Curls

Two posts in a row about my girl?! What can I say, she takes lots of photos with her electronics and I get the benefit of having her send some to me. This one shows off her hairstyle of the day.

My girl was blessed with really thick hair (her dad's side of the family) and the undertaking to curling is a very long process. This took an hour, and by the time we were nearing the end, I was just trying to maintain my Good Mom status who originally agreed to curl it!

Even though I knew what I was getting myself into before I said Yes, it always sounds like a good idea in the beginning, however, it is never as much fun as anticipated. We've been down this road many times, but save it for only those rare, yearly occasions that make the curl worth it (holidays, family gatherings, professional picture days). There is no way we can do this on any school day.

Ahh, hold that comment, I just had an idea. The next two hour snow day delay I will curl my girls hair for school. Why not?!  She will love it. I'll surprise her.

Today is my sweet niece's 14th Birthday and we were gathering at a new restaurant in our town for a dinner celebration party. But, my girl had to get all of her homework completed - an early timeline than just dinner because we also had our neighborhood's End of Summer Barbecue taking place before the family gathering. Squeezing in some social time with friends on the block was a nice treat to this warm September day.

Back to this morning, insert the deal - "Momma, will you curl my hair while I do my Language Arts assignment on your bed?"  Yesssss!! Anything that multi-tasks sounded great to agree with. Upon completion she ran into her bathroom to snap the photo.

Homework done, Barbecue fun, ending the day with family all in Curls was a great Sunday to me!!

Happy 14th Birthday, Sweet Niece!!! xo

Album Cover

A self-portrait of my daughter ~ I told her that this could be her album cover someday.

My girl is getting further into acting; she has intentions of auditioning for the school play, and she is actively pursuing her voice with private voice lessons. Changing paths from dance to drama and voice have certainly been a positive experience.

I sat in her lesson last night ~ after a hard day for her, and fighting a cold on top of it ~ she sang beautifully. Goosebump-type of singing. I love listening to her work at perfecting her voice through the use of a vocal coach; who's training is in Musical Theater.

A lot of stuff going on right now for my 14 year old chicka, but so happy that she communicates so well, and knows where her heart always stands. So happy to be her mom, and walk her teen life with her.

Album cover? Never know ...

To Us

As of yesterday, my husband and I have been married 19 years. I remember the first handful of Anniversaries I didn't want to do anything other than celebrate our day, all day. Elaborate plans, vacation day, always together, reminiscing about our Wedding, about the stage in life we were at at the time.

Silly to admit, not even a common, quick chore like the dishes would have taken place on September 25th! I would have found a way to wash and put everything away before bed on the 24th, so that the morning of the 25th lay an empty washer ready for a quick plop of dirty dishes - no fussing the entire day.

I remember one year pre-children our dog was super ill and we had to cancel plans to care for him. We rented what turned out to be a depressing movie about a mom with Cancer to top it off. It went down as the all-time-worst-anniversary-ever ... but now we laugh about it. It's still a memory that stands.

Another year we acknowledged Us with a babe in our arms and me propped on the couch recovering from a C-section, and my hubby's Grandma hanging on to her final hours of life. Had it not been for our two week old baby daughter, adding a sparkle of hope and life, it would have matched our all-time-worst-anniversary too. That was a mixed, emotional September. Grandma Lucy went to Heaven the next day, and a week later our precious niece was born. Circle of Life in one week - that was hard.

Our anniversaries have not always been sad, however, as we've certainly had joyous vacations too in honor of Us. Trips to San Diego, Wine Country, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Beaches, Big Cities, Countryside ... we like to get-away to celebrate, and my parents are amazing vacation hosts to our  Littles.

This year topped another non-traditional Anniversary. One of the downsides of planning a September Wedding nineteen years ago was not really thinking through the years of celebrations in the thick of starting the new school routine. Last night my daughter's Junior High was hosting their Parent Open House.

We are newbies to the school, and we felt it was important to hear my daughter's teacher's individual presentations in their room, to walk her schedule, to see this and that. The plan was that my date was going to come home early from his day at the office (usually he only commutes on Mondays), so I had planned a nice home cooked meal, and then the two of us were going to go spend our Anniversary at the Junior High.

I had even thought it would be fun to snap a picture of us at home before we left. Maybe even swinging through the local coffee shop for a yummy drink to carry through the evening.

