It's Party Time!

I had so much fun planning Madison's Graduation Party.  Camden and I worked so hard to get everything ready and set up for the big day.  

We tried to have some fun things planned that would appeal to lots of people.  One of those things was a Texas Holdem Tournament with half the winnings going to the graduate.

 There was a "Guess The Grade Game" where everyone could try and figure out which picture went with which grade and try to win a prize.  

 There was a photo booth set up with props if you wanted a little "photography fun"!

Madison had a yummy chocolate cake made by Aunt Betty.

All the kids and teens enjoyed the pool.  It was a beautiful day for it too!

JoJo was so sweet and offered to help me with food.  She made lasagna and it was so good.

Madison really enjoyed his party.  Graduation is such an exciting time to celebrate and we loved giving him a party.  It was a great day with lots of good times and good memories.

May - 2012 Graduation Night

Graduation night Madison was waiting for some friends to come over.  While he was waiting it began to pour down rain.  Camden yelled to me from the kitchen, "come look at this!"  Madison and Wes were out dancing in the rain.  I love these photos.  It's as if the weight of the world has been lifted from them.   

May 2012 - Graduation Day Is Here!

Graduation Day began early and my kiddos were not ready to get up.  

 It was a beautiful day and once he got up and got to moving the excitement kicked in!

 He was really excited that Kaitlyn came in for the ceremony.

 The graduate dressed in the parking lot of the fairgrounds and complained the whole time about the heat. 

 Sophie came well prepared with snacks and things to play with.  Madison's Senior class was very large and we knew it would be a really long ceremony, especially for a four year old. 

Two of the people Madison loves the most, Kaitlyn and Wes.

My two handsome boys.  

 This is one of my favorite pictures of Madison.  It was him just being silly.

Here we go!  Time for the moment we've all been waiting for!

I love the following photos.  They are of Madison on his cell phone.  It is so typical of a teenager.  He had to check in with all his friends, find out where they were and where they were going to meet up.

 The tassel was worth the hassle, now bring on the diploma!

Eagerly awaiting his name to be called.

Madison receiving his diploma from Mr. Johnson, the principle.

This is such an important day in a child's life.  One that you look forward to for so long.

Madison was so happy to have his family there to cheer him on.  It meant so much to him.

My niece Victoria graduated with Madison.  It was fun to share this with her too.

Sophie loves her big brother so much.  She thought this whole 

"gag e a tion" thing was pretty cool.

 Class of 2012

Madison, we love you and are so proud of you.

May-2012 Madison

I decided to break up the month of May into several posts because it was such a big month for Madison.   You could say it was "bitter sweet."  The bitter was that he kept hoping for scholarships that didn't come.  He had worked so hard during high school.  He would be graduating with a 3.9 GPA and a 25 on his ACT but for whatever reason others were chosen for the scholarships he had so hoped to get.   He would hear the same thing, "you were one of the top students we were looking at but you weren't chosen."  To watch him go through this disappointment over and over was so hard.  He was hoping for money to go to UK but it just didn't happen.   Madison is a very wise young man.  He weighed his options and decided that he did not want to be like so many of his classmates and incur debt to go to college.  He made the decision to stay home and attend the local community college.  Even though we would have loved for him to go away and have the college experience, we believe that God has a plan for his life and for whatever reason did not open the doors that needed to be opened for him to go to a large university.   Sophie is so happy.  She had constantly talked about him leaving home.  She did not want him to go away and secretly I think he is somewhat relieved that he doesn't have to leave her just yet either.


The sweet part......getting ready for graduation!!!  It was so much fun to put the invitations together, address them and send them out.  Madison is a boy and doesn't show a lot of emotion but he was getting excited and filling out the invitations made it real that he was getting ready to be done with High School!