Birthdazed

September sneaks up on me fast; especially since the three Smithlings' birthdays are back-to-back-to-back. It goes by in a blur, but I somehow manage to throw a party or two, AND I snap a few (or a hundred?) pictures along the way. Usually the pics are in focus. Not always, though...

Here's how the birthday month looked:

1. Number 2 Smithling, a.k.a. Malibu Lou, was much toooo far away from TX for her twentieth, so we celebrated in a virtual kind of way. Amazingly, her birthday packages arrived exactly on her day.

Our twenty-year-old loved her splashy red Hunter boots and other b-day goodies. Now we will just pray for So. Cal. rain so that she can put those boots to good use.

Several of her friends took her out to eat dinner at Duke's in Malibu, and there was even complimentary birthday dessert to end the celebration on a sweet note.

Hula Pie is macadamia nut ice cream piled high on a chocolate cookie crust and topped with chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and more macadamia nuts. Yes, please.

When I used the Find My Friends app. to find the Birthday Girl, it appeared as if she was standing out on the Pacific Coast Hwy., basking in the glow of birthday candles. Silly girl! Thankfully, she was still at the restaurant and was NOT causing a traffic jam on the PCH. I do think that it is quite appropriate that the picture I have associated with her contact info. is from a past year's birthday celebration. 

Happy 20th, Lou!!!

2. The second September birthday celebration belongs to the third Smithling. And this was a sweet one -- SIXTEEN! 

Millie Girl had to start out her day with a visit to the bagel tree. A tradition is a tradition. There was even a "tree-ripened" Asiago Cheese bagel (That's the b-day girl's favorite!) ready to pick. 

 I used a bounty of sweet treats to decorate.

Pink and green are not exactly the birthday girl's favorite colors, but that ended up being the color scheme. Pink is a "sweet" color, right?!  It all started with the purchase of flowers and went from there. The decorating all came together, and was deemed acceptable, even though there was no blue in the party color palette.

I printed out over 200 pictures of Millie's sixteen years of life to use as decorations. That proved to be one of her favorite surprises. Yay!  I cut kraft cardstock to craft the "sweet" birthday banner. FYI, there was no need to consult Pinterest for any of my crafty ideas, thank you very much.

Jemima is demonstrating the fact that Maine Coons ARE helpers. Yes, she assisted with the planning and execution of the b-day celebration. She truly is a party animal...

 The traditional b-day treasure hunt involved sixteen steps and three packages. 

 Happy indeed!

Sixteen Sweetness -- The celebration spilled into the following day. This time, Millie's friends (Braxton, Makenna, Justin, and Sam) were in the mix.

Braxton delivered a jumbo sized box that was creatively and  attractively wrapped with white duct tape. The b-day girl struggled to open it, only to find that the box was filled with green packing material. She felt around inside the box and found a rock. Then another, and another, and another... It was a box o' rocks! Braxton assured her that he had wrapped the gift himself and that he was certain that her present was in there.

Millie Girl finally decided to dump the contents on the carpet.

Jemima approved.

After the b-day celebrant came to the realization that there was no gift inside that big box, Braxton pulled a small, wrapped package from his pocket and said something about forgetting to put it inside the bigger box... Pretty clever! He really pulled one over on her. She had taken about ten minutes to unwrap the decoy package.

Millie unwrapped the "real" present to find this:

 Awwwww! Dare I say that this is sweet?

We then headed off to Southlake Town Square for dinner.

We waited for 65 minutes to get seated at The Cheesecake Factory, as they do not take reservations. That is where the b-day girl wanted to go to eat, so we waited...and waited. It's a good thing that I enjoy hanging out with the Smith men. While the teenagers wandered off to the nearby Apple Store to look at the newly released iPhone 6, my guys and I held a "wait-to-get-a-table" vigil just outside the restaurant door. Thankfully, it was a lovely evening. We learned that a watched restaurant pager never buzzes. To pass the time, we entertained ourselves by watching passers-by, listening to a street musician, and by snapping this "awesome" selfie. (I really must improve my selfie skills. Oh, well!)

