Finals. Graduation. Mother's Day.

All the activity of the last few months built up to a final accumulation of what is called finals week.

As it turned out, my finals were scheduled 10 minutes apart.  On two different campuses.

Luckily my Spanish teacher let me join another of his classes on a different day to give me some slack, so I took my Spanish final a day early.  Which was good because as it was, after taking my math final I would have had exactly enough time to then drive to my Spanish final, but the stress of standing up from finishing one final just to sit down and take another would have been intense.  Also, there wouldn't have been time for one last glance at notes and flashcards.

Thankfully it all went well and I was able to pass both classes with A's and graduate.

Spanish final on Tuesday.  Check.
Tayler's orchestra concert on Tuesday.  Check. (More on that tomorrow).

Math final on Wednesday.  Check.
Graduation on Thursday.  Check.
Casidee's orthodontist appointment on Friday... well, four out of five isn't bad.  Though I did manage to make my appointment to donate platelets at Red Cross on Friday.  For the first time ever.

Saturday had Tayler's soccer game and was full of errands.  Grocery shopping, Barnes and Noble, Target, and Hobby Lobby.  One of our new friends that we've taken to riding with in Moab has been diagnosed with cancer.  The only thing I can think of to do for someone when I hear they have cancer is to make them a really soft, warm blanket.  I heard somewhere that you get really cold when going through chemo. Unfortunately this isn't the first blanket I've made for such an occasion.  Hopefully the gesture is enough to let them know they're not alone while facing it.  "It" being either cancer or chemo.  I think they both sound miserable.

I enjoyed hanging out with my crew for the week while The Man was away for the week, attending a training in Colorado for work.

Though we sure did miss him.

Sunday dawned on a very rainy Mother's Day but we got to have all six kids at home, and The Man was finally home, so we made good food, including strawberry shortcake, and watched a lot of TV.  I was determined to do as little as possible, enjoying my last day of "nothingness" until school resumed on Monday.  But this time at the U of U, which makes me smile a great a deal.

I want to express how thankful I am for the support and love that was shown to me on my graduation day.  And though receiving my associate's degree is not the final destination, it was a milestone that represents no more general classes and I was excited to celebrate that.

The support the surrounded me filled my soul with love and appreciation for the family and friends that surround my life.  Though The Man was in Colorado with work and wasn't able to be there, I certainly wasn't alone in my day.

The kids and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby (how did I survive before that store?) and found some sparkly letters for the top of my hat.  We wanted to make sure they'd be able to find me in the sea of black hats.

Turns out, it worked better than I could have hoped for.  The Circus spotted me the instant I walked in and had no problems keeping track of me in the crowd.

 

My dad, Brent.

My dad, Dick, West's dad, Mike, my mom, KC.

My brother, Bill.

 

I could not have asked for a better support system than my husband and our kids.  They have never complained once about my schedule or my need to do homework.  They've been excited for me the entire time.  And they've calmed my self-doubt with words like, "You can do it.  You always do."  Even though those words might have been accompanied with an eye roll as it was said.

Casidee, Jayme, and Brynn surprised me with some awesome glasses.

I sent a text to the man at one point while I was waiting to enter in the procession, telling him there was a guy that looked just like Big Hoss from that pawn show.

Some time passed, as The Man was busy in classes, but he eventually replied with, "Is your ceremony today?"

He was answered with this picture.  "You could say that.  Like, right this minute."

He then expressed some very kind words about how proud he was and how much he loved me.

Like I said, I couldn't have asked for a better support group.

Mother's Day. And Little Things.

I spent all day yesterday at a conference for work.  I learned a lot of neat things and heard about some interesting situations, like the goings on of the different types of polygamy groups and about how the Board of Parole works (just to name a couple).

But all they had to drink was water and diet soda.

Like, literally, that was it.

They had several coolers of drinks and there wasn't anything that wasn't diet.

Seriously?

I know, like it's so bad to drink water for the day.

I feel ashamed now.

I'm sorry for complaining.

School started yesterday with a big bang Chemistry chapter one due by midnight... on the first day!  That's kind of unheard of with the online classes, so far, but I guess that will teach me for thinking I know how things are supposed to go.

When I sign into my online account with the SLCC on my phone auto-correct tries to fix my login name...

Also, my most amazing Words with Friends accomplishment to date:

Seriously, how does that even happen???

