MLK weekend

Usually on MLK day I would be returning from my girls' weekend with Amy and Dana.  This year, we had to reschedule, so I'm enjoying a day at home with the kids.  It good to slow down and even better to reflect on this day in particular.

Just a few days ago it was 65 degrees in Nashville.  Today it's 25.  I am not pleased.

In non-weather related news, Matt had a great weekend playing in the middle Tennessee 9-10th grade Gold band at MTSU.   He had been in Mufreesboro since Thursday night (missed school on Friday), working with a guest conductor and playing with the best freshman and sophomore band students in the mid state.  Because of his audition in the fall, he has also qualified to be in the All-State band come April. So proud of him.  GG and Gus drove in for the concert, and we all agreed it was outstanding.  And he looks pretty sharp in a tuxedo!

Meanwhile, Gracie was having a pretty awesome weekend herself.  BFF Alex was in from Los Angeles for the long weekend.  She joined her and a bunch of other friends for bowling and karaoke at Kings Bowl on Friday night.  Then she came over on Sunday afternoon and spent the night before leaving back for California this afternoon. They went to the mall, made TONS of slime, watched movies, ate snacks and took loads of pictures (and got me to help, too).  They even helped me change the marquee at Woodland, but not before personalizing it for themselves first. 

That message only stayed up long enough to take the picture.  Then we had to change to something else!

Love seeing these sweet girls back together.  They have been friends since they met at My Gym when they were 14 months old.  Gracie misses her more that you can imagine, but I'm so grateful that they still get to see each other and have technology to help them keep in touch on a daily basis. 

And they're pretty cute, too.

Complicated!

Last weekend Gracie and I headed to Alabama for her first baton competition since the fall.  It was a new competition, so we didn't know what to expect.

It ended up being relatively small.  Lots of team performances. And for Gracie, she only had competitors in a few of her events.   If you are are trying out new routines, this isn't always a bad thing because you can work the kinks out, get judge feedback, and the wins don't count towards advancement in your level.  However, the flip side is you work hard to see how you stack up against others.  Earning those wins is important and a point of pride.  

The day started with the groups and show twirls.  Gracie was 43rd of 61.   Needless to say, she spent over 2 1/2 hours sitting on old wood bleachers watching people twirl. When her name was finally called, she took the floor and gave an average performance.  Not her best. Not her worst.  But as she has getting ready to launch a new show twirl, she wanted this last performance of the old one to go great. 

But it didn't.   

Her marching and strutting went pretty well, although she competed against a girl who got a PERFECT score, so needless to say Gracie came in second to her.  

Somewhere in there, we had some tears. 

We made a quick costume change and discovered they had moved on to the X-Struts without the scheduled break.  She had to perform it three times in a row for each of the three judges.  The first one was rough.  In the second, she froze for a moment (10 second in her mind--more like 2 in reality) where she forgot her routine.   The contest runner offered a her a short break before her third time, which she thankfully took.  The third one went off without a hitch. 

But we had more tears.  Honestly, a lot of tears. 

Then on to her solo.  In her first performance, she dropped it 7 times.  I've never seen her drop 7 times.   Ever. 

More tears. I couldn't say anything right. But it turns out saying nothing was also wrong. 

The other solos went better, but none were perfect. 

Her last events were 2-baton solo, which she considers her worst event.   The first time out she had a no-drop routine with no deductions.  

Praise God, y'all. 

Finally, the last competition took her floor.  Gracie collected her awards and by 5 pm, we were in the car headed back home.  I waited until we hit the Tennessee state line before I asked if we could talk about what happened that day.  It was dark by now and she finally said, "I think I'm just complicated." 

I couldn't help but laugh.  I love that she had such a simple explanation.   We talked about what had gone well.  And what didn't.  We talked about how she could better respond when things didn't go her way.   I have a feeling this will not be the last time we talk about it. 

Hormones, the stress of competition, the anxiety of waiting to perform, the frustration of not performing well . . . they can combine to create the perfect storm. 

