She Loves New York

I may have created a monster this past weekend by taking my DD to New York City; she loved it.

We saw some shows:

Saw some sites:

Did some shopping:

And now she is hooked, wants to go back, and wants to live there. What have I done? I am kidding, sort of. We had a great couple of days in New York City and have a great drive there as well. I am so glad we did this!  Even though we drove, which was long, it was a great opportunity to talk and share and see a few really pretty states.  If you only get a chance to do weekend road trips with your kids this summer. . .DO IT!

Y-ME Walk In the Rain and Ironman Review

We did it!  We did the Y-Me Walk for Breast Cancer yesterday and here is a picture (that is me, the shorter one, and no, I am not standing in a sink-hole).  It was very rainy on Chicago’s lakefront, but spirits were high and DD and I and our friends had a nice walk.  If you get a chance to participate in one of these events I highly recommend it.  The event was well done from beginning to end and everyone involved was a pleasure to work with. 

I also got to celebrate Mother’s Day with my favorite activity, seeing a movie in the theater.  After much debate we decided on Ironman and we were not disappointed.  I have to agree with the reviews that I read that said this was a smart movie.  I thought everything about this movie was well done, and I had no idea that Jeff Bridges could play such an awesome villian!  If you get a chance to see this one on the giant screen with surround sound, do it.

Another Birthday Post

Since DM and DF are still my most regular readers, I am posting one more Sweet 16 birthday pic for them.

After a full weekend of partying, I believe we are finally done celebrating DDs birthday.  We gave her a present last night, jewelry seemed most appropriate, (since a car was out of the question) and took her to dinner at the restaurant of her choice.  She said that only Bennigan’s would be decorated and festive enough so off we went.  DH was happy to have a green beer to celebrate the day and we all had their new appitizer, the Monte Cristo Egg Rolls and each ordered a sandwhich.  All in all, I think that even though DD won’t be able to drive on her own for several months, she had a very nice birthday and is feeling pretty special.

It may just take DH and I a year to recover and be ready for the next one.

Y-ME for Us

I signed my DD and I up today for the Y-ME national Breast Cancer walk.  We will be doing the 3 mile walk, not the 5k quite yet.  This is the first time that we have participated, and I am so excited to be doing this.

My focus for this year is loving others, my kids, my family, my friends, and others.  This seems to be a great step in that direction.  Not to mention the fact that it is hard to wallow in self pity when you are focusing on how to help others, when you are trying to think of ways to reach out.

This even is way out of my comfort zone, as I don’t like crowds and I don’t like going downtown, and Sundays are for resting and relaxing. . .but I just can’t wait for this event.

I encourage everyone to pick and event, pick a cause, pick a person and get involved.  Love someone else a bit more today.  I think you will find that in the end, in spite of yourself, you will be happier too just because you tried.  I challenge you, if you are reading this, to think of a way today that you can get involved with a person or a cause and what you can do to beging helping.

If you are a friend, and feel like donating, please do.  If not, just think about the challenge above.  Here is my personal site for donating to my walk.

Review - Disney on Ice

This weekend DD and I did something neither of us has done before.  We went to see a Disney Ice Show.  When the kids were little, there was never enough time or money to do this.  I was a bit afraid as I was buying our tickets that my DD would perhaps be too old and think I had gone off the deep end for taking her as a teenager.  I was also a bit afraid that the show would be too cheesy and we would both  end up hating me for having wasted a Saturday afternoon.

It was cheesy, the acting was horrible, but we had fun!  Disney’s High School Musical: The Ice Tour is what it is suposed to be, a cute ice show.  We liked the costumes, the skating, and the music.  Yeah to Disney for having the music be the original music from the movies.  It was basically a musical review of the first and second High School Musical Movies.  We had seen the first one on the Disney channel, and there too, the acting is horrible, but the music is good and the story is light and funny.

We paid $10 for a bucket of popcorn and $12.50 for an Icee in a souvenir cup, so if you do go to one of these shows, I recommend that you not buy anything there, but then again, isn’t that part of the fun?

Overall, we decided that we would definitely do this again, even if it was the Disney Princesses Show!  It was a great way to spend a very cold Saturday afternoon in Chicago.  Besides, a trip to the United Center is always fun.

More Board Game Reviews

Before Christmas I recommended some board games, and that post was so popular, that I thought I would add some more recommendations here.

First, let me say that conversations with my kids may not always be easy, but I find if we play board games and laugh together, we have an eaiser week than if we don’t spend time bonding somehow.

We have played two games in the past couple of weeks that we adore, one a board game, and one a family Xbox game.

