The Birthday Boy.

Today my boy is 17 years old!

Let me say that again.  SEVENTEEN!

Where did all the time go?

Every year I say that we blinked and he grew up but it really is true.

He is almost a senior....almost an adult....making me an almost empty nester.

We will not be discussing his graduation or his upcoming move to Texas.

No we will not:(

We are making our way through all of the seasons of Survivor.  We are almost finished with season 4 and I am loving every minute of it.

We go to the gym together.

We laugh a lot.

We talk about politics every single day.

He has been the easiest child and teenager to raise.  We have been so lucky and so blessed to be given a son who has not been a minutes trouble.  I have enjoyed being his mom and in the next year, he will be spreading his wings and leaving the nest.

I will be thinking a lot about that this year and preparing myself in the process.

But until then, I remember my one little word.....present.

Present in the moment and remembering that he was the best present I have ever received.

Happy Birthday Caden!  I love you with all of my heart.

Mel

aka Mom

I've become a driving instructor.

Last week I became Caden's driving instructor.  Not by choice, mind you, but by need.

MY need for Caden to start driving.  He has had his license since last October and he has only driven one time.  I told him to take his license to school because he was driving home!

Gary could not believe that I was going to let him drive that far (and in so much traffic) since he has never driven more than a mile;-)

But you know what?  I am tired of taking him to school every day and he needs to learn how to drive before his senior year.  You know it's bad when the mama is telling the child to drive and being the one to teach him.  When I had him almost 17 years ago, I told Gary that HE would be the one teaching him and not me.

Well, that didn't happen.

He was concentrating really hard here.

Hands tight on the steering wheel:)

And finally home safely parked right in the garage.

I'm going to make him drive home from school every day when we don't have somewhere to go other than home.  It will be a lot of experience for him.  I have to say that I was more proud of myself for staying calm than I was for his driving skills:)

And a big THANK YOU for all the condolences about Caden's math teacher.  She was 68 years old and just couldn't pull through.  The kids did fine and some went to the funeral.  Caden passed as he doesn't like to see the bodies but she was on his mind a lot last week.  He even got upset that some students got out of school to go to the funeral and they didn't even have her for a teacher.  It made him mad that they just wanted to get out of school:(  But thank you again for all of your comments.

Hope everyone has a great week this week.

Mel

My Happy Wall.

I know that y'all are laughing at that title but it really does make me happy.  I am talking about this.

The wall of art that Caden made in first and second grade.  It makes me smile every time I walk by it.

It is hard to photograph this area but it is a small hallway that is between Caden's room and the guest bedroom.  I have had this same grouping in the Florida house, the Cincy house, and now this house.  Each piece is adorable.

This was something that he made in kindergarden.  We were building our first house and he made this out of cereal and glitter.  I am so happy that it has made all the moves in tact.

His little hands that my mom photocopied when he was 2 yrs. old.  I went into the ugly cry when she gave this to me for Christmas:)

A picture that he drew of himself.  He even added his glasses that he use to wear.  That was drawn in second grade.

And finally a little poem that he wrote when we lived in Georgia.  I found it in his drawer.

So there is my wall of happiness.  I will forever treasure it.  It reminded me of a recent post from Edie.  She talked about how it was just 'stuff' but how she loved it and missed it.  So moving.  Please stop by her blog and read it.

I have a few things to show y'all in the next few weeks.  I have been getting the house together but I have to take pictures of everything.  Right now I am trying to figure out my Photoshop Elements 8 and IPhoto.  If anyone has any advice, send it my way.  It's frustrating.

Happy Monday,

Mel

linking to: Met Monday  Market Yourself Monday Southern In My Heart

Amaze Me Monday  The DIY Showoff  Savvy Southern Style

Making the World Cuter  Boogie Board Cottage Romantic Home

He did it.

He finally got his driving permit!

I took him yesterday, to take his written test, when I picked him up from school. He only missed three:)

It took him three times to sign his name before the lady would accept it. When did they quit teaching cursive writing in school? ugh!

So now the fun begins.....teaching him how to drive.

Thank God for daddy's:)

I asked him did he want to drive home and he said "no way." "I just wanted the license to say that I have a license and I can drive if I want to."

He drove home from the mailbox to the parking space at the apartment:)

Yes.He.Did.

Melanie

The time has come.

I ordered his class ring yesterday.

Could you hear me crying all the way from South Carolina?

I kid. I kid.

We did get his ring ordered and it hit me that we are now entering the time of all things graduation. He is really liking his new school and I am very thankful for that. It is a small private school and he will be graduating with about 25 other kids. I know that the next two years will fly by just like the last 16 years have.

I hate it that the last two years, at the beginning of school, we have been in the process of moving. Our lives have been turned upside down and I wish that he wouldn't have had to be starting new schools or not having a normal schedule.

He had done well even though that has been the case.

Before I know it, we will be taking senior pictures and ordering invitations.

A new season of life will be starting for our family:)

And you know what, I am okay with that!

Happy Tuesday,

Melanie

Playing catch up.

Hello blog friends. We made it home from California on Monday night at 8 pm and I haven’t stopped yet.

{you can see Alcatraz in the photo on the right}

This boy had mouth surgery on Wednesday so that has kept me busy too. Gary had to go right back to work on Tuesday morning and that has been hard. We are all on west coast time still so we are wanting to stay up late and sleep in.

There has been no sleeping in except for Caden;-) I went to the grocery store, picked Bit Bit up from the boarding place, got Caden’s prescriptions filled, and then headed home to start laundry. That was all on Tuesday.

Then Wednesday I took Caden to have his surgery. He had his first mouth surgery last June and it didn’t go so well. I will spare you the details but it was rough.

Here we are a year later and they needed to graft skin to grow some gum to keep a tooth in place. He has been in braces for over two years and he wants them off. We can’t do that until this tooth is stable.

So, I am playing catch up. I have finished up all the laundry, played nursemaid to Caden, and now I am trying to catch up on all my blog reading. I have missed all my blog friends but catching up with every one is proving to be a challenge. I thought that I could go and read EVERYTHING that has been written since I left, but that is not going to happen. I am having to just check in with every one and let that be my update.

Maybe I follow way to many blogs but I would miss each and every one of you if I didn’t stop by every day for a visit:)

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be caught up and raring to go next week. I have much to tell you about our vacation.

Happy weekend,

Melanie

I am missing…

this boy! He has been gone for a week and I have missed him today. I know that he is having a good time so that makes it okay. He hasn’t called us one time but I knew that he wouldn’t. He has posted what he is doing on Facebook so I am in the loop and I know that he is having the time of his life.

The house is quiet, there are no empty Mountain Dew cans by his bed, and I haven’t been picked on one time in the past week.

I also haven’t had my TV buddy at night, haven’t had a goodnight kiss on the forehead, or heard “love ya” while he's going up the stairs.

The house will be quiet for another week and then my boy comes home.

Right where his mama wants him!

Melanie