The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

For her birthday, Amy asked for this "Heavenly Help-Mates" shirt.

Well I certainly have no idea what this is about. Evidently it's related to the Flash comics. Not that this description really helps me, but....

Become an official member of the prestigious Heaven Help-Mates with this beautiful, hand-photoshopped shirt! Now it's not just Mopee who gets to be an all-powerful entity that controls anything and everything in the multiverse.

She also has this purple "SPQR" shirt.

This is a little more understandable to me, it's related to the Percy Jackson series of books that Amy loves, The Heroes of Olympus, by Rick Riordan. That much I knew! And then...

SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus, which was the motto of the Roman Empire and translates to "The Senate and People of Rome".

So she has these shirts and pretty much no one knows what they're about. Or they're like a secret decoder ring to find "her people" who know what these things are. I've heard a couple of people mention her Camp Jupiter shirt, but so far none who 'get' her Flash shirt. But that's how she likes it! And it's part of what makes her her.

Then one day I got a package in the mail. It was a t-shirt I ordered...

And I was so excited! The shirt is for a podcast I listen to, Pod Save America (which is hosted by former Obama staffers). And I also realized that few people would 'get' my shirt. But I also like it that way!

So I guess we're kind of two peas in a pod. (GET IT?! podcast pun!)

Shrek-tastic!

Amy decided she wanted to attend a drama camp at a high school in Leesburg. It was a 2-week program that culminated in one production of the show – Shrek the Musical Jr. It was challenging proposition for us to get her to/from Leesburg, but we managed it!

There were 30 kids in the camp, but Amy was the only one who was interested in technical theater. The camp was really well run, though Amy didn't get to interact with the other campers a whole lot. She spent her days with the high schoolers who'd volunteered to help with the technical stuff. They painted signs and made props, and worked on the lighting and sound. Seems she got to observe a lot of that stuff, which was new to her.

On the night of the show, her job was to manage all the cast microphones. That meant mounting the mic pacs somewhere they couldn't be seen, and moving them between people since there weren't enough mics for all the cast members.

The show turned out way better than we expected. They crammed a whole lot of preparation into those 10 days of camp, and they were terrific! Totally smooth production, no flaws that we could notice. Afterward, we learned that her school's drama staff (Mr. K and Ms. Reardon) were in the audience as well...they were scouting the show because they plan to do the same one in the spring. That was a nice surprise to find them there, and for Amy to be able to tell Mr. K about the new skills she's learned. She's really hoping to be stage manager next spring!

After the show, she was so jazzed and talking a million miles an hour. It's so great to see her so excited about something!! She's only sad that she's got to wait all the way until spring for the school production to do it all over again. We're very proud of her hard work and dedication!! She's definitely found her "people" in the drama crowd, which is awesome.

Lead Student Technician!

"It's a little small, don't you think?"

As I said, Reed's been baking all summer. He's back at it again today, and can you believe he just complained that the bottle of vanilla I bought is too small. We had a Costco-sized bottle before, this one is grocery-store-sized. So this is what it's come to. The baker needs jumbo sizes at all times, evidently. LOL

And he's also still texting me at work to ask if we have ingredients for a recipe. I want to say "I don't know, how about you ask someone WHO IS IN THE HOUSE, like maybe yourself?!?"

But we've all enjoyed the treats. :)

And he's even made dinner a couple of times, which is what I'm really rooting for. He made tacos one night and veggie chili another (though I had to be the sous chef and do the veggie prep...baby steps). Full disclosure...he only cooked dinner when it was his dishes day, since he knew someone would do that part if he did the cooking. Evil genius.

Nice

Reed has logged some time 'customizing' Tod's Waze navigation app. He changed the 'child reminder' to this. Such a nice big brother.

One year meat-free

Just looked back at our photos and confirmed it's been over a year since Amy decided to be a vegetarian (I didn't take a pic to mark the occasion, I just remember it was the day of Stevie and Nikki's wedding shower!). Only a little surprised that she's stuck with it, even when I've made the things she used to love best. Still haven't gotten her to branch out and REALLY eat more vegetables and fruit, still struggling with all the fake meat and carb-y meals. But hopefully that'll change at some point.

Summer of baking

In keeping with his love of snacks, and in combination with his boredom level, Reed is doing a lot of baking this summer. He makes cookies or brownies at least once a week. And he doesn't want to make things from mixes because that's "less fun." I'd say he bakes in equal part because he wants a treat, and because he needs things to fill the day. It's hard work doing nothing all summer. :)

The best part is that he also cleans up after himself. I get cookies and a clean kitchen - win/win!

No more braces!

Amy finally got her braces off for good! She got her first set in 2014 (look how young she looks in that 'before' picture!) and the second set came off this past Monday. She's got a retainer to wear mostly full-time for a month, then just at night. The biggest difference, I think, is how her back bottom teeth fit with the uppers. Looking great! Now just to keep them clean and shiny!