Sharks got killed!

Friday night BC played Gulfcoast. It was a pretty close game at the beginning, but then in their beautiful style, BC killed 'em. My friend Charity came over and went with me to her first lacrosse game.....she's hooked! We made posters and decorated my car. She even had a t-shirt with BC and Kaity's name and number on it. Scott was there and held a poster for a minute or two. He was quite embarrassed! Luckily Harry and Alex showed up. They were great sports and every time Kaity looked our way, they were waving posters.

Kaity was floored! I thought she might get mad, but thankfully she didn't. We had so much fun! Another game Tuesday night......can't wait!

Kaity giving Charity a big hug after the game!

Harry's awesome! LOVE you, Harry!

My Baby Bear, Alex

Charity and one of her posters...don't look too close at the #26-she kinda screwed that up. Ha ha!

Good Things

This has been a very difficult week. Everyone at work is stressed with fcat starting in a few days. The kids get freaked out about it even though we do our best to make lite of it all. This time of year for 3rd grade teachers, just sucks! In fact, from now until June is just yucky. Anyway, everyone on the team seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. If we all get through these next few weeks without scratching each other's eyes out-that would be nice. 10 hormonal, stressed out women, sometimes in one room, is not pretty!

BUT-while getting interims done, balancing an ever negative bank account, subbing for a friend for after school fcat "club", volunteering at NNMS, helping 2 of my 2nd graders after school with math, completing the cutest birth announcement ever, getting 200 hockey photo form ready and trying to edit approximately 700 photos, a few beautiful bits of magic happened that took my breath away.

1. Out of the blue, I received a text message from my 21 yr old nephew. He has never texted me before. The text read, "Hi. I just wanted you to know I love you." WOW!

2. A friend from waaaaay back when, wrote me the most beautiful message on Facebook. I cried as I read it. Thank you, Jane!

3. The sonic boom from the shuttle sent my 13 year old boy running to my bedroom. He thought someone was trying to break in the house(by shaking it?). He climbed into my bed and didn't leave the whole night. He fell right to sleep and I spent about 2 hours just watching him sleep as if he were a baby again (ok, I really fell asleep after about 10 minutes, but 2 hours sounded a lot better).

4. Kaity took the most gorgeous photos of a pregnant friend. The girl is 20 and alone. Kaity wanted to make her feel beautiful and special. She did her makeup and her hair. Then took her down to 5th Ave and to the beach. The photos were beautiful. We're going to make her baby shower invitations for her and a music CD for the delivery room. Why did Kaity did all this for this girl? They're not best friends, they're not even close. But she did it because she knew it was the right thing to do and I'm so proud of her!!

5. I took photos of yummy Michael today and his whole family. Here are just a couple of sweet, happy Michael. Enjoy!!!

A perfect day!

Saturday was such a perfect day! Kaity wanted to spend the day with me! I LOVE our time together and we just hung out going here....going there.

The day began with Kaity hogging Nella and not letting anyone else hold her except Nella's momma. Heidi and Kelle were having a garage/lemonade/brownie/scones sale in front of Kelle's house (is there anything Kelle can't do?). We showed up for some Nella time. She has already grown in these few short weeks, but her sweetness hasn't changed a bit. It was cold when we first got there and that little bunny kept burying her face deeper in the blanket so she could get in a few more winks. It was so cute. I watched my little girl hold this bundle with such love in her eyes. It was so beautiful.

The whole time we were there, little ones were playing in the driveway and made my heart smile. How I miss those days.

Rick always makes me laugh. Love him! We love you, Nella!

My girl is going to be such a great mommy: in the future.

Oh how I love my girl!

We headed up to Fort Myers because Kaity wanted to do some "thrifting". We really didn't find anything, but that did matter. I just loved being with her.

We rushed back in time to see David tower over all the other players on his hockey team. He is SO TALL. He played well, until he threw up all over the place the last 3 minutes of his game. LOL He was just overheated and felt great when all his Chinese lunch came up.

But then the funniest thing happened! My ex was there and wiping up a coke his nephew spilled. His brother yelled at me to get my attention and away I snapped. You can see Luke here, pointing at the lovely view. Kaity looks and states, "Mom, that is SO gross! His ass is hairy." I laughed so hard and the two of us didn't stop for a good ten minutes. Yes, his ass is smaller than mine, BUT mine isn't hairy! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I do miss the days when I took my babies to the zoo or read books on the beach at sunset. But I also love watching them grow and mature and evolving into adults. What beautiful adults they will be one day. I just wish that day would be later than sooner!

