Swim Marathon 2013

Seven days of no swimming makes one weak. 

 ~Author Unknown

This year Sinobia participated in 18th annual Flying Fish Swim Marathon, a one hour continuous swim, with her swim team.  It is her 4th year being a part of this event.  Her coaches estimated that she could swim 110 lengths in an hour. She swam 138 lengths in an hour! 

(These funds help the YWCA continue to provide healthy aquatic programming, provide financial assistance to families who cannot afford the cost of swim lessons or swim team participation, and support YWCA services in the areas domestic violence and violence prevention.)

I love this event.  This is Sinobia's moment to shine.  You see, big sister Gabrielle counts her laps for her every year.  Each year she continues to be amazed at what a great swimmer her sister is.  Each year Gabby is in awe at the strength and stamina that little sister Sinobia has.  This is the one thing Sinobia can kick her sister's butt at!  She rules the pool in our family!

There is still time to sponsor Sinobia and her Swim Marathon cause (you have until February 25th).  The YWCA has made it so easy this year, they set up web pages for each kid, so you can click on the link below, it will take you straight to Sinobia's web page, where you can make a donation (and/or see her cute picture).  

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support YWCA - Evanston/North Shore

Thank you to everyone who has helped her meet (and possibly exceed) her goal!

The Beginning Of The End

Seniors Rule!

Thursday night was "Senior Night" for Evanston's Gymnastics team.  This is the time of the season, where they take time to celebrate the Seniors on the team.  

As I sat in the stands with another Senior mom (shout out to Linda!), we reminisced about our very first Senior Night, 4 years ago when our girls started on Junior Varsity as Freshman.  The Senior girls on Varsity seemed so big, so old, so mature to us back then.  Being the parent of a Senior seemed so far away for us.  Now our girls are the Seniors!

And there we were on Thursday, good friends now.  4 years of chatting, joking,  long meets and those hard benches.  The injured back, knees, ankles, broken elbow, broken toes, many hospital visits, Dr. visits and physical therapy sessions.  The proud Gymnastic Mom moments.  It all happened so fast.

So, Thursday's Senior Night was the first of what may be a lot of "Senior Year" moments.  It was the beginning of the end of Gabby's high school career.  I knew this would sneak up on me.  I was prepared...no tears.  There will plenty of time for tears in the next few months.

Happy New Year!

Sinobia is back from Italy safe and sound.  I missed her...a lot.  She enjoyed her trip and has not stopped talking about all of her adventures and cultural experiences abroad.  I am so pleased that she soaked up every little detail of this trip.  She has been talking about art, architecture, food, her bargaining skills at the market and what it feels like to be and American/African-American outside of the United States.  

Eric and I took bets on what would be the first thing she would want when she got off the plane...Chipotle!  We were right, she declared she was done with pasta and pizza for a little while and wanted to head straight to Chipotle:)  

2013 is here and we will be heading back to work and school in a few days.  

I cried New Years Eve.  It was the first time that Eric and I were without both of our kids ringing in the New Year.  Since Gabby has gotten older, there have been a few years where she has gone out with friends, but this year there was no Gabby or Sinobia to toast in the New Year with.  Eric and I settled in for a movie and then drank our sparkling cider together at midnight...without our girls.

2013 may be filled with a few teary-eyed moments.  Our girls are getting big; growing up.  They are becoming more independent, as we have raised them to be.  There will be more moments when they choose to be with their friends or venture off without us.  Gabby will be graduating from high school in a few months and going off to college.  Sinobia wants to go to "sleep-away" camp this year.  My baby girls are doing exactly what we wanted them to do...be adventurous,  be independent,  be resilient, seize opportunities and enjoy life!  

What am I crying about then?  I am going to have to spend a good part of 2013 learning what it means to be a parent of older children.  They need me less and less each day.  My parental job description is changing each day as they grow older.  I don't do well with change.  I like it when things stay the same.  Consistency works well for me.  I'm all about the routines and my routines are changing.  I am going to need to do some growing myself.  It's going to be difficult, but I knew this time would come.  

This is all good stuff.  We are all evolving in the Aiden house.  We'll grow together and support each other as we have been doing.  We will cheer each other on, yell at each other and cry together.  We will continue to be who we are, just different...a little older and a little wiser, but still full of love for each other.

Happy New Year!

May 2013 be filled with good health, happiness and love for everyone!

Time Flies...

December 29, 2012.  Gabrielle Ollie Aiden is 18 years old today.  It seems like yesterday that we celebrated her first birthday...

and sent her to school for her first day of Kindergarten...

In a few months she will be leaving home to go away to college...time flies.

