Raves
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, by Sherra
Last year, I shared with you our family tradition of buying those Old Navy 4th of July t-shirts. You know, that $5 tee campaign that created traditions for many families across America was brilliant.
This year, I’m not sorry to say that those Old Navy shirts have been replaced…
By a different wardrobe choice…
Seeing your daughters in uniform for the first time can really make you catch your breath…
Especially over 4th of July weekend.
Click over to iLashGirls if you’d like to read a little bit more about what I wrote about them there and how proud we are of them for choosing to help us all celebrate and defend our freedom.
I’m printing and sending them blog posts so feel free to leave them a sweet comment and I’ll print those too!
They absolutely love getting mail and they told me this weekend that they share their mail with all their friends who don’t necessarily get as much as they do…because my darling twins have ME as their “sweet” mother. 
P.S. Freedom is our word of the month over at iLashGirls. You won’t want to miss two great giveaways this week ~ summer party goodies and our favorite quotes from our brand new Etsy shop!
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Categories: Raves, Teens
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Friday, July 3, 2009, by Sherra
With years of bad customer service stories under our collective (and expanding) belts, it’s always nice when we can share a RAVE instead of a rant!
Scary Baby arrived back from Texas this week. She spent three weeks with Granny, who has now moved into Saint status in my life. 
We have never sent any of our children on a plane to visit anyone by themselves. I’m a weenie mom like that. There are a host of reasons for my decision that I’ll be glad to explore another day.
Meanwhile, after the many, many exhausting weeks with the darling twins and then shipping them off to Basic Training…
A parenting break looked pretty darn good.
Until I started reading some horror stories online about unaccompanied minors on flights. And the add-on price for this luxury is a breathtaker. Even if Granny was so kind to purchase her ticket.
AirTran had the most reasonable flight price and the most reasonable unaccompanied minor price.
I wasn’t shopping bargain prices if it meant bargain services for Scary Baby. I wanted her to feel safe and for us to not worry.
Only one parent can accompany them to the gate and PhilBillPaul won this honor because he is her favorite parent. It’s okay, it’s pretty much been this way since her birth.
Anyway, the praise came directly from him. He said AirTran really has their act together with their system of helping a parent get a kid to their destination. He was impressed by their customer service and felt very comfortable putting our daughter on the plane.
Kudos to AirTran and thank you for helping get Scary Baby to and from Texas!
I hope you all enjoy a wonderful 4th of July weekend with your family and friends celebrating the blessings of freedom in America!
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Categories: Raves, Tweens
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009, by Sherra
This is what happens when you are alone in your house.
And the 4 children are all gone.
And you have no internet.
You just lose track of time.
In the quiet and peace…
The hours fly by
And you forget which day it is.
PhilBillPaul and I are enjoying our solitude.
How is your summer going so far? Any big plans?
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Categories: Raves
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009, by Sherra
This could also be titled “Our Humpfreeze Holiday Letter in May that forgets to talk about the two other children we have because the world has been revolving around the darling twins for pretty much their whole senior year.”
But that title is way too long.
If you are one of the last three people on earth who I forgot to send a graduation announcement to or you haven’t called or email for the complete story…
Here is the condensed version of the darling twins’ decision to join the Army National Guard because so many people have asked us questions about the whole process.
Sidenote: They are now at Basic Training and receiving mail is a BIG DEAL. Since they have no access to the internet, i.e. Facebook and email {GASP} or cell phone, i.e. texting and more texting {DOUBLE GASP}, the old-fashioned letter is their lifeline to the outside world for the next nine weeks. If you would like to send them a card or a letter, I know they would be thrilled. Just email me and I’ll send you their address!
********
We’re very proud to share a little about Roger Leroy & Wizzy’s decisions for college and joining the Army National Guard as many people have had questions.
We had privately discussed military service with each of our teenagers in the past several years. They both decided separately in mid February to join the Army National Guard both for the educational and leadership opportunities that are available to them through service in the military.
They then figured out together that if they picked the same Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) they could go to Basic Training and attend their Advanced Individualized Training (AIT) together.
