Pageant Weekend
Back in March (or April) we received a letter in the post inviting our girls to an open call for
National American Miss. I checked it out thoroughly before taking the girls to the first open call because the last thing I wanted was to spend money and feel we were gypped. Imagine my delight when I realised this is a great organization, with good morals, and they encourage girls to become the best they can be, without relying on looks. In fact, up until the Jr. Teen level (age 13 and up), the contestants are not allowed to wear make up.
The open call consisted of the girls undergoing a short one-on-one interview, and speaking in public to the people who were in attendance. We were informed that we would receive a call back letter if our girls were accepted. Part of me thought, "Yea right, everyone will receive a letter!" However, in looking at the number of girls who were in our open call, and knowing that two more were offered that same weekend in our location, as well as open calls in Houston, Austin and Dallas, I see now that to be chosen as one of the finalists was actually a great honor. If the same number of girls came to each open call, there were probably close to 900 girls in the South Texas area alone who attended open call. Only 140 made it to state finals, and our girls were two of them.
The weekend was an eye-opener for us. We opted to do just the basic pageant - personal introduction, one-on-one interview and formal wear. There is also a talent segment, an actress segment, a spokesperson segment, a modeling segment and a photogenic segment that are optional. It does not affect the judge's scoring if one participates in those optionals (they have different judges for the optional segments), but we noticed that those girls who were involved in the optional contests were also the ones who scored the highest with the pageant judges. I think the confidence the girls get from being so involved carried over to the pageant part.
Already the girls are talking about what they want to do for next year! Of course we have to go through the call backs again, but they should do just fine. And next year Terry and I will be better prepared - there are so many things we need to do as parents to prepare the girls too.
We had planned on doing on some sight-seeing this weekend. Now we know that it is impossible to do that! Once we were in the hotel our entire focus was pretty much on the pageant! Ah well - next time...
I am posting a couple of photos here, but here is a link to an album I created from the photos we took this weekend:
Smelker Girls.
Labels: Hayley, Houston, National American Miss, Pageant, Teagan, Terry, Warrick
More swim photos
For some reason there are no photos of Carson taken (I work as a timer at the meets, so taking a camera would be a waste of time!) I am sure that in the next meet I will get one of him - perhaps I can ask Clem to specifically take one! Anyway, here are two of Hayley from last week's meet - freestyle and getting ready to dive in for the relay (her goggles broke, so we need to buy some new ones:
Labels: dive, freestyle, Hayley, swim team
Summer's Here, and the Livin's easy
Well the Smelker kids finished school last week and already we are in the full swing of swim meets, swim practice, piano practice, and the like. Actually swim practice started two weeks before school let out. Our team had its first swim meet on Saturday. Hayley and Carson are on the swim team this year. A professional photographer happens to have kids on the team, so he spent Saturday shooting photo after photo. He got a great shot of Hayley as she swam in her breast-stroke race.
She took 3rd, out of 16 - so not bad at all! Carson did not place this week, but he surprised all of us with his turn of speed. He had not been doing well in practices, and I wondered whether he would even finish his race. But he came in 3rd in his heat, and I think took 8th overall (again out of 16 swimmers).
Father's Day is approaching and last week I asked Terry what he wanted for his day. Now, I had just bought him Tom Servo so was unsure of what else to get him. He asked for a lightsaber - one of the ones from The Sharper Image. Part of me thought, "Well, if that's what he wants..." But it seemed so, well, lame.
On Friday (June 6th) Warrick called me and asked if I wanted to go in on a Father's Day gift with him. "What do you want to get?" I asked.
"A Wii," he responded. We had tried to buy one at Christmas but found it impossible. But Warrick knew a local store that got shipments in once a week. He called the store when the shipment came in, and drove over immediately and bought the system. He called me again to let me know he had it. "Do we have to wait until Father's Day to give it to him?" I took pity on him, I think he was more excited than anyone to give the Wii to Terry, so last week Terry his early Father's Day gift. Let me tell you, boxing on the Wii gives you quite the work-out!
Next weekend we are on our way to Houston as the girls will take part in a pageant. We will spend a day at the
Space Center, and on the way home spend some time at the
Houston Aquarium. We had to buy evening gowns for the girls and I got a great deal from a place here in town. When the dresses are altered, and the girls put them on, I will put up some photos - they look stunning!
