Our Second College Graduation!

We have our second College Graduate! 

Yay Zach!

 

 

Zach got a full ride scholarship 

and now has his Associate Degree with no financial dept what soever!

(Thus far!) :)

 He attended Chandler Gilbert.

And will now continue his Education at Arizona State University!

 He actually finished & got his Degree in December, 2012.

He has an Associate in Science.

  But he walked with his class in May. 

It was outdoors on the Campus, thankfully before it got to hot!

 His proud parents! 

It's nice to know your kids are smarter than you are! :) 

 Proud Brother & Sisters!

Kyle, Lexi & Erica.

 Hope he can hear us screaming from where we were sitting!

 We are pretty loud! :)

 He Graduated with Highest Distinction! 

And a 4.0 GPA!

 The pictures aren't the best cause it was late at night & very windy, 

which is better than being 100+ degrees,

which in AZ, it could easily have been!

 Zach & his best Friend Jordan have now shared 3 Graduations;

 Jr. High, High School & now Community College.

And in 2 - 3 years they could have a 4th from ASU!

Next step; a Bachelors Degree in Applied Biological Sciences

in Wildlife and Restoration Ecology. (now that's a mouthful!)

We Love you & are so Proud you Zach! 

Give Me Five: Movies for Mom!

In Honor of Mother's Day, 

Here are my Top Five Movies for Mom's;

1. Stepmom

The Mother of all Mom Movies! 

No matter how many times I've seen it, I still cry! 

2. Steel Magnolias

This was my Mom's Favorite Movie of all time.

It holds a special place in my heart! 

3. The Family Stone

This ones got it all: 

It will bring a lot of Laughs & a lot of Tears.

And it has Christmas! :) 

 4. Raising Helen

This one's a cute & touching Movie, 

for Moms & Sisters alike!

 5. Mamma Mia!

You know me, I had to include a Broadway Musical! :) 

And all the Music in this one is from Abba! 

Mothers & Daughters can sing & dance along!

Every day can be Mother's Day if you pick the right Movie to watch! 

From One Mom To Another!

There's nothing I Love more than being a Mom! 

It is my Greatest Joy! 

And my Greatest Challenge!

 A new Mom

with my first born, Kyle! 

Second time around! 

with my Zach man! 

Nope, they're not little any more, 

but they are still my boys! 

 Sleeping Beauties!

Lexi & Erica,

Forever my Princesses!

And on Mother's Day 

& everyday, 

I carry my own Mother with me. . . 

Forever in my Heart. 

Happy Mother's Day!

First Concerts Part 1!

My girls have been to concerts before in Church or at a Festival, 

but never in a stadium, like a real concert, before. 

Well that is all about to change:

Lexi's favorite group is Paramore!

Here she is in her Paramore T-shirt she got for Christmas, 

heading to her first ever Concert! 

 

Paramore is a Rock Band,

with a Unique sound. 

One of their first big hits for Lexi was on the Twilight Movie Soundtrack! 

The Lead Singer is Hayley Williams! 

(No my little girl was NOT reading Cosmo!) :) 

She was just so excited when she saw her on the cover,

she had to get a picture! :) 

On the Day of the Concert

Lexi commented on an Instagram Hayley Williams had posted, 

And to Lexi's Amazement, she commented back! 

Lexi was so thrilled to get a mention from her Idol! 

Her dates for her first Concert;

her Dad & Big Brother, Kyle.

She had been counting down the days for Months! 

She had so much fun! 

And Loved every minute of the Concert!

Now she loves Hayley Williams 

and Paramore even more! 

I remember my very first concert . . . 

My older sister took me to see

 The Commodores! :)

I still, to this day, have a special place in my heart for Lionel Richie! 

He has a new(ish) Album out 

of Duets of his greatest hits with some of Country Music's biggest stars

It brings back so many Great Memories!

If you don't have it, get it. It's so good!

Do you remember the First Concert you ever went to?

Lexi will. 

I'm so glad she got to go!

And coming up latter this month

her Twin Sister

will attend her First Ever Concert! 

I'm not gonna give it away, but,

Stay tuned for First Concerts Part 2! :) 

Give Me Five: Favorite T.V. Sitcoms

Okay, I've shared my Favorite T.V. Dramas, now for some good Laughs: My all time Favorite T.V. Sitcoms!

