Homecoming

She bought her ticket, found a dress she liked and got made into a teenage girl. All I can say is that she looked so beautiful tonight and so grown up.
To get her hair done I took her to the salon and the lady that has been doing my hair for like 20 some years. Karen did my hair for all my formals and my wedding and now she is doing Amber's. So hard to believe. And can I just say that Yes this is just Amber's hair no extra extensions and it cost me $40.



Amber and her friends at the park.



Amber from the back and a close up



In true Amber fashion....
Playing football with Zach and Jeff.

We sent her off to the dance with her camera so hopefully more great pictures of this event. Her group of friends are going bowling after and then a few are headed to a sleep over. We hope she has a great time.

Oh and on a side note she dropped my camera at the park lucky for her it just broke the eye piece. Neil said to save my pennies and buy a new camera. If I would have known I could buy the little camera I have been eyeing this easy I would have dropped the camera myself. I do want to keep my big nice camera but I also want a little one that will fit in my purse.

Powder Puff game

Amber was so excited to play in this game. The teams this year were- Seniors and Sophomores vs the Juniors and Freshman. She was not thrilled about their uniform-a Pink shirt.

We were tied at half time 7 to 7 and then they saw Amber throw a ball 30 some yards. At that point they put her back in as Quarter back. This is how the game ended-

She threw two passes that allowed her team to score. They won! What an amazing time.

Dress Shopping

Somehow her friends talked her into going to homecoming. On our way to the B-cubed we stopped at the outlet for dress shopping. However, I forgot my camera so these are taken with Neil's cell phone. These are the discards:
I liked this one and its hard to see but the material was pleated.
Lady in red. She was hoping for a red dress but not this one!


This dress was sparklie. Not her color.
This was a deep purple. She said she looked like an ice skater.
And the winner is.... Sorry you will have to wait until homecoming to see it.

Long Break

Here I go again having to play catch up. The school year started which means I went back to work. I am so exhausted when I get home that I cant even think about updating. First things first- work. Its been extremely stressful. We are two teachers short and for some reason they can't figure out how to hire people. Then you have adults that act like children. The good thing is that my boss actually did her job,this time, and handled the situation.
On to the kids. Go back to August and we bought Zach a cell phone for his B-Day. Well 3 weeks ago after school he tells me that he lost it. Said he had it in the morning and then gone in the afternoon. So he got the wrath of his mother. We came home and searched our house and couldn't find it. Neil and I spent all that night calling it - its was off. Then I spent the whole next day callling, with no luck. Until right after school got out- then the phone was on. So in the 1/2 hour it took me to get home and to the Verizon store the phone had been making calls. In the process of getting the phone deactivated the phone had made 28 minutes of calls. We figure the phone is a lost cause until 3 days later when the bus driver tells Neil that she has Zach's phone. She was handed the phone that morning by a student. Come to find out a sibling pair- a 5th grade girl and her 3rd grade brother had stolen it. I called the school and the principal was looking into the incident. Come to find out the mother of said children knew they had the phone and told her 3rd grader to take it back. She also said" I don't understand why they had it cause they have their own phones". Anyway, no punishment given at school because(to quote the principal) " These are not bad kids and i think just having them in my office was enough". I am so MAD. They are old enough to know what they did was wrong. Then one week later the so called "good kids" got kicked off the bus because of fighting!
Amber has been busy with her classes. She has had alot of projects already. She is looking forward to playing in the Powder Puff game and going to homecoming.
More posts to come...

Falling apart

I feel like I am falling apart at the young age of 30 (something)..wink wink
For those of you I talk to alot you will know that I have been complaining of foot pain all summer. With my love of doctors I have put it off until yesterday. On another note, I opened a door last week and felt pain in my left wrist. It ached and felt miserable all last week- even had pain in my pinkie finger. So with both issues I decided to go see my friendly doctor. He thinks my wrist is arthritis- sent me for an x-ray. On to my foot- he thinks that is planter fasciitis. Another x-ray ordered and a prescription for Motrin.
Why didn't someone tell me that you fall apart at 30-something? I thought it happened at a much older age!

Busy times....

