Celia’s Graduation Party

Did I tell you this past week was "Crazy/Busy"? Well to top it off, we hosted Celia's graduation party at our house! It was so much fun, a great turnout for her and a good time had by all. Raymond came home for the weekend to help get the back yard "presentable", it was nice to have him home, hopefully he will only have one more week in Florida and be home for a while after that project is completed. It would be easy to say that Emma misses him, because she does, but so do I!

The party was great, Patty did her usual thing, food presentation was beautiful and well the food she makes is always great! I created a slideshow of Celia, reflecting her life from infancy till present, we projected it off the side of the house, made her dad and g-ma (Melissa), cry…you guys know that is how I know if I did a good job or not, if someone cries, well I consider not only a job well done but also job accomplished! It was nice to have a back yard full of friends and family, of all ages and sizes. The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swing set, most of all the pool! The adults enjoyed sitting around, fellowshipping and catching up with each other, especially those who haven't seen each other in a while, and of course eating. We all had a great time…hope you enjoy the few pics that I took!

Guest of honor...Celia and MarioKim a mom of a recent grad herself...I made her cry last week! She can smile and rest now, she was just hosting one of these last week!Zam fam and the Forresters...always good to see them.The Rexroth's...Youth Pastor Travis, Ashley, & EthanEthan wanted to swim too...gram to the rescue!Random guest picsmore random guest picsShevon & Pauline...beautiful ladies!The life of the party...at least they think so.Me and Stacy...holding each other up today and everyday...BFF's ;-)

Soccer Camp ‘09

We have completed our 3^rd annual soccer camp, and it was a blast. Between post planning and working camp after work the week was long, however well worth it. Oh yeah, did I mentioned that I'm also planning on doing Buford's 5K next week, so after camp, Stacy and I would do our training to get ready for the road race, anyhow that's another blog, point is it was a busy week for all of us. With Raymond working in Florida, lil Raymond working more hours during the summer, and Robert, well all I have to say is football, schedules were busier than ever, I think I used the words "crazy/ busy" to describe the week I had whenever I spoke with anyone this week! Camp was fun, this year we did it in the afternoon, instead of the morning like previous years, by the time we got the little ones, they were already tired and by Thursday, they were really tired. As camp director, Mander's had everything organized; we just had to show up and "coach/work/play" with the kiddos. It was great, my team name was "Rapid" and the 8 kids in my group/team were 1^st and 2^nd graders, I only had one girl in the group, but she held her own. She totally rocked and well the boys were boys and did I mention they were 1^st & 2^nd graders; needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the week! God not only love but bless the special teachers out there who choose to work with that age group day in and day out during the school year…all teachers are special, but they have earned a bit more respect from me this week! There is a big difference coaching middle school girls to coaching varsity girls, but going all the way down to 1^st & 2^nd graders, is a whole different world, but I would not have traded it for anything, they (little ones), are a nice reminder of what really is important in life, they are carefree, full of spirit and life, and well I needed that reminder this past week, they were a true blessing to me! Last year Manders and I had our Em&Em's join us & this year was no different. Cagle was sweet to take some pics for me…hope you enjoy them!

She started out strong.Mad dribbling skills.Em&Em @ last years camp...in the shade and cones on the head!This year it was part of a drill!Emma M. has some mad dribbling and shooting skills!Okay, I think I'm done, can I have your hat? It's hot out here and I need some shade!She usually wins...even with me :-)

B.C.S.E.C.C.

…what does that really stand for: Buford City Schools Employee Childcare, well that's a mouth full. We are so blessed to work for an employer who provides an on sight child care facility. When everyday life gets in the way, we sometime often catch ourselves taking this "blessing" for granted. Emma has been part of the program since she was 8 weeks old, the longest to attend of tonight's graduating class. Everyone who has been a caregiver/teacher to her since day one, were and continue to be top notch caring, loving, and giving people. We cannot begin to express our gratitude for what they have done for her and our family over these past 5 years! Tonight represented an end of a chapter in Emma's young life and we were reminded that the next 13 years will come and go so fast, so we all need to take in a deep breath and pray that we don't miss a beat. Tomorrow night the "big" kids will be graduating, they too are a special class in my heart; they were the first class that I started with when I first became employed by BCSS.

