...but the years are short.

*sigh* A milestone has come and gone in our lives.  My oldest, Will, has graduated from high school!

First there was the Baccalaureate ceremony on May 13th.  It was wonderful!  Will gave the welcome...

Will

Megan and Will at the reception

Will, Matt V. and Brett

Brett, Will, Matt V. & Mia

Will and Erica S.

Will and Sam

My parents and sister arrived on Wednesday to attend the graduation ceremony on Thursday and prepare for the big party on Friday night!
Graduation Day!

Will singing their class song, "Lean on Me"

Hey look!  It's Will and Megan!

My sweet boys...

Apparently REALLY sweet!

 It was a real LOVE IN let me tell ya.  My boy was gettin' the lovin' from every girl he passed!  Tee Hee!
 Had to drag him away from the ladies to get the family pics!

Cheese!  So happy:)  Wow. When did my baby become a man?  I guess we were busy with the business of raising, feeding, burping, educating and loving and then all of a sudden the cap and gown showed up.  Isn't this the goal? Yes. I guess it is alot like child birth. You are never really ready when the hard contractions start, but you can't stop it. *sigh* *sigh*
So on to the party the next evening.  I was expecting about 70 people.  I told Will to make sure he invited his friends whose families didn't get an invitation in the mail.  Well, he put it on Facebook..Need I say more? Yes...because he didn't tell me he did.  We ran out of little rolls for the ham and by the end of the night the mega pack of cups I bought at Sam's Club were GONE!  Geez, I bet there were 125 people here.  It was GREAT!  

 We had the West Shore Jr. Sr. High Jazz Band play too!

Then they switched it up and added other members!

 

We had lights in the palm trees and tables all along the backyard

There was a Candy Bar inside....

The ladies kept cool in the pool

Hey....is that my youngest with those older women?!

It was so much fun!  What a blessing to have family and friends to help us celebrate such a milestone!
The days are long, but the years are short. *sigh* If we are lucky, this is true. If this is the plan God has for us, I will take it.  I feel lucky.  I feel blessed.  I feel happy.  I feel that transition coming...This is livin' isn't it? Yep.

The days are long but ...

You know, yesterday my friend Dani took this photo.  I mean yesterday if the days were actually 13 years long.  I am not ready for his graduation.  Then again I wasn't ready for his birth either and THAT came 5 weeks ahead of schedule.  It's not that I am not a planner.  It's not that I don't want him to grow up.  It's just...hmm.
We had visited his chosen college's campus 2 weekends ago.  We saw the dorm rooms (resorts, I tell you) and the Engineering buildings, the student union.  As he and I were walking back to the car, he said, "Mom, are you going to be alright?" Well, yea until he asked THAT!! *sniff* "Of course, I'll be alright," I said bravely--you know in that mom way.  "Dad and I are sooo proud of you!  This is such an exciting time in your life, but you have to realize that it is the first BIG transition for our family.  We are all going to have to adjust.  So if there are *sniffs* and *watery eyes*, it is just the transition happening and we are just trying to adjust as fast as we can."  I say too much.  "OK"  he says with a half smile.  My little boy.  My angel.  My adult man. Ok.  This makes my throat tight.  That transition is bearing down, isn't it?

Ride 'em!!!!

I am such a raccoon.  If it sparkles, I love it. I really keep it reined in though. No pun intended since I just got back from the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee, FL.  There were sparkley things there too. Like these jeans...Yea I took that pic when she wasn't lookin'.  I did ask her where she bought them though! Don't know where I would wear jeans with shiny wings on the butt...But, I liked them.  There were Rodeo Queens with crowns and some chaps...not enough as far as I was concerned...of the chaps that is.  I digress...Here are some shots of the bucking and snorting and racing and roping! Fun! Fun!  I want to do this too!!!

OK...not this

Look at that horse heel up when that calf is roped!!

How about that lasso right above that calf?!

This I want to do!!! That's a beautiful horse.

