One year older and starting to give mom anxiety

We are in party season at the Rollins house. Between birthday's and Holidays things will get a little hectic around here over the next few months...OK, things are always hectic, this just adds to it!

 

Samm's birthday always sneaks up on me and every year I swear it's not going to take me by surprise, but I was still running between stores last night trying to find anything to get her. Eleven year olds are really hard to buy for. They don't really want toys, but they aren't quite into clothes enough yet either. After wandering up and down isles, making a few phone calls for ideas, and starring at books for 45 minutes, I finally settled on a few things that I thought she might really like. I was mostly excited about the book I found here because it combined the two things she is most in to right now, horses and Greek mythology. And then she opened it and said "oh, I love this book! I read it at school."... Of Course! I offered to return it for something else, but she said she really did like it and wanted to keep it.

James was super duper sweet to Samm all day and kept wishing her a happy birthday to the best sister in the world! She is really is!

Her main gift was a much needed bathrobe. She loves all things zebra with hot pink right now, so this was the perfect find at her favorite store, Justice.

And Laila just loves anything the older kids do, say, eat, play, or wear. Do not ever cut up her food, unless you want to see a full blown Laila meltdown!

Laila wearing Samm's bathrobe kind of kills me, because that was just Samm. She was my baby just yesterday, and now she is a full fledged tween. I honestly never imagined it would be this hard to let her grow up. I am so lucky to have her as my daughter!

Apparently expensive taste is genetic

When Samm was two years old she refused to eat macaroni and cheese (and still does) but would inhale shrimp alfredo (and still does). I should have known then that she wasn't going to settle for things like dance lessons. She has always loved animals and riding horses has always been a dream of hers. A few months ago a lady a church mentioned to me that she teaches horseback riding lessons so I mentioned it to Samm and it has been the only thing she has talked about ever since. I should have asked how much it costs before I promised Samm she could do it, but watching the smile on her face today made it all worth it!

 

Everyone was mesmerized by the horse, even Laila. She had a trampoline for the kids to jump on while we waited, but they kept ending up back at the fence.

I must admit, even I was a little jealous. I would have loved having a horse as a kid.

First Anual Earth Day Parade

Samm is such a unique kid. I couldn't love her more. She comes up with the best ideas. Today it was an earth day picnic with all the neighborhood kids (most a lot younger than her) and then a parade around the circle. Most of the boys opted out of the parade, but she didn't care at all.  I love our little circle and I am so excited for all the fun these kids are going to have this summer.

A little bit of a pile up.

Smiles all around when the weather is nice enough to be outside!

 

This was all very last minute so Samm wasn't able to put in all the planning that she would have liked. Next year's celebration will be even better I am promised!

An original Samm Rollins Production

I meant to post this last week, but forgot. Christmas Eve seems like the perfect time for it anyway since we always had some sort of Christmas Eve production growing up.

 

A few things I should mention. 1. Please ignore the mess! There were a lot of projects going on last week. 2. Samm insisted that it be dark to be more like night time so sorry about the picture quality and the fact that you can't really see her awesome sheep on cardboard drawings. 3. Please know that we do not believe angels wear mini dresses. Samm came up with all the costumes on her own and was really proud of everything so we rolled with it. 4. I ask the kids to sing our new favorite Christmas song at the end, but didn't realize until just now watching the video how distracting James is. It is a really pretty song though called Could I hold the baby.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Another First

 

Since Samm is the oldest she gets the honor of doing most of the "firsts", and pine wood derby got added to that list last night. Yes, it's usually a scout thing, but we decided that it would be a fun activity to do with our activity day girls for recognition night. The girls loved it, but I think it will be a once every four years event!

 

 

All of the girls got a certificate, Samm's was for Most Dreamy.

 

Here is what we learned from our first Pine Wood Derby event...There are some very serious pine wood derbiers out there and we are going to have to seriously step up our game come May when James gets his block of wood!

A decade of silliness, drama, and love...

That is what she has given us. I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

 

Ugly birthday cupcakes is what happens when you suddenly realize an hour before the party that the only muffin cups you have left are Halloween ones and your homemade frosting looks like dog poop.

We added m&m's on top to help them out a little bit, and she didn't seem to mind

After the presents were opened and ugly cupcakes consumed, a dance party ensued.

She's probably not going to love us so much one day for putting this on the Internet.

National American Miss

Several months ago we got a letter in the mail inviting Samm to come to an open call for a pageant called National American Miss. I had never heard of it before, and we certainly have never done pageants before, but it sounded like something that Samm would love to do so I loaded up all the kids and drove her to the meeting where they herded all the parents into one room and then took all the girls aside and interviewed them. We were told that only half of all the girls interviewed would be invited to participate. Samm squealed with excitement when she got the phone call letting her know that she had been chosen, so even though there was a substantial entrance fee, I told her that if she could raise all of the money with sponsors than she could do it. And, thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and Josh's co-workers, she was able to raise all the money she needed.