Everything tonight was almost perfect, Raymond drove home from Florida to make the 6:00 pm start time, lil Raymond, Heather, and Robert cleared their calendars to make it, and well I was just tickled pink that this night was going to be extra special. I have been doing a video/picture slide show for the child care center for as long as I can remember, and every year, I sit back and watch as an outsider (non-parent), and love the part when a student introduces me to present the slide show, well tonight was no different, except for the part when I tried to play the slide show…what was a show that was to last a little under 10 mins, only played for about 2 mins…yep that's right, my presentation did not go as expected, working in the technology department has showed me that "Technology Happens", and in all the years I had done this, this was a first, I must admit, I was a bit disappointed, but life will go on, and well it already has….I hope to have copies for everyone soon!

We also wanted to give a special shout out to the Farrell's, Emma was so excited they had delivered a graduation gift to the house, she loved her gifts, the mermaid and the mac & cheese (inside joke)…it was not expected, but greatly appreciated, thanks to Mr. Mike, Mrs. Loir and Miss Carson, for taking time to do this, you guys rock!

Thanks to everyone who has made her first 5 years at school and in life a wonderful one…we love you all!

Waiting for the presentaion to start
Class of '09...YES she is the only GIRL!
Introducing our Director, Mrs. Stephanie Nolt
Receiving her Certificate
Our little flower pot of babies
Congrats Graduates
Shadow Image
Family pic opt moment

Graduation Sunday

Seems like yesterday, that I was preparing lil Raymond's table and today at The Crossing! Jeremy, Celia, and Chris have a table of their own. It's a nice way for a church to celebrate its youth and help celebrate a milestone in their lives. The presentation tables were amazing, as they usually are, the families set up items, memorabilia highlighting their kid's life. It is always fun to the see the creative side of folks and they are proud to display precious memories and share them with the folks who have gave a helping hand in their kids Christian upbringing. As we pray for them and what the future holds for them, I would like to remind them of what is written in Ephesians 2:10 – "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". It's wonderful to know that we have been prepared in advance, before birth to do His will, the tricky part is figuring and learning on what that is in our lives, and if it's hard for some of us adults, I can imagine how tough it can be for our youth. My family's prayer for them is that they demand radical obedience of themselves to stay in the truth and continue on their spiritual journeys after all, whether we realize it or not, we all are on one, some just choose to acknowledge it, and some chose to avoid it…you gotta love free will!

Chris
Celia & Emma (if she is around, she is not missing a photo opportunity
Enjoying the video/picture slideshow I made for Celia ;-)

Blitz Day

After a long busy week, and you think, "oh I can sleep in", motherly duties tell you otherwise. We met up at BHS to give a helping hand in "Blitz Day" @ 9:00 a.m., it is a day that we drive the team around town to help finish selling "fundraiser cards". The boys are split into teams, to make it a bit competitive; Coach said this year's participation between players and parent volunteers was better than ever. I'm not sure of the total numbers, but I'm sure we brought in a lot of money for the program. Each sport has to do a fundraiser for its program, and football is no different. What I like best about "Blitz Day" is that it allows for players to get out in the community and sell their own cards, who don't have opportunities otherwise; it also allowed those who sold over the required "10" to work on selling more to go toward personal goals, if they sold at least "15" Coach is providing cleats for them, and anything above and beyond 15 will go toward other expenses this seasons for the player. With the economy being the way it is, it's nice to have a considerate leader who has the foresight to see and look for ways to assist all the players in the program. I know the Contreras family alone will save over $100.00, in the average price of UA cleats this year, and all Rob had to do was sell 5 additional cards, you can't beat that! It was a pleasure and a blessing to serve the boys and the program by being on Coach Rogers's team and driving them around town, no matter how tired I was and really, really, wanted to sleep in…opportunities like these, you know being around your teenage child, only come around once and a while, or at least when they welcome it, so why wouldn't a parent was to be a part of that?

