Feliz quinceanera, nina!

My baby turned 15 today!
Once again I gush at the beautiful young lady she is growing into. We went to dinner tonight with our families and as I sat across the table watching her, I realized just how grown up she is getting.
Believe me, I am hearing all about how she has only one year until she gets her license and that driver's ed will be coming up this school year. I remember how excited I was at her age. I am excited for her and yet completely scared at the same time. Sorry mom and dad! Now I know how you felt!

I see freedom!

Two and a half weeks...two and a half weeks...two and a half weeks! That's been the mantra around school today. Two and a half weeks and classes are DONE...for the semester. Man has it been chaotic! Deadlines here, deadlines there. I had to register for the fall, apply for FAFSA, apply for scholarships, apply for a student loan... It seems like the list never ends. One thing that I'm grateful for is that even though it's April 15th, I have NO tax apprehension! It's been done long ago. When the last document came in, I was all over it. That is about where my "on top of it-ness" ends. I get things done, but not always with plenty of time to spare.
I am actually looking forward to a few short weeks to catch up on many projects (i.e. painting the kitchen) that I have not been able to get to while in school and that are not easily accomplished with four kids hanging around either. Gotta love that colleges let out just a tad earlier than the rest of the academic world. I'm going to need it.

By the way, I don't know who I'm fooling with the 'freedom' thing. Did you miss the part about me having four kids?

What's in a name???

Cheryl...you have inspired me.

Who has a nickname and or an embarrassing nickname story?

I have already told you I call Andrew "My little man-boy." He also gets called Butchie. We don't really call Kaitlyn by a nickname. I always thought we would call her "kitten" when we chose her name, but it never stuck. Alaina on the otherhand...Lainey, Laineybug, Bug, Buggers, Punky & Punkysqueedunk. Christi is Christibistiboo, Peanut & Nanners (to Lainey only.)

My dad gave me the nickname "Moppet." My grandpa used to call me "Rascalitywag." One of my most embarrassing nickname moments was just before I began highschool. My parents and I had gone to walk around Lincoln-Way and get the layout. We were sitting in the cafeteria and just as a group of guys walked by my dad blurts out loud, "So Wonderwoman...!" I about slid right under the table. That is a big deal when you're that age! That's why I love to make sure A.J.'s friends know he will always be my man-boy no matter how big he gets!

Shoes

Here is yet another vacation post...

I had bought Christi a new pair of shoes only a week and a half before leaving for Florida. Here is a comparison of how they looked after we got home compared to the identical new pair I had to buy her...

The toes are completely GONE! Even the little pink sparklie trim on top of the toes is missing.

My "little munchkin"

(Can't get the photo to stay rotated once I post it!)

I have a son with an outstanding sense of humor! Have you seen the new Ikea commercial with the mom who keeps coming into the livingroom saying, "Little munchkin, dinner's ready." The kids and I saw it for the first time the other night. I looked over at A.J. and he just shook his head and started laughing.
He is growing VERY quickly. I think we are close to even on the height thing now. Anyways, I tease him often and call him 'My Little Man-Boy.' He is pretty good natured about it, but now when I call him that he blurts out, "Mom...you're ruining my life!" (Gotta see the commercial.) I couldn't find it on line yet to post it--if I could even figure out how to post it!

I could go on and on about our trip. We had a great time.

Christi was a wealth of stories. I love this picture in particular. We had just gotten off of the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios. Christi got off the ride wide-eyed looking around asking, "Where are we?" She was sure that we had really taken a space trip with R2D2 and left Disney World! She did this several times on different rides. I can't remember which ride we got off of that was very Disneyesque. She finally thought we had returned and jumped around saying, "We're at Disney World! Woohoo!"