You'll see no picture posted here - because my husband not only got stuck at the office, but continued to get stuck all. the. way. home. in. traffic. Sigh. He missed dinner, and we had to meet at the school. No picture. No riding together. No yummy drink. But thankful the road closure was not due to him being involved in the accident that had taken place, and that he only missed two classes whose teachers were not very prepared.

We met in the Commons like that students meet up in the mornings - when I saw him, it felt like he was my Junior High boyfriend waiting to walk me to my next class.

Gone are the days when even simple chores could not be accomplished on our Anniversary; where it was only about Us with everything coming up balloons roses*. The more Anniversaries we have, the more reality-check-of-life folds into the mix.

However, thankfully we continue to have the balloons roses too as we have plans for Saturday night - when we can truly have Us Time and go on a Real Date that does not include talk about students, and finding our location on a Junior High map.

Until then ... I am reliving Anniversaries of the past ... grateful that we have so many memories together. Accepting his marriage proposal is one of the top two YES's I am most proud of in my life.

To Us!! 19 Years and a lifetime more ...


*It slipped out this past weekend at our family birthday party that I prefer a boutique of balloons over flowers. I truly appreciate flowers, but they are more sad to see die than a balloon that will continue to flicker and sway all the way down. And while alive, balloons dance and you can't help but smile at something dancing. 

Left Right Center Birthday!!!

Some years we like to combine both kiddo's extended family birthday celebration into one evening. My children's birthdays are four weeks apart, so it is easy to split the difference in weeks and create a party. Last night the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins came to celebrate our soon-to-be 12 year old son, and our 14 year old daughter.

My hubby's sister and husband were double booked that evening, but they were sweet enough to go to party #2 late in order to swing into ours to drop off their three children and talk for awhile. I snapped this photo on their way out to remember. We joke that my kiddos look like they could be their kiddos; especially how this photo is arranged. 

We decided that a family game night would be the "theme" of the party, and planned a simple, yet addicting, game of Left Right Center. My husband schemed a way to turn it into a Tournament and the adventure began.

If you have never heard of the game before, it is very simple game of chance. It works well in bigger groups, and because there is no skill or thought necessary to play - pause - the only thing you have to know if your Right from your Left and where the Center is - it is not a mood spoiler for those that feel uneasy about skill or thought.

Simple rules: There are three dice, each with an L, C, R, and a black Dot. Every player has five coins or chips (we played with chips). Whatever character is rolled on each dice, you pass in that direction with your coin/chip. Rolled an L, C, Dot? That means you pass a coin/chip to the player on your Left, one to the Center pot, and the Dot means you do nothing. You can only roll if you have a coin/chip.

The object to win is to be the last person with a coin/chip ~ which means you won all the coin/chips in the Center pile, because all the coin/chips on the table have landed there as a result of your contenders passing throughout the game.

The twist to this game is that you could be sitting at the table having passed all your coin/chips and not be able to roll for many rounds, when all of a sudden, the player next to you rolls the direction to pass a  coin/chip to you! Back in the game! One would think that this game never ends, but with this game of chance eventually the rolls will end up where just one person owns a coin/chip and the winning pot.

There were three rounds in our Tournament rules, with three tables of five family members each. Rather than having people pick their tables we added another element of chance. The tables were color coded, and everyone drew colored paper from a cup to determine which table to play. After each round, new papers were pulled so everyone mingled to a new table group. It worked great (and we know each other so well! that nobody felt left out at a table).

The final winner of a round at each table received 5 points, and the runner-up received 3 points. Tallying up the numbers revealed the top three winners of the night to be both Grandpa's and my Nephew!! They each won a large box of candy. They were good sports and immediately broke open their boxes to share with the party (Junior Mints, Swedish Fish, and Whoppers).

It was fun to have an activity to play that didn't take all night. There was plenty of time to chat and have the kids do what they love; which is talking, dancing, and laughing upstairs. Family time is always the best, and we certainly enjoyed another night of family fun!

Happy Birthday my two darlings ~ I am so glad that last night was such a happy one for you both! I love you!!!

High School Football

We live in a small town, but we do not live in the midwest where Friday Night Lights take on a significant meaning to the community. We have one High School in our town and Football Season finds people at the stadium cheering on our team, but not where the entire town shuts down to attend.

