Lacrosse

We have a senior!  I spent two days  of my life creating his senior lacrosse poster.  I don't remember posters when my kids were in school, but I guess it is a thing.  I am not the sports gramma so instead of attending sports events (and with ten of them sporting all over the state, how could I) I am the one who creates the posters. 

Since it was the senior's special game, we did attend. It was freezing but it did not rain. I shared my blankets with my co-grandparents. 

My oldest daughter and family.

Crazy cousins who tagged along.

The girlfriend. Her parents came too. 

The girlfriend dashed to the hair dresser and the grandson raced home to shower because it was also prom night.  Don't they clean up well! 

They live in a big city.  Photos were taken at the Museum of Art.  The prom itself was held at the aquariam at the zoo.  And the parents decorated the entire high school like a movie set for after prom.  

In my town the kids go to the reservior or even my country church for photos.  The prom is often held at the school (includes a catered meal) and the after prom is held at the city recreation center which has basketball, volleyball and pickle ball courts, a pool, lots of rooms, etc.  This year prom was held in a fancy barn used for parties and receptions (no need for decorations) and there was no dinner or after prom because somehow the class of 2026 never did any fundraising during the last four years.  

One last prom photo

And here are some from my daughter who helps set up and chaperone the after prom.  The theme (I think) was something like traveling around to locations around the world. I do know my grandson was in a sports tournament at some "location" and won a dorm sized microwave for his future home. 

That was our big weekend! 

Memory Monday

We are back in a neighboring village at Olan Mills for our yearly portrait on the portrait plan.  Big Sister Miss Merry, my brother Tom and my other brother Andy.  I am guessing 1963 or 1964 and my first grade year based on my lack of front teeth.  Still rocking the high cut bangs. 

 

Birthday Girls

I was the baby of my high school friend group.  We are all experiencing a monumental birthday this year. 

I remember ten years ago when we turned 60. We all had high expectations (based on direct hints to our families) on our birthday celebrations. From the friend whose husband forgot to buy concert tickets, to another friend whose daughters had an arguement and neither would go to the birthday dinner if the other was there, to my family who forgot it was my birthday, we were all a little disappointed.

In November I took the oldest of the group out to lunch to celebrate her big day.  

We toasted with Red Lobster Snowglobe Sangrias. We had a fantastic afternoon with crazy adventures and I prepared a gift bag (actually I think seven gift bags, planning for the future) of fun and beautiful gifts for women of a certain age. 

Two of my best friends celebrated their birthdays at the end of April. Luckily for me, this coincided with the monthly tea party at my new favorite restaurant! 

Unfortunately we could not all open our eyes or make a normal face or not manage to look goofy in the same photo. And we took many photos. Personally I just look weird without glasses.  I ended up splicing a photo together. 

They loved the gift bags and we had such a good time.  We actually spent a lot of our conversation time on healthcare costs and insurance issues, as well as husbands and our own healthcare issues.  We have all experienced some big health issues this year and most of all we are grateful for being able to still meet for lunch.  

I have more lunches and gift bags planned for the upcoming months. One friend has broken her shoulder and just returned to assisted living from a nursing home where she went for rehab.  I told her I have something special planned for late summer and she has to keep working hard!  

And I am looking at several plans for my own birthday celebration, lol.  At the top right now is checking into a swanky hotel on my own and ordering room service all weekend. Alternately I am thinking of a party with a 1970's theme. We shall see!

My friend Jo sent me a photo of her gift bag and gifts displayed for her family!

The Tenth Birthday

 I know I left on a cliff hanger with a table full of miniature cakes - well here is the rest of the story! 

We went with pink and yellow lemonade instead of tea.  But we did have tea cups! 

My daughter made iron transfers for them to design their aprons.

These are the sweetest bunch of ten year olds you will ever meet!

Not only are they master cake decorators, they are also master cookie icers!

I spent lots of time on the tea party foods, but our favorite was

This tray of what one of the girl's mothers called "spring rolls". She is Filipino and these were a long thin cylinder of a wrapper rolled with shredded vegetables inside and fried until very crisp. They arrived fresh and hot and tasted pretty darn close to heavenly. We all loved them!

We finished with cupcakes and rainbow ice cream. 

And then we baked mini loaves of chocolate bread! 

After all the baking, the girls wrote and performed skits featuring the birthday girl. And every parent arrived on the dot at the end of the party to retrieve their daughters. And the gramma returned home exhausted. 

The end.  

I will be back soon with the next tea party. This time for my high school friends.