Or maybe it's just a "complicated" storm.  :) 

Happy Birthday

12 years ago we welcomed this little nugget into the world.

Happy birthday, Gracie Lou. 

Hosting duties gone wild . . .

What a weekend!  I'm not sure I earned the title "Hostess with the Mostest," but I feel like a contender.

Friday night was the Spring Fling dance for the middle school.  For the 6th graders, it's their first dance.  They do their combined with the 7th graders. The 8th graders have a separate dance where they also serve dinner.  The only person in our family involved with the 8th grade dance was me, since I had to do decorations for the dinner.  Matt's closest pals were not going (soccer tournaments, etc.) so Matt decided he didn't want to go either.  Then Bassam got tickets to the Predators game and that sealed the deal.  The Preds lost, but they had a great time regardless. Plus, Matt had a brand new Pekka Rinne jersey that he was excited to wear!

Gracie, on the other hand, was not going to miss it.  The 6th graders were all a twitter about the dance.  Countless conversations and texts exchanged with  pictures of dresses shared (it's "dressy casual"), decisions about hair, and figuring out who was going with who (no dates, just groups of friends).

Gracie asked to be dropped off at her friend Natalie's house where she met up with another friend, Hope. They appear to have spent the next 40 minutes taking pictures.  I had to snag a few of them off her phone for myself.  

After the dance, these three girls, along with 7 others came back to our house for dinner.   When I suggested a post-dance dinner to Gracie initially, I thought it would be 3 or 4 friends.  But this mama hates the idea of anyone being left out, so 10 it was.   My friend Mandy helped me pick them all up (her daughter Anna was in the posse) and then hung out while the girls enjoyed a taco bar and s'mores.   There was a lot of screaming, giggling, looking at pictures on phones and loud storytelling.

And 90% of it took place on my back porch. Sorry, neighbors.  

Fast forward to Saturday, where after spending part of the afternoon (and a large chunk of change) buying Matt a new trumpet, we hosted Gracie's 12th birthday party.  After changing her mind on what she wanted to do and who she wanted to invite a thousand times, we finally landed on going back to Schakolad, a local chocolate place, for her party.  She's actually had a couple parties there in the past and it never disappoints.  They have a chocolate fountain at the start (Matt & Bassam stayed for this part and then wisely escaped the craziness!).  Then they dipped their own Oreos, marshmallows and other goodies (which they later decorated), they did a chocolate tasting (darkest chocolate through milk) and learned about where it comes from, and finished by building and decorating chocolate houses in teams, which they later took apart and took pieces home.   

Safe to say, a delicious time was had by all. 

I wrapped up hosting duties tonight by having our April Girl Scout meeting at the house. Bassam and Matt were relegated up to the bonus room with the dog (where they watched the Predators trounce the Avalanche 5-0) while the girls worked on their Science of Happiness badge.  Well, at least that's what we started out doing.  Sometimes the girls really want to talk about something else (although tonight it was somewhat related) and you just have to let the conversation flow.   There were clearly a lot of tween friend issues on their minds, so we let them share, offer each other advice and finished with a fun project of making a happiness jar full of notes and compliments from each other to read when they need a pick-me-up.  

But after three straight evenings of hosting 11 and 12 year old girls, I'm officially spent!  

Rain rain go away . . .

Thursday:  Sunny and 72 degrees
Friday:  Sunny and 80 degrees
Today:  Cloudy, thunderstorms and 80 degrees

Hello, spring in Nashville.

Bassam is on call and currently on his second trip to the hospital today.   I worked for a few hours this afternoon, but now am back home.  The kids have largely vegged out.  I'm told they did homework while I was gone, but I'm skeptical.  The Predators are on tv and there is no where I'd rather be than the couch.   Unfortunately, at some point I have to trek to the mall with Gracie to find shoes for her first middle school dance.

Going out shopping at the mall on a rainy evening, with a picky, yet indecisive tween?  Lucky me!

Back at the baton . . .

