Being A Proud Mom

Karen and Jennifer in November 2010 at the Texas Ranger's Appreciation Night

 

I am such a proud Mother of my wonderful girls.  They are an absolute delight to have around.  There are times, however, that my temper can flare up and they get the feeling otherwise.  But, like all parents of teenagers, life can get a little trying at times. I simply just adore these two charming girls.  It is so fun to relive my teenage years through them as they develop friendships, discover boys, have tickle y tummies when they see certain boys, watch them shop from afar for the latest fashions, take them to their first hair stylist as they try out new styles and listen to them talk about friends, school and boys to each other, even though at times each can be the worse enemy to the other as their competitiveness sometimes get out of hand.  But, they are sisters and the biggest drama queens.

Karen and Jennifer made up as boyfriend/girlfriend.

They also BOTH have a great sense of humor, which has helped them conquer this last year of turmoil.  They have taken their sense of humor and applied to everyday life, to theatrics, school, friendship, sport and music.  They are a joy to have around. I love them so much and they at times keep me in stitches.

Both girls spent most of their 6th and 7th grade year being home schooled (which was a problem for Karen), but have excelled in junior high.  Karen will be attending 9th grade or high school next year and Jennifer will continue on into the 8th grade in PAP classes as she prepares herself for university when she graduates from high school.  Again, I am so proud of both of my girls.  They are charming girls and I love being their mom.

She is so comical when she launches into her summary of how the day went at school.  She gets super tickled talking about how her "boy" friend hugs her, looks into her eyes and loves to sit next to him at lunch.  She adores this boy and it's so wonderful to see my girl develop into this young woman who gets butterflies in her stomach whenever he looks at her.  And, whenever he just wants to hang and talk with his buddies, like all girls her age, she begins to worry that she might have said something that he didn't like and NOW he doesn't like her anymore.  Ah, the sweet times of being a teenager and discovering feelings that you never felt before.  Karen also can become the life of the 'party' as they say as she has familiar relationships with her teachers. She quips, giggles and with a wide smile whenever she meets up with one of her teachers that she loves makes those teachers feel they have known Karen as a friend for a lifetime.

Aside for the academic relationship, Karen and her teachers have forged bonds of respect and one of goodtimes. Her teachers love Karen as she loves them and both let each know how special they are to one another. For missing most of her 7th grade due to personal reasons, Karen has excelled through 8th grade and will be joining her friends next year as she becomes a freshman at high school.  Last week she attended her first tennis session for high school and she is looking forward to going to high school where she will not only be playing tennis, but will be part of the drama department.  She can't wait to move on.

By the way, Karen also LOVES the Irish actor Cillian Murphy and operates a very successful and internationally popular Cillian Murphy Tumblr Fan Account (http://cillianmurphytumblrfanaccount.tumblr.com/). Talk about dedication!

Jennifer loves to do the unusual and has a quick mind.

Jennifer is my little quipster.  She is soooo good at quip comebacks. Wished I had her speed! She is so witty most of the time, yet she has that serious side that sometimes you can't break a smile or laugh out of her no matter what.  She loves to be in 'clicks' for acceptance and she tends to be with the smarter kids.  She excels through 7th grade, even though she missed most of the 6th grade, and is in accelerated classes.  Her report cards are filled with A's and B's and her reading is above average.  She has a great rapport with her science and math teacher, as well as her English teacher. Her science teacher really loves Jennifer as she told me herself.  And, her math teacher may scare Jennifer at times because of her personality, but Jennifer loves her a lot with her dance and slang in class.  Jennifer is an excellent actor and developer of story lines. Her understanding of putting together scenes, script and music is outstanding.  She loves to make small films everyday and her creatively gets high marks.  Jennifer hasn't been bitten by the 'boy' craziness like her sister has.  But, she does like several boys at school and periodically she'll come home and tell me about one or two that she likes or they like her.

Dressing up in a Victorian costume dress

Jennifer is my serious girl and she loves being in the Spanish Club and can't wait to go to university when she graduates. She has a lot of interest in Egypt and archaeology.  She loves to read about those subjects and has made some 5 minute 'films' about Egypt, 2012, aliens and the like. She is such a wonderful girl and it will be interesting when she falls for a boy at school. I can definitely relate to Jennifer, as I was more serious like her when going to school.

The Greatest Gift To Being A Mom Is Having Two Adorable Daughters

A Salute To Mother's Day

Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not conceived and fine-tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

Julia Ward Howe

In the United States, and before the noted homemaker Anna Jarvis first proclaimed a day for Mother's, the social activist Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, which she delivered at a Women’s Peace Conference in London. The proclamation was an antiwar reaction piece to the brutality of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War.

The Proclamation put forth Howe's feminist belief that women had a social responsibility to shape their societies. By 1872 her ideas developed into Mother's Day for Peace, which provided the foundation for the present Mother’s Day celebration.
  

Anna Jarvis

Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, was the woman responsible for giving the world Mother's Day. She first used the term "Mothering Day" to bring attention to poor health conditions in her community more than 160 years ago. She had founded Mothers' Day Work Clubs in five cities to improve sanitary and health conditions. The Mothers' Day Work Clubs also treated wounds, fed, and clothed both Union and Confederate soldiers with neutrality.

On May 12, 1907, two years after her mother's death, her daughter also named Anna held a memorial to her mother and thereafter embarked upon a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday. She lobbied prominent businessmen and politicians to support a national day honoring mothers.She succeeded in making this nationally recognized in 1914. The International Mother's Day Shrine was established in Grafton to commemorate her accomplishment.
 
In 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday. Mother's Day has now become a major money spinner, with The National Retail Federation expecting a rise in Mother's Day spending this year.

The average celebrant will spend $140.73 on mom up from $126.90 last year. Consumers are expected to drop billions on restaurants, flowers, greeting cards and candy. Not surprisingly, this mass consumerism goes against the wishes of the day’s founder, Jarvis. "Any mother would rather have a line of the worst scribble from her son or daughter than any fancy greeting card," she said. Jarvis also once pointed out, "There is no connection between candy and this day."