “cul de sac of fire- fire – fire”. They did an absolutely awesome job. The little girls danced and grooved to their music and even joined them on stage for a moment. It was a lot of fun and I’m sure there is no chance of topping this year’s – EVER.
We ended the night with fireworks. Ivy stepped on a sparkler so I missed most of the fireworks while I nursed her foot.
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