Summer days, when I was a kid, used to be so amazing!  Running around barefooted, playing outside all day long, going to the beach just as the sun was coming up and staying all day, water balloon fights, sleep overs – they were the best!  And I am happy to share that this summer, many of those activities are occurring for this old lady!

As you might remember, Sandy and Aaron are in town, which in itself calls for a party!  So, because I am just a generous person, I will share some of the highlights of yesterday!

The day before ended with a little silliness:

Then, true to form and after staying up SOOOOOO late the night before, Rock Band was the activity of choice!  (The last one Kirstie might be smiling, but I think she had just threatened my life…..):

Then, when everyone REALLY started to wake up, the fun really began!  This fun factor became more serious when Stephanie, Emma, and Austin arrived!  Further, Rona, Sandy, and Emma offered to make FOOD! (Rona is a little shy….she doesn’t usually cook with hair in her face):

The rest of us worked really hard as well sat around waiting for the food:

But, of great concern, was some questionable activities in the kitchen!:

When all was said and done, we were all pretty tuckered out! 

Maybe I will tell you later how, under the bad influence of Rona and Sandy, Kenny punked me!  As for now, Gina OUT! 

Well, it’s been quite a week!  On Wednesday, Kirstie graduated from high school!  On Thursday, Kenny graduated from elementary school!  This mom has had a lot of excitement, happy tears, pride overflowing…..yeah!

I don’t have Kirstie’s graduation pics yet – I took them on her camera so she needs to give me copies.  Suffice it to say, it was a fun experience.  It was HOT, so we were basking in the sun.  In fact, I ended up with a glorious Farmer’s tan….yep…..too much sexy.  One exciting thing was that Ramiele Maluby (you know, from season 7 of American Idol) was at the graduation, apparently she is a relative of someone who was graduating.  She first walked by and Kristin (a long time friend of Kirstie’s and like a daughter to me) was like, “That’s Ramiele!”  I was like, “are you serious?”.  It certainly was!  Kenny braved the crowds and took the video camera up close….maybe I will be able to upload it, we shall see!

Special shout out to Edgar, who got there very early and got primo seats for us!  And Grandma Ellie was SO EXCITED to see Kirstie graduate.  We had a wonderful celebration afterward at Edgar’s house, where Grandma Anita made scrumptious food for all.  Woohoo!  So, I will post pics soon….

Thursday, Kenny graduated from 6th grade.  He was adorable, wearing a suit and trying to be ultra cool.  Here he is before the ceremony began (and yes, I realized the tag was still on his sleeve and removed it):

Of course, we got there well before the ceremony started – again, Edgar was intent on getting great seats, which we did.  As we waited the approximate hour before it started  (yes, we arrived at 7:30 am!), I heard Kirstie and Kristin complain that they were tired.  Can you imagine?  Here they are:

Here is Kenny as the ceremony began and getting his promotion certificate:

After the ceremony, we went to Lucille’s and Kenny had his favorite food – RIBS!!!  Here he is enjoying them to the fullest:

Yep, it was a pretty eventful week!  This mama is VERY proud of ALL my kids!  In fact, here is Josh the morning of Kenny’s graduation.  He was excited because, as it was the last day of school, his class was having movie day (which explains why he is holding a pillow!) and a pic he took with Kristin at Kirstie’s celebration (he jacked my phone):

Okay, well, I am going to have some more coffee and get some errands done today!  Woohoo!

Wow, such an imposing title, AND action! How does one actually ponder life, when each day we experience the unknown? I mean, we might do the same thing – get up, go potty, have coffee, brush teeth….. – but surprises happen to form that day that you didn’t expect. I guess that’s what makes life exciting or sometimes even stressful! So I guess that’s where the pondering comes in…..but alas, I am traveling down yet another tangent.

I’m not sure exactly why I chose to begin writing this subject; maybe it’s my life lately. There is my mom’s health (or lack thereof), the paramount changes in my friendships and employer, the joy of seeing my kids grow and change, the feeling to be enveloped by the love of Christ. A lot has been going on for sure. Some of these feed my soul while others still ring with loss, pain, and even anger. And, that’s okay…….that’s life.

But all does not feed the downer mood that seems to be emanating from the intro to this post!

Tomorrow, my daughter – and oldest child – is graduating from high school! Yesterday, as I sat in my car eating lunch (Taco Bell – lunch of champions), it hit me like a ton of bricks that “just yesterday” I was walking her to kindergarten! I remember worrying about her leaving me, she was so attached to me, worrying that she would cry or freak out or whatever. Yet, she shooed me from the door, blew me off in fact, and the rest is history! She has excelled from that day forward, sometimes crying to me about a friendship gone sour or excitedly telling me wonderful news. I remember her hating her glasses and winning first place in the entire 6th grade spelling bee. I remember going to career day when she was in 8th grade and seeing her jammed into her math class (and where, incidentally, a fireman there for career day asked me out!) I remember the “awkward years” when she died to be seen around me and begged me not to embarrass her. I remember years of fun when she began to play basketball and I was honored to be able to coach her.  Wow, what a shooter!  She was my best shooting guard and, even when she grew beyond my coaching, remained the 3 point guru!  I will always remember that amazing “last second, 3/4 court, hit the rim, fly high into the air, 3 point game winning shot”!  I remember watching her at Canyon when she was on the JV team……whenever she got the ball so many dads in the crowd would scream “There she goes, here comes the 3 pointer!”.  I remember her starting high school, going to her first dance, and growing into a woman right before my eyes. I remember the subtle changes that began to form a friend as well as a daughter. Yet, I am still amazed today to realize my daughter, beautiful Kirstie, is about to graduate from high school with honors, confidence, a great head on her shoulders, and a wonderful loving heart. Oh, and I am proud to acknowledge that she is also LEFT HANDED!

