Go on and dance the night away...

 The eighth grade dance was the after party that was before this year.  Julia got herself ready at a friends house, so I never saw her until it was over.  By the time she got home, her hair was a mess from the humidity.  She had a great time, and I am grateful for sweet friends who share the pictures they take.

cheer friends

friends since preschool

another cheer friend

A Tale of Two Dresses

From the start of her eighth grade year, Julia has looked forward to two events - crossover and the after-party.  Just a little school history:Julia's school does not do an 8th grade graduation.  They feel that is inappropriate, and graduation ceremonies exist at the end of high school and for college programs. They do celebrate kindergarten graduation.  They have a fifth grade celebration, but it is not a graduation, and they have 8th grade crossover where the students cross over from 8th grade into high school.  The dress code for the crossover ceremony is dressy but not formal.  Julia has been scoping dresses since the start of the year.  The after-party is something the parents do and is not always a sure thing.  Zach's class didn't have one.  Savannah's class did.  There is some confusion over whether Wyatt's class had one, but he was not invited if they did.  I really don't think they had one.  Julia insisted that she would also need an after-party dress.  Because her crossover dress does not meet dress code and will have to be covered with a sweater, I encouraged her to wear it for both events,  but who can argue with an 8th grade girl about wardrobe?  I do get it, but even Princess Kate wore an outfit to the royal wedding that she's already worn publicly twice.  Times are changing even for the rich and famous.

Finding the dresses turned out to be easy.  I took Julia for a photo shoot, so you can enjoy a sneak peek.  

The Crossover Dress

The Crossover dress - Julia found this one on a website called Saved by the Dress.  Her friends were having success shopping there, so we gave it a try.  This dress had a lace-like fringe around the top and sides that Julia did not like, so I tucked it under and stitched it down.  The downside to a web order is that Julia probably could have gone down a size, but we played it safe.  Another downside- the dress came folded in a bag and too wrinkled to shake out.  In addition to paying to have it hemmed to the right length, I had to take it to the cleaners to be pressed because I did not trust my iron on the fabric.  

I do not remember any of the other girls wearing long dresses to the ceremony in the past, but maxi dresses are the way to go when the style is short even on short girls, and the school says the dress must reach the knees.  Designers, please help us out and stop this short madness!

Julia even practiced her hair for the event.  

The After-Party Dress

(Because of scheduling conflicts with the planning committee, Julia's class is actually having a Before-Party)

The before- party dress does not have to fit any dress code except Andy's, Julia's, and mine.  Both Julia and I think the dress is too short, but we are out of time to see a seamstress about adding a coordinating ribbon of fabric around the bottom.  Finding this dress was easy.  Julia and I were wandering through the mall for the heck of it when we happened upon this dress at Charlotte Russe. Because we both liked it, she tried it on.  However, they did not have her size.  I hunted down a good coupon and ordered it online.

This photo session was a little harder.  We had better lighting but took so long that we butted up against a storm, and the humidity really caused some shininess on Julia's face near the end, so some of my favorite backdrops did not work out so well.  I, do however, love these two shots.  They are my favorites out of both sessions even if they don't actually show off the dress.

All the Good Stuff

Personally, my last two weeks have been rough.  Work is overwhelming right now, and May is one of the busiest months of the year as the school year wraps up with lots of end of year evening events.

However, there have been some highs -mostly related to Wyatt, so here's the recap of three, fun evening events.

The band concert was fantastic! They did this multi-media presentation of a piece called Godzilla, and it was AMAZING!  Wyatt's band did very well too.  I didn't post several weeks ago when Wyatt performed in the end of year percussion concert.  He played timpani for the first time and CRUSHED IT!  That was a really long concert and a long night but so cool to see my boy do so well.

The track season finished with the banquet.  Coach D, pictured here with Wyatt, shared that Wyatt improved over the season, and we all laughed about how Coach D saw Wyatt just before practice in the hallway one day and told Wyatt he'd see him in a few at practice. Wyatt's response, "I won't be there.  It's raining.  I don't run in the rain."  Wyatt has been warned that that won't fly for Cross Country season:) Wyatt likes track, but he does not like the meets because they are long.  For that reason he prefers Cross Country.  Wyatt is so ready for summer and wants to go to the pool the day it opens.

Out of the blue we got an email about an underclassman award ceremony. We have two grads from the school and have never heard of such a thing - must be new.  Our email gave us the date and time and said Wyatt would be getting an award.  Problem: Andy had a meeting scheduled at that time, and I had worked hard to get an appointment for a haircut at that time.  Andy's meeting got rescheduled, and I managed to reschedule my haircut, and how glad I am that it worked out- even better, the ceremony was short and sweet - 45 minutes long.  YES!

Wyatt was recognized in the program for receiving Honorable Mention Academic All-State for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.25-3.749 while participating on a Varsity team.  The real surprise of the night is detailed below. 