So, all in all, a busy June, and July is shaping up to be just as busy!
Labels: Carson, Father's Day, Hayley, practice, swim team, Wii
Dinner Dilemma
Remember the halcyon days of our youth, where our parents used to plunk a plate of food at the table and we had a choice - either eat it or go hungry? Perhaps if you're under the age of 35 you might not have those great memories! Seems like many families today, parents and kids alike, are such fussy eaters that they now eat a diet of pizza, hotdogs, pre-packaged family TV dinners, chips, salsa, cookies and ice cream. Is it any wonder then that a program like Honey We’re Killing the Kids became an instant 'water cooler' topic the moment it hit airwaves in the UK and the USA. The
Joy of Tech website even took a swat at the issue with a comic strip where a group of overweight kids tease the skinny kid for not being fat.
I know with the pressures of work and family commitments, and the running the kids a million different places it becomes hard to always prepare a fresh meal every night - but my own mother is a shining example of someone who worked a full day job and still managed to make from-scratch meals every night. Dining out was a rare treat. She also kept no 'junk' in the house, but we always had an endless supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to munch on. And in the days when she cooked, the microwave was a new invention. So what's my excuse?
Five years ago, when our children were 13, 7, 5, 4 and 3, Terry and I did something that I have never regretted, and is something I am often asked to speak to other families about. We created a family of non-fussy eaters. Our oldest son, Warrick does not know the meaning of the word fussy, and was a fantastic eater. My girls followed, and were introduced to a variety of foods at a young age, and have been pretty good about food.
But then along came child #4. As a baby he was all right, and didn’t spit too many things out. As he got older and was able to verbalise, he certainly made me aware that he was not too impressed with the family dinners! If I served pizza (rare occurrence), he was thrilled and hot dogs (maybe served once or twice a year) were heralded with crows of delight; BUT if anything coloured appeared on his plate, we heard all about it too.
One night I reached breaking point. I had made a roast, with potatoes. He liked meat and potatoes, but I had the audacity to also make corn, broccoli and perhaps even carrots. He began to cry, “I hate this. I don’t want this.” I was frustrated and angry. Like my own mother, I make almost all of our food from scratch because I want to know what it is going into it; it takes time to prepare a good meal, and for the umpteenth time it was getting turned down. I am not one those of moms who considers herself a short order cook, so there was no leaping up from the table and consoling him by making him a separate meal. And we don’t carry frozen snack foods, so I couldn’t/wouldn’t microwave some pocket-pizza-type dish.
I suddenly had a vision though, of this child 15 years down the line — refusing to eat any fruits and vegetables, eating only meat, pasta, bread, potatoes and junk food. I could not let him do that to himself. At that point I turned to Terry and said, “We are becoming vegetarians for a week.” It was a sacrifice for me too, as I love my red meat, but I wanted to instill an important lesson in our kids.
I went online and found seven vegetarian meals and the following day went to Farmer Jack and bought all I needed for the next week. I sat the kids down and explained the plan. I would make dinner that night, and we would all sit at the table to eat. If they chose not to eat the meal I made they could be excused. They would spend the rest of the evening in their room, there would be no TV, no snacks, nothing. The following morning those who had not eaten their dinner would receive their evening meal (heated) for breakfast. If they decided not to eat it, they could be excused. At snack time they would be offered their dinner from the night before. If they chose not eat it, they could be excused. The same would go for lunch, and for afternoon snack. At that time, the dinner leftovers would be scrapped, and they would be presented with a new dinner meal. They could drink water (we drink water with our meals) and at snack I would give them milk and juice, but no more than they would normally drink — I didn’t want them filling up on liquid.
The first night the seven of us sat down. Garrick, child #4, immediately started crying about the food on the table. Without losing my temper, or telling him he had to eat, I excused him from the table. Now he had nothing he could control — food can sometimes become a battle of the wills, and I never want food to be a flash point in my kid’s lives.
The following morning Garrick was presented with some of the leftovers from the night before. He cried, so Terry excused him from the breakfast table. At snack time I brought out some of the leftovers. He refused them. He also refused lunch and afternoon snack. Never once did I yell, or try and force the issue.
