It's been a month since the blog was updated?! Wow that was a shocker! I feel a big update and lots of pics coming on to make up for it. Let's start with the kids:
Gib: Finally finished high school! Senioritis kicked in around September, so it's been a LONG year. All year long, I noticed him taking time to make memories with friends and family. This wonderful bonding moment pictured here is a great example. Mariah says he's been torturing her fairly regularly. What a sweet boy to create special moments with his sister. He knows what it's like when a sibling leaves for college and I think it's been on his mind quite a bit - this huge change in his life and ours. We are blessed with very thoughtful and loving kids - I couldn't be prouder of all of them!
Gib had prom, AP Exams and finals since you last read anything here. Luckily, if you follow this you probably see everything on facebook as it happens! I will try to put in some photos you may not have seen (or are worth a second viewing!)
Gib's official graduation ceremony is tomorrow! He was done last week but had to go today for Senior breakfast and graduation rehearsal. It took me an hour to get him to wake up. He was 15 minutes late to it and couldn't have cared less. The best part about graduation so far is all the parties Gib has been to: 7 so far and counting. The entire family was invited to one tonight but Gib thought he'd be the only dork whose PARENTS came. Never mind that his friend's mom is my friend. My sweet, even tempered boy was actually grouchy! I told him he had a 5 second head start to get in and disappear and should our paths cross let's agree to pretend not to know each other. He disappeared and we visited and left without comment to our son. I did sneak a few peeks at him playing Frisbee, but I tried to look at everyone to throw off any suspicion that his MOM was there.
I think the transition this summer will be easier when we know that BSC is such a great place for Gib. BSC has been above and beyond the most impressive college - long after the deal is done, Gib is still hearing from his admissions counselor. We've been to a bbq nearby that alum and future students were invited to. There's another one that may happen in August. Gib's had a couple calls and even got a t-shirt in the mail with a nice handwritten postcard. We'll be back to The Hilltop in June to register Gib for classes. Everyone says you'll have 20 new friends on Day One, 40 by the end of freshmen orientation, 100 by the end of the first week, and so on.
Last Sunday the high school seniors were recognized at church - all three of these guys are going to BSC! We thought it was pretty amazing! The kid in the middle we didn't know beforehand, he went to a different high school, but his brother also goes to BSC and we met his family at church. The dude in the bowtie plays football at yet another high school. His family lives in our neighborhood. It's nice to know that we already have a network going!
Last Day of School photos: Mariah will be ever so thrilled I did this! but I remind her that EVERY time I pick up my iPhone, I end up seeing myself on the screen because she was just on Snapchat. It's a rude surprise to see myself in an unflattering light and evidence that a facelift would be nice.
Taryn: Mike and Gib just saw Taryn and helped her move in to her new off campus apartment. She is keeping the Volvo for the summer. We will see Taryn in August when she comes home before the fall semester and the mandatory family photo when we will all be decked out in BSC apparel.
Taryn is staying on at college for some summer course credits. She is excited to be out of the residential college! She has her own room - no sharing! She says she really feels like an adult now.
She is the RA for the apartment students this summer which gives her a meal plan and a housing allotment. A friend loaned her a TV to use through July which has resulted in Taryn revising her birthday wish list for some much needed kitchenry stuff.
Because she also got a full sized bed with the apartment, we got her a new memory foam mattress pad to go on it. Gib's inheriting her twin sized one for his college dorm room. I was glad to find a reasonably priced one with a neat caveat of being made of recycled materials including green tea and infused with extract for a nice minty smell. It had great reviews, but I also remembered after reading her text that there was mention of a distinct toothpaste smell instead. Taryn concurs. It was also mentioned that it will fluff up in a day or two, but our little princess liked her old one better. Reminded me of when Gib got the toddler bed and she moved into a twin sized bunk bed. That adjustment was particularly painful, so I'm glad that being in an apartment all adult-like and everything also helps her deal with the unfairness of her brother taking all the good stuff!
I'm looking forward to Taryn coming home in August, and briefly having a full house. In the meantime, keep those photos and texts about difficult Gatorade bottles and whatnot coming T!! And PS Taryn also noted that apparently toothpaste makes her sleepy. So there you go, engineering at its finest once again.
Mariah: Straight A's for this girl! She has plans for the summer. Just thinking about it wears me out. Still looking for a job - getting that first one is a pain, especially when you're only 15. Sketching fashion ideas like crazy and plans to make 3-5 dresses from her ideas. Needs a mannequin and somehow will figure out how to create her dresses without patterns. We have plans to do get a monthly gym membership this summer. She's been going to the pool every time the sun peeks out. She texted me that she didn't like how she looked like she was getting super tanned and then when she took off her sunglasses she was super white again. Oh, the agony of pursuing a golden tan when you inherited really white skin.
Mariah will be heading to Ecuador with Gib in less than 2 weeks. The fundraising for that was so successful that it only cost $200 for each of them to go! We went to the sporting good store to get some gear for the kids. I feel much better knowing they are in clothing that keeps them cool and dry, and has UV protection. We'll treat everything with Sawyers to help prevent swarms of mosquitos from biting them. They will be taking anti-malarial medication a couple days before they leave and for a week after. We went to a travel clinic and got all their shots and antibiotics and a rehydrating kit should they be needed.
