Graduation Weekend

My Daddy graduated again this weekend! He has now earned his Master's in Social Work! I am so incredibly proud of him for all of his hard work. He graduated with a 3.98 GPA (seriously, 4.0 every semester but one and I think he got gypped!) as a returning student, while working and doing internships. I also have to give a shout out to my mom, who obviously has been working this whole time, while maintaining a household to her exacting standards of cleanliness and cooking nearly everything completely from scratch. Oh, and did I mention that eight months of this was accomplished with the insanity of me and two kids living with them?! If I've never mentioned it before, my parents are two of the hardest working people I know. I'm so very proud of them both!

Dad's graduation meant a busy week for us all.  On Tuesday, the 22nd, I rushed around the house packing and after an early afternoon WIC appointment (which was completely fruitless, but that's another story!) the kids and I drove up to my brother's house in D.C. Wednesday morning I helped get their fridge cleaned out and the house picked up a little, and we loaded up the van and left for Ohio after my brother got off work.

Friday morning, we got up bright and early and headed to Cincinnati. Dad had to be there early to check in, and we wanted to only take one car so we didn't have to pay for parking. My cousin and her husband babysat the kids, so thankfully we didn't have to try to keep them occupied for hours while we waited for graduation to start! We found a coffee shop while we waited, and Miah decided he'd rather have this than a coffee.

 We were sitting facing at Dad's back as he crossed the stage, so this picture was the best I could get of him! He smiled the whole way across the stage.

That evening, we all went out to dinner at a favorite restaurant called The Pub. I had an amazing appetizer called "Cheese Bollocks", and Fish and Chips. 

Saturday Mom and I and the kids spent the morning at the Armpit (Walmart) and the Dollar Store getting stuff for Dad's party while Dad, Miah, and Heather went out to a shooting range. I know it's ridiculous, but those few hours of walking around had me exhausted! My mom ordered me to bed as soon as we'd gotten the kids down for naps, and she and the rest of the family spent my nap time setting up for the party. I felt guilty, since I generally help mom, but it was probably good for the rest of the family (cough my siblings cough) to step up and help out. It was a wonderful nap!

Quite a few people came, both family and friends from church and Dad's work, and my BIL did all the grilling.

My cousin Suz was able to come, but accidentally locked her keys in the car. Good thing my brother is an honest guy, because he jimmied that door open with some trash from the garage! I'd hate to know what he could have done as an alternate career if the Air Force hadn't worked out.

Oh, and did I mention that Suz is the first member of my family with whom I get to be pregnant?! It's so exciting! She's nine weeks ahead of me, and I got to feel her sweet baby girl squirming around.

What would life be like without my brother being goofy? He is, obviously, the only goofy member of our family. We were supposed to stick our bellies out, but Suz missed that part and just looks cute as ever. 

"Bopbop" (my dad) made Azaria a pretty hair bow out of a balloon anchor and the fingers of a latex glove. It made her day! 

We finished off the day with a rousing game of croquet! Uncle Nate won, with me following and Shane close after. 

Sunday was the last day of festivities. Miah turned 24 on Saturday but since that was Dad's day we celebrated on Sunday. After church we rushed off to the flea market, then we came home Heather made Jer a nice cake, we grilled up our leftovers, and spent the evening chatting and laughing and having more fun outside in the nice weather.

                            

The last thing we had to do was take a picture with our family dog. We got her our second year back in the United States, and she's been a great dog. Amazing with kids, gentle, sweet, and loyal. She used to like to roll in dead deer, and never did learn to stay away from skunks and porcupines. She would bring home "treasures" to my dad--most memorably one of a pair of nice leather welding gloves. We went up and down the road but never did find out who it belonged to! She used to go hiking and snowshoeing with me, and later with my sister. When we moved away from our home in rural NY she went to live with my sister and her husband, and now she's 12 ( I think). She's in constant pain from cancer and I don't even know what all else, and it's her time. They'll be euthanizing her in two weeks. I am so glad that I got to say goodbye to her and that my kids have gotten to play with her throughout their lives. I really couldn't imagine a better dog! Goodbye Cadet, we all love you.