Spring Break Lives

Although our Spring Break ended a month ago, it seems to live on. Last week was the Alden's Spring Break and they spent it in Orlando. Travis and the girls were able to take an evening and drive down to have dinner with them. I wish I could have gone, but I had a previous commitment. The girls were so excited to see their friends. They had so much fun with Autumn and Brooklyn.
Travis hadn't seen Rick in a long, long time either so he was excited for the chance to meet and greet.

Preston is always a little left out at these meetings since I never had a boy for him to hang out with. But we love to see him. He is growing up and looking so much like his older brother!! I missed seeing Holly. I was really sad to have to sit this one out, but the gang didn't get home until 1:30 am and there is NO WAY I could teach school after that. Guess it is a good thing I didn't go. Holly invited Morgan to come and visit them anytime she needs a little getaway from the stress of college. I'm sure Morgan will take her up on it a time or two. Such dear, dear friends...When I mentioned that Spring Break lives on, I meant it!! We had Good Friday off from school AND (what I call) Great Monday was a day off. I got a lot done today. All this time off is getting me itchy for summer vacation. We have no more breaks until Memorial Day, so it is time to get serious and finish up Frankenstein and The Old Man and the Sea for my students. It is important to keep them working until the end or they get impossible.

We had Easter. It isn't quite as exciting as it used to be, but we have a really good dinner. The girls got some candy from the Easter Cat this year. They are looking all festive in the bright chairs.

No longer is this the "kid" table, but it is now the young lady's table. Rozzie made really cute name tags for the table; I wish you could see them.

And the Jello!!

Happy Spring!! Now we go straight to summer, here. It has already been to 91 degrees. We just really need rain, now. Back to school tomorrow!! Have a great week.

Senioritis

I finished these magical socks. Just sayin'. Now onward to the meat of my post. Senioritis. As a scientist and an English teacher, I must object to this term. The suffix, "-itis" is used to denote an inflammation. I have yet to see any of my students become inflamed due to their senior status. Yes, they become lackadaisical, ornery, sluggish, and irritable, but let's call it something else. Any suggestions other than the senior slump? Senior-get-over-it-and-quit-taking-every-other-day-off-I'm-tired-too? By the way, Morgan was offended that the Clay County Fair didn't give her a "senior" discount. Yep.

We had a great time last weekend with Jenny and Violet. For a variety of pictures, check out http://www.hawleyfocus.com/ and you will be treated to a journey through the weekend. She posted many of our favorite pictures of Morgan and they are much larger than I am able to post here, so that is why I am sending you there rather than reposting them here. With that said, here are two more of her pictures that I loved. There is something about the saxophone pictures that I find amazing and different.

And this one shows her eyes so nicely. They are a nice shade of green!!

I am posting only one family picture, the other one will have to wait until Christmas. Start the count-down!!And now, the girls. I love these pictures. They had such a fun time goofing around for these. This is the last time we will have our family at this moment - all our children living at home and under our care. We are starting a new phase of life!!

I refer to these next ones as the "Charlie's Angels" pictures. They are so goofy, yet they really capture their personalities!!

There really aren't any traditionally serious pictures in the lot.

Certainly not this one!!

And so, there you have it. Thanks to Jen and her mad skillz. We had a great visit and are planning a redo in 3 years!!

Birthdays and Banquets

Last weekend we went to Orlando for Maddie's dance competition. These girls did such a nice job. They sure enjoy being together. This competition graded the dances. The girls received a "high silver" for their modern dance and a "gold" for "Ease on Down the Road". Maddie enjoys being part of this group more than anything. We enjoyed getting to know the parents better. Last night was Rozzie's dance team banquet. Here are the Freshmen. They are thrilled that they will never be the freshmen on the team ever again.

Rozzie got the award for being "Most Likely to be a Squib". These seniors love her and keep her with them, and they find her very funny to have around. It has been really nice to see her grow into this team, mature, and find her confidence. She will really miss this little girl, Natalie, when she graduates.

Holy smokes!! Morgan turned 18!! We spent her day taking Morgan's senior pictures. We went all over the city. Jenny flew in from Wisconsin to help us out. Travis had a flight on frequent flyer miles or something and was able to get her down for a working vacation! She brought Violet and we are so happy to have them here. A senior picture preview will follow soonly. We finally got around to celebrating Morgan's birthday. We decided to make an "Angry Birds" cake! There are so many cute 3D cakes, but I just didn't have the time for all that. Once I started going with this, the girls all came in and started asking to help and after just a few cuts, they took over. Basically, I did the title. Morgan LOVED it. The girls all had such a fun time doing this together. Those times when all three work together happily like that are drawing to a close. (Morgan leaves in two months.)

Here is a close up of the cake!! If you don't know, Angry Birds is a game for phones and iPads that is lots of fun. The player slings a bird at the pigs who have stolen the birds' eggs. The goal is to destroy all the pigs who are hiding in different "buildings" and such.

Jenny and Violet have been such good houseguests. Vi has been a little clingy with mom while mom is trying to edit Morgan's pictures. We suggested Maddie take Violet on a walk and so they were off. Violet was perfectly happy to go "outside" and willingly went with Maddie. They have been gone a long time!!

I'm so glad that Jenny and Violet could come and visit. Morgan's pictures are just beautiful. I can't wait to get them in my hands. We also did a few family pictures at the rail yard. We have done the beach pictures and so this time we decided to hit the rails. My favorites are the pictures of the girls walking along laughing together. They remind me of "Charlie's Angels". I can't wait to show you!!

Another Birthday. Yay.

I thought I'd post much sooner. Guess not. We got back to school and it was just as busy as before. Hmmm. Going to have to work on that. I did turn 42 successfully. It was celebrated in a variety of ways and on a variety of days. Lani and I went to eat at Cantina Loredo and it was delicious - I always love Mexican!! Here I am with my special dessert including a sparkler!! We had a family dinner on Sunday after Morgan's arrival home from New York City. We ate outside on our new deckware. I love the bright colored chairs. Morgan told us of her adventures and the cats attended. Spunky came up for a closer look at this point.

And that is all I have to say about my birthday. It was fun and painless. I don't mind getting older at this point. I have spent enough of my life pondering the alternative so the present isn't such a bad thing!! I have a wonderful husband and great kids. Teaching kids with challenges has made me very grateful for the kids I was given. And bright colors make me very happy.