Opening Day!

We made it.  After a late start and several hours without power, we've finally gotten camp up and running.  Jeff's working tomorrow and I'm hoping to get the final stuff done so we're all ready for Memorial Day weekend.  Hunter and Will will both be joining us then, I've been counting down the days!

Skippin!

What do you do when it's senior skip day and your senior actually WANTS to spend the day with you?  You got it!  Play hooky and have a great day!

Senior Skip Day is a tradition.  And at Little Miami, the Monday after prom is always the day.

So we went out to lunch....

And we spend the rest of the day finishing up decorating the "hipster" room!  I have to say, I love it too!

Thank you, Will for making my day!  We don't have many left and I'm more than over the moon that you shared it with me.

Senior Prom!!

Oh what a night!  I promise myself at the start of every day that I just have to make it through without crying.  Epic Fail.

I love seeing the boys get all dressed up.  But Will in a tux for his senior prom was more than this momma could take.  I did wait until he was out the door to tear up though, so that's progress!  Hunter was almost as teary as me too!

But Will is off on his grand excursion, looking dapper as always!  No date?  No problem!  Especially when you win the class superlative for Best Dynamic Duo!  Congrats, boys!  It appears they're having fun celebrating!

One of our final "senior" moments.  Where the heck is time going?

Rinse. Repeat.

I have to say, I do feel bad.  Although I've not had the pleasure of college finals, I'm thinking that I may not have liked it!  Tomorrow he'll get a bit of a break.  But in the meantime, it's.....

Love.

It's nice to know that I can still make the boys laugh.  It's so much harder when our conversations are limited to primarily Snap Chat and text message.  Most of the time, it gets lost in the translation.  But it genuinely warms my heart to see an authentic smile.   They're hard to come by....in the middle of finals.

Thirteen.

Seriously, thirteen days.  Just thirteen.  And it's official.  They even gave us a sign.  I'm so happy.  He's so happy.  It's a strange feeling to be so happy and so sad at the same time.  But today, happy won out!  Just look at that face :D

Fun, Fun, Fun!

What a fabulous weekend!  I never turn down a trip to Ikea and Jungle Jims.  So when Michele and Mom suggested a quick weekend trip, who was I to say no?

We had a wonderful time with Ben and Reese!  We shopped, we fished, we stayed up to late and laughed too much.  Although I'm not sure you can laugh too much!

It was a great weekend!  But no one was happier to see it end than Fancy.  And as soon as Will walked in, she nestled into the quiet.

It was fun we should have more often!!

 

The easy half.

Half of our order arrived today!  Invitations and announcements.  All that's left is his cap and gown.  15 days and counting......

My breaking point.

I'd love to say that I'm handling Will's impending graduation with grace - mailing his invitations, planning his party, sewing his memory quilt all while humming Pomp and Circumstance.  But let's be honest.  It's more like wiping my nose while panicking over his invitation design, remembering that I've forgotten his FAFSA application as tears stream down my face.

I've convinced myself that I'll be fine once the chaos of the next few weeks is done.  Although when I mention that fact, all three guys look at me like I have an extra head.  Honestly, I may have grown one.  No time to check.

We've been working overtime to make sure the house is ready, the old house is sold, the invitations go out, the video gets done, the party gets planned, the cake gets ordered, camp gets opened and the boat gets cleaned for our trip.  Throw a few work issues in there for Jeff and orders out the wazoo for me and life starts to get interesting.

Anyway, Jeff's been bothering me to "take a break" for a while now.  And this mom needed to see her oldest.  He's proof that children can and will survive once they leave our home.  He's a constant reminder that given wings, they can fly higher and further than I ever thought.  I was elated when I send him a text late Tuesday night to see if he had any free time coming up and his response was immediately that he could meet today.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one that needed a break.

We had brunch, shopped, talked and laughed for 2.5 hours.  It was wonderful!!  Just the break we both needed.  The next few weeks will be crazy for all of us.  Hunters got a finals, projects, presentations and two more weeks of school.  And well, I've already covered our to do list.  But it's the few hours like this that get us all through!

Thank you Hunter for reminding me that this too shall pass.  For reminding me that our new normal will be as just as wonderful as it's been up until now.  And for just making me laugh and forget about all of our worries for a while.  

Congrats!

Yep!  That's my boy!  An honor student at Ohio State!

Congrats William!  You're going to love it!  I'm so very proud of you!

17 days and counting.....

We're making the most of the last seventeen days!  To be accurate, there are eighteen days of school left.  Although one is Senior Skip Day so Will refuses to count it!

First and foremost, today

we had to get Will's tux ordered for Prom.  With 10 days to spare, he's measured and ordered.  The only remaining dilemma is what socks he'll wear.  Once we got done at the tux shop, we headed home to pay his housing deposit and start on his FAFSA application.

Although I'd like to break down and cry, there's just too much to do!

Sunday Funday!

Ahhhh, seventy five degrees was just what the doctor ordered.  The tree pollen count as unfortunate, but you win some, you lose some.

So here's what Sunday Funday looked like for the Thomas household!

Will got his car all fixed and put back together!

Hunter is nursing his sunburn from yesterdays baseball tournament and preparing great comebacks for all of the jokes that are soon to follow.

Jeff and I worked, grocery shopped and cooked.  And we still managed a three mile hike down to the Little Miami.  It was such a gorgeous day for it.  And after dinner, we managed to get the beginnings of the fairy garden in place.  Long way to go, but it's a start.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend!  Spring has definitely arrived!!

I'm Outta Here!

Some days, I feel like Picasso.  Some days, I feel like a talentless hack.  Most days, I find myself somewhere in between.  But today, I found myself with only the need to leave.  It's been raining for a hundred years and the first peek of sunshine called me out.  That, and I was all caught up for the day.

So I hopped in the truck and saw this, sparkling in my window.  I've been waiting for days to catch a glimpse of this with sun shining through it.  It's a handmade, Divergent inspired faction tree.  An incredibly talented jewelry maker designed it for me.  I love it.  It reminds me to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest.

Maybe I should hang one in every room.

He's Super.

What happens when your baby outgrows all of his clothes?  You steal them.  

Yep, his very favorite shirt no longer reaches his waist.  So this mom stole it from the Goodwill pile. Hoping I can hold on to just a few more minutes of him being little.  Well, littler.  

Getting to know the neighbors.

Given the temperatures and the rainfall totals, I'm comfortable saying Spring has finally arrived in Ohio.  In our brief moments of sunshine and warm breezes, I'm definitely feeling the need to get out and soak up the sun.  Which is exactly what I did today as Mother Nature provided several sunny breaks in the storms.

So I took advantage of the break and attempted to make nice with the neighbors.  Ok, just one neighbor.  The one that always seems to give me the cold shoulder.  And it was perfectly timed as he decided to nap in my yard.  he's a lot less intimidating from behind the lens.  Heavens knows he scares the daylight out of me when I run into him on the walking trail.  

But for today, we're buds.  Meet Michael.  King of the Lake. 

The LAST one.

I know that it's been a while and I'm back.  I've been trying to think through a returning blog for a while.  It's hard to say what needs to be said sometimes.

So instead, I'm determined to focus on the good.

Although I'm not sure this is good!

Tonight, we wrote the last check for lunch money.  Not the last for the year.  The last EVER.  Will is thrilled.  I am terrified.  Jeff is laughing at both of us!

We've only got a few more "lasts" left....but the best ones are yet to come!