Tomorrow, Tomorrow.....

By this time tomorrow, graduation will  be complete.  He'll have stood tall and proud, taken lots of pictures, walked across the stage and received his diploma...an honors diploma, at that.  It has all of the makings of an action packed day and an evening that flies by in an instant.  Having said that, there are a few things I'd like to say that I may forget or lack the time to do tomorrow.  So just in case....

Dear  Hunter,

Congratulations!  Graduating takes hard work.  Graduating with Honors takes hard work, dedication and perseverance.  All three of those traits will get you far in life, hang on to them.  But on a side note, it's still hard for me to believe that the little boy that used to give his phone number out as "10 10 321" just completed Physics!

Please don't mistake my tears of joy for tears of sadness.  I cried when you said your first word.  I cried when you took your first step.  I'll cry when I leave you in Columbus as you take your next step.  That's just what mothers do. It's equivalent to a manly chest bump.

The first night I brought you home from the hospital, I sat in your room watching you sleep (I did that a lot!).  I was young, you were tiny and I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  I felt the same way when you started preschool, kindergarten, junior high and high school.  But just like you, I figured it out along the way.  With each new experience, we both gained so much.  Thank you for letting me grow up with you.  You'll never know how many things you've taught me.

This year has been preparing us for today.  A year of learning to let go, preparing you to start a new chapter in your life.  It's difficult to imagine you moving away from home, but it's just as exciting to watch you start the next phase of your life.  It will be another great experience for all of us.  Just know that I'll be here for you always, cheering you on.

I love you to the moon and back!

The Proudest Mom at Little Miami

Little, Big Steps!

Man, in the last couple of weeks, this little one has developed quite the personality.  She's also gained three pounds!  I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but the vet wanted to test her for every "dwarfism" under the sun so three pounds is huge to us.  We won't even mention that she's also learned where her toy bag is kept and can now climb up, open the bag and get the out herself.  She's too smart for her own good!    Feisty as she is though, you can't help but melt when she looks at you with those big blue eyes.  We're on the right track...lets hope it keeps up.

Busy, Busy!

Just a quick, two minute break to show you what a few nights before graduation looks like :)  Cupcake flags...why do I think that I should do it all?  Here's to a perfect party, with or without flags!

It's Done!

Ah, it's the little things.  In this case, it's the big things.  We were so close to being done when the deck board broke and the work began again.  I was fairly positive that we'd never finish on time, or in one piece.  Apparently, my glass is has been half empty lately.  But as usual, all three of the boys managed to surprise me.  Now, we're ready for a party!!!

Just Say No.

Talk me out of it...please, talk me out of it!  Isn't she cute?  She's been hanging around for quite some time now.  She lays in the driveway and waits for Hunter to get home.  She now hangs out in the yard.  I know that one bowl of water and food is going to make her ours.  Please, talk me out of it.  If you can't do that, please help me come up with a name for her!

Coming Together

Yipppeee!  It's all starting to come together.  With 90+ degree temperatures, the boys still managed to finsih the deck today.  Will and I took off to the farm and got all of our hanging baskets for the front of the house.  The sun room is getting there and tomorrow is cupcake day!  I actually think that we may pull this off.  The rest of the summer will feel like a vacation!

My Plan!

Yes, it's 11:01pm and I'm just getting to the blog.  Not that we have a lot to do, but time seems to keep getting away from me.  I just realized that we're a week from graduation and two from vacation.  So I thought I would share my plans for the week with you....

Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

May Flowers!

As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers.

Well, that's only if you have flowers.  Up until now, we've had a few shrubs and grass.  The only flowers that bloomed at our house were dandelions.  And yes, I counted those as flowers.   Now that the new beds are in, everything is blooming!  I didn't realize exactly how many flowers we have.  It's probably not that exciting to Hunter, Will or Jeff...but when I when out tonight to check the plants, I was THRILLED!  It was getting dark, but here's a couple that I found!

