That crazy TAKS test

The dreaded week has finally arrived. Olivia will be taking the TAKS test this week. Of course it is all she has been able to think about. I am amazed how stressed out they are able to make these kids regarding this test. No doubt their focus is in the wrong place but the state of Texas says otherwise. Olivia who is a straight A student should not be concerned about this test....but she is.....can someone please tell me why. I finally had to tell her to quit worry about this test, your mom and dad think the test is silly and the only thing we care about is what comes home on your report and we know from what does come home on your report card that you are a smart little girl.
This paper was sent home from school with tips for reducing stress, couldn't believe it. Let's try getting the kids this concerned about all subjects, every test, math test spelling test, social studies test! Don't get me started, I truly to do not have the words to articulate my irritation! Are we not putting our efforts into the wrong place.

Post Script.....she passed with flying colors.....of course!

Abby was a little love bug tonight

Tonight was Abby's school program and open house. The kindergarteners were little lady bugs....so cute. Of course I forgot my zoom lens and halfway through the program my battery in my camera went dead....but hey Abby remembered all the words to the songs and actually sang them. She looked very cute!
Now when it was time for the olders kids to sing.....that program seemed to drag on and just when you thought it was over they started singing another song, and when they did Emily clearly announced she was tired of listening to them sing! I think we all agreed!

Fancy Abby

Today I sent Abby up to her room......can't say why, but I am sure there was good reason. Later on Olivia asked me to come up and see Abby. And this is what I found. She had picked up their Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy book, Found her favorite page and decided imitation was the order of the day. How cute is she......it's no wonder I don't remember why I sent her to her room!

Another fun day.....

Today was daddy's work picnic at Hermann Park.....this year we made it safely across the street to the picnic. Last year Olivia almost lost her life crossing Main Street and I almost wet my pants. It's all I can remember from last year. This year we walked all the way around to cross at the light with are hands loaded up.....so it was a little bit of a hike for little legs thankfully Emily was in a stroller. Once we got there we were greeted by the most adorable clown....Lupe! The girls love the water park and immediately ditched their clothes for their bathing suits. Of course face painting was apart of the festivities, though Emily is the only one that wants it on her face. Olivia and Abby prefer it on their hands. Of course, like last year the girls wanted to go to the zoo. That was all they talked about for days before the picnic. They love the zoo! We didn't have much time as we needed to get home in time to make it to Jaci's 16th birthday celebration. So breezed through the zoo hitting the hot spots like the carousel and the kids section, as always we need to see the lions and tiger and bears and elephants and giraffes. Abby wants to see the alligator. Mommy and Daddy want them to see "the fox". Poppy has talked about the fox at his house since Josh was a baby. So every grand kid thinks there is a fox under the bed at their house! The little fake fox curled up in the cave is very cute....but Emily was not feeling it, of course Abby walks right in and touched it!
We left before we could see it all but we are looking forward to our next trip.
Jaci's party was the perfect end to a great day. Dinner at Kobe's. The girls had never seen anything like it. Dinner hibachi style! I a pretty sure they are hooked. Though when one of the chef's set the table a blaze Abby dashed underneath the table! It was a very entertaining night for all.

Disney On Ice

Tonight Uncle Steven got everyone tickets to Disney On Ice.....and everyone had a great time! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is just about the girls favorite thing ever, especially Emily and Abby. Olivia still likes it but she probably likes other things more. After I told them we would be going Emily immediately wanted to know if all the characters were going to be there. ( I love the way she says characters.....so cute, and such a big word for a little 4 year old) What she was really asking was if all of Mickey's friends were going to be there, like Donald Duck and Goofy etc. Those are her favorites.
The show was fanstastic and kept them entertained the entire night, almost as fun as going to Disney!
Post Script....I am posting pictures a month later....Emily still talks about going to see this...she loved Goofy as Santa and brings it up all the time.

Already naming her children!

For some reason Olivia is already thinkging about having children. Last night she told me, when I grow up I want four kids and this is going to be their names. Of course she has the sex picked out and the order they are to be born! First is the boy named Blake, then Jennifer and then she will have twins one boy one girl, Tyler and Kyler. Interesting uh! Well I thought I should write this one down so she will know when she was 8 years old she started talking about kids and giving them names. I am sure this will change many times over. I am thankful she sees the benefit of family and how great they are.

Olivia's God Box

Today after Olivia's piano lessons her teacher comes out to the car to tell me how upset Olivia is about the crazy TAKS test. Apparently it was all she could talk about. She shared with me something she had done with her son when he was struggling with an illness. She said they made him a "God Box" and every time he was worried about something he put it in there for God to worry about it instead of him. Olivia was excited about making one and we did just that....

I don't really care to share this story........

When I got home from bunco tonight David informed mw of my middle child's ....... I don't even know what you call it, but after he told me the story and I stood there in disgust, he said, " now that is a story you should blog." I said you have got to be kidding, why does anyone else need to know about this, in my head I am thinking she needs to go to counseling. But after a bit of thought.....I decided why not.....it is soooooooo Abby. Plus later in life she will want to hear about all the crazy things she did. We will see what she thinks about this in a couple more years.
So the story goes......David and the girls had been to the park, they are making their way back home and Abby is out ahead of the pack. By the time David turns the corner to our house and gets close enough to see Abby, she is stripped down with only a shirt on, and straddling the hole in the ground where the person reads your water meter ready to start peeing! I was left speechless for a bit after he told me that. Of course he didn't seem as bothered by it as I was. I asked if any neighbors saw? Let's hope not.
That's all the story I got from David......tomorrow I will ask Abby to tell her side of the story.....if there is anything to report, I will be sure to do so.