This was a time of their lives when we thought they would be going down separate paths and perhaps living apart from each other for the first time in their twin lives. We are very thankful that they will be together to support each other through this new season.
They shipped for Basic Training on May 27th, just six days
after their high school graduation and will be gone for 10 weeks.
Upon returning, they have both been accepted and will attend
North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, Georgia in the Corp of Cadets – it is one of only six senior military colleges in the U.S.
After their first semester in college and coming home for the holidays, they will spend almost 5 months in Arizona where they will complete their AIT specializing as Human Intelligence Collectors.
In April, Roger Leroy was awarded the Georgia Military Scholarship which is a full four year scholarship! She will graduate as a commissioned officer and serve an additional four years in the Army or National Guard.
Wizzy may choose this same path after her first semester but for now, will serve two additional years after graduation.
This feels a little like a FAQ page which we don’t mind at all.
People are curious and most have been kind and supportive.
Big decisions, big changes in our family – thanks for letting me fill you in.
We hope this finds you and your loved ones happy and well.
Thank you all for your love, support and prayers.
Side note #2: I know that sounded all cheery and bright but in the interest of my sister and a few others I know who are struggling with teenagers…the last month of May with the darling twins nearly started a drinking binge that I don’t think I would have been able to stop.
PhilBillPaul has announced to several people that we’ll need a few weeks to really start missing them. He has also been overheard quoting that lovely saying that I’m paraphrasing…
“Parents of teenagers know why animals eat their young.”
Truly, we are very proud of them.
Truly, we are mentally exhausted.
Truly, I’m saving the really bad stories for the book or when telling will not jeopardize their future.
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Categories: Raves, Teens
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Monday, June 1, 2009, by Sherra
I love, love, love my ipod.
PhilBillPaul bought one for my birthday five years ago before the kids decided they were cool. It took me several days to load our large and diverse CD collection on to my iMac via iTunes and have all my music in one place.
I love, love ebay.
We’ve shopped on ebay for almost 10 years. I love to find ebay bargains and we’ve even sold a few things on ebay through the years.
As a matter of fact, I bought the big kids their first ipods on ebay.
I love google.
More information than I could ever absorb. There is rarely a day that we don’t “google” for something.
Put my three loves together in the same room and I had a very happy Sunday afternoon.
My iPod battery wouldn’t hold a charge. Then it started freezing while it was sitting in my iHome charging dock/radio/alarm clock. I know that my 2nd iPod which is considered *old* and uncool but it suits me just fine and I didn’t want to buy a new one.
I went to ebay and bought this for $6.49 with free shipping…
I got the cute little kit complete with new battery and three tools from everydaysource, a great ebay store that we also buy all our printer ink from at a very reduced price!
Then I googled and watched this video so I could do this…
Disclaimer: Attempt repair at your own risk. But I do wonder how many people just toss their iPod when it stops working and it was only the battery?
And now my iPod works again.
WOO-HOO!
My technical skills have vastly improved as direct result of all the great DIY instructions I find on google.
Remember how I fixed my laptop earlier this year?
Maybe I should apply for a job at Apple.
What did you do this weekend?
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Categories: Little Lessons, Raves
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Monday, April 6, 2009, by Sherra
Hot, sunny and having loads of fun.
Don’t worry, this was for photo shoot purposes only.
C-Mac did wear a life jacket.
The girls gave the day a perfect 10.
All thanks to “Aunt” Luci and “Aunt” Judy!
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Categories: Friends, Moments, Raves, Teens
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Friday, March 6, 2009, by Sherra
The shortest post ever.
Just to say thank you…
To all who left a comment here
Or sent me a private email
Or picked up the phone and called
Sending us kind words and congratulations
on the twin daughters decision.
It really means more than I’m able to put into words
right now.
P.S. I promise to catch up with everyone as soon as I can!
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Categories: Friends, Moments, Raves
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009, by Sherra
When you hear someone you know who has a family member who has joined the military, here are some great tips I’ve learned through personal experience:
- If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.
- Keep your personal fears or dislikes to yourself
- No one is pro-war.
The absolute best and most gracious thing you can say to any parent with a son or daughter in the military is this…
“You must be very proud. Please tell {insert name} thank you for me.”
