Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

If you missed my entry yesterday, then this statement won't mean much to you:
I decided to let the golden opportunity . . . er . . . pass. Ahem. Let's leave it at that.

Why have I been MIA lately? Here's a few of the reasons:
Preschool graduation.
Micah loved preschool and Mrs. McC. He read an astonishing 120 books last year, and the most surprising part was that that wasn't the most! One little girl in the other class read 153.
Mrs. McC. does a Mother's Day program and a graduation program less than two weeks apart, and at both programs, she does these silhouettes of the kids. Made me cry (but, remember, so do french fries), those little sheets of black paper. Most amazing? She did five of each of the forty kids. Where does she find the time?
Mr. Graduate. He was pretty proud. He already mentions missing preschool. It's going to be a long summer.
Tucker's seventeenth birthday party. I think there were twenty kids there. Just so you don't think his friends dress improperly, you need to know they were all in the pool about five minutes before this picture. Good kids. Good times. Now they're all seniors. I don't know if I'm ready to do this again so soon.
Heidi is the kindest big sis anyone would ever want to have. Lily and Micah love to sleep in her room with her, and she almost always says yes. What could be better than M&Ms, popcorn, and Pride and Prejudice? Not too much.
The real activities that have kept me from the blogosphere? Graduation gifts. I'm not much of a scrapbooker, but I did make these books for each of our laurels that graduated. (That's only three, but it still took a TON of time.) Since all three girls have lived in the ward since they were in Primary, I contacted all their old YW leaders, had them write letters to each of the girls, then I compiled them into books, including a few pictures. Reading those letters made me cry (even not pregnant I would have succumbed to this one)--seeing that all of these women recognize what truly special women they have become.

An example of the pages. I know I'm not ready for the Tip Junkie yet, but I don't aspire that high, anyway.This last project was a true labor of love that's been eighteen years in the making. I saved scraps from everything I ever made Heidi--Christmas pjs, dresses, costumes, dress alterations, curtains, her baby quilt. It's not the most beautiful quilt ever made, but it is full of memories of her life, times I'll never forget (here comes the crying again!). What truly made it worth all the work was seeing her face when she opened it. I was surprised how many scraps she remembered wearing or using. She took time to remember most of them.

Maybe it will keep her safe and happy when she's in Idaho.
What's really kept me busy is all the tears I keep finding. Where are they coming from? I don't remember being this emotional with any of my other pregnancies!