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.

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.

College seems to be looming large...

So, I received another "little" gem in the mail today. Just some light reading, right?

Peyton attended a college fair yesterday. She just took the PSAT, along with the rest of the Juniors and Sophomores in the country. How did this start sneaking up on us so dang quickly? Seriously, didn't she just look like this?

We are headed to the University of Idaho this weekend for Homecoming. The joke is that it is the extent of her "college tour." The reality is that her grades are pretty amazing. If she tests well on the SAT/ACT, a lot of doors will be open for her.

I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that. We have a lot of friends with older kids. Watching them send their babies off into the wild blue yonder is somewhat terrifying! But, really, this is what we have been preparing her for her whole life.

The problem is no one prepared me...

So, this little gem arrived yesterday...

Little might be a misnomer though.

And unfortunately, it arrived the day after Peyton took the PSAT.

I will say, with the size of this book, I feel like I got a bargain. Price per page seems pretty legit.

Now, hopefully, it will translate into an amazing score. I mean, I guess she has to actually crack it open, but fingers crossed and all that.

And also, when did she get grown up enough to be taking SAT's and ACT's?

For real.

First week...DONE!

The girls survived the first week of school. They are both exhausted though!

Sydney has swim practice every evening for an hour and a half. Thankfully, she hasn't had much homework yet. She eats a full dinner with us, and then as soon as practice is over, she eats another dinner. She's a good candidate for Taco Bell's famous "Fourth Meal." Minus the Taco Bell, of course.

This is her in the evenings...

Peyton has quite a bit more homework than her sister. But, her extra-curriculars haven't started yet, so I think it is fine. She had one bout of psycho-billy freak-out, but has been okay since. {Fingers crossed this trend continues...}

Only two more weeks until Labor Day weekend. But really, who's counting? Oh, yeah...me!

Here's to week two!

So, then, THIS happened...

First REAL day of high school for Sydney. Peyton is a Junior this year. Waaaaaiiiiiiittttt just a minute!

I don't even know how to describe this morning. I mean, there was chaos, of course. Hello, two teenage daughters. And there was anxiety. (Mostly from me). There was excitement.

And there might have been a teeny, tiny bit of annoyance at the approximately 1,000 pictures I took of them. Can you tell?

But there was something they didn't see. It's how damn proud we are of each of them! They can't possibly imagine how amazing it is to be their parents. We may be hard on them, we may make them mad occasionally, but they've turned out pretty darn well so far.

Happy first official day of school girls! We love you!

 

And so it starts...

Sydney's high school career starts today.

It's not an actual day of school, but something called Freshman Academy. I think it's supposed to help them feel more comfortable with the school, and with all that goes on. It really is all new for them. New friends, new building, new laptop that needs to go with them to school every day, new outfits that aren't uniforms...












She is actually super excited. I don't think my 100 questions this morning on the way to school bothered her at all.

"Are you nervous?"
"Are you excited?"

I asked these because I was nervous and excited. For her, for me.

"What are you most excited about?"
"Who are you looking forward to seeing?"
"What class do you think will be the most fun?"

I asked these because I was curious, trying to get a read on her stoic personality.

As always, when I dropped her off, I said "I love you, have a great day!" I wonder if the girls will remember that phrase as they get older. Maybe they don't even notice that I say the same thing every school day? It didn't start out as intentional, but over time, I did realize I repeated this over and over and over.

I'm pretty sure it's as important for me to say it as it is for them to hear. Whether they realize it or not.

Happy birthday to this girl!!

How is it that my baby is 14?

 Funny, I remember thinking the same thing when she was little...how is my baby already 14 months?

Sydney is amazing. But in some of the most hard to describe ways. She is the first one to offer to help. And she never refuses a request for help. That is a servants heart. She is who I strive to be.

Not only is she smart, like really, really smart (remind me to tell you how fun it is to be the dumbest person in your house...spoiler alert, it sucks), she is musically talented. She can SING, and she plays the piano beautifully.  Did I mention I want to be like her?

She also is a bit of a worrier. Wonder where she gets that awesome trait? And a bit of an introvert. Again me, sorry kiddo.

She's wickedly funny. She can throw out some sarcasm that none of us ever saw coming. It generally takes us a minute to even catch what she said.

This blanket? It went everywhere with her for her first 4 years. Then, it was with her at bedtime for another 4. Around age 8, she decided she was no longer in need of it. Of course, we still have it...

Syd loves to sit with us. Like, riiiigggghhhht next to us. I'll be sad if that ever changes.

She definitely has her own style. She couldn't care less if someone agrees with her choice of clothing or hairstyle. She likes what she likes. And I love that about her!

I'm super excited to see how she navigates high school. At this point, we are just along for the ride. I'm pretty sure she is going to be just fine.  

Happy birthday Tommy Waffles. We love you! XOXO

Ode to Ireland...For your Listening Pleasure.

I forgot that my friend Jennifer sent me the video of Peyton singing her solo in Ireland. (Have I mentioned that Jennifer is THE BEST!?!)

 So, here it is. Take a listen...

I love this choir SO much! Especially the redhead on the end.  :-)

Happy Friday...

Living vicariously...

So, last Friday Mark and I had the following text exchange:

Me: It's so nice out.  Why the heck are we at work?
Him:  So our kid can gallivant around Ireland.
Me: Oh, yeah. SO NOT FAIR!

While we haven't heard from Peyton the entire week, some of the other group members have been diligent in uploading pictures to Facebook. I asked them if I could share some of the trip photos which received enthusiastic response. Apparently, they all want to be featured in the blog. LOL. Oh, and lest I forget, photo cred goes to the following: Nikki Jensen, Lexie Janquart and Jennifer Lenoue!

So, without further ado:

At the airport, trying to function on 2 hours of sleep.  Love you Nikki!

Airport Lay-over

Peyton, Lexie and Nikki airport shenanigans

And then we move on to the actual trip!

First stop, Cliffs of Moher. 

Next up, Cobh Heritage Centre.

Lexie, Nikki and Nathan

Blarney Castle.  Wow!

Looks like a postcard

Amazing group of students!

Peyton, Nikki, Nathan, and Lexie

Bus shenanigans.

Kylemore Abbey.This is my absolute favorite. I can't believe how beautiful this is!

Jennifer (Peyton's other Mom at least for this week) and Nathan

Group photo in front of Kylemore Abbey

Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven.

I miss this face!

Christ Church Cathedral

The rest of these are just my favorite shots the various people sent to me. I probably wouldn't get all the locations correct so just enjoy. LOL

Lexie and Nikki

Lexie, Nikki and Peyton

Lexie

Lexie

Nikki

Nikki

Peyton in her choir finery

Peyton

Riley and Nikki

Thanks again to everyone who shared pictures with us. It was amazing to see all the cool sights. And I know all of us at home can't wait to see these faces in person!