Tverdy, party of 3...

Well, it's finally happened. The time has come for Peyton to leave for college. In fact, she and Mark drove away about an hour ago.

Even though we have been preparing for weeks, I think the denial is still super strong for all of us.

We walked by this pile so many times that I'm pretty sure we stopped noticing it!

It doesn't seem like too much stuff. I'm sure that dorm room will fill up quickly though.

Here it is in packed form...

I feel like I've been doing a pretty good job of staying chill. Especially since jury duty coincided with moving week. Nothing like having to wait until the last minute to see if you are able to travel. And I am the eternal optimist so I was SURE I would get to go. Finding out at the last minute that I didn't in fact get to go was bit heartbreaking.

I did lose it at Church Sunday. The priest had all of the students headed to college stand in the aisle and the congregation blessed them. That's so far been the only time I cried. I also made my people take photos after Mass to commemorate her last Sunday at home. They were thrilled.

We had a fun going away lunch with Emma's family after church. I hope she and Peyton will be successful roommates! I think they will do well.

Syd is still super terrified to be our sole focus. She's pretty sure swimming will take up a lot of time so she won't constantly be bugged by us. I imagine she'll find a few extra hobbies if we get too obnoxious.

As of now, I'm waiting to hear that they arrived safely. Tomorrow is official move-in and I made Mark promise they would face time me so I can at least see her room!

The tears haven't actually started yet, but I'm definitely on the brink of crying. I'm pretty sure it will be short lived if and when it comes. At least I hope so! Peyton will probably stay fairly tear-free since it's Mark there and not me. Fingers crossed anyway!

And it's ONLY 7 weeks til U of I's Homecoming and I get to see my girl again.

Life skills...

"I can't believe I'm 15 years old and I already have to pay taxes!" - Sydney Tverdy

Dude, you're preaching to the choir. I can't believe I'm 43 and still have to pay taxes!

A year or so ago, Peyton mentioned that she didn't think she was ready for college because she didn't know how to do anything.  Including filing tax returns. Well, as much as I think this would have been a good skill to teach her this year, I ended up just doing them for her...again. Maybe next year. (Yeah, right.) Hopefully we have prepared her for being on her own. Thankfully, she will have her friend Emma as a roommate. Pretty sure they will be a good balance of adulting skills. Peyton knows how to cook, do laundry, manage money. I'm not at all worried about her study skills. What are we missing? I'm sure there is something.





We seem to be screaming through April, which means my first baby will be turning 18 shortly. And then there is graduation. We should probably work on getting those announcements out. Throw in a few swim meets for Syd and another nerd camp and a driving test to obtain her license and she seems even busier than her sister.

I think the next few months are going to be a blur.

It's Official!

This chick is #UIdahoBound!

She's filled out the housing application and sent in her deposit. In 5 short months, she will be on campus.

How is that even possible?

I think we knew all along this is where she would end up. It makes the most sense in all aspects. She was accepted everywhere she applied, and received a crazy amount in scholarship offers. But none could come close to U of I financially.  Even Idaho State would have been more expensive. I'm not sure how that even happened.

We are pretty excited.

Some might say we brainwashed her...I'm not following that logic. ;-)

   

Just because she has always been drawn the the black and gold doesn't mean we had anything to do with it! She makes her own clothing choices. Always has...

What? ;-)

For now, she has her work cut out for her addressing these babies...

Being a grown-up isn't all it's cracked up to be sometimes. ;-)

Oh, and watch out Nate and Erin...it will be here before you know it!

Humble Pie

Last week, I posted the following image on Facebook:

And then, a few days later I read about the gorilla that had to be put down because a young boy fell into the zoo enclosure.

We were driving to visit Marks parents and we had quite a discussion on the irresponsible parents who would let that happen to their child.

I am embarrassed to admit that it took me over 24 hours to realize what an a-hole I am.

I read one comment that by 4 a child should have been taught about rules and that they are more than capable of following those rules. Truth.

HOWEVER...

