OGHS Graduation 2008 and Grad Nite!!!

Jeff and I are still trying to catch up on our sleep after the past 6 weeks of daily planning and construction, the past 7 days of non-stop set up, Jessica's graduation, Grad Nite itself (and 26 hours straight with no sleep) and now construction break down. A TON of work, but OHHHHHH so worth it! I have put together a slide show of graduation day... a very special day that started with the distrubition of Grad Nite t-shirts to the seniors, graduation, and the big event... GRAD NITE! I must warn you... some of the Grad Nite pictures are of the kids having WAY TOO MUCH FUN, AWESOME parent volunteers dancing, weird hair-dos and, yes, even pictures of the traditional and much anticipated "Womanless Beauty Pagaent"... an event that I had never seen before this year... and an event that made me laugh so hard I was crying!!! You have been warned... here is the OGHS Graduation and Grad Nite, 2008...

And with all of this amazing fun, I need to take a moment to remember my wonderful and loving Uncle Don. With everything going on with graduation and Grad Nite, we tried our best to be strong when we got the call, during t-shirt distribution on the morning of graduation, that our incredible Uncle Don Munro had just passed. We will be seeing the whole family in a few short days to celebrate his incredible life... just such ironic timing and example of the cirlce of life...the same day one life ends... the new adult life of another family member begins...

Congrats, Jessica, and the rest of the OGHS Grads!

We love you, Uncle Don!

... and the cycle of life continues...

TODAY IS THE DAY!

I can't believe that my baby is graduating from high school today! HOLY COW! What a long, fabulous, talented, painstaking, amazing, grounded, lovely 18 years it has been getting Jessica to this day! No picture today... I have only had a few hours of sleep and need to get dressed for my very first EVER 24 hour day... and I already can hardly keep my eyes open! I know the adrenaline (and caffine from the coffee bar) will help keep me up and running Grad Nite all night long! :-) I know the kids will love all of the hundreds of volunteer hours we have put into the biggest party of their high school carear. I know Jessica will have a blast tonight with her friends at Grad Nite. I look forward to seeing what the next 18 years will bring to her. I know that I am very proud of and love my daughter!!! Happy Graduation, Jessica!

Grad Nite in 4... 3...

So... I promised our volunteers that we would take today off... and we almost did! Thanks to the few brave souls that came out to help Jeff and me today... we only put in about 6 hours... better than I thought! :-)

It is looking AMAZING... here are a few more "teaser" shots of the big event... "Asia"... The "Ireland" dress up booth... the inside of the "Swiss Alps" ski cabin and scrapbooking booth... and Anna (who spent about 10 hours with us for set up this weekend) playing with her dolls in "Le Cafe," the french coffee house... any guesses on this year's theme?

...and it begins...

We woke up at 5AM... got showered up and dressed... I went to Starbucks to get our morning "inspiration" and Jeff hit Home Depot for a few last minute supplies... we were at the school by 7AM to prepare for about 30 volunteers to arrive at 8AM to start Grad Nite setup, 2008! This is my 1st year as Grad Nite Chair and I am feeling just a bit of pressure to make sure this year is FAB for our oh-so-deserving grads! That is truly what this is all about... a group of people coming together to make sure that the 12 years of education our kids have just finished culminates with the BEST PARTY of their high school career!

Today, we had a group of football players volunteer because their coach told them to help us move the heavy sets for 2 hours... they stayed and worked their tails off for over 8 hours because they said they were having fun! We had two 8th graders... students from the local middle school, come to help with Grad Nite even though they don't even yet attend the high school. We had parents come to help whose kids graduated YEARS ago, but they are so dedicated to Grad Nite that they continue to pour sweat equity into the event for the current grads. We had 3 generations of a family come together to work on a booth that will be the centerpiece of this year's event... (thank goodness their kids are freshman because this family ROCKS and I hope to have them around for the next few years!)

For those of you that are interested, here are the first few pictures of this year's event... Chris and his teammates holding sets while they are installed... the start of our DJ area... the amazing Sanchez/Howe/Durbin family! More coming tomorrow... working on this event is so rewarding that I ALMOST forgot that I haven't scrapped in a month...

