The Girl (part II)

On April 28th Miss Lauren had her 14th birthday!!

We celebrated with a trip to Town Square to shop and have dinner. She brought along her friend Shelby and her other friend Birthday Money. Only one friend made the trip back home with us....

14 things about Lauren....

• excited to attend the church dances
• likes One Direction/ loves Niall
• boy crazy
• favorite store is Hollister (or at least that is where I spend the most money)
• her order at Taco Bell is Cool Ranch Dorito taco, cheese roll up, & Baja Blast freeze
• always eats all of the Fruity Pebbles
• spends too much time on Instagram
• good student
• has a brace face
• loves scary/horror/mystery/thriller movies
• enjoys Starbucks
• is a cheerleader
• best friends are Shelby and Taylor
• she thinks her mom is awesome (my point of view anyway)

Lauren opening her gift from G&G Nelson

Make a wish!!

May 31, 2013

Life as a middle schooler was coming to a close. As a final nod to the 8th grade, there was an 8th grade dance. A dance that required shopping for a dress. A dress that would also be worn for the cheer banquet. This dress caused a lot of tension and grief. Trying to find a dress that was modest, within a budget, and visually attractive to a picky 14 year old felt like an impossible feat. It was down to the threadbare wire but we managed to find a sequin laden, sparkly turquoise number that was almost perfect..... (not even perfect is perfection in a 14 year old mind). Lauren and Shelby dazzled as the entered the almost transformed gym.... the rest is history....

Lauren and Shelby before the dance

My cousin Nick got married and we were at his reception. I turn my back for a moment and return to find that Lauren has caught the bridal bouquet. An old wife would tell a tale about her being next in line for nuptials. If it is true everyone else has a looooong wait because there will not be any wedding bells anytime in this decade....

Then the last day of school finally arrived. The cheer team had and end of year pool party to celebrate!!! There was even cake- and a cake fight!!

Lauren, Shelby J. and Sydney

Frosting fight!! Lauren and Sydney

JUMP!!  Yasmin, Shelby W., Sydney, and Lauren

The Final Event...

School was out, dance was done, swim party enjoyed, now the closing bell was the cheer banquet. Everyone gathered at the Aliante banquet room to remember the great year they had as a cheer team. My mom and I went to cheer Lauren on as she received her trophies. After dinner and awards the dance floor sparkled with sequins, glittered with gemstones, and bounced with tulle.It was a great night up until the end when Lauren slipped into a mood and wouldn't let me get any good photos of her and her friends in good light. MOOODY!!

Lauren, Sydney, and Shelby

Shelby, Sydney, Lauren, and Yasmin

On the dance floor!!

Yasmin, Shelby J, Sydney, Shelby W, Chelsea, and Lauren

That about sums it all up... for now anyway!!

THE GIRL

Time to catch up on Lauren....

Science Project

She and her friend Taylor co-conspired to pull off this science project. As I have fore-to mentioned, science projects make me growl inside. Lucky for me they did most of it themselves.......

Sharp Competetion

The Cram Middle School cheerleaders competed at the Sharp International cheer/dance event that was held at the Cashman Center here in Las Vegas on April 20th. All I know is that we had to be there super early in the morning and they won a bunch of trophies.... and I ate some chicken fingers. 

The 8th graders

Ready for hip-hop

Lauren, Sydney, and Shelby

                                       

                                         

Cram cheerleaders also competed down at Knott's Berry Farm for a Sharp Int. competition the first weekend in May. They brought home lots of trophies and had a really fun time down there.

GO WILDCATS!!

Say Cheese

Then there was picture day, on a really hot day.... at the park.

The girls were great- no complaints- well except for the sun that they were facing.....

Lauren has squinty eyes but still looks cute!!

8th grade cheerleaders

"Grease" show production outfits

caught a quick snapshot of Lauren- in the SHADE!!!

A stick on mustache picture on Mother's Day....