Its been a busy two weeks. School started, Boy Scouts started and I went back to work. Both of our kids are enjoying this year. Am is super excited about US Military History (if you remember she didn't ask for that elective but got placed there). She has had homework and three projects already. I can tell what this year is going to bring- a butt load of homework! Zach is just in the same groove. Band has started and he has a new band teacher yet again- He hasn't had the same band teacher since he started band in 5th grade! Here's to hoping this on stays through the year. Neil has had one Boy Scout training so far. I have had 3 meetings and a conference for Scouts.

Here's to another busy and great school year.

First day of school

Here is our annual first day of school photo- We have a 10th grader and an 8th grader. So hard to believe.

Fun

Turtle Cove Waterpark just opened in May and we haven't had the chance to get out there. Zach asked to go for his birthday. What a great day. If you haven't had a chance to make it or if you think its too pricey- I am here to say that its totally worth your time and money. We were there about 4 hours and could have stayed longer. You can't take food in (they have a concession stand) but you can get a wrist band to go out and picnic.

No more little kids

Zach turned 13 today. Hard to believe, I know. We took him to Turtle Cove waterpark for his birthday (pictures to come in later post).

Another great visit

Last week we took another trip to the B. Bed and Breakfast. Cara had invited Donna and the girl's. So I loaded Neil's car with the seven of us and all of our stuff for the journey. It was a little chaotic with the 7 of us and the 6 of them but we had an awesome time. Th little kids even got along-which in my book is amazing when you have 5 kids trying to play together. The teens and preteen just hung around playing Gameboys and watching the Moll's. The mom's even got some scrapbooking in. We can never thank Cara and Jason enough for inviting us, housing us and couping with that many people.

Family day

My grandpa came into town for his usual summer visit. We always throw a get together so everyone can see him while he is here. Along with my grandpa coming , I had a cousin who graduated this year. So why not have his grad party at the same time.

My grandfather and all his kids-

Brent, Nelson (Chuck), Robert (Bubba),

Mark, Sharon, Michelle (Shellie), Teresa (Terri),

Judith (Judy), Susan (Sue)

My grandfather and his grandkids-

Timothy, Andrea, Mitchell, Lisa, Michael, Troy, Me,

Tina, Kayla, Melissa, Lindsey, Hillary, Joshua,
Caleb (CJ), Emalia, Alyssa, Grandpa, Macy and Breanna

Grandkids that are missing-Lori, Matthew, Faith, Ryan, Amy, Bradley and Devon

The great grandkids-

Zachary, Amber,

Austin, Tye, Ethan (held by Tye), Cody, Bradley, Mackenzie, Brandon,

Haidyn (in stroller), Dylan,

Rebecca and Larissa

Great grandkids missing- Audrey, Samantha, Ryan's Baby (name not known), Alex, Matthew's baby (not yet born) and Savanah

Some of my favorite snapshots of the day-

I do believe a great day was had by all.

And the mailman lives.....

I think he is lucky to survive. We received a phone call from the high school 2 weeks ago that told us that schedules would arrive the first week in August. Everyday this week Am has been at the mailbox just as soon as she hears the mailman. No luck until this afternoon when she received a message from a friend that their schedules were posted on their web page through the school. Her hopes were to get into weight training class and Honors government. Here is what she ended up with:
US Military History
English 10
Geometry
Biology
Spanish 2
Advanced Physical Fitness
Personal Finance
Honors Government
She is a tad disappointed with not getting into weight training and puzzled by US Military History (which was not one of her back up choices). Well I guess we will see.

Movie Star

Have you heard that they are filming a new movie in Detroit? Well they are and its being filmed right outside Neil's building. He can see the action out his window. He has not been able to spot the movie star yet- oh yeah I forgot to tell you that the star is Clint Eastwood. I am sure that my husband will be using his lunch hour to get as close as he can to the action. I wish he would have taken my camera.

Beach Day

I can't even remember the last time I spent the day at the beach. I even forgot what it was like to pack lunch, towels, drinks, sun block and everyone. We had a great day-the weather was nice and the kids truly enjoyed it.
Another great visit at Cara and Jason's!

15 already????

Where has time gone? Yesterday, I was in labor and being rushed into an emergency c-section and Today she is 15.

