Lost, found and wet . . .

So we're out of school today due to flooding in the area.  It rained Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We got a reprieve on Thursday during the day, but picked up again last night.   It rained all day today and apparently we have bad storms coming in tomorrow.

No flooding for us, but it's very wet and very muddy.  It's also very, very gray.   I'm so over it.

But it was a nice bonus to have the kids home from school today.   We ran a few errands, Gracie had a baton lesson, the kids watched copious amounts of television, played video games and we cleaned the house.

Of course, cleaning the house was more than responding to the clutter and dust that seemed to be everywhere.  On Wednesday, Matthew lost the charging case for his beloved AirPods.   He tore up his room, backpack, family room, our desk, the car, and about 30 other places that they had no chance of being.

No luck.

So today, I tore up those places and a few more.  Gracie joined in the fun, too.  I thought he might have left the case in his coat pocket, so I searched for his new Patagonia fleece jacket that he got for Christmas.

Front close?  Nope.

His closet?  Nope.

Balled up in his backpack?   Nope.

So now we have a missing fleece and AirPod case.  I should mention Matt was not AT ALL worried about the missing jacket.   But of course, this mama, who bought the jacket WAS worried.  At one point, he yelled out that he found his coat. When I walked down to see it, I discovered him wearing his dad's Patagonia down jacket.    Let's see . . . Matt has a semi-fitted, gray fleece in a men's sizes small.   Bassam has a gray down jacket in a men's size LARGE.   They were both gray and Patagonia, but the style and size were completely different.   Can my son really not tell the difference!??!??

Bassam came home from work early and I suggested to Matt that he take another look his car.   He grumbled, but went out to the car.   A few minutes later we heard "I found it" being screamed from the garage.

He found the AirPod case.   Not the jacket.   Who am I kidding?  He didn't even look for the jacket.

Back to school vs. still in school

This week, my Facebook feed has been flooded with Back to School posts.   Cute pictures of kids with fresh haircuts and new backpacks. 

For us, that was 26 days ago.   Seems like eternity.  Matt's already in need of a new haircut and we replaced his backpack with something bigger a couple weeks ago.   

Okay, technically, I've purchased 2 new backpacks since then. But I returned one. 

Matt also lost his pocket stapler and his pencil pouch. 

I can't tell if I'm jealous of my friends who just getting their fresh start with the school year or glad that we already have crossed off 26 days.

I think it's the latter.  Either way, it's time to schedule a haircut.

15

In many ways, this seems like only yesterday . . . .

How on earth did that sweet little baby become this gangly 15 year old?   The mama in the above picture could have never imagined how crazy the ride to getting that boy to high school would be.  But here we are. 

Many days this mama still has more questions than answers.  There are countless things I still need to teach him before we send him off to college and the world.  I'd say there is plenty of time, but truth is it's going by quicker than I ever could have imagined.

Happy birthday to my baby boy.  I love you, Matt.

Good day for Matt, bad day for Charlie

A big day for Charlie yesterday as he had dental cleaning.  No big deal for you and I, who go every 6 months or so.  Big deal for Charlie who is 14 years old and it was first time.  Apparently, the DentaStix are not enough.  #BadDogMom

Sweet Chuck had to skip breakfast, be sedated and then only got a 1/2 serving at dinner.  Needless to say, he was not his usual jovial self.   Or even his usual slightly cranky self.    But I caught a glimpse of his teeth as he let out a big yawn and they look good.

In happier news, last night Bassam took Matt and a couple pals to Top Golf to celebrate his birthday.   In addition to playing the games where you aim your microchipped balls at the giant dartboard-like targets, the boys also enjoyed aiming at the Range Picker cart, which they apparently hit a couple times.  Safe to say,  Matt, Sam and Jackson had a ball.

Peace! Be still!

The gospel in the church today was from Mark.  It was the story where Jesus calmed the storm on the sea, showing his power of evil and chaos. Jesus said, "Peace! Be still!" and the wind ceased and there was a dead calm.   And as I listened, I found myself thinking about Matt as a toddler.

I promise, this isn't a huge stretch.  Maybe, just a little stretch.

When Matt was a toddler, he was the happiest baby.  Although he was very late to talking, he generally figured out how to communicate his needs and didn't get frustrated very often.  But like any toddler, he had meltdowns at times. 

But when he did, we used to say, "No tantrum, Matt!" and he would stop.   I kid you not. This didn't happen once.  It happened countless times. 

Listen, I'm not comparing myself or my husband to Jesus, just noticing that "Peace, Be still," isn't too different from, "No tantrum, Matt!" 