Because we should all be grateful that we still have young people who are willing and able fight to protect our freedom here in the United States of America.
Here are a couple of brand new soldiers with whom you can practice using the line above…
We are incredibly proud of our darling twin daughters’ decision to join the Army National Guard.
There you have it…that’s our BIG news!
Roger Leroy had her swearing in ceremony last Thursday. Wizzy had her swearing in ceremony yesterday.
This was an intense and personal decision for our daughters. I knew I was already facing a new season of parenting as we count down to their senior graduation in May. I know many of you are about to or have already faced the emotional time of sending one or more of your children off to college.
It’s the culmination of the job we’ve been working at for 17 or 18 years and truly, my goal has always been to get them to leave our home and become adults.
Mothers of twins are in the unique position to have double the joy mixed with a little sadness as we encourage them to make their own decisions and plan for their future.
Now, as they face this new road ahead of them, it is also a very bittersweet time for me as a mom.
I promise to give more details soon but for now, please feel free to help us celebrate their BIG decision! Roger Leroy and Wizzy do read the blog so I know they’ll love to read any happy comments!
Life Lesson (LL): Surround yourself with people who support you and your family.
Share a Life Lesson (SALL): Share a difficult time you’ve had that was made better when someone made that extra effort to be kind and loving…
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Categories: Friends, Life Lessons, Milestones, Raves, Teens
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Monday, March 2, 2009, by Sherra
Last week I discovered, among other things I will get around to telling you later, that I have an unhealthy relationship with…
my laptop.
My little Mac iBook G4 was not working last week. On top of other stresses, I really needed my laptop to work.
I found myself yelling at my laptop. Which I know is not healthy or productive.
Or smart.
You may remember that I mentioned this on Friday…
…along with my record-setting Xanax week.
Sidenote: Thank you for the emails and phone calls of concern. I’m currently drug-free and hope to stay that way this week.
Anyway, back to my laptop.
Mr. Handy a.k.a. PhilBillPaul said he would try to fix it but life kept getting in the way even though he did send The Grunter to get a new part for it at the computer place.
I got a little impatient and on Friday afternoon I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Which is really very scary because I am not handy.
Thank goodness Roger Leroy helped by going to this amazing website and printing the directions plus this handy dandy guide to keep track of everything I removed…
And replace this…
And now my laptop and I have made up and we’re getting along better than ever.
Stay tuned, I might just get wild and post our BIG news tomorrow which is Tuesday and I never post on Tuesday.
I’m not purposely keeping anyone in suspense, I promise.
Until then, email me if you need your dc-in board on your laptop repaired.
I’m totally qualified.
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Moments, Raves
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Monday, February 9, 2009, by Sherra
My darling twin Roger Leroy who you may or may not remember is a FREEGAN, is always on the lookout for a unique car.
Because she is unique and likes to be different.
An ordinary car just doesn’t suit her very well.
I first introduced to her this car:
Photo courtesy of NCinDC
I can totally see her driving it.
Then, I saw this one in the December 2008 Reader’s Digest and she is very jazzed about this one:
AS A THRILL RIDE
As cars become smaller and sleeker with our changing energy needs, the experience of driving is likely to morph too. Enter the VentureOne, from a California manufacturer and a Dutch engineering firm. It’s one of half a dozen three-wheel concept cars being developed that combine the fuel savings of hybrids with the excitement of riding something like a motorcycle. In this case, the car is the same height and length as a Mini Cooper, but the car’s pilot–er, driver–is enclosed in the single front seat by a glass canopy. (Another passenger can sit in the single backseat.) And on a quick turn–yee-ha!–the vehicle tilts to one side. The cars are priced at about $25,000 and go on sale in early 2010.
I think it is the winner.
Remember, she’s more than enthralled with her Dad’s girlfriend. So much so, that she had been plotting to save her money and buy her very own.
Without my blessing. Don’t get me started on the motorcycle subject again.
I do think we could have a compromise with her new choice.
Plus I love to see a girl in a non-traditional, unconventional, funky vehicle.
What do you think?
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Categories: Moments, Raves, Teens
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