Pre-Friday Night Lights

We are setting nicely into our school routine.  I'm still running ragged, trying to play catch-up everyday.  I teach many different classes and it just takes a lot of preparation.  I get new students everyday and so there are changes to be made to grade books and seating charts.  The girls are powering through - lots of homework, Seminary, dance, etc.  So we had our first football game on Thursday night.  It was a preseason game - not only does the football team need a practice game, but the cheerleaders, dance team, and band all appreciated the practice, too.  (Apparently there are 65 freshmen in the band this year!!  HALF THE BAND!!)  Maddie was pretty nervous for the game and extremely excited.  

The big concern was the weather.  It has not just rained for 40 days and 40 nights, but stormed and poured and deluged.  No one has been able to practice outside.  Everyday right as school ends, the heavens open up and the amount of water makes it seem like it isn't really raining, it is just all water in the air.  I know that most of you are suffering in horrible drought conditions, but we just can't imagine that.  Yesterday as I left school and it was blue sky, it seemed strange and unfamiliar.  Anyway, we were very worried about the weather for the game.  The skies were gray, but the rain stayed away and it wasn't even horribly hot.  At one point, a big gust of wind came through and then it got comfortable!! 

Travis has taken on the roll of "Mat Dad Chairman".  The cheerleaders need mats on the track (we don't have a rubber track) to do their stunting.  I have three mats and so I need 3 dads/game to roll the mats out there.  Travis enjoys getting them all ready and he knows the drill.  We have to let the band march by before the mats go out.  Mike and Linda are great helpers and developing into great friends.

 Even though I'm busy with the cheerleaders, I get a chance to watch my own kids dance.  Rozzie and her bestie Nora are starting their 3rd year together on the team.

 It is very exciting to see them all out there.  Our last principal made the dance team get green pants two years ago as our colors are green and gold.  The girls hated the pants, thinking they looked like asparagus or green beans.  With the new principal in place, the coach ordered black pants and no one thought twice about it!!  It is exciting to have Rozzie up on the front line as one of the officers for the team.  Maddie is on the back line with the freshmen, but lots of fun to have her out there.  Here is a picture showing their awesome skill of levitation:

 This is my coaching staff:  Janae (JV coach), Cortnee (Choreography), and me!!  Janae was part of Fleming Island's first graduating class and is now a 3rd grade teacher in the county.  Cortnee is hired out by the team.

 And here are the Maddie's - both freshmen.  Maddie really likes high school and says that it is way different than junior high - in a great way.  Her schedule is pretty sweet, too.  She has science, English, and math for her first 3 classes, then she goes to band, yearbook, and PE.  It was nice of me to get her PE last so her hair stays nice all day!!

Next week is big with a pep rally and a big county rival for the football game.  Stay tuned and I just might post more dance pictures.  (Oh...great...more of the same...)  Thanks for humoring me.

Time to Fly the Coop

Morgan headed back to Provo on Friday.  She got up at 3:30am to catch a 7am flight.  She was thrilled with the fact that she didn't leave Jacksonville until 4:00pm.  She could have slept in a bit.  She got everything figured out and switched her shuttle reservation.  She arrived in Salt Lake City at about 9:30 and took the shuttle to Provo.  She couldn't get into her apartment at 11 at night, so she was able to procure a safe place to stay with someone she knows from Jacksonville, although this friend wasn't actually at the apartment at the time.  Funny thing is that we know so many people in Utah now, but things just didn't match up and she had to figure a few things out on her own.  She was homeless and foodless for a day, but she used her time wisely and went to the bookstore to get her books before the crowds arrived.  Travis put in a call to his cousin Daniel who lives in Provo, and Morgan made it over to her apartment after all.  She called and got all her boxes delivered from storage.  This is where it is nice to have a male cousin living in the same apartment complex - Paul came over and helped her move boxen.  Then, after wedding dress shopping, Katie came by and took Morgan (and Paul) grocery shopping.  Morgan called me from the store and by all accounts, they were having too much fun grocery shopping.  I can guarantee that I don't have that much fun at the grocery store.  She is now home with food.  I can rest well.

Thanks to all of you who helped her out.  Holly, it was so nice of you to continually check on her throughout the week and help find a place for Morgan to stay Friday night.  Now comes band camp on Monday!!

The remaining children are doing well and survived week one without any mishaps.  Maddie is adjusting to Seminary life very well.  Travis and I are glad to have graduated from driving to and from Seminary!!  I was grateful for my first weekend.  I did a little work at home so I am slowly digging out from the "start of school" madness.  It looks like it will be a great year for all of us!!