But now, as we're in the midst of the turbulent teenage years, I find myself wishing I could say such a simple phrase that would stop the back talk or argument. 

Yeah, that would be REALLY nice.

School's Out for Summer

School's out for summer!   And now you have Alice Cooper stuck in your head all day. 

You're welcome. 

Last half day of school today.   For Gracie that meant yearbook signing and taking pictures with her friend.  For Matt it meant 8th grade promotion. 

Y'all, I have a high school student now.   

Nooooooooo! 

Wearing the unofficial boys uniform of khaki pants, Sperry's and a button down shirt, Matt was promoted to 9th grade and picked up some nifty honors for straight A's, band, Math club, geography bee and Math Olympiad.  He also got to perform with the brass quintet.  Proud of him!   

He immediately came home and immersed himself in Fortnite (the current game that EVERYONE is playing!).   I let him fry his brain for a while and then took him and his pal, Sam, to the pool to burn off some energy and potentially protect him from carpal tunnel and the need for eye glasses due to screen strain.  #MomoftheYear

Tonight we're off for a celebratory dinner at Shogun so we can all smell like hibachi for the rest of the night. 

The end of middle school was much needed for Matt.  It's been 30 years since I graduated from junior high (as we called it in the olden days!), and I'm not sure it's improved much.    I'm not sure it's improved AT ALL.    But I have to keep a positive(ish) attitude because Gracie has two more years.  Two.  Long.  Years. 

So, there you have it.  I am the mom of a high school freshman.  

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!  

Music, math and formal wear!

12 snowflakes fell from the sky last night and we STILL had school today.

Can you believe it?

It's been a busy week or so since I last posted.   On Thursday and Friday, Matt participated in the Williamson County Honor Band.  He sat first trumpet and we were so proud.  They gave an amazing performance on Friday night.   

On Saturday, both kids were off to a Math competition a local high school.   Spending your Saturday doing math . . . .yeah, I'm not sure they are my kids sometime.  Except for the fact that they completely look like me.  Anyway, Gracie placed in one test, earning a 12th place medal.  Matthew placed in both Geometry tests scoring 7th and 3rd.   

Luckily, their dad is a super smarty.  I can give them all the band nerdiness, but math . . . I'm out.  

In the meantime, I have now purchased 6 different dresses for Gracie's cotillion.   It's over a month away, but I don't want to be shopping at the last minute.   It's hard to find something that is age appropriate and in her size.   We've now returned 3 of the 6 and the last one, which I bought today, just might be the winner.   Although I did notice Gracie has a few more opened on the laptop. When will it end?   In related news, she has also decided that when the time comes, she would like to buy her wedding dress at Kleinfeld's and be on "Say Yes to the Dress." 

Oh boy. 

School is continuing to keep us busy.  Matt missed Friday to participate in Honor Band rehearsals and literally spent the rest of the weekend (after the math competition, of course) doing homework. I hope his social studies teacher liked the project he turned in on Monday because trust me when I tell you IT WAS A FAMILY EFFORT!

Unless he gets a bad grade, and then it's all Matt.  Ha ha! 

Brace yourself for re-entry

The kids were off for 10 days and now have been in for two.  Let me tell you, re-entry has been tough, y'all. 

We warned our kids the next couple weeks would probably be very homework-heavy as their teachers tried to make up the unexpected winter break we had last week.   Nobody believed us.   But we were right. 

Naturally. 

The last two days have included a whole lot of whining, "I forgot," eye-rolling and deep sighing.   

Child, please. 

On a lighter note, we really enjoyed Matt's Mid-State band concert on Saturday.  They ended up not starting rehearsals until Friday at noon, which means they lost almost half of their practice time. But the performance was still amazing.  And my kid looks pretty sharp in a tux, too. 

Back at the homestead, I'm trying to catch up on house cleaning. paperwork and of course, laundry.    Reality sets in hard for everyone.   But you won't catch me rolling my eyes about it. 

Symphonic Matt

We are officially back in the swing of things.   School, baton, clubs, music and gymnastics are all back on the calendar.  Tonight we added another activity to the schedule, when Matt tried out for (and made) the Tennessee Youth Symphony.    We had been contacted by the director back in December after Matt's mid-state audition.  Matt thought about it for a while and decided to give it a go.

Tonight was his audition, and as it happens, his first rehearsal.  As he got in the car afterward he said  said, "Wow! I might not be very good!"   Although he was initially overwhelmed by the difficulty of the music, I couldn't help but he excited for him.   He hasn't really been challenged in school band and the chance to play with talented young musicians (it's a grade 7-12 orchestra) is an awesome opportunity.

