This is what friends are for

One of my very dearest friends, Cindy, turned 50 this weekend. She and her family were out of town for a sporting event, so our friend Marti and I could not pass up the opportunity to leave a little something special waiting for her when she got home. I kept hoping they wouldn't pull into the driveway as we were setting everything up. I cut out a ton of 50's and Happy Birthday's and we strung them from tree branches, taped them to the door, stapled them to tree trunks, and hung some around the flamingos necks. It was all topped off with a nice big sign wishing her a happy birthday. Now I can't wait for them to get home. I'm thinking of staking out the joint for when they return so I can see her face. I'm sure my phone will be ringing the minute they pull in...

Dance

Hannah had her Farewell Dance on Saturday. The theme was 8th grade at the movies. At first we thought it might be kinda silly, but the decorations turned out sooo cute! They had a giant directors board with all the dance details at the front door, all lit up. The hallways were decked out with lights, disco balls, movie posters hanging from the ceiling and a red carpet lined with papparazzi cut-outs and a huge Oscar at the end. One of the coolest things were some giant movie reels with the film rolling down the hallway and pictures of the kids on the films. The cafeteria was similar with big red and white popcorn boxes filled with white and yellow balloons. Pretty snazzy for a middle school dance!

Hannah attended a party before the dance where parents gathered to take photos and the kids could eat. The dance was a couple hours long and they all complained that it went by too fast. They were having such a great time. A group of kids got together at Culver's afterwards to continue with the evening but were forced to say goodbye when the restaraunt closed their doors at 10. Hannah says the night was amazing and totally fun. She commented that there wasn't even any drama with anyone, something that surprised us both. We all know how teeneagers are ;) I stopped in at the dance for a short time to take a couple pictures, and as I was heading out, the principal commented on how this was a great group. Normally, he said, boys line one side of the room and the girls fill the other. But these guys were really dancing! I am so happy that Hannah was able to have a great time with her friends and make some wonderful memories. It was emotional for me, to see her getting ready. I choked up and cried for a bit when I put her necklace on. I know there will be many dances to come, but I will always remember how fun it was to spend this first time with her shopping, getting her nails done, doing her hair and helping her get ready.

Ramblings

Lately there's been alot going on that has given me pause for reflection and thought. Some great, others not so much, and some down right terrible. But in any case, I have learned alot about myself and my family and I've also been reminded of things I already knew. Here's a few examples:

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED

Family is EVERYTHING

Mike truly is my soulmate and my best friend

Faith kicks in when hope ends

Laughter is the best medicine

It's okay to ask for help

Friends are a must

Change is difficult but necessary

I am stronger than I give myself credit for

This Season's MUST-HAVE!

Can't you just see me in this dress? I'm thinking of wearing it to the grocery store, the pool, EVERYWHERE!

Earth Hour

I never knew such a thing existed until today. (I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed by that or not). After reading about it though, I thought it might be fun to take part. Briefly, Earth Hour is a global movement to reduce carbon emissions for one night. One of the best parts of this is just getting people to think about it and what we can do, individually. Even Las Vegas is jumping on board this year...pretty cool. That itself will make such a huge difference! Anyway, I thought I'd share my brilliant plan with Nathan this morning and see if he had any suggestions of fun things to do by candlelight or with flashlights for that hour. You know, make it cool. Here's a snippit of the conversation:

Me: "Hey Nathy!"

Nathan: "Yeah?"

Me: "I read about this thing called Earth Hour. It's next Saturday night. It's where we turn everything off for one hour to try to..."

Nathan: "Ugh" (totally disgusted)

Maybe Hannah will have an idea.

Foiled Again!

This is the second year Nathan has built a trap to try and catch a Leprechaun. It may be the last. He puts alot of thought into how it will work, what he can use as bait to lure one to the trap and carefully sets up his plan. The first time, he was super lucky and managed to trap the sneaky little guy's hat. This time, he received a note that read, "Nice try, but you can't catch me!"
Oh boy! He read the note and was livid. He stomped into the house yelling, "He's mean!" I can't believe how angry he got.
It took him quite a while to stop the pouting and realize that if it was an easy thing to catch a Leprechaun, everyone would have one and it wouldn't be any fun trying to catch one. His mood lightened enough to take the trap to school and show his friends what he made.
We didn't get through the day untouched though. The leprechaun managed to play a little trick on us before he escaped. We woke up to green water coming out of our faucets and in our toilet. (I'll spare you the toilet picture)

Weekend pictures