Preseason Football Nearly Rained Out!!

That's right folks, it's football season. This year is going to be a busy one!! We have two kids involved: Morgan is still marching that tuba around the field, and we have added Rozzie to the the excitement on the the dance team. The rain held off all day and then, right as I got to the concession stand, the downpour. It was raining so hard!! Each time I said that the rain kicked it up a notch, the rain would then kick it up another notch. When it couldn't rain any harder, the band marched on. They left the woodwinds back in the band room but the brass played on!! Here is Morgan passing by the concession stand. She is the front sousaphone. You get a feeling for how wet it was. There was no one in the stands. As they rounded the other side of the stadium, lightning was spotted and they marched right off. The game was delayed a while, but then the rain let up and the lightning stopped and we had a game. It ended up being pretty decent, albeit a little soggy. Morgan has such a good time messing around in the stands with her pals. As it was preseason and all, the band did not perform their show. Morgan told me not to take pictures when she was playing because she felt compelled to look at me and smile.

The Golden Girls looked a little soggy, too!! They had all fixed their hair and make-up and it ended up wet and stringy!! It is a good thing they dance really well!! They did look great and it was surreal to see Rozzie out there. It just can't be! But there she is. I wish I had my sister's labeling skills. Rozzie is in the way back and is hard to pick out in this picture. But here they are dancing to the band's music, in the rain.

When it cleared up , they girls doffed their jackets and kept dancing. Rozzie is easier to spot here, she is in the back, right in front of #67.

I am really looking forward to this football season. I have a few students who are on the football team and another student on the color guard with the band. It is fun to see Rozzie starting out her high school career. At the same time, I can't believe this is Morgan's last year marching on the field. It has been so much fun watching her. I'll stop before I start crying.

Team Picture!

Thought I'd post the dance team picture with Rozzie - it is pretty fun! She is in the third row on the end. There are 3 girls missing from the picture so it is decent size team.

Go Eagles. First football game on Friday - no dancing or marching this week as it is preseason. Next week, though, is a big game. There will be a pep rally and everything. Stay tuned!!

2010-2011 School Year has Begun!

First off, the band season is underway with the music of Frank Ticheli. Morgan is easy to spot in this picture as she is playing the sousaphone and wearing orange shorts. Not really a "Where's Waldo" moment. They practiced the last two weeks, experiencing scorching heat and torrential downpours. As always, the band plays on!! On Saturday evening, the band performed for the parents and then there was a little dinner in the cafeteria. We are very ready for another football season!
Here it is folks - off for a day of firsts!! Morgan's first day of her senior year. Rozzie's first day of high school. Maddie's first day of junior high. Maddie and Rozzie were up early today getting ready for Seminary! It is very odd to see Rozzie going off at this time. She was all smiles.

Morgan wore her special SENIOR t-shirt as many of the seniors do to make themselves known.

And here is Maddie all ready for her day. She had an upset stomach, but powered through and made it to the bus stop. Once there, she was around friends all doing the same thing and her journey began.

Everyone reported good days. We went school supply shopping. I saw Rozzie before school, then thought of her all day. I saw Morgan at lunch (she forgot her lunch!!). I even had a good day. They day went by quickly. I am always a little shy of my new students but I think it will be a good enough year. Tomorrow we start the fun stuff and it will be just like normal. I'm exhausted. I have a headache. But it was a nice first day of school.

Project Bedroom and Other Tasks Along the Way

As Monday starts the new school year, and it is Morgan's senior year, I will start off here with a picture of Morgan at Florida State University. Travis has taken her on a few school visits this summer. She has been to BYU numerous time and it is her first choice, so she did not go on a visit there. Travis took her to University of Florida in June, but I haven't seen a picture. I have heard there is one somewhere, though. More recently, they visited FSU in Tallahassee and Morgan really liked it there. They had a dorm room set up to see - cleaner than any dorm room really is - and on the desk, plugged into an iPod, was a pair of Skullcandy headphones. Anyway, she loved the campus and had a great day there with her dad.
In other breaking news, Duckie is not dead!! Duckie is alive and well and running around the neighborhood. She has been adopted by another family around the corner from us. We figure she ventured out one night and they picked her up, because she really never left our back yard. Maddie brought her home and kept her in for a day. It was obviously her from her close-set, slightly crossed (but ever-so-cute) eyes. I made them put her out at night. She didn't stay around, but we have seen her out and about.

Morgan was very patient and committed and she knit her dad a pair of socks for Father's Day. They weren't done by then, but they did get finished eventually. She did a fabulous job on them and I'm very proud of her. Travis likes them, too!!

It was my goal to redecorate Rozzie's room over the summer. Rozzie had made a quilt. I had painted the room. Now it was time to act. So, over the last two weeks of summer, I shopped and sewed and painted. This is a close up of a pillow I sewed. It was a mess to sew, but it is a really wonderfully tactile pillow. It feels like a dog.

