Back to School 2014

It was not a simple first day of school this year. Three kids in three difference schools lead to a week of back to school activities.

B was up first on Monday.






B is 1) standing nicely smiling for Mom, 2) being excited about third grade, and 3) showing how he really feels about the end of summer.






It was very strange walking him into class all by himself, but I think he kind of liked it. His teacher wasn't in the classroom yet, so I didn't get that picture. Another mom told the boys to hold up three fingers for third grade. Of course B took it to the extreme.

Tuesday was Opening Ceremonies at J's new school.


I neglected to take pictures of J by himself. I did take pictures when he tried on his dress uniform on Monday night.








Here are pictures of the boys together. Of course they had to be goofy. The repeated eye-rolling led into all out back to school craziness.




DH took J to his first day at his new school, Cistercian. I thought he'd be more nervous, but he wasn't. Hopefully that is a sign of a good year to come. They had Opening Ceremony (which was just a mass with all the boys in the blazers & dress pants) and then eye & hearing check, pictures, and all the other first day of school necessities.

Thursday was A's first day of Freshman Orientation at Ursuline.




She missed taking pictures with her brothers so she tried to get the dog to stand in. It didn't really work.








We picked up cousin E. They smiled prettily for the first couple of pictures and then turned as goofy as the boys. I think they were attempting to recreate the past pciture, they need to work on the pose!




Carpool line to drop them off took forever! All the parents were getting out of the car taking pictures of the President and Principal of UA shaking hands with the new freshmen. I told them I would skip it and just took a picture out the window of the car. I still can't believe the twin cousins are now high school freshmen. It was just a minute ago they were little girls!

A still has her first day of classes on Monday. I'm working on convincing her to be ready early enough to get a picture of all three kids in uniform. We'll see if teenager sleepiness overrules family photo time.

End of the Year

The boys had to go to school for a week longer than A. They were excited for it to be over. The last day is mass, awards ceremony & 10:30 release.

Since A had her post of graduation accolades, I have to make a post for the boys.

J got two awards, one for reading & one for art. Cousin M got one for religion.




I found out that when I got home, J actually got the award for science. The same teacher teaches both classes and I guess there was a mixup.

In 2nd grade, they don't do academic awards. B's teacher did make up awards for each kid. B got the Daring Dancer Award, because he's never afraid to "Bust a Move"


It was a good school year for everyone, but we're looking forward to a nice break for the summer.

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.

Autumnfest 2013

Last Saturday was AutumnFest. It was a busy day. At 6am as I was getting ready for the day, I realized it was too busy. My schedule:

• 7am DPL cross country meet
• 8:30 DH - Autumnfest
• 11:30 J's band concert at Autumnfest
• 12:00 A volunteer at Autumnfest
• 12:30 B soccer game in PFE Plano
• 2:30 J baseball game in PFE Carrollton
• 4:00 Me volunteer at Autumnfest
• 7:00 Me volunteer at Autumnfest

There was no way I was going to be able to get B to the soccer game, get B from the soccer game, J to the baseball game, get J from the baseball game and make it in time to volunteer at the school. DH was in charge the beer tent and was stuck at the school all day. He was able to able to sneak away after the band concert to get J home and changed for the baseball game. Friends took him to the game. I called my father in to pick him up and bring him back to Autumnfest. DH paid him back for his trouble with a couple of beers from the beer tent.

J playing with the band at Autumnfest




Volunteering at the King Kong slide














2nd grade boys at the talent show 


A rainbow at the end of the day - the weather held out. 

First Day of School 2013

Today was every parent's favorite day of the year, the first day back to school. I can't believe that summer is over.


My 8th grader


My 5th grader


My 2nd grader


We ran into the cousins walking to school.


The older two took off and went to their classrooms by themselves. DH & I walked B to his classroom. At least he still lets us.




I think they all had a good day. Summer was nice but I think it will be nice to get back into routine.

Autumnfest 2012

Last Saturday was Autumnfest, the school's fall fundraiser. It is a huge event that starts at noon and ends at 9 (or when ever the beer runs out). DH was co-chair of the beer tent this year. He was up there early and stayed late, but it was a much better job than the set-up and tear-down role that he held the past 3 years. That takes most of Friday & all day Saturday and stays even later than the beer tent guys.

I handled the Saturday morning activities for B & A. J was free so he went with DH. The two kids wanted to go as soon as the 12:00 soccer game was over but I held out. I used an excuse of eating free lunch and charging my cell phone. I tried to wait until 3pm thinking that 6-7 hours of Autumnfest was plenty for any child. I gave into the nagging at 1:45. We left just before 10 so they had a good eight hours of fun.

B after his visit to the ER booth


Finally finding friends in the crowd


More friends


E on the rock climbing wall

J was there and having fun, he just refused to have his picture taken.

It wasn't just a day for kids. Since DH was in charge of beer tent, he was also in charge of the football on TV. Once the UT fans admitted that the big game was a debacle, we got to change it to the ND game. The whole family moved our ND game watching party from S#2's house to the beer tent on the football field.


I got to watch the first half with everyone but eventually I had to start my volunteer time. I signed up to work at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 for each of the kids' class booth.

In the middle of my hour of writing Bingo numbers on a white board, I got an email from my roommate with the subject "Yes!" and the text "Unbelieveable!" I almost walked out. I returned the email and sent text out to DH and S#5, trying to figure out what happened.

I finally got two reply text telling me that ND pulled out an overtime win. How disappointing to miss it? Then, I got an email from the roommate and her husband comparing the game to our final game senior year, ND v Penn State. I wanted to cry. That Penn State game was so thrilling. The snow, the catch, the win, rushing the field. It was great. I can't believe I missed another one. I hope those bingo player appreciate my dedication to the school!

First Day of School 2012

Today was the first day of school.  I was mostly prepared. I didn't sleep through my alarm and the kids were up with plenty of time to get ready for school. I made lunches with mini chop fruit salad as requested.  (It is S#2's special recipe.  Basically it is fruit salad cut into a teeny, tiny dice.) The kids had clean uniforms and A's skirts was hemmed the way she wanted.

What I failed on this year was pictures.  I haven't used my big camera in a while.  I didn't bother to check the battery on it.  I was only able to get one picture.  Even the pop the battery out and back in trick didn't work.  I went searching for my cell phone and finally found it in my car, uncharged.  It could hardly turn on let alone take a picture. At least DH had his blackberry.



Seventh grader


Fourth grader


First grader


Not the best pictures but at least the day is documented.