It wasn't until after we had already sent in half of the entrance fee that I started thinking about a dress for the formal wear part of the competition. I got online one day to search for pageant dresses and about had a heart attack. $500!!! Are you kidding me!!! I love my daughter and would do just about anything for her, but pay that kind of money for a dress is not one of them. At first, I planned on making her one myself, but when it ended up that we were going to be in Oregon I decided to beg my mom to help me. She agreed of course, but we waited until the last 3 days I was there to start on it so I came home with about 90% of it done. It didn't take me too long to finish the rest of the dress, but in order to be a true pageant dress it needed some sparkle, and I waited until the last minute to start sewing on beads and didn't finish until the night before she needed to wear it. It wasn't even close to being perfect, but Samm felt like a princess in it. And, what is really fun about the dress is that it is made from fabric that was left over from our wedding.  

Even though it was a super stressful week leading up to the pageant, and a crazy stressful weekend trying to manage the other kids and getting Samm where she needed to be, she had a great time and it was such a good experience for her.

 

The girl right behind her right shoulder with the dark hair is the one who ended up wining.

With new friends!

Pretty girl!

They did this little dance number on stage at the beginning of the finale, and even though it was fun to watch, Samm's hair was completely flat and had no curl left by the time she walked back out on stage in her dress.

James found a friend pretty quickly and didn't mind all the waiting around one bit.

Josh got to escort Samm on stage for the formal wear competition.

This was her own idea for a pose. Totally Samm!

Macy was so tired this night she was falling asleep in the stroller while Josh held Laila.

This was the personal introduction part where all the girls had 30 seconds to say a little blurb about themselves. She looked so cute in her suit!

All the girls were rewarded with a trophy for being chosen as a state finalist.

The third part of the competition was the personal interview. She had to fill out a resume and then sit down with judges one on one for a little less than a minute and answer questions about herself. Parents weren't allowed so I wasn't able to get any pictures.

All in all it was fun to do, but oh man am I glad it's over with. Summer is almost over and I'm looking forward to spending the rest of it with the kids at our little lake.

Her first official display

Samm got a letter in the mail a few days ago from the art teacher at school. It said we should check out the display case at the top of the stairs at the Novi Public Library. So we did.

Samm was pretty tickled about having her peace sign chosen. After all, her dream is to be a "very very famous artist someday!"

I am poem

It's going to be several days before I am fully recovered from our incredibly long, but very worth it trip to Oregon. It seems like the more I unpack and clean, the more there is to unpack and clean. Tonight as I was sorting through the mess on the kitchen counter I came across Samm's writers notebook from school this year so I decided to flip through it a little. I love her confidence, and the fact that she likes her name. I worry about that sometimes.

I am...pretty.

I like...ice cream.

I am...smart.

My favorite dream is...for everyone to be kind.

I woud like to talk to...God.

If I had enough money I would...help my family.

If I could change my name I...would not change it. I like Samm.

Facebook Repeat

I'm sorry to all of you who already saw these on Facebook, but I wanted a permanent record of them here on the blog and my mom and dad don't do Facebook.

Poor Samm is so desperate for a little bit of alone time that she has resorted to hiding out in her closet. I always know when she is in there because 1) the other two are following me around asking if I know where Samm is, and 2) she usually tapes a keep out sign of some sort to the door. Well, the other day I found this dry erase board in the dollar section at Target and within minutes of me giving it to her this sign was posted. I had to laugh when I read it because doesn't every mother feel this way.

And today was one of those days where 9:00 church just about killed me, and the rest of the day pretty much finished me off. After dinner James brought down his school folder and I discovered that he had five sheets of homework due tomorrow! So, once the kids were finally in bed, much later than normal I drug myself into the kitchen to tackle the mountain of dinner dishes still sitting in the sink, and ended up finding this on the floor. And I remembered again why all of this craziness is totally worth it!

Gretel and a jolly rancher hat

Last night we finally got to watch Samm in her school play. She did a great job of course and loved every second of it. We did video tape it for the grandparents, but unfortunately we are still using our ancient laptop and I think it would take at least 24 hours to load. So for now, here are a few shots of her in action.

And today happened to be the 100th day of school and James was supposed to make a hat with 100 things on it so we made a jolly rancher hat. I even let James use the hot glue gun! It was a pretty awesome, but heavy hat.

Samm's Calendar

A few days ago Samm came down from her bedroom and posted this calendar on the fridge. 

