Say Cheese

I am a proud mama today. 

The Dracenator got an award for meeting his reading goals, good conduct and Terrific Kid.  Yay for Dray!

And Devin got AB Honor Roll.  Way to go Dev Dev!

Dracen's awards ceremony for first grade was earlier this morning and then Devin's was a little later for fifth grade.  Something happens around 3rd or 4th grade that makes it uncool for your parents to show up at school, Mama equipped with the zoom lens and waving like a maniac.

Dracen was all like, "I wanna go home with you, Mom" while Devin stood in line to leave the gym, looking straight ahead and  praying under his breath that we would not step one foot closer to him and embarrass him in front of his buds. 

I, of course, did it anyway. 

I even took it one step further by patting him on the back and congratulating him which I could tell infuriated him so I then asked loud enough for his friends to hear if he would like for me to walk him back to class and hold his hand. 

This brought out a few giggles from the fifth grade peanut gallery and he mumbled real mean like under his breath, "get outta here". 

Ahhh...Sweet Success.

Giving paybacks to your kids is one of the greatest joys of parenthood, is it not?   Score One for Mom!

Here we have the Dracenator, all proud and posing with his bumper sticker and upside down certificate.

And here we have Dev.  This was the best I could do from the other side of the gym but I knew there was no chance of him agreeing on letting me take one close up afterwards.




When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I knew that little things are special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed that there was a God to talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me goodnight,
and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes,
and I learned that sometimes things hurt,
but it's alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared,
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked...
and I wanted to say thanks for all the things
I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.

~Author Unknown