I made a new dish for dinner that night, and again the seven of us sat down to eat. Once again Garrick refused to eat it. By now my heart was breaking for my little four-year old, but no one said being a parent was easy! We sent him to his room.
The next morning when he came downstairs and found dinner waiting for breakfast, he was that hungry he ate it. A corner was turned! He realized the food was actually rather good, better than he’d expected. And because he ate the vegetables he could now enjoy the regular snacks the rest of the kids ate.
I wish I could say we had a care-free week after that, but that would be untrue. However, what happened was all of our kids began to experiment more with foods, and although there were a couple more nights when Garrick (or one of his siblings) went to bed without dinner, the decision to basically limit their choice to ‘either eat this food or go hungry’ worked.
That was five years ago. We have learnt that Garrick and Hayley will gag on cooked spinach, so if I make spinach, they don’t have to eat it. But they love raw spinach. All of our kids love vegetables now; and often we buy a vegetable tray from Costco as our evening meal. Garrick gravitates to the broccoli, the carrots and tomatoes. Even when I make a meal that has meat and potatoes, the kids know they have to eat some vegetables first. As a result our meat consumption has decreased, as they fill up on veggies, fruit and salads.
We are not 'food Nazis'. If you look in my pantry you will find pretzels, granola bars, and even the occasional box of Oreo's (although I make most of our cookies myself). I am not averse to a bowl of ice-cream every now and then, and my kids can spend part of their allowance on candy if they choose. But those foods are not an everyday, all day part of their lives.
I feel we have armed our kids with the ability to make wise food choices, and the knowledge that truly, veggies will not kill them!!
Labels: food, Garrick, Hayley, pizza, Terry, vegetables, Warrick
Smelker Smalls Start School
Backpacks are packed, lunches made and kids sent off to school. I drove the three younger ones to school this morning, and unloaded their scooters from the van. This afternoon I will walk down to the school (with the dog) and fetch them. It's good excerise and we look forward to the walks home. I then returned and picked up Teagan for her first day. From tomorrow she will take the bus to school but for this first day we wanted to drive her, especially since she missed the orientation on Saturday because of Hayley's birthday party.
Carson came blearily downstairs this morning and whined, "But it's still night-time outside." No more sleeping in until 7:30 or 8:00 for this boy - 6:15 came all too soon for them. By the time they finished breakfast and brushed their teeth it was daylight outside though.
So begins another year of homework, plays, safety patrol duty (for Hayley) choir, parent-teacher conferences, school trips and volunteering (I am on the PTA this year, ostensibly just to do the newsletter, but we'll see how many more things I am 'volunteered' to do!) Each season is bitter-sweet; I have looked forward to having the house to myself again, to enjoy the solitude and silence, but I also miss the hurly-burly of my four, plus all the neighborhood kids.
Here's to a great year for all my friends and kids!
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, PTA, school, Teagan
Summer comes to an end
I love the halycon days of summer: the long evenings, the kids playing outside, the endless afternoons spent at the pool, the sound of the trampoline being bounced on, the sheer number of snacks the kids eat on any given day, the bugs, the grass that needs to be mowed every other day..but I digress. However, all good things, as a wise man once said, come to an end, and so tomorrow I have to set my alarm clock and chivvy kids off to school. Teagan is nervous because tomorrow is her first day at middle school, the other kids though are just excited. They have been ready for about two weeks now to return.
It has been a good summer, with many an afternoon spent at the
Northern Hills pool where the kids made new friends, and played with old ones too. Their dark tans are in direct proportion to how blond they became this summer - Hayley wins that contest hands down - the girl would be right at home on a Southern Californian beach.
Summer marks my birthday, as well as Hayley's; and this year she chose to have her party at the pool (last year she opted for the ice rink). As you can see by the photo, the girl is in her natural surroundings.
We also got to celebrate an important event in Warrick's life. He walked the stage as a high chool graduate. Walking the stage was not that big a deal for him now, but we told him that one day he would look back and probably regret not walking it. He complied and even though he said it was no big deal, we made it a big deal! And I do think he will look back one day and be happy that he made the decision to put on the cap and gown.
So now we have one high school graduate, one daughter in middle and three left in elementary - where did the time go??
Labels: Hayley, pool, Summer
Hayley is 10!!!
