Halloween 2014

I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween.

Halloween. It was a kind of a crazy rushed day. I worked. B had a half day. A went to Ranger Day at Jesuit and then helped with intramuals decorations. J had a full day of school. When I got home, A was already over at the cousins' house to hang out with her friends. She took her pumpkin with her. The boys had already carved their pumpkins but I didn't get pictures with them lit. I took pictures of  the boys before DH & B headed over to a halloween party & I dropped J off at a friend's house. When I finally made it to the party, it was crazy busy with kids everywhere. It was Halloween on a Friday night so everyone came. Last year B played too much and was upset at the end of the night because of he lack of candy. I walked with him and his friends trick or treating so we didn't have that issue this year. A & her friends came trick or treating at the party. J was dropped off at the end of the night. He had fun with his friends and 3 lbs of candy. Luckily, by then, the boys were tired and I could go home.

Autumnfest 2014

Last Saturday was Autmnfest. DH was busy all day with in charge of the beer tent. I signed up to volunteer from 12:00-2:00 so I would be free for the rest of the day. J got there and took off with his friends. I don't think I saw him again until 8:30 when he was ready to go home. B had fun and stopped in for a photo every now and then. A was there early with her friends but it was homecoming that night. They left around 2:30 to get ready for the big night. I can't believe how grown up they are all.

End of DECATS

A went to her last summer as a student at DECATS. She did Culinary Arts and Visual Arts, same as last year. The boys and I went to the evening "performance" where the culinary arts kids made beignets and the visual art projects were on display.










While I had a nice time talking to some of the other mothers, the boys had phone/ipod photo wars. J took all of the above photos, plus 20 more that looked mostly like this:


A had a great time and wants to go back again next year as a G.A., aka a student helper.

Graduation

Yesterday was A's 8th grade graduation. She did well, very well. We're so very proud of her.

Reading the petitions


Salutatorian




The Speech


English Scholarship to Ursuline


The Art Award


The graduates


The valedictorian and the salutatorian


This is a total brag post, but deservedly so! Congrats to my A!

Dance Recital

A had her dance recital yesterday. I took a couple of pictures from two of her tap routines at her rehearsal last week.


She was in 7 dances total. I videotaped a few of them and then my phone ran out of space.  The videos are blown out from the stage lights.  Luckily, someone else put the whole thing out on youtube.

Yellow Submarine


Drum Stick Dance


Tap


Lincoln


Ballet


Hometown Glory


There's her recital in six videos. You didn't have to sit through two hours and all the other performances. Although I have to say that the Rubber Ducky one was pretty darn good funny.

Fourteen

A's (and E's) birthday was last Friday night. For their birthday, the girls took a bunch of friends to the ballpark.






We celebrated with our family on Saturday. It was a typical Saturday for us. We squeezed a Mexican lunch between a baseball meeting, dance recital rehearsal, church & dinner with friends in from out of town. Amazingly, we had not sporting events.

After our quick lunch, we ran home for cake.




Poor A has to suffer with those brothers. At least the cake was good.

May Crowning

A was picked to be the May Crowning Queen this year. What an honor. The whole eighth grade and second grade (Confirmation & First Commumion years) dressed up and carried in flowers in honor of Mary.














The actually crowning picture turned out so blurry. Darn. It was a lovely ceremony and A looked lovely.

Activities

Spring is here. Weather is more often warm than not. Kids are busy.

B is playing soccer, flag football & baseball.  I've been talking way more than taking pictures, but I did remember my camera last Saturday.




J is suppose to be playing golf and baseball but he's had problems with his elbow. After some rest, he tried playing baseball last week.






After the game, his elbow hurt again. We went to the doctor this week and he got a shot. We'll see if it helps.

A is busy dancing. They had a performance last weekend.


She also won first place in the Catholic Daughter's of America essay and poetry contest. She got $50 for each award, but she had to go read them to the ladies.


I think I'm looking forward to summer and fewer activities and slower pace. Or I can at least dream about it.

Confirmation - in action

DH took a video of the actual confirmation. It is blurry and hard to understand but I have to post it for posterity sake.



In case you can't hear, E's confirmation saint is Bernadette and A's is St. Therese of Liseaux.

Dance in December

A went to perform at nursing homes with her dance company. They did three shows for the different groups at the home. I caught the last show for the group of women and one man who are in true nursing care.


The show went well and the guests seemed to enjoy it. In the picture A is dancing to White Christmas and all the ladies sang along.

She had visitor's day at her normal studio, but it was the night I had my surgery. This past Wednesday, her extra ballet class had visitor's day. I went for the last 15 minutes of class to watch.






She's such a pretty ballerina!

Teenager

A is definitely showing some symptoms of being a stereotypical teenager. She, who used to keep her room in pretty good order, has become a total slob. She left to go on the 8th grade retreat this week. I took advantage of her absence by cleaning. I spent close to two hours going through everything on the floor, desk, chest & nightstand. I was good and didn't throw out anything unless it was an obvious piece of trash. I made stacks of papers, schoolwork and books on her desk. I organized all the stuff in her bathroom drawers. When I was done, I could actually see the carpet in her room again. Amazing that I consider these picture a state of cleanliness! It was a huge improvement.




Just 24 hours after she arrived home, the mess is already growing.

Saturday dance

A danced on Saturday. It was the same venue she danced at last year. She did three dances, including one she learned two hours before the performance. Not bad.

December



White Christmas



All I Want For Christmas Is You

Edited: That last video was blocked for copyright issues. It was Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. That's the dance she learned Saturday afternoon so you can't see how great she did. Just trust me. She did great!

Bearcat 5k

While B & DH were camping, A, J, & I had a quiet weekend. We didn't have big plans except for the Bearcat 5k on Saturday morning.






The race was organized by a few of the 8th graders as a service project and they raised $2000 for Care Van. Impressive.