Last year come spring I couldn't get The Circus inside to get chores done because they were so wrapped up in jump rope.  This spring it's four square, and it just so happens that the lines in our driveway make a perfect four square court.

Take that morning chores, you don't stand a chance.

Mother's Day.

The Saturday before I ran to Chik-fil-a for a quick lunch and when I pulled up to the window the teenage girl handed me a rose with a cheery, "Happy Mother's Day!"

So brownie points for them.

Mother's Day means eating frosting on my pancakes because The Circus made them and spent time writing "Mom" with hearts on them in frosting.

Mother's Day means kind notes in crooked and slanted handwriting, with scribbles as words are sounded out and thoughts are processed.

Mother's Day means a lot of stick figure pictures of "Mom and Me" with more hearts painstakingly drawn out.

Mother's Day means The Man took over the grilling of dinner.

Mother's Day also means a long game of Risk with Grandma Julie and Grandpa Brent.

Mother's Day means I got to conquer the world.

mother's day 2012

I have a few mom's in my life.  Which makes me a pretty lucky lady.

My KC Mom, who had the fortune of giving birth to me, lives 5 hours away, so we didn't get to physically spend Mother's Day with her.  I did get online and have this book sent to her:

I stared at the screen long and hard... I very badly wanted to order one for myself as well, but I resisted the temptation (though it would have been so lovely) and I just ordered the one for my mom.

Which turned out pretty lucky because I found out via email on Mother's Day that I had won this very book from LDS  Women's Book Review.  I can't wait for it to show up!  Thank you Mindy!

My Julie Mom, who gets to put up with me  because I am my father's daughter, and my Suzann Mom, who gets to put up with me because I am her son's wife, live pretty close to us so we set up an afternoon with them.

I spent a couple of days before hand making some small gifts for them.

I had the kids draw flowers (which on some of them just turned into cards, but we rolled with it) and we stuck them in vases, as well as a small lotion.

And then I made these stinkin' cute cans with a few small goodies inside of them.

I stole the initial tin can idea from here.  The only problem I ran into is where they used pop top cans, I found I couldn't open the bottom of those because they were too thick for my can opener.  Which also meant that I wouldn't be able to use their cute label because mine weren't in pop top cans.  I think next time I do this I'm going to have to look at the exact brand of can that they used. 

They still turned out fun.

We met Grandma Julie and Grandpa Brent, Granny Suzann, and Aunt Lindee at Liberty Park for a picnic lunch.  Granny Suzann wanted taco salads so Lindee and I joined forces and made sure we had all the ingredients provided for the moms.

Granny Suzann showed up with her dragon kite.

Granny Suzann

Grandma Julie

Grandma Julie remembered that Grandpa Brent had a small can opener on his key chain so she went to work on opening her can to find the small goodies we'd hidden inside.

The kids threw bread at the ever present seagulls.

It was the perfect day.

Granny Suzann doesn't go anywhere with out at least one dog.  Poor Chloe has arthritis and can barely move so the circus took turns pushing her around in the baby carriage that Granny brought.

As if having six kids doesn't draw enough attention to our crew, let's add a dog in a baby carriage...

When we'd first arrived at the park the circus walked by two women sitting on the grass.  One of the women looked over our group and then looked at her companion and said, "you have got to be kidding me."

One of these times I'm going to have to say something.  But before I go and ruin a perfectly lovely post with a soapbox rant, I'll just say that you can go and read the rant here.

After lunch Grandma Julie and Grandpa Brent said their farewells and the rest of us wandered off to see what we could see. 

It was beautiful.

Well, most of it was beautiful :)

Brynn stated that she was tired and wanted a piggy back ride.  This is what she got:

And then it was Sean's turn:

It was a beautiful day.  The circus gave me wonderful cards, letters, and drawings.

And these beauties:

I'm pretty sure they're going to make me run faster.

Much love to the moms in my life.  Thank you for your unwaivering love, support, and constant advice.  I love each of you and the special qualities that you bring to my life. 

I couldn't imagine my life without any one of you.

Mother's Day dragon fruit

For Mother's Day we invited Granny Suzann over for breakfast. The kids were so excited to have her come over, and as usual, Granny had some crazy ideas up her sleeve. She'd found a dragon fruit at a little market and we got to try it out with her.
We learned that dragon fruit is pretty much tasteless.