Fairytale Court

Breanna was in another play at Eastern Arizona College. This time the play was titled Fairytale Court. Bre was the Bailiff in the first half of the play.

We got her a gun, holster and badge from the dollar store in a police office play set. The gun was bright orange when we purchased it and Bre took it outside and gave it a few layers of black spray paint. Easy costume this time.

Let the school year begin

Usually when the school year starts I am sad to see my kids leaving for the day, not this year. With me working and them being home alone most days the house has been in a daily upheaval. I am excited to be able to gain control of the mess they leave behind their every step.
The girls are also excited to start a new chapter in the life. Breanna will be starting 8th grade, Ashley 3rd and Nicole 2nd. Each kid will be at a different school so I will have 3 different schedules to keep track of.

The photo will all the 3 girls is the only one I got of Breanna. She didn't want me to take individual photos of her. She is going to wish she would have allowed me to when she grows up.

Nicole is striking a pose as only she knows how.

And Ashley was playing the big girl today. She didn't want any help with her hair or clothes. She can do it herself, thank you.

Now I need to go get myself ready for work. Hope things go well for them today.

Bre's first school dance

Bre attended her first school dance tonight and it sounded nothing like my time in junior high. She said she had someone ask her to dance on every song and a lot of the songs she had to turn boys away because she had already been asked. She even had one guy dance with her, come back for a second time and she told him no, then he came back for a third chance (she said yes to the third). She felt awesome after the dance, on cloud 9. What a great memory for her to have.

This reminds me of what the boys in my Sunday school class told me happened at scout camp. They were making leather items and one of the boys stenciled Breanna's name into his project. (I know his name but I'm not going to say it here.) The other boys teased him but it didn't stop him.

7th grade volleyball

Breanna tried out for 7th grade volleyball but didn't make the team. She has been going to practice all week and trying really hard. I didn't watch any of her practices so I don't know what they didn't like. Next summer I hope she can attend a few volleyball camps and have the courage to try again. They only chose 12 girls and most of them had been to several volleyball camps. I'm really proud of her for trying out even if she didn't make the team. She's really sad about not making it and really doesn't want to talk in depth about it, maybe in a few days when the rejection is not so raw. Her little sisters thought it was the coaches loss to not have Bre, they got their sister's back all with no help from their mom.

Breanna is once again in the Children's theater production at EAC. This semester they are doing OZ and Bre is a munchkin and an Emerald City citizen. She loves to be in plays and this will be the second time her bff Amber is with her.

Redhead

Yes, her hair is RED!

For Breanna's birthday her grandma Lori took her to Safford cosmetology school and got her hair dyed red. It's all the rage right now to have your hair red. Breanna's best friend recently dyed her hair a more mellow color of red. I would like to dye my hair red for a week or two but I'm not brave enough, I think it would be a fun change.
Breanna did not want a cake for her birthday, instead she made a large Reese's peanut butter cup. She made it all by herself, it was yummy and very rich. Her grandma Lori also took her out to eat at R&R Pizza Express and she brought 3 friends along. After lunch she and her bff Amber went to Jaycee's house to play in the water for a few hours.
Brian came home early from Mesa to spend the day with Bre. When Brian got this job in Mesa we were planning on moving up there with him. Our house has lost so much of it's value that we can't sell it for what we owe. And his job hasn't been paying him much so we can't afford to purchase or rent a nice house in a nice neighborhood and I'm not moving unless it's the right place. Now that the girls are in school we are kind of stuck here for this school year because I don't want to move them in the middle.

Painting away the weather

Well the weather is weird at our house. Because our house backs up to Mount Graham we often see storms develop over the mountain that don't go into Safford or Thatcher. Here is one today accompanied by lots of rumbling thunder.

This next photo was taken from the same spot, I just turned to my left a little. As you can see this is what the rest of the Gila Valley looks like today.

The girls are beating the afternoon heat by painting, and yes Ashley doesn't have any pants on. She likes to walk around the house in only her underwear. She tells me it doesn't make her feel so hot. This coming from the girl who like her father has to have air moving in a car. She is the first one to request that the windows be rolled down so she can get fresh air.

Bre made her first pie today. She did 90% of the work unsupervised. I had other things to do and I just left her the cookbook and told her to follow the steps and ask if she had questions. She did a really good job.

I thought we had two cans of cherry filling but we only had one so, we ended up making a cherry & apple pie. I think it's going to taste good.

Bre just cut the pie up and had Nicole bring me a piece. YUMMY! Good job Bre.

Catching Air

Today was Breanna's 6th grade track meet. Here she is running in the 500 with her best friend Amber. Notice how much air is under her. She also participated in the high jump and softball throw.