Kind of Still Spinning

 You'll have to bear with me for a bit longer...another family post. I'll be back to crafting and decorating soon but right now it is all about FAMILY!

Last week was FULL of all kinds of ceremonies for both my grandson-who is graduating from high school-and my grand daughter-who is graduating from middle school. Today will be all about Harrison and I will post Presley's after her graduation tomorrow night.

On Thursday morning I was honored to be invited to Harrison's Rose and Candle ceremony. The seniors are all presented a yellow rose by their siblings-if they have a sibling at TC-and then they move from their seats in the front, light the incoming senior class candles and take a seat in the back. It is a pretty emotional ceremony after their 4 years at the school and was even more so for us as my grandson, as student body president, gave the speech. I know you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but he did so well. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

This boy loves that mike!

Friday afternoon we had a beautiful baccalaureate mass. Didn't get a lot of pictures but, even though my eyes are closed, I love this one.

Saturday dawned with not a cloud in the sky! And, even though it got pretty hot, we all made it through. The whole family made it to town with the exception of daughter #2 and her hubby who were at a business conference in Portland, Oregon.

Harrison with the president of TC and the principal of TC

After we all cooled off for a bit, we were headed downtown to help set up for his party...and what a fun time it was! It was held at The Corkscrew downtown and was "catered" by his favorite spots in Ocala
-WaWa, Brooklyns and Latino & Mas! Lol

Everyone took a few minutes to check out the video of Har's first 18 years of life that his brother made for him...wow, the memories!

This is Har's gift table that also housed a calendar and lots of stamped, self addressed note cards so guests could sign up to send Har notes during his first year of being so far from home.

All of the centerpieces were decorated with pictures of Har as he was growing up.

There was a photo station set up for guests to take Polaroid pictures.

Since Presley will be "graduating" this week, we gave a nod to her as well...in cookies and in props.

I love that these 7 kids (cousins) are so close even though they've never lived in the same cities!

Luckily Nana has saved every school picture so we were able to do a photo gallery hanging above the food table-which, apparently, none of us captured on film. Lol Believe me, there was a LOT of food. I think my son-in-law brought half of what was left over to my house. I'll be eating WaWa for awhile! Lol

 It was a very good year!

I'm really not sure what he was doing in this picture but I like to think he was telling the world to watch out-he's coming!

So that is my reason for being MIA for awhile. We used my house as base for the weekend and, along with all of the family being here, we had 2 dogs, a mama cat and her 4 kittens. Needless to say, the house was bustling-just as I love it to be! Everyone is now safely back home and things are quiet. Tomorrow we celebrate Presley and I will be back with more pictures. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Mother's Day

 My family is the best at knowing how to milk a holiday-lol. It's not always that we try but, since it is hard to get the whole gang all together these days, we tend to do more mini-celebrations until everyone is covered. And that is what happened this weekend.

Daughter #3 knew that she would be out of town for most of the weekend so she started off my Mother's Day binge on Friday where my brother, sister-in-law and I joined her at the Corkscrew for lunch and some wine bottling. Let's just say a good time was had by all. It was so much fun and we had lots of laughs. Then, her friend joined us and we were able to finalize my grandson's graduation party details.

On Saturday morning we were up and out early and headed to the World Equestrian Center where my brother had a race. While he was warming up, I took my sister-in-law on a short tour and then after the race (where my brother took 2nd in his category) we all headed back out to explore the grounds. This facility really is an incredible gift to our city.

After we left WEC, we headed to breakfast and then were on to one of my favorite little haunts, Micanopy. It was a perfect day to spend some time in a sleepy little "old Florida" town-although, it wasn't too sleepy that day. We were thrilled to see the resurgence of tourists stopping in. The streets were lined with cars.

 I ended the evening at daughter #2's house where the Mother's Day celebration continued and I got to have a nice, long visit and catch up with my son-in-law's mom.

And, on Sunday morning we were off again. This time to St. Augustine to continue the celebration and to also celebrate grand daughter #3's birthday. We were really lucky because, once again, it was a beautiful day!

We had a simple picnic lunch and then ended with a fresh strawberry and cream cake Bec made for Morgs-kind of wish I got a picture before we dove in but it was prettier than this...and very delicious!

We got home and had one more nice dinner before the weekend wind down began and Bec and I ended the night watching Top Chef.

And here it is Monday afternoon. I have been doing a bit of catching up since I got home and will probably be doing graduation things the rest of the week. I think a lot of the family will be arriving on Friday and I have two baccalaureates and a special "handing down" ceremony before then. This special ceremony is where grandson #1 will be giving a rose to his brother, grandson #2. It is usually only for parents but it looks like my son-in-law is not going to be able to get out of the county commission meeting so I just got invited to stand in. Guess I'd better get the Kleenex ready!

Don't know if I'll be back before the big day but rest assured I will definitely be back to share the details as soon as I can. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

P.S. I promise when all of the family celebrations are over, I will get back to decorating and crafting-4th of July is up next!!

The Calm Before the Storm

 I actually have a little time today as I still don't have my exact "to-dos" for the rest of the decor for the party. I know a lot of the things (like number of tables) will not really be known until we get closer and responses have arrived so, I am giving myself today after three very full days. The week ahead is busy and by the time I get back to you, I might be ready to head into the patriotic decor so, let's finish up spring. If I have calculated correctly, all we have left are the bathrooms.

And, once again, I am under impressed with my spring decor. I think the fact that it is not my favorite is definitely showing-guess I might have to get myself in gear next year. Those of you who know me and visit my house know that I am all about the smells matching the decor so, I will say, I do love the smells of spring. Most of my soaps, candles, room sprays and dish detergents are either lilac or lavender so my house does smell like a spring garden...and the gardenias that are now blooming also help that along. 

As I said, I have been busy the last three days making the props for the photo op at Har's graduation party. I did some three years back when we had four of my grand daughters miss their graduations due to Covid restrictions-two from college, one from high school and one from elementary school. I had a good time making them so I wanted to do the same for Harrison and his sister - who will be graduating from middle school.

Most of the previous ones that I did were relatively easy...except that darn FSU Seminole. He almost did me in-wouldn't you know it would be a Seminole that would try to do in a Gator!? Lol

We had a family graduation party for Morgan's graduation from Flagler in May 2020.

Not everyone was able to be there at that time so we did another celebration in June for everyone.

 

This guy almost did me in!

Until now...!!! I think my vote will now go to the U.S.Coast Guard Bear!!! I'm not sure why this guy gave me the time that he did but I will admit that one or two choice words may have been uttered before I called it quits. Lol There are still a few things I would like to fix but I have to remind myself that this is just a photo prop and by the end of the day it will probably be bent and haggard so...

In any case, I'm happy with what I have and I am ready to move on to my next challenge. Graduation is drawing near. Stay safe and stay tuned.