Historian

Katie came home a few weeks ago and announced that she was going to run for Historian at her Jr. High. I thought it was a great idea, I would never have dared to do something like that when I was her age, I am so glad she is such a confident person.

The campaigning began. Courtney came up with a perfect slogan for Katie to use -- JUST DO IT.

We made fliers, posters, and even a stamp.





Unfortunately she was up against one of her very good friends - Erin. They have been friends since we moved into this neighboorhood.

The Primary votes were cast, both Katie and Erin made it through.

That meant we had two days to put a video together. The video was due on Monday and would be shown to the 7th and 8th graders during an assembly the following day.

Katie worked hard all weekend. With a lot of help from friends and family, this is what she came up with.



Everyone loved her video, especially the crazy runner at the end.

Katie felt pretty optimistic, but wasn't quite sure if she was going to win. On Thursday, parents were invited to a reception where we found out who the winners were.

Sadly Katie didn't win. I was very impressed with the way she handled it. I could tell she was dissapointed, but there were no tears. Most of the kids that didn't make it opted to go home after the reception, but Katie wanted to stay at school and go to the assembly so she could congratulate Erin.

It was such a great experience for all of us. I am so proud of her!

18

16 was no big deal, 17 I was sorta okay with, but 18. . . . . 18?!? Come on!! I just can't accept that I have a child that old.

Sean and I were married for about a year and a half before Tyler was born. Sean was a little hesitant to have a child before he graduated from college. I, on the other hand, thought it was a great idea. So a little begging and pleading (there may have been some tears in there too), followed by a little batting of the eyes . . . and . . . voila.

My doctor used to tell me that I was "boringly normal". I had no problems with my pregnancy and 9 months later Tyler was born weighing exactly 7lbs. That didn't last long . . .



He was a very chubby baby, but he quickly out-grew it.



Tyler was such a great kid, and boy did he love to talk. When he was little, I was worried that he had a stutter. I soon realized that he always had so much to say and his little brain just couldn't process his thoughts fast enough for the words to come out right.

No worries anymore though, Tyler is incredibly intelligent, you might not be able to tell by his grades at school, or by the stupid teenage trouble he gets into, but his CRT and ACT scores are amazing!

Tyler has really had a big change in his attitude lately. We came home from his game the other night and I asked him if he would help Katie with her algebra. I would have helped her, but polynomials and I just don't get each other. Anyway, he sat right down -- and for the next 45 minutes proceeded to patiently help her. That might not be a big deal at your house, a brother kindly helping his little sister with homework... but at my house it is HUGE!

His 18th birthday was not terribly exciting. He went to school, and then had a soccer game to go to. He didn't even get home until 8pm. He owed us quite a bit of money, so he decided to pay off some of his debt instead of getting gifts.

Luckily Aunt Trish was in town and gave him his favorite treat.



He got a few clothes,



a caligraphy set,



a homemade ice cream cake,



and a great big kiss from his favorite mom!





I sure love my boy!

Courtney's Surprise Party

I always throw my kids a surprise party when the turn 16. I am so proud of myself for actually surprising them. I was so worried with both of them that they would find out, but so far I have been very successful.

Of course it involved making up a reason to ground them from their phones, then writing all their friends numbers down and sending out mass texts to everyone.

Funny story... Courtney tried to be sneaky, she took her sim card out before she gave us her phone, then put it in an extra phone so she could still text. She didn't think she deserved to be grounded (which was probably true, I never have to ground her from her phone, but I was desperate). We never would have found out, but I needed her friends numbers, you can't get numbers off the phone without a sim card. We had a good laugh over it after the party.

It took months to plan. I would ask Courtney what she wanted to do for her birthday and she would tell me who she wanted to invite and what kind of food she wanted, thinking that she would have to plan it all herself.

I called Courtney's best friend Kayla and asked if she would help me out. She was very excited about it and told me that she would take her to a movie.

I was so excited when Friday morning arrived. I spent the whole day cleaning, decorating, cooking, and anxiously waiting for it all to begin.



It worked out perfectly, Courtney's friends all arrived on time and hid behind the door for her to come in. Courtney was totally shocked when she walked through the door. She was very confused and walked around in a daze for about 15 minutes until it hit her that I had thrown her a party.

Here is Courtney still in shock.





She has such great friends.









Here is my favorite decoration. We are all huge fans of "The Office". Courtney has even named her dog after Pam the receptionist. So a few months ago when they aired the episode where Dwight was in charge of making the birthday banner, I decided it would be funny to create a replica. (Only fans of "The Office" will appreciate this.)



Most of the girls from Courtney's soccer team came. Here is a picture of Jessica planning their defense (with tomatoes) for the game they had to play the next morning.



We had a fire going in the backyard,



pool downstairs,



and, of course, a ton of food!





Courtney's favorite foods: Hawaiian Haystacks, Pasta Pepperoni Salad, Costco's Mango Peach Salsa, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

I had so much fun planning this, I love to see my kids happy and having fun.



Happy Sweet 16 Courts!