First baton competition of 2018 in books.  It was a USTA comp, which are not our favorites.  There are no titles at most of the competitions, so you get one shot at most events, plus the show twirls (called Dance Twirls here) only use one baton, and the routine Gracie has been working on includes both a 2 and 3 baton portion, so we skipped entering.   But this competition was a short 45 minutes from our house, so we figured it was worth the chance to get on the floor and in front of judges before our big competitions in March and April. 

Gracie only had three competitors in her division.   Of her 5 events, two of them she was unopposed.  Naturally, she "won" those (you get an award, but they don't count towards advancement)  In the other 3 events, she scored all 2nd places.  She didn't lose to the same person every time, but naturally, it wasn't the outcome she was hoping for.  She was very close in two of the three, but it was definitely a case of the better girl won.   

Needless to say, Gracie was not a happy camper.   And let me tell you, nobody beats up Gracie quite like Gracie does.  Her events were wrapped up by 1 pm, so we decided to pack it in and not watch the end of the competition. I let her sulk (and text) quietly on the way home. 

I noticed today that the 2 small trophies and 3 medals she won yesterday were nowhere to be found. I suspect they are stashed in her closet somewhere.  She's clearly ready to move on. 

But there is a silver lining, her new costume, purchased second hand online and altered by my mom, looks FANTASTIC! 

Cotillion grad!

It's Sunday afternoon and I have a "to do" list 15 tasks deep, so this is going to be quick.

1.  We have officially wrapped up Cotillion.  Gracie had her Grand Ball yesterday and was just as beautiful as can be.   As a member of the Advisory Board, I had to serve as a chaperone for the ball (the rest of the parents come for the last 20 minutes for a father/daughter or mom/son dance), which granted me access to seeing my girl (and her friends in action). It's fair to say they aren't ready for high society, but I'd like to think we're a little closer. 

Here is Gracie all dolled up, including COMBED HAIR, y'all.   Be still my beating heart!  Also snapped a couple pictures of her dancing with her pals, both named John.

2.  It's three weeks until Spring Break. No big excursions planned and that's just fine.  However, between now and then, I have a spring Book Fair and Teacher Appreciation Week, which includes 4 teacher luncheons and a breakfast. Thankfully, I have three awesome women who share the load for Teacher Appreciation Week, so I'm trying not to worry.  Except that I've managed to get behind in planning.  And it's the week before Spring Break when everyone has mentally, if not physically, checked out.

3.  The kids and I served breakfast for the homeless this morning up at St. Paul's for the Nashville Women's Center.  Although we are ready for 100-150, we only had about 65 women and children come through.  Although we had leftover breakfast casseroles, sausage, fruit and cereal, it was a good problem to have.  I'm always thankful for this morning of service.

In the course of writing this post, I've added two more things to my list, so I think I best start crossing some of them off.   Hope your weekend was full of sunshine like it is here in Nashville.

5th grader no more!

It has been an extraordinarily exciting week, but the best part was Gracie's 5th grade promotion on Monday!

Sure, I'm a few days late blogging about it, but it's been an extraordinarily BUSY week, too.  

The 5th grade parents have been planning 5th grade promotion and the party afterwards since the fall.  And if I do say so myself, it came off beautifully. Here's my girl on the first day of kindergarten and on 5th grade promotion.

All the kids wear their 5th grade t-shirts for promotion, which I don't love.  But that decision is way above my pay grade. 

 My friend Lee, who owns Celebration signs did this great display on the hill in front of the building!

This was the only picture I got with the redhead that day.  Got a great picture with the grandparents, a snapshot with dad before he dashed out to work (the ceremony was at 10 am), lots of shots of Gracie, but no full family picture.  Mom fail. 

Of course Gracie kept it in perspective, "It's just pictures. Everyone was there to see it in person."

She is a wise one.   Proud of her in so many ways. 

Tuesday was the last day of school.  Technically a half-day, although I was there all day because we hosted a luncheon for the entire staff after the kids went home.  It was a great chance for the teachers to celebrate the end of school and Dr. Webb's retirement.  We did the decorations and food and they did slide shows and presentations.  It was great.    And it was OFFICIALLY my last event at Kenrose. 