After dinner, I coerced the b-day girl and her friends to pose for a picture. (They will thank me someday.) I am thankful that they are a well-mannered group and complied with my request.

 I hope this sweet girl's 16th year is a sweet one!

3. Last, but not least, on the 22nd we got to celebrate M's 22nd! Our "little boy" may be the first born, but he always gets to go last during the b-day month. He is simply a gentleman who adheres to the "ladies first" policy.

So, I guess this was his "golden" birthday celebration. 

If I were a really cool mom, I would have bought my son gold doubloons, or gold ingots, or something shiny to commemorate the special event. We gave him clothes and cash. No gold. M's next chance at celebrating a "golden" b-day would happen when he turns 92 (since he was born in '92), so it looks like I blew this golden opportunity. I don't think I'll still be kickin' in 70 years.


Our son is not one for a bunch of decorations, so I kept things simple. I swapped out the pictures of Millie Girl with pics of our Birthday Boy. It took him quite a while to figure out that I had changed things up. His birthday is four days after his sister's, so he thought I was just being really slow to take her pics down. Here are a few of my favs.

I thought that this greeting card was perfect for the b-day boy, since we had a picture theme going on.

The message inside:  As usual, you were the life of the party.

It's still true today!

To wrap up the birthday fun, on the weekend, we enjoyed a Tex-Mex dinner with Uncle Julio  -- fajitas and margaritas on the patio. ¡Olé!

Happy BirthDAZE, 3 Smithlings!

Mum's the Word

Despite the fact that school just started a mere two weeks ago, it's already homecoming weekend at Keller High School. Homecoming in Texas means mums and garters. Oh, and football!

Braxton surprised Millie one night (during the first week of school -- the same week that she was very ill) by delivering her a Frappuccino with a question written on it. "Homecoming?" 

Sweet. Simple. And to the point.

Of course, she said, "Yes!"

I certainly hope that my daughter doesn't mind that I stole her Frap picture to use on my blog. I did not ask permission. 

Okay, before you read any further, for those who are uninitiated as to what homecoming in Texas is all about, please refer to last year's homecoming blog post: Texification or MUMmification? 

Or you might want to look here for more mum details: Homecoming

The real fun began when Millie started gathering supplies for Braxton's homecoming garter. I made a trip to the "mum" store without my girl, but after she started feeling better, we went together to Hobby Lobby to find a few more trinkets and do-dads. Since B. is a baseball player, she decided to outfit a bear as a ballplayer to add to the center of his mum. 

Even though that girl o' mine had a temperature of ±103º F, she worked feverishly to make a ball cap and uniform to represent her favorite Keller Indians baseball player, #11. It's definitely challenging to find baseball decor when it is football season, but we managed to find Christmas ornaments that had a baseball theme. Thanks to our resident handyman, who made some fancy cuts with his Dremel tool, Millie had a bat, ball and glove cut out of a resin ornament. After a little touch-up paint, we were ready to play ball.

Here's the finished product -- too cute!

Here's how my mostest favorite KHS sophomore couple looked before heading off to the game. They are a good looking duo.

And they are obviously loaded with school spirit! 

The mum that Braxton gave to Millie was fantastic! The recipient was blown away, as it is really pretty and pretty BIG! And there is a lot hidden amidst the ribbons. We joked about it having all the bells and whistles because it literally had LOTS of bells and there is a whistle. :-) The pièce de résistance is the stuffed lion in the center of the flower. Cats -- big or small -- are Millie's favorite animal, of course. The lion is adorned with an Indian headdress. It is soooo adorable.

The Keller Indians lost the football game by a score of 19-17. Despite the score, this group of friends still managed to have a great time.

Poised & Posed

The September issue of "K" magazine is out, and somebody we know and love is on page 25. WooHoo! 

Our youngest Smithling was asked to model for a local boutique's ad in The Keller Magazine. Of course, we think Millie Girl looks lovely in that Red Raider gear, but she'd look pretty wearing a gunny sack. 

What a "mom" thing to say, huh?

She's a model daughter! :-P

The First Daze of School

Picture this -- It's back-to-school time in Texas and California. Keller High School, University Of Texas/Arlington, and Pepperdine are all back in session.

