Photo Update

Below are a few photo updates. In non-photographic updates, I have started subbing, mostly at the girls' school. I love being back in the classroom without all the responsibility. I also started a less personal blog. I started it to discipline myself to write more. Writers write best about subjects they know well so I specialized this blog on what I've done for almost a decade now....raise girls. It's called Pruning Princesses. Check it out here and share with friends who might enjoy it.

H and my mom have been working on a quilt here and there over the years. They finished this fall. 

Sometime during the sewing process, H decided to accessorize herself. The earrings are taped on!

All done! You can tell the quilt was started years ago because if H was picking
fabric today, it would have soccer balls on it. 

For years, K has sat patiently and watched her sister play in tournaments. This year, she got to play in a tournament with little girls that she trained with all summer. They were all 8 and play in a 9-year-old tournament. They came in second. They did a great job. 

H played in the same tournament as K as a guest player for another coach's U10 team . She helped the team win first place and since it was the first time she wasn't the coaches daughter, she didn't get to keep the big trophy. 

Soccer-crazy H sometimes asks me to wake her up 20 minutes early. Then she goes outside in the dark and practices soccer moves. She is one passionate kid. 

For the costume parade at school, K was Anne of Green Gables,  here we were practicing putting her hair extensions in. I just think the above photo is funny. Now K really wants long hair! 

Every red head has to be Pippi Longstocking at least once for Halloween. This was H's year. 

K in her Anne of Green Gables costume. Except for the missing teeth, people thought she really looked the part. 

Trick or treat night with a friend. K switched costumes to something from a store she bought with her own money....something from the Prince of Persia? I forgot to get a good picture but Tom carved an awesome pumpkin with the math symbol of pie on it...pumpkin pie! Get it? 

The girls with our friend Jordan, the pirate. 

Lost on the bus

I think maybe Kassy is growling. She was a goof all morning.

Ahhh. The first day of school. My friend describes it as a melancholy day. I felt that way. I needed the break. Our summer didn't really include any restful vacations or fun new locations. I was the chief cook, laundress, cleaner, planner and judge. It was exhausting. But school means my girls are off, doing their own thing, I can't share the giggles over lunch or help them push through a challenge. It's healthy I know. But melancholy is how I felt as my girls started 4th and 2nd grade. They loved their new teachers and are excited about the kids in their classes. But the end of the day, oh it was a day to remember. Rather than giving the event any more time than I already have, I will let you read the letter I sent to the superintendent.

September 6, 2011

To whom it concerns,

My name is Laura Wells. I have two wonderful children who attend Handley. They are currently in 2^nd and 4^th grades. We live in the city of Saginaw, and ever since the school moved to its Elm street location we my girls have ridden the bus regularly. If, as I have heard, the SPSD has a motto of customer service first or even just a goal to take good care of its parents and students, then my story needs to be heard and responded to. The story is long so you can see the numerous times that things didn't happen as they should.

The first year my oldest daughter rode the bus was the 2008-2009 school year. Perhaps because this was the first year my neighborhood qualified for busing, we actually got a packet of information before school started, stating the drop off times and locations, rules, transportation phone numbers and the name of the driver. The subsequent two years, we would receive this same packet the first time I showed up at the bus stop. If bus drivers changed during the course of the year, parents were never notified.

Unlike most Saginaw residents who attend Handley, we have a neighborhood bus stop because there has always been between 5 and 9 neighborhood kids who attend Handley. The pick up location for the last three years has been on my street, Mershon, just a few driveways away from Davenport. Every year the pick up time has been between 7:30 and 7:45. The drop off location has always been the corner of Davenport and Mershon with an arrival of time of 3:40-3:50.

While my girls did not ride the bus this morning, we did see it come down the street at 7:35 and pick up kids in the usual location. I assumed this meant that things were the same as usual. So when the girls asked to ride the bus home, I said they could, even though I had received no busing information (I can only assume that none of the other students who rode the bus this afternoon had received information either. I know none of the ones who in my neighborhood had information and I know the neighbor girl who rode the bus this morning did not get her info even then.)