Admittedly, adding an activity on Monday nights is a stretch.  He rehearses in north Brentwood from 6:30-8:30 and Gracie has gymnastics in Nolensville from 6:30-8.   Hopefully, we'll figure it out.  And of course, he doesn't have to make a decision about doing it next year until late Spring.

In the meantime, we look forward to hearing more good music around the house and at his concerts!

School projects . . .

Let me just start by saying, I hate school projects. 

I really hate group school projects. Thankfully, we're not dealing with a group this weekend.  Just a plain old project.  It sort of feels like a "group" project because Bassam and I seem to be as invested as Matt.

Don't get me wrong, we don't do his work.  It drives me nuts when you walk down the hallway in elementary school and see posters/projects that were clearly not done by a kid under the age of 10. But for kids like Matt, getting organized and figuring out how to attack a multi-step project is a real challenge.  Focus, focus, focus. The struggle is real.

Thankfully, Matt's project about Medieval Japan is a PowerPoint slide show in Google documents, which is right up his alley.  Maybe not the topic, but he loves anything he gets to do on the computer.  Bonus, his handwriting stinks--so anything he gets to type is awesome!

So why is this particular project taking so long?

They were assigned the project on Wednesday and were given two days to work on the project in class (Th/F), use resources in the classroom and ask questions.   Matt missed Friday because he was at the all day rehearsal for the Williamson County Honor Band.  The absence is excused, but he didn't think he would need extra time since had the weekend.   This is entirely correct, but in that case, one would have logically used class time on Thursday getting information from resources that were available in the classroom only, since the teacher limited them to certain resources, not the entire world wide web.

Those resources became a huge issue for us.  First, Matt seemed to miss the detail that they were limited to certain articles/books.   I managed to hear to hear it from a girl in the carpool. Matt argued over that fact with me for a while before finally agreeing (read: Mom made him) to email his teacher to ask. 

Mom was right.

Then, for reasons that are not entirely clear, they do not have individual textbooks for social studies this year.   They have a physical set of in the classroom, but typically get a copy the text portion of each chapter.   This burns me up, as it a huge waste of paper, but nobody really cares what I think (shocking, I know!).  The teacher gave the kids access to the online version, which his super helpful, except only one person can be logged on at a time!  She has 5 or 6 classes doing the same project, so you can imagine how easy it was to get access yesterday. When we finally got on, you would randomly get thrown off two clicks later.  I swear, it was worse that Ticketmaster.

In the meantime, I spent waaaaaaay too much time trying to find access to the book elsewhere on the web.  I found links to many chapters on other schools websites, but not the chapter I needed.  Then I hit the jackpot and found a teacher somewhere in Oregon who posted her login information on her syllabus.  Of course, it ended up being the wrong version of the book.  

Finally, I found a place where I could sign up for a student subscription for book access for $23. In my extensive online "research," I found numerous schools where each child was given an individual login. Quite frankly, our county can afford it.  But regardless, it seemed like a small price to pay (for my sanity) so I signed up.  I breathed a sigh of relief until I checked my email and got a message saying it would be 24 hours/1 business day until I would receive login information.

Y'all, I can't even.

By 8:45 tonight, we had reasonably uninterrupted access to the online book, so we copy and pasted all the text he needed into a Word document, just in case.  By 9:15 he was clearly exhausted, so he'll have to hit it again tomorrow.   Matt hates doing homework on Sunday, but it can't be avoided this time.  Thankfully, there is no football on TV to compete with, so hopefully that will make it a little easier. 

I hate school projects.

Finals

As I type this, Bassam is in Florida . . . enjoying warm weather, golf, and time with his sister and her family.   I'm in Tennessee, bundled up in my flannel pajamas and Ugg boots (it's a classy look), helping Matt study for his finals tomorrow and battling a crummy cold.

Poor Matt.  It's his first time taking finals and his study partner has a major case of "medicine head."   Thank goodness he is a smart kid and doesn't need much help.  

It's been a long time since I took a final. . . . almost 19 years.   But not so long that I don't remember how miserable it can be trying to review a whole semesters worth of material is.

Good luck, Matt!

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.

Wednesday wish

It's only Wednesday, but I kind of need this week to be over.   It's not bad stuff--just too much stuff.  

It's book fair at the middle school, so lots of hours over there.  Unfortunately, I also double booked myself on a 2 day field trip to JA BizTown with Gracie tomorrow and Friday.  Add to that a band concert last night (Matt rocked it!!), band chili dinner, a Girl Scout meeting and talent show on Thursday, my last band practice of the season on Thursday night, extra choir practices for Gracie in preparation for her concert next week, music lessons and a math competition for Matt, there just aren't quite enough hours in the day.  

