"sweet 16.....part 2!"

Well she was feelin' the love today :)
Got tons of balloons, flowers and money today!
I couldn't WAIT for her to get home from school/practice!
I was almost sitting at the front door like a little puppy waiting to see how her day was!
She got flowers from Aunt Donna, cousins Drake and Gunner delivered to school. Balloons, candy, stuffed animal from the boyfriends family delivered to school today, money from Gma and Gpa Mac and a card, money from Gma and Gpa Mary and a card, money from Mom and Dad and a card (good for gas money!) and various other fun stuff! And I made her an awesome cake! She had softball practice....................in the rain..............so she was a hot mess when she got home! I just told her to get dressed cause we were goin' to dinner and it really didn't matter. So she went with her hair all crazy and Jason went with us and we met Gma and Gpa Mary at Corino's. Had to get some pics before we went. Not sure what's up with Tyler's "popeye" face! ahhahahaha

Nicole and "the boy".

She had a great day and was a little hyper!

We had a great dinner. Food and company was GREAT! Had a few glasses of wine to get me thru the rest of the day............I have a 16 year old now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"sweet 16............"

Today my baby girl turns 16!
I have very mixed emotions about that!
She is more independent..I am older. She is older. She doesnt need me as much anymore and wants to do more for herself. All part of growing up but I really didn't think that time would get here so quickly....

I always have the table decorated on the morning of my kids birthdays so they already feel special when they get up in the morning.

Usually I always cook them birthday breakfast but we had bigger things to take care of this morning!!

Scheduled her driving test for her license at 9:00 am.

On our way.............

She was really nervous and kept asking me "do you think I'm going to pass mom?" Of coarse I kept reassuring her she would do GREAT! and just to use common sense.

So the DMV was packed when we got there. That is a very scary place........

We filled out all the paperwork and it was time to drive......................

I sat in the DMV lobby with a sick feeling (not that she wouldn't pass, but that my little girl was about to have a new independence in life that didn't include me).......Her and the instructor walk back in the door with huge smiles. He announced in front of everyone that she passed with 100%.......and said she was an excellent driver and thanked ME for her being so prepared and being such a good driver (she is such an overacheiver!).....ahhhhh......warms my heart......she passed her written and now just needed her pic taken.

After she needed money to pay for it.......hahhaahahaa......(I guess they always will need us for something!!). She was so excited and grinning from ear to ear.

So we went back home so she could round up her softball gear for practice.......and needed $5 to buy a parking permit for school.......and a note to exuse her for being late......

And then it hit me..........................she will be getting in her car......................by herself..........driving to school........................alone.............................

She couldn't get out of here soon enough!!

And off she goes.................

So weird for her to drive away. I got a little emotional...................
I needed a minute..........so bittersweet..............and I asked her to text me when she got to school safely...........and she did...........

I texted LeRoy and told him I was a little sad and he said he was too.......Our little girl is growing up............faster then we would like...........

Tonight we are celebrating and going out to dinner and I'm making her a cake.

So far life has been pretty good in the presence of a teenage girl...........

"old school pic.........."

Donna!!!!! I found another one! At your graduation from high school (I was a sophmore......same age as Nicole is now!)
We rocked the big hair. And this is the birthday cake I am making for Nicole on Wednesday. YUM!

I will get that done in my spare time...........

I've been up since 5:30 am. Nicole had to be to school by 6:00 am for softball practice.....REALLY? What the **** is the coach thinking? Morning practice and practice again after school? From 3:00-5:30? IT'S HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOFTBALL!!!!! A little ridiculous.......and most of these girls don't drive! I'm not real happy about it...............

Worked today..............grocery shopped.............picked up Tyler at school..........went BACK to work to cut his hair.......and LeRoys too............picked up Nicole from practice..........might as well cut her hair too.....and I did!!!!...............made dinner................went to the gym.............Just got home. AT 9:30 PM.................

I think it's time for bed......as soon as I switch the laundry and make sure lunches are made.....and I have tons of texts on my phone I need to repond too! sorry people!

And I get to start again tomorrow!

"the car, the crazy kid, the snow (and fall) and a cancelled dance!"

Well...............................we bought Nicole a car.
I have fought so hard with the "just because you turn 16 doesn't ENTITLE you to a car!!!!!"
But LeRoy has been searching for awhile and found a good one. 1999 Toyota Camry.
She isn't 16 until next week! LeRoy has been driving it. hahaahaaa.........I let her drive it to Corvallis this weekend (not by herself! I was in the car!). She loves it. And it fits her. And what 15 (almost 16) year old wouldn't love this for their 1st car! It will make life easier for all of us with work/practice/school etc. Like going to the grocery store for milk and bread!!
But their are LOTS of rules that come with the responsibility of a car! (and insurance, and constant worry, and parking (she's not parking in the garage! that's my spot!) I scheduled her appointment to take her driving test next week!!!!!!!!

So I got banished to the back seat with Tyler. OMG................

Lots of silly and shinannaghans.......................I was laughing so hard it was hard to snap some pics. (I usually don't carry a camera with me at all times in the car, but we were going to National Honor Society and the entire family was in the car. We let LeRoy sit in the front with Nicole driving. And I was going to take pics at the awards.) Maybe I should always carry a camera. This kids makes me laugh!!!!

I'm not sure if we were even off of our street yet!!!!!

This one's got a sense of humor.............He must get that from me!

And we had some crazy snow last week!!!!! I was going out front to take a pretty picture......and fell on my ass in the driveway!!!!! HARD! I still have a huge bruise on my buttocks. I will spare a picture of that!!!! And the gory details of my fall, and laying in the driveway trying to get up, and my hand was swollen and bruised.......................And because of the snow...............................the Sadie Hawkins Dance got cancelled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And she does have the blue shoes I referred to in a previous post. That I was NOT going to shell out the money for. And I did not shell out the money for. Another story for another day. (They were purchased online...............don't get the wrong idea that we didn't pay for them!!!!! "I" didn't pay for them..............................let's just leave it at that..........................(they are pretty fab shoes though............my sister Donna will want them!) Donna....you need a shoe fairy like Nicole's to support your habit!!!