Here is the full size shot of it. It didn't take long to sew, but the fabric was hard to deal with. The fur was all over the place. It actually took me longer to locate my pins than it did to sew the dang thing!

I bought this pillow, but thought I'd show you a close up. Again, it feels like a dog, but is really super wonderful.

Then came the task of painting flowers and paisleys on Rozzie's wall that are similar to the ones in her quilt. I took the fabric to school and put it under the document camera and projected it up on the board and traced!! Just like the olden day opaque projectors!! Lani and I spent a few days working on all this. I love how it all turned out.

Rozzie came home and was in heaven! She loved it all.

And here is the nearly finished product. The lanterns are hung with yarn right now; I need to get one more extension cord. Target is such a great store!! Most of the odds and ends were from there. Pillows from Pier 1. And notice Rozzie's wonderful quilt!!

I am so happy to have accomplished that task!!

In other news, I went back to work this past week. I was one day ahead of the game by having my room set up before going back. It paid off because I ended up very sick all week with little energy and thus I still stayed late on Friday night. But I am ready for the critters to show up on Monday!!

Rozzie and Morgan had their orientation on Thursday. It was fun to take Rozzie and her friends around the high school - kindof surreal, too. She is so ready to play in the big leagues. She loves dance team, so far. They had their pictures on Thursday and it really hit me that she was in high school seeing her running around in the uniform! Morgan and her friends didn't need me to show them around, although I did take her to one class. Morgan has had marching practice all week and tonight we go to the band barbecue to see the new show!! She also got her parking pass for the SENIOR lot.

Maddie had her junior high orientation yesterday and is really excited about moving up in society. She has her gym uniform - that is a definite sign of maturity.

At the end of the day, Trav and the girls came to see me at school. Trav helped me with a project that needed two people. And now we relax for a couple days before it begins - the 2010-2011 school year in which Morgan graduates.

A House Full of Little Ones

Just a little note for all my blog readers: Our email is not functioning right now and is driving us insane. We have contacted people and tried to fix it, but it is not fixing. So for now, please use my work email: jksmith@mail.clay.k12.fl.us

So where was I? Ah yes, returning from Girl's Camp!! We returned home on a Friday afternoon and unpacking and did laundry - lots of laundry - for days. On Saturday, Shan, Mikkyn, Cole, Mack, Tate, and Ruby came to visit!! We were thrilled to have them visit us. Shan had a training class up in Georgia for two weeks and so the family came along for a summer adventure! I had been gone for a month and so my first week home was full of doctor visits, dentist visits, grocery visits, etc. I had to try to rebuild my life that fell apart while I was absent. But all that got done.

As the next weekend approached, my dad flew out to visit and see the girls dance in their recital! Thanks so much for coming, Dad. I know the house was rather busy and hectic, but we were very glad to have you. The nephews said you told funny stories!! We were able to do a little swimming. The cousins went to the beach a few times, but I was unable to go along. However, I did get to go swimming with them a few times. We went to a few different pools. The kids loved it when Morgan, Rozzie, and Maddie would accompany them and swim. That was the best. Here is Ruby trying to be just like Maddie! Maddie was a favorite for Ruby. Ruby would wake up in the morning and ask, "Where's Maddie?" Maddie is a tough one to wake up in the morning, but I found that if I sent Ruby in, Maddie would get right up and have a very sweet disposition. Ruby was often found in the girl's rooms doing dress up or just being with the big girls. It was really sweet. Maddie was pretty good about all the attention and seemed to enjoy entertaining them. There were a few rainy days and one afternoon, we got out the puzzles and went to work. It was quite a sight to see and kept everyone occupied for a long time. We think Mack looks a lot like his Uncle Travis. If you look at the pictures of Trav as a young'un, you'd really see the resemblance! And with their matching BYU shirts, you can hardly tell the difference now!

Ruby wasn't Maddie's only fan. Cole took a liking to her, also! He liked to sit by her whenever he could and enjoyed her company. This picture includes Tate, Cole, and Maddie.

Mikkyn was a great friend to have around the house and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her better! It was comfortable to have them around and I never found myself counting days or anything!! (I liked Girl's Camp but I was counting days!!) I hope they had as comfortable a visit as we did!!

We met Annette and Ashley at Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Morgan and Roz were at Youth Conference, so they were unable to attend. Maddie can't wait until she is 14 so that she can go. She is very sad that it will be two more years. Anyhow, It was a great time and there were many shenanigans in the parking lot afterwards!

Here is the whole crew at church right before Shan and Mikkyn left. Mikkyn, if you would email me a copy of your picture like this I'd appreciate it. I have my eyes closed!! Email it to the above address, not the home one!!

And then it was time for the dance team camp again. This time was different though, Roz was not one of the campers!! The other two girls are from church - McCall and Shelby.

So, I think I'm just about current. I start school on Monday. I have gotten a lot of scrapbook work done. I have also decorated Rozzie's room and I think that will be the next post!