Today's Pic

Today's Pic

More Firsts

I guess even when they're 13 & 14 they're still experiencing firsts. This week was the first volleyball game as a school player, and the first high school marching band performance. Although they're different than the firsts they had when they were little, these firsts made me a little weepy, too.

On Wednesday Danielle's team had their first volleyball game. The competition was not good so there weren't a lot of good volleys or chances to make great plays, but she had fun. She got a good amount of playing time and got to serve. There are 12 girls on the team, which is quite a few, so she was excited to get so much time. Between rec and club, she has played in several volleyball games over several years, but there was something extra special about putting on that jersey and representing our school. She has 2 games this coming week.

Last night was our first high school football game. Our band director graduated from The Ohio State University and tries to run his band similarly to theirs - high step, lots of energy, running, etc. And no compromising on the uniform regardless of the extremely uncomfortable temperatures! It was really neat to watch Tyler run out there and do all the special steps and moves. He's improved so much just since we saw him perform a couple weeks ago for the parents! He had a lot of fun on the bus and playing in the stands, too. I think he enjoyed the whole experience. We were the away team this week, so we didn't get to see their faces much during the performance. I'll try to get more pictures next week during our home game.

The uniform that goes under the uniform. :)

He's the one right in the middle (not the one out of step!).

 

We enjoyed a very late dinner out after the football game.

Today's Pic

Ron's Race

Today my mom and I went to cheer my brother on as he competed in his 2nd triathlon. He kayaked, ran, and biked, and came in 8th place overall. Pretty impressive! It was a beautiful day, too! I was glad we could share in the experience.

 

 

This.

This is why I keep doing it.

First Day of School

The day we've been dreading since May 26th is upon us. Today was the first day of school. Danielle started junior high (7th grade), and Tyler started high school (9th grade). I started my 6th year in the kitchen at the jr. high.

It was rainy this morning so pictures were a little difficult. The lighting in the house was bad. It was wet outside. It was before 7am. Not conditions conducive for great photos. But, we managed to get some to document the occasion.

 

I missed having Tyler at my building today, but it was nice to see this sunshiney face in the middle of my day.

And our back to school cake...I think the mock up I did on paper turned out better than the actual cake, but the kids appreciated the effort. It's to celebrate Tyler joining the marching band and Danielle making it on the 7th grade volleyball team.

 

I think we all had good days. Tyler summed his day up by saying, "Well, it wasn't horrible." I'll settle for that. He is an intelligent kid with a good head on his shoulders, but high school is hard. I hated 9th grade. I would appreciate the extra prayers for Tyler this school year as he continues to figure out who he is and the direction he wants his life to take. Danielle had a good day and enjoyed most of her classes. It still baffles her that grown adults can mistake Danielle for Daniel. Jr. high can be tough, too, and girls are mean. Throw an extra prayer or two in there for Danielle/Daniel, too.

Marching Debut

Tyler has spent the last 2 weeks in band camp. 9-4, M-F, in 90 degree temps, high humidity, and a broken air conditioner at the high school. And he hasn't complained once. In fact, I think he actually enjoyed it.

They had a "meet the band" night at the high school on Thursday evening and ran through their pregame and half time shows for all the parents. I have to admit that I teared up a little watching Tyler march onto the field. This type of activity is so outside of his comfort zone, yet he stuck with it. And he did a great job! He made some mistakes and almost wiped out a flute player once when he turned right but should have turned left :) , but a lot of kids made mistakes! For the most part he kept up really well. I couldn't believe he'd learned all that in only 2 weeks!

The first football game is in 2 weeks. I'm sure the band will look and sound even better by then. I'll post some videos and something other than cellphone pics later this season.

The Homemade Touches

Danielle had a pool party for her 13th birthday. We made a few things ourselves for her party and wanted to share (I'll post pictures from her party and birthday later.):

Danielle found an idea on Pinterest for invitations that she liked, so we made those.

We used an electric meat carver to cut pool noodles into segments and then to cut those pieces in half lengthwise. Danielle used scissors to round off the tops.

We glued craft sticks to the back of a postcard I designed with all the details, and then hot glued the pool noodle pieces in place.

 

 

Ta-da! Pool noodle popsicles! Thankfully we could hand deliver most of them because they were a little pricey to mail. We did mail 4 of them, though, and they held up great.

I really wanted the party to be relaxed and casual, so we didn't go all out decorating. There weren't supposed to be any gifts and we didn't do a big cake or candles. Danielle has a thing for pigs, so I did try to include those in the little I did do.

My watermelon pig. It doesn't look like anything I saw online, but I like how he turned out. It really wasn't difficult, either.

I also made candy clay pigs to top the cupcakes. I was really pleased with these. Hopefully you can tell, but they're supposed to look like pigs swimming in mud. I found the pig sprinkles on Amazon.

 

 

 

Both the watermelon and the cake toppers were big hits with the girls. Danielle really liked them, too, which was the most important part. :)