I'm a Blog Neglector!

I know, I know. I have been terrible about posting any blogs this summer. It has just been so hectic around here. I agreed to watch my stepdaughter, Sophia, this summer. It has actually turned out to be a lot of extra work. I am exhausted trying to entertain two seven year olds, chase around an 11 month old, and being pregnant to boot. Sophia was finally diagnosed with Asperger's at the beginning of this year. I don't even need to elaborate on the fact that Corey and I have known something was wrong with her since she was a baby... those of you who know me have heard at least six years worth of it. Anyway, it just adds to the difficulty of the whole situation. Enough about that or I will start to elaborate.

Some exciting news about Rhiannon. We had the National American Miss pageant in Columbus this past weekend. Now I just want to reiterate (for those of you that might not have read the earlier post explaining all about the pageant), that this pageant is NOT one of those freak shows where the moms dress their 5 year olds, etc. to look 25. I don't mean the children are freaks.... just any mother that would do that to their child. The girls in National American Miss are not allowed to wear any makeup until they are teenagers competing in the older divisions. I was really impressed with the whole shindig. It was a wonderfully organized, classy affair. It was apparent early on that we were mingling with little girls that have extensive coaching. Some of them show up with their coaches and their own personal hairdressers. But even given our lack of pageantry knowledge, Rhiannon made it to the semi-finals, and was in the top 25 out of 123 girls! I am so proud!! It was really exciting. We have been invited back next year, and she had a great time, so we will probably do it again. This time we will know what to practice. Here's a picture of Rhiannon after she was called back on stage as a semi-finalist.

So the weekend befor the pageant, I had a slumber party for the girls' birthday. I've decided that the person that created the whole "slumber party" concept should spend some time hanging from their toenails. The girls had a great time though. They played on the water slide and trampoline, threw water balloons, watched movies, and stayed up until 12:30 in the morning... which means so did I. Sophia didn't make it the whole night. She had a meltdown and Corey had to take her home at about 10:00pm. The really unfortunate thing about her disorder is that we never know what to expect. Here are a few pics from the party.

A week or so before the party, I finally got to meet Rachel, Mike, and the girls. I took the girls to the cottage, and they got to play on the beach a little. Then a few nights later, the four of us even got to go out without the kids!

So I will try not to be so neglectful of the blog from here on out. I have a lot of scrapping to get busy doing for the creative team too. I hope everyone is having a great summer!