Tonight was our first time joining the group of fans. It is so nice to have family in the district; we were able to sit together with my hubby's sister and her good friends - and while the men were actually watching the game, the moms were chatting and keeping track of our teens.

The way the event works is that the High Schoolers get most of the stands (it is rather small and with a big population of students, it is easy to fill up the stands with just the young crowd). The parents sit around the students, but the younger ones (Junior High and Middle Schoolers) are then "forced" out to one section of the track (it is strongly encouraged and expected that 6th graders, however, stay with parents. We adhered to that rule and my son sat with us.). That makes it hard for parents like myself and sister-in-law to keep track of "whats up" with this young teen crowd when they are just a blur of faces in the dark at the end of the field along the track.

We managed. Our kiddos are responsible and were correct in texting us their locale and that everything was going fine throughout the evening. Off and on we could settle and enjoy conversation, but really - it was tiring and a huge growing up moment ... for me. And my sister-in-law kept saying, "What if there's a fight down there? Look at how many kids are down there."  It had never occurred to me prior.

Although there were staff members mingling and controlling crowd control, and armed police officers hired for the event - it did look a bit overwhelming.

Annnnnnnd sure enough there was a fight - but solo. The young man I guess could not decipher the armed and uniformed man he was hitting to be a Police Officer. Ohh, wrong choice. The staff were on top of clearing the area quickly so nobody could pass or get close, while additional school security and Police Officers took care of the situation with a quick take down to the ground. Hand cuffs and patrol car ended the scene swiftly - but my sister in law and our family summoned our kids that it was our ticket home too.

Total bummer - my daughter had been making wise choices - along with all the other kids - and was truly enjoying her evening, but this one teen (obviously hurting and messed up with anger) had to create drama in the night and end it sooner than expected.

Everyone has their hot button - something that they can. not. tolerate. Whether it is in real life, or in the movies. For many it is animal cruelty. Yes, that is sad, but for me, my number one hot button is any form of Bullying. Kids picking on kids is my moment to turn the channel, change the subject, I don't want to see it, or hear about it. I know it exists - and I can not stand the thought. Ever. In real life or movie format.

While the teen tonight was only hurting himself by choosing his fight against a grown man - I could just see the wheels spinning of other fights breaking out - wondering what teen might be inspired to act out on another, such as a peer. That would have been the worst.

I obviously have not grown up enough to handle that and I had to get out - not to mention get my children out - teaching them that when the crowd or one person in a crowd causes unrest - it is not worth sticking around. Moment over. I hope by leading by example, when they are at an age to drive and make their own choices in high school, college, and life beyond - that they remember you. just. leave. and find something else to do in a more safe environment.

My girl is still talking about her night - all the good prior to leaving. I know only the good will stick in her mind - and that's the way it should be.

High School Football - wow, what a night!  I'm tired.

Worth the drive

Our CCI Puppy In Training has been at a professional kennel for the last three weeks as her body was going through another heat cycle. She has perfect timing - allowing us to transition into the school year and enjoy a vacation over a weekend while she was away.

As much as it was nice to have the built in break from our volunteering gig, we all missed her greatly and were excited to get her today. The total four hour drive to do so was well worth it. She came home exhausted, and very happy to be back.

I loved seeing her on our staircase today. It reminded me how fortunate we are to be involved in this amazing program.

A side note to picking up Haddie today was that I drove my girl and her friend to Youth Group after dinner. Dropped them off, I got a spur of the moment idea to run to the grocery store, and was traveling down my second aisle when I received a text from my girl: Bee invasion - **'s mom will be driving us home. 

The story that followed when she got home was that her friend ** saved my girl and her other friend by having to stop off at the bathroom before heading up to the hillside where everyone was gathering. (this Youth Group meets at a beautiful outdoor setting - this church purchased a former golf course with an outdoor pool and a barn style of building. It is the happenin' Youth Group in our town).

The hillside had not been used in awhile and as a result a swarm of bees were woken up and attacked. The scene sounds dangerous, chaotic, and scary all at once. Thankfully my girl and her two friends were spared, because they were late getting to the hill, and upon leaving the bathroom heard the screams and mass of students and leaders running back to the pavilion where my girl and friends were.

The majority, if not all, of the people on the hill were stung, and some stung many times. I am praying that nobody had allergies, and that all are okay and will be sleeping peacefully. My girl is already terrified of bees, this will not be helpful in overcoming that fear. Sigh.

