Prom, 2011

The time that I have been dreading since my girls were babies is finally here. No one told me back in those days how difficult it would be to have my girls grow up and go out on their own. I could never imagine waking up in the morning to find them not sleeping in their bedrooms, or rushing in the door to share one of the many exciting things that happened to them that day. Reality set in last Friday when we went shopping for prom dresses.

Shopping was always our special time together. Since the girls could walk, we would take shopping trips, they would pick out their outfits and then come home to model them for their dad. He would make his fatherly comments about "keeping the boys away from his beautiful daughters" and I would sit and smile, enjoying every moment of the fashion show. This time was no different, but yet it was.

We spent hours in the store trying on different dresses. Summer had a hard time finding a dress that fit her properly. She has lost weight due to a seizure medication she is taking, so she would find a dress she liked, try it on and then have to search for something else because it was too big. Finally, she found the perfect dress, which matched her personality perfectly. Autumn found two dresses immediately, loved them both, and then couldn't decide which one to buy. She sat holding both dresses the entire time Summer was searching for hers but couldn't decide. She asked for my opinion, which I quickly gave considering one cost $30 less than the other. She then took pictures of both dresses and sent them to all of her friends asking for opinions. She was still undecided until the last text message came in, from her dad. He preferred the black one. I called him and told him about the price difference, but that didn't matter; he preferred the black. After that, so did Autumn. Of course, we had to find matching shoes and jewelry and then, the perfect end to a shopping trip; we stopped for a treat.

All the way home in the car, the girls excitedly chattered about their dresses, the prom and how they couldn't wait to get home to model for their dad. Even at age 18, the opinion of Daddy is still important to them. When we got home, they quickly ran into their rooms to change into their new attire. One at a time they slowly walked down the stairs waiting for Dad's comments, which of course, he made right on cue. This time, however, it was different. As I watched those beautiful young women walk down the stairs, reality struck with the fact that soon they would be leaving our home and going out on their own. A tear came to my eye as I realized that this was the end of an era; all of my little girls were grown up. I've already had one "leave the nest" as they say, and now it was time for my "baby girls" to do the same.

I know our lives will never be the same again. They will be making their own way in the world going to college, finding jobs, husbands and eventually children; and my husband and I will be rekindling the relationship that we started 22 years ago before our babies were born. Of course, there is the "parents of the bride" role that we still have yet to enjoy, and the ultimate experience of being Gramma and Grandpa will once again change our lives forever.

We as parents, still have so many new and exciting things to do with our now adult family, but somehow I still long for the days when we all snuggled in our bed together, tickling and giggling with each other, and when I was just as big of a part of their lives, as they were of mine.

What an Exciting Week!

It has been an exciting week in our house. Autumn had participated in the school talent competition and was chosen to represent their school at the CSAA Talent Review. This is a talent competition that involves nine area schools. There are two winners chosen from each school that participates in the Talent Review. From these eighteen students, eight are chosen to travel from school to school and perform their winning act. The Review was last Friday and Autumn was chosen to represent her school, so she spent her week traveling around Central Michigan singing her heart out. I even got to go watch her perform at her own school on Thursday. Hearing her friends and classmates cheer for her brought tears to my eyes, and was a moment that she will always remember.

Part two of the excitement began when Summer was chosen to represent her cosmetology school in a state competition in Lansing. She was chosen to fill in for another student that wasn't able to participate, and both she and her teacher intended on this being a learning experience for her. She is only a first year student; the competitions are normally won by second year students. She went to the competition and when the time came to announce the winners, she just sat back and didn't really pay much attention; after all, she knew she wasn't going to win anything. A few minutes later, she heard her classification called, and then the name of her school. She said she thought to herself, "Who else is here from our school?" She didn't even hear them announce her name. Her fellow students started screaming "It's you, it's you! Get up there!" So, my girl that went just for the experience, ended up getting a silver medal. Life is full of surprises, isn't it????

A Walk Down Memory Lane.......

Finding time to get a busy family together gets more difficult as every year passes by; especially when one of them lives over 800 miles away. However, we were lucky enough to pull this off this past weekend. My oldest daughter lives in Atlanta, GA. She will be turning 20 on Friday. She moved away 3 months after her 18th birthday to pursue her dream of being a professional dancer and even though she misses home and our family time, she has found the strength and courage to stay there to live her dream. She was feeling a little homesick and came up with the idea of meeting somewhere halfway between Atlanta and Michigan so we could spend some time together. She dances six days a week, so we would have to make our adventure a short one. She would leave after she was done with rehearsal on Saturday evening, drive to Kentucky, spend Sunday with us, then get up at 4:30 a.m. on Monday to drive back to Atlanta to be back to work that day.

We arrived in Kentucky at about 8:00 p.m., so my hubby, the twins and I had time to explore and relax. My oldest didn't arrive until midnight, after we received a tearful phone call from her because she had been stopped by the police for going the wrong way on a one way street. She got lost looking for the hotel, was dead tired and just wasn't paying attention. My husband went to find her and luckily, an understanding police officer felt sorry for her and let her go without a ticket. She got to the hotel, tired, crying and wondering "why did we do this?"