I'm still letting that fact settle in.  

After the luncheon, we hosted a swim party for my Girl Scouts at the neighborhood pool.   We had exactly one day off and then today Gracie was off to middle school orientation.  

Too fast, y'all. 

Birthday week is over!!

We came.  We ate cake. We survived "Birthday Week" 2017.

Tuesday was my birthday.  I am old, so there no cake on fire for me, but it was a lovely day just the same.  Ran carpool, had lunch with some of my best pals at Chuy's, volunteered up at the library.  That evening, Matt had a band concert, which would have been lovely, but I received a volunteer award from Williamson County Schools, so there as a reception at the same time.  My parents took band concert duty, while Bassam joined me at the reception/ceremony.  On the way home, we stopped at REI to pick up my gift (wouldn't fit in his car), which was a new bike!  This is a city/leisure riding bike.  So, no, triathlon pals, I will not be joining you.

We all met up back at our house post-concert for angel food cake and strawberries!

Thursday was Tammy's birthday. Not even Bassam got to celebrate with her on her big day (they work together, so usually they can grab lunch), so they had to wait until Friday which was . . . . 

GRACIE'S BIRTHDAY! 

This, of course, is a big celebration.  Because when you are 11 years old you want a big celebration and cake with lots of a candles.  Mind you, when you're 11 candles on your cake won't set off the smoke detectors, so that is a plus. 

Unfortunately, much of G's day was spent at school because you know . . . . the law and whatnot.  It was also a standardized testing day which was less than fun. Luckily, it was math, which is her favorite subject and she reported it was "crazy easy!"  I did come up to school at lunch to bring donuts for her and her classmates, which unlike testing, was fun!  

That evening, we had her "friend party" over at a place called Craft Love.   The girls made monogram wood signs for their rooms . . . distressing the wood, staining it, building the sign, and painting the design.   They also managed to eat chicken nuggets, fruit, pretzels, cake and open presents.  It was a wonderful, giggle-filled evening! 

Today, we wrapped up the celebration with dinner at Shogun (where they cook in front of you--Gracie's choice) with all the grandparents, Tammy and Uncle Wad.   We finished the evening back at our house for more cake and presents.   I finally got to give Tammy her gift and I got awesome ones, too!  Yay!!

We also got to talk to my sister today, who is celebrating her birthday!  I told you it was a busy week!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to be with her (mom and dad were up in Chicago for her party last weekend), but we did get to sing to her (with Charlie, of course) and she opened her gift from our crew.   

No more birthdays in our family until July, so now we relax!

Girl Power!

This morning, Gracie and I, along with approximately 15 thousand of our closest friends met up at Cumberland Park and marched to Legislative Plaza as part of the Women's March on Washington in Nashville.   Not only were we proud of the amazing turnout and positive energy at the event, but Gracie and I were also pretty proud of ourselves since both of us have a bit of claustrophobia.  For us, standing at a packed rally and walking in a massive throng of other people is a pretty anxious situation.  But it was worth it!  I carried a sign that said "Make America Kind Again" and the redhead carried this . . . . 

As we marched across the pedestrian bridge, her sign caught eye of a man watching near us who wanted to meet the future president.  Who was he?  Congressman Jim Cooper of Nashville. 

All in all, a great day!  #Redheadin2044

Sunday night ramblings . . . .

After my last pathetic post, were you wondering if I did NOT survive last week??!?

Okay, probably not.  But the good news is that I did survive.  I'm alive and kicking with a to-do list the size of a yardstick.  But I survived!

While the end of last week was insanely crazy, it was fun.   On Thursday and Friday I served as a parent volunteer for Gracie's field trip to JA BizTown, where she was CEO of the bank.  Meanwhile, I was "across town" serving as the parent volunteer in the Memorial Foundation (philanthropy) with a foursome of highly distracted, but very enthusiastic boys.

 The two parent volunteers in the bank reported Gracie did well in her post.  One also said she looks like an American Girl doll.  I wasn't entirely sure what to make of that one, but I'm pretty sure it was a compliment, so I smiled and said, "Thank you!"