Start with an End

All new beginnings must start somewhere.  In this case, it has to start with an end.  Today was Hunters last day of school.  It seems so cliche to ask where time has gone when I know the answer.

Thirteen years of bus stops, recess, school lunches, marching band and award ceremonies.  Four thousand seven hundred and forty five days of weathering skinned knees, cold camp outs, rainy field days, catapults, sleep overs, braces and broken hearts.  We've spent 113,880 hours shopping for school clothes, writing book reports, throwing pitches and learning to drive.  I can't speak for anyone else, but I've enjoyed every second of it.

So here is how he spent his last nine hours of school....

I'm Not the Only One, Right?

If you want something done the right way, do it yourself.

If you want something done that you can't do yourself, you must use threats and bribes.  Maybe that's just in our house, but I'm thinking there is another mom or two out there that knows what I'm talking about.  I can't be the only one that threatened to throw all the toys in the house away if they weren't picked up.  I'm certainly not the only one who has used cookies and milk to get a little one into bed.  And if I am...well, my kids will talk about it in therapy.

That being said, Will needed to pass the boating test.  "Need" might be a strong word, but we wanted the boys to use the boat and have as much fun as possible with it before they got too busy to use it.  Last year, we strongly encouraged Will to take the test.  But video games, Facebook and I'm sure a girl or two took precedent and he "forgot".  Yes, that's what he said.

So when we mentioned it this year, Will said he'd try to remember.  Just like I'd try to remember to schedule an eye brow wax, I'm sure.  Enter the Mommy threat.  You see, Will turns 15 1/2 on July 11th and will be eligible to take his test and get his driving permit.  We figured the boating test would be great practice for the drivers ed test.  So as long as he passed the boating test by the time his half birthday got here...he'd be all set.  But no boating certificate..no drivers permit.

It's truly amazing how fast you can study for and pass your boat test when you're motivated.  Congratulations Will, you'll get to drive the boat and my car this summer!

One Annoyed Puppy...

Don't you feel bad for her?  She wants to play with us and the girls so badly ... but no playing for the puppy.  Oh wait, that's only when Jeff isn't sitting on the floor with her - hood off, teaching her how to take her toys out of the bag and then put them back in when she's done.  Did I mention she's one smart cookie?  But then I had to be mean and make her put it back on.  Think she's mad at me?

No Joke!

Yep, there are only 12 days until graduation.  No, this is not a joke.

Just a smile....

Since I'm feeling a little overwhelmed tonight (as is everyone in the house!), I thought I would take this moment to remind myself it's temporary.  Hopefully, someone other than myself will take a little from this too - even if it's just a smile.  

Research

Two weeks from tonight, Hunter will have crossed the stage and officially completed his senior year.  Three weeks from tonight, we'll be closing up the boat, preparing for our family vacation.

In order to prepare for both of these events, I thought I should preform some research.  They say everyone needs a plan.  So I wanted to make sure that I took the time, did the research and came up with the best way to help everyone (and by everyone, I mean me!) cope with these two occasions.

Here's what I've come up with!  Anyone want to join me?

Tshirts

Apparently, you get a tshirt for anything these days.  Just kidding, but really, the boys have more school tshirts than I've ever seen. Band shirts (for each year), sports program shirts, school spirit shirts, class shirts, senior shirts...and how NHS shirts.  The good news is this one will get lots of wear for the next 60 days.  But I'm sure not a minute longer!

One More Time!

And here we go again.  Ten days, no contact with the other dogs and the lovely cone to contend with.  At least she'll be all better to visit with everyone at graduation!

Not Much Longer!

Jenni, this ones for you!  

It's May 15th.  Only fifteen more days until graduation.  And right now, that is the only topic of conversation in our house.  But today, the boys took a few minutes to open the boat for the season.  Just like me, they are starting to realize that it's only twenty five days until we have the boat in the water and the lake in our view.  All graduation talk was out the window as we realized how excited we are for the sun and ski's.  And trust me, we all need a vacation!

Goodbye!