First Day 2012-2013

Today was the first day of school!!  I started my 5th year of teaching.  Everything went very well.  I feel that I know what I am doing in my English classes, but my Design class stressed me out.  I didn't teach level one last year so this is all new and I don't like new things.  All went well, but I'm tired.  I am not used to talking so much and so loud for so long.  One poor little girl, a freshman in my 5th per Design class, came in during 4th period, so I sent her to her English class.  Her English class went to lunch and so she came to 5th period late and then we had lunch and she was so confused.  She was near tears.  I sent her off to Guidance to get it straightened out.  She'll be fine, but for the moment, it was just too much.  It was a lot for me, too and now I'm ready to go to bed.  

Anyway, this morning was pretty exciting.  First off, Patrick caught a cicada and I couldn't figure out what the loud buzzing sound was outside.  He looked at me through the window and I noticed he had something in his mouth.  He spit it out and there it was all buzzing and flitting around.  They playing went on for a few minutes.  Then the buzzing stopped.  Patrick lost interest after it stopped buzzing and flitting...It is still on the back porch.

The girls were up early making themselves beautiful for the first day.  Maddie is a freshman now.  She looked adorable in her lavender polka-dot skinny jeans.  After school she came to my room and I asked how her day was.  She gave me a quick but earnest hug.  My asst. coach, Cortnee, looked at me and just laughed.  The hug sad so much:  I liked it; it was great; it was tiring; there was so much; I'm so glad to see you; I'm so glad it's over.  

 Rozzie was part of the junior pack that got t-shirts together.  This has become a school tradition for the juniors and seniors to wear class shirts on the first day.  The seniors also make and hang banners in the courtyard.  So Rozzie blinged out her shirt with her friends and they all dressed to match.  Everyone wore headbands they decorated with puffy paint and jewels.  They put their nicknames and class (2014) on it.  We have always teased Rozzie that her hip-hop name would be Raw-Z, which is pronounced "Rozzie".  She was pretty happy driving off to Seminary today and ready to park in the junior lot.

 Here is Maddie prodding Rozzie with a banana.

 They even have a class together this year - yearbook!  Plus, they'll be in dance together.  So now all our kids are high school and older.  We all survived and had pretty good days.

The next milestone is on Friday when Morgan leaves for Utah and her 2nd year of college!!

Post-Summer Blues

I haven't posted in a long time.  Not because I don't want to, but nothing noteworthy has happened!  After arriving home from Girl's Camp, I put the house back in order and started working on little piddly projects.  It was great!  I finished a pillow that I had started a few years back.  I caught up on Maddie's scrapbook.  I made dinners.  I just got stuff done.

We also watched the Olympics.  Here is a case of Nature vs. Nurture.  I remember as a child, watching some Olympic coverage and hearing about amazing athletes.  I dreamed of a world where these athletes had never heard of each other and never left their countries.  The Russians trained in Russian villages with Russian coaches and came to the Olympics every four years - their only connection with the outside world.  They all loved each other and cheered for each other.  I don't know what I was watching, but that was my understanding.  So I was wrong.  But through it all, I developed a love for the Olympic games that has never diminished.  This love has only increased as the years have passed.  Even when I know the outcome, I will sit and watch it all until midnight.  The curious element is the passion that my children have developed for the Games.  WOW!! From the Opening Ceremonies to the very end tonight, they have been glued.  Rozzie mopes around the house, frustrated that we didn't get her into a sport in which she could have become an Olympic athlete.  She forgets that she was on the swim team.  She has a trampoline in the back yard that she could practice on.  She can join track.  Her dreams of glory are fading as she quickly ages.  So, the question remains:  Was it Nature or Nurture that instilled in my children a love for the Olympics?

Surprisingly, Travis isn't that interested.  He finds some of it interesting and will join us in watching some of the Games, but mostly, the sports fan of the family shows relative disinterest.

Maddie and Morgan played their violins in church today.  They played "How Great Thou Art".  I posted the rehearsal on facebook; it isn't great, but you get the idea.  They did a wonderful job.  Maddie had a mental block on a section that repeated last week that reduced her to tears, but she worked through it and did well today.

I started back to school last week.  I had many 13-14 hour days.  I still have a little more to do tomorrow, but I'll be all ready for students on Tuesday.  I like my schedule:

1st Per:  English III
2nd Per:  English III
3rd Per:  English IV
4th Per:  Planning
5th Per:  Fashion/Design
LUNCH
6th Per:  Fashion/Design

I have a feeling that my days will fly by!!  Maddie starts high school on Tuesday; Rozzie starts her junior year.  Seminary starts on Tuesday, also, with Br. Collard as the teacher.  Morgan heads out to BYU for band camp on Friday.  We have loved having her here for a few weeks and we will miss her a lot.  She has been a busy knitter, knitting hot pads and dish cloths for her and me!!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer!!

