Random and Rambling

I miss my Ty.
He apparently texted Ryan this afternoon, simply to say that the Encore outfit made him look "like a gay lumberjack."
Hee. Nothing like the honest-love of a brother to make you feel fantastic :)
I miss his lightning quick wit though. He can make me laugh like no one else.
He has been super nice to text and call me every few days. I want to believe that it's partly because he misses me. But mostly I think he's just being kind....
He's doing great. So far seems to have met some nice people, gone to class, and (gasp) even studied a bit.

On another note: I got home from work today at 3pm-ish as usual. Was met by Grace in her jammies. (I usually get home just before she does.)
!?!?
Apparently she decided at about noon that she had a stuffy nose and didn't want to be at school any more.
She called ANDREW.
WTF. (What The Fire)
That used to be my job! No one else would have EVER bothered dad at work. But then I guess that was when I was always home.
Sigh. When I was sputtering in speechlessness, all 3 kids said that they know that I have to punch in and out and don't want me to lose "hours." So they don't bug me with stuff like this anymore.
The baby is growing up in a different world. Entirely. And it's fine. I'm extremely happy at my job. But every once in a while things like this happen, and I have to sit and sniffle for a while.
Or maybe I'm just catching her "cold"...which BTW is not really even symptomatic, so feel free to picture me doing air quotes.
Rambling and random enough for you? (I partly blogged today because it's the last day of the month, and I've not been very good at blogging this summer. Silly, but I wanted there to be more posts this month. Forgive the self-indulgent nature of this, please.)

In Which A Blue Slushee is Thrown?

School started this week. Ryan is in "Encore" our High School's version of "Glee". It's a show choir. It's the cool thing to do in our school, thankfully, since all 3 older kids have now been a part of it.
Typically, they have matching t-shirts for casual performances, and dresses/tuxes for their formal performance wear. Fine.
The above picture is Ry in his "Encore" issued casual wear for this year. {squint}
What happened to the t-shirt we were expecting? His teacher decided to put the boys in matching PURPLE PLAID shirts. The girls have neon purple cardigans.
Wow. I was giggling uncontrollably when I first beheld this shirt...trying to be supportive. It has actually grown on us, and doesn't seem as horrific as we first thought. The boy is being a great sport. He doesn't mind it. I guess it's more acceptable when the WHOLE group is dressed such.
But I can't help but wonder if a blue slushee is in his future....
(For those of you who don't get this reference; sad. Go rent the first season of Glee post-haste)

3rd and 11th

Grace's first day of 3rd Grade! BTW, she's holding one of two assignments that were done over the summer and DUE ON THE FIRST DAY.
Ry's first day of 11th Grade.
And his own wheels in which to travel to school...life is good.

A dream come true...

Apparently, Grace once mentioned to Andrew that it was a dream of hers to fly on an airplane. When we decided to drive to Vegas after dropping Ty off at college, my dearest husband became super-excited that he could possibly make her dream come true...
He bought us girls plane tickets to come home!
It was fabulous. She was SO excited. Andrew took all of our bags in the car with him, so we didn't have to deal with baggage at all. It was only an hour flight, but long enough for me, and perfect for her! We made it home HOURS before he did in the car.
I wonder what she'll wish for next?

What happens in Vegas...

Swimming in a pool on the roof...

Having the entire back seat to herself...

Seeing "Paris"...
Italy...
The Hard Rock Cafe...
And of course, SHOPPING! Being an only child is a beautiful thing sometimes. Being the BABY is a beautiful thing ALL THE TIME!

Dixie-licious

Made it to the hotel Thursday night...
Ty got himself all registered, paid, checked-in....
We moved him in to his dorm...
I'm excited for him to start this new chapter of his life! I'm so proud of him for pressing forward. I'm going to miss him like crazy though.
And this is the face that cried for 30 minutes after we drove away. See if you don't get a little misty yourself looking at those wet brown eyes.

Birdie

Tilt your head a bit...for some reason the first picture will NOT upload correctly.
Anyway. The boy came home from Lake Powell to...his car wrapped in saran wrap, painted, with posters stuck on it.
I guess his friends missed him :)
Also, they named his car "Birdie" which we (mostly him) emphatically shun.
In my experience, when you name your car, horrible things happen to it immediately. Wrecks, dings, crashes....you get the idea.
It is also the opinion of some people in this house that it's only semi-acceptable for girls to name their cars.
I believe that the T-Bird shall remain nameless.

Powell Twenty-ten

Old people freaking out on the 4-person tube...
Ty wake-boarding...
Kara, Grace and Kenzie (Ty's "friend") chillin' in the water...
Cousins tubing...
Beautiful Gracie.
It was a fantastic trip...perfect weather, wonderful company, fun drive, no sunburns! As my mom would say..."we're making memories!"

And he'll have FUN FUN FUN....

Ta-Da! Meet Ryan's new car. Mr. 1988 Ford Thunderbird. The boy has waited and waited for this day. The little mis-hap last June with...umm...totaling Jillian's car put the whole thing on hold. We weren't sure anyone would be willing to insure him.
His cousin was about to enter Army boot-camp and wanted to unload his car. Thanks Sam for letting us buy it!
We thought it was fitting that he's wearing his work uniform in the picture. He is paying for his own gas and insurance payments.
I'm sure this amazing, wonderful, responsible boy will never get the T-bird taken away....