In the stillness of the morning light I woke before the rest of the house and thought about this day 10 years ago. Hayley Claire Smelker made her entry into the world, four days before her due date, the only one of our children to come early. I remember so clearly waking up at 6:15am with a contraction and calling downstairs to Terry informing him that he should not go to work. Instead we called Star to look after Teagan (Warrick elected to come with us). By the time Star arrived at the house 45 minutes later, I was so ready to go to the birthing center!! Driving in rush hour traffic with contractions on top of one another is an experience I never want to repeat! We got to the birthing center at about 7:50am and Hayley came quietly into the world at 8:06am, weighing a good 7lbs 12oz and measuring 20 inches. She was the quietest baby of them all, although that has now changed drastically!
We nicknamed her, 'Helpful Hayley' because she is the most helpful of all our kids. She loves to help in the kitchen and is becoming a deft hand at cooking. She is a stubborn son of a gun though! Terry and I joke that Hayley is 'mini-me'. She loves to read, she does not take any guff from anyone and she loves to swim, dive, jump on the trampoline and play with all the animals we have.
I had to wake the kids up a little early this morning as I had to work at the school this morning (on the PTA this year, long story!) Hayley was understandably excited to come downstairs and find a gift on the table from us; her own jewellery maker. Her party is on Saturday afternoon at the pool, and we are all looking forward to that.
My life is immeasurably enriched because of who Hayley is and I am grateful that she is here.
Labels: birth, Hayley
Divisionals last Saturday
Our little swimming team received this email from the secretary of the swimming club last night:
"For those of you who haven't heard, the Nadadores won the divisonal meet yesterday. Girls finished in 1st place and boys in 4th for an overall 1st place finish. Mr. Dewlen tells us that he thinks it's been 20 years since the Nadadores took divisionals. Way to go!"
I am so proud of our team. We only lost to one team during the regular season and that was mostly due to the size of the other team - they had over 130 swimmers to our 80, which makes a difference when 1st through 6th places are scored for points.
Neither of my girls placed first in their races, although Hayley did take third in her freestyle and fourth in breast stroke, so I am very proud of her. I was a timer for the races, and was in the lane next to her when she was swimming her freestlye - I even had her timer cheering for her, although the timer was from another team! We swam at the brand-new facility and the best part of it is the walls come up and allow for great cross breezes, so even though it was a hot day, the heat was never unbearable inside.
Now for the rest of the summer we will sleep in (something we haven't been able to do with the swim practices) and hang out at the pool and the park. A friend of mine is moving at the end of the month and she very kindly gave me her season pass to the Majik Theater - a children's theater here in town, so we will be able to watch two different plays before the season ends. I am looking forward to that as well.
Labels: divisionals, Hayley, swim, Teagan
Possibly the Wettest Summer?
I suppose I shouldn't be complaining about all the rain we've received so far this summer since last year the summer was so dry we had watering bans - but I have to cut my grass once a week at the moment! Last year if we mowed three times the entire summer that was a lot, this summer already I have mowed more times than I can count. And it takes me 90 minutes just to mow, and I haven't even started edging yet!
The rain has sometimes put a crimp in the family activities - there have been a couple of times I've loaded the kids up for the pool and then the deluge starts. And here in San Antonio that's what we get, a deluge. The Weather Channel has issued several flash flood warnings for San Antonio. We have learnt to take those seriously. Every year the news reports of some unfortunate soul who disregarded the warnings, attempts to ford a road (either on foot or in their car) and they get whisked away by the water. Invariably the story does not have a happy ending.
On a happier note though, the girls are almost done with the summer league swim team. This weekend marks the final meet. If either girl places in the top 5 of their division then they go onto a regional event, but frankly at this point I am not sure either one will place in the top 5. Competition has been stiff this year and with Hayley not competing for one school year she lost some ground. Next year I think she will fare better.
And just because I didn't want a text-only blog, here is a photo of the two newest members of the feline family - Drake and Puma relaxing together.
Labels: Drake, Hayley, Puma, Rain, Teagan
Summer Days
I thought summer was meant to be a time to relax, sleep in a bit, take it easy, take time to smell the roses as it were (although Terry bought me some last week that I have been smelling!) But since the first day of summer the kids and I have been on the go! I looked at my blog and realised that I hadn't posted anything in three weeks.