It was probably way tooo early in the morning to make my Smithlings smile for the obligatory first day picture, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

I decided to go "old school" and use B&W images. Here's how DAY ONE looked:

The messenger bag is loaded and this guy is ready for the l-o-n-g commute to campus. Look out, 'cause he's all business. Yes, he's a business (not bidness) major at UTA.

 KHS Sophomore

Although the smile is pretty, this daughter came home from Day One with a fever of 103.5º F. Her first day of school will likely be her last for a while. Ironically, on the last day of her Freshman year, she came home with a very high fever and was ill for several days. I think it's safe to assume that school makes Millie sick.

Our West Coaster Snapchatted me this image. Her future's so bright, she's gotta wear shades. 

Okay, pictures are out of the way. Let's hit the books!


Back-to-school update: 
9-2-2014

Millie Girl missed days 2-5 of the first week of school due to the mystery virus. She had a sore throat, fever (as high as 104.4º) for five straight days, and she simply did not feel well. She was seen by three different physicians in four days. There was no conclusion drawn as to what the problem was; however, we do have a long list of what it wasn't! 

Before Millie could return to school, the doctor had to see her one more time. Additional labs were ordered. There is still no conclusive diagnosis. It was determined that she could get back to school without making things worse or running the risk of sharing the "back-to-school-itis" with others, so back-to-school it is.

KHS Sophomore: Day 1 photo retake

 The picture of health? I certainly hope so.

Now you can hit the books.

Malibu or Bust

8-19-2014  -  Day 5: Malibu! We have arrived.

Believe it or not, this is the first time we have set foot on this campus. The decision to attend school here was made sight unseen. We visited all of the other schools that #2 Smithling was accepted into, except for this one. Crazy, I know... Talk about blind faith! This decision was made with a lot of prayer and careful consideration, and there was much input from people who have either attended school here, or who currently work at Pepperdine. Once we got to campus, it became very clear that this was indeed the perfect location for our daughter to be for the last two years of her undergrad education. 

Liesey is living in a four-bedroom apartment with three other transfer students. There was a posse of student helpers who unloaded both vehicles in about 15 minutes. It took a little longer than that to get boxes unpacked and get stuff organized.

After the majority of the boxes were unpacked, we drove down the hill to the main campus. We climbed many, many, many steps from the parking lot up to the undergraduate campus. No, I didn't count how many steps there are, but it is now obvious why Pepperdine students and staff are in great shape!

This is the view looking from the undergraduate campus (Seaver College) up the steep hill to where Liesey's apartment is located.  Look in the upper 1/3 of this photo to see the graduate school and the upperclassmen/graduate student apartment buildings. Yes, her apartment is that cream colored stucco building with the red roof... Ha! Ha!

And this is the view from outside the apartment building, looking down at the campus and the Pacific. I feel "so sorry" for our student. I simply don't know how she will be able to study with this kind of visual distraction.

8-20-2014  - Day 6: More new student orientation (NSO) activities were on the agenda, but three of us ducked out early to enjoy some time on one of the Malibu beaches, literally a few minutes away. The actual new student gets an "A" because she stayed for all of the NSO sessions.

We had originally planned to gut it out until the very last NSO parent-oriented activity was crossed off the list, but we decided that the trio of Texas bound travelers should get an earlier start back east. The new, revised plan would have us leaving about seven hours ahead of our original schedule. 
We had done our part:

1. We escorted the NEW student to campus.
2. We helped her get her apartment set up.
3. We made trips to Ikea, Target(2x), Home Depot, Ralph's, and a couple other places that I just cannot remember.
4. We attended the appropriate number of "NSO" events. Ugh!
5. We had FUN! 

"They" say that parting is such sweet sorrow; however, for us this was a joy-filled farewell. We are confident that our girl is EXACTLY where she is supposed to be, doing what God intends for her to do. Who can quarrel with that?!

Yep, I think she's gonna like it here!

Pepperdine is in our rearview mirror -- literally and figuratively speaking.  Only 1,450 miles to go.