Is it time?

Time for a nervous breakdown that is.

Today started out fabulously! I started a new diet. A good diet. One that I will NOT mess up. One that will be very hard to mess up.. but more about that later. So because of my diet my day started out....well, fabulously. I was motivated this morning so I wrote my 'to do list' because there was a LOT to do. I started checking everything off one at a time and making some real progress. Yay me!

Then. it. happened.

Ian texted me from school to ask if I could meet him at the tuxedo place so he could get fitted for his Prom tux. There it is. All laid out there like a bad joke. The countdown to his high school graduation has started. "It's ok" I thought to myself. I met him there at 3:30 like he asked. Thank goodness he brought Katy with him because she had 'the colors'.

I did very well I think. I tried to take some pics but Ian would have NONE of that. Girls are so much better with having random pics made I think. Still, I was fine....

until I got home....

and found out.....

Jacob's Freshman Orientation is tonight. Ian graduates and Jake STARTS high school. Of course Owen's MIDDLE SCHOOL Orientation is not far after.

Bring on the nervous breakdown.

♥
Tracie

ROBIN HOOD VIDEO!!

Leigh Ann's Birthday

I don't think I've told you how much I love my beautiful sisters. They are the GREATEST sisters in the world! We live in three different places and it's so much fun when we can all get together with our families. I'm the oldest, Leigh Ann is in the middle and Gina is the youngest.

Leigh Ann and my niece, Sara, came from Alabama to spend her birthday at Gina's this year. We had so much fun!

Gina made THE MOST AWESOME Chicken Parmigiana. Mmmm. It was so good!

Emma Kate and Delaney waiting to help blow out the candles.

Leigh Ann and Emma Kate.

My boys and Nana.

Sweet Emma Kate in Ian's hat.

Sara...I love this one. She is a sweetie, recently married, and has a personality that precedes her. We just found out that she and hubby Zach just might be moving to Tennessee and we are thrilled!

Owen and Delaney. We love how these two still love each other so much.
Even though Owen is 10 and Delaney is 6 they still hang out together.

Gina and Ian.

Aunt Leigh Ann is fabulous at wrestling and getting all the kids in a frenzy. Emma Kate though thought that Aunt Leigh Ann was going to get hurt so she was entirely against anyone trying to get too close to her.

Happy Birthday Aunt Leigh Ann!
Leigh Ann and the kids.

Tracie and Sara.

Happy Day!!!

Tracie

Robin Hood and a Snow Day or Two

Ian is probably going to kill me for posting this. Some seniors from school came over to work on a project....a modern version of Robin Hood. Guess who played Robin Hood. Yes. Ian. It was comical.

Here they are in my kitchen planning...Ian is on the far left in the yellow tights.

This is Owen, Ian, Jacob, and Katy. Owen got to play Ian's mini me, a younger
version of Robin Hood. Jacob was someone he robbed.

This is my favorite...Ian on top of the neighbors swing set introducing himself as Robin Hood.

The two poor girls with the poor dog (Comet got to be involved too).

Stealing from the rich on the left to give to the poor on the right.

The cast: Alex Lane(Rich Guy), Owen(Young Robin Hood), Alex Hochstetler(Videographer), Katy Ramsey(Poor Girl), Jessie Ruf(Poor Girl), Catherine Willis(Rich Girl), Jacob(Young Rich Guy who got robbed), and Ian(Robin Hood) and Comet(Played Himself).

It snowed!!! We NEVER get this much snow. N.E.V.E.R. Comet wouldn't go outside and when he had to...well, you might notice the paw prints followed by the yellow snow on the patio below. He HATED the snow. Didn't like it at all.

Beautiful!

Hope you're having a great week!

Tracie

And the winner is....

this one....MTSU! Yay!

NOT this one...as was previously posted.

So Ian has been thinking about college and HAD decided that UTC would be the best place for him. We agreed....we LOVED UTC. Last week he came to us and said 'Mom I've changed my mind. I wanna go to MTSU. It'll be cheaper and I can still live at home and keep my job.' We were so happy. We were happy either way but it's going to be nice to have him here during at least his
first year of college.
Oh and it was made clear that it had nothing to do with
Katy going to MTSU also.
Just so we are all clear on that.:O)

It's hard to believe...or even think about....that he will be graduating in just 4 1/2 months. Soon we'll be discussing Prom and Graduation. Lord help me I hope I'm not going to need that institution!

Hope you're all having a blessed weekend!!
Tracie

My Baby

We've been busy busy busy and I just haven't thought about writing a post. So sorry. It's not that I wasn't thinking about those of you....well, the ONE that I know of (you know who you are)....that reads my blog. I've just been a little overwhelmed. And I have a LOT to catch up on.

My baby Ian, who is actually 17 years old, has made the decision to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga next Fall. He's applied and was accepted and today I filled out his application for housing. It's going way too fast. I'm sure I do not need to tell you how apprehensive I am about sending 'my baby' off to college. Why...it was just yesterday that he wouldn't give up his sucker for his 1st birthday cake!

Nevertheless HE is READY. I pray that I make it through the next year without having to be admitted institutionally!

You are a wonderful young man...I love you sweetie. Congratulations for being on the last leg of your teenage life. Love, Mom

A Mission Trip to Remember

I'm not really sure how his week has been. I think there are lots of emotions running through his head and his heart. Elation, Happiness, Sadness, Exhaustion, Weariness, Love, Anger...to name a few.

I sit here watching Train singing Soul Sister..I love that song but I can't stop thinking about the phone call I got from Ian this afternoon. He's exhausted. He's been in Baltimore on a mission trip with some of the students from our youth ministry. This week has changed his life...he told me so. So it's changed my life too. It happened so fast. He said that he sees his family completely different than he did before he left. He has seen some things in Baltimore that some kids never get to see. Children and families that are struggling. I think it broke his heart. He met a little boy, 11, who had walked in to his parents being murdered. I think it was those kinds of things that he saw all week. That breaks MY heart. You go your whole life raising a child that you want to love and protect and shelter from the bad things of the world. Then God leads them right into the middle of it. I'm sure it's been very emotional. I could tell when I talked to him today.

He left for Baltimore last Saturday and will be home tomorrow. After he left I had a nervous breakdown. No really. I would have been fine if I had been hooked up to an IV full of Valium. I knew this was coming. He's about to be a Senior in high school. I've always been the one that didn't worry about how fast my boys were growing and I giggled at Kathy and Shellie when they were upset over 'aging' children. I've loved this age of my boys. Never did I think I would have a nervous breakdown before Senior year. Ian left and it's like for the first time I saw him 'leaving for good'. He's almost a grown man and he will be going to COLLEGE next year at this time.

O.M.G. My first little boy is not a little boy anymore. My heart is breaking.

Sorry for all the broken sentences.

MY 1st BABY IS 17!!

Katy came over and we woke him up TOGETHER this morning (haha). She made him the coolest blanket! He's a huge Georgia fan obviously. Afterward they headed off to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

MY SON!!

Ian and a friend thought it would be cute to make a funny smile face when they got their school pictures made. He IS cute...but such a pain in my back side! I'm still gonna have to buy this! hahahaha

Go Siegel!!

Ian and Phil...going to 'cheer on' the girls soccer team at school. Too funny. They made the biggest blue and white mess in my bathroom but it was worth it to see them having fun.