I remember every second of these past 18 years.  They have been beautiful, amazing, challenging and yet rewarding.  They have been filled with love and the overwhelming urge hold her in my arms and keep her with me forever, while at the same time not being able to wait until she is out of my house.

I remember deciding that we wanted to have children.  I remember the day I found out I was pregnant. I remember the day she was born.  Time flies.

I remember taking her to the emergency room at 3 days old, thinking she was breathing funny, only to find out that she was snoring!

I remember her not going to sleep at night, as a baby, until Eric came home from work and would lay her on his chest as they "chilled-out" on the couch.

I remember her Christening and everyone that was there.

I remember her first steps.  I remember her first trip to the park.  I remember her first word, "da-da".  I remember the first solid food I fed her, which were green beans.

I remember her first Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween. Her first girl scout camping trip, sleepover and trip to the principals office.  I remember her loosing her first tooth and all those that came out after (I saved them all).

I remember ballet at 3 years old, ice skating at 5, gymnastics at 7, actors gymnasium at 8 and her very first horseback riding competition.

I remember the first time she told us she wanted to be a big sister.  I remember the first time she met Sinobia in the hospital, the first time she held her and first time she decided she had changed her mind about having a baby in the house.  Time flies.

I remember her first day of daycare (and all of my tears), kindergarten graduation (more tears), 5th grade graduation (tears), 8th grade graduation (even more tears) and her first day of high school (tears, tears, tears).

I remember everyone who has loved her, cared for her, nurtured her and protected her over these amazing 18 years.  Time flies.

 

 

I remember every birthday for the past 18 years.

Yes, I remember the not so great things, those moments are just as much a part of my memories as all the the rest.  I will remember the next 18 years too, good and bad.  I will soak up each memory and tuck it away in my heart and mind.  My heart will continue to burst at the seams, full of the love that I have for my Gabby Ollie.

Time flies.

Happy 18th Birthday Gabby!

Buon giorno!

Sinobia took off for Italy yesterday for 8 days.  This trip (along with a fine piece of purple leopard spot luggage and matching travel pillow) is her 7th grade "Gabby got to do it" Christmas gift.   I didn't cry, but it's a weird feeling to let your baby go so far away from home without you for the first time.

Sinobia was excited for her trip and Eric and I are excited for her.  This is an opportunity that we were not able to have when we were kids.  We still want to travel the world and will get to it one day, but this trip is for Nobby.  We were actually doing the math the other night, trying to figure out how old/young we will be when the girls are finished with college and away from home.  We will still be pretty young!  That will be our time to enjoy travel adventures together.  We can't wait!

Anyway, during the day yesterday, we got a few messages from the group.  The first one was Sinobia calling to tell us that their flight was delayed.  The second one was a message saying that they had made it to New York and would be departing from there at 6:30 pm.

I didn't sleep very well.  It's super quiet in the house without Sinobia talking non-stop, blasting her music, singing and fighting with Gabby.  No more phone calls.  Eric woke up worried.  "Should we try to call someone?" Poor guy...he's going to be a hot mess when they leave for college!  I checked on their tour diary blog.  Yea!!! There is a picture of the group safe and sound in Milan, drinking their first Italian coffees.  I let out a sigh of relief.  I know that we probably won't get any phone calls from Sinobia, so I'm relying on this tour diary to keep me posted.

So quiet in the Aiden house right now.  Gabby gets 8 days of being an only child again:)  We'll keep you posted.

All ready to go at the airport!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  It's Christmas Eve (well, I guess it's officially Christmas day as I'm writing this) and the girls have just gone to bed.  I will be playing Santa in a few minutes, I'm just waiting for them to doze off.  Yes, I know they are a little too old for the Santa thing, but I just can't seem to get out of the habit.  Every year, the tree sits with nothing under it for the girls and then on Christmas morning things appear!  It was Santa:)  Eric thinks it's crazy of me, but I think it's my way of keeping the Christmas spirit alive in a house full of practically grown-up girls.

I love Christmas, I love shopping for my family, I go broke every year and swear I won't do it again the next year.  I can't help myself. I just happen to love giving gifts.  I love seeing the girls excited every year and I love to see Eric completely surprised that Santa didn't forget about him either.

Usually there are long Christmas lists on our refrigerator for each girl, starting in October. They walk by several times a week and just add stuff to the list.  If I could, I would give them everything on their lists, but Eric reigns me in each year as does my banking account.

This year there are no Christmas lists! I keep hinting to them, that there are no lists this year.  I am a little surprised by this.  I can't figure it out.  Eric says it's because we have done our job...our girls are grateful for all that they have received throughout the year and have chosen to be humble at Christmas time this year.  What?  My rotten girls?  Who are these children?