Girl's Camp 2012 - Tom the Toad's Revenge

As you know, we went to Girl's Camp 2 weeks ago.  We go to a camp in Georgia that is about 1 1/2 hours away.  It is on an island in the salt marsh in the Brunswick/Jekyll Island area.  It is also in the same area as The Cloister where Travis and I get to go each January and enjoy a very luxurious 3 days.  Camp is the polar opposite of The Cloister in all but one area - the food.  I really dreaded camp this year.  I really wanted to be at home.  I have done nothing but go to camps and be with teenage girls.  The very thought of packing my bags once again was overwhelming.  But I had given my word and was bound.  We arrived at the camp and everything was nice.  As you can see from the pictures,  it is really pretty.  It was hot.  Very hot.  However, at about 3:30 each day, the sea breeze would start to blow and I knew I'd be ok.  I suffered swollen ankles; however, a swim in the pool was all it took to bring them  back down for a few hours.  I would shower in the mid-morning.  By around 2:30-3 I was ready to jump in the pool.  It felt so good.  The girls were scheduled for swimming each day and it was the right thing to do.  I really encouraged the girls to get it and cool down their bodies.  Thirty minutes was all I needed to get the swelling down and feel like I could go on.  By the end of the night, it was time to get back in the pool for about 45 minutes.  Then the swelling was down and I was all cooled off to go to sleep.  Luckily, the girls were all well behaved, the crafts were fun, and enjoyed getting to know the ladies in the stake.

Each year, I have tie-dyed t-shirts with the girls in the ward.  This year the Young Women's presidency thought they'd give me a break and do something different.  The girls just stared at them and said, "ok, but we tie-dye."  So we tie-dyed.  We did camo colors for the jungle theme of the camp.  On camo day, we all wore our shirts and took a ward picture.  We also did "sister" pictures:

Sisters picture in their tie-dye camo shirts

Rozzie was a YCL (youth camp leader) this year.  She initially didn't like it because there is a lot of responsibility involved.  It didn't take long for her to decide that YCLing is really fun. Maddie was a 3rd Level camper this year.  Next year she'll graduate!!








As I have said, the food is the best at camp.  We have ladies from the stake who come up and cook for us.  Travis spent the week in the kitchen helping him and he learned what hard work it is!!  It is constant work.  But look at these cupcakes!  There was lemon, banana pudding, chocolate strawberry, red velvet, oreo, and s'more to choose from.  The rule was "One Cupcake", so I obeyed - I chose lemon.

The hardest part at camp is deciding which cupcake to choose.

Maddie's zebra outfit.

Skit night is another favorite.  I am always so amazed at how clever the kids are.  The leaders are always so worried about skit ideas, but the kids just love it!!  Maddie's group did a "Madagascar" scene.  The YCLs always do a skit about the camp.  Rozzie was the camp director, Sister Lyle.  Now, each level at camp was assigned a different animal.  The leaders were the toucans.  One day at camp was "wear your animal" day.  All the other leaders found or made toucan shirts, but Sister Lyle couldn't fine one so she strung up two cans and pinned them to her shirt, thus her two-can shirt.  For the skit, Rozzie got hold of her visor and cans and did a GREAT impression of her.  Sister Lyle has a VERY strong southern accent and she talks very slowly.  We were all cracking up!!

"Ah think...ah'm gonna make...the YCLs...eat last!"

The car accident.

Something new this year was the mock first aid drills.  All week the girls had learned some first aid things and now it was time to put it into practice!!  The YCLs had different scenes set up.  One girl was "drowning" in the pool.  Some girls were suffering heatstroke and frostbite.  Then there was the car accident.  The girls went all out on each of the scenes, but the car accident was definitely the bloodiest.  They had a white hefty bag blown up and taped to the steering wheel.  The girls even had a reason for the accident:

O Tom the Toad
O Tom the Toad
Why did you hop
Out on the Road?
(repeat 1st stanza)

You used to be
A friend of mine.
But now you're just
A ball of slime.

O Tom the Toad.... (sung to O Tannenbaum)

While we were all camping, Morgan was home by herself being rather bored.  Our friend Linda took Morgan out for Yobe (Frozen Yogurt - totes the best hun cal fro yo) and they hatched a plan.  While we were posing for pictures as a family...