Cherishing and relishing the moments,

Class Night

After a long day, it was great to sit down for a couple of hours and relax. I never seem to be amazed by this evening's events. After going through this as a mom the last couple of years, it was nice to participate as a friend, coach, and supporter of this year's senior and junior class. What a way to end a busy week! Between, listing to the "Class History, Last Will and Testament and Class Prophecy", this makes for a fun filled night, as we honor these students. This is a very special class to me, this class was in second grade when I started working for BCSS, I worked hand in hand with a lot of these young folks and to see them all grown up and mature makes me realize how old I really am! No seriously, it is just another reminder on how far some of them have come and that they have finished a chapter of their lives. It's funny to see that some things didn't change much, it's not a big surprise who the top two in this class are, Anna was always reading and accomplished just about every AR goal and award that was offered, and Danitra who will be attending Harvard had some of the best I.T.B.S. scores in 2^nd grade, I remember thinking to myself, wow, this girl is really smart! If you are a parent to school age children, and know anything about standardized test scores, you know that you get a graph or chart and it's colored in to show you where your child ranks either in their school and/or the state/nation, I don't think there wasn't an area that was not colored in all the way to the top, Danitra's scores were falling off the page. Other than my 3 soccer girls, Lindsay, Haley, Kiley, I want to give a shout out to Preston, Josh, Ja'kar, Celia, Shelby, Molly, Audrey, Wes and Whitney, Chris, Dominique, Estephanie, Ryan, Eboné, Shaveiva, Steven, Danny, Trevor and the many more who have left me and/or my family with wonderful memories!

The Cheathams - One down, one to go!
Celia, Brandon (proud lil brother), & Bethy
Very proud of this young man...I have been blessed to watch him grow spiritually!
She use to call me "mommy #2", back in second grade...you can't buy memories like that!
Bringing down the house, he wrote and sang a song for his fellow senior classmates...I'm sure Amy & Bill couldn't have been any prouder!

Green Gold Scrimmage

It's an annual tradition, a way to finish up spring practice, a way to give the community a preview of the '09 Varsity Team! This was our 1^st official scrimmage that we have watched and had someone participate. As Raymond is in Florida working, I played the mother/wifely duties to "video tape" it, so I didn't get many pics, but anyhow, it was a great afternoon, a great preview of the 09 Varsity Football Team. After the boys were done, they had Dillard's Bar-B-Q, this is some good stuff. I was glad to hear they were sponsoring the team this season, the boys are gonna eat some good food, just another business that wants to sponsor a Championship Program! This past week it felt like all the boys did was practice and eat, it started Saturday, when they had pizza after practice, then FCA fed them hotdogs and burgers one night, Wednesday after practice it was "covered dish" night, and then to end it all on Friday, they had Dillard's! I'm wondering if these boys know that they have it pretty good, yeah they practiced hard, but to be able to enjoy some good food, fellowship, well that's an added bonus I hope they realize what an honor it is to have so many folks look out for them! Well now for a well needed week off, then its speed camp, and summer workouts….I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Warming up and getting ready
Soaking it in and waiting on their rotation

All County Excitement

Gwinnett Goal Club All County Soccer Awards Banquet to be exact. Just another end of year, end of season celebration, last night I put my soccer hat on, and joined two very special ladies from my team that were honored last night. Lindsay was our selected Scholar Athlete, yeah she's that smart, with a 4.0 GPA, and 10^th in her class, she is UGA bound, and I couldn't be happier for her, she is one of the last of my originals. I started coaching her back in middle school, when we first started soccer at that level, I have seen her grown into the beautiful young lady that she is today. Katie was named to the All County Team; she is only a sophomore and has added a lot to our varsity program, she was also selected as the North GA Tournament All Team, during a weeklong tournament we played during the season. She is a well rounded solid, dependable player who is a joy to coach; I can't wait to see what her next two seasons will bring. On the boy's side of the ball, Gabino was the Scholar Athlete as well as named to the All County Team. Mauricio was also, named to the All County Team. Coach Manders and I could not have been more proud of our young folks; all four of them represent our programs core values of, excellence, leadership, trust worthiness, and teamwork! Nights like this are just another reminder of how blessed I am, and how grateful I am that God has placed me in a place where I can and hope to impact our next generation! Go BIG GREEN~

We couldn't be Prouder!