1.  Quelf - This is an awesome game!  I can honestly say that my DD and I laughed so hard we had to excuse ourselves from the table, if you get my meaning.  Be warned, this is not your typical, average, passive board game.  You will get up and move, and do things, but I promise the investment is worth it.  Learning to play is easy and straightforward, winning is anything but.

2.  SceneIt for Xbox - Now this is how a play at home game should be.  Have you ever played the family fued home game or the jeapordy home game and been disappointed because you realized that without the buzzer the game just doesn’t work?  Well the guys over at Xbox have changed all of that.  This game comes with a game and 4 controlers so you can buzz in.  We have had more fun with this game than any other console game out there.  If you have an Xbox, get this game.  If you don’t have an Xbox, get one for this game, really, it is that much fun.  Of course, if you don’t watch movies, you may not like this game, but watch for others like it to come out soon.

MLK Day 2008 - Have we made progress?

I attended a church service yesterday where we reflected on this question. . . How far have we come?

Not far enough was the answer my minister gave.  His argument was that basically, it is in education where there is still a huge rift between the races.  White students get a better education, due mostly to funding, than African American students do.

I don’t know if this is true, I believe it is, but I know almost nothing about this argument.  What I do know is that I am in a working-class neighborhood with more African American neighbors than white ones, and our school is on probration and about to undergo restructuring due to poor test scores. 

The population of their school breaks down this way:   85% African American, 10% white, and 5% Hispanic.  I don’t think that the education they are getting is equal to that of kids in more afluent neighborhoods, but I am not sure I understand why that is, how that is, how it happend, and how it can be fixed.

We constantly struggle at our school to keep programs running.  The band program is so underfunded that each year band parents have to pay $600 for their children to participate.  I am told that many teachers have taken pay cuts, and I know that activities have been cut.

WHY?  I will be looking into this over the coming weeks and plan to blog about it here.  I have many questions and few answers right now.  I am hoping to change that.

Quick Friday Update

Here are just a couple of pictures of our week. 

Sunday night at the choir concert DD got to do a bit of acting and some singing.  Not too bad for her first go.  All of them did really well and it was a very nice program.

After a long week, DS had a swim meet last night and he also did quite well.  He did 1 medley, the 20 lap free style (forget what that is called) he did the 200 meter breast stroke and another relay at the end.  He was tired, but kept going, much like the Energizer Bunny.

What Have You Done For Your Teen?

I sit here this morning, typing in pain.

In order to bond with my daughter last night, I participated in an activity I really didn’t want to.  I got my nails done.  And do you think she would settle for mom getting a nice plain old manicure?  No!  I had to get these darn acrylic nails put on.  I got them as short as I could, but I am still having a tough time this morning.  It was all I could do to convince her that I just couldn’t possibly get a design too.

So, here I sit, a system administrator who can barely type, let alone be able to take a hard drive out of a computer.  They look great, but come on, they have no practical purpose at all.  I am just waiting for the ridicule from the guys here to start.

So, was it worth it?  Absolutely!  I am convinced that it is these small little memories and shared experiences that really matter.  We wont remember what color we got, or what salon we went to, but we perhaps now have a new Christmas tradition that we will share in years to come.

 What crazy things have you done to bond with your teen or parent?

Encouragement May Be the Key

I wanted to thank all of you who responded last week to my post on Parenting Teens.  I read all you had to say and visited many of your blogs.  I was so encouraged by all you have written and by your advice.

What came out loud and clear by many is that my DS may need some encouragement, and DD needs time to heal.  We have made significant progress on both fronts.

DD seems to be healing quite nicely.  She is interested in so many things, and has so many accomplishments that it is hard to have much time to sulk or nurse a broken heart.  Also, it did help that she noticed someone else at church this weekend.  Another boy, more trouble no doubt, but she at least has to acknowledge on some level that Moms reminder that other boys will come along was correct.

DS and I may have had a bit of a break-through this past week also.  I noticed that for his last detention he had to write out some goals for himself.  It seems that one of his goals is to attend a college in the Midwest that has a good reputation and therefore hard to get into.  Upon discussing this, I realized that although he put it on his list, he really believed he could not get in.  I encouraged him and explained that actually, if he quickly turned things around he could very well get in.  He was shocked and amazed, and seemed to actually decide to try.  Now, I know the personality of this little adult, and he will need CONSTANT validation and reminders of what his goal is.  I am ok with that though, as I see that as a major part of this parenting gig anyway.  To encourage and encourage and encourage until they no longer need it . . . and now that I think about it . . . my mom is still encouraging me when no one else believes.

I know, another post about the kids!  Who cares?  But here is hoping someone needed to hear that each day brings its own challenges and blessings.