I would love to say that I had something great to blog about, but today is season finale day in our house.  And with so many series finales, it's bound to be a tearjearker evening.  Once Upon a Time is done...now on to Desperate Housewives.  Check back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll have stopped crying by then!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of the wonderful moms I know!  While today is supposed to be a day of rest for those of us with little ones (no matter how old they are!), Mothers Day in the Thomas house is the prom "hangover".  This morning we celebrated with a house full of teenagers, eating lots of food and retelling the stories from the night before.  And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I'll let you in on a little secret...I was in the other room for a minute while they were all enjoying breakfast and the noise coming from the kitchen stopped me in my tracks.  The laughter and giggles were perfect.  It's the sound you live for as a mom.  And it occurred to me that there was no greater present that to have happy children, today or any day.

So thank you to Laurel for the beautiful flowers.  Thank you to Hunter and Will for the flower, the amazing cards and the Hunger Game jammies and thank you to Jeff for the cool camera toy.  But mostly, thank you to EVERYONE that was here this morning reminding me what I love most about being a mom.

A Picture is Worth...

a thousand words.  In this case, they're priceless.

Quite a handsome (and beautiful) crew, aren't they?  One day, the boys will realize how lucky they were to have shared tonight.  But tonight, I hope they just have a wonderful time!

Not a Flop

Flip flop season.  It starts just after the final frost and it ends when we build the first fire in the fall.  Once the season starts, you don't go back.  I've put away my tennis shoes and boots, bidding them a fond farewell.  Unless I'm barefoot, there won't be a time you'll find me without one of the million pairs of flip flops that clutter my closet.  But today, I couldn't help but to toss them off to run through the yard. Months and months of hard work (and a little help from TrueGreen) has turned our yard into a green, lush heaven.

I'm thinking I may ditch ALL shoes for the rest of the warm weather season.

It's a Fact

Just in case you didn't know, I thought I would share some fun Harry Potter facts with you.  More importantly, I thought I would tell you what a wonderful husband I have!  I'm sure you're wondering how the two are connected.

As you know, Jeff has been in Orlando all week (and yipppeee, his flight just landed!).  Three days of meetings, meals, presentations .... and a "free" afternoon to spend at Universal Studios.  And if you don't know, Universal Studios is the new home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I have been dying to go since the day they opened, more like the day they announced they were going to begin building it.  When we were at Disney a few years ago, we missed the opening by only a couple of months.  Did Jeff go?  No.  When asked by a coworker why he didn't go...he explained that there was no one that wanted to go more than me and he would wait until we could go together.  Isn't that sweet?  I thought so!

I've probably just ruined his reputation, but I'm guessing not.  But if you see him soon, please don't tell him that I called him sweet.

5 More Minutes

When the boys were little, "5 more minutes" was their mantra.  Please Mom...just 5 more minutes.  Five more minutes to watch the end of a cartoon before bed time.  Five more minutes in the bathtub with bubbles spilling out on the floor and pruned little fingers trying to catch them.  As they got older, the requests got less frequent.  In fact, it's probably been several years since they've asked for more time.  

Today, we got to spent a rare few hours together, just me and the boys.  We started at Mens Warehouse, taking their tuxedos for a test drive to make sure they fit to perfection.  

Once we bagged them back up, we took off to Dave and Busters for dinner and a few games.  We played trivia, shot hoops and competed for tickets.  We even raced cars!

As we wandered through the shop for the third time, picking out trinkets for our upcoming trip to Blue Ridge, Hunter looked at his watch and told me it was time for us to get home.  At that moment, I only had one response....Please, just 5 more minutes.

There's these boys...

After a day like today, there's not much else to say.  Except, hey...that rhymes! Oh, and I hope Jeff comes home soon.  I'm tired of the travel "surprises" that always seem to arise the minute he walks out the door.  Jokes over, it's not funny anymore.

While the Cats Away....

I guess Toccoa knows that Jeff's packing up to leave for the week.  Guess she's planning on keeping his seat warm until he gets back!