High School

So, there is this article in the local paper that has me thinking back. It's about band uniforms. It made me think about the uniforms we wore in high school band. Then, it got me wondering. What did everyone else do in high school?

Like I mentioned, I was in band. My favorite part was marching band. I was also in jazz band, percussion ensemble, and of course concert band was part of it. I also was on swim team. Swim team started when I was a little kid. I think I was about 10 when I started swim team. I did state in Nebraska for u12 one year. Placed 17th in backstroke (my worst thing) and that's it. I didn't place in anything else. It was fun though. I still love swimming. It's great exercise, I just wish I could get myself to the pool in the winter. I'm just too tired to get there. It's one of those things where you KNOW exercise is good for you and will liven you up, but you just have to get there first. I also ran track (sprints) all four years, but I sucked at that. Anyway, I think that's about all I did. I did volleyball freshman year and didn't really like it. I did cross country senior year for about a week. I was never supposed to run distance. Seriously, that's insane! Oh, something I did that isn't common knowledge, I did Miss TEEN Kansas when I was a junior. It was interesting. Even then it wasn't my thing, but what the heck, gotta try new things.

So, what did you do in high school? Do you miss it?

Picture Post

I took this picture ONE year ago. At first glance I think that my kids haven't changed AT ALL. But, they have. Last year they were 5 and 9. This year they are 6 and 10. Why does that seem so much older? Ten is double digits. I remember being 10. I only remember some of 9, like breaking my finger. And six is on TWO hands not one. My daughter is a 4th grader now. That's not a little kid. She's growing so much, and learning so much. She still does the same sorts of things and is very strong willed. However, she's also learned to not be AS shy as she used to be. She now can do things in front of other people without being embarrassed. She also is all of a sudden, understanding math. She struggled with math for so long, but now she "gets" it. Her grades are those that anyone would be proud of.

Amory started school officially this year. He was the type of kid that couldn't sit still to color or cut. Letters were NOTHING to him. Now, just a few months in, he's coloring, cutting, and can read some words! He's still having a hard time doing what he should when it's sitting still too long, but he's getting there. He actually went to karate tournament this year and didn't freak out with the noise and activity. That's a great improvement.

Both these kids have their rotten moments, but they also have their amazing ones.

In case you want to see the rest of the pictures from that photo shoot (looking for a perfect picture for the Christmas cards) here they are.

So, what's going on.

Again, I've been out of the posting thing for over a month. I have an excuse! The first part is that October is always extremely busy. Both kids have birthdays. That's just the tip of it.

October 6th is my oldest child's birthday. It was also the day of the school fun walk. Well, I ended up with a bad stomach virus and all I wanted to do was puke. I normally help at the fun walk, I went up there, but they sent me home. Turns out we had our best ever turnout and the most money ever raised. Well, sadly we were supposed to go to the amusement park with my daughter and her friends that day. We had to postpone. I felt like the bad mom. She did end up having a great day though. She did the walk then my mom took her, her brother, and her friend running around shopping all afternoon. When my mom got tired of the them, she sent the girls with my husband to the movie and the boy went to my brother's.

Then sometime around the 8th, our cable was off. Luckily, my mom dvr'd many of my shows. BUT, we thought it was from late payment, so we had to wait for a week for pay day. (yeah, we are slow payers, sorry, it happens). I was off work, and no cable. In our house, no cable means no internet. BAD. Well, so that all sucked and we went in and paid it. It's usually back on right away when we get home. NOT this time. We call them and ask and turns out our cable was NOT disconnected all that week. We had tech support and everything. The outside cable was chewed up. Apparently one of my amazingly brilliant dogs chewed it in half.

We did the amusement park on the 13th. It was rainy and gross all morning. Of course it was! It ended up clearing soon after we got there and it was great. We had a TON of fun. Got all the kids home around 9pm!!!

Amory had a great party on the 20th with all his friends.















It was a costume party with a bleeding eye cake (yes, I made it, but while I'm proud of it, it's not that big of a deal). I had absolutely nothing planned other than cake. We had it at my mom's house though and she has a huge outside play area, so that was good enough. Fun was had by all.

Then in case that wasn't enough, we did the whole Halloween thing too. Amory decided to be the Boogey Man instead of a vampire. It could have been awesome, but he had no patience for the makeup, so it was just OK, but people liked it. Corey was still a Rockstar Vampire.









So, mix that with basketball, volunteering at the school, work, gymnastics and karate, we have been running. I do plan to write AT LEAST on Mondays again though. Check back tomorrow. (edited to fix pics)