Shelby's 21st Birthday

I can't believe how I just blinked, and now have a beautiful 21 year old daughter.



On the evening she was born, it seemed like she would always be my baby girl.


I guess nothing has changed. She always WILL be my baby girl!

Happy birthday, Shelby! I hope your life will be at least half as wonderful as mine has been with you around! :-)

A few of my favorite "Being a Mom" photos...

This is what I'm celebrating today. :-)

































Not only am I celebrating these blessings, but I am also lucky enough to have a few "bonus" kids that may have been to big for me to carry by the time they came into my life, but I carry them in my heart.

Happy Mother's Day to everybody who is somebody's Mom, or is a child who blessed the life of a Mom, like all of mine have blessed me!

Shelby's triumphant return to college

Last year was Shelby's Freshman year at Oklahoma State University. I don't think anybody is really prepared to begin the university experience and, even though Shelby is a smart kid and an excellent student, she was no exception. By the time she finished the year she was exhausted and discouraged. Her GPA was acceptable, but not what my straight "A" student was used to. Plus, like most college students, she hated never having any extra spending money.

"I had no idea that college was this hard! It is really HARD!!"

I think a lot of it is, not only are the kids not prepared for how difficult the classes are, they also are not prepared for all the freedom that comes with living on campus. There are no parents to set curfews or make them eat healthy, so they end up burning the candle at both ends and burning out! Shelby eventually confessed that she had spent many a night hanging out with her friends as late as 3 AM. When she came home for the summer, she literally slept for three days straight before she even thought about what she wanted to do during the summer.

What she ended up doing made my head spin! When my daughter decides to make changes, she never does anything half-way.

She was hired at The Home Depot to work between 30-40 hours a week. On top of that, she signed up to take two courses at the community college so she could bring her GPA back up to the level she wanted. But even with all that, she managed to get a lot of rest and have a lot of fun! By the end of the summer she had passed her courses with a 4.0, and had enough cash to completely redo her college dorm room.

"I'm going for a more sophisticated look this year," she explained as she picked out a chic multicolor comforter, matching room accessories, and black and white photo posters.

Then, something exciting happened that she had not anticipated. At the end of the school year, Shelby had applied to be an "RA" (Residence Assistant) for the dorms. Originally, she was told that she did not get it. But three weeks ago the college called and offered her the position! What this means is she will have extra spending money after all, because an RA gets free room and board on campus!!!

I am very proud of my daughter! Not only is she living on the top floor of the dorm this year, she is on top of the world. :)

The Kids at the Henry Ford Museum

A video only a mother could love...!

Many years ago, when Shelby was in preschool, her teachers decided to have the children put on a Nativity play. The play was held at a church nearby due to space problems, but we were still very crowded. You may be able to tell that from the poor quality of the video clip... I was crammed into a back corner and was jostled throughout the filming. Still, as any good stage mother will tell you, a mom simply MUST get a film of her child's acting debut!



I was very proud of my little girl's performance of Mary. I still am not really sure of the message, though: What does it mean when Mary puts her Baby down to clap for Santa Claus? I didn't have anything to do with the script writing, so I'm still wondering...! :-)

Well, anyway, If you choose to watch this video you have been warned about the quality!

In the spirit of summer

This week's film clip is an old video of Shelby and John (ages 4 and 7) at swim lessons. This may be a video that only a mother could love, but I almost forget sometimes how cute they were back then. I want to keep this here so I can remember those days always. :)

Another step closer...

... to Shelby leaving for college.


We attended her college orientation during the past two days, and now she's officially enrolled.

Orientation consisted of several seminars, lunch in the student union, dinner in town, and an over-night in the dorms. (Doggone it, the kids had the nice dorms, the parents had the old dorms!) Then this morning featured breakfast in the student union, and finally the big moment: the students enrolled in their classes.

She's excited.

I'm exhausted.

It's all good! :)

Fun without me

My kids' summer vacation began ten days before mine. Although I still have two more days to work, they decided to take a road trip without me. A dozen teenagers traveled a couple of hours to Mears, Oklahoma to eat at the world's famous burger restaurant and Shelby talked Arthur into driving one of the groups. So not fair! They could have waited until I could go too. But, nOooo, they just had to go right then! There is no way I can take time off at the very end of the school year.

I guess it was a good thing for them that I didn't. They neglected to mention that the trip included a drive to the top of Mt. Scott so they all could go rock climbing. I don't do mountains!!! Art is much more relaxed about things like that.

I'm not going to complain. I think Arthur is a very good sport for making the trip.



Mears looks like a real dive on the outside, but evidently that is their gimmick. My gang brought back a burger and home fries for me, and the food is exceptionally good!



Then for the part I'm glad I missed:
















This distant climber too far away to identify is none other than John.



I'm glad they all had fun without me. Next week I can join them in an excursion but you can be sure, it won't be on any mountains!

I promise! Not one more word about graduation!!

... after this! Naturally, this week's Film Clip Friday features Shelby's graduation.

To my dismay, I accidentally deleted the video that I recorded! Fortunately, Aunt Kathy captured a bit. So, one week later, here are 60 seconds of Shelby's graduation.



Oh, also one week after the graduation and my birthday:

Happy birthday Arthur my love! (Allen too!)

Shelby has graduated!

Well, everybody, I have recovered enough to post a few photos! The ceremony was wonderful, and actually was not overly long because a thunderstorm had been threatening to hit the entire evening. The sky was ominous, and a distant rumble could be heard all the way through the graduation exercises!

I had questioned the rationale of holding the ceremony outdoors, particularly since the other two district high schools hold theirs at the Convention Center down town. The future alumni were quick to inform me that their school was the only high school in Oklahoma that had a fireworks display at the end of commencement, and they like it that way. I wondered what good that would do if it got rained out and we had to attempt to cram ten thousand people into a auditorium that seats a thousand, but I kept my misgivings to myself.

As it turned out, the rain didn't hit until the last fireworks were finished and everybody was on the way home. Then the floodwaters commenced!!! My sis-in-law quipped that of course Andy would never allow it to rain on his daughter's graduation. I tend to agree!

Arthur and I made it to the house before the full rain hit, but by the time Shelby and her friends arrived for her party it was pouring so hard that we had to get out towels to dry them off after they ran from their cars to the house.






Professor B, Shelby and her best friend Jammy:



Band Friends and Mr. Early:


The party was a triple-adult-chaperoned all-nighter for about 14 grads. We were very happy to give them a safe place to hang out and decompress after all the excitement! The kids had a blast, played Guitar Hero and, (believe it or not) Charades until dawn!



I am so proud of Shelby! But, now her day of glory is over, and the next chapter of her life is beginning. Plus, I'm kinda glad all the hoopla is over. Now I can enjoy visiting with Jimmy and my grand-twin that made the trip from Maine! They are staying until Wednesday, so time is very precious. So, see y'all Wednesday with more photos. :)

Just photos with very few words

Sorry, this post is a bit hasty, but I have almost zero time this week. It is now less than 48 hours until graduation day! These are a few photos of the past few days: Scholarship banquet, Band Banquet, and Baccalaureate.










I'm not too sure how much I will post next week, either. I think I will be in full recovery mode. (Complete with covers over my head for a few days...!)