Listen, that list sounds stupid, I know.   It felt stupid typing it.   And it's felt stupid every time I've had to call my parents or friends to help get my kids to things because I can't be in two places at once.  

Some of the stupid is my own fault.  Some of it is just the time of year.

If we aren't FB friends, check out Matt's awesome solo at his concert!  This was the afternoon performance they did for visiting 5th graders.  He did just as well in the evening, but was dressed a little snappier.

TGIF!

Despite feeling like I've spent the last 48 hours waiting, it hasn't been all bad.

On Thursday morning, I woke up to find an email saying my phone had shipped and would be here later that day.  I had places to be that morning, but decided to play it safe and stay home.  Good thing, because UPS pulled up at 11:15 and I had to sign for the phone.  By 12:00 the new phone was set up (Thank goodness for iCloud back up! If you're not doing it, you should.) and I was back in business.  Hooray!  Of course, I was still waiting for the counter-tops dude and the shower door guys.  The first was supposed to be there between 1-3 and the second between 12-3.     The shower door guys showed up around 1:30 and installed the new door lickety-split.  And it looks soooo nice.  We've had a shower curtain forever, though, so I do think adjusting to the glass door will take a bit, but I love being able to see my beautiful new tile!

By 3:00 there was no sign of the counter-top dudes.  This was a second visit, since they discovered one piece of backsplash was cut too short when they came to do the original installation.   At 3:15 I called them and the following conversation:

Me:  Just wanted to check on the status of my appointment for this afternoon. 
Countertop lady (CL):   We have you down for 1-3 pm. 
Me:  Yes.
CL:  Well, it's just 3:15. *clearly thinking I'm crazy for calling* 
Me:  Okay.  So they're on they way?
CL:  Ummmmmmm.....Let me check.
After a few minutes  Head Countertop Dude (HCD) picks up the call.
HCD:  Can I help you? 
Me:  Calling to check on the status of my appointment. 
HCD:  You were 1-3 today? 
Me:  Yes.
HCD:  They are still on a job up in North Nashville.  It will be another hour. 
Me:  Another hour until they're done?
HCD:  Yes. 
Me:  Since I live South of town, we're probably really talking about an hour and half.  
HCD:  Probably. Maybe a little later.
Me:  I can't be here at 4:30.  Let's reschedule this. 
HCD: We're booked tomorrow, let's look to Monday. 
Me:  No, we're going to need to look at tomorrow.  This is a already a second visit. 
HCD:  The schedule is pretty full. 
Me:  Well, my schedule is full on Monday.
HCD:  How does tomorrow from 10-12 sound?
Me:  Perfect

I should say that during my entire morning and most of the afternoon being sequestered at home, I managed to knock out 5 loads of laundry and for approximately 2 hours I was COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP ON LAUNDRY.  Y'all, let that soak in for a minute.   This is HUGE! 

And true confession, I probably could have been there at 4:30,but I wanted to go to the Early Access  Nordstrom Anniversary sale.  Priorities y'all!   Besides, it was raining and the redhead and I had major cabin fever.  #sorrynotsorry

Fast forward to this morning.  We had Gracie's pal, Cheyanne with us while her brother was swimming in the championship meet.  She came at 7:30 and Gracie was so happy that she didn't even notice that we were waiting around for both Countertop Dudes and Closet Shelves Freight Delivery Driver.   Hallelujah! The Countertop Dudes pulled up at 10:20 this morning and by 10:35 they had installed the lone piece of backsplash and were gone.  Plus, my freight delivery that was scheduled for "somewhere between 10 am and 2 pm"  arrived right as the countertop dudes pulled out, so I was super excited when by 11:15 all of my appointments had come and gone!

After Cheyanne's mom picked her up, Gracie and I celebrated as any girls would do--buying new shoes!  School starts in 3 weeks, so it was nice to get something crossed off the "back to school to-do list!"  Gracie is now the proud owner of these . . . 

Seriously, this girl is too cool for school.

Speaking of cool kids, I was thrilled to log on to Facebook this morning (which I rarely say due to my anxiety about the upcoming election and the flood of horrible news lately) and see this kid smiling back at me . . .