The next morning we woke up and it seemed like the old days. Everyone laughed and joked and enjoyed each other's company as we spent the day together sightseeing and "ghosthunting" in Kentucky. It amazes me how when we get together, it seems as though she never left. She and her sisters get along better than ever, and even though she has had to distance herself from her dad and I somewhat to make living so far away bearable, when we are together, she is still our little girl. I remember when I was younger and my dad always said that I would always be his little girl, and of course, being a teenager and young adult, thought that was the most lame thing ever. What 20-year-old wants to be thought of as a little girl? It really is true though. Now that I am older, as are my kids, I can see life going full circle.

So we spent a fantastic day together as a family once again and at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, she was back on her way back to Atlanta WITH the twins. We made the long trip home and when we talked on the phone that evening, we all agreed; it was a lot of driving, but it was one of the most awesome days we had all experienced in a long time. I feel so blessed to have my husband and family. We can be strange bunch, but we're all strange together and love each other more than words can say.

Thank God for Little Girls

My last few posts were small bits of "humor" from living day to day life with teenagers in the house. Tonight however, I'm finding it very hard to be humorous about much of anything; but, I am finding myself extremely grateful that I have these two beautiful young women in my life.

I have been having some health issues over the past year or so, for which I am still waiting on a definite diagnosis. I watch my strength deteriorate; sometimes it seems on a daily basis and find myself wondering, "What is my life going to be like five years from now?" The doctors thought they had a diagnosis and started me on the "cure-all drug" which caused a severe allergic reaction. In the past three weeks, I have been to the hospital or a doctor at least two to three times a week, have seen seven different physician's  and have been feeling pretty lousy throughout the entire ordeal. The thing that gets me through my days is my family.

We seem to have a sort of "sick and twisted" sense of humor around my household. We like to laugh and enjoy each other's company (most of the time!), so of course, my husband and my girls all try to find humor in just about every situation that arises. They have been quick to come up with little "jokes" throughout all this illness and doctor stuff that help to take the edge off. It probably sounds strange to you that I actually enjoy having my daughters joke about my health issues, but you know, if I didn't have this humor in my life, I truly do believe that I would have lost my mind by now. The best part is, after the little "Mom joke" one of them will come and sit with me in my recliner, or on the sofa and just snuggle for a little while. 18 years old and still snuggling with Mom when she needs it; there aren't a lot of 18 year-olds out there that even like to still talk to their mom, let alone hug her and remind her that she's not alone.

Now, to add a little more despair; I was notified by the nursing home where my mom lives that she is deteriorating very quickly. We visited her one week ago, and when we went today it broke my heart. She has gotten so much worse in such a short amount of time; I'm afraid that she won't be with us much longer. Once again, my girls to the rescue. They climbed in the bed with Gramma and cuddled with her like they did when they were little and the look of joy on my mom's face while they lay there snuggling with her was total joy. Through all of the pain she is suffering through, she had a few moments of true happiness with "her girls" as she calls them.

So, I hope everyone takes a moment to cherish their loved ones. Those kids that try your patience and sometimes make you feel like running away from home, are also the most special and precious part of your life.

On The Road Again

Another week, another new adventure. The girls decided to skip school yesterday, but not really sure why. Summer has health issues so if she's not in class, the school calls me. She knows that because it has already happened once this year. So, yesterday she decided to skip again and pull her sister out of class with her. Needless to say, an hour into their little adventure I received a phone call from the school. I called them, made them go back to school; so their "fun-filled" afternoon was spent in the principal's office and loss of car priviledges.

I hope I'm not scaring all of you with young or no children. This is however, a bit of advice to you. Enjoy your little ones now. Spend every minute you can with them; do every activity that time allows, because they grow up so fast. Before you know it, their friends become their main focus and family time becomes less and less of a priority to them. It's all a part of life, but this is the most difficult time that I have had to adapt to.

It’s a Great to be 18!

