Happy Easter - growing up!

Oh, how times have changed for me! I was shopping for Easter baskets stuff this year and realized how fast our kids are really growing up. I used to fill the kids' baskets with kites, swimming suits, towels, goggles, diving sticks, matchbox cars, pretend make-up, barbies,... but now, those things don't really work for us.

Of course I know that our kids are growing up, it's evident by college visits, graduation planning, ACT testing, wardrobe choices, Axe body spray and shampoo replacing all of the kid stuff, pimple cream, I-pods, music, etc. but for some reason it really hit me shopping for Easter basket items this year.

I have never been one to fill baskets with a ton of candy, #1 our kids don't need candy, #2 Brady hates chocolate, and #3 I sure the heck don't want it around the house, especially while doing weight watchers. So I don't ever spend a lot of time in the actual "Easter Area" at the store, I tend to wander over to toys, crafts, swimming, entertainment, etc. But this year, I had to think a little more outside of the box. I am happy with what I came up with but, nonetheless, it made me a little sad to see how our Easter baskets have evolved! It was also the first year that we didn't dye Easter eggs together, it made me a little sad I'm not going to lie.

So, here are my "big kid" baskets, Rachel got all "college bound" items in her basket, Brady got all fishing and camping items in his and Mason got Aeropostle and movies in his. All in all, I hope they liked them and felt that they were good for where they are in their lives. As a mom, I want to achieve giving them things that they may not have even known they wanted or needed.

Happy Easter everyone, give your little ones a little extra squeeze tonight, they will actually be bigger than their Easter baskets one day.

The First of Many...

We have made the first of many road trips to Fort Hays State University, the place that our daughter will call home as of August 18!

It was parent/student weekend this past weekend, so Brian, Rachel and I geared up for the 5 hour drive + time change to Hays, Kansas on Friday evening. We had a great weekend and we are so incredibly proud of Rachel. FHSU did such a great job with this weekend, we did a little parent/student time, then they separated us. Parents went to little seminars on what the hell we are doing, and students were able to go do their thing. Rachel signed up for classes, got her Tiger Card (student ID), and met some other incoming freshman that are also majoring in History.

She seemed to be really excited and enjoy her time there. Brian had never been there so he got to tour the campus to see where his baby girl is going to be living. I think I may have seen a glimpse of a tear in his eyes. As we were sitting there learning about everything, I looked at him and said "can you believe we are here?" and he said, "no, I can't, she can't be old enough for college". I feel the same way, I didn't give birth to her, but I have been with her since she was 7 and I can't believe we are getting ready for high school graduation, let alone college!

I keep telling her just to have fun and soak everything up. She looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "uh, ok" like whatever crazy woman. I wish I could give her a little life experience pill so she can see how much her college life will play into who she becomes and continues to grow into. I want her try new things and experience life (all within legal confines of course). I don't want her to ever look back and regret choices (I mean the bad regret, not the oh, I shouldn't have drank so much last night regret, although a good healthy dose of that will be needed too). I just want... well you get what I want, I want what all parents want for their kids.

Well, we got back into town early enough for me to work on graduation announcements. They are almost complete and ready to go into the mail, (not bad if I say so myself, I'm even a week ahead of schedule). I am missing a couple of addresses from Rachel and her mom and then, they will be ready to go. It's a little stressful though, I hope I don't forget anyone. It's hard when you are a blended family, making sure you get everyone that is important to Rachel.

So, senior year/freshman year are in full swing around the Strong Household. Next on the list after announcements are mailed, getting her an outfit to go under a white grad gown (boo!), getting our house in order for a party (backyard needs a serious make-over, and inside needs a face-lift), scrapbooking weekend coming up so I can get her scrapbook finished (lets be honest, it needs more than finished, it needs done!), and get ready for the grandparents to come in town, figure out menu for party.... yikes, I have a lot to do.....

If you can think of any suggestions, hints, fun ideas for grad, please post something, I always love new, fun stuff to work into our parties.

I can mark something off of my "commitment list", taking the week off of work just to get stuff done around the house - check! Although, I should have taken two weeks off because I was a little too ambitious to say the least, but not horrible for my first ever staycation. Here is what I accomplished while off for a week: *Cleaned my closet (pictures to be shared later) *Cleaned my dresser drawers *Cleaned out 40% of our storage unit (on my way to marking off another commitment) *Cleaned out 50% of our basement (another thing on the commitment list) *Called and set up donation pick up and dontated 10 bags/boxes of clothing and shoes to charity. *Planned and executed my very first garage sale with some neighbors and made a few bucks to go towards home repairs. *Got a sunburn from the garage sale. *Gave all of the remaining unsold items from garage sale to the high school girls tennis team for their garage sale next weekend. *Got my hair cut and hi-lighted, eyebrows waxed, a manicure, and got in a tanning appointment. *Set up an appointment for someone to come give an estimate to fix our garage (more of that story to come). *Hired Garage Man named Max and had our new garage installed. *Set up an appointment for the first service on Brian's new car. *Took Mason to an appointment. *Picked up a friend from the airport. *Baked a cake for a friend's Birthday. *Cleaned under the bathroom sinks in two of our bathrooms. *babysat my nieces and nephew for a few hours Hmmm, I think that's it. I will add as I remember more items. Not bad for a week's worth of work if I do say so myself. Looking around my house now, though, I have to say what the hell did I do all week, I mean it's a mess in the house right now. But I am a little closer to achieving some of the things of my list of commitments to myself. I guess it will get worse before it gets better, huh? I am proud of myself, I put a lot of hard work in and hopefully the more I do, the more I will accomplish and the better I will feel.