Back to school this year did not hold up to the positive promise seen on the first day. As a matter of fact it has been excruciatingly painful. Not a place to discuss the details and no quick fixes looming so I may continue to be a "bad, bad blogger lady" for the foreseeable future )-: Life for girls with traumatic histories who have difficulty seeing the future sometimes gets too overwhelming...for the parents as well as the child!
We are working very, very actively towards healing and happiness. The 9/11 anniversary did not help matters....
On Friday, September 9th both of the girls came home from school rather upset at conversations and lessons that had occurred regarding the events of that day. I am a crier. Literally I can cry at ANYTHING!!! Olympic commercials, Super Bowl commercials, reality TV shows....you name it and I've probably shed a tear or ten. Soooooo, me talking to two distressed little girls about a horrific event would surely mean tears so I took a deep breath and made a HUGE decision............
There was no TV on at our house this past weekend. Girls played outside on their scooters and bikes until the sunset. We made a very conscious decision to avoid all things 9/11! In the exact words of "we are not strong enough at this moment to handle more sorrow or sadness" we all agreed to let this anniversary pass....without us....
So when Sunday morning dawned gorgeously warm and sunny we did what we do well...... TRADITIONS!!! Into the car we piled and off we drove to the ORCHARD (-: It is still a week too early to actually go out among the trees to pick the apples but the 'Barn' was open and we were looking for our Pumpkin Butter and cider doughnut fix!! Enjoy a few pictures from the day...
Auntie Peggy came with us too (-;
The girls even wore matching outfits and posed willingly for pictures!?!?
Auntie Peggy has some great ideas and the very wonderful results are still on her memory card in her camera because we have just been too busy to swap files just yet!
I mean, really!!! They sat touching each other...on rocks...and smiled!?!?! It was a day made positive ON PURPOSE by all who participated (-:
We started out the day with our cider doughnut fix.
They really, really, genuinely will put a smile on your face they are so darn delicious!!
The day was about as perfect as could be in the weather department.
One girl was still working on her new metal free smile (-:
I was getting in touch with my Mommy Dearest persona...no, not really!!!
A hundred times or more my littlest lady commented on how glad she was that we had decided to make the trek to the orchard...and I'm thinking the color Google image printouts I had on my sewing machine that night with "What I want to be for Halloween" printed on them were the result of browsing in the Barn's Halloween section.
Waaaaay inside joke here!!! {Hint, someone's first American food addiction!]
Julia with the smaller half of the haul...Mari had a whole bushel FULL of treats we just could NOT pass up but that would be one of the pictures still on Auntie Peggy's camera.
The cat that ate the mouse smiles as they watched the cashier ring up treat after treat!
More posing for pictures..
...and even more posing..
My favorite one of the day!!
Then I had this brilliant idea...let's stop by a corn field and take some pictures.... they cooperated beautifully if less than impressed with the brilliance of the idea!
Half of the fun of the day is being able to look at these pictures and realize just how the narrative does NOT match the recorded image! The lovely cooperative smile covering the clenched teeth as she hisses, "Hurry up! I don't want to get a tick...and there might be field mice by my feet!!!"
....and the "This is so dorky Mom!" said through a plastered on smile. Not that they were not genuinely smiling and happy...because they were!! It is just that at this age you get the running commentary offered ventriloquist style so they don't have to do any 'retakes'.