He is Risen.....He is Risen Indeed!!!

Easter weekend was a great family time for the Simpson's. We started it off by going to Natalie's birthday party and then to Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry's for dinner and and an Easter egg hunt. That is all these girls could talk about the whole week was hunting Easter eggs and when did they get to do it!
All week I had been practicing with the girls, when I say "He is Risen", they were suppose to respond with, "He is Risen Indeed". Now I thought that not too difficult but apparently for a 4 and 5 year old the concept was a bit confusing! Olivia got it down quickly but didn't manage to help her sisters. By the time Easter rolled around they had it down pretty good!
Sunday morning. of course bought out, the parade of beautifully dressed sisters in matching attire The Three Simpson Girls! How they look forward to dressing up for Easter and still wearing matching clothes. Wonder how much longer that will last? Olivia had been wanting to put on a fashion show, as she calls it, all week with their Easter dresses, but we never got around to it.
Now sitting through church was pretty interesting. There were no Sunday school classes so all of them were in church with us, which was fine during the singing, but once it gets quiet......trouble begins. Emily kept asking why she had to be quiet and finally told her daddy she didn't want to be quiet anymore. Abby on the other hand couldn't sit still, and Olivia was just there in the middle of it all.
After church we headed to Nana and Poppy's for our annual lunch and egg hunt with more cousins.....as always the confetti eggs are the hit of the day. Momma had them when she was a girl and the tradition carries on!
Spending time with family.....nothing beats it!

Straight A's

Olivia was so excited today as she brought home her first straight A report card since she started public school. She has worked very hard this year. Each report card she had all A's and that one crazy B in math that was usually an 88 or 89 but this time she brought it up to a 94! Great job Olivia, Momma and Daddy are so proud of you!

For best results squeeze at the bottom and flatten as you go......

Curious about what this story will be?????? Well, Olivia, who is definitely not the neat nick in the family, the girl who has dirty and clean clothes laying all over her room, sleeps with half of her belongings on her bed at night, hangs her clothes up inside out and halfway hanging off the hanger and the list could go on but you get the picture, anyway she mentioned to me once a while back that she didn't like people squeezing her toothpaste in the middle. I brushed it off as nothing really until the other day she got very upset again about the toothpaste but she also added, " Mom don't you see right here it says for best results squeeze at the bottom." I thought to myself you have got to be kidding me. Number one you actually read the toothpaste tube and number two, why do you, miss messy, even care where the toothpaste is squeezed? Of course I said none of that and assured her in the future we would all work hard at squeezing properly for best results!

I changed my mind .....I don't want a dog

I want to take some time to blog about my little dabbers do....aka Abby. Today we were at my brothers and we were getting toys out of the garage for them to play on. There was a toy I knew she wanted to get on but she passed it up. I said Abby don't you want to play on that, "she said it is dirty". It did have dog hair and leaves all over it. And Abby is my little neat nick. Everything has to be clean for her. A dirty table or a dirty chair and she will not sit there. She hates it when people have food all over their mouths, which most kids do when they eat. She asked my the other day, (after Olivia took a drink of milk and then had a milk mustache, "why do people all the time have food on their mouth" You get the idea, she likes things clean.......now back to our dirty toy, so I cleaned it off and off she went down the driveway on the newly cleaned toy, as she rode past me she said, "I have changed my mind.....I don't want a dog."
I got the biggest smile on my face....I knew exactly what she was saying......This poor child loves dogs and her daddy has been trying for quite sometime to convince me we need a dog, so it was interesting that she said that.
I asked her why don't you want a dog now, " I don't want all that dog hair everywhere! I said remember that Abby dog hair will be everywhere, all over your house and your toys on your bed....everywhere! Well, we shall see if that really changed her mind....somehow I think not.

Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for the girls. We took off Saturday for Louisiana to spend time with David's family. The girls LOVE going to visit their MawMaw and PawPaw plus all their aunts and uncles and cousins! There is so much for them to do....they are filthy and tired by the end of the day. They stay outside for most of the day, riding the golf cart and four wheelers. On this visit Olivia earned the privilege to ride the four wheeler all by herself! Of course she thought she was hot stuff! We can't forget about the "big slide". PawPaw bought one of those inflatable slides, I don't even know how long ago now, and it is always their favorite place to play.
They did a little bit of fishing this time.....we brought their cousin Jeremy with us and he loves to fish, so that got everyone in the mood. The live crickets daddy bought for bate were probably more exciting for them than the actual fishing.
Of course a visit to Aunt Paula's is always exciting....this time they picked a little cotton and collected chicken eggs from the chicken pen!
We had fun celebrating Feb and March birthdays.....Cameron, Natalie and Emily!
It was off to a rough start shortly after we got there and Colton fell as he was chasing after Abby and fractured his wrist! After a Saturday night visit to the ER he was back the next day sliding down the big slide like nothing ever happened!
I know for a fact Abby's favorite activity of the visit was the Easter egg hunt. This has almost become a tradition for the past couple of years.....The girls especially like this Easter egg hunt because mawmaw fills the eggs with money and stickers....two of their favorites!
We got back last night with two more days of Spring Break left.....my how time flies when you don't have to be up and out the door before 8:00 am!