Tales of a Shoebox Princess

One hour and 45 minutes til party time! I'm just waiting for my turn in the shower (hopefully I'll have some hot water, but I doubt it). Pictures will hopefully be posted tonight! Hayley is on her way to Florida--Miss you, CheekyPie!

There was no objective for yesterday, except have Jenni and girls over and watch "Merlin." Due to time constraints and the need for dinner, I didn't get to finish watching it, so I'll have to put it on my netflix queue. Enjoyed the chat, Jen, and enjoyed seeing the kids get along and have fun together. Also enjoyed the visit from the firefighter, who was a herald of irony. Get this: a storm was brewing to the west of us last night and firefighters had to go door-to-door to warn everybody because the city's siren system disabled by lightning a few days ago. HAHAHAHA! A storm put out the storm warning system! We laughed for quite awhile and totally ignored the warning from the fire fighter. We had lightning and rain, but it never turned into severe weather. Objective three-a (yes there are subsets to my objectives) is to continue to percolate a possible sinus/ear infection so that it's ready to cause pain and anguish when party time is upon us. (the pre...

Katie's kindergarten picture was finally rounded up. It was in the black hole of the house--the place where things slip into an alternate universe never to be seen again--Jim's closet. The picture was inches away from vanishing, I'm sure. Actually, I never would have thought to look in Jim's closet. EVER. NEVER EVER. But Jim, with his ability to swoop in and solve all my problems with a shrug and a quick look around, casually reached on hand into his closet, brought down a pile of old wood frames, and it was one of those framed pictures! We now have a complete set of Kate's school photos! Thank you Jim! And there was much rejoicing! Yay! In preparation for the next four graduation parties, I found and sorted everyone else's school pictures. So I just saved myself lots of time two years from now! And there was much rejoicing! Yay!

Did most of it. I baked the cake, which is now in the freezer. Jimmy was a big help--he mixed up two of the cake mixes (I used three total). Here is a picture of him making a mix. Katie was also a big help. She made 48 chocolate cupcakes. 48 white cupcakes still need to be made. I'll probably do those tomorrow morning. I spent the rest of the day hunting down Katie's school pictures. That is WAY harder than it sounds. I didn't get really organized about keeping pictures and labeling pictures until she was probably in 4th grade. Anyway, most of the pictures were where I thought they'd be, but a few had gone "walkabout" and didn't seem to want to be found. One is still AWOL--her kindergarten picture. I have a small one in her baby book, so if I'm in dire need, I will use that. OH, I didn't spend ALL my time looking for pictures! I forgot--while the cake was baking, I played Froggy Farkle with Katie, Jimmy and Paul. I know you want to see...

....Check! For your viewing pleasure, I give you two planters that have been filled. With Katie's help, I am one step closer to hosting a grad party. If you plan to attend the party on Saturday (2 to 6 p.m.--if I have met you in person, you are invited--if you need directions, comment and I'll figure out a way to contact you), see if you can locate these planters! Bonus points if you spot the third planter not pictured on this blog. Extra 50 bonus points if you name all of the flowers in these two pots. Pictures ahead: Afternoon family gathering involving some of the many kids in my extended family. Wish more of the extended family kids were able to attend (you know who you are), but alas, we take any cousins we can get at any one time. Also, check out a new link on my sidebar: Graphjam ! It's funny, it's pop culture, it's in easy-to-read graph form!

Welcome to summertime here at the shoebox castle. The weather is PERFECT. Love me some mid-70s with low dew points! Posting will likely be a bit less frequent this week as I gear up for Katie's grad party on Saturday. Today's party prep job is buy dirt and some flowering plants to put in the deck planters, which I will do in a little bit. I spent the morning exercising, hovering around little 'uns as they did their summertime job routine, and pestering the big kids to do their jobs. Then we went over to Jake's house for lunch and chit-chat with cousins and siblings. While Jen and girls are here, we must do the get-togethers! :) Now I'm home, the kids are tired (so am I) and Katie is at work. But I must press on and get my behind over to Cal's nursery for greenery.

This morning, I went out to look at the birdies in the nest under the deck. But they were gone. And all I could think of was how fitting it was that they would leave the nest on the very same day that Katie celebrated commencement. I stood there for a moment and wondered what would become of those little birdies, who probably weren't the best fliers, food finders, or hiders from danger. But somehow, nature and mommy and daddy robin help them along and eventually, those two baby birds would survive and live to find their own way and take care of themselves. Now I'm getting sentimental, I guess. I'm not really worried about Katie, even though what she has planned for her life may not come to pass. Somehow, life carries on and all we can do is choose to be happy, regardless of dreams or plans. All we can do is do our best, but if things don't work out, there are always other options. Bye-bye birdies (conscious reference to the musical, which Katie participated in du...