May 5th-8th
Day Four in NE: Wednesday, May 5th, or should I say CINCO DE MAYO!!!!
Today was Carrie's furst day with NO MORE high school, so after everyone else left for work/school, I let her sleep in for a bit while Natalie and I did some picking up around the house. I woke her up at about 9:30am and we gave Natalie a bath and headed into Hastings to run some errands. We went to quite a few different places, but the majority of our time was spent in WalMart getting all of the items that we were supposed to have for Carrie's graduation party on Saturday as well as items for our Cinco de Mayo fiesta we were going to have in the evening. We did enjoy the Dollar Store and buying some decorations for our Cinco de Mayo party.
Once we got home we got started in the kitchen. At about 5:30pm, GreatGma Colleen came over, and by 6pm Ben was here. We invited them to join us for our Mexican Fiesta...ay ay ay ay! We had rice and beans, spicy cornbread, lime chicken soft tacos, taco meat for those who didn't like the chicken, and virgin strawberry daquiris. Here are some pictures of our sombreros, table, and food.
After GGma left, we sat around in the living room chatting and laughing. Kevin had to get back to his homework, so Ben played some music for Carrie and I. Mom and I then helped Kevin with some of his homework to speed it up. He had a ton to do because of missing school so much for golf meets.
We had a really FUN day!
Day Five: Thursday, May 6th:
Ironing day. Well, that's what I'll call it. I spent a lot of the day ironing for the family. I wanted to help them out in whatever ways I can, and that happened to be one of them. Actually it still is. I'll get to some more ironing here soon. I also made a quadrupled batch of Carrie's favorite 'Orange Creme Salad' for her graduation party coming up on Friday night. Carrie and I also finished up her scrapbook for her table at graduation.
That afternoon, Carrie, Natalie, and I headed into town to the beaty salon for Carrie to get a trim and me to get my once-every-six-months-eyebrow-clean-up. I pluck those little buggers, but I can't keep up with the fuzz that sparkles in the sun. ANYWAYS...
While we were pulling up we ran into Aunt Dena and Cousin Kelsey. While Carrie was getting her hair trimmed, so was Kelsey, so Dena and I sat and chatted and played with Natalie. We were talking about Natalie's knack for chewing and drooling, and Dena gave her gums a feel...and by golly...Natalie's first tooth had started its way through. She had been acting pretty normal, besides and runny nose that wasn't bad at all. OH MY!!! My heart melted at the feel of this tooth. My baby is changing SO MUCH, SO QUICKLY!!!
Later that evening we decided to let Natalie try some baby food alongside her typical cereal. I bought green beans and peas a few days ago, so we decided to start with green beans. She didn't really enjoy them, as the pictures below show, but as of lately she eats them without any funny faces. Same with peas, funny face at first, but now she's doing well with them.
Later that evening, Carrie had Awards Night to find out about her scholarships. Natalie and I stayed home due to her bit of crabbiness/tiredness. When Carrie, Mom, and Dad returned home, we found out that Carrie did very well as far as scholarships. SO PROUD OF HER! She has grown into such an amazing young woman. Carrie used to be a very shy little girl, but now she is known to stand up for what is right, and is not afraid to speak up!
Ben and Carrie decided to go to the midnight showing of "Iron Man 2." It was pouring rain out, so I snapped a photo of them before they left, with their ducky umbrella in hand!
Day Six: Friday, May 7th
This day started out with my family all wishing me a happy birthday early in the morning. Really early to be exact. Tony and I were on the phone at 12:30 in the morning still, so that was the start of my birthday day. I also got a long distance phone call from the Runner family, with all of them singing me "Happy Birthday" from bed. How adorable! Thanks to the bestest friends I could ask for!
To be 27 blows my mind. I don't feel a day over 22, if even that. CRAZY!
Anyways, mom makes us whatever we want for our birthday dinner, but we were going to have a really busy afternoon and evening, so I decided I would make dinner for all of us myself since she had to work all day and I'd be home all day. Well, I chose to make homemade pizzas. I made supreme, hawaiian, and a sausage/green olive pizza, one that Tony and I have now fallen in love with thanks to his Aunt Joan.
As soon as mom and dad got home from work, we all headed to Kenesaw to a graduation party for Deidra, a close family friend of ours. We planned to just 'snack' on food here, and then eat as a family later in the evening. After this party we headed into Hastings to decorate for Carrie's graduation party with four other girls in her class at the fairgrounds.
Here she is decorating with her friend Brittany, who graduated last year, and Ben in the background on the phone!
This was the exact place that Tony and I had our wedding reception at...such great memories here! Towards the end of decorating, Natalie was getting hungry so I fed her some cereal and then sat down in the back out of sight to nurse her. Brian and Sarah were supposed to be arriving at any time. Well, low and behold, Tony was walking in with them!!! I WAS SHOCKED! I had a hunch that he might be coming, but didn't think it was really going to happen! I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!! Thanks for making the long drive for my birthday and for the weekend festivities! You're wonderful Tony!
(According to my mom...this is a typical "Amy" face in pictures!) 
Seeing Daddy for the first time since his surprise arrival!
From here, Brian, Sarah, and Tony went on an errand run while the rest of us headed home. We decided to celebrate my birthday and Mother's Day this evening since graduation was on Sunday. We dug into the pizzas at about 9:30pm, exchanged cards and gifts, and laughed a lot. It was so great for us to ALL BE HOME! We were up late enjoying company and looking forward to the coming weekend's festivities.
Here are some pictures of Grammie Lynn opening her mother's day gift from us that evening. She was a bit surprised by something in the first picture...I don't remember what it was though! ;) Happy Mother's Day mom, and Happy First Grammie's Day! WE LOVE YOU!!!
Here I am opening my birthday gift from Brian and Sarah. The giraffe and stone statue were both brought back from Zambia, Africa by Brian. The pastry cutter was not though :)
With my birthday cake from Dairy Queen. It looked as though it had crutons on the top, but they turned out to be delicious little bite-size cheesecake bits.
Carrie opening her graduation gift from Brian, Sarah, Tony, and I. She was super excited about the tool set part of the gift...can't you tell??? :)
Oh, Brian and Sarah! They got a video camera from one of their credit card reward points and use it quite often. Let's just say, Brian is an excellent videographer! :) Here Sarah forgot to turn on her beeper when she was backing up and spilled Brian's beer, so Brian whipped out the video camera to catch it all on film!
Day Seven: Saturday, May 8th:
The day of Carrie's graduation party. We all slept in to recuperate from the late night the night before. When we did arise, Brian and Sarah gave a stab at feeding Natalie. I must say that they have some of the most expressive faces while feeding out little lady. Check them out! 
The party wasn't scheduled to start until 5:00pm, but they were all up there by 4pm for early pictures and last minute things. Here are a few photos from that evening.
This was just as the dance was starting. Natalie was absolutely intrigued by the DJ's lights!
Oooo...the Dollar Store! Fun times!
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