Time goes so quickly...

My daughter is graduating 8th grade this year. My assignment was simple - find 3 photos of her in her younger years and 3 more recent as well. Write a dedication to her and put it all together and submit it for the yearbook.

I thought it would be really easy but it wasn't. Going through the photo albums and online site of where we have all of our photos made me realize how quick she is growing up. I didn't realize how much she has changed in 14 years.

She has always had a great smile with a twinkle in her eye but the younger photos made me realize what a happy child she really was. She still is - we have been really blessed but her younger photos really brought out all of our good times. Of course a lot of the photos are of her and Disney characters. I found pictures of her first visit to Disneyland and forgot how tiny she was (11 months old).

In the end, I found the photos we were searching for. I chose one of her as Tinkerbell when she was 2 1/2, one of her on Easter when she was 3 and one where she was dressed as a cowgirl in kindergarten for thier Spring Festival. It was hard to pick only 3 that they will choose from.

The more recent were easier - I chose two from our recent cruise in January. The third one I chose, we were not thrilled with and so we decided that the yearbook staff will need to choose between the two photos.

I realize I am going to blink and I will be doing this again for her Senior graduation yearbook and I don't want to think about that. This was hard enough. I don't even want to think about writing the dedication tomorrow as I know I will need a box of tissues just to get through it.

So...on a fun fact note...did you know that today was National Almond Day? Did you know that there was an Almond Board of California?  They say that a one-ounce handful of almonds each day may be good for your heart and help maintain a healthy cholesterol level. A serving is only about 23 almonds and contains only 1 gram of saturated fat but 13 grams of heart-friendly unsaturated fat. Plus the Hickory Smoked ones are yummy! I like to buy the raw ones at Trader Joes and snack on them.

Since the food fairy often skips our house, I have to go grocery shopping. I don't mind really - I actually like to grocery shop. I make a list and cut out my coupons. My daughter on the other hand is not so thrilled to go with me. The other day, the food fairy skipped our house again and so off to the store we went. And there it was...in the frozen food aisle.. the official start of Girl Scout cookie season! Behold....the ice cream!

I made sure I adopted a container of each flavor and brought it home! If you have never tried these - make sure you do! They are delicious (and the container says 1/2 less fat so it's a win-win!)

For us, Girl Scout cookie season has started and on Saturday - we get our cookies delivered. I am in charge of the delivery for the local area and on Saturday, I will welcome 40,000 boxes of cookies! Unfortunately, there is a 70% chance of rain and so I am slightly freaking out but I have faith that it will work out.

Enjoy your evening!