I can't believe she's 16!!!

Oh the rare smile, not often captured in such natural form, in the wild. The wild teenager who never smiles, this picture is one in a million. I kind of caught her off guard here. We were so busy yesterday i didn't get a chance to play Flash Friday. But had to post these sweet pictures from the little family party we gave her.
This is off my sisters camera, sorry for the graininess. She had 6 months worth of pictures on this camera!! Anyway this is the card i made her for her birthday. She had been bugging me for a camera for months now. i keep telling her there is not enough money to get one, so she at this point has no idea what i had in the gigantic box...
When she got home from school she asked me if the stool was part of the gift. My sister got her some New Moon tickets and she absolutely started to cry. it was so cute. i got video of it, this is a movie, not even the real actors will be there, but if your into vampires i guess this is the "it" movie to go see. I made a HUGE Italian cream cake with raspberry filling, totally went off my diet last night but that cake was heavenly.... Anyway I am back on it today I was going to the gym, in fact i was in the parking lot when mt phone rang and it was my brother. He was at the pharmacy and needed a ride the temperature was about 30 degrees today and a blistering wind so I went and got him as his health is very poor. The doctors say he still only has H.I.V. but he also has bronchitis and he is on a dozen other medications for his heart so I went and took him home so he woudln't get pneumonia. I am good with that, i can go this evening. But first here she is pulling the balloon out of the package. At first glance she only saw the roses in it. then this expression is priceless as she squealed "THERE'S A CAMERA IN THERE!!!"
Yes she started crying again!!! I know it was mean to lie to her, but it gets harder each year to surprise her. I just love surprises and i love the gratitude in this expression!! and yes I love the shock!!!

You know I see too many kids just expecting gifts from their parents and completely ungrateful, this, her appreciation and the look is just perfect, I hope she tries as hard with her children to keep them grateful and surprised. my kids, i know i can easily buy them things all year round, the only time they get gifts are for birthdays and holidays like Easter and Christmas. We buy them the necessities but they do not get indulges, in fact my 16 year old may be the only teenager in America who does not have a cell phone. We don't need the extra expense and she has enough responsibilities as it is. It sucks when she comes home and says, "So and so has one, why can't I have one?" and we tell her no even though the answer could be yes not because we don't appreciate her, but because we do. We bought her an I pod shuffle one year and she lost it, we did not replace it. It took her almost a year to save up the money to replace it, now mind you she replaced it with a 300 dollar I pod touch but that was 3 years ago and the thing is still in mint condition. So she knows her things will not be replaced if she does not take care of them and I trust and believe as much as she wanted this camera, and did you see it was blue? her favorite color, she will be taking care of it!!

I am exhausted last night i think every dish in my house was dirty when i announced i could use some help with clean up, everyone had to go home... hhmmm next time i want the family to leave, ask them to help now why didn't i think of that before! now i have a couple of costumes to finish up and some pumpkins to carve!! Happy Halloween Everyone!! I will try to stop by and comment soon too busy just yet!! Thanks for all your support!!! for todays thought;

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."- John F. Kennedy