Sarah Learning to Ice Skate

I love my family!  Sarah's birthday was the other day and there was no school on Monday.  My mom and her husband, Denny, offered to watch Sarah for the day.  Being it was still so close to her birthday, they wanted to mark the occasion with something special.

When my mom explained they were going to "surprise," Sarah with ice skating. I thought oh no!  I love my daughter but surprises aren't typically her thing.  Neither is falling down (haha read about our skating adventure last year).

But I have to say that I am very proud of her.  My mom snapped this picture of Sarah and Grandpa Denny.  Luckily he knew how to ice skate because I don't and neither does Sarah's dad!

Now, the "expert," ice skater is going to teach us to ice skate sometime.  I'm really hoping this makes roller skating with Girl Scouts this weekend go a lot better than last year!

I Consider It A Success!

When Dan let me know that he couldn't attend the Girl Scout family rollerskating party, I got a bit nervous.  I honestly thought about not going.  Hey...it is a family event...the Girl Scouts don't need their leader there!?!  Last years trip was Sarah's first time rollerskating and it happened to fall on her birthday.  If you ask her, it still goes down as the "worst birthday in the history of birthday parties."

Well, I found myself carpooling a few girls up and it wasn't so easy to back out anymore.  So we braved it!  Luckily, we got there early enough were Sarah was able to grab some training skates that don't roll backwards.  It was still rough-going (a bit of crying and a bit of screaming), but she was able to skate on her own and have fun.  Although many of her friends were "skating circles," around her, they did come to hang out with her every once in a while, which was really nice!

So all-in-all, I consider this years Girl Scout Roller Skating Adventure a Success!

We skate at Reva Rollerdrome in Auburn, NY.

Addicted To Fruit Ninja

I've got to get myself a Kindle Fire.  Better yet, I've got to NOT get myself a Kindle Fire.  Why?  Because I can totally see my productivity decline!

My daughter loves her Kindle Fire that she got for Christmas.  She loves downloading new games (or at least she did).  She has been so content with the games she currently has that she hasn't asked for anything new in about a full month!

We plucked down the 99 cents (big spenders we are) and purchased Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots.  She couldn't stop playing it!  One night, she says "Mom, try and beat my high score."  And...a monster was created.

Of course I beat her high score, it wasn't that hard at first.  After all, I'm an adult and she is a 9 year old.  With that said, my high score lasted for one day.  We did a back and forth a bit and now I can't beat her.  Think I'm gonna give up...nope!

How terrible is that I find myself playing on my daughter's Kindle after she goes to bed?  That is why I'm a bit nervous to purchase my own.  I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fan of games, but I can't stop playing...so addicting!  I'm afraid that if I had my own Kindle, I wouldn't put it down!

Loving Amazon's AutoRip Feature

My daughter has a Kindle Fire that Santa brought her for Christmas.  For her birthday, she got a ton of Amazon gift cards.  Seeing how most of the apps she likes are free and we utilize Kindle FreeTime Unlimitedwe weren't spending any of her gift cards!

Thanks to Amazon's AutoRipfeature, we have found a good use for her gift cards.  Sarah loves to listen to music, but she is one of those girls who has to have the CD booklet.  She loves leafing through the pictures, seeing if there are any lyrics in the booklet and so forth.

With Amazon's AutoRipfeature, we just ordered her some CDs.  In the mail, she'll get the actual CDs (booklets and all), but the music was immediately available on her Kindle.  Love it!  Right now, she is singing along to Taylor Swift on her Kindle while patiently awaiting her actual CDs to arrive.

I Shoulda Put Her To Bed

We had a VERY active night last night.  My daughter's birthday sleepover was finally hosted (rescheduled from last week).

Since she barely got any sleep and decided not to take a nap today, we decided bedtime was early.  However, she found herself getting ready right at the Super Bowl half-time show.  Being the active girl who can always be found singing and dancing around the house, I thought she might enjoy watching the show.

