I Told You I Would Be Back

Well here I am.  I have survived a preschool graduation and an 8th grade graduation. I have survived making 3 sheet cakes and 48 cupcakes. I have survived cleanup after 8th grade graduation and I have survived letting my little man go to his 1st ever sleep over with someone other than family. We all had a great time and the best part is that I didn't have to fight to get the kids ready for school!  Please enjoy the following pictures of our graduation adventures.....like any good bad mom, I didn't get a very good
picture of my 8th grader but I will be posting some when the "better" ones come to me. Have a great day!

Rollie's preschool graduation cake

Preschool cake....again

Waiting his turn at the famous preschool track meet

Dad was Rollie's race buddy

Maddie spruced up for graduation

Gabe got bored and decorated Munga (Grandma)

I got the graduate and JJ(grandpa) in one picture

Heading over to get his diploma

1 of 2 8th grade graduation cakes

 

                           Cake #2 of 8th grade

                           

48 cupcakes for 8th grade graduation

8th grade graduation class motto (LOVE IT!)

Emily actually getting her diploma (I don't claim to be a professional photographer)

oh, and we ate another smurf!

GRADUATION!

Well today is a milestone. My last baby is graduating from preschool.  My hero Linda has taught all four of my children and Rollie is the last one. THANK YOU Linda for hanging in there for me....it is OK to retire now. :-) (oops...you gotta wait 1 more year for my nephew, Sabien, to graduate...haha) I am gearing up to decorate my sheet cake for the graduation this afternoon.  We will attend the graduation this evening and watch Rollie become an official kindergartner! THEN.......tomorrow, I get to bake & decorate 48 cupcakes and decorate 2 more sheet cakes for my oldest Emily's 8th grade graduation! Good thing I had all my kids so close together.  ;-)  Oh, and I get to make treats for Gabriel's class for his birthday treats! Well, I am off to get my housework done before I pick up the graduate from this last day of preschool but I will be back in the next day or two to let you know how it all went and hopefully a few cake pictures too!

Christmas already??

You may have noticed the new background...(yes I know it is Christmas-y) but it could have been worse. I could have chosen the one with Santa Claus on it (which was pretty cute) or the reindeer but I chose to go conservative and picked the wreaths because I figured that if you REALLY stretched your imagination that maybe, just maybe, Thanksgiving could fall under this page too! (Isn't a wreath good for any occasion??)

I am a girl that loves the holidays...Christmas and Halloween being the top 2. I wasn't on the ball to put up a Halloween page and there is just no time to do a Thanksgiving one. As for Christmas, that holiday seems to be getting longer and longer every year! I am pretty sure that I saw a few Christmas displays in July!!!! If only I was one of those super organized people that can shop for gifts a whole year in advance....imagine the money I could save and the lack of stress. I am sure if I did that I would end up like Clark Griswold....always hiding the gifts and then finding gifts from previous years! I could just start stocking up a vast array of gifts when everything goes for 99% off the day after Christmas, wrap them and then just pull out a gift when needed. That way it will truly be a surprise for all! Although, Grandma might not enjoy getting the size 6 boys underwear and I doubt Grandpa would enjoy a pair of toddler snow boots. Maybe I will just start giving away beautifully wrapped empty cardboard boxes. Haven't you ever heard people say, "Little kids end up liking the boxes better than the toys that come in them anyways!" Imagine all of the $$ of I could have saved if I had thought of this sooner! It could also be a great character builder....teach your children early that they don't always get what they want and how to make lemonade out of lemons! LOL!!!! Or I could just give a one year memberships to the Jelly of The Month Club....that is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!

I am the 4th of 5 kids. As I was growing up (back in the stone age) I don't remember there being ad after ad after ad for all of the crap that they are trying to sell these days. I also don't remember watching that much T.V. when I was a kid. As a mother I have learned how to listen politely and smile while they ramble on about the bajillion things that they want for Christmas and try to filter out the one or two things that they ask about all year. So far their lists are short but I am sure that once the T.V. ads hit full stride I will have to put on my game smile (and ears) and get ready for battle.

Don't even get me started on the decorating. I used to live in a fairly good sized house with ample wall space for my MANY (did I mention many?) decorations. Now I live in a slightly smaller house (more like cracker box--but we love it) and have tried, for the past 2 years, to fit said decorations (or as my husband calls it....crap) into it! Ask him sometime how much he LOVES to put up the outside lights!!! I am sure that he could just gush about it for hours! I know that he can't wait to do it again this year because he has already mentioned it for the past 3 weekends..... or it could just be that he would rather hang them with a slight breeze blowing (yes 70 MPH is considered slight around here) instead of in a blizzard with gale force winds! Either way he knows that I will make him do it so he might as well make it easy on himself! It could be worse....we could still live in the other house -- here is a picture of it so you understand what I mean! (now imagine what the inside looked like :-) Until next time....