The Smiths at camp before we knew Morgan was coming.

Morgan and Linda were driving up to Camp Glynn.  Linda had to pick her kids up early, so Morgan came up for the evening and crashed camp.  She got a hero's welcome!  She was mobbed by bunches of girls.  It was fun to have her there for the last night/testimony meeting.  We are all home now.  The laundry is done.  The suitcases are put away.  The swelling has gone away.  We are clean.

Morgan's hero welcome!

Happy to have Morgan with us.

Summer and more Summer

Hello!

Ok, now that you have recovered from your faint, here is what has been happening.  I have been asked, "How many days were you at home in June?"  The answer:  very few.  After a grand trip to Minnesota, I was home for one day to prepare for cheer camp at UCF (Univ. of Central Florida) in Orlando.  It was stressful getting everyone organized and down there, but once we got going it was fine.  There were 20 other teams at the camp and my kids learned some fun stuff - co-ed stunting will be fun and new for FIHS!  I was relieved that my kids were very well behaved and easy to be around.  I think I'll really like this group of kids.  They have a lot of fun together and seem to want to be there and be friendly to each other.  Here are my kids on the evening of the "Summer Splash Pep Rally" in all their pool floaties!!  The little flamingos are actually inflatable cup holders that they stuck on their pony tails.  Notice the boys dressed as the lifeguards!

 I brought the Varsity team home and the next day I took the JV team to Jacksonville University for their camp.  I don't have a JV coach right now so I had to do it.  I have was at cheer camp for 8 days straight.  It gets to be a lot.  Luckily, the JV team was also very well behaved and I had no problems with them either.  I almost wish I could be their coach, too, but there aren't enough hours!!

During my short time at home before dance camp, the dance team had their annual kidnapping.  Roz is now on the "kidnapper" end of it.  She slept at Nora's and then they came over and got Maddie at 5:00am.  Nora is Maddie's big sister.  (It is so strange to have these two driving!!)  It took Maddie a minute to figure out what was happening and then she paused and said, "Is this the kidnapping?"  She was game to go along then!!  They enjoy dressing them up in goofy clothes and hauling them off for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

 Then we were off to Panama City Beach for dance camp.  This was rather exciting in that Tropical Storm Debby was churning in the gulf right off the coast of Panama City Beach!!  It is a 5 hour drive out there and we were really nervous about going.  Their coach had called to make sure the camp was still happening.  She was told that half the teams were already there.  When we looked at the radar on Monday morning and the storm was RAGING here in Jacksonville, we saw that it seemed to clear up a bit toward the west.  So we decided to go to Panama City Beach.  The rain was AWFUL for the first hour.  It was hard to see.  I got horrible gas mileage.  Then it cleared up and we just had rain showers the rest of the day.  It rained all that day, but then the next day dawned bright and beautiful!  Guess what...Debby turned eastward, forgot about Panama City Beach, and made a bee-line for Jacksonville.  We lost electricity, homes were flooded, roads washed away.  It was the right choice to leave town!

At the dance camp, I was able to relax a little bit.  I stayed with a friend from the neighborhood who moved out there.  She lived 2 miles from the resort where the girls had their camp AND she is across the street from the beach.  It was a great trip.

Here are the new freshmen for the year.  This year there are 7 freshmen which is a lot to think about.  We are really excited that Maddie is one of them.

 Rozzie is moving up in the dances, now that she has more experience and is the junior officer.  She is easier to see now - close to the front!  She is getting to be a pretty good dancer, too!!  So here she is dancing and then with her senior officers.  This picture is taken on their 13th floor balcony on the day that Debby was deciding what to do.  They opened the balcony door and the curtains were sucked out the window and stuff started flying through the apartment/condo like a tornado.  It was really funny.

Rozzie dancing in her home routine

 And here they are, both together on the team.  And we also think that Maddie has grown recently.

 We all went out to eat one night on the beach.

 And now for another beach.  Travis turned 50 this year and I got him a baseball stadium book and tickets to see the Tampa Bay Rays play the New York Yankees in Tampa.  Well, Tampa is 4 hours away so I also booked us two nights on Anna Maria Island.  Ten years ago we found a little tiny beach cottage rental - nothing fancy - but nice and cute.  I re-found it and that is where we stayed.  Our first night there we walked the beach and watched the sunset.  I was very intrigued by these little shells.  As the waves came in and out these shells would be left behind and then they would burrow themselves into the sand.  Sometimes it was the opposite.  Waves would cover them and so as the wave pulled back, these little shells would climb out of the sand.  Upon close investigation, we could see the little, clear legs or feet of these creatures.  I could sit and watch them for hours!!

