Dressing Classy and Stylish

Now that high school has begun for my young teen, we are no longer doing the dress code-thing. I know that there is alot of controversy over dress codes these days but I honestly didn't think they were that bad. Some places, of course, are more stricter than others. I do, though, feel a bit overwhelmed with some of the dress that I have seen some teens wearing these days. We are in a wonderful school district here, but a couple years ago, when my youngest son was going to this high school, I had my fair share of seeing how the kids in school were dressing. I sat in astonishment over the young girls walking through the halls in house slippers, tight --and I mean very tight shirts, and jeans. Some wore tight shorts or short skirts. Now, how do you think that other students are supposed to be able to study with so much other things to look at? My daughter is very conservative, thank goodness. My opinion is that a teen CAN dress nicely and in style without having to wear it skin tight. Choosing the right clothing is very important. Comfortable clothing is a must and there are many great things to choose from without having to be showing too much skin.

Making New Friends in High School

Starting a new year of school is exciting, but can be very much nerve-racking for your teen. This year my dear darling daughter will start high school, as many of you who have followed my blog know, and we are very excited. She is nervous about it, anxious about who will be in her classes but also because this is her first year in a new school where her intermediate school was split up into 2 different high schools this year due to the growth of our city. She has made some new friends in the band during band camp, but not too many of them will be in her classes. So here we go again, with her making more new friends. I have given her some advice here with this. Keep in touch with your friends that you have right now, even though they are not going to be in the same class with you but making new friends is good as well. Choose close friends carefully. Try to make friends with everyone, but take special care at choosing the "really close" friends. Who they hang around with really DOES make a difference in how they act, perform in school and such.

Fish Camp

School will be starting here next week and today was fish camp. I think that's a great idea for the kids to get used to a new school, especially when they are starting high school. My daughter was nervous this morning heading out but came home very excited. Lucky for her, she knows some people in the band, but now has discovered there aren't anybody she knows in her classes. She has decided that she wants to work hard this year so that she will be able to take pre-ap classes, which will help with college credits when she starts in the years ahead to come. Keeping teens busy with something constructive is very important these days. There are some teens that do not plan on going to college but in order to get a decent job in life these days, they must at least finish school. Keep communications open with your teen and let them know how much you love them and stand by them. It's so important.

Money, Money, Money

I tell you, I wish that times weren't so hard these days. Things seem to cost so much more. We had an experience over the past couple of days that I would like to share with you all. My stepson, a wonderful guy, saw that we were having a little bit of a struggle with school clothes shopping, band uniform and shoes ordering, not to mention all the pens, pencils, papers and such that we were having to buy, that he came out to the kitchen one night, with a large shoe box. Inside the shoebox, was a bunch of change, and some wrappers. He told my daughter, that if we wrapped it, we could use it for clothing and whatever she needed. She and I were both astonished at this very heavy box and were so grateful for whatever would be in it. The next day, I separated the coins, and started the wrapper rolls. My daughter finished the roll, wrapped it up and then began the counting. To our amazement, there was 221.00 there. We were so thrilled. Next it was time for my daughter to learn how to spend this money wisely. Guess what happened next? We took about $60 of it, and went shopping at JCPenney, who had a wonderful sale going on during tax-free weekend. My daughter picked out 10 shirts for school....what a deal !!! She was thrilled, and so was I. Saturday came, and she needed some very important items for her new horse. Again, I grabbed $60, and away we went and found a great sale at Petsmart in the Stateline Tack area and she bought $45. worth of things. This left us enough money to buy a backpack and a new notebook holder. Now, with what's left, she will buy 2 new pair of jeans on sale and put the rest toward that marching band flute that we are set out to buy this afternoon. Teens need to learn the value of the dollar and how to spend their money wisely. Great bargains CAN be had, if you shop around and check the sales racks and the newpapers for what's on sale. Teach you teen how to spend their money wisely. After all, if they learn this while they are young, it will carry them through when they are older and REALLY need to learn how to spend.