4 year olds are not known for their excellent decision making skills. They are also known rule breakers. They are fast, and wily and completely predictable in the the sense that they are TOTALLY unpredictable.

If you have kids, think back...have you ever turned your back for 2 LITERAL seconds, only to turn back around and have your child nowhere in sight? 

Peyton fell off a picnic table bench when she was 15 months. It was probably 2 feet off the ground. I was sitting right there. She didn't cry, nor act like anything was wrong. Her arm was broken.

Another instance...Sydney was probably 3. The girls were up at zero dark thirty, Mark was out of town. I went into the restroom and I heard "Three little monkeys jumping on the ---" and then a thump and a short cry. And then, the silence...which if you are a parent, you KNOW is that 2 seconds before the real cry. I didn't even have time to say "No jumping on the bed!" before she crashed. ER visit, nursemaids elbow.

Or the time Peyton was riding her new bike...in a parking lot with the only vehicle being Mark's parked pickup. She went right for it. The only obstacle in the entire parking lot and she hit it before we could stop her.

Those are but a few of the many times that my kids got hurt with me right there. We won't even talk about the times that I wasn't.

Things can happen in the time it takes you to look at a text, tie your shoe, tend to a sibling, get your camera to take a photo of your amazing kid. 

None of us can say for sure that this, or something equally as awful couldn't have happened to us. Accidents happen. Most parents are doing the best they can.

This situation is terrible for everyone involved. Do we really have to make it worse by pretending that we are above such an occurrence?

I did that. And I'm sorry.

Like campfires and marshmallows, we're just better together...

This past weekend we headed to Bruneau Sand Dunes. If you've never camped here, know you better go early in the season. It tends to get super hot and mosquito-y later.

We left Friday night and rolled in just in time to set up camp and play some Yahtzee before bed. We are wild y'all.

Saturday, it was pretty cold and windy when we woke up. We decided to have breakfast inside the trailer. Solid choice. After breakfast, we figured if we were going to hike the dunes, we had better get to it!

About 15 minutes in, the sun came out. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately, we also found the mosquitos. Poor Peyton gets it the worst. We have decided it's because she squeals and flails around so her adrenaline is an attraction for them.

Macie and Sydney had boundless energy. I think I hate them a little.

Just as we rolled back into our campsite, the heavens opened up and it rained and hailed for a few hours. Perfect time for a nap! I love naps.

One must always dress appropriately for the occasion...

The rain stopped about the time we were getting hungry for dinner. I was able to cook outside which makes me happy. Mark and the girls went to the Observatory Saturday night. I stayed behind and read and went to sleep early. Macie did the same. Minus the reading...

It was the perfect combination of activity and rest. Just what I look for in a camping weekend!

Responsibility

This morning, in my usual Saturday fashion, I was unable to sleep past 6 AM. Which totally makes sense since on weekdays, I'm having to drag myself out of bed at 6:45 so I'm not late for work.

As I was sitting there drinking my coffee, I heard Peyton's shower go on. I was thinking she forgot it was Saturday and was going to be super annoyed. About the time I realized what was going on, Mark came out and said "I completely forgot Peyton was taking the ACT today." Oops.

Peyton was not excited about being up early on a Saturday. She was not excited about taking the ACT. She was stressed, nervous, irritated, and completely annoyed with us. Yet, in the back of my mind I could only think "She is becoming responsible!!"

All through her breakfast, she was complaining. As she was getting ready, she was complaining. Before she left, she was complaining. But, still, I was happy. She's becoming responsible!

We tried to talk to her, but that only seemed to make it worse. And then I started to get annoyed with her bad attitude. Which also made it worse. Shocking, I know. But, at the end of the day, I'm elated. She's becoming responsible.

And I couldn't be prouder.

Sales 101

What have you been up to? Oh, not much. A little of this, a little of that.

 

The girls and I spent our weekend at the St. Mark's Christmas bazaar. It was fun getting to hang out with them. It was also fun to watch their sales pitches. I am terrible at marketing my own products so they were in charge of selling. :-) Syd was sure to tell everyone that the wood for the signs was at least 40 years old and from our property. And she would always tell them that everything was handmade...including the flowers. She told anyone, even if they weren't interested. But, it's good practice.

