November

Jeez, July and November I'm posting, not great! Veronica is doing great.  She is doing very, VERY well in school, she gets pulled out for reading and math, she reads like Evelyn Wood.  Is it Evelyn Wood?  Who advertised the speed reading late at night? Anyway, she is super smart.  She has friends in school, she is no trouble.  Well, she is a little trouble, ha! She is tired so often, she can be a little weepy and sad for no apparent reason, I worry about her.  But mostly, she is fine.

She is making her first confession in a few weeks and then she will make her first communion in the spring. She does not like to go to church and then when she does, she wants to drape herself all over me.  Oy, it's a lot! I am trying to break it up a little, maybe take her with just me on a Saturday night, let Mike take Maria and Felicity on Sunday morning.  Everything is easier when I am not working so much.

She is taking Tae Kwon Do two afternoons a week and next month she'll try to get her yellow belt, so that's exciting!  She and Maria went to a clinic at the gymnastics place near us and she liked it but she doesn't love to exercise.  I mean, who does? But it seems like she should have more energy.

Anyway, all is well, she is as sweet as ever.  Here are some pictures!

Sleepaway Camp

I never went to sleepaway camp, I never even knew it was an option.  I had some friends who went away to camp, up in the Catskills or whatever, but they were all Jewish, and I think I thought only Jewish kids went to sleepaway camp?  Maybe?

Anyway, two years ago, Veronica and Maria went to the day camp version of our CYO camp and today I drove them about 60 miles south of here, registered them, walked them up (and I do mean UP, their cabin is on the top of a giant hill, and left them there, no to return until Tuesday.  They were both wonderful about it, particularly because we found out on Thursday that although they'd be in a cabin together, they were not going to be with any of their requested friends from their school, so that stunk.  I had called to find out if I had a balance due and the girl I spoke with said she was "going to call" to tell me and I just don't know if she would have been able to get to it before I got there today. I was really glad to be able to tell Maria and Veronica in advance, particularly because I, we all, were going on the premise that they were going to be with friends.  Maria was HORRIFIED, but we talked it out and by the time we got there they were being brave about it.  They both knew one girl in there, she is the cousin of one of our neighbors.  I pray that they are going to see some of their friends and maybe make some new friends.  We'll see!

Here's Veronica, sitting on her bunk, the way I left her.  They were getting ready to go swimming.  I miss them but I hope they are having fun.

Summer

Summer has begun, this week, in earnest.  It's really last week that it started for us but Mike was home from work last week so we eased into it.  On Monday we went to the park for a birthday party and lunch, Tuesday we went strawberry picking and today we went to the Zoo!  My mom took them to the pool on Monday afternoon, she is taking them tomorrow, we went to the library yesterday before we went to get Anthony.  They are not hurting for something to do and that is for damned sure.  They have been staying up a little later, we are still reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so they sleep in a little later, which is pleasant.  Veronica is her sweet self, she cries and is sad more than I'd like.  She is extremely sensitive, but also a real people pleaser, so a lot of the time I just find her crying and I feel awful because I didn't realize it earlier.  Anyways.  So far, seven is going just great.

Veronica is Seven

So Veronica is now seven and she is almost finished with first grade.  She is a great, great student.  She is a nice and sweet person, I love her madly.  She does, however, drive me bananas with the falling down and the crying that she does.  She gets SUPER overwhelmed by emotions and she can't even talk!  Over what seems to be nothing!  Also she is too slow moving and she never can find her shoes.  But those things are also kind of endearing and what makes her her so I am not complaining.  This summer, she is going to go to sleepover camp for three nights, with Maria, of course.  Veronica is the one who brought it up though.  She asked me, can I go to the CYO camp for a week?  I said I think they have a three day and I think that will be enough and she said no, I'd rather go for the week.  I said it's a long time! Don't you think you'd miss us? She said maybe I could just bring a picture?  And I could look at it?  But anyway she is going for a week, with Maria and with some friends.  I hope it goes great and I hope they don't come back with lice!

Her last day of first grade is Thursday, it's a half day.  She has never had a bad behavior all year, never been below green (ready to learn) on her behavior chart.  She has done really well in reading, math, all of it.  She did a presentation on an animal this year, she chose a wolf.  She told me she wanted to make a "life size wolf" for her creative piece.  I said, how about a nice diorama and she said NO.  LIFE SIZE WOLF.  She had heard of someone who made a life size great white shark from pizza boxes.  So I found a pattern and cut it out and she colored it in and it came out really good.  It's been a good school year.  I'm bullish for the future!

February

Veronica was in the talent show at school on Friday and it went just great.  When the signup came out for the talent show, Maria said she was going to do something and then when it came time to audition, she cried and freaked out, said she changed her mind and that she had stage fright.  So I said okay, no problem, and I emailed the music teacher and said Maria had changed her mind and she said fine.  Then I thought I was all finished with the talent show and THEN Veronica came home with a notice in her folder that said "Congratulations! You are in the Talent Show!" and I was like, what is this, Veronica?  She said, super casually, I'm in the talent show.  I said what is your ... talent?  Dance, she said.  I said okay but I was doubtful.  Then she went to the first out of two rehearsals which she was supposed to attend and came home saying that she was supposed to go to not just two but three and that now she was singing.  She said she had eaten her aftercare snack and she didn't think it was a good idea to dance on a full stomach.  I am not making any of this up.  So I said okay, what are you singing? and she said Dark Horse by Katy Perry.  Mmmmkay, I said and printed out the lyrics for her.  THEN she changed it to Roar by Katy Perry and that's what it stayed.  I saw a rehearsal last week, the last one, because I had to stay with the other girls and wait for Veronica before we got Anthony, and she almost didn't rehearse.  She was trying to change her song again and her teacher smartly told her that the program was already printed, so Veronica rehearsed it and then Friday they did the talent show for their school.  Her teacher sent a general type email Friday afternoon and I couldn't take it, I wrote her back and asked if Veronica had actually performed and said YES, she had and it went really well so I was massively relieved.  Mike couldn't go because he stayed home with Anthony and Felicity but Marta and her family went and Laura and I went and she did really well.  It was all super cute, they all did a great job.  I'm glad she did it and I'm glad it's over!