Clothing Shopping

With school fastly coming upon us, today starts the "tax-free" weekend here and soon all the stores will be jam-packed. Unfortunate for us that we had no choice but to go this weekend, but hopefully we won't be out too long....haha...I just bet your'e laughing at that one. Most teens can't go right into one store and pick out everything very quick. So, yes, I suppose that I will be out for awhile. Good time for others in the family to pick out a little something as well, right? I suppose that I could use a few things. Now, to be honest, I am not a shopper. I would rather save my money. Here is some advice for my dear darling daughter" please remember that mom is on a shoe-string budget here and that money does not fall off trees". Choose your clothing wisely. Buy shirts and pants that can mix and match. Lastly, don't put all your money into one outfit." Happy shopping !!!!

Sticking To The Rules

Around our house, we have times that we get out of our routine, but mostly if we stick to it, things go pretty good around here. We have been so busy lately with our buying the new horse "Frenchie" and going back and forth to take care of things at the stables that sometimes we get our routine out of wack. Yes, that's okay, however, we have to try and stick to the rules of the house. No matter how much fun it is, buying and owning a new horse, the bedroom still needs to be cleaned up, the laundry still has to get washed and put away, and chores still need to be tended to. Keeping up with chores is important because it keeps you grounded.....well, maybe I don't mean grounded, but it helps with the flow of the household. We have so much going on, that it would be disheartening to come home to the laundry all over the bed when it's time to go to sleep or coming into a dirty room and tripping over something in the dark when it should have been picked up in the first place. "Dear darling teen of mine, I love you so much, but please remember that JUST because you got a new horse and even though there are more chores taking care of it, you have to keep up with what you had to do before. Show your respect by keeping up with your room cleaning and helping out. If you want to show me how happy you are with your new horse, help me by keeping up with your chores. Love, from mom"

Meet "Frenchie"

Meet "French Groom"
She is a 5 yr. old filly, quarterhorse, who is now my daughter's new horse. Her nickname is "Frenchie". Isn't she a beauty? She is 15.2hh tall and my darling daughter is so excited about her that she already went and bought a bright red halter for her very own to wear. Frenchie was going to be a racehorse, in fact, they were going to race her in 3 more weeks. The owner was such a wonderful man and sold her to us for my daughter to have her dream. He said that he was really glad for "Frenchie" too. Now my daughter is going to begin with training her so that she can show her and eventually put her in the English jumping ring. Isn't it wonderful to see your daughter's or son's dream come true? I am so happy for her.

A Hope And A Dream

I have been searching high and low for the ultimate horse for my daughter's dream. This is not a whimsy that she has, it's very real and it has lasted for many years. Sometimes our children have a want for a puppy, for instance, and after the "new" has worn off, they do not always tend to it like before, and we as parents end up doing the job. Puppies are great. .....and require alot of care. However, in our case, it's a horse. Years ago (4), my daughter was wanting a horse. I didn't have the money to spend on one, and didn't even know what all it required. I did some research on them, and decided to let my daughter have a taste of what it would be like. I enrolled us into a 4-H program with a barrel racing group. These women were the greatest and so delightful, and helpful. Everyone there had a horse except for us. But that was ok. Soon, my daughter started learning how to ride, and eventually did some barrel racing. She is a natural. But not only did she ride, she learned how to groom, how to feed, clean feet, and clean out stalls. Yes, the hard stuff, and more. I also enrolled her into a program through our local habitat-for-horses and she learned alot there too. How to go and get a horse out of the field, grooming, safety tips of how to get off the horse quickly in case she had to, and things went well. Here we are, about 4 years later, and the dream has not died. She has been in English jumper training for a year now and has been using the trainer's horse. It's been 4 whole years, and the dream has not died even after doing all the hard stuff. And I mean some stuff is hard. This summer she has been working and volunteering in the stables and I now feel it's time for her to have her horse. I have been looking and thanks to her trainer helping us, hopefully soon my darling teen will get her dream. She is going to be 14 yrs old on the 14th. How wonderful is that?