At 3:35 pm, I started to wait outside for the bus. I chatted with a neighbor while keeping a watchful eye on the drop off corner. I saw one bus slow down at our corner, but not stop completely. By 3:50 I started to worry that the bus stop had been moved and I had not been informed. I called Handley and was blessed with a person who answered the phone and gave me a number for transportation. I called and it led to a full voice mail box. I called Handley again, I got a second phone number which also led to a full voice mail box. Then I checked online and the phone number listed there for the Saginaw school transportation department matched the number I had already been given.

I called Handley again, in a bit of a panic. I found Mrs. Couillard who assured me she would call me back with information. When the call was returned, I was told my girls had been dropped off at Kempton which is a mile from my house if you walk on a busy Davenport. My husband, had already been to Kempton looking for my girls, but he returned. They were not there. The office staff at Kempton thought they had probably gotten off and tried to find their way home. At this point visions of my girls wandering around the city, lost and crying started to fill our heads. The office staff at Kempton now also became involved in trying to locate my girls. After some phone calls they told me husband that the driver didn't know which of the ten stops the girls had gotten off at. They (whoever they was) was trying to remember where they got off. So now my girls could be anywhere on the bus route, lost and crying. Panic set in for me as a mother.

I called Handley again to inform them that the girls were still missing. They made more phone calls and finally took the girls names and address. At 4:35 Handley staff called and said the girls had been found, they were still on the bus and would be dropped at Kempton in 10 minutes. After a long wait, and several more phone calls, they arrived at Kempton at 5:10 pm, almost 2 hours after school ended. At some point in all the phone calls, Mrs Couillard had been told that the bus driver did stop at Mershon street and that the girls didn't get off. I was outside and that bus didn't stop.

An added astonishment to this story is that the bus driver, Mr. Tim, is the same bus driver the girls had last year. He knows their names and their usual stop. He also knows he never communicated with parents about stop times and locations.

Now, here's the story from my girls' point of view. My oldest daughter noticed she had missed her stop when they passed the old Fuerbringer building. She asked to Mr. Tim to please turn around and go back. He told he would do it later. After dropping kids off at Kempton, and when there were 3 other kids left on the bus, Mr. Tim called my daughter up and told her she was supposed to get off at Kempton and had missed her stop. Surprised, she said she didn't know. He said her mother should have told her. Why the morning pick up location would be Mershon and the afternoon drop off location would be Kempton is beyond logic. And making my daughter feel like it was her fault (or her mother's) for not getting off is definitely inappropriate.

I feel fortunate to have my girls home safely. I feel fortunate to have a quality public school to send my girls to. I used to appreciate busing, but now I am fortunate I can choose not to use a bus system incapable of adequately caring for my young girls. A bus system cannot control the weather or the actions of other drivers, but it should always have stellar organization and communication with families.

A parent with a concern about a late bus should be able to call transportation, share the name of their child, confirm that they are on the bus and learn the reason for the bus's delay, all in less than 5 minutes. A family should be informed of pick up and drop off times and locations prior to the first day of school. And a bus driver who forgets to drop off a few kids, should turn around, drop them off and call his boss to let him know why he is now late (I must believe that he surely wouldn't have let my kids get off at Kempton when he knew I didn't know and my house was a mile away).

Please let me know if any changes happen. We will not be riding the bus until the system has a phone line in place to locate children and answer questions. Thank you to the staff at Handley for making phone calls, not walking away from the problem, and even calming me down. Thank you to the staff at Kempton for helping with a problem that really wasn't theirs. And thanks to Mr. Tom, the driver of the shuttle bus who brought my precious girls to Kempton and asked them kind questions about their first day of school, which raised their spirits.