Jennifer

I had a mini-shoot today for a sweet, precocious little girl. She likes to "model" but her parents really can't afford to have professional photos done of her. Mom was getting ready to sign a modeling contract for her little one, until I checked the place out on the internet. The Better Business Bureau gave the company an F! Ouch! You gotta really suck to get an F. So hopefully mom will save her very hard earned money (she and hubby own and run a restaurant). In the meantime, I hope the photos I took of her daughter will give her great joy and make her smile, cause isn't that what life is all about?

Big Decisions!

Last summer my baby and I went all over Florida, North Carolina and Georgia looking at colleges, yes, colleges! She spent a week at SCAD for a lacrosse camp and loved the coach and the school. She was hoping to get some $$ from the coach so I could afford sending her there. We went on a tour of the buildings and she loved it....but no offer of $ came, so her heart was broken. She moped for the rest of our trip.

Delta Gamma House -FSU

I was so excited when we pulled into Florida State and found my freshman dorm, Landis Hall. Memories came flooding back. I took my first "walk of shame" into that building one morning at 10:00, shoes in my hand, horrible hair, morning breath and keeping my eyes to the ground. I sat on the sidewalk almost every weekend at about 3 or 4 in the morning when some drunk dumb ass would pull the fire alarm-it never failed-every weekend and we all had to evacuate the building! So when my kiddo was contemplating going to FSU, I was pumped. I even took her over to my old sorority to show her how beautiful the building was, she would have all kinds of parties that would require new dresses, she would get to live in the gorgeous house where young men worked as servers for dinner each night, etc. I laid it on thick. She was getting into it, my fingers were crossed......

We looked at USF and decided that Tampa was the "Armpit of Florida". The school might be good, but the area was yucky. I was happy when she decided that she didn't want to live in that area for 4 years. FSU was still looking good to her!

We looked at U of Tampa and she liked that a lot! It wasn't FSU, but it was close to home, I could live with that.

U of T - Tampa

Then we looked at Ringling in Sarasota and she loved the idea of an art school. But with the price tag of $42,000 per YEAR and very little to no $ given out for scholarships, we moved on. Go NOLES!

Ringling College of Art and Design - Sarasota

I had her in Florida....I had her using her prepaid college $.....I had her Bright Futures $....I had it in the bag. She wasn't sure about FSU, she was actually thinking of staying near and going to FGCU, but live on campus. I could live with that. It might not be my first choice or even second choice for her, but hey, she's my baby and she'd be SO CLOSE!!!

Then, the large, white envelope came. It came silently and unexpectantly in the mail. In fact, it sat in the mailbox all day long with no one retrieving it until about 7:00 that night when I remembered the mail. I tossed it to her, thought it was just another brochure from the many college brochures we've been getting the last 2 years. It didn't look special. It was so ordinary. When she opened it, she screamed and looked at me with the most intense hope and desire I had ever seen in her eyes. She had been accepted to SCADD AND they offered her an academic scholarship. In that instant, my dream died. I knew it was over. I would not have my little girl close by. She would be gone, in a city that is wild, historic, hot and even sometimes smelly (paper mill). But in that same moment, I looked at her eyes and they sparkled. I said to her, "You're going. I don't care how, but you have to go." I can't deny her...I won't deny her. This is her dream, this is who she is....artistic, creative, different......I will do everything I can to make her dreams come true. That's what you do as a parent, that's what I've been prepping for these 18 years. My baby will be in Georgia and I couldn't be happier!

Savannah College of Art and Design....The WINNER!

The city has been taken over by the college

Historic cemetery

One of the gorgeous houses in Savannah

Brick and cobblestone streets

One of the many little "squares"

Introducing......Abela Jade Delgado

I had a great photo shoot with a precious baby girl and her GORGEOUS mommy and daddy last week. Thank you, Dana for trusting me and letting me in your bed. HaHa! I had so much fun and can't wait to do it again.

xoxox

A Perfect Sunday

Play dates seem so long ago in my past. My babies don't do play dates anymore! They have dates, dances, midterm exams and tournaments. On Sunday, I played dress up with Bailey and watched Alan push a hot pink stroller down the stairs while Kelle sipped her coffee and a dozen women waited in line to hold beautiful Nella. Everyone wanted a turn to feel the magic in their arms. They waited patiently to get a chance to hold that small precious body and breathe in her goodness. Sunday was wonderful. Thanks, Heidi! You ROCK!