8 Days and Counting...

Although we start planning Grad Nite in October, it is always the last month when things get CRAZY busy!!! As the Chair of the Grad Nite Committee, I have been working NON-STOP on the big event for weeks now... handling details all day... construction/painting all weekend... LOTS to do! I think it has been about a month since I even scrapped!!! CRAZINESS, I tell you... CRAZINESS!

So, one of my BEST girlfriends (and the Mom of the adorable Baby Robbie and Catalina) came back yesterday to spend another 6 hours in the sun and finish the 5 "Ireland" panels for one of the Grad Nite booths. All I had to do was watch the 3 kids and keep everyone fed... no problem. Robbie had a great time creating his own "chalk art" and/or tormenting the girls... Anna and Catalina moved all of their favorite dolls out to the playhouse and had a great time playing "house." THANK YOU, PENNY!!! The Ireland panels are AWESOME!!!

So, swim season ended less than a week ago when Chris and 3 of his teammates competed in CIF... and tonight was the Spring Football Game! Seriously, Chris has not had a day off of practice for some sport since the start of last summer... and he LOVES it that way! The Spring Game is more of an exhibition than a game... the boys for next year's JV and Varsity teams are moved up and run plays for the crowd... it is a fundraiser to get money in the account as the season starts... and a fun night to see everyone just before graduation.

I can't believe this year is already over... Jessica graduates in 8 days and Chris will be a Sophmore. I also can't believe we only have 8 days until Grad Nite... 3 days until set up starts! I better get back to work! Thanks for checking in and have a WOO HOO kinda day!

This week... HOLY COW...

WHAT A WEEK... First, I had a horrible cold... who gets a cold in May when it is 100 degrees outside!? I did and it knocked me out! HOWEVER, I couldn't stay down because Grad Nite is in 13 days, so I still worked about 8 hours a day on the BIG upcoming event. Little Anna took care of me... she took my temperature when I had a fever, got me a cold rag for my head, and called the doctor on her "phone" to make sure he "fixed" me! Could she BE any cuter!? As you see here, she is now taking care of her "sick" babies...

This week was also a HUGE WEEK for Chris!!! He made it to CIF for swim and the CIF prelims were Thursday at Coronado High School. Our team didn't make finals, but they did swim to a new school record... 2 seconds faster than the previous record!!! We are so proud of Chris for what he achieved in his very first swim season!!!
GRAD NITE... So what does a Grad Nite Chair do when she needs about 70 set panels painted and SHE CAN'T PAINT!? She calls on her friends (and then owes them BIG TIME!) One of my BFF's came to my resuce and painted the first half of the "Ireland" booth for Grad Nite... in 100 degree temperatures... it took her about 6 hours... and only finished half the project... and agreed to come back to finish next week! BOY, do I owe you, Penny!!! :-)

Off to try to get some sleep... we are doing set construction and painting all weekend long and I have to prepare for about 20 volunteers... projects... supplies... snacks and drinks... and we are supposed to be over 100 degrees... AUGH... what we do for our kids!!! :-) It's all worth it... GRAD NITE ROCKS!!! Have a GREAT weekend!!!

Chris made CIF!!!

WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! Saturday was the League Championships for swim... our first experience with swim finals!!! I must say, with all the other sports that Chris does, this was the most relaxed... the parents, atheletes and coaches seemed to all get along and support each other... great to see since that is not always what we see! Our team did well provided we have a very small team... we placed 4th of 7! VERY exciting for our team!!! Better yet... our "little freshman that could" made CIF!!! SERIOUSLY... Chris was pulled up to the 200m Freestyle Relay meaning 4 swimmers each do 50 meters... 2 laps... the sprint of the swim world. Chris... our Freshman... is now a CIF athlete... CAN YOU TELL how darn proud we are of him!? GO, CHRIS!! GO, OGHS SWIM!! ((( Mom, beaming with pride )))

"Please, Mommy, take my picture!"

My poor children! Yes, I do believe that I have scared them for life... I'm sure they have nightmares every time they see me grab my camera bag... I ask them to smile until their cheeks pucker, dress in coordinating colors, and get up early for a family photo shoot when the light is "just right!" So, when little Anna (who won't even look at the camera these days when I am taking her picture) asked me to curl her hair and take her picture, I didn't hesitate! Here are a few of the pictures I took this afternoon of our Little Princess... and, yes... I saved the best shots for future layouts!

Make today a "picture perfect" day!!!