Homecoming

I have two nieces who both started High School this year in two school districts. One of the buildings is a three year high school, which caters to my oldest niece who is a 10th grader. The other is a four year high school, which caters to my next oldest niece who started her Freshmen year. Although different grades, they get to experience "firsts" together.

Our family is close. My brother and family have always been close friends with my husband's sister and family. In fact, the four of them (the two siblings and their spouses) were couples and best friends before my husband and I ever met, because my husband and I met at my brother's wedding.

Although we are "in the middle" regarding being related to both sides, all the families know each other, making the kids who are not blood related cousins feel like blood related cousins. It is a great, awesome, one big, happy family as a result.

Friday Night I received a text from my hubby's sister; wishing us a good time on our camping adventure. And then she casually snuck in a rumor that her girl (my oldest niece) was going to be asked to Homecoming at that evening's high school football game. Between hit and miss cell phone service while camping, the first twelve hours of our adventure included messages back and forth about the build up, and after-story excitement.

A picture message woke me up Saturday morning (cell service was back in business) of the happy Homecoming couple. Adorable!!! My girl and I are super excited for the coming weeks to get status updates about her shopping choices, and then of course to see pictures of the actual event, and the story of the evening. My boys think it's cool their niece/cousin was asked - but ... nothing like some good squeel'in between me and my girl about her cousin/my niece.

And then during lunch hour yesterday I jumped onto Facebook to see a post from my next oldest niece. In a different part of our area, she had just been asked to Homecoming while at school - complete with pictures to capture the moment.

I was home alone - so of course, I broke out in a Happy Dance right there in my kitchen. I am waiting to hear the full story behind this asking when all of our families get together at our house for a combined Birthday Party for both of my kiddos this Saturday. The boys will "just love" hearing the scoop of two Homecoming Proposals ... I am sure ... but whatever - us-girls have gotta chat!

It hit me yesterday that not only are my kiddos growing up, but so are my Little Nieces and Nephew whom I've known since their birth. We have all lived close to one another, see each other often; certainly we know them well. And now this huge chapter starts - two at once! - and we get to stand on the sidelines and cheer them on in making good choices, being wise, perhaps messing up here and there, but still loving them and encouraging them along the way.

Homecoming - an exciting time of year, the start of a great high school chapter, and memory-building among our families.

First RV Camping Adventure

One of the reasons we went forward in purchasing our RV is the timing of a change in our school district.  Starting this year, every Friday is an Early Release day, which essentially equates that we can hit the road before commuter traffic on any given weekend during the school year. Yay Us!!!

 We booked our first camping adventure in our RV the day we brought it home, set for this weekend. We had our RV packed and ready when the kids arrived home from school on Friday - and we were out the door for an awesome family weekend lakeside at the base of a Mountain. We had never been here before.

While the campsite was more open green grass and cement than places we have previously been, it proved to be a great first adventure as we learned the ropes of our new rig. We could concentrate on "us" and less on "camping", if that even makes sense. Our meals were Yum and everything worked nicely for having just started our accumulation of kitchen-camping equipment. Nights were about relaxing, talking, playing games, making S'mores, and watching movies.

The kids had homework, but we weaved it into our adventure. Taking time for them to do a little here and there, and break up mental focus and drain with hikes, fishing, and playing lazy on the dock. Our sidekick was our Beagle, Cora, who looked pretty cute no matter what we were doing. She is so curious about life, and that makes us all smile.

We saw wildlife - a family of deer made it to the back of our campsite numerous times during the weekend. They obviously are used to people and noise, but remain cautious and will move if you get to close or make too much noise. A good sign that people have not fed them, and rather letting them be.

We also came upon the biggest-frog-ever on an evening stroll. We shown the flashlight upon it and it had to be at least 10 inches. Since we were doing an evening walk - too dark for photos - we left the camera behind. We'll have to save the frog image in memory format.

We have a raft, but logistically we were not equipped to get the raft from our campsite to the water, so we are scheming ways in how to change this for future adventures when this presents itself again at other locations. We knew this was a possibility before we left, so we were not too disappointed when it was confirmed that boating was out. We still enjoyed the lake from the dock with the Mountain as backdrop - a nice change of activity from what we typically do on our camping experiences.