I'm hoping the dance gets rescheduled. We have the dress, the shoes, the boy. Now just need music and a venue! Was hoping to post some pics but will have to see when it happens!

"National Honor Society........"

Once again.........................I'm a very proud momma................
My amazing daughter was inducted into the National Honor Society at school tonight.
It is such an honor and based on academics, scholarship, leadership, service and character. And she graduates with honors....................
There was a ceremony tonight at the high school and we couldn't be prouder.................

The kids that were selected found out last week and I got a text from Nicole saying......"Mom, were you in National Honor Society in high school?" I said "Yes I was! are you?" She said "I am now, I was nominated today!"..................Music to a mom's ears....................

Tyler is seeing excellence in school from his sister and I hope he follows with the same effort and motivation....................He might just try and get by on his good looks!

Raelynn is one of our "other daughters"..........She is a smarty-pants also. Proud of her too. And she always says she is going to marry Tyler someday. The older girls love him!

I love that most of these girls are the girls Nicole hangs out with socially and plays sports with. So nice to see this group striving to be awesome.......

And I love that Trenton is always in the middle of the group of these girls (and he is Nicole's locker partner! hahahaa)

The ceremony was great. The choir sang before the ceremony. So fun! Each student that received honors was called up one by one and lit a candle and had a few words spoken about them. Signed the book and received a certificate............

Proud parents....................

Tonight was a very enjoyable night. My kids are growing up fast and I'm trying to savor every moment. I have some hilarious pics of Tyler I can't wait to post, and the Sadie Hawkins Dance is this weekend. So I will have lots more pics! And my sister Donna suggested I post one "old-school" pic every week....................remember..........I have a scanner.................DONE!

"hey sista.........."

Let's quit our jobs and just shop for shoes!!!!!!!!!! :)
This is me and my OLDER sister. Me on the right, Donna on the left. I think I was about 3 yrs old and she was about 5? (Mom.. verify if this is correct!). Our mom used to make us matching outfits for everything. I loved it! Explains alot about why I love clothes now! And these outfits were pretty amazing!!!!! We were adorable! I remember this day...................Easter at my Aunt Sherri's house...................

"crazy and hectic"

Where do I start?
Well, I'm WORKING WAY TOO MUCH!!!! for starters..................
Nicole wanted the purple out of her hair because the Sadie Hawkins dance is coming up in 2 weeks.............No time to do it with school, work and basketball...........
So we had a "kitchen intervention!" Last Saturday night at 8:00 pm we went down to the salon to get the supplies to take the purple out of her hair. I knew it was going to be a big job.
Much easier putting it in, then getting it out. Hair clips/extentions would have been MUCH easier!
We started with a color remover (test strand of coarse!). Ummmmmm.........turned her hair green. Not good...........
Plan B.....................bleach with 40 volume developer.................very harsh on the hair but gets the job done! Of coarse it turned her hair canary yellow (which I knew it would). Only took me 3 hours in my kitchen starting at 8:30 pm on a Saturday night. I was tired and wasn't really excited about doing it...................but of coarse I did.
Knowing I had to put color back in her hair I told her to go to bed with yellow Big Bird hair and we would go to the salon on Sunday and finish it. So 2 hours later.................
Back to her natural, beautiful, gorgeous hair.
(I really am a miracle worker!!!!!) We agreed to leave it how it is for awhile :) And now it matches her hair extensions for the dance. 5 hours of work on my days off................no wonder I feel like I didn't get a day off!! We were tired and getting silly. It looks like we were having more fun than we really were.

Not my 1st "kitchen intervention"............

Easier to do at the salon because we have hooded driers. We had to make it work and do it the old fashioned ghetto way. My arms got tired so I made her do some of the work!

I finally got all of my "snow" decor down and decorated a little bit for spring. That's pretty much it. hahahhaaa.............But it makes me happy.

Before we had the hair intervention last Saturday we ran up to Salem (I let Nicole drive on the freeway for the 1st time!! yikes!!!!! but she did good) looking for very specific shoes for the dance.

She wanted bright royal blue slillettos. Not easy to find. Went EVERYWHERE.

Found a pair she loved at Nordstrom.

Didn't have her size.

Oh. And they were $90.00.

Are you kidding me? I am NOT paying $90 for a pair of shoes that will be worn for 12 minutes. Because as soon as she gets to the dance I can guarantee they will be off. Cause they are too high to dance in and will kill her feet! Not worth it just for pictures! I should/won't/should go on-line and see if I can find them. Running out of time. Already out of money!

So I went to Kohl's (they usually have the worst shoe selection)..........found these. LOVE! On sale for $29.99. I bought them and brought them home. Nicole said "they are cute, but not what I wanted.". My response was "I know dear, but this is what you have, and they will be the "backup" shoes incase we find something else you like.". So pretty much she is wearin' them. hahahhaaa...........They are pretty FAB! And way more sparkly in real-life.

When a teen girl gets something in her mind..........that's all the matters. But she liked these shoes and can wear them again.

I want to buy a pair for myself and wear them to the grocery store!!

And now my girl has strep throat. Bad. Urgent care said could possibly be mono. Really...........can you give me an answer please? She is a hot mess...........but her hair looks great and she has some fab shoes she can wear while she is laying on the couch!

Humor and a postive attitude is keeping me alive. Maybe I should try wine?

Tyler is just playing basketball and trying to stay out of the crazy that is his life..................hahaha