Mid-Summer Update

I'm just gonna warn you now: get cozy. There's two more similar posts coming, and they're going to be longer than this one. Life here has not been dull.

Lest you think that we don't love Special Edition or Oldest very much because I'm lumping them into one update together, well, that's not true. They just haven't wreaked as much havoc this summer. This is partly due to the fact that Special Edition now lives with her fiance about two hours away from us, and that Oldest has mostly, well, kept her nose clean and only not forgotten to take her ADHD meds a couple of days, which has resulted in some insanity for me.

Special Edition, graduate!

Special Edition did, however, have one great moment that we definitely need to acknowledge and celebrate: she graduated from high school at the end of May.

We are so very proud of her.

So proud we could plotz.

So proud I almost did.

Oh my goodness, there's no way to describe how much we love this girl.

She came out and spent a few days with us so that she could go to the required rehearsals in order to walk in the ceremony, and we were so thrilled to have her home for that short time.

The last two Sundays, we have met up with her and Mr. Nurse, her fiance, at a lake that's relatively near us, and had a marvelous time. It was great fun to be able to just hang out and enjoy each other's company. Oldest's birthday is next week, so we're trying to arrange another lake party for that.

Speaking of Oldest, she is also doing well. She's nervous about the fact that she starts middle school in the fall, but otherwise is a spunky kid. Thanks to a camp scholarship, she spent a week at summer camp in mid-June and came back less tanned this year than she has in years past. She didn't pick swimming as one of her activities this year. Otherwise, she would have come back nearly as chocolate-colored as a Hershey's Special Dark bar. I need SPF Bulletproof. She barely needs sunscreen to protect from sunburns (we still have her use it for obvious reasons). She doesn't burn. She just gets darker. Me, I can burn on a cloudy day.

Oldest also made a big step into the world of growing up this summer, too. (She was so excited about this that I don't feel bad about sharing it.) She now has training bras, and is very excited. She even made me text Gramma about it right away. Lessons in bra-wearing etiquette have been ongoing.

And, that particular story is important for when you read Youngest's forthcoming update.

Last week, while the twins were at swim camp, I had Oldest with me when I went to go pick up Hubby from work. Oldest had, that particular day, forgotten to take her focus pill in the morning and I hadn't discovered it (because she told me she was "absolutely sure" she had) until about 3 in the afternoon, and one of the things that happens with ADHD is that, well, in Oldest's case, she can't stop talking. And I'd had enough. She'd been running her mouth nonstop for eight hours. And the whole drive down to Hubby's store.  And while we waited for him to finish.

Oldest. She's all legs, isn't she?

And so I snapped at her when we all got in the car.

"Why are we yelling at her?" Hubby asked.

"Because she didn't take her pill this morning like she said she did, and she hasn't shut up all day, and I just told her to be quiet a few minutes ago. She's driving. me. NUTS!"

Hubby just laughed at me. He has ADHD too. He knows how next-to-impossible it is for her to actually stop talking when she doesn't have the help of the medication to slow her brain down so that it works more efficiently. So do I, but I had no more nerves left.

Thankfully, we've managed to make sure she takes her pills regularly and missed doses are few.

Stay tuned. Updates for Middle and Youngest are coming...and they're doozies.