We ended up having some things left over, which is actually a good thing in my mind. I want them to know that things aren't always easy. I get the feeling they thought we would sell out all our merchandise right away. It's a good lesson that things don't always go according to plan.

And now, they are super excited to list things online. Works for me!

Setting Goals

We recently had a goal-setting session at work. Historically, I'm not much of a goal-setter. I am a planner, but I don't think these are necessarily synonymous. I have definitely not EVER been a "5 year plan" type of person. This fact is super annoying  impressive to my husband. I'm sure you can imagine.

But, I wonder if we're doing the girls a disservice by not teaching them these skills. I thought parenting would get easier as they get older, but well, I was SO wrong!

It seems like time is slipping away so quickly, and there is so much we still need to teach them about being adults. And then, I realize that I'm a sucky adult sometimes. So, what the heck am I doing teaching them anything?

I wonder if I could suggest a class to the colleges "Adulting...all the things your parents should have taught you but didn't." My girls know the basics, how to do laundry, feed themselves, change a tire, etc. But what about things like doing taxes? Mark joked that they would actually have to be motivated enough to make some money before they have to worry about taxes. What about budgeting? Right now, we have a "family account" with each girl having a debit card. However, our great intentions of this teaching them about managing an account flew out the window. Basically, it is now me just putting money in there on an alarmingly frequent basis. So, high five, right?

But in all seriousness, there are a lot of things that we don't even know they don't know! How do you plan for that?

So, maybe I should become a goal-setter type of person. My first goal can be to figure out what the girls should know before they leave for college. My second can be to find someone to teach them these things that they will actually listen to.

Someone adultier than me.

I saw this on the internet and it seemed fitting...

Parents Gone Wild?

The four of us played hooky from work and school on Friday. We drove up to Moscow, Idaho to attend the University of Idaho's Homecoming game.

Here is our obligatory Dutch Bros./beginning of the trip shot...

 
We stopped in Riggins for Mark to visit his favorite "trip to Moscow" restaurant where he was super excited to get to eat a He Devil. I'm pretty sure it lived up to his memory. He and Syd also played a cut-throat game of pool.

 

 And I got to sit under this guy. So, there is that.

 
Then we got back on the road to be met with this:

Yay road construction!


The girls have been to U of I one other time, but I doubt they remember much as it was 5 or 6 years ago. Upon arrival, we headed directly to the bookstore to stock up on gear for the game. Then we drove over to Pullman, Washington since that is where our hotel was. As we turned onto our street, the girls noticed a couple of "interesting" stores.  Seriously, there were two pot stores within 100 yards of our hotel.

After getting settled, we ventured out for dinner. As we were leaving the restaurant, we saw this store...

Which made me think that a lot more folks smoke pot than I realized. ;-) Because, really Washington?!?

Saturday we woke up and headed to the parade. We wandered around campus a bit and then headed over to the Kibbie Dome.

Well, after one brief stop I guess...

 The girls were shocked that I was drinking a beer! So funny. And for the record, that was my only drink of the weekend.

The game was great! The girls really enjoyed the half-time show too.

And the Vandals won!! Which then necessitated this photo..

When we were walking back to our car we encountered our actual "Gone Wild" incident. This car drove by and there was a gal leaning out yelling/slurring "Go Vandals. Any way you can!" About the time we were going to have a talk with the girls about underage drinking, someone in the car said "Mom, seriously, get back in here!" LOL. Parents gone wild, indeed.

After the game, we headed to visit Mark's cousins for a bit. Unfortunately, we were so tired that we didn't visit very long before we headed back to the hotel.

And then today (Sunday) we headed for home. It was a great drive back with some beautiful scenery...most of which the girls missed...

After our visit, I'm fairly confident Peyton would be happy going to school there if that is where she ends up. She thought the campus was really pretty, and a good size for her.

Mission accomplished...