The girls have joined a swim team again this summer. We bought a family membership for a local neighbourhood association pool and they have a strong swim team. Every morning from 8:30 to 9:30 the girls train. They have had 2 meets so far and they are 2-0. Already the kids are turning blonde and my freckles have emerged in full force!
Terry and I were roped into going on the chidlren's church camp again. We went last fall and I suppose we must have done a good job of supervising the kids because we were asked to return. Coffee was my salvation from the sleepless nights (as you can see I am holding a cup here!)
Hayley participated in one of the 'electives' held, Butterfly Ballet. She loved it and it was great seeing her dance in front of 700 people. Terry as usual had a great time with the kids - being a big kid yourself I suppose helps.
The girls have swim practice for another month, and then I suppose we might be able to sleep in a little later than usual.
I have been very busy with freelance work. Just this afternoon I signed off on a 700 page manual I had been editing for a client. That was a great feeling - it was a lot of work and I know more about retirement communities than I think anyone should ever know! The local papers have also been keeping me busy and I have actually been given my own weekly business column for one of them. That is fun because I get to choose what business I want to showcase and interview the owner.
So, the Smelker Summer is shaping up very well - perfect weather, wonderful pool and long summer days - my favourite time of year.
Labels: church camp, Hayley, swim, Terry
Time Flies By
When you're having fun! We returned from a wonderful vacation last week (I promise I will post photos on my .mac account as soon as I get a spare minute!)
This photo was taken on the monorail after a long day at the Magic Kingdom - you can tell it's been a busy day when the kids are zonked!
Our first day was spent at Typhoon Lagoon - we got the first shot of all 5 kids together in a long time!
I hit the ground running when we came back. I currently am about two-thirds of the way through editing a manual for a client, I have several articles to write for the papers I work for, and just returned from a trip to Dallas to visit the wonderful ladies at
Surrogate Parenting Center of Texas. I have worked through their agency twice now. I first contacted them in January 2004 but have never met any of them. I spent one full day with the owner on a road trip as we drove to interview a prospective surrogate and I made an instant best friend!
Summer is just around the corner, and in fact the last day of school for the kids is tomorrow. Instead of buying season passes to
Fiesta Texas as we have done in the past, we decided nothing can compare to Walt Disney World and instead chose to join a local sub-division pool. The girls will swim competitively again this summer, and Hayley will be able to join the District team and swim at a city-wide and hopefully soon, a regional level once more. This is the pool she'll be using next fall.
Oh, we also got "Little Red" a new (well new to us) car for Terry. We have had to share a car for the last 17 months; not that it is necessarily bad, but the busier I get with the freelance reporting, the more the need for a second car became apparent. Terry is now the proud owner of his first 'foreign' vehicle; a 2-door Honda Civic with sun-roof and 5-speed stick. We both love to drive it, and in fact I took it to Dallas this week. It's a zippy little thing with great gas mileage!
Labels: Disney, Hayley, SPCT, Terry
The Countdown Is Almost Done
The Smelker Seven are getting ready to go somewhere we haven't been in almost 9 years. And that somewhere is
Walt Disney World, the Wonderful House of Mouse, and as far as Terry is concerned, the
only place on earth to vacation.
According to the calendar we have upstairs in the game room we have 20 days until we pack up the conversion van and make the 16 hour drive to Florida. Thank God for a third driver (Warrick). The kids are excited although really the four little ones have nothing to compare it to; the last time we went Teagan was two and a half and Hayley only 11 months old. I was 7 months pregnant with Garrick and Carson was not even a glimmer in anyone's eye.
The vacation is already paid for, completely paid in cash so all we had to do was save for gas, food and souvenirs, and even that has been done. All that's left is to wait, patiently, (hard for Terry) and plan our days at the parks to maximize our time there.
Labels: Carson, Disney, Garrick, Hayley, Teagan, Warrick
Safari Park Antics
So the girls have been having a blast since they arrived in Europe. They spent three days in Paris, one morning at a local elementary school, an afternoon at
Bedford Oasis Pool, an indoor water playground. The piece de la resistance so far has been the day they spent with my brother and his wife Jenny and our nephew Michael at
Woburn Safari Park.Here you drive your car through the grounds and see lion, bears, zebras, hippos, giraffe and other wildlife in a fairly natural setting, but the best part (according to my girls) is when you get out of the car and get to interact with the monkeys and lemurs, wallabys and other small mammals. As you can see from the photos, great fun was had by all!