 1. Friends

"I'll be there for you!" 

A funny group of Friends, closer than Family,

in New York City

What could be Better?!

2. Happy Days!

 "Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!" 

I know I might be dating myself here,

but I can't help it! 

I also LOVED the spin off: Joanie Loves Chachi! :) 

3. The Facts Of Life!

 "You take the good, your take the bad, 

you take them both & there you have The Facts Of Life!" 

Blair (Lisa Welchel) was always my Favorite! 

Now I follow her on Twitter & have read her Books! :) 

4. Modern Family!

(Sorry no words in their Theme Song!) :) 

Such a Funny show, 

If you're not watching it, you should be! 

You will actually LOL! :) 

 5. The Brady Bunch!

"Here's a Story of a Lovely Lady,

who was bringing up three very Lovely Girls!"

Coming from a large family myself, I couldn't help but love this one!

Jan was my Favorite, 

though for most people it was all about Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! :) 

Okay, there you are, my all time Favorite T.V. Sitcoms! And my question to you is: When you're in the mood to laugh, what do you like to watch? 

Give Me Five: Favorite T.V. Dramas

Every Life needs a little Drama! As long as that Drama comes from some really good T.V. shows! Here are some of my all time Favorites;

1. Parenthood!

The Best Show On Television!

If you are not watching Parenthood, 

(weather you are a Parent, or you have a Parent) :)

You NEED to be!

We watch it as a Family!

It is so good!

But be warned; you will cry!

2. Gilmore Girls!

Another really Great show! 

A Fast Talking Mother/Daughter Duo!

(right up my alley!) :)

I have the ENTIRE Series on DVD!

Love it! 

3. ER!

Gotta love a good Medical Drama!

(It was a toss up with St. Elsewhere, which I really liked too) 

But ER was such a good show! 

Great Actors, engrossing story lines. 

 4. Flamingo Road!

 Now, you might not remember this one, 

but it was one of my Favorites!

Think along the lines of Dynasty & Dallas, 

but a little more tropical! :) 

I wanted to be Morgan Fairchild, but have the wrong color hair! :) 

 5. Switched At Birth! 

I love that this show incorporates Sign Language 

and does it really well. 

It's one of my Girls' Favorite shows. 

Two girls switched at Birth, one of whom is deaf. 

Two families turned upside down, 

trying to make the best of a difficult situation. 

So good. 

Well, there you have it, my picks for the Best T.V. Dramas. Up next I'll talk about some of my Favorite Comedies! What are your picks when you need a little Drama in your life? 

Coming Of Age

My girls went to a friends Quinceanera. For those of you who don't live in the West, a Quinceanera is to Hispanic Girls what a Bar Mitzvah is to Jewish Boys. It's a Coming Of Age celebration! When a Hispanic Girl turns 15, it marks her journey from childhood into womanhood. They have a ceremony & a big party! When my boys were younger they were in the court of a Friend of ours Quinceanera as well. (The court is kind of like a wedding party.)

My girls along with all their friends were so excited & talked about little else for months ahead of time. They got their dresses, one was given to them by my Niece who is in College now & had worn the dress to some formal in High School & the other one we picked up at a local thrift store! They looked Beautiful!

We found their cool shoes at Burlington Coat Factory. In order to get the above picture to show off their shoes, they had to stand like this . . .

 

They talked about how they wanted to have a Quinceanera, just like when Kyle was younger & said he wished we were Jewish so he could have a Bar Mitzvah! (He's all about the Party & the Cash!) :) If I was Tweeting this I'd Hashtag: #WhitePeoplesProblems :)

I guess there's always the Debutant Ball route, but alas, we are not a part of high society! (Now that is a Bummer!) So I guess we'll stick with the Beloved Sweet 16 Party! We threw big ones for each of the boys, where we played Volleyball & Basketball in our Churches Gym & the girls have already been coming up with ideas for theirs! They turn 16 this October. Yikes!

My Sweet 16 Party was a Surprise Party at Farrells Ice Cream Parlor! I was really surprised by my Family & all my Friends that were there! It was a fun night I will never forget!

How do you, if at all, in your Family or Culture, celebrate the ending of childhood & the beginning of adult hood? And my bigger question is how can we keep our children from growing up at all?