As soon as I got back to from BizTown it was on to my Girl Scout meeting.  As the last part of the aMUse leadership journey, they had a talent show and invited parents and other special guests to see them perform.   There were dancers, singers, joke tellers, piano players, a girl who showed art and a baton twirler.

Guess who that last one was?

All the girls did fantastic and although sometimes being a scout leader stresses me out, it was a nice reminder of why I do it.  They are an awesome group of girls!

While Gracie twirled, Matt was off at a math competition over at Ravenwood.  He managed to snag third place on the Algebra test and helped his team finish first overall.  Proud mama!

Friday was the second day of BizTown, plus the end of book fair at the middle school. The second day of BizTown was as crazy as the first, but still a lot of fun.  The kids had the hang of what they were doing and so did I.  When I got back, I packed up the library at Woodland and thanked my lucky stars that book fair season had come to a close.

Then that evening, Matt was back at school for the holiday dance. He went with his pal, Sam, and a few other boys. I was thankful he a had a crew, because there's no way he would have gone otherwise.  Details from the dance were sketchy at best, but he came home sweaty, so I know he danced for at least part of the evening.

On Saturday, Gracie was off to her own math competition.   You might be wondering if these kids are a "chip off the old block" in terms of these math skills.  They might be.  But be assured, the "old block" in question is not me.   No one ever asked me to compete in a math competition and if they had, I certainly wouldn't have won anything.

G, on the other hand, came home with both a 14th and 12th place medal, which was pretty nifty considering here were around 200 students at each level.

We finally got our Christmas tree up today.   We bought it on Home Depot and I swear we somehow came home with a different tree then we picked out.  Okay, not really, but when we looked at it Friday night none of us noticed the big gaping spots with no branches that were incredibly apparent when we put it up at home.

It's bad, y'all.

Regardless, we decided to decorate the tree tonight after my concert.  Unfortunately, Bassam was on the phone a large portion of the time dealing with stuff at the hospital, so it was just me and the kids.   I sat on the floor putting on hooks and the kids put them on the tree.  As a result, it's a hot mess with 75% of the ornaments taking up residence on 25% of the the tree.   I want to rearrange them, but quite frankly, I'm too tired.   Maybe tomorrow.

Or maybe never.

Music choices

I opened the door tonight to call Gracie in for dinner (who of course was playing in THE DARK since it was 5:20) and discovered she and her pal, Jo Jo, playing on the driveway with music blaring. What were they listening to?   "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton.

She is so my kid.

Friendship . . .

It's Friday.

Can I get a "Whoo hoo!"

Book Fair is in full swing.   Still have next week to contend with, but it's going well and we're selling a lot of books.  A LOT, y'all.

And I dressed up as Clifford the Big Red Dog for the last time.   Can I get another "Whoo hoo!"

Glad for this weekend and a little bit of down time.   Matt has a football game tonight. Gracie has her pal, Alex, spending the night so they are upstairs giggling up a storm.

We found out last month that Alex is moving to California at the end of the end of the school year.   Gracie was devastated.  I say that like her devastation is in the past.  It's not.  She tears up almost every time she talks about it.   They've been friends since they were in diapers and next year they were going to finally be back at the same school.

Such sweet, beautiful friends.

It makes me a little sad hearing them carry on upstairs--knowing they won't be able to do this a year from now.   Thank goodness for email and FaceTime.  I know it will help, but won't be the same.

So for now, as we should with all our relationships, we enjoy the time we have.

reluctant blogger or just a busy one?

It's funny that I always think summer is when I get behind on blogging.  Truth is, this fall (which is what we call anything after the point where school starts, even thought it's been in the mid 90s practically ever day) I'm having an even harder time keep up.

This past week, we enjoyed the 4 day week, although it felt just as busy come Tuesday, because it was 5 days of school work crammed in 4 days.   

Still, we survived the week, so when Friday rolled around I helped host a breakfast for the bus drivers at Gracie's school (I'll do Matt's school on Wednesday), had a PTO meeting and then packed up the car to get Gracie and I (along with another baton friend and her mom) to Memphis for our first baton competition.  