Thank you for putting up with my goofiness. Thank you for calling me “ma”. Thanks for sending me texts, which make me feel so popular. Thanks for letting me call you Teet all these years, even when your friends teased you (tease you?). Thanks for showing me how to play Guitar Hero, even though I suck compared to you. Thanks for supporting me on my dark days and making me laugh so hard on others. Thanks for all the awesome memories as well as those yet formed. Thank you for being YOU, my beautiful little girl.

Kirstie – I am so proud of you! Words cannot express how I feel and how happy I am to be your mother. I love you! You have been a great student, a loving sister, and the best daughter I could ever ask for. I love you!

Blue

Today, I was blessed to witness Josh’s class recite self-composed poetry as well as sing songs!  And, if you know Josh, you know this is the sort of thing he LIVES for!  Here is Josh reciting his poem, “Blue”.

Blue is an M&M that is good.

Blue is the breeze that I feel on my face.

Blue is also the ocean that I hear when it splashes on the shore.

I love that kid, I just do!  Oh, and he takes after his Dad too because he high tailed it to the cookies after the performance!

Today is May 19th, a very special day. Why, you ask? Well here is some historical context for the day:

• 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded at the Tower of London for adultery, incest, and high treason.
• 1643 – Thirty Years’ War: The French led by Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé scored a decisive victory against the Spanish in Rocroi, France.
• 1649 – The Rump Parliament passed an act to formally establish the Commonwealth of England.
• 1802 – Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic, established the Légion d’honneur order as a reward to commend civilians and soldiers
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk traveled to Samsun to establish the Turkish National Movement to resist the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, marking the start of the Turkish War of Independence.
• 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, a mass pioneer movement for children of age 10–15, was founded.

However, as compelling that is, the above is NOT why today is special! Today is my Dad’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

My Dad is pretty awesome! Of course I am not completely biased, but I HAVE known him for a long time! He is handsome, strong (physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually), kind, and loves deeply. He is my model in life – I can attribute so much to him, including my love for rock! I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I am very proud of him and love him very much.

LOVE YOU DAD! I am so glad you’re mine!

Tattoo number four! And, let me tell you, IT HURT! This is the first one I’ve gotten that has color and COLOR HURTS! Mostly because it touches areas that have already been tattooed by outline so it’s especially tender (or, in my own words, RAW!). But I love it!

This is a Mother’s Day Present to myself:

It has been a non stop weekend! Let me start from the beginning so you can get a good sense of it.

Oh Friday Kenny ditched school and I was off of work. We started by talking about the day – a birthday pre-celebration with just me and him. Over coffee, we came up with a sketch of the day’s game plan.

• First we went to Denny’s to have a hearty breakfast. I had my usual Moon Over My Hammy, and Kenny has Chicken Fried Steak and eggs. It was a pleasant breakfast, slow paced, and we had plenty of time of visiting.
• Because it was only around 10am, I told Kenny that I needed to run an errand. What he DIDN’T know is that the errand was to get him a new cell phone. So we drove to the AT&T store and he was VERY excited when he realized why we were there. He picked out a cool Sony phone and we were on our way.
• Then, the highlight! We went to K1 Speed, an indoor kart racetrack. It was SO FREAKING AMAZING! Truth be told, I was a little scared at first because the karts go up to 45 mph, way more fast than the karts at Boomer’s, etc. So the first race I was a wimp and Kenny was zipping around the track with no problem. When I FINALLY got the hang of it and began to catch up with him, the race was over. So, of course, that meant we had to race again! So we did and it was SO FUN! One time Kenny spun a little and I almost crashed into him, but ended up spinning out to avoid him. It worked out though because he spun out right after so we still were close. LOL We are now addicted to this!
• Then, we went to see Iron Man, which worked out because we got there just in perfect time for the next showing. It is actually a good movie! We had fun and he was very sweet to me, holding my hand (but don’t tell anyone!)
• Then, we headed to Guitar Center where we jammed on drums, bass guitars, and guitars. He loved that more than I thought he would!
• We then headed home to hang out, play video games, etc. It was AWESOME! Here is Kirstie getting in on the fun!

  

Saturday continued the fun as it was Kenny’s actual birthday, he turned 13!

• We started by having a family breakfast/lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Here they sang happy birthday to him.

• We then hung out at home talking about Kenny when he was born, little, funny stories he has created in his life, etc.
• We then went to Game Stop to buy him a video game and I got two games for CHEAP as well!
• Then Kenny and I just hung out having fun. It has been COOL!

Now that it’s Mother’s Day, I am being lazy and I am enjoying it! We are going to dinner tonight as Kirstie has to work today! Doh! But to all the mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Seriously, this IS Gina writing and I AM happy! And there are NO drugs involved! (LOL – seriously people, do you think I really REALLY take drugs???)

There are many reasons for me to be happy. Here are some of them:

Kenny, my “little angel”, is too cool for words! AND he is about to turn 13!!!!

And my Josh, who has grown so much since this picture was taken in December!

And beautiful Kirstie that actually made it to her assessment testing yesterday. Cutting it to the wire, babe?

And besides my wonderful kids, I am very happy to have friends in my life that are truly caring and REAL! I have had some dreary days, but yet I am blessed beyond measure! I have reason to rejoice!

Gina OUT