Sweet 16

July 14th my beautiful Julia Irene turned 16!

I am not sure just how the years went so very fast?

 Sunday night we celebrated with a swim and outdoor movie party with a few kids from her class.

 The soccer goal was transformed into a giant movie screen!

Setting up music on the speakers

The little girls decided to go ahead and start dancing!

 The ping pong table was moved to the end of the driveway

The pool was filled with balloons.

Food and drinks set up on the back porch with lanterns and lights strung across.

All ready and waiting for the 17 teenagers and 2 twelve year olds to descend upon its serenity!

Sam had a friend over to make it fun for him too!

The Littles watching it all from the porch.

 The movie began at dark and we passed out popcorn to all. Date Night was the featured presentation! Such a FUNNY movie!!!

 Everybody left about 11:15 and peace was restored. I wanted to just sit and have a glass of wine under these magical lights!

Monday morning we opened presents from family and friends

 We surprised her with steamed buns from her favorite Chinese market.

However, she had to cook them herself as she has mastered the steamer!

Checking out her new computer. The orange hat was a joke from her friend..heee heee!

Throw in soccer practice for Julia and Sam where we surprised her with popsicles for all and sang Happy Birthday!

We then had dinner at her favorite sushi restaurant.

Me and my original baby!

We came home and celebrated with cake and more singing.

These two nuts adore each other!

Happy Birthday Julia!  I loved celebrating you! You are a delight to parent. A true blessing to us and I love you so very much! Hope your Sweet 16 was filled with memories you will always treasure!

4th of July Fun

So thankful for so many things over the weekend that left me with a full and grateful heart:

My parents the fabulous hosts and grandparents!

The freedom we celebrate on this day.

Cousins

Smiling faces

Sisters

My beautiful Jaida

Special beautiful hands

Silly boys

A kind hearted son

My baby

A farm to remind me of God's gifts in nature

My amazing Sam

My first baby

Laughter in a blow up pool

Water gun fights

A beautiful view

Sponge fights

Happy healthy children

Family

College Tours

My biggest baby is a rising junior this year so it is time to start the college tours. Now, most people do this throughout the year on weekends but because of our travel soccer schedule... it is now or never! Actually, several months ago we made a family weekend trip up through some South Carolina schools on self-guided tours just so Julia could see what big, medium and small schools looked like. It was a bit eye-opening for my 15 year old but it did what it was meant to do.She was able to narrow down greatly what she wanted just by the size and layouts of what we saw. So we began to narrow our search on the criteria she listed for size, campus style, distance from home, academic strength of the school, major available and did they have a women's soccer team she could play for.

 We took our first official escorted tour this weekend at High Point University in High Point NC. OMG!!! If Julia decides NOT to attend I will find something to get my Masters degree in and enroll. Sam was sold too. WOW! Probably not the smartest thing to tour a school like this first, as I am not sure many schools will come close to this! Their philosophy is "Expect Extraordinary". I am sure a lot of what is there is NOT necessary for a great college experience but hey, if they provide it, why not! There are no words to describe this place...country club or  resort come close!

 This greeted us as we drove in. SOLD!

 Just one of many fountains

 Along this promenade are benches with statues  of people throughout history that represent "extraordinary" and they play classical music through the speakers 24/7. All the classroom buildings line this area.

 A typical classroom.

 The view from the stadium

 The view out of one of the study areas that also have outside deck seating.

 Cool tables in 1 of the student centers...there are 2.

The main entrance. All entrances are gated...A mama's dream!!!

 The soccer field

The High Point Panthers

Sam and I enjoying Maleficent while Julia attended the soccer ID camp.

Camp went really well and she was asked to come back in August! She scored 2 goals during the game!!!

We did more self guided tours through a few schools on the way home. She is doing another ID camp and an official guided tour of another college later this summer. It is really kinda fun. Things sure have changed since I went to college years and years ago and the process is much more involved. I did not have a good college experience so I want to make sure my kids choose the right place for them and the right major. I am thinking by the time Lulu gets through school... I will just suggest the mail order degree!