This has been a great year for both girls.  They do have many things to be grateful for.  Gabrielle participated in her school's Spanish exchange program in October and traveled to Spain for 2 weeks.  Sinobia will leave the day after Christmas to travel to Rome with her art teacher for 10 days.  These trips were not financially easy, but we felt as if it was a gift for our girls to have the opportunity to travel abroad as we never have.  I guess they understood the gift that these trips were...therefore, no Christmas lists, no asking for "stuff" that they don't need, no gimmes and materialism this year.

I feel proud of the fact that they "get it".  I have always wondered if they understood many of the sacrifices that Eric and I make for them to have the life that they live.  I think many parents wonder the same thing, "Do they understand how much I love them and how much I do for them?"

I did do some shopping.  I made my own mental list in my head for each one of them.

We will all wake up together, as a family, healthy, those are the first gifts we will all receive.  They will get a few goodies.  I will too....in my mind, the greatest gift you can give your parent in to acknowledge that you are grateful for what you have, what they have given you and the life that they have worked hard to give you.  No list necessary for me.  My gifts are tucked in for the night, humble sleepers, waiting for Momma Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Tracy, Eric, Gabrielle and Sinobia

Hogar Dulce Hogar!

Last week I ran into a few people who had children on the exchange trip with Gabby.  They told me that their children had emailed home just a few times, but mostly asking for more money.

On Monday, I checked Gabby's account to see if we would be getting the "I need more money call soon".  Much to our surprise, Gabby had not touched the money that we put into her account for the trip!  Eric had given her euros and some American money, to put in her pocket, before she left.  She was living off of that!

On Tuesday, there were 2 messages from our banks fraud division.  They were calling to see if purchases that were made on that day were really done by the card holder...Gabby.  They found it suspicious that there was activity on her card in Madrid, Spain.  She had started shopping!  

Wednesday evening, my big girl returned home tired and hungry.  She looked like she had lost a few pounds, but was happy to be home and super chatty about all of her experiences and adventures during her exchange trip.  Those calls about fraudulent charges?  We all got souvenirs!   She did surprisingly well with the great gifts for Eric, Sinobia and myself considering she is stingy with her money and doesn't like to spend it:)

After a trip with Eric to Bills for a burger and some cheese fries, she was ready to talk, gives us narratives of photos, catch up on some American TV, and have one of moms home cooked meals before heading to her own bed.   

Ah...Home Sweet Home (Hogar Dulce Hogar)!

Dip-Dye...It's Only Fair!

What I have learned in the past 12 years as a mom of 2 girls is that:

• the younger sister always remembers what you did for the older...so you have to be "fair" (according to Sinobia).

So, while Gabby is away in Spain, Sinobia reminds me that I dyed Gabby's hair for her in 7th grade, so guess who's in 7th grade this year?  Now it's Sinobia's turn to have her hair dyed.

How convenient for her that all the rage now is the "dip-dye" look and that she really has to have the look for her "swag appeal".

Dip-dying is the new look, where you just dye the tips of your hair to make it look like you dipped it in the dye.

It's a little more complicated than just dipping, but I'm confident I can handle it, as Gabby received a head full of fuchsia streaks for her first dye job from mom.

I already have hair bleach to lift hair color and I've got a great collection of bright dyes (fuchsia, purple, turquoise, navy blue).  Of course, Sinobia wants a new color.  Her own signature color.  After several trips to beauty supply stores, we find the perfect shade of teal to add to our color collection.

We get up and get started early this morning.  Early for us on a Saturday morning is 11:00 am.

1.  For dark hair, mix the bleach/color lifter.

 2.  Braid hair.  Use a rubber-band to mark how much hair you want to dye.

3.  Apply bleach/color lifter to the section of hair below the rubber-band.

4.  Let color lift to the desired lightness.  I always get nervous during this part for some reason.  I always imagine their hair turning white, which would be perfect for this technique, but I'm too chicken to go there.

5.  Rinse/wash our bleach/color lifter.  Blow dry section.  Add your desired hair color to the section.

6.  Depending on the intensity of the color you want, let color sit for 20-40 minutes.  We let ours stay on for 30 minutes,

7.  Rinse our hair color, shampoo section and blow dry.

8.  I did it!

You'll love this...I'm emailing Gabby to give her the updates from home.  I tell her about my dying Sinobia's hair, because she got to color her hair in 7th grade too.  Here is her response to me:

"Oh okay I see! Actually I got my first streaks in 8th grade so....... Idk if you can do it now:)"

I've totally been scammed by the younger sister!   That is so not fair!   Ha...too late now!