The competition was at the Delta Fair.  It's a smaller competition with less than 40 twirlers.   Over the course of 5 1/2 hours, Gracie performed her show twirl once, marched 3 times, walked for "best appearing" twice and did her solo 4 times.   For the majority of the time, she was only competing against other 10-12 year olds in the novice division. The exception were the components for the Miss Delta Fair competition, which was one march, one walk and one solo.  For that, she competed against all 10-12 year olds, some of whom were incredibly talented and part of the 2 levels above hers.  

Despite our novice status, she managed to score 1st place in the open competition for best appearing and strut (marching). She won 2nd place for her show twirl, earned 3rd for her solo in the Hall of Fame division, 5th in the Miss Twirltacular best appearing and 8th overall for the Miss Delta Fair. 

Maybe. I can't keep them straight.   All I know is the kid came home with 5 trophies and a medal. 

Her pal Emily won one of the 1st place trophies that you can see in the background of this picture. 

I know the redhead was feeling a little jealous about that, but she was super gracious with her friend.  Emily is a year older and had done competition before, so hopefully it will give Gracie something to work towards.

This was the costume Gracie wore for "Best Appearing."  It was loaned to us by G's friend, Faith, who is a dancer extraordinaire! So grateful to have something beautiful borrow (and it got great comments by the judges!).  We saw some amazing costumes at the competition . . . lots of bling and fringe.  If I had more talent (and patience) with a needle and thread, I'd try my hand at making costumes.  People drop hundreds of dollars on them. 

Back at the ranch, Matt had his second flag football game.  Unfortunately, it was a second loss for the Cowboys.  Matt started as quarterback, but was pulled after throwing two interceptions. Ouch.  Luckily, when he went back in the game he caught a short pass and ran the rest of the length of the field to score his first touchdown of the season!  Go Matt!  

Afterward, Bassam, Matt and his pal, Parker went down to the Vandy game.  They saw most of the first half, but then they had a delay in game due to crazy storms. The delay ended up going 1hr and 45 minutes, so they headed home to eat pizza and watch it on TV.  They also found we had lost some huge limbs from the tree in front of our house.    Hence, we're spending part of Sunday with the chainsaw. 

Next week I'll have to call a tree trimmer out because we have one more big limb that broke off and is still perched up among the branches and a few others that are hanging too close to the house.  

So that's our weekend in a nutshell. I'm off to a band concert in about an hour, Gracie is going to Youth Group (her first one!) and Matt has big plans to sit on the couch and watch football. 

Oh my stars....

I went to 5th grade open house last night and afterwards found Gracie's "All about Me" poster hanging in the hallway.



































Yes, I teared up a bit . . .and wondered what happened to her plan to write about Simone Biles.  #betterthanagoldmedal

Ears!

A month ago, Gracie and I were enjoying lunch at the American Girl cafe and getting her doll's hair done.  Today, we were three stores down at Claire's and the redhead got her ears pierced.

Claire's has been piercing ears for almost 40 years . . . . I wonder how many millions of ears they've pierced?   I sat in their chair 30 years ago to get my own ears done.   Then again 5 years later for my second set of holes and a year later for a single pierce third pierce I added in college.  It's where you go.

Gracie was a trooper.  She didn't even wince.    

 Is it weird that it made me a little sad? 

Sunday night already?

It's been a fun few days since I last checked in.   We had our last regular season swim practice on Friday and since neither of my kids are doing Championships this year, we're basically done until the party next Sunday.

Of course, Matt isn't doing Championships this week because he is off at camp.  Even though he went to golf camp last month, this feels like his first "real" sleep away camp. See, golf camp was just one town over!  Plus I was already gone at baton camp when Matt left and then he returned just a day and a half after Gracie and I returned home from Knoxville.  I hardly had time to miss him!

But this time he had to cross state lines and change time zones!  At 7 am this morning, they loaded up a 15 passenger van at church and were off to Sugar Mountain, NC.   I know they've arrived safely, but the rest of the details will not come until next weekend.  In the meantime, I will be scanning the photo page of the camp website which they supposedly add to every day!