First, let me state that my daughter is nine years old.  We have been having a bit of problems with inappropriate dancing.  Let just say things that a nine year old shouldn't be shaking have been a shaking.  So we have had a few chats about how nine year old should dance.

So in that aspect, I probably should have known better than to let her watch a Super Bowl half-time show.  My fault.

At first, she noticed the singing difference.  She asked why Beyonce didn't sound as good as on the radio.  This was a proud mama moment (I was impressed she noticed) and explained lip singing and imagine how hard it would be to sing and dance at the same time.

Then came the moment I gonna remember as the "mom's lapse in judgement."  When she says to me, "I can't believe you are letting me watch....she is dancing kinda inappropriately."

My Life Is About To Become Hectic...Girl Scout Cookies in January!

As a Girl Scout troop leader, cookie season is that time of year you love it and hate it.  Never in my life have I experienced such a range of emotions.

Phase #1:  Excited

This is the moment you realize cookie season is fast approaching.  It is the moment that you get your girls all pumped up.  You run though customer service drills, you give them the low-down on safety, you work as a group on what to do with troop funds and so forth.

Phase #2:  Encouraged

This is the moment when all your girls turn in their initial order forms and you realize everyone did a GREAT job selling to family, friends and neighbors.  This is the "boy we are really on track to have a great sale," moment.

Phase #3:  Oh Crap, Do We Have Enough Cars To Get All These Cookies?!

This usually happens the night before pick-up aka Cookie Depot.  Despite all the planning and space calculations, you really begin to wonder if your four leader/parent vehicles is enough for all the troop cookies.  Second guessing yourself at the last minute...never a good idea!

Phase #4:  Why Did We Have To Sell This Many Cookies?!

This is the moment when all the Girl Scout cookies are unloaded into my house and ready for sorting.  This is also the moment that there is a very small path throughout my entire home!

Phase #5:  We Did It!

This is the moment when you love your co-leader, volunteers and parents who show-up the night of delivery to pick-up their order.  It is also the moment that you can walk through your house without bumping into cookie boxes.

Phase #6:  Proud

This is the moment you watch your daughter and her Girl Scout friends kicking butt with booth sales.  They do an awesome job at handling the sale.  Our customers are usually great about the extra minute or two it takes for them to tally up their total and make change.

Phase #7:  I Want My Life Back

This is moment when you realize, I have spent no less than three days a week hosting booth sales for the last three weeks.  My life has revolved around nothing but Girl Scout cookies!  And we still have a couple more weeks left to go...I want my life back and this is usually the time I'm saying "I hope that I never have to see another Girl Scout cookie again!"

Phase #8:  In Tears

This is the moment when you realize cookie sales end in a week and you still have 100 boxes of cookies left to sell.  Of course, you begin to panic...I don't want to be responsible for these cookies.

Phase #9:  Proud Again

This is the moment when you realized you were panicking and in tears for nothing because your remaining booth team rocked it and sold all the cookies.  Knock on wood...I probably just jinxed myself this year.

Phase #10:  We Did It And We'll Do It Again Next Year

This is the moment when cookie sales are finished and you realized "my troop did AMAZING."  Despite the wide range of emotions, you are totally proud of yourself, your daughter, your co-leader, your entire troop and all parents.  This the moment that you realize, despite all the complaining I love Girl Scout cookie season and I'll enjoy it every year that I am a troop leader.

Birthday Party Postponed!

Sarah's birthday party was supposed to be this weekend.  A sleepover with some of her friends.  With that said, she came down with a bad cough.  That cough gets worse with eating and lots of activity (all important components of a GREAT sleepover).  Not to mention that she has inherited by easy-gagging reflex...she got sick a few times.  Needless to say, her sleepover had to be rescheduled.

I felt so bad having to tell her.  Lots of tears!  In fact, a TON of tears!  Although she knows that we now have extra time to plan the best party ever and that everyone who was going to come today is still going to come next week, it is like we ruined her life!

Despite knowing we made the right decision, I still feel terrible!