Mariah will be taking an art class in late June (with my friend who threw the party tonight). Whether Mariah will sketch, paint or work on a dress is the question. She can do anything she wants and Beth majored in fashion design and has offered to help Mariah get started on her project runway. We will also be hosting a French exchange student from July 10-30. Her name is Romane (Mariah says it's probably pronounced "rho-mon") and she is 17, loves: fashion, shopping, photography, art, music (everything except classical - hah), swimming, horses and movies. Hey, that's MY daughter too! Especially if, after the word horses, you add RACES. Naturally, we've decided it's time we all went for a day at the track near Paducah while Romane is here. Her paperwork says she is fairly fluent, with over 6 years of English, and she has been to LA, NY and Washington state. So she knows a little what to expect from America, and is really hoping to improve her English with immersion. We've found this cultural experience to be a lot of fun for us too; obviously, since this is the third summer in a row we are hosting. Too bad none of us speak any French whatsoever. Wonder why we didn't get on board with a Spanish speaking country?! Ce la vie y'all.
Indie graduated with top honors - two different diplomas, summa cum laude, and University Honors. She secretly added another medal to her collection in her graduation finery - the first place award given to her and her dad for their first place finish at the Dixie Stampede!! She figured she deserved one more accolade. It was funny to be in on the joke as she walked! For her graduation, we decided to have Beth paint a scene from Kenya - The Masai Mara - to commemorate all the wonderful things Indie got to do and experience in her 4 years at Mercer. This beautiful moment in time which was captured in photo, is now a gorgeous painting! (by an up & coming famous artist!).
Graduating college has brought a lot of change into Indie's life. She'll be returning here for grad school. She hopes to find an apartment within a 10-15 minute drive to her school and we hope it's within 10-15 minutes from home! Indie will stay in Macon until the end of July because of her apartment lease, and also sadly, her cat Aussie was hit by a car and is recuperating. He had to have a 2nd surgery to re-pin his leg and this time it was fully casted. He looks pitiful! He will need to see his vet again to have the cast removed. We keep praying for him to heal fully, especially the pelvic break to heal on its own. In the meantime, Indie is working and getting a nice wardrobe together - you should see the cool jacket she got the other day for $5!!
Me: Preschool is done for the year. I will miss the kiddo's and the other teachers. Another crop of wonderful munchkins has graduated. You come to love them all so much, it's so bittersweet to see them go. This year's graduation ceremony and songs were especially precious. I had two years with a little girl who was almost Indie's exact replica at that age. Just before school ended, I was looking through the pile of Magic Tree House books with one of the boy's; when we opened the book, there was Gib's handwriting - "GI
D B" I blinked back tears, and almost took that book home! Then I figured, well I know where to find it when I'm missing my dude next year. I'll become fast friends with a new group of 5 year olds and tell them all about Gid/Gib who also loved that book!
I also said goodbye to some semi-permanent residents: 3 cats that belonged to a family of a friend of Taryn's from high school. They were here for a couple of months. I keep starting to go upstairs in the mornings to change litter boxes, water and feed them, and then I remember I don't have to do that anymore. I miss the gritty half-a-meow to say HI from 14 yr old Baby, and always being amazed at how wide Jasmine is (renamed her Pumba) especially when she plopped onto my lap, and laughing at how often Oreo (renamed her Ree-Ree) was found under Taryn's boxsprings in a do-it-yourself-hammock. They were good kitties but I know they really missed their people who hoped to sell their house but now have to deal with Radon gas that was discovered during a buyer's inspection.
My cats didn't pay the houseguests much mind, unless one of them escaped and came downstairs. They each took a turn at that, and were properly traumatized. It didn't stop them from wanting to escape but we didn't have any more surprise encounters. Once, Chino insisted he come up with me to see why his mom had to leave him for 15 minutes each morning. The three kitties each took turns getting too close to him and he asserted that everything as far as the eye could see belonged to HIM - every fiber of carpeting, each room, chair, bed, and especially all the laps! Now that they're gone, their feline schedule which wasn't really disturbed has resumed full force and the cats are doing what they do best: napping on the patio furniture!
Grammy & I have begun shopping, digging holes and planting new plants! We even added a Dogwood Tree to the backyard. I've begun adding in annuals to fill out the patio planters that have perennials. The planter we bought recently I did all by myself. I like it, but I heard my mom telling me in my head the entire time that there wasn't enough space. I think I can have Mike drill out the shelf and pop that basket down 3" and it'll be fine!!!
Grammy had a visit from her childhood friend Rachel. They went everywhere two old gals could go in a week - especially when a slightly younger gal was available to drive them there. They had a great time, and in fact, Grammy is visiting Rachel in San Diego for 2 weeks now!
Mike: Has had some business travels lately to be on site when CHS has what they call a Go Live at a hospital. He puts in long days and weekends on these. There may be a treasure at the end of the rainbow after all of this, which will be superb since two vehicles had costly repairs this month. I have to wonder, though, if all this travelling might also have something to do with a few pesky Honey Do projects he's been saddled with recently. Mike hasn't quite recovered from putting up shutters on Grammy's brick wall. If only he had that $250 drill it would have made the work FUN.
Mike is also recovering weekly from playing baseball after a couple decades hiatus! He dusted off his old baseball glove and joined the men's softball team at church. First time up at bat, he did himself proud. He fielded well, and he freely admits, he needs to get his running form back! But out there amongst older and more crippled gentlemen in knee braces, he is holding his own! I know he is a welcomed new member of the Fighting Sheep team. I enjoy hearing them give each other grief and cheering for each other too.
The End. Until next month. Or maybe sooner now that it's SUMMERTIME!!!!!