To sum up our first RV camping adventure ... it worked perfectly!! We are ready to book our October excursion!!!

Birthday Pictures

My girl had a great birthday at school; complete with friends remembering with surprises of small gifts. The weather was fantastic, and she had her "easy" class schedule of gym, drama, and science. It was a good school day!

After school was about relaxing. She had requested an Africa Theme Birthday cake, and she also requested that her brother The Chef make it. So my son baked the cake before school, and decorated the cake when he returned. This was his own creation - and she loved it.

My girl loves this booming city not far from ours. It is the hub of all things glitz, glamour, and bling; high end retail stores and restaurants and fun. She chose a restaurant in this city. Yum! It was a fun evening as family celebrating our girl; laughing and catching up about school and friends.

During dinner, one of her friends contacted her. This friend had moved in August to this town and the two had not seen each other since the move. Would it be possible to swing by on our way home?! Of course!! Gathering the directions, she ended her evening with her buddy. It was a quick visit, as it was getting late and we still had to travel home, and it was truly spur-of-the-moment. But the two got to scream teenage-girl-style, and laugh together before snapping their photo.

The friend sang my girl Happy Birthday from her porch when my girl was walking back to our car. We had our windows and sunroof open and could hear the wishes. Oh My! That friend can sing!!! Wow, beautiful. My girl was surprised as we were - the friend has obviously been hiding that from all of us.

Home for gifts and cake to end the long, happy, and fun 14th Birthday!

Happy 14th Birthday!!

Dear Daughter,

The first year of teen-life is over as you turn one more digit. Reflecting back over this year, I will admit it had "it's moments" but I am grateful to note that those moments were always fleeting. I am happy that you are quick to move-on, sometimes even quicker than me. I have taken note. Thank you!

Your energy for things that are dear to your heart is contagious. I am so excited to see where you take your life. I have no doubt that the path that you and God have mapped out will be extraordinary. You have so many talents and gifts that you will simply not go wrong with whatever path you choose.

If you wouldn't laugh so much, we could get things moving along around here! So many times we find ourselves at the table with dishes starring us down while we're just talking and laughing away. You have the best. laugh. ever!! You take after your daddy's side of the family in that regard. Even if I don't think something is as funny as you do - just to see you genuinely belly-laugh will get me started. I love how your grasp your belly, or cover your mouth, and how your eyes literally close when you laugh; and you tilt sideways.

Trading your hair and fashion sense would have been a dream of mine at age 14. You got it, Girl! Enough said.

I am so proud of all the hard work you put into your academic studies - because you are motivated for yourself, not others. This will embrace your path and set you up for success every time. You have to want it, and you do, every single year. When things go rough, or are more challenging, yes - you whine to begin and want to throw in the towel - but you always seem to pull yourself together and fight through. The break down is a natural course that just builds yourself up to fight, and try harder. I enjoy that about you.

Most of all, Daughter, I love every pinpoint about you. The good days, the bad days, all wrapped together makes you a person full of balance, and character, and love, and silly, and happy, with grace and wisdom. I am so, so, so, so thankful that God chose the two of us to be Mother and Daughter.

Happy 14th Birthday ~ may it be a wonderful year ... and may I remember to embrace this last year before you are legally allowed to get behind the wheel of our car.

I LOVE YOU!!!
xoxo,
Mom

A much deeper story

The kids have always been aware to certain degrees about the horror that rocked our country eleven years ago today; one day before my daughter's third birthday. My husband and I fought hard to shield her in order to continue the excitement of her soon-to-be-birthday, but it was really tough. My girl has always had an amazing intuition/wisdom - even at three - and she knew something was wrong.

To her - bad guys crashed into a building. The End.

Ironically, the day after my son's first birthday that same year, the United States declared war on Afghanistan.

Two somber birthday celebrations in our house that year.

I remember my husband was downstairs making his breakfast on September 11th, while I was upstairs getting myself ready for the day, kids still asleep in their rooms, before my hubby burst into the bathroom rambling something about the World Trade Center - a plane had flown into it.

My first thought was, "Oh, that is so sad." and continued getting ready; not even questioning that it was a plane littered with terrorists, but rather a plane with a "freak accident" type-of-situation.