She has given herself one day a week off from playing with James and Macy. Which means that one day a week James and Macy will be following me around the house whining about how bored they are. Yep, they really are that lost without her!

For your viewing pleasure...

America's next favorite dancers. Enjoy!

Samm the scarecrow

*I don't like hanging onto a lot of the kids school work, but this little story made me laugh so I decided to type it up here so Samm could read it again some day*

Dear Farmer Dawn,

I am your scarecrow and I don't like it on my pole. Here it's boring, crows peck me, and your wheat cutting machine hurts my ears. Wait, I don't have ears. Well I can still hear. I want to go to the fair and win 1st prize at the scarecrow contest. I also want to live my own life. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but this pole is really cold sometimes. I just don't like it. So I was hoping you could take me down and I can do some of the things I want to do. Please keep me off my pole! Please!

Sincerely, Scarecrow Samm

My Birthday Princess is Nine!

*Update* I posted the recipe for Marshmallow fondant over Here on my other blog in case anyone is interested

We actually celebrated with cake and ice cream yesterday because Josh had to work late tonight, but she still woke up to a king size Hershey bar (her favorite) and a special note from mom on the table. She also got to wear her birthday princess shirt again from last year since it still fit.

This is the cake she helped make and was very proud of. She saw one like it at Sam's Cub and asked if I could make one for her. I had never used fondant before and could not believe how expensive it was to buy, so we made our own marshmallow fondant and tried our hand at cake decorating. I don't think I will be going into the cake decorating business anytime soon, but the girls and I had a fun time making it. I was told it tasted pretty good too.

Happy Birthday Samm!

Proud to be me!-Samm

On the first day of school Samm's teacher had them fill out a complete this sentence paper about themselves. I'm putting it in her file, but I want to record it on here also because I thought it was so cute. Numbers 9 & 10 are my favorite!

1. My full name is- Samm E. Rollins
2. I was born on- October 3 2002
3. My favorite subject is- History
4. If I could go anyplace in the world, it would be- Oragon
5. When I grow up I want to- Be an Artist
6. My favorite animal is- Cat's
7. A hobby I enjoy is- Art
8. My favorite meal is- Manocotie with green beans on the side
9. The best thing about me is- I am relly smart
10. The next best thing about me is- I am very pretty
11. I think I am really good at- History (I have no idea where this history thing is coming from)
12. I think I need to improve at- Math (She gets that from me!)

I love her absolute confindence in herself!

Sun Goddess

Last summer I took the kids to the lake at least 3 times a week. This summer I think we have gone 5 times total. I feel bad that the kids are having such a boring summer, but I just haven't had the energy to do much. These days turning on the sprinkler in the backyard is about as good as it gets. The kids have been pretty good sports about it though and have tried to make the best of it.



Does this ever happen to you...

You hear your kids wake up in the morning and you lay there thinking "Maybe they will let me sleep for 20 more minutes." Of course five minutes later one of them is in your face whispering "Mom, I just finished all my jobs, can I scrub the floor now?"

No, you mean that doesn't happen at your house?

OK, so it really doesn't ever happen at our house either (Actually it does, just replace can I scrub the floor with can I play on the computer) except I spent several hours the other day scrubbing our kitchen floor and apparently it looked like a lot of fun because Samm was begging to help me. Instead though I paid her a dollar to take the other two kids downstairs and entertain them for me and promised she could help me finish the next morning.

I don't think it turned out to be as much fun as she imagined, but she was a trooper and hung in there with me for an hour so we could get it finished.

And it really did need to be done! For some reason my regular sweeping and mopping just aren't cutting it.



Baseball Vs. Pei Wei

On Saturday one of our neighbor girls was having a Birthday party that she invited our kids to. It was a princess party though so we suggested to James that the girls go to the party and he could go with Dad to do some boy stuff. He decided the boy stuff would be better and even let me tag along for a while, even though I think he really didn't want me to.

James has suddenly become very interested in baseball so we took him to a batting cage to let him hit some baseballs. Baseball is probably my least favorite sport to watch, but if it is the sport my son loves, than I'm willing to give it a try.

After the batting cages we were on our way into Cold Stone when Josh got a text from one of his attending doctors. He has season tickets to the Detroit Tigers game but wasn't going to make it to the game that evening and the first person to respond could have his tickets. Josh texted back right away and scored him and James two seats 7 rows behind home plate.

After the girls came home from the birthday party we decided that we weren't going to just sit at home bored, so we went out to do some back to school shopping and had dinner at Pei Wei per Samm's request.

This girl loves her lo mein!

We didn't get much in the way of school clothes other than some pants and a few shirts, but we did have a post shopping fashion show once we got home. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures, but it did bring back some good memories of back to school shopping with my sisters.