Argentine Adventure

Hannah, Sofia, my Mom at DFW airport before the flight to Argentina

Hannah and Sofia are in Argentina for 2 weeks with my mom. They left at 7.35pm on Tuesday, and arrived safely on Wednesday morning after a 10 hour flight. They were so excited about this trip, even though they didn't really have time to dwell too much. School finished on Thursday and by the next Tuesday they were on their way! It's been a whirlwind of last minute shopping, laundry and packing. We needed to buy some sweaters and warm clothes because it's winter over there, in fact one of the coldest winters ever!

I'm so happy for them, they are being treated to all sorts of outings, experiences, visits and travels within Argentina. I have 5 cousins there and several have country homes as well as city homes. There are tons of babies, toddlers and even a few teenagers--between my 5 cousins they have 17 children, including two newborns!!!! Buenos Aires is a beautiful, historic, cosmopolitan city and they are getting the whirlwind tour! I can't wait to hear the stories and see the pictures!

I had been showing them a fellow blogger's Buenos Aires site so they could get a taste of the city, you might want to check it out: http://www.akworld.net/webblog/

Is it summer yet?

Being a teenager's mom is so HARD! Today Hannah and I got into a big conflict, seemingly over nothing, but as always tempers flare between the two of us. She's soooooo ready for school to be over, which I totally understand. She only has this week left and needs to hang in there, but she's ready to shut it down. Last week she skipped school a day, yes, she skipped school...She got up early, took the bus to school and then turned right around and came home, first stopping at Bishop Arts to have a bite to eat (the cosmopolitan drop out....). It was NOT her lucky day though, our friend M saw her and called it in immediately....busted! This week is finals week and she wants to spend the night at a friend's house, go hang out, etc. Hello! It's finals week....

Well, it will be over soon enough, school that is. As soon as it is, she's off to Argentina though, and then to SEEK Camp, and THEN the long and lazy summer can truly begin....

Just when I get SO frustrated with her....something happens and I am reminded that she's such a good kid. She's at a very challenging school with lots of pressures and yet she's getting through it, she is so talented, she's funny. Her rebellions are more attitude than action, she's trying to do the best she can, she wants to do everything and be everywhere and is only human. I read a story about a 19 year old boy who just died of cancer...that was my reminder for today.

Wicked Weather

I know this is nothing compared to what's happened in Kansas, but we've been having some weather drama around here too. A few months ago we had that freaky red dust storm, and then it was unseasonably wet and cold for a long time. Even on Hannah's birthday in late April it was still cold-ish, unheard of! Then last week we had tornados again, there had been one in Fort Worth the week prior. While we didn't get one in Oak Cliff the winds were SO HIGH, it really scared me for the first time ever. We heard sirens and 'evacuated' to the hall bathroom for about 20 minutes. The electricity went out that night and for the next day. We ended up going to bed at 8pm! I drove around the next morning and snapped some pics, including the one above a few streets from my house. Our neighborhood has so many mature trees and they were snapping left and right. You still see a lot of chopping and piles of wood but at least the streets are cleared up again. I can only imagine what it must be like for the people in Kansas whose whole town was blown away.