I joined my husband downstairs just as the news footage was showing the plane crashing into the building. But then there was confusion on the screen - and my husband and I both looked at each other in shock and kept questioning one another -

"Was that a replay?" 
"That was a replay, right?"
"They got footage of the plane .... "
"Wait ... that was a second plane?"
"Wait ... how many planes ..."
"What are they showing us?"
"What's happening?"

Shock. We stopped talking. Silence. We could not believe the reality of what we were seeing, hearing, and the news reports coming through.

Eventually we had to snap out of our viewing of the television and get our precious children from their bedrooms, feed them breakfast, and continue "normal" in our very chaotic and confused world.

I am not sure why I continued my day as planned. I had a dental appointment, and it was arranged that my sister-in-law would watch my two children while I was away. I remember leaving them with my sister-in-law during the time when we knew for certain what was really happening, what had happened. At the time of seeing her, the United States had already grounded all aircraft. We live close enough to the International Airport to have flight patterns high above, subconsciously hearing planes in flight, knowing they are there. Now, it was eerily quiet with nothing in the sky.

I sat in the dentist chair with the National News playing on every television in the entire building, nobody talking, but life continuing as "normal".  I drove home and it seemed like every car that passed was just void. As if we all knew what the other was thinking, but nobody was saying it, screaming it, crying it. Just moving. Numb.

The rest of the day, and nights, for weeks were spent tucking the kids to bed early enough to watch the news in silence, and without tiny, innocent eyes included in the room. It was one of those dis-belief moments when you could not turn away from it, but you did not really want to live it, see it, accept it.

Today both of my children are at an age where their classes talked about September 11, 2001. My daughter watched a documentary from CNN - a more graphic view than what she had ever witnessed prior, or heard prior. But it was needed - it was the right time. My son was shown a different video, more age appropriate for his grade, but he hasn't talked to the length that my daughter has this evening.

I think this year she really got it - it was not just a bad guy crashing into a building. It was a much deeper story.

Sew

As I sat at the sewing machine, or at the dinning room table pinning, or trimming with the scissors, or stooped over the iPad watching Yo*tube Tutorials, I kept thinking about my buddies Jennifer, Natalie, Rachael, and Francie who know how to sew, enjoy sewing, and actually accomplish amazing finished works.

I was just trying to understand a 45 degree angle around a corner with double fold bias tape (ooh, impressed I even know those words).

It started no more than two years ago when I read my friend Natalie's blog. I know it was no more than two years ago because her sweet lil'man is only two right now. I had spied a very cute blanket she had made for her son for their camping adventures. I sent her a message asking for the fabric stats - and she offered to ship some to me.

Since then it has sat in my hide-away in my closet. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but I knew I wanted to do something with it. And as soon as we purchased our RV last month, I knew the perfect idea.

A blanket for those times when someone in our family wants to take a mid-day snooze, or snuggle to watch a movie, read a book, or play a board game, or on those drives when the A/C is blazing and not everyone is comfy and one needs to cover up.

I went to the fabric store twice to get my remaining supplies this week, and while there found another fun print to purchase that signified our quest for cross country road trekking. I figured one new blanket would not make it around a family of four very quickly, so a pair of blankets was a more usable number.

I scheduled time to go to my parent's house today because my mom has a sewing machine and knows more than I do about sewing. But after a good 90 minutes of figuring out this and that about her machine, and how we were going to tackle those corners with bias tape, and laughing and kidding each other, we finally were able to start.

Once we got the logistics down, it did go rather quickly, considering our newbie status.  In the end I am still in love with the blankets (not always the case after I have a DIY project).  Returning home, my family was impressed and anxious to get camping to enjoy those blankets!!

Thanks, Mom, for the many laughs, and genuine help in all that you did for me today. It was a fun project and a memory that I will have with you forever. Yay Us - We did it!!

Thanks, Natalie, for the fabric!! You always do such an amazing job on all of your projects - you and your sister's have such a great gift - it takes much skill and patience, and you certainly have both!!

Fab Friday Foto

The Cousin Duo palling around with toothless, and new tooth, grins. 

The Cousin Duo palling around with their full set of teeth and clear braces apiece.

Thanks, SIL, for the Fab Friday Foto this morning via text. What a fun surprise to see the Littles come across my screen. I remember those days - Ahh!!!

Quirky or Smart?

A little fact prep about our Public School District:

Elementary: K-5th grades in 4 locations
Middle School: 6-7th grades in 2 locations
Junior High: 8-9th grades in 1 location
High School: 10th - 12th grades in 1 location

School names: (insert district name) add Middle School, or Junior High, or High School as the ending.