Band and all the things that go along with it

Today is Tues, and my darling daughter is feeling somewhat better. Life carries on. Band camp is still going strong. Band is not a cheap hobby either, as today they are required to pay nearly $100. for different types of shoes and shirts and cleaning fees, white gloves and all. Her father was supposed to help me with half of it, but he failed to come through AGAIN. I am not happy about it, but really can't do anything about it. Child support does NOT pay for everything. It only helps with some of the costs. Teens clothing prices are getting up in price and of course, it's time for school and the added need of pencils, papers and such are needed as well. I will add here though, that her being in band has been such a blessing. It keeps her busy. She has formed alot of friends through the band and she loves everything about it. It has been a very wise decision to let her participate in band these past several years. Activities are great for teens, even if it's not band...there are many other things for them to get involved in, and being busy with sports or other activities gives them less time to get into bad things. Just my opinion.

Weekend and My Daughter is Sick

Well, the weekend is here..and it's been raining, and since my darling daughter is in band camp every day, there has been no time to go out to the stables nor let her ride. We have been searching for her a horse, but have come upon a brick wall at this time. I just know that when the right horse comes along, I will know it. This weekend she has been sick with a bad ear infection. I was soooooooo lucky that when I called the clinic, I got an answering service that told me that she could have a nurse call. That was wonderful, because after I talked to the nurse and answered about 50 questions, a Dr. called and we talked and he was able to prescribe a medicine to help her ear infection. Being sick is no fun and this weekend is a very laid back weekend full of rest.

Those "butterflies in the tummy" feeling

The first day of band camp went really well for my darling daughter. She made more friends and has developed a new friendship with a girl that has alot of the same interests that she has. Both are in the band, both love riding horses. Wow, that is great. I had the chance to walk inside the band hall with her yesterday and there were floods of teens in there, and talked to the head band guy. I came across one of my hubby's nieces that was also in the band, an upper classman and she was there to help as well. I was so relieved that my daughter's first day was great. It's so important to try and calm their fears of the unknown. I remember those days since my family moved around alot. I remember the "butterflies in the stomach" feeling. Today is going to be another great day and I am so glad. Now I can go to work this morning feeling much better.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

During the summer, more people are wandering around outside. Now, you can't tell what kind of person they are just by looking at them. Youngsters can be very friendly. My darling daughter is a very friendly teen. She thinks that saying hi to everyone is alright. Yes, it's ok to be nice to people. But how do you know how friendly you can be? It's very hard in our times today. Just because a person looks nice doesn't always mean so. A stranger is a stranger. They don't always have to be weary of men.. it can also come in the form of a woman as well. Teach your children to be aware of strangers no matter if that would be man or woman. The reason I say this is because one evening, I had a very strange happening. Here is what happened one day to me very recently.
We live in a neighborhood that ends up to a dead end. We know nearly everyone on our street and the next street up. My hubby and his families before him have been in this particular area since his great grandfolks. We feel pretty secure here, however, things can happen here. I had been sick in bed and that particular day, I decided to lay on the couch and watch some tv. Of course, I like the big door open so I can look through the storm door and see outside. It became later in the day, and I had a very strange visitor indeed. A lady, perhaps in her 30's came up to my door, and a younger man perhaps in his early 20's came with her. Now, I have dog who love to bark, so I barely opened the door to see what she needed. As soon as I did this, the lady started DANCING and SINGING to the song "Devil with the Blue Dress on". I was shocked and stunned beyond belief that here was this lady, carrying on ON my front porch. I said to her"maam, can I help you with something?" and she looks at me and tells me that I need to have a smile on my face. I explained to her that I had been sick and I really wasn't supposed to be up and outside. She immediately turned around just like an about face. She walked off without saying anything else. She walked around the corner and then walked off. I never found out what she was doing. It was scary for me because I didn't know what to think. She looked like a nice person, but you never know what is going to happen. I told my teen to make sure that all doors are locked when she is home alone. She also knows NOT to answer the door to anyone while I am away. This would have been a scary situation IF she had answered the door. Luckily, she was not at home and I now wish that I had not gotten up to answer, however, I was caught off guard on this one. Be make sure your youngsters are prepared for all kinds of happenings in this day and age. This was really a wierd happening for me.