Wyatt received an award that the school gives to one boy and one girl from each class.  The teachers and staff vote on the recipients, and then they take the list and narrow it down.  They had some ties in the other classes, but in Wyatt's class, there were no ties.  Wyatt received the Student of Character Award promoted by Christian Educators Association International.  The description on the award reads: Wyatt has been recognized by the faculty and staff of the school (school named) as displaying the following attributes: honesty, integrity, generosity, a willingness to learn new ideas, sacrificial behavior for the good of others and self-motivation based on personal faith or morals in the freshman class of 2017-2018.

I don't know if I shared before about how we discussed the reality that we cannot afford a vacation this year, and there's a certain trip the kids want to take every year of high school with our church youth.  I mentioned that we can't do both a family vacation and that trip in the coming years.  Wyatt is taking that trip this year and likely spent a whole day worrying about how he might have hurt his dad by choosing the trip.  I told Andy this, and he simply responded: I love vacation, but I love Wyatt more!  

Wyatt's heart slays me!  He certainly is deserving of this award.

Do you share clothes with your daughter?

If she weren't so funny and charming, the stories I am about to share would be annoying.  Instead they are just funny.

After seeing some of my mom friends wearing the new trend in jackets, I decided I wanted a new jacket.  Initially, this was to be for the DC trip, and I found just the right jacket at Old Navy - an Army green field jacket.  However, the local stores did not show any inventory online, and the price was not right for an online order.  Said jacket did not make it into my wardrobe before the DC trip.  After we arrived at home, I was able to find it locally and for a very good deal.  At that point I had decided to make it a Mother's Day request, but the deal was too irresistible to pass up. I purchased the jacket almost too late since it appears that spring will not be visiting this year, and winter stuck around to greet summer.  I called it my Mother's Day gift to myself.

So last week Julia bounds into my bedroom and asks, "Where's your new jacket?  I think I am going to wear it this weekend."
Um, excuse me?  Did I agree to some kind of joint ownership?  We have had a lot of fun laughing over this one.
She did wear it to church on Sunday.  I meant to snap a picture, but I did not.  If we are doing the "who wore it best" thing, I don't want to compete with Julia.

Then this happened:
In January I used my free shipping to send Savannah an order from Kohl's.  When I ordered Andy's Valentine's gift, and it was delivered to Savannah, I realized that somehow my app had changed my default address to her address.  I made a mental note to fix that with my next order, and I am sure you can guess where this is going.  I have lots of t-shirts and some dressy blouses, and not much in between.  When preparing for the DC trip, I needed some in-between shirts.  I ordered a few to try from Kohl's, and they went to Savannah.  I mean I can't remember what I did this morning (actually this morning was kind of dramatic, so I remember, but in general I can't remember what I did in the morning by the time the afternoon rolls around), so how am I supposed to remember a mental note from two months ago?  Anyway, I did not get my shirts for DC.  I finally got them last week when we picked up Savannah from school.  Julia immediately loved one of them and has informed me that she will be borrowing it.  It would swallow her. It's big on me, and I am not as small as my girls.  She's convinced though that she will be wearing it. Again on that "who wore it best thing"...

Washington DC - 8th grade trip day 5 (April 25th)

I have run out of time.  I have to pick Wyatt up from practice, so I will return to this post.  In the meantime enjoy the pictures.  See if you can guess what the first one is.

I'm back!

So if you guessed that this is the doorway to the Bible Museum in Washington DC and that it is an oversized Gutenberg press plate of a Bible page in German backwards, then you guessed it!

We started our day at the Bible Museum.  Our guide told us that some have said that it bests the Smithsonian.  Even a Bible believing Christian might think that this museum might be cheesy.  In fact I heard that very thing from a parent, but he changed his tune after seeing it.  We started our tour with a walk through the Hebrew Bible followed by a 4-D video tour of hidden Bible verses on monuments and buildings around DC.  When exiting those two experiences, our girls almost unanimously agreed that this was the best thing they had seen all week (there was a carousel loving holdout who shall remain nameless).  We couldn't agree on where to go next, so we did not see much of the museum  - didn't have time to anyway, but I would definitely go back.  Elvis' Bible is there - in case you care.  Trump's is too - though I contend that he should be using it instead of storing it in a museum :)

After the Bible museum we bid our guide Jay goodbye.

Starting on the road - you can almost see cardboard Trump in the back of this picture.  He journeyed with us, and that's all I will say about that.  The ride home included microphone singing from two of the teachers.  One of them sang an original song he wrote called Banana in a Bottle.  It's a clever tune about the danger of taking the easy way out, and the kids love it.  Our other singer used to sing in a rock band, so she brought us an 80's favorite with  Journey's Faithfully.  The kids then sang loudly for us.  Did you know that Neil Diamond is popular among middle schoolers?  They love Sweet Caroline.  When we reached the halfway point of the journey, they sang Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer - you know because we were half way there.  Get it?

The trip home was fairly smooth.  Our meal stops were not long enough to finish our meals, and the kids were not allowed to have snacks on the bus, so that was a bit stressful.  At one point a parent poured Chex Mix into Julia's hoodie pocket because Julia claimed to be starving.  We arrived back at school only fifteen minutes late at 12:15a.m.