Teagan meets a monkey
Jenny and Michael with the lemurs
Hayley befriends a wallaby
Labels: Hayley, Safari Park, Teagan, UK
Empty Nest?
On Wednesday March 7th Teagan and Hayley flew into
Gatwick Airport to spend two weeks with my parents.
This past weekend they took the
Chunnel to
Paris, for a visit of all the famous sites.
They will also tour parts of
London, including a personal tour of
The Houses of Parliament. They will spend some time in a local school and all in all just have a great time.
The girls are also getting to meet my side of the family for the first time. My sister in law, Jenny, took the girls along with her son Michael to a local Mickey D's where they enjoyed ice cream. As you can see, Michael loves his!
On Friday night, March 9th my mother-in-law, Star, drove in from
Carrollton, to take the little boys to spend a week with her and Richard. On Saturday they spent some time at a
PT Cruiser show. They have a busy week ahead of them as well.
This leaves the house empty all day until Terry and Warrick return in the evening from their respective jobs. I believe this is the first time in almost three years that we have had this amount of time away from the kids! Yesterday after church Terry and I went out for lunch and our bill was tiny in comparison to what it would normally be!
i guess in a way this is a harbinger of days yet to come when all the kids move out. Feels weird, but it was nice to have Terry all to myself again - even if it is just for a few days.
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Teagan, Warrick
We Have A Tiger In The House
Back in 1993 Terry introduced me to what I think are some of the best cartoon strips since "Peanuts" and that is the genius of Watterson's character Calvin and his sidekick Hobbes. Initially Warrick fell in love with Calvin & Hobbes and read all of the books that we bought or borrowed. Then for a while I was the only one who really read the books.
However about 6 months ago the younger 4 kids discovered the wonders of Calvin and his tiger, Hobbes and since then the comic books have become even more dog-eared, and I ordered some new ones when the elementary school held one of their fundraisers. Just last week at the library I found a 600-page hardcover copy of several of the books compiled into one copy. I have to admit to sitting on the couch for 2 hours last night reading cartoons that are brand-new to me. And the kids all fight about whose turn it is to read the book next - gotta love something that will get the kids reading.
I understand why Watterson stopped drawing his cartoons, all good things must come to an end; but he really did capture the essence of a six-year old boy and his imagination.
If I was a poet I would write an ode to Watterson, but seeing I am not, I will just give my heartfelt thanks for bringing so many hours of entertainment into the Smelker household.
Labels: Calvin, Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Hobbes, Teagan
New Vaccine
As I am sure anyone who has a TV, or who reads/watches the news has seen, there is now a vaccine available that could prevent cervical cancer in girls. One of my friends took her five year old daughter for a check up today and they were encouraging her to give this vaccine to her daughter! I had seen the commericals promoting the vaccine on TV, so decided to research it a bit.
All the ads refer to the virus as HPV, or human papillomavirus; but actually its full title is genital human papillomavirus and is generally ONLY transmitted through sexual activity. So, a doctor wants to immunize a five year old for a sexual disease?? Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?
Teagan and Hayley are up to date on all their shots and as a result haven't seen their doctor lately; but I am sure when I next take them in I will be told that they should have the vaccine. The Washington Post ran a story on the vaccine back in October 2005, and this is a quote:
""I would like to see it that if you don't have your HPV vaccine, you can't start high school," said Juan Carlos Felix of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who leads the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's medical advisory panel."
Do I really want my high school dictating what I do and don't inject into my children? CNN ran a story on this yesterday, and read excerpts from letters from listeners. One person said they were thrilled with the vaccine while yet another parent said they were disgusted with it, and the only way to avoid HPV was to abstain from pre-marital sex. What was so sad is that I was in the lunch room at my workplace when I saw this; and a gal, maybe in her 20's said, "I think it's a great ideaa. I mean you're going to have sex anyway, so let's get protected. What do you think?" I gave her my opinion and I think she was surprised. But I have run into this lassitude before, with parents. They say, "Oh well, they're gonna do it anyway..." and basically fling their hands up in the air. HELLO - all people (well not all) eventually learn to drive, but do we hand them the keys to the car when they're 12, because, "they're gonna do it anyway?" Why are we stricter on our kids about things like driving, and yet let them give their bodies away like yesterday's trash because they are supposedly protected?