Ride 'em!

Owwww!  That's GOT to hurt!

We really had fun!  Didn't even wear my boots :(  Next time...with my angel wing jeans!  Tee Hee!

The Big Apple Circus...NYC style

I have ALWAYS loved the circus.  My grandparents used to take me to Barnum and Bailey in Little Rock, Arkansas. Of course, I wanted to be on the trapeze and wear the sparkley outfits and be caught as I flipped through the air while the audience gasped! Alright, I'm back now. I really wanted the sparkley outfits. I even tried to convince my family that we HAD to travel over to Venice,FL and go to trapeze school for the day!  How much fun would THAT be?? Apparently not enough to warrant the 3 hour trip.  I can usually convince them, though.  Like I did for the Silver Spurs rodeo last weekend!  ANYWHO...I bought tickets for The Big Apple Circus the night before the Macy's Parade.  We had been watching "Circus" on PBS and it featured the behind the scenes lives of people in the Big Apple Circus, so we felt like we knew them!  It was GREAT!  I wish we had been down at ringside, but LORDY the $$$ for those seats were "cost prohibitive" to say the least.  I still managed to have a wonderful time as did the family!
Here is "Grandma"!  I love him.  Such a nice guy and again...felt like I knew him already!

But this was the act that floored me....

 AND THIS!!!!

That's right...goats riding horses.  I was STUNNED.  That trainer worked some magic!  How did she do it???  I envisioned her sitting at her farm in the Ukraine, looking around, taking inventory.  "Let's see.  I need a new gig.  What do I have?  Goats, Horses, a couple of dogs, chickens..." Really.  How did she train 'em?  I was blown away.  So the next day at the parade, there they were lining up right in front of us!  We weren't suppose to go up to any of the floats, celebrities etc., but I couldn't help myself.  Shocking, I know.  So here they are...
That's her on the far left.  I told her she was a genius and blabbered on about training goats and how did you get the horses the let the goats ride.  Geez.  No Composure.  See the guys on the far right?  Those dudes could shinny up a pole and hang there fast as lightening. (bonus points for clever comparison).  Here is a pic of them!  Reminded me of the movie Jumanji---so frenetic, but really energetic and happy!!

Sorry for the overexposure!

OK THEN there were these girls...when they piled on top of each other, I couldn't tell where one began and the other ended!

Very overexposed, but I couldn't miss photographing it!

So that was GREAT! Here is a pic of the boys in front of the Lincoln Center fountain after the show...

In silohouette...they were thrilled.

What a great time we had!  The boys loved it and were telling the pizza team about it the next day! I fell asleep dreaming of sparkley outfits and being 20 lbs lighter. When I swing from that trapeze in Venice, FL. I will post the picture, people. Better start lifting wts....like my butt off of this chair and finding a sparkley outfit in black...with Spanks.

Catch up, Macy's and Nutella Banana Wontons

Well, Christmas came AND went. What was I doing? I'll tell you what I wasn't doing...blogging. No good excuses. Really. Kids, family, shopping for presents, cleaning the house, working. You know, what all of the OTHER bloggers were doing AND blogging. I do have pics to prove I wasn't just sitting on my thumb. I know you want the proof so you can go on with your lives. Your lives are on hold and all because I haven't blogged. Well, I am here to set ya'll free.
I recovered all of my dining room chairs and Milo loves them.
I added a nice pad as well and Viola! I had already painted the dining table and chairs BLACK before Halloween. Apparently, I hadn't hung the framed print at photo time.

My 47th birthday came (Praise God!) and went without a hitch! My sweet nephew, McKennon was in Florida on a Duke Divinity School recruiting trip and came to Indialantic to see us! We all went out to the Yellow Dog Cafe on the Indian River for a FABULOUS dinner and dessert! Love my birthday...every year of it!

"I mentioned the Bisque"

Look at those handsome men!!!