The Youth Director posted this picture, among others, to the church Facebook page.  So great to see his smiling face and other snapshots of the kids doing fun things! I can't wait to pick him up tomorrow and hear all about it.  We've been able to send him emails this week, but of course, he can't respond.  You send them through a camp website, which they print out and give to the kids.   I've been updating him as to what's been going on at home (I'm sure he's been utterly fascinated by my stories of water-logged iPhones and waiting for countertops) and peppering it with any sporting news I can find. Since he is not a baseball fan, it's been slim pickings this time of year, but I've done my best.

So those are the highlights from my neck of the woods! TGIF, y'all!

Black tie weekend!

Yesterday was the long-awaited Junior Cotillion Grand Ball.

Was it "long-awaited?"   Maybe more "long time coming?" 

Either way, it was time for Matt to get all decked out and show off those cotillion skills.  Naturally,  we'd like to see them in practice EVERY day, minus the formal wear, of course.

On the other hand, the kid cleans up nice.  I love a fella in a tuxedo, don't you?   We had a near fashion faux pas when I noticed Matt was wearing TAN SOCKS with his tuxedo.  Ummmmm...black socks came with the tux.  What would possess you to 1. Wear your own socks, and 2. Wear tan!?!?

Once we got all that straightened out, he really did look quite dapper.  He even decided to wear his own Vandy tie for the ball, which was an especially nice choice given our awesome win over Kentucky yesterday afternoon!  Go Dores!

Mom and Dad got dressed up, too.  No black tie for us since we merely dropped off, went out to dinner and then returned for the last twenty minutes for the Mom/Son and Dad/Daughter dance, but in the spirit of the evening, we also took the traditional photo in front of the fireplace at Richland Country Club.

Truth is, this is a little more us . . .

Saturday smiles

I'm typing this while sitting on our back porch, because y'all, it is 68 degrees and sunny!  1 week ago, we were building a snowman and sledding.

I prefer today's weather, just for the record.

I have been an extra proud mama these past two days, as both kids have had a special opportunity to shine.

The redhead tried out for the Kenrose talent show which was yesterday and she twirled her baton in front of the whole school.   This is a kid who gets a bit freaked out by all eyes on her, so it was a big deal. I was so proud of her (and every other kid who performed!) for being brave enough to stand on a stage in front of over 900 kids, 100+ staff  members, plus a bunch of parents and do their thing. 

Gracie has been twirling for just over a year and her skills have really improved in the last few months. 

Meanwhile, Matt had a chance to show his stuff today at the middle school county-side Mini Mu math competition. Unlike the elementary level competition Gracie participated in back in December, this included students from both private and public schools.  Matt placed in both exams with a 7th and 11th place finish.  So proud of this kid.  I looked at the tests and they were HARD!   Even though Algebra was probably my favorite and best math subject, I'm starting to feel that he has "out-mathed" me.   When he has homework questions (which admittedly, is rare), he goes straight to his Dad.  Love this big smile as he shows of his new hardware!

Math inferiority complex

Today Matt asked me to check his math homework.  Sure, no problem.  Then he said, "I'm pretty sure you're going to need a calculator."  Whatever.

I got through a little over one page of the packet before having to run Gracie to baton. So tonight after dinner, Bassam finished homework checking duty while I was getting ready to make a Target run (because I am glamorous like that and drove by Target twice today and didn't remember that I needed something).  But back to the story at hand. . . . so guess what?  I noticed Matt didn't think Dad would need a calculator.  Didn't suggest it.  Didn't bring it over anyway.

To be fair, I DID need the calculator, but why wouldn't he think his dad would, too?

I couldn't decided if I should be offended or simply upset that I have been "out-mathed" by 6th grade son.   Then I downloaded the PhotoMath app on my iPhone. I really can't fathom how this amazing app can solve a problem simply by scanning it.

If you can't be smarter, at least have a smarter app.

I still don't get Fantasy Football

First they eat . . .

And then they draft. 

We hosted Matt's Fantasy Football draft at our place tonight.  There are 7 boys and 1 girl (plus one drafting from a hotel in Little Rock) and each and everyone has "the best team in the league."

And then they retreat to the backyard to play football.

We're loyal to you, Illinois . . .

Since Vanderbilt beat Illinois handily in the Super Regionals, it was time to "change the colors" in front of our house.  

Matthew asked his dad why he "let Mom" hang the Illinois flag in front of the house last week.  (Although to be fair, I did put up our small Vandy garden flag next to the bench when I hung up the orange and blue.).   I suppose this would have been a good time to have a conversation with our son about how he doesn't "let" me do things or that marriage is a partnership.  Instead,  Bassam kept it simple.  He looked at him and told him the truth, "Matt, I don't even know where Mom keeps the flags."