And for the first time here is a great reason for the schools to promote abstinence instead of protection, something that is non-religious. Will they? I bet not! The school districts (for the most part) are more interested in keeping the peace than in promoting a life of self control. They will preach protection, when it is apparent that most teens, who think they are immortal and invincible anyway don't give a hoot about protecting themselves when engaging in sexual activities.
I am also concerned that at some point in the near future this is going to become a standard vaccine, like the chicken pox vaccine has become in the last decade. And when it becomes standard it gets harder to get your kids into school. I know that we refused the chicken pox vaccine and got all kinds of flak from the school about it.
What is this world coming to when a vaccine for sexually transmitted disease is offered? I certainly hope all parents research this carefully and don't feel pressured by health officials and schools to give their daughters something that can be fully prevented with abstinence.
Labels: Hayley, HPV, Teagan
Hayley's Happy Day
On Sunday Hayley officially turned nine. What is it about the 'almost double digit' age that does something to kids? Hayley's poise, maturity and general sassiness never ceases to amaze me.
Hayley is in my many ways my clone, we call her 'mini-me' because although she looks more like the Smelker side (actually the Bachelder side) of the family, her interests and personality reflect me. Except for waking up in the morning - Hayley is NOT a morning person!
I never imagined my life could be so complete, and Hayley is one of the reasons I am so happy!
God bless you sweet Hayley, Dad and I love you!
Labels: Birthday, God, Hayley, iPod
Back to School 2006
As is our custom, we took a photo of the kids as they prepared for their first day of school. Although we bought them new clothes, they really can't wear a lot of them right now, today's high was 101 before the heat index was added! Carson was most upset that he couldn't wear his new two piece 'Cars' outfit.
Today was a great success, and all the kids say they like their teachers, we'll see whether they still say that in a couple of weeks. Hayley got Teagan's teacher from last year, so I know she will have a great year with her!
Labels: Carson, Hayley, Longs Creek, Teagan
Fiesta Texas (Six Flags)
'Summer time and the livin's easy...'
This summer has been one of sun, fun and rollercoasters! This year for the first time all of our kids are big enough to do at least half of the rollercoasters found at Fiesta Texas - a Mexican themed amusement park 15 minutes from the house. The biggest hit by far for the kids has been 'Tornado' a water ride that has you spinning in the middle of a tornado and then spitting you out at the end. Hayley also tried, and liked 'Scream' the straight up in the air for however many feet and then back down again! Carson has been a little timid, and refuses to do much more than the 'Lazy River' and the children's play area, but has a blast. We bought season passes and they were one of the best investments this summer. We can go for a few hours or all day if we choose. Last weekend we went on Sunday evening just to see the fireworks. On Saturday we went just for the waterpark. As summer draws to a close (well as much as it will here in San Antonio) we will spend more time on the rollercoasters and as the season winds down in October, we will peruse the stores and get the last minute close out bargains.
Have I mentioned before that I LOVE San Antonio??
Labels: Carson, Fiesta Texas, Hayley
What's a gal to do??
OK, so this weekend my one daughter tells me about this little cat she saw in the neighbourhood with these incredible golden eyes. Two days later I see her scrounging around the neighbour's garbage cans. She came up to me meowing and rubbing against my legs - total patsy that I am, I start to stroke her but left her because I promised Terry on pain of death that I would not bring any more pets home - the last 4 additions to our house have been strays!
Well on Wednesday my girls were playing in the yard and riding their bikes up and down the street when this cat appears again - now we have played outside almost every day since we moved and have never seen this cat until she suddenly showed up on the street over the weekend.
The cat followed Hayley home, then jumped into my lap and snuggled there until Terry came home. he looked at me, looked at her, she jumped down and went over to him, he picked her up and she began purring immediately! We brought her into the house! I have made flyers for her, and we have tentatively called her "Natalia" - the female lead from the movie 'Golden Eye'. As you can see by the picture she has the most striking eyes! Now we are kind of half hoping no one calls to claim her! But she is such a sweet kitty that I would hate to think there is a family out there somewhere mourning the loss of a cat.
Labels: cat, Hayley