Passed

Am did it! She passed her written test on Friday and then her driving portion yesterday. She is now the proud owner of a Level 1 driving permit.

Note- Pictures to follow when Neil gets back and fixes the download feature!

this is cara

posting on tara's blog...how freaky..

just wanted to show off my photoshop (elements) skills...cause i just made tara a new avatar...

i took these two pictures...

and made them into this....

aren't i amazing?

you can read more about me at my blog.
i'm done hijacking tara's blog now. please go back to your regular programming.

Baby from H***

Have been needing to post about our baby adventure. The last two weeks at our school is a program called Project Term. Project term is when the kids get to pick a class from a list that they want to learn more about. The list is topics that aren't normally taught during the year. Our daughter choose Child Development class. They had to wear a empathy belly, go visit the day care, talk about sex, talk about sexually transmitted diseases and care for a "real" baby doll. The baby has a computer chip that records how long it cries, if it has been shaken, if its head falls back and other items.

I call her after school on the day she is bring the baby home and she answers in a whisper. "Mom, I can't talk because I just got my baby back to sleep after he had been crying for 25 minutes." Then when I get to softball practice the team says "don't touch the baby because he cried the whole ride over." At this point we are liking the baby and the learning experience that she is getting.

Fast forward to bedtime- He is crying- she feeds him and changes his diaper and burps him. He continues to cry for 40 minutes. I can't even describe how freakin' loud this thing cries. Needless to say he was up crying 4 times in the night. Every time we are up 45 minutes at least while she does all the things she needs to and he just cries. Hence the reason for the title of this blog.

This definitely made an impression on both of our children! It also reinforced to Neil and I the reason he had his procedure.

Happy Birthday Secret Asian Man

Today my S.A.M. turned 35!

I asked him what he wanted the next year to bring. To which he replied, in his own unique way, I hope to grow some hair.

Happy Birthday my love!

Driving-oh my!

Amber started drivers training on the 9th. She had 3 days of classes before she had her first day of driving. They pick the kids up at there homes and then they are returned home after driving. I need to clarify-Amber was picked up second and the first teen was driving here and then drove for an hour. They then switched drivers and Amber got to drive the second hour. Yes , that means her very first time driving was out on the road. Her driving second makes it hard for me to get a picture of her behind the wheel. Here she is riding in the back seat on the first day-

So fast forward to last Saturday (June 21)- She has to drive and I am away at the Baker Bed and Breakfast for Girl's weekend (more to come on that fun adventure). I get a text message that reads "I did it" and a picture of a pink piece of paper that says Driving permit. I call to find out what that means. She drove through a hail and rain storm so she is getting great bad weather driving practice. Anyway, after her hour she was handed a driving permit so that she can drive with Neil or I. She hasn't even finished class yet! She has her written test on Thursday and then drives all weekend and Monday. After Monday then she has to go apply for her more permanent permit- the one she has now is only good through the 5th. I can't believe she is old enough to be driving.

I have spent lots of time the last two days letting her drive me around. She is actually a pretty good driver. Only a few minor things that I have had to give her more instruction on- like breaking too long in a turn- I am so afraid of being rear ended!

I will keep you posted on her success and completion of Level 1 Drivers Education.

Summer

I can say that summer has official started because I finished my last day of work for 2 months. I will be filling in for Missy while she takes her 2 week vacation in July. I am glad to be done.

We have no big plans for the summer. The Guys will be going to Boy Scout summer camp at the end of the month. Amber has started Drivers Ed and will start driving this Thursday. I have 2 trips to the Baker Bed and Breakfast scheduled- which is always a great time! I hope to be able to make a trip North and maybe this year make it over to Mackinaw Island (I say that every year and we never seem to make it!). Can you believe Neil and I have never been, its sad but true.

Have pictures to upload of some events that I need to blog about. I can't seem to get my camera to download my pictures only Neil can get it to work. Sometimes I hate technology!

Stay Cool!

Prom Pictures

Here they are the long awaited prom pictures:

The young lady in blue is Danielle. The back story is that Danielle also went to Summit, however they were never in the same class. She also has down syndrome. They both transferred out of Summit to the Skill Center. They ride the bus together and they pick at each other the whole ride. We have said its the natural love hate relationship. Well they were each others dates to prom.