Brace Face II

After school today, Casen and several other friends went to his friend Evan's house for an end of the year swim party. He had a great time swimming and eating. We cut his festivities a little short in order to go to his first orthodontist appointment. He still has one baby tooth to loose, however he (and I) are ready to get his orthodontic journey started. After learning from Camden, Casen knew that there was a high probability that he would come home with braces.

Sure enough, after having a consultation with Dr. Johnson, it looks like Casen will need to wear braces for two years. They offered to put his top braces on today, so we gladly agreed. He received his top braces and will receive the bottom in ~6 weeks.

Brace face!

Last Day of School

Because he was able to exempt all of his finals, Camden's last day of school was Tuesday. Truthfully, he was done last Thursday, but in order to exempt all the finals, you have to show up for the reviews. To give him a little reprieve, I did take him in late and pick him up early yesterday. He has had a great first year of high school. He took his first AP class, which required  a lot of time and effort, but his efforts did pay off as was evident by his good grades.

I could hardly believe how much he has changed when I put his first and last day picture together. I had to actually reread the sign from the first day picture to ensure I had picked the right years picture!

Casen's last day was today. Yesterday I received the annual picture of he and Charlotte together. I am so glad they still humor me and her mom and take a picture the first and last day of school. :)

Casen also had a great first year of junior high. He enjoyed getting to play sports and of course socializing with his friends. He too made good grades!

I honestly didn't think that Casen's first and last day picture would show as much of a change as Camden's, but he is definitely turning into a teenager. Besides getting taller, his baby face is slowly going away. (Sniff sniff.)

I know they are looking forward to sleeping in, but that will only last a week before they start 7:00am TMHS Pride Camp (Speed and Power). Let summer fun begin!

May Memories

As the school year is coming to a close, the month of May has consisted of a hodge pod of events. Casen had his final choir concert of the season. His choir, the chamber tenor bass, sang 'Takin' Care of Business' complete with dance moves, which is right up Casen's alley. :) While some of the boys are not thrilled with having to perform dance moves while they sing, Casen had no problem showing off his dance moves.

At the end of the concert, all of the choirs sang 'We Go Together' from Grease, complete with more fun dance moves.  

Since my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, my coworkers celebrated my birthday on the 16th, complete with lunch out, a yummy cookie cake and gifts.

Camden and I were able to serve with Meals on Wheels on my actual birthday. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the morning, enjoying good quality time with Camden as he drove us all around delivering food. Driving around Houston was good practice for him as he ended up driving on 249, I45, the Beltway, and 290. 

Both of the boys have been wanting some 'good' cologne. Against my better judgement, I took them to the mall so they could smell ALL the different colognes. Bless the woman's heart who was helping us - she was so patient and kind. After smelling everything we could smell, they narrowed them down to their favorite 3 and then ultimately their final choice. Casen ended up with Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir Absolu, while Camden ended up with Yves Saint Laurent. I must say, Camden and I lean towards the same type of fragrances.

Casen and his cologne.

Casen played in another tournament, and was FINALLY able to pitch. He did well his first outing back on the mound and was awarded player of the game. 

He unfortunately got hit, too!

During COVID, Camden talked me into buying a lemon tree. I will be honest, I have not been amazing at taking care of it, but when it started blooming earlier this year, I decided I was going to commit to taking care of it in hopes of retrieving some lemons. Much to my surprise, I started getting several lemons on the tree and was so excited! That is, until they started missing, one by one. I found the one in the picture on the right laying on the ground, and have decided it is the squirrels who are stealing them. I am down to just a few left, and plan on going to buy some sort of deterrent to keep the little varments away.

This pic is from April before the squirrels 
stole my lemons.

Casen and I have gone fishing in the evenings a few times, while Shane and Camden were at soccer practice. While I have not caught a thing, Casen at least caught one.

This year marks my 15th year working in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. I was awarded my 15 year pin at our last department meeting.

Camden received his very first piece of college mail. Fortunately, Oregon State is not on his list of schools to attend, so their flyer made its way into the garbage can. 

It is almost the boys last day of school, and summer will be upon us. I am almost certain we just celebrated Christmas last month, so I am not exactly sure where time is going!