Laura Wells

Praise the Lord my kids are safe, that Tom was home and just so you know....my street corner is the official drop off location. And the girls...they are totally fine, but not too interested in riding the bus any more. 

Stay Down Hope

Before the experiment we were introduced to gluten free ice cream cones. This is Kassy's first ice cream cone ever!

So Kassy started the great gluten experiment this summer.  On July 17th to be exact. For the first 2 weeks, it was just one serving of gluten a day. Now she is eating whatever she wants. And so far no trouble. But I am not celebrating. I am forcing Kassy and myself to acknowledge that a build up of gluten in her body my be required to bring back the symptoms. I am purposely avoiding thinking about being able to go to parties and just eat whatever and not have a bag of food for Kassy. I avoid thinking about how the list of family restaurants could expand from the current count of three. And I know, that if this isn't a permanent change, then going backward is going to be harder, because all of a sudden she remembers the taste of baked goods with gluten and especially bread with gluten. So I am waiting and while I am usually the most optimistic in the house, currently I am begging hope to stay away, at least for 2 more months. 

Why did we embark on the gluten experiment? Because Kassy wasn't convinced her diet was necessary and it seemed like convincing her was important. Otherwise those big brown eyes would to look at me and beg for the forbidden and I kept having to say no and food sneaking was probably just around the corner.

We went to Frankenmuth with our friends for a dog show. They are red heads. They have five red-headed kids. Tom and I were out of place. Here's a picture of most of the kids. 

In the talent show at the end of the school year, the girls performed with the Jazzercise group that they attend in the winter. Don't you love the look on Kassy's face?

The tomatoes I grew in April and May. I was able to sell the extras for profit on Craigslist. 

Kassy's team who are all 7-year-olds played in a league against 8-year-olds. They won the trophy in the tournament. 

We camped outside of Ann Arbor for 5 days while the girls spent the day at a soccer camp at the University. 

The camp ground was fun. It had a pool and mini golf course and this  crazy trampoline-like inflated pillow. 

Just missed the ball in this picture. It's a blur on the right side. 

For once we ventured outside of the world of soccer and tried tennis for two weeks.  The girls liked it and their athleticism was apparent. Hadley loved it the most, but I've never met a physical activity Hadley disliked!

Welcome to the newest members of our family: two baby guinea pigs. The girls are smitten. The black one is Astro, he is Hadleys. The fuzzy one is Nibbles and he belongs to Kass. There is so much more I could write about how this all came to be, but I can really afford to eek out even these few words. 

Garden bounty from today. Alas, the flowers are not from my garden, but everything else is. Things are slow this year and all the rain of the last few days may have spread some diseases and caused some tomatoes to crack. But I love all the smell and the girls love to eat. 

Comings and Goings

Dear family....As the girls grow and get busier, life gets crazier, especially in the spring. But I love you. So here are a few morsels to keep you in the loop. 

 Sometime in mid-April, Hadley saved enough money to buy herself a genuine American Girl doll. She is so proud of herself for saving the money ($109 with brush). She regularly tells me it means more to her than if someone had just given it to her. While I still feel like these dolls are overpriced, it is a really nice doll and I love the lessons Hadley learned while saving.

 Hadley split her lip open during a game at kids church. She had to have stitches. But her friend's mom is an emergency room doctor who was on duty and made certain we got the best care (I don't like thinking about the fact that this is necessary!). She healed up easily and overall, it wasn't very memorable.

 Hadley's 3rd grade play was called "Vacation on Mars." I love the plays at her school. I am always astounded by how they get so many kids involved. Hadley was an employee of a tour company that took families on planet vacations.

 The third weekend in May we took a trip to Traverse City, MI. It's the cherry capital of the world and very lovely. We skipped school Friday and went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. It was hot, and at least once, too sunny to take a decent picture, but the girls loved hiking the dunes. The rest of the weekend was a soccer tournament for Hadley, but that is worthy of a blog post of its own...maybe when I get free time?

