Proud Mama

Lately seems that all my blog entries are depressing.  So today, I finally have some good news to share!

My little Beanie FINALLY can ride her bike with no training wheels!  I have been working with her off and on for a few years to accomplish this.  Sunday morning was the day that we finally made it happen.

We started on Kevin's grandsons toddler bike because it made her feel safer on the smaller bike.



I got quite the sprint workout when she was biking down hill!

Later I got her bigger girl bike from her dad and Monday she rode it for a while. 

Tuesday she went to G&G house and they took her out and purchased this fancy new bike.  The girl was so excited.  I spoke to her on the phone and she was the happiest kid in the universe.

Happy Birthday Friss

Friss, Me, Ramon and Monster

Today I took the two older kids with me to visit Friss for his birthday.

 My eldest child is now 32!!  WOW

 

There are very few pictures with all of us together so this one is pretty special.

(Except I hate the white t-shirt Friss is required to wear.)

Note that Monster is a BIG guy!

 

We had a very good visit.  It was so nice to spend time with all three of them. 

I really hope someday Kevin and I can have big family get togethers with ALL our kids and grandkids and I will finally have the big family I always wanted.

 

I WANTED to Go Home!

one for each Grandma.

It was raining outside so the evening bike ride was cancelled.  I had also planned to attend a multisport club meeting at 7:30 pm.  But at 5, as I was leaving the office, I was tired and I just felt like going home for the night.

On the way home it occurred to me that if Husband and Beanie both came home it would be nice….that I wanted them to be there with me.  This made me very happy.

You see, usually if I go home after work I secretly hope they don’t come home because I want to relax and there is no way to relax with either one of them around.  In the past, husband would be projecting his unpleasant mood around and the Bean would be, well, be acting her age and be loud, agitated, animated, demanding, moody and precocious.  Or Husband would arrive, dump the kid on me and head off to do his own thing and then my "free" night would turn into his free night and I would just feel taken advantage of.

I phoned hubby and asked if they had plans….he said not really and I said why don’t  you come home and all three of us can hang out and Beanie can finish her craft projects for Mother’s Day.  

So they did. 

And we had a very nice evening.  Beanie’s project turned out fantastic (see above) and Husband hung around while I supervised the crafting and we all chatted and had fun. 

Now this is something I could get used to.

Memorial Day Holiday

Monday and we don't have to work (yippy) so we went to the *beach*.

(A local public swimming lake.)

It was a good day.

Happy 17th Birthday to Ramone

Ramone just finished up 11^th grade, so next year she will be a senior.  Today she turns 17.  This mom has mixed emotions (of course) as I watch my children becoming adults right before my eyes.

Ramone was my first baby girl (and my last or so I thought).  I was so happy to see her when she arrived; finally another girl in the house.

She was always a tiny little girl and I did my best to hold her ALL THE TIME.  I wanted to cherish every moment with this “last” one.

She was always very smart and had a style of her own….even as a toddler.

I let her hair grow long and it was beautiful. 

Later in school she would get lice and her grandma would cut all her hair off!

When she became a teen ager, her hair turned curly.  (I never knew that could happen.)  It is a nice loose curl that I would love to have.  She never liked it long or curly so this is a rare glimpse at her “real” hair.

In high school she continued to refine her style.  I just love this self portrait she took of her and her best friend.

This year she decided dreadlocks were going to be her thing.

And more recently she has adopted the colored dreadlocks.  (It’s not my favorite.)

For all her funkiness, she really is a good kid.  She makes good grades and excels at art.  She had some of her work feature in the annual art publication her high school publishes!

sculptures of her and her best friend

She also made the style page of the year book.

far left in long skirt

This summer she is attending a 2 week art camp that she received a scholarship to. 

I am very proud of her for having her dreams and working to make them a reality even if it makes me nervous sometimes.

Crisis Averted

This morning my boss was doling out a high school graduate gift of $100 (from the company) to one of my co-workers whose daughter was graduating from high school when he thought to ask me when my son would be graduating.  I told him he was just finishing up his first year of college!!  Boss says cut the boy a check and sorry we missed him.  So I did.

I quickly texted the boy to stop by the office cause I knew this check would make his day.  He showed up shortly after that and was thrilled as you can imagine.

While he was here thanking my boss, we chatted a bit and he told me he had his last final today and he was really amped up for it.  He had been studying and was confident he would ace the test and quite possibly the whole course.  I was proud to see him taking his academics so seriously and getting excited about good grades.  I was feeling very good about my Monster.

Then a few hours later, the phone ring and the boy sputters “mom” into the phone thru tears; just like when he wrecked the car.  My heart dropped.  He went on to tell me that he had showed up for his test and no one was there….. that he had the day wrong and it was YESTERDAY!

OMG the poor boy, he was so upset.  He had been so UP for this test.  I told him to quickly contact the professor or TA and see if there was a makeup test.  He told me he would have to go home to find their number and would do that right away.

Once home he emailed the TA and called me to tell me he did not have a phone number for either the TA or prof!!  Welcome to the internet age.   He had calmed down and assured me he would still pass the class even without the final because he had a high B going into it.  That made us both feel better.

A long hour later the TA finally emailed him back and informed him the makeup test was at 3 p.m. and he could take it then.  He was thrilled and rushed back up to campus and aced his test like he wanted to. 

I am very proud of him for getting that all worked out so he could still take his test.