Samantha's Sweet Sweet Sixteen

Samantha is sixteen.  She didn't want a party.  She doesn't want a driver's license.  She doesn't even want to be sixteen.  She wants to be 14 again.  Sigh.

With a little help from Josephine, we got Samantha with her 16 fingers.  The crown is courtesy of her friends who took her to Burger King.  From us she will get what she does want - cash.  Samantha says all I want is cash and three hours at the mall.  Her grandparents all pitched in with cash and we will let that happen before school starts.

Samantha is a typical teenager some days - don't wake her up; don't talk to her.  Just feed her fruit and send her back to her room.  Other days she is all about the house - someone pick this mess up; Mom we have to do your eyebrows; JMichael, let's jump on the trampoline; Rachel take me out to Waffle House.  All over the map.

She is slam the door one minute and what's for supper how was your day the next minute.  She is kind, goal driven and zealous about what she holds dear.  Otherwise, she can sleep until noon and watch Disney movies until she has them memorized.  She loves to dance, be outside and play in the make up.  I can't believe she is 16.  She will be a junior in high school and has no idea what she wants to be when or if she grows up.  All she has decided for certain is that she wants to travel to Australia.  Go get 'em, Samantha.

Samantha has a running beef with us that she never gets a birthday present.  It's really true, though.  Some years are just super tight and we had no money for anything big - Samantha has big taste.  So whenever she does get something big - and she does - we say, Happy Birthday, Sam.  This year was her 16th and you might think that I would have something huge planned to make up for the lean years.  I didn't.  In fact, James and I were both out of town with Charlotte at her first State Swim Meet - another blog post.  Anyway, JMichael spent Samantha's sweet 16 weekend with his friends - camping.  Rachel was working all weekend and Josephine went to the meet with James and me.  So where was Samantha on her sweet 16?  Home.  All alone.  She took it all in stride and gave me a hard time about my great parenting skills.  She's a jokester and lucky for us she can give as good as she gets.  It's a sweet 16 only she could love!  Happy Happy Birthday, Sambalam.

Tasty Freeze

Rachel, at 17, has quit two jobs.  She was working at Tropical Smoothie and was unhappy from the start.  She liked the laid back customer atmosphere, but, she soon discovered that the employee situation was not so laid back.  She was working the food line - making sandwiches and wraps - and using the skills she had honed from Subway.  She liked the atmosphere at Subway with its friendly do it yourself vibe and fun people to work with.  She thought the grass would be greener at Tropical Smoothie so she jumped ship.  Within two months, she walked out of Tropical Smoothie - mid lunch rush - because she was being blamed for something she did not do and something she had put up with over and over again.  They pushed her too far and she snapped at them and walked out.  Another girl followed her.  It was a very short and condensed movement, but, she made herself heard all right.

After a bit of job searching and taking a break by heading out on a road trip with Ma, she landed herself a new job - Tasty Freeze.  She loves it.  She gets to work the heavy equipment like the fryers and the grill.  She makes ice cream cones for little kids and little league teams.  She also makes something else she has quickly learned to like - TIPS.

And for those of you readers who are die hard Tastee Freeze fans, No; I am not spelling Johnson's Tasty Freeze wrong.  The Johnson family used to own a franchise and it was Johnson's Tastee Freeze.  They dissolved that business after a decade and kept their skills going by opening Johnson's Tasty Freeze.  Same business, no pesky franchising.  If you are in rural Arkansas come by for a Dixie Dog and sweet tea, served up with a smile.

Braids

Peace, Hang Loose and Rock On.  With braids......

BallTeam July 2015.

Splash - June 2015

 

The splash for June 2015 really was a splash.  The underwater camera we borrowed for these pictures was fun and productive.  Summer is here and the BallTeam is in the water!

Studly Samantha

So we have rules at our house.  No characters on clothing, shoes or backpacks.  No t-shirts from bands unless you can sing three songs.  No short shorts or words on your rear end.  And - no pierced ears UNTIL you do both of the following at the same time - turn 12 years old AND have more As than Bs on your report card.  Samantha actually could have had her ears pierced before, but, dance team would have required her to take them out and she has to have time to let them heal.  So, this semester, with dance team still a month away, she did it.  Simple sparkly studs - just like Samantha.

Rachel is a Senior?

This happened....

I'm not sure where the last 17 years have gone.  I know they flew.  More pictures and events to come.  Rachel is our first baby to graduate - ugh.  I still can't wrap my head around it.  Sniff. Sniff.

Go West Big Ladies, 2015

My mother made me an amazing proposal this summer.  She offered to take our big ladies - Rachel and Samantha - for a ten day road trip out west.  I reminded her that I was the last teenage girl she had been stuck in a car with for days on end.  Did she really understand what she was offering?  She was undaunted.  The big ladies - now 17 and 15 - were apprehensive.  Will she make us drink milk?  Will she make us go to bed before midnight?  Will she make us ride the kiddie rides?  It became clear to me that this trip was a fantastic opportunity for my big ladies and my mother to spend time together.  What better way to bond with - or fight with - your family than on the highways of America doing 65 mph?  Off they went.  Here are some highlights and pictures:

First picture from the road - Rachel braiding her hair.  They had lots of car time and they were amazed by the scenery of the west.  They quickly discovered that Arkansas mountains pale in comparison to the Rockies.

The big ladies remembered Rita's from when we lived in North Carolina.  Out west - this one was in Utah - they found a Rita's in a food truck!  Rachel said she just wanted to drive away in it!

While in Utah they did the Mormon scenic stuff - Temple Square.

Visitor's Center.  They also saw the Tabernacle and the new Assembly Hall.  They went up to the roof, where there is apparently a waterfall and a great view of Salt Lake.

The Salt Lake Temple.  Even though there are no other people in this pictures, they said it was crowded and they had missionaries talk to them all over.  They just said, we are Mormons, from Arkansas, just here seeing the sights.

Lion House for supper.  They loved the rolls.

A rainbow in the mountains.  This was taken the day they rode the trains.  The big ladies have lived in small towns all their lives, so Salt Lake was a big city and the trains were fun and fascinating.

Food truck stop.  Burritos and Rita's.  The good life.

More mountain pictures - that yellowish haze is sunlight hitting the distant slopes and reflecting back.

The beginning of sunset - beautiful colors in the mountains over Kenneth's (Ma's little brother and their gracious host) house.

A day in Park City.  They went ziplining and toured around the area.

And IKEA.  I love IKEA.  I have only been a few times, but, there's just something about that store that makes me want to come back and just wander around.  For years the big ladies have heard me talk about IKEA and Ma took them to the IKEA in Centennial, Colorado.

And a selfie while eating IKEA cinnamon buns after a day of wandering around and dreaming about taking it all home.  They did bring us all home IKEA stuff - plates and glasses and bowls and utensils - and tshirts from Colorado.  But mainly what I hope they took from this trip was time with their grandmother and an appreciation for getting out of town.  Ma said they were well behaved.  They were respectful and they travel well.  More adventures, undocumented by pictures - are a visit to a trampoline park, a shopping trip at Deseret Books, the movie Jurassic Park and lots of hotel hanging out time with Ma.  They were glad to be home and glad to get to go.  Thank you, Ma.