 My greenhouse. I've been selling my tomato and pepper plants. Fun. We tore out our deck, which accounts for the mess in the driveway.

 Here Kassy is standing by her Mona Lisa inspired portrait. The art teacher chose it for display at a local business. She is so proud after watching her sister receive such honors a few time. The portrait is actually unusual for Kass, who tends to favor abstract designs over realistic drawings.

We went to a sort of dog olympics in Frankenmuth this weekend. It was hot, but interesting. I am not sure if the fun was worth torturing Hadley who always dreams of owning a dog. We went with friends, who have five kids, all red heads. The parents are red heads too so Tom and I don't really fit in, but it was fun and entertaining to constantly be counting red headed children.

Hadley is running for secretary of student council. There are about six kids running for this position, and only one of them is a boy. I think he will be hard to beat, but Hadley and her friend made great posters. The whole thing amuses me since most of these kids don't really even know what student council is.  But most of them say things like, "Mom, I want to run for secretary. What's a secretary do?"  And in case you didn't know, the name of her school is Handley Elementary.....The election is Friday. Now she just needs to write her campaign speech! There is so much to learn from this process. How do you define politics to a third grader?

A recital for mom

Michigan is an uncomfortable state. It was the only state in the country in the 2010 census to lose population.  Parts of Michigan, especially where I live, are struggling to survive. There are jobs, homes in good shape can be sold for less than $10,000 (no joke). The people who remain in eastern Michigan are the ones who have fought to stay, usually because of family.

Because I have no family within  the state lines, I will update my blog for Mother's Day. It's for my mom. I miss her and I know she feels closer when I send her videos and pictures.

Sometimes as I sit at soccer games, with Tom in the coach's spot and one girl on the field, I watch the families of the other players that surround me. They are always friendly, but not talkative with me. They have layers of conversations and relationships going on. Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and Parents and Grandparents. And as I watch, I wish life had bent differently, closer to family.

So dear mom, a guitar recital for you. I love you.








Happy Mother's Day.

Hadley turns nine

My dear sweet girl is half way to the legal age of being an adult!

Hadley hugs the hoped-for Hippo pillow pet. I sent her on a scavenger  hunt
around the house to find it.  Some one is making a lot of money on these
simple stuffed animals. 

Hadley turned nine at the end of March. Her birthday lasted for two weekends: one where she celebrated with us and one where she had a friend party(it was her turn this year). We were caught off guard when we received a birthday invite to another party on the actual day of her party which is why we had it on a different weekend.

Tom doesn't like gift wish lists. He always comes up with his own gift. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they
are scary (last year was a giant plastic snake). This year was sweet. A non-edible flower cake.

Apparently my girl is growing up. None of the relatives bought toys, all of them bought clothes. Hadley had fun giving a fashion show-- the clothes style is definitely moving away from sweet little girl style. Kassy annoyed her sister by trying to be in all the pictures.

For her friend party, Hadley wanted an art party. At least, that's what she wanted after I vetoed all the more expensive options like the roller rink. She wanted to paint. And paint and paint some more. Michaels ended up being a great store for a variety of craft ideas that were cheap. I even found a few things suitable for the boys who came. Hadley wanted a way to paint a huge mural as a group. Our giant closet doors in the mud room served the purpose well. Jordan drew the mural on the wall (Hadley ditched the garden mural idea when she thought of the boy guests and switched to an underwater mural). We painted picture frames, made paper bead bracelets, assembled and painted birdhouses, boats, and airplanes, decorated cupcakes with frosting and fondant (they even took some home). It was a good party. And while I dislike the me-focus of birthday parties, I appreciated having a willing apprentice in learning about being a hostess. She abandoned the typical "birthday girl" first mentality and thought carefully of what would be most comfortable and fun for her guests. She is growing inside and outside!

The invitation....we worked hard on it only to realize we forgot to include the party location!