On Friday, April 12th Lauren tried out for the Legacy High School cheer team.....

she wasn't 100% sure she wanted to do it but she made the Junior Varsity team!!!

GO LAUREN!!!

Shelby, Sydney and Lauren- these 3 have been try out buddies since 6th grade

Show Production

On May 14 & 15 Lauren performed as a Cram cheerleader for the last time. They performed all the cheers, pom routines, dances and show production of Grease. Ms. Gourdine, their coach, taught them a lot, yelled at them a lot and pushed them constantly to be better. It was a great two years, I'm glad Lauren had this opportunity.... but you know it is time to move on when your uniform has gotten way too small. Haha!!

I'm so proud of Lauren and all of her hard work!! Everyday after school she had one hour study/homework time then two hours of cheer practice. It hasn't been easy but it has been rewarding. It is good times with friends, good exercise, and gives her structure and discipline. We will see how it all works out next year in high school.......... 

p.s. if I never see or have to attach a curly ponytail to Lauren's head again, it will still be too soon!! Sayonara  ratty, weird, unmanageable curly mess!!

Then There Was......

On Thursday, April 11,  2013 I stood in the midst of 80's alternative rock greatness. The venue was the rooftop Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan on the strip. The headliner was the esteemed New Order, but first to go on was the awe inspiring, Johnny Marr.....

Johnny Marr:

The co-genius of my music obsession: The Smiths.  Marr's flawless melodies mixed with Morrissey's lyrical wit combined to create the finest band in history....(it's true, so don't even try to dispute it with me). The crushingly depressing part of being enamored with The Smiths, is that the band suffered a horrible break up in 1987, just a year before they began to exist in my life. The bright side is that Morrissey continued on with a solo career, allowing me to see him in concert several times. He often satisfies the crowd with classics from The Smiths, however I failed to realize that something was missing.... until now.

That something is Johnny Marr. What Morrissey's voice gives to the lyrics, Marr's guitar playing gives to the music. It was a deliberate match, their music was made for them to perform together. Hearing Johnny Marr live on his guitar for the first time made me accept that I have never really heard a true Smith's song performed live. I have heard Morrissey sing them and now I have heard Johnny Marr play them but I will never be completely whole until the put their stubbornness behind them and reunite- for at least one concert anyway.... (and yes I will be there!)

Johnny Marr, dressed in his three button english tweed jacket, serenaded the crowd with his new original music and a few classics. From The Smiths discography he performed: "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," " There is a Light That Never Goes Out" and "How Soon is Now?." He also threw in "Getting Away With It" from Electronic- a band that combined Johnny Marr, Pet Shop Boys, and Bernard Sumner of New Order from 1989 into the 90's.

                          

New Order

Seems hard to believe, but this is the first time I have been to a New Order concert. I have always been a fan- I mean who didn't have the black and white Substance album?? They just never came to town when I was younger, then didn't tour much when I was older. Their name was scratched upon my list of must see bands and now I can draw a line through it. 

Their setlist was a mix of classic and new. Of course the crowd loved the favorites like "Blue Monday," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and "True Faith." The encore was dedicated to Joy Division and they performed three songs including the famous "Love Will Tear Us Apart." 

It was pretty late when the concert ended and as we were driving home at 1:23am I received this text from Jace.(3 middle bubbles) Guess somebody has to keep tabs on us!!!

May the Fourth be With You....

On May 4th, Jason and I celebrated our 17th anniversary. We kept it simple with a night out and dinner at Brio. This picture is when we were young and engaged.... time sure does fly!!

Mother's Day!!

(The one day a year my kids do everything I ask)

We had dinner with my side of the family. The guys cooked and cleaned up the mess. My mom brought some silly stick on mustaches so we took some photos with our new props.....

aren't we lovely ??

At church all of the women received some yummy cookies.....

My mom got all the girls a cake plate and cake mix.....

                               and the kids gave me a corsage and chocolate dipped strawberries.