Ahhhhhh, to be 18 again; to be young, carefree and oblivious to the everyday responsibilities of adulthood. I chose my twins as my topic because they are ALWAYS giving new things to think about. Well, they have already added to their already infinite list of "18 year-old wisdom" so now it's my turn to add to my 20 year-old list of "What did they do now".
Autumn had a doctor appointment this afternoon after school. My last words to her before bed last night were "come straight home from school tomorrow so we can make it to your appointment on time". 4:00 p.m. came and went and they were still not home. About 4:15 p.m., (school had already been out for 55 minutes), I received a text. She wanted me to pick her up in Mt. Pleasant. They had called their boyfriends to come to school to pick them up. Mind you, the appointment was in Midland and we don't go through Mt. Pleasant to get there. The steam started rolling out of my head. She knew she was supposed to come home, but she called her boyfriend to pick her up and take her to Mt. Pleasant and then told my husband and me about it after the fact and expected us to come and get her.
My hubby called her first, since he has the calmer head and discussed what had happened. He told her to have the boyfriend bring her home; but he couldn't, he had to work until 9:00 p.m. Uhhhh, What???? If he was working, how did he have the time to drive all the way out here to pick her up? And in his journey, why didn't he just drop her off at home? So we missed the appointment and they are stuck in Mt. Pleasant with no way home until after their school night curfew.
I called her next. Since this wasn't the first time they had done something like this, I felt it was time to lay down the law. I had to hit her where it hit most; I took away her car privileges. She was livid. How unfair could I be? She can't ride the bus with all those "younger kids"; she's a senior!! Next she tried to use the "then I'm going to find somewhere else to live" card. I wished her luck, told her I would be shutting her cell phone off and keeping her car. She has no job and doesn't make much effort to get one, so these are unnecessary expenses. My last words before I hung up were "find a ride home."
I called Summer to talk about the incident and she had told her that I "kicked both of them out of the house". Uhhhhh, okay, when did I say that? Summer wasn't even part of the conversation. I straightened things out with her and confirmed that they would find a ride home.
So, after all of this banter comes my question. What happens to the brain of teenagers? Is it disabled by all those teen hormones floating around in there? Does it just completely shut down between the ages of 15 through 22? We are trying to teach them that every action has a consequence and they need to think through their decisions but it seems as though that message just doesn't get through. If I had talked like that to my parents when I was her age, I would have found my suitcase packed for me on the front porch. What happened to just plain old "respecting your elders"? Did that concept die back in the day of the dinosaurs (yup, I'm one of those)? And what is the deal with using the "I'm 18" line? Not a good thing to use against the one paying all the bills.
So life goes on; another day, another battle to fight. I have come to one realization after living through these teen years though. God gave us those beautiful, helpless little babies to care for and nurture. He made them so adorable that you HAD to love them. Then he turns them into something other than human beings when they get older and it is time for them to be on their own; if he didn't we would never let them go…..

Can YOU Survive Life with Identical Twin Teens?

Life with a teenager can be stressful, to say the least. Life with more than one teenager in the house can try the patience of even the most mild-mannered person. Life with teenage identical twin girls is a daily mixture of drama, comedy, emotional outbursts and more stress than I ever imagined possible. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls more than life itself and they are good girls. Of course, they have gotten in their fair share of trouble, but they haven't gotten caught doing anything illegal (that I know of!) and they are, for the mostpart, respectful. Before I share my stories and words of wisdom from my teenage daughters, let me give you a brief history of our lives together.

I remember that day 18 years ago as if it were yesterday. The doctor saw those two heartbeats on the ultrasound screen and his comment was "you really did it this time!" My husband and I looked at the screen in total disbelief. We were having twins; from that moment on our lives would never be the same. Eight months later I held those two beautiful little girls for the very first time. They were perfect in every way; tiny gifts from God and I felt so blessed to have been chosen to be their mom. At that moment, I had no idea what the future would hold for my new family.

As the girls grew, we began to see how different, but still how alike they were. Autumn and Summer were completely identical. We had to use a red birthmark on Summer's forearm to tell them apart. It also didn't take long for the girls to figure out just how identical they were. They  figured out how much fun they could have tricking people posing as each other. When they started school, I would send them with different color headbands, bows or barrettes and tell the teacher which was which when I dropped them off. Within the first couple of weeks of school, they figured out that if they switched their headbands, the teacher couldn't tell apart, so that became a favorite pasttime for a year or two. Autumn and Summer were inseparable. They also had a language of their own that only they could understand. Autumn would start a sentence, Summer would finish it. Summer would make up a song; Autumn would start singing along and they both made up the same words as they sang. It was really kind of freaky; it was like one brain with two bodies.

Life was never dull at our house. Everyday presented new opportunities for the girls which they never passed up. Summer was the idea person, and Autumn never hesitated to try these ideas out. One day Summer wondered what would happen if they put pool swimmies around their ankles instead of their arms. Luckily, my husband was standing closeby as he heard the "glub, glub, glub" of the two of them stuck underwater. He pulled them both up by the legs and as they dangled upside down from my husband's hands, they looked at each other and laughed. This is when I knew my "cute, adorable" little twin girls, were growing into fearless, adventure seekers and that hasn't changed to this day.

Here we are, back to present day and my little adventure seekers haven't changed much. They have a twisted sense of humor, which I do have to say they inherited from their parents, so they try to find humor in just about everything they do (or get caught doing). Over the past year or so, we have had Summer fall off a moving vehicle as Autumn filmed it ("making a really cool video for YouTube"), and both of them climbing out the bedroom window to meet boyfriends (mind you, their bedrooms are on the second floor.) I never will  figure out how they climbed back up into the house without falling and breaking something or waking us up.  Summer talked a carload of her friends into skipping school, only to have the principal call me at home looking for her (busted!!!!) and the constant stream of friends and boyfriends passing through our house has been a learning experience in itself. Autumn also now has her driver's license, so a whole new world of adventures has opened up to them.

So all of you are going to be my support system. I am going to use this blog to post the latest antics in our household, and probably to vent my frustrations when necessary. Hopefully, this will be an enjoyable experience as you read what you "could" be going through, or fond (or maybe not so fond) memories of your own child's teen years and the drama that came along with it. Or maybe, you can just laugh and say " I am so glad it's her and not me. And for all the parents out there reading this with young children, just know your day is coming........