She got it!

Hailey had her auditions this week and got the part she wanted! The play is The Triangle Factory Fire Project and her character is Kate Alterman. I had never heard of this play so Hailey brought home a script for me to read and I really enjoyed it. It's based on a real fire in 1911 at the Triangle shirtwaist factory that killed 146 people mostly immigrant women. Google it if you want to know more there is lots of information out there. It will be a good part to finish off her Senior year with.

Black Bolero

I finished Hailey's sweater today. She loves it, I love it! It's my new favorite thing I ever made. It's the best seeming I have done so far in my knitting projects and it fits great! Now I am somewhat down though because I don't have my next project picked out yet and can't decide what to do next. I really don't know what I am going to do with my hands tonight when we sit down to watch TV?!

Just coasting

Well now that school is back in session I am having a rare instance of feeling like I am just coasting through life. We are all back on schedule and every day seems to blend in to the one before. I know I should just sit back and enjoy it but I can't help feeling a bit bored by that. Sure next week Athena will back at dance after her break this week and Hailey has auditions. So change is just around the corner. But I start to get this antsy feeling when there is no change in my day to day. I start thinking drastic thoughts about *gasp* getting a job! Then the voice of reason takes over and reminds me that if I had a job what would I do with Athena in the summer, what would I do if she is sick. And how many field trips and class parties would I miss out on if I had to go to work. Sure the extra cash would be nice, I could finally have a new kitchen or remodel the pool. But we didn't work as hard as we did for me to be able to be a stay at home mom to give up all the rewards of being one now. So I guess I will just coast my way to the next wave and see what comes.

Ahhhh the silence

Today is the first day of school and the house is so quiet once again. I love having the girls around but it sure is nice to have a few hours of quiet again. Athena was so excited I think she was up at 5 today! And after all summer working on the bike skills and even plenty of practice rides to school she crashed 2 houses down from us into sprinklers! She is fine and forgot all about it when she saw her friends.

Hailey was not quite as excited and gave me a groan and a smirk when I said she needed to pose for a 1st day picture. They have to pick up their schedules before school and she always hates that part. But she is looking forward to Drama Club and her many science classes (not required she is taking them for fun!) And of course auditions are the last week of August so she will get right into that.

First of lasts

Today I sent my little Buggins off to her fist day of her last year of High School. I have a feeling it is going to be a very emotional year full of lasts for me. It seems like only yesterday I dropped her off at the first day of Kindergarten. I was so proud of her being so independent and that she wasn't one of the many kids that were hiding behind their mothers leg afraid of the world. But there was a tiny part of my heart that wanted her to cry out "mommy don't leave" as I turned to walk out the door. She didn't. I cried all the way home, luckily in those days Kindergarten only lasted 3 hours and I stopped crying all the way home by the second or third week of school.

I may be bragging but I think Hailey has become an amazing person. She is smart, friendly, talented, happy and beautiful. I will always miss the child she was but I look forward to seeing what comes next for her, I know it will be as amazing as she is!

Sweater and a haircut

Pink sweater for Jeans
Originally uploaded by Arizona Evans

This is my second sweater I've knit. Athena picked out the pattern and the color of yarn. I love the way it turned out and making it went rather smoothly too. I just hope it still fits in 2 months when it will actually be cool enough to need a sweater!

You may have noticed she also got a haircut recently. She wanted to cut it even shorter but this was our compromise since she needs a ponytail for dance. She said she felt like a freak being the only one in the family with long hair. Hmmm doesn't really sound like one of my kids, they usually try to be the one different person in the room. Hope she hasn't lost that free spirit of hers that I have always loved (and at the same time been aggravated by) about her.

Better living through baking

So I read an article in the paper this week that was discussing the amount of money spent on convenience. It talked about giving up things like shredded cheese and chopped lettuce. It even figured out that the price difference in buying shredded cheese was like paying someone $80 an hour to shred it for you! It went on to talk about how eating out less could save money, well duh. But since our family already eats at home an average of 5-6 nights a week and I never buy shredded cheese of chopped lettuce I got to wondering about what types of things I do buy out of convenience. So far I have come up with bread, cookies, muffins and tortillas. So I am seriously thinking about taking on an experiment in which for a month I will make these items from scratch just to see how much money we can save and if I go insane from all that baking. I am going to spend a couple of weeks gathering recipes and collecting data of how much we spend on these items normally. And maybe even come up with a few other things we could make from scratch. Anyway stay tuned to see how this goes I will update often. And any ideas or recipes would be great if you would like to donate to this silly experiment of mine.