Prom Fashion 2012 (Behind the Scenes)

Last weekend was a big event for my boys...PROM. Adam's a Senior & Elijah's a Junior so we had two going this year. I have to say I'm pretty thankful I don't have girls to have to deal with (hair, make-up, dress, shoes=drama & $$!)

Adam decided he didn't want to wear a tux, but Elijah & his friends were all getting decked out and he was excited about getting to wear one. So here's the extent of  the drama a mother with boys faces:

I asked Elijah if he wanted to look different than everyone else. He said, "Sure, whatever." He's a pretty easy going kid and goes with the flow. Well, everyone knows that it's pretty hard for a boy to stand out, especially wearing a tux. The standard is-black or white tux with a vest, bow tie & pocket hanky matching the color of their dates dress. My first question was, "Elijah, what color is your dates dress?" He said, "It's coral." Then a huge grin crossed his face as he went on to say, "I didn't know what color that was when she told me so I said, Oh so you're wearing blue?" I started cracking up. BOYS!

When we got to the tux shop, I had the poor sales guy trying all different sorts of mix & matches on the mannequin for me. Nothing looked quite right & when I'd ask Elijah what he thought, he'd shrug his shoulders & say, "Don't ask me." After a while, I said, "Okay, so would you be okay wearing a ruffled shirt? "Sure, I guess." Wow...this is easy! Now, I know most of you are thinking...ruffles...what the heck? It's not the 70's. But my oldest son Josh did it for his prom years ago & it looked so cool, different & everyone loved it. The kid who was helping us had a concerned look on his face & said, "I'll throw in a plain white shirt at no charge just in case." I know he thought, "What's this poor kids mom doing to him?" We had a coral bow tie (which I wasn't planning on having him wear) a white ruffled shirt, trimmed in black, black vest & tux & a coral hanky to coordinate with his dates dress. So, here's the end result...what do you think? He was the only one wearing it and everyone loved it! More importantly...he did too!

Now Adam on the other hand had his outfit all picked out ahead of time. Black shirt & pants, red bow tie (that you have to tie yourself) and red vans to match his girlfriends red dress. Boys always wait till the last minute to get ready. So Adam had me iron his pants and brand new shirt 20 minutes before we were leaving. No biggy right? Wrong. I finished and then he came in to tell me, his new shirt was too big, he never tried it on. I had to rush and iron another shirt, while he watched a video to try & figure out how to tie his bow tie...which was harder than he thought. He couldn't do it so we took a few pictures at home with it undone

Luckily when we went to our friends house for our first picture stop, there was a lady who knew how to do it. Whew!

Both boys were all decked out & lookin' handsome; Adam went to one house to eat & take a bus with a group of his friends & Elijah headed to his friends house to do the same. We rushed to get pictures of Adam first & then headed over to get pictures of Elijah.

 As you can see...it's quite the event here in Orange County, CA. There's tons of food, sit down dinner w/decorated tables, even parents get more dressed up than normal and run around snapping picture after picture until the bus arrives to whisk our brats oops I meant to say Angels...off to Prom.

 

 

Adam's 18!

Today is Adam's 18th Birthday! He's an official man, which he made sure to tell me after I told him he'll always be my lil guy no matter how old he is.

Adam became my son at the age of 4. He's a fun loving, rambunctious little bugger who loves life. He could barely contain himself...throwing everything he had into everything he did. He was a little chatter box who loved to talk to people. Whenever there was a question to be asked of a stranger, we'd say, "Hey Adam...go ask that guy if..." Before we could even finish he'd be running over, thrilled that he'd be able to talk to someone new.

We'd often come up with crazy jokes to play on people and get Adam to do the dirty work. One night we were out to dinner having sushi when my hubby spotted a guy from work Loren, sitting at the sushi bar. He didn't see us so we came up with an idea to have Adam walk up to him, call out his name, stand there looking at him making this crazy noise that he liked to make -MMMmmmMMMmmmMMM (in a high pitched up and down tone) while raising his eyebrows up and down. Then he turned & walked out of the restaurant. We were peaking over our booth trying not to laugh too loud. The guys face got beat red, he looked at his date, then back at Adam, while he continued to make the noise & face. It was hilarious! After Adam walked out of the restaurant, the guy was so freaked out by the whole thing, everyone was looking at him so he got up, face like a bright, over-ripe tomato, shrugging his shoulders he said, "What was that all about?" Then headed to the bathroom. Adam came back in & sat in our booth...all of us, along with most of the people in the restaurant were cracking up. When my hubby's friend came back out Anthony called him over & the guy started laughing, he said, "I was trying to figure out what just happened and why?"

That's our Adam...he loves attention & doesn't care how he looks.

He loved to climb EVERYTHING, usually falling off and then doing it all over again. One time we were looking all over the baseball park for him only to see him across the field at the very top of the baseball backstop. To the normal onlooker, it would seem that everyone in the family (kids included) were always yelling at Adam; but in reality we were trying to stifle our laughter while attempting to reprimand him. He always knows how to make you laugh. He just has this craziness about him that keeps a smile on your face.

Adam Making a Tackle

Adam & Girlfriend Carla

Today, as our little Adam turns 18, I'm just so grateful that the Lord put him in my life. I'm thankful for the person he is and the man he's become. He's truly a loving, kind, caring and special boy oops MAN!

My Lil Adam

Thank you Adam for the love, joy and laughter you bring into all of our lives. I love you and am honored to be your step-mom.

It's Time To Get Away Again

When life gets a little stressful, sometimes you need to escape. Revisiting favorite vacation spot photos can be just the little refresher you need.

My getaway comes via our "Jalama Beach" vacation...






my oldest son Josh (22)

my middle son Jullien (18-turns 19 on Nov. 14th)

my youngest stepson Adam (16) & youngest son Elijah (15)





I thought you may need a little retreat too...

So Girls Wrestle Too?

This weekend my step son Adam had his very first wrestling match. To my surprise there were several girl wrestlers. I was kind of shocked & wondered, "Why would a girl wrestle? I'm mean, it's a "hands on" sport." I don't think I'd want my daughter to, but there was this girl on my sons team who was really cute, had a nose ring, wore make up & was all suited up & ready to go.

And....

She kicked butt! She did this move where she grabbed them, tripped them & then landed on top of them & pinned em'. She RULED...I think she only lost one match. Imagine how embarrassed the boy she pinned felt.LOL!

the take down move

I HAD to take pics of her for you guys!

a shocked boy

the pin

Now on to Adam...

He's only practiced for about two weeks, but he did really well & took second place. He looked like he was "backyard" wrestling with his brothers because he hasn't learned very many technical moves yet, but he's naturally athletic & only lost 1 time. He kept saying, "I hope I don't have to wrestle a girl!" And was really happy that he didn't.

I kept teasing him & told people, "He only lost once, to a girl!" He said, "I DID NOT! I never wrestled a girl!" Then we all started cracking up, "It's okay Adam, you can just admit it!"

Adam in yellow

nice move...the kids a pretzel

the winner!

proud parents!



If you had a daughter, would you let her wrestle?