Zoe's Birthday - 18

At Kobe for dinner.

Zoe Graduates from Hickman High School !!

Outstanding Artist!



Zoe was selected by her art teachers (above all the other students) as the Outstanding Artist for the year!  Tonight was the awards ceremony.  We are all very proud of her accomplishment.

Zoe and her Dad (Randy) and his girlfriend Cecilia.

Alli, Mom, Zoe and Dad.

She is closest to the podium.

before she painted it.

My Girls

Zoe is a good big sister and watched Beanie for me today.

New dress - found some crazy bargains at Kohl's!

Alli can't stop playing with the Polly Pockets that her big sister gave her.

Zoe Art

Zoe Painting

Zoe - Art Show

Self Portrait in charcoal.

Sushi for Lunch

Don't be fooled.....Alli only ate the rice and wouldn't touch anything else!

Zoe with Fire Hoop

Zoe's Lighted Hula Hoop

The Teens

Malcolm and Zoe are now both back in school for the fall.

Zoe, now 17 years old, is a senior at Hickman High School.

Malcolm is now 19 years old and in his second year at Mizzou taking general business courses.

They are BOTH working at Which Wich now.

Malcolm, some girl they work with, and Zoe.

All Dressed Up !!

Randy, Zoe and Malcolm at a wedding.

Happy Birthday Zoe (17)

Zoe just finished up 11th grade, so next year she will be a senior. Today she turns 17. This mom has mixed emotions (of course) as I watch my children becoming adults right before my eyes.

Zoe was my first baby girl (and my last or so I thought). I was so happy to see her when she arrived; finally another girl in the house.

She was always a tiny little girl and I did my best to hold her ALL THE TIME. I wanted to cherish every moment with this “last” one.

She was always very smart and had a style of her own….even as a toddler.

I let her hair grow long and it was beautiful.

Later in school she would get lice and her grandma would cut all her hair off!

When she became a teen ager, her hair turned curly. (I never knew that could happen.) It is a nice loose curl that I would love to have. She never liked it long or curly so this is a rare glimpse at her “real” hair.

In high school she continued to refine her style. I just love this self portrait she took of her and her best friend.

This year she decided dreadlocks were going to be her thing.

And more recently she has adopted the colored dreadlocks. (It’s not my favorite.)

For all her funkiness, she really is a good kid. She makes good grades and excels at art. She had some of her work feature in the annual art publication her high school publishes!

She also made the style page of the year book.

She is far left in long skit.

This summer she is attending a 3 week art camp on a full scholarship.

I am very proud of her for having her dreams and working to make them a reality even if sometimes it makes me nervous.

Mother's Day 2012

This morning I got up and did my normal Sunday morning trail run. I usually run a 5.5 mile loop and most everyone else does an 8 mile loop across the street but today, I decided to follow the big kids into the woods so I could learn my way around the longer trail. That was fun and even though my legs were tired from running 13 miles yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised at how well I ran about 5 miles on single track.

Next I headed to the grocery store to buy something special for my mother’s day lunch. I picked up a few steaks, some veggies to cut up and humus for dipping, a big container of some dynamite looking fresh strawberries, and some asparagus to grill. All favorites of mine since it’s my celebration lunch.

On the way home from the grocery store I decided to stop by Target real fast and see if they had some swim suits I was interested in. Once I got in the store, the swim suits were on two different racks and really picked over so I tried on this and that and then looked for more stuff and before I knew it, I had burned a whole hour and still could not make up my mind what to do. I finally bought a bunch of things and decided to return some later when I could think better.

Now I am behind schedule so I race home to shower and prepare lunch. The plan was to start the party at 11:30 since Malcolm had to be at work by 3. When I got home, the big kids pulled in the driveway right behind me and everyone was hungry so I skipped my shower and quickly got the veggie tray out and we devoured it in no time.

Alli picked me some flowers.

Next we opened gifts and cards. Daddy had been nice enough to take Beanie to the store to pick out a card. It was a pretty purple card with lots of sparkles. He confirmed my suspicions that she had indeed picked it out all by herself based on color. (smile) Malcolm and Bean made me a couple of cards that were super sweet because they were hand made with love.

Then Zoe really surprised me with an amazing “reproduction” of a piece of art I have wanted for years. I was thrilled. Highlight of the day. Yes she painted it all by herself.

Next James grilled my steaks along with some pineapple…..mmmm so good. The big kids all gobbled up the food and then all too quickly needed to leave. I was a bit disappointed that they did not hang out longer. They are always at work, school, or with friend so I don’t see much of them at all these days.

The rest of the day was nap time and house work and nothing out of the ordinary. When later asked by a friend, I rated my day a B. I gave it an A for Zoe’s art work and C for not a long enough time with the kids which averaged out to a B.

But the real question is………why didn’t anyone buy me some chocolate?