Congratulations Class of 2009

The class of 2009 had a grad night party for the seniors after graduation last night. They set up for the event early and needed some security guards to watch the place during graduation.

So the teenager and I took a shift to help out.

It looked like they had tons of entertainment including a hypnotist... that should be funny.

And games the kids can play and earn tickets for some pretty cool prizes... we saw dorm refrigerators, TVs, laptops, GPS systems, computers... and everything in between.We wanted to try out the mechanical bull, but the landing mat wasn't blown up, so we passed.

Human bowling... tempting, but there was no way I was going to let the teenager lock me inside a bowling ball.... he had the keys to the car.

He was being a good sport to come and do security with me... kind of...

I can't believe I only have one more year with him...
We watched their senior dvd that had photos from babies, toddlers, elementary, junior high and then finally high school... it was really fun to watch since we knew so many kids.

Then we played a few games of Foosball... yes he beat me!
It has been such a long time since I had played and I don't remember ever being very good at it.
But I can still take him down at billiards!
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It was fun hanging out and talking about his senior year plans together for a little while. When our job was complete, he ditched me and went golfing... so much for our bonding time!
It was fun while it lasted.

Taylors BFF...

Morgan is definitely Taylors BFF! It is evident in everything she does.

She loves to play and run and sleep with her.

And it must go both ways, because only your BFF would let you sit on her for no apparent reason other than just needing to be close to her!

What's the deal? This dog is such a nut!!

Always keeping me in stitches!

The return of the water...

Just in time for some hot weather... we have our irrigation pump back in.

But only thanks to my strong silent mysterious mans bff!

Guys probably don't say that, but he is... he was there for the 1st deer (remember Hershel), moral support on church talks, pulling the boat off the sandbar, the cub scout day hike, other pump repairs and many other exciting events that I think qualify him for the bff title.

I am so grateful it was him on the other end of things instead of me...

I've been told that I don't follow directions very well; and read too many things into his facial expressions.

Something a bff would never get blamed for doing.

And only a bff would come running to help in the hot blaring sun.

They work together perfectly, and happily!
Plus, someone had to photo document the moment.
And I am happy to have water back in the neighborhood again.
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These guys are heroes today... all the neighbors are really happy too!

God bless Texas...

The project is finished, complete with a written AND verbal presentation! Wahoo!

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It was so hard for me to sit back and watch the construction of this project and only give input when solicited! I tell you, a test of my ability to trust and believe in my teenager for sure. But I think how ever it turns out (the grade is 30% of his history grade), it will be his own.. and that teaches him so much more than any cool stone paint job I could have done on the stucco, or any fun dessert scene I could have created, or any recreation of a battle and all the elaborate ideas I had waiting for him to ask me. I was asked to gather and glue on some dessert plants... that was my contribution.

This kid loves history and I hope his desire to learn more of it, stays with him for a long time... I think I skipped more history classes than I attended, so he is already leaps and bounds ahead of me in life! He is such a good kid, now I just have to have a discussion about the Texas dirt in the floor of my kitchen... hmmmm.

Remembering the Alamo...

Remember the DNA Project?

Well this week we are remembering the Alamo! The teenager is growing up... he actually started this history project (that he had 3 weeks to work on) 3 days before it was due... instead of springing it on me the night before... my baby is really growing up!

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Just like any other last minute project... he has been thinking about it for the entire 3 weeks and has some kind of elaborate plan in his head. Carrying out that idea is an entire other story! So as it goes my job is to alter each piece of his "grand scheme" to fit our budget, so I am not spending $40k for an "A" in History.

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It started with the armies... we had to have something to represent something like 6,000 to 250 ratio of armies. He had in his head plastic army men. I KNOW... I tried to detour him... there were no bazooka's at the Alamo... but I was informed "it is just a representation"! Open my mind a little... right!

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So after combing the entire area for 6,000+ army men (who knew they would be soooo hard to find) we finally found them at.... get this... dah dah dah... the dollar store! Yippeee!! I was loving that, and I did manage to get him to scale down the ratio to a manageable number.

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I could just envision us on Wed night at 2am still gluing 6,000 army men on the project!

My next determent would be his need for enough wooden dowels to shave the tops to a point and build a fort scene. I KNOW exactly how much wooden dowels cost, and even the thought of having to cut and shave each one to a point... AHHHHH!

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think... think... think....

The dead tree... that's it!

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I suggested to GW (George Washington) who had just cut down this tree last week (as it still lays in my back yard... I guess we were waiting for a proper memorial or something)... use the tree for your fort!

One of my better ideas! It gets rid of the tree AND serves as a FREE donation to the history project! (until I did some research on the Alamo myself, and the main fort is made of these stucco looking stones... shhhhh don't tell the teenager, the fort is looking pretty authentic, and I don't need any meltdowns on the day before the project is due... "it's a representation")


It is looking like it is coming together... some paint , a little dirt and sage brush, clip off the bazookas and we could be close. Although I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch... it's not over til it's over!
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I am really sarcastic in my posts, especially about my teenager... but I love him with ALL MY HEART, and he is really a good kid... I couldn't be more proud and I am sure these crazy memories will be all I hang on to when he leaves home! Sarcasm is just how I seem to deal with it all in the moment.
But I am cherishing... I promise!!

A clip from my day...

I took one of my favorite drives today... one because it is to my favorite hair lady (it always feels good to have my mane put back in order again) and two because I love the view coming over the hill down into the valley.

Especially this time of year!

You can't tell in the photo, but this is from the top of the hill looking down into the valley and the Owyhee mountains are in the back ground (it took me a long time before I could let mountains come out of my mouth instead of hills... but they are growing on me and kind of look like mountain "wanna be's" when they have snow on them in the winter time).

Then over the snake river... the water can make a 98 degree day seem so much cooler! It's not Puget Sound, but I love the water! (especially if you get stuck out in it until 1am huh Mom... hee hee... you can go read about our once in a lifetime river adventures here one year ago today! )

And Katie... I can't even say enough good things about her!
I love my hair, I love our talks, I love sharing stories... better than any therapist! Just what I needed to day, I left grinning from ear to ear! Thanks Katie!!!

Monday missing you blues...

I think Taylor must have the "Monday missing you" blues today... she is used to all of us being home and playing with her on the weekends, and especially all the bonding time we have on Sundays. She loves to play, but taking being quiet and snuggling watching movies is some of her favorite times too. And then Monday comes and she is stuck with just me all day long.
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I am used to her following me around the house, and sticking to me like glue... and this morning I was doing some chores and she wasn't following me around. So I went looking for her, and found her in our dark bedroom, she had gone back to bed!

I woke her up when I turned on the camera, and the flash lit up the room. But this is terribly uncharacteristic for her. Morgan has snuck back to bed a time or two, but never Taylor!

Then during my lunch break from working this afternoon, I was folding some laundry and I got up to put somethings away and I came back to the living room and found her like this....

Inside the laundry basket I had just gotten the clothes out of? What is going on with this crazy girl today? She must need my attention so badly, she wants to be "next" on my list of things to do today.

So funny!! If I couldn't relate to the "needy" feeling, I would probably blow this off. But I know... when you need some love and attention, hey, you just can't help it. Everyone needs to be and feel loved sometimes... her time just happens to be Mondays!

I LOVE this girl!