School Colors: Blue and Yellow, all schools Middle School and higher
School Mascot: The Bears, all schools Middle School and higher

PE Uniforms: the identical design and material, all schools Middle School and higher

Blue and Gold Days: rotation schedule of classes, all schools Middle School and higher

You might have already clued-in to the perks of the school colors, school names, school mascot, and PE Uniforms being identical starting in the 6th grade. Theoretically, if you purchase a uniform the kid can use it until they Graduate because they are just that big and fit in every grade level. School Spirit Wear? Yep, identical for six years - no need to repurchase, and the colors never change! School name, just say the ending, it is faster. And the mascot is on everything we do around here, there is no escaping his fuzzy mug.

In Junior High and High School, the Blue and Gold Days (same day of the week for everyone, in every school) directs students to Periods 1-3 on Blue Days, and 4-6 on Gold Days. For my girl, Blue is Gym, Drama, and Science;  and Gold is Geometry, English, and US History.

However, in Middle School, the Core Classes are taught every day, but depending if the day is Blue, or Gold, will determine which elective students attend. For my son, Blue is Band day, and Gold is Gym day. The days rotate every-other-day.

Yesterday was a Blue Day, but today (day 2 of school) the kids had "new" classes to attend. My son switched Band for Gym and already found his locker buddy and seems to enjoy his Gym teacher. My daughter received all new classes, and new peers in her lunch group, than what she had yesterday. So for my girl, it was like starting over on her first day of school.

She came out beaming - seems to me that the Gold Days are a fun mix of students and teachers. That will help since her Gold Days are all academic, core classes. Something had to be "fun" about this color of day. Glad she found it so quickly.

And ... about our mascot as The Bears ... my son's school went on Lock Down Status for awhile today because of a real life bear lurking the street just below the driveway up to the school. Police and Fish and Wildlife Departments were called with their awesome sniffing dogs, but to no avail they could not find the Black Bear. He has been spotted numerous times recently, in various locations around our small town - backing up all the way to the end of the last school year!! He will soon be in hibernation, but until then, we are really rocking the district's The Bears Mascot!

Our crazy little school district sometimes seems on their own little island of uniqueness with the breakdown of our student population, school colors, naming, mascot, and uniforms, but I like their well-thought-out plan encompassing all our schools to accommodate sound-economics by repurposing graphics, printing, and parent's pocketbook. I think their quirkiness is actually well developed, and smart.

It just takes awhile to explain whenever I share the kid's grade levels, and being questioned if I misspoke with the combo of Middle School for one child, and Junior High for the other. And then how my son and daughter can wear the same designed School Spirit Wear for two different schools, and why ... yeah .. I embrace the quirky too.

First Day

What a fun way to start my day to see my kids excited to start their new schools. Sure there were nerves, but the anticipation of seeing friends, meeting new teachers, and getting to know the way around the buildings outweighed the jitters. It was so  nice to enjoy the morning ride with each of them. And, they both found friends right away upon arrival - they were able to jump out of the car and meet up. It was perfect!

While they were being educated, I enjoyed a fantastic day with my Mom!! Yay for Girl Time!! We were not out and about very long, but it was just so good to be with her - shopping - once again. She had some errands to accomplish, and I was there to help her out. Totally fun.

Pickup of the kids was a breeze. I wasn't too sure how the Junior High dismissed the non-bus riders, but it actually worked great. Less complicated and time consuming than the other schools thus far. Yay! My girl hooked up with her cousin after school as they found each other on the sidewalk waiting for their Moms. It was fun to see them together. They don't have classes together, or lunch, or pass in the hall, so to see their smiling faces and laughter together was a great way to end their day.

My son came across the courtyard for pickup with his Trumpet case in hand and a smirk on his face. I knew right away that he had had a great day! I am so happy. He is only 1 of 2 Trumpet players so far in his class; maybe others will switch or make decisions to play Trumpet. He learned the ropes of the cafeteria, walking his hallway routes, and learning all the rules and regs of his teachers. The bonus is that he has a great core group of boys in all of his classes, so he's off to a great start.

Ahh, Zoo-Wee-Mama I have a Middle Schooler, and Yowza I have a Junior Higher!!! What a great start!