Sam's best buddy, Jacob Liberman had his Bar Mitzvah and I photographed for part of it! What a party those Liberman's put on! We are so proud of Jacob! What an accomplishment, Mr. Man!

Charles, Jacob and Sam

Curt missed his opportunity for full coverage

Lisa and I at the reception! Love Ya!!

Sam was in his first Middle School Play

Will and Sam performed for Celebrate Brevard! fundraiser. That was fun! Great food!

Then we traveled to Tallahassee for the South East Regional Yo-Yo contest. Will placed 2nd in the 5A Division and Sam demonstrated his acrobatic pizza tossing. I ate at Panera and drank some coffee. I also ate some ice cream...and a moonpie. Have I told you I love Moonpies? They look like yo-yo's and I felt obligated. Did it for the kids. Sacrifice.

I loved this sculpture at the contest site. The Pelican was metal and the nest was re-bar. So creative!

So we traveled back to Indialantic on Sunday and packed to leave for New York City the next day because we were going to be in the MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE on Thanksgiving day with the United States Pizza Team! Wow! We had an amazing trip. I have wanted to be in that parade for my entire life. I was just walking with the team while they showed all the skill :) But I had perfected my wave in the Arkansas County Fair Parade in the 80's, people. Windshield wiper wave...slowly back and forth, back and forth. Here's the blurry photo and then I'll move right on...

No blue sequins or '80's hair for the Macy's Parade...thank God for that.

The team practiced in Central Park in preparation for marching in formation along the parade route. No simple task, but we had absolutely GORGEOUS weather!

Then the street was cleared in front of Macy's and the team practiced on the star for the cameras!

More practice the day before Thanksgiving on a tennis court in Central Park...
and then we were ready for the BIG DAY!

There we are! Long shot pic! There I am in the lower right hand corner with my arm up waving to the camera that I didn't know was there while the team spun their hearts out with Throw Dough! We had a great crowd response and had the most amazing day!!
I will write a post only on the parade and include our trip to the Big Apple Circus...

After flying back on Friday, my friend Ann asked me to photograph her family for Christmas card. Her daughter, Tori was in from college and would be leaving the next day. I was so happy to do it! What a fun family!

There was the Barnes and Noble West Shore night and the improv troupe, Scared Scriptless, performed...
Followed by the District One Act Competion...

And my work's holiday party...

Failed Christmas card photo shoot...very windy on the Indian River Lagoon!

Sam's One Act Competition for middle school

The Melbourne Light parade! Hi Tracey! Love the Toy Story Etch-a-Sketch!!

A "Going Away" party at school...Have a great time in Italy, McKenzie!

A Gingerbread House Decorating party at Cindy's!

Santa Claus ornament decorating at my house...still have some of these left...

A cookie exchange party at Ann's with her sister in law Holly!
Charlie Brown Christmas tree with "boom boom" as the stand in Linus blanket!

Cookie decorating party at my house, which actually turned into teenagers just hanging out and one helping me make Nutella Banana Wontons!!! YUM!

My dogs take advantage when it's cold. They feel they were doing Mike, Louise and Caroline a BIIIIIIG favor, I'm sure.
These are the Nutella Banana Wontons in progress...added a thin slice of marshmallow and there ya go. They were gone in a whip stitch. I hear that's really fast.
Christmas arrived and so did my sweet parents. My mom made me promise not to post pictures of them. OK, but they we were all so cute in our matching pajamas on Christmas morning! The boys loved it! So did I.
Tail enjoying his spot in front of the tree...

Sam getting his high powered sling shot at the same time Ralphie is opening his BB gun on TV!

No, we didn't have it on the entire time. OK we DID, but the volume was turned down. We are fans. There.
So, that's what I've been up to. We are now in the middle of putting up crown moulding in the house. Man, it looks good. Man, my house is in dire need. Graduation from high school is coming soon and you know what THAT means. Right...hurry and get the house projects completed before the money gets sucked into the college system.
Love and Blessings for a happy and HEALTHY New Year to all around the world.