Category: Raising teens

How is it 15?

By: Hallee

My baby girl turns 15 today.

How did that happen?

Where have 15 years gone?

We are waiting to celebrate. Apparently, opening night of The Hunger Games has an appeal for a group of 15 year olds, and so we’re postponing her party until that day, when we’ll take a group of twittering, texting, giggling teenagers to the hottest movie of the Spring.

Instead we’ll have a quiet celebration at home, after volleyball practice and before homework begins. I’ll make Floating Hearts with Raspberry Sauce and Fabulous Supper Nachos and put the Happy Birthday tablecloth on our dining room table.

And I’ll ponder…how is she 15? How is she this beautiful, poised, amazing young woman? How have I raised such a wonderful creature? I am in awe of the woman she is becoming.

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Wordless Wednesday: Chucks on Nails

By: Hallee

My 14-year-old daughter painted my friend’s nails.

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Bearing the Burden of Sub-Par Teaching

By: Hallee

My daughter, Kaylee, is incredibly driven. She wants to excel at everything she does. For a while that manifested itself into her not trying anything because if she couldn’t perfectly succeed, she absolutely refused to try. As she’s matured, it has become a driving force – she must try and she must succeed.

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Endurance

By: Hallee

On Monday, Kaylee has softball conditioning for two hours and Tuesdays are horseback riding lessons. This past Monday she really worked out at softball conditioning. She was worn out Monday night. Tuesday morning she could barely move. Tuesday afternoon, I got a text from her that said that she was so sore she couldn’t walk. I texted her back and said that she still needed to go to horseback riding lessons and at least try. My thought was that her muscles would warm up once she was on the horse.

Sunday Viewing

By: Hallee

Our rule for Sunday viewing is this: it must be a Bible story, or about God or the Bible in some way. We have a HUGE movie selection, and a big portion of our movies are God focused, so there is no problem finding something to watch. We love it when the kids pick something that is a specific Bible story, but we’re happy with Veggie Tales or similar programming. Kaylee has several Christian themed teen appropriate movies and documentaries, and Gregg and I could watch the documentaries, video studies, and movies we have for a solid month and not put a dent in our choices.

Cybil & the Fiero

By: Hallee

Hi from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We drove the 280 miles last night, arriving at 11 PM, so that Gregg could buy Kaylee a Fierro. She’s 14, and he plans to spend several months rebuilding it with her, teaching her all about the inner workings of a car. By the time it’s finished, and she’s old enough to drive it, she’ll be in a classic 1985 sports car that’s safe and gets good gas mileage. He is so excited.

Raising teens

Wordless Wednesday: That Cultural Phenomenon Otherwise Known as ‘Planking’

By: Hallee

Wordless Wednesday: That Cultural Phenomenon Otherwise Known as ‘Planking’

The Timeless Qualities of a Virtuous Young Woman

By: Hallee

In continuing our discussion of Vicki Courtney’s 5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter, we reach the final Chapter 19, “The Timeless Qualities of a Virtuous Young Woman.”

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Annual “Summer Starts Now” Luau Bash

By: Hallee

On the last day of school, we had Kaylee’s “Annual Summer Starts Now Luau Bash”. I don’t know how many girls ended up coming as they came and went all night, but at breakfast the next morning, we had eleven.

5 Conversations: Princess Today, Royal Pain Tomorrow?

By: Hallee

My daughter, Kaylee, spent the second semester of seventh grade living with her father in Florida. My boys and I went to spend Spring Break with her. In our beach house, we had cable – something we don’t have at home. Kaylee insisted that I watch a show with her about sweet sixteen birthday parties for young up and coming divas that she’d been watching at his house.

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