Meanwhile this was the big excitement for Gracie . . . .

Don't be distracted by her decidedly Southern ensemble of boots and denim shorts (Bless her heart!), but focus on her newest accessory . . . . the glasses!   If you've followed the blog for a few years, you might remember that Gracie had surgery on her eye several years back.  Her vision was perfect (and still is), but she has an alignment issue due to differences in the muscle strength of her two peepers. The result is when she is focusing on things at a certain distance (TV, movies, dry erase boards at school, etc), she has to turn her head to the right to focus.  Although the previous surgery was "successful," the correction was ultimately too conservative.  While she will have to go back to the operating room at some point (and neither parents or doctor think there is a huge rush to do this), it was suggested we consider trying glasses in the meantime.  They are prism lenses only, so they do not correct her vision, but help her eyes to focus better when looking straight on.  We'll see how this goes, but so far, it seems okay.  We'll be back at Vanderbilt for another check up in 3 months...keep your fingers (but not your eyes!) crossed!

As for me, the big highlight for my week was a visit from my sweet friend, Mindy, who I've known for over 30 years.  She came through Nashville on her way back from Savannah, and Heather and I were able to meet her out for drinks on Thursday evening. We ate, drank and chatted for over 3 hours and it was so awesome!  My heart was full --and now I want to know who's coming to visit next!

Camp, glasses and visits from Illinois . . . what could be better?

Note to the cutie in the red dress above:  Happy Birthday, HO!!
 

Twirler girl . . . .

This weekend we had Gracie's spring baton recital.   She performed both a group and solo routine and she did really well.   It's been a fun year in baton and she has really improved since this time last year.   So lucky to have an amazing coach like April!

If you are so inclined to see my girl twirl, then check out this video!  Gracie was bummed about a few mistakes in her routine, but I reminded her there are so many great parts that are much more memorable!

Next stop . . . . fire batons!  Just kidding.

Kind of.

She really wants to attend a fire baton clinic this summer.  She doesn't make the age cut, but her coach told her if the class doesn't fill, she'll think about letting her participate.

Get your fire extinguishers ready!

Happy birthday, Gracie Lou!

"It's a girl . . . .and she's a redhead."

 

  

That is what my OB announced 10 years ago when we welcomed this little nugget to the world. 

All the things people warn you about a redhead? They're true.  Every.  Single.  One. 

But you know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way!

By the way, children of Williamson County.....if you want to know who you can thank for the cancellation of "TN Ready" (our standardized tests), it's this little sparkplug.

For weeks, she said, "All I want for my birthday is to not have to take TN Ready" (which were scheduled to start today).   We told her that unfortunately, we were unable to deliver that gift and suggested she come up ideas for some other things she might like (which she did!).    But in a strange turn of events, after rescheduling twice and then delayed delivery of materials by the testing company, Williamson County cancelled all standardized testing for the remainder of the year.  CANCELLED!  This all went down late yesterday afternoon and needless to say, the redhead stepped off bus with arms above her head crowing, "I wished for no testing AND IT HAPPENED!"

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  

Skate party!

A whole lot of birthday celebrating in these parts today!  

This afternoon we hosted Gracie and 8 of her pals for a party at the Brentwood Skate Center.   They skated, played games, ate pizza and cake, drank ICEEs and giggled like there was no tomorrow.  Two little friends had to miss because they were sick, but it was still a great time.  This really is the sweetest group of girls!    They pooled all their tickets from games and got pixel animals and matching mesh gloves (Hello, 1985!).  Many thanks to the sweet girl at the redemption counter who made their tickets go a lot farther than they should have! 

 

After the skate party it was back home to celebrate my birthday a day early with my parents, B's parents, Tammy and Ashley.  Bassam grilled up tons of chicken, lamb, corn and veggies and it was all delicious!   Of course, another party meant another cake, too!  Hooray for birthdays! 

Maybe next year I should have a skate party, too! Who's coming if I do??