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

Karen's New Photoshop Work

Photoshop by Karen

Boy, that Karen sure is getting good at putting together photoshop special effects. The following are pictures of my niece, Emma, looking quite pale. Followed by Jennifer's ginger look.



Karen's picture finalizes her Photoshop work.

My Girls and their dogs

Karen really loves her dog, Jinxie. And, Jinx is such a funny little sort. She loves to run in circles and yaps as she runs about. Jinxie is such a silly little dog.

Jinxie is also a con- and escape artist. She loves to escape under the small crack in the fence and will go to the front door and asks to be put in. She loves this playful little act. When she's not doing that, she loves to wrestle with one of the cats.

I wonder what Jinxie would look like, if she was groomed and shaved!

Claudia - The Hyper Dog

Jennifer's little dog, Claudia, is so funny as well. Claudia loves everyone that comes to house and wants to be the center of attention. She doesn't like to wait for the guest to make her acquaintance--she makes the introduction or says hello first.


Jennifer was given Claudia when Claudia was about 6 weeks old. We were visiting the Animal Shelter when some good Samaritan came in with the puppy that she scooped up off of I-30. Jennifer immediately fell in love with her and without have skipping a beat, the puppy was given to Jennifer without having to go into the shelter. Claudia is so sweet.

Young Womens Camp 2011

Well, tonight the girls and I went to the Stake Center and signed up for camp that will go from June 7th to June 10th up above McKinney, Texas. Can't wait. The girls saw some of their older YW sisters from their previous Arlington 4th Ward. Karen was especially ecstatic over Delia and Olivia coming up to her.

Both girls broke down into their levels and discussed with their YCLs and adult leaders their up coming trip.

Karen and Jennifer have had it pretty tough this last year or so as for personal reasons that kept us on the go from house to house, they attended at least three different Wards. From Coppell Ward to Arlington 4th and now we are in Arlington 2nd. We really prefer to be in the Arlington 5th because, according to Bishop Phillips, their Auntie Brenda will be attending that Ward instead of the 2nd where we are attending now. The girls just don't want to go to the Ward anymore and want to go back to the 4th. Such dilemmas for teens.

Anyway, the camping trip sounds exciting and I am hopeful that both girls do not back out because they will be quite busy up there. They are not allowed to bring any electronic devices. That will probably affect Karen the most because she has a blog (Cillian Murphy Tumblr Fan Account) and a twitter account (again which details Cillian's activities) that she updates consistently.

Hopefully, all will go well and both girls will attend and come back home with wonderful tales of their big adventure with their friends.

Brenda Finally Gets Her House

Well, my little sis, Brenda, from California has finally made it to Texas. She and her two lovely little girls (my youngest little nieces) stayed with us for the last two months while she perused the various neighborhoods looking for the right place to set down her family until they are able to repurchase a home in the area. Eric will be leaving at the end of the month to join his family. It is wonderful to have her in town. I had missed her immensely this last year and half, since I moved here from California. Sisters share a special relationship. This is what I try to express to my own two daughters.

Speaking of her two little girls, Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Emma, they love school a lot and are happy to see their two cousins, Karen and Jennifer. They love to spend time on the webcam making loads of funny faces, often times involving their dog Claudia and Jack the cat.

What is Karen trying to say?

Poor Jack. He has to put up with a lot.

Jennifer and her masks!

Another silly Jennifer and her poor pooch, Claudia.

Elizabeth, Jennifer and Emma mugging in front of the webcam.

We all can't wait for the summer. We all have a lot of things planned. Baseball games, picnics with Granny and to Joe Poole Lake, Six Flags, etc etc.

Catch-Up Time For Karen and Jennifer

Well, yesterday was the day that I started back trying to keep this blog going and up-to-date. It has been a very grueling year, which saw us move three times to get to where we want to be. Well, anyway, in the right area. I have made a long-term commitment to the girls for their high school years and I hope it will be the right one for them. I do feel confident that it is, as it is a top-ranked school in the area and in some areas of academic study, especially, theater arts, a top-ten in the state. Next year will be Karen's first year in high school, so the friends she befriends at junior high will be joining her in high school.

Two weeks ago she signed up for her ninth grade classes and she and I went on an orientation and tour of her new high school. It is quite a school with over 3,000 students going there. Hopefully, it won't be too overwhelming for her. She's attending a top junior high in the area to prepare her for her new high school.

Both girls go to a very good and highly honored junior high. They win a lot of awards a year in various sporting events (this year the basketball team took first place) and their band just won the local sweepstakes award. This year Karen was on the cross country team, but had to drop out because she had to prepare for her math TAKS test, which measures her aptitude in the subject and allows her to advance to the ninth grade. Since the girls had basically no previous year of school, due to a degradation of my marriage, they have done surprisingly well. But, they have their problems when coming to math because of the missed skill building they woul d have had in the previous grade. Yet, outside of that and being in a very academic challenging school, their efforts are paying off and I believe (and hope) they will succeed and be able to continue on. However, there may be summer school ahead of them to get them on equal footing in the math department.

Outside of academics, they are doing quite well in making friends and keeping busy. Karen has made a wonderful friend named Andie. Karen also runs her own blog on her favorite actor, Cillian Murphy and does it quite well. Very professional looking.

Jennifer continues to excel in media editing and scriptwriting. Both girls, along with Andie, do a lot of filming and uploading on You Tube their various creative pieces they create on weekends. And, of course, Jennifer is still actively involved in her dogs, Claudia and Audrey.

Pictures of Girls

Happy with the pictures taken with Jennifer overlooking the Arcata Marsh in Arcata, CA and both girls in Utah at the Salt Flats.


Karen lying on the ground (kind of creepy) turned out interesting. Karen's picture from Patricks Point, CA was what I was trying to capture with the fog in the background in the early morning hours while standing in an ancient Indian site.

Still without my Canon, but some of these pictures have turned out surprisingly well. Happy with the lighting and effects I was after. The pictures of Jennifer in her Victorian dress is not as clear as I wanted, but without my professional camera, I do come up short.







Karen's picture from Patricks Point, CA was what I was trying to capture with the fog in the background in the early morning hours while standing in an ancient Indian site.

Miscellaneous pictures of Jennifer at the HSU Marine Lab with a starfish and Karen lying on the ground (kind of creepy) turned out interesting.

Ms. Jennifer and her beautiful Victorian Dress

Took a few photographs of Jennifer in her Victorian Dress. Only a few showed up satisfactory for me. I'm missing my professional camera, which is still in California, so I had to improvise. Yet, still happy with her poses, even though the lighting was a problem. The effect of simply old time came through. Didn't have the green screen done when taken.




Also included are some photos taken in Arcata, CA, Salt Flats, UT, Patricks Point, CA where I was able to get some misty and clear shots that I was happy with. Again, camera is everything and so is the lighting that at times didn't cooperate.

Jennifer Gets Her First Solo

Well, Ms. Jennifer Kathleen will be performing at the Ward on Tuesday singing her first solo. She'll be singing "Teach Me To Walk In The Light". She really sounds great and I will be posting her first photos after her performance next Tuesday during Young Women's Activities night. I can't to see and hear her perform.