Once upon a time there was a little blog.
A very little blog.
The writing was simple, full of pop culture references, and frequent over/misuse of punctuation.
But in all other aspects the blog skipped along quite happily. New posts appeared every 5-10 days and usually contained silly stories accompanied by cute photos to illustrate. Over time the posts became shorter and less frequent. When a new post appeared it was evident by the lack of writing (and editing of that writing) and random smattering of iPhone photos that the blog had quit trying so hard.
And then time came when weeks, and then months would go by with no updates. The blog was all but forgotten . . . isolated . . . adrift . . . all alone in the vast universe of The Internet.
Dear the 6 people who read this blog -
This is the story of this blog. Shocking, but true. But do not despair - for while I cannot promise you quippy and intelligent writing, I can offer (phone) photos that document the extremely busy life of the Holding family. Extremely. Busy.
Teaching has somehow become MORE time consuming in my 9th year than it was in my 4th. I think it's a situation where the more you know, the harder you work. Maybe? I'm not sure, but what once was a 9-5 (7:15-3:45) job has become that plus 30 minutes in the evening answering emails, plus an hour or so after the girls go to bed most nights going through papers or lesson plans. Compared to most careers I know an extra 2 hours in the evening isn't much. Add it to 2 busy girls with activities (both take dance and ice skating, plus Lulu plays basketball), parents who are runners (I'm within 8 miles of hitting 100 miles for the past month!), a dog that sheds, a house that needs to be cleaned weekly (rude!), and general life chores - whew - and you get a neglected blog.
But I'm here with a small ray of hope: I give you the latest (photo) update.
Your Welcome.
We've played (A LOT of) dress up. Despite the abundance of costumes that include sequins, feathers, and general fluffiness neither Holding girl found one amidst the heap that would do for Halloween this year. Stay tuned.
We Ice Bucket Challenged. Rather, I should say Lexi, Emma, and I Ice Bucket Challenged. Paul declined based on the principle that this was adult chain mail. I'd call him a wet blanket but he was the only one who stayed dry.
SO MANY car meltdowns have been had. Emma is hitting 3 1/2 with a vengeance.
Prayer for my survival.
Pray for her teacher and her babysitter.
Pray especially hard for Lexi, who is Emma's victim of choice when she decides to have a meltdown.
EJ loves ribs.
Not surprised.
I love days when they both fall asleep in the car. On those magical days I turn off "Frozen" (I'm pretty ready to LET IT GO away for a while) and just enjoy the quiet.
When we took Emma to the dentist in July they discovered a tooth that had never formed enamel (possibly from all the fevers/ear infections she had that first year of life). Part of the tooth has a cavity and we set an appointment to have it filled and get some sealant on that tooth. Paul pulled the short straw and took her to the appointment. I had my phone in hand waiting for an SOS text and sure enough it came 20 minutes in. Everything went fine until they numbed her and told her she had to wait 15 minutes. Emma doesn't wait. She GOES. And she went straight into a fit. By the time I arrived, she was numb but unhappy, standing on the hygienist's chair with her arms folded reciting, "Nope, nope, nope."
We will be using full anesthesia at the next appointment.
Sometimes they get along. Sometimes Emma doesn't wear pants.
Here's our Big Guy - running to kill at the Johnston's Half Marathon in September!
Emma J has dance class with her girl, Gracie!
To be honest, this Masquerade game kind of creeped me out.
What REALLY creeped me out was the return of El Senor, also known as Old Man Possum, also known as the probably rabid animal that stalks our back fence nocturnally. Paul went all SEK when he spotted the return of this guy ("We got us a possum"). I don't know if my 'hairspray it until it dies' method of extermination I use on spiders will have the same effect on a mammal. Wikipedia tells me they only live 2-4 years so biology has my back here, El Senor. #possumshatehairspray
The lovely lady Lexi is really getting the liquid pride to pour out of me lately.
Tears, people.
Liquid pride means tears (if you watched the episode of My Little Pony where Twilight Sparkle becomes a princess you would already know that, though).
Her writing and reading has really improved.
She is reading books on her own and has almost 20 AR points.
Here she is after 1st grade Nursery Rhyme Time. She stood at the microphone, all alone on that big stage, and recited her rhyme perfectly. A little nervously but perfectly. She's growing up. *sniffs*
