On The Road To Womanhood... Wearing Roller Blades???

I went to bed Friday night the mother of a tween, but awoke the next morning the mother of a teen.  How scary is that?  Yes, Mikayla is a true teenager now, having turned 13 at 12:57 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning.  Oh the horror!  I'm OLD now!

It's hard to believe that the tiny, 6 pound, 13 ounce baby that I delivered is now nearing womanhood.  I say nearing... she's still got plenty of growing to do!

Thinking back on that labor and delivery I can both laugh and cringe.  The pain!  Oh, the pain!  Why did I not get an epidural?  Having Mom and Jill in the room should have been so comforting to me, but the blasted pain was so bad that I was delirious for most of the labor.  Speaking unintelligibly, moaning and groaning as if that creature from Alien was in my belly, not a sweet, innocent baby.




And let us not forget the most profound thing uttered from my lips during labor.




"Doc!  My hoo-hoo HURTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"




But now look at her, my beautiful fiesty girl.

Always with the mismatched socks that match not her outfit, or even each other.

The child looks nothing like me.  She's all Oko.

She's a short little thing, but with legs that go for miles.

She's a playful thing when the mood strikes, but if she's not in a happy mood?  Watch out world!




Twice that day she made me sing Happy Birthday to her in my "funny" voice.  I do believe she recorded it and posted it on Facebook.  Little stinker still doesn't get it that it takes a lot more than that to embarrass her mama!




Here she is decked out for July 4th... on July 3rd.  Ermmm?  Huh?

One of the neighbors organizes a kids parade to celebrate Independence Day and for some reason, this year it was held the day before.  It was totally adorable, the kids, adults and dogs being led by two motorcycles and one quad driven by a retired Marine.  Yeah baby, yeah!

That's my little Jordyn, my favorite kid in the neighborhood, aside from my own.  And that's her proud daddy, Tom, who has fought for our country with bravery and pride.  Thank you, Tom!!!

They're at the ready!  Can you spot Strudel's ass?

And they're off!!!







Hope all of you had a fabulous holiday weekend. Mine was spent in the house by my lonesome, feeling horrendously weak and tired. I just found out that I'm anemic, so hopefully after a bunch of iron pills are consumed I'll start feeling my normal crappy again.


Muah!

A Whole Weekend and No Embarrrassing Pictures???

Yes, it's true, not one funny/embarrassing picture, and believe me, I'm disappointed in myself!

It was a busy weekend though. Friday was my Mikayla's 12th birthday and she had a few friends over, including her very first friend, Gabi, from our Tampa neighborhood. Gabi's mom, and our good friend, Richelle, made the 3-1/2 hour drive just so Gabi could be here to celebrate with Mikayla. I hadn't seen them in three years, but I swear, from the moment we hugged hello it was like we hadn't spent a moment apart.

My now- almost- teen, somebody just shoot me now and put me out of the hormonal misery! blowing out her candles.





Here's Richelle and Gabi. Notice Gabi, at 11, already wears makeup and has her hair highlighted! Boy, times sure have changed, eh?



Now I'm definitely a liberal mom, so Mikayla is now allowed to wear makeup! Oh my goodness, she is SO excited about it. Here she is opening up one of aunt Jill's presents to her, about 5 seconds after Jill walked in the door. That's the other Gabby with her head sticking out of the corner.



From Jimmy and I, Mikayla got tons of makeup, a big makeup box, a pretty earring holder stand, and a video camera. She was one excited kid, let me tell you! But oops, forgot to take pics of her opening her presents!

Next day, 4th of July! The morning started out with our first annual bike parade. Being that it was just our block and the cul-de-sacs I was really impressed with how many people joined in. Not me, no no. It was a billion and one degrees out and my face was melting off before they even got started. I did have to snap some pictures though, 'cause everyone was looking so cute.

Oops, foggy camera from going from the house to the outside oven. Here's Madison, wet hair and all.



Now Grisel (the other Gabby's mom) got totally into this whole parade thing, so I had to get some shots of her in all her old glory.

Here's Mikayla looking all patriotic.

Some of the neighborhood dogs even got in on the action, but poor Strudel had no red, white and blue to sport. I was pissed at myself for not thinking of it.

This is Ariel, Grisel's pretty pup.

I don't know these dogs, but they sure are cute!

There was a quad, a golf cart, and Boston Dave led them with his Harley. How cool is that?

My quirky New England friend, Kristen who despises Obama. You can just feel the American pride comin' off of her. Like sweat.


The rest of the day was spent bopping back and forth between my 72 degree house and Grisel's back yard and kitchen which both felt about the same temperature.

Grisel and Michelle, holding her daughter, Darianna.

Mikayla, as the fly.

Poopy Pants, trying to knock me out with her noodle.

The fireworks weren't the only things that were lit this night. The detonator of the night, which would be Jimmy, was one very happy boy. Nothing like a keg to get the neighborhood men in high spirits. I was just waiting for him to blow his face off.








By 10 p.m. I could not take the sweat pouring off of me one more minute. So, I jumped in Grisel's pool. With my clothes on. And a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. Oopsie? But Ahhh... that felt good!

Now this, my friends, is what Tiney looks like after a full day of sweating her face off. And damn, but my makeup had looked so good earlier in the day! Just keep in mind, this picture was taken some time around midnight.
And that was basically my weekend in a nutshell. Sunday Richelle and Jill packed up their stuff, and off they went, Jill toting one additional kid. She's got Mikayla with her for the next week or so, and guess who else she has? STELLA! Yes, that's right, and I think Stella is in for an awesome time! Shhhh... I'm probably not supposed to tell, but she's already been to Sea World! Make sure you check in with Jill from time to time to see what adventures Stella has been on!





Pssst! If you love me, you might love my sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!