15th Birthday!!

I just don't know how I am the mother of a 15 year old!!!  Where has the time gone?

My kids get a party every other year.  They know on party years they don't get as many presents.

Because she had alot of people that normally come (I mean our Ohana alone is 10 kids! Then we have to add in her team at dance which is 13 kids - but I knew being the only day this month we didn't have dance on a saturday most of the team would have already had plans - which was true...)

So we choose bowling since that seemed the most cost effective.

 

Her with her friend that doesn't go to her school anymore.  They are so cute together!

 

She didn't know HOW the heck she got a spare!

 Opening presents. 

 She really loves those oreo candy bars!

 Her friend got her a really nice bracelet and earring set!

 Can't go wrong with art supplies!

 

 The theme was mason jars - but really the only part of the theme was on her invitations and the goody bags!  But since we didn't really have decorations we spent a little more on the goody bags and put the good candy in it.  All of her favorites!

 On her actual birthday yesterday!!  We just got this new pair of LuLaRoe's and she was excited to wear cup cake leggings to school!

 These glasses!  She's had them since she was 7.  She used to wear them to school.  Now she just wears them for a picture and leaves them at home.

Back when she was 7!!! My how time has passed!

 I have an album on Facebook of every Jan 28th and her in her birthday hat for that year.  My husband asked how long I was going to keep making the birthday hats for the kids and I told him - "originally I planned to stop at 18, but I can't totally see me keeping it going longer!!"

 Her OWN rain jacket.  Now she can stop stealing mine!

Can't go wrong with chocolate!

 She found a pair of glasses in her room and we have no idea who they belonged to.  But they are mens sunglasses.  She's been wearing them because she feels "cool" in them.  SO I made sure to get her a pair of her own girl sunglasses! :) her face.  Kills me.  She knew EXACTLY why I got her them.  To replace the ones I didn't like! :p

 This is the only gift she actually asked for.  She was no help in the present department this year. 

Homecoming Freshman Year - 2018

My daughter had her first homecoming dance this past weekend!  Her friend Jesse asked her to go with him.  He did the cute Hoco-prosal about 10 days ago (though she knew he was going to do it just not how or when).

 We had an Ohana birthday party starting at 3 so we had to get her dressed at the party.  I made sure her hair was done before we arrived.  I found a cute look on Pinterest and even though the model didn't have as much hair as my child, I think it turned out cute!

Back view.

When I knew the party and homecoming were on the same night I was really excited about a picture I could take with her and her Uncles.  The 4 underlined are daddy and the 3 main uncles in her life.  ANY of these men would drop everything and run to help any one of the 15 kids that are apart of our Ohana and I love that!

 Daddy and his baby girl.  He didn't like that she was old enough to have a "date" or going to dinner with a boy.  (though it was brothers and their dates as well!) He doesn't like to think of her as grown up enough for that.

We arrived downtown at the Riverwalk a little early (parking on a Saturday night can be nuts so I wanted to make sure I got a good parking spot that I didn't have to walk miles too!) 

There is a great mural in a parking lot that thankfully didn't have cars in it yet.  So since she is an artist I made sure to get her picture in front of it.  I LOVE this picture of her!

 The boys and their dates finally showed up and her date was so excited to point on things he thought was cool.

  One of the brothers was meeting a group so his date wasn't there.  They all look great!!!

 I sent a picture of her dress to his mom and he wanted to match Kennedie.  I thought it was so cute!

He picked out a great corsage and she loved it!!

I love this picture of the two of them.  They are great friends!

  On her way to dinner!  One of the brothers is a senior in high school so he got them to dinner and to the dance.  I had to pick up the outdoor games that my husbands unit donated to the dance so I picked her up from the dance.

I went back to the birthday party after pictures, and about 2 hours later I got this text from Kennedie.  Apparently she doesn't order steak much.  I tried to tell her to get chicken - apparently she was REALLY wanting steak like everyone else, she told me to ask dad.

I'm pretty sure she ended up with a steak even though I wasn't sure she was going to like it if they seasoned it.  And I was happy to know that she got a vegetable as a side!! WIN!

I was sent a video from a dance mom of her dancing at the dance, she has NO inhibitions when it comes to dancing in crowds.  In fact when they improve at dance she is known to just go with the flow and not hold anything back which she is admired for!  I loved seeing the video because she is in the middle of a circle and dancing and everyone is cheering and she is outgoing.  Which she is normally in a corner in her phone ignoring the world when she is a crowded social situation.  So for that I was PROUD of her.

Back to School - First Day

My kids started back to school this morning!! I now have a 3rd grader and a 9th grader!! OMG I'm the mom to a HIGH SCHOOLER!!!! How did this happen?

There is this new service in Columbus called "Sign Gypsies" they were giving away one of these awesome displays (they come and set up the night before and you get to enjoy it for 24 hours).  Our tri-city area has a TON of elementary schools and the elementary school in our county is very small at only 200 students.  You had to keep voting for your school in the post but I knew our little 200 kid school was never going to make the cut!!  So I went ahead and contacted the company for pricing.  They were having a back to school deal, so I went ahead and paid for it out of my pocket.  It was a secret between the Principal, Assistant Principal and myself.  It was awesome to see the kids get excited for it!

 My 9th and 3rd grader!!

 Cale with the sign!  He was so proud that we made it happen!  We also added a sign for the county wide hashtag.

 Now I couldn't let the middle/high school go without something! (they are a combined building - 6-12th grades)  So yesterday I was feverishly making signs to make them smile as they came into school.

 Kennedie helping stake signs!

 One of the "missions" of the school year.

 Bless my son's heart.  He just wanted to be apart of helping put something together.  I woke up an hour before the kids to fill up balloons.  I was getting the car ready to get the balloons in, and out comes Kennedie with one, great I think.  Then out comes Cale with THREE of the bundles in one hand.  I knew the minute I took them back out of the car it was going to be a mess.  Took us about 10 minutes to untangle this mess!

Kennedie in front of the middle/high's picture sign!!

 I think the toulle was too heavy for the balloons.  I was trying to make it look cute, and they just ended up looking wimpy!! :(

 As I was leaving I took a picture of how the signs looks in the drop off line.

  I realized after I got back on the road I forgot to get her 1st day of school in front of the mascot picture (something we have done for every first day of her school years!) so I texted her and told her to meet me by the panther.

I hope everyone has a great first day back when it's their turn!!!