Rays up to bat

Yankees up to bat

 At the game we were on the 3rd deck right behind home plate.  Here is a picture of the usher in our section.  I called him "Eddie Two Hats".  I got his name "Eddie" off his name tag and he got the "Two Hats" because he wore...2 hats.  It didn't take long to figure that the white hat was on top when the Rays were batting and the black hat was on top when the Yankees were batting.  Also notice the tattoo.  It is a sleeve.  Trav and I spent a lot of time watching him.

There was a foul ball hit two sections to the right of us, then one was hit two sections to the left of us.  I mentioned to Travis that maybe we needed to get seats in those sections the next time.  I spoke to soon! A little later on, a foul ball was it way high up and it kept coming down, down, down...and I started to worry, and panic, and think that I don't catch, and this was going to hurt really bad, and I couldn't get away. and then the man in front of me put his hand up in front of my face and tipped the ball into the lap of the girl behind me.  Travis was focusing on texting Rozzie and I had asked him to and didn't catch onto what was happening in time to react.  We were so close to a broken nose and a foul ball off Swisher.  It was rather exciting.  

Here is a picture of the little place we stayed.  There are a few little buildings in this place and we had a little studio off the back with a little kitchenette.  There was a grill that we used one night.  It was all very nice and a great couple days of down time.  

Now I'm all packed for Girl's Camp which starts tomorrow!!

Smith Jubilees

As Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her diamond jubilee, we decided to celebrate a few jubilees here at our house.  And we started out with all our British decorations.  Rozzie's 16th birthday Jubilee was a great excuse to make union jack table cloths.  Only one is pictured here, the other ones were flag fabrics.  I had a great time making these cupcakes for Rozzie.  She is WAY into anything British right now, especially the singing sensation, One Direction.  Rozzie created the crowning 1D cupcake.  We used something called "Sugar Sheets" and I used my quilt cutting supplies to make the little tiny flags.  

 She didn't want a big party and so it was just a few friends (a few more than pictured here).  Some girls had to leave early as we had a surprise visitor named Beryl come through Jacksonville.  That's right, a week before hurricane season started, we had a direct hit from a tropical storm.  It made for an exciting evening.  The girls had a fun time all hunkered down.  We didn't lose electricity, so that was great.

Morgan sent Rozzie the new 1D book!!
 By the end of the week, Roz was ready for the big test.  Travis took the day off on Friday to take Rozzie to the DMV for her driver's test and...she passed!!  Yay!!  It was strange to let her go off on her own that afternoon!!

Friday was graduation (also known as Graduation Jubilee).  Roz had been selected to be a "graduation marshall" to help out with the ceremony.  Only 5 sophomores were selected.  Most of them lead the individual lines of graduates; however, this year there were a few extra marshalls and so Roz and her friend Bree were in charge of the rope after all the graduates were in the corral.  Her ability to knot a rope was the only thing keeping all the parents off the field!  Everyone had to have a white dress or white shirt and tie.  When it came down to taking a picture of Rozzie, my camera was found to be missing an SD card.  Roz said, "Oh yeah, I took it out."  My phone was nearly dead, also, so this is the ONE picture I have of Rozzie that night.  Her friend Bree was in her class in 1st grade!!

Right after Rozzie's 16th Birthday Jubilee and Graduation Jubilee, it was time for Travis' Golden Jubilee.  For his 50th birthday, we went out to dinner at his FAVORITE restaurant, a Sicilian place, called Sorbello's with some friends from church.  Of the 5 men there, 4 are celebrating their 50th birthdays this year.  Travis was the one to get the party going!!  What was really fun was that there was live entertainment all evening:  a man and his accordian!!  Our friend Roger kept saying, "Oh, I know this one.  My mom always played this."  His mom was a genius on the accordian!!  It was a great evening with friends.  Today - Sunday - is his actual birthday and I gave his his gift:  Ballparks (the book).  It is really nice and has pictures, stats, and stories of all the major league ballparks.  He was paging through it and found (on the Tropicana Dome page) tickets to seen the Tampa Bay Rays play the NY Yankees on July 2 along with a two night stay in a beach cottage on Anna Maria Island!!  Yay - can't wait!!  We stayed at this place a number of years ago, but we only stayed one night and went to Busch Gardens so there wasn't time to enjoy the beach and island.  This time, we will have plenty of time to enjoy the place.  Happy Birthday, Travis!!!