I was at work the following day and had the library open by 7:00a.m.  I thought I was going home to bed after work, but I had to take Wyatt out of the city to a track meet.  It is now six days later as I type this (remember I backdated it), and I am just now starting to feel like myself.  Julia literally rested for four days before resuming a normal schedule.  I may be old, but I think I am crushing it!

Washington DC- 8th grade trip day 4

We started day four by looking at the Capitol Building and then having a group picture made on the Supreme Court steps.

We walked around the corner and saw the Hall of Justice and the Library of Congress.

My understanding was that we would tour the Library of Congress. That and Mt. Vernon were the two items on the agenda I looked most forward to.  I was wrong.  We walked through the Library of Congress, saw one room and continued through the tunnel to our Capitol Building tour.  I believe that  this would have been my favorite tour of the trip.  Andy and Wyatt had much time there last year, but their Capitol tour was impacted by a speech being given by President Trump.

Julia only allowed one picture of the two of us together.

I am sure the rest of the building is stunning.  I remember this was Savannah's favorite part of the trip when she went.  Zach's favorite was the National Cathedral which is no longer part of this itinerary. Wyatt liked Gettysburg the best.  Just keep on reading to see Julia's favorite part.  

We spent a good amount of time in the Rotunda with a Capitol tour guide.  I am going to digress just a minute to share my observations of our tour guide, and maybe this should not be public, but I am going to put it out there anyway.

1. He bore the scars of cleft lip and palate.  Why observe this?  Cleft often cannot be hidden even after corrective surgery, my other two observations will make the poignancy of this more clear.

2. He uses his voice to make a living. He shared with us the beauty and history of our nation's capitol.  He was clear spoken.  Cleft sometimes leaves a speech impediment.

3. He was wearing a wedding band, so he has been chosen and has chosen a lifelong love.

Why make these observations?  A well-meaning friend suggested to me that if I pursued the adoption of a child born with cleft palate, society would reject him.  He would live in my home lonely and depressed for life.  Now I believe that I may have been the only one in the group who even noticed this docent's cleft scars.  It is 2018.  Nobody with a facial deformity should be locked in a cage of loneliness and depression, and praise God, this guy is one example of someone who is not in that situation.

In person this looks like it is carved into the Rotunda.  In pictures it looks like a painting.  I wonder if it is an illusion.  I ended up ordering a book on the Capitol Building as this was my favorite tour of the trip, so maybe I will find out.

We could not go to the White House because the President of France was visiting, so this was the best we could do.

The afternoon was dedicated to exploring the Smithsonian. We had under four hours.  If you know anything about the Smithsonian, you know that four hours barely scratches the surface.  So we got off the bus and asked the girls which museum they wanted to see, and they unanimously said they wanted to ride the carousel. Julia still tells everyone that this was her favorite part of the trip.

For the record she has not been denied carousel rides when they are available.

We moms made an executive decision to see our original national constitution at the National Archives Museum.  I have to say this was a disappointment. After many years it has faded to the point where you can't read any of it.  The only fascinating thing about it is the size of the paper - so different from our typical letter and legal size sheets.

We then proceeded to the Museum of Natural History where we visited the hope diamond - that was a must-see for my gem loving boy last year :)

Tired and thirsty we then visited the cafe for drinks.  It may be free to get into the Smithsonian, but it is not free to have a drink there.  $5.78 per drink.  These three energy boosts were shared by two girls, but I didn't see any noticeable changes in energy after they were consumed ;)

I wanted to see the first lady dresses, so we went on to the Museum of American History.  My favorite part of that museum was the Star Spangled Banner.  I had no idea the flag that inspired the song was so big.  (30' by 34')  It was originally 30' by 42', but was snipped in places for souvenirs back in the 1800s.  It took over the home of the lady who made it, and she had to move it to a distillery across the street.  Crazy.

I have two favorite quotes from the girls on this day.  While the moms enjoyed the fashion displays of purses, shoes, and dresses worn by our first ladies, the girls sat in a corner and goofed off.  When I returned to check on them, I was greeted with:

"Mom, please give me your phone.  I am having a lyric crisis!"  

Turns out nobody could remember the song from Beauty and the Beast that Belle sings with her dad.  Sorry if I just caused you a lyric crisis. lol

The other came from one of the other girls.  I asked the girls if they had seen Melania Trump's dress.

 H: "You mean that dress in the box?"

H's mom: "Some would call it a display." 

lol

We ended our day by racing through the Martin Luther King Jr and Roosevelt memorials.  It was cold and rainy.  We ended up at the Jefferson Memorial where our stir crazy kids bench hopped for photo ops.  This picture is the chaperone group for the gold bus - tired and weary but still smiling at the end of day four.

Ford's Theatre and Gettysburg, PA - 8th grade trip day 3

We started day 3 at Ford's Theatre - actually shopping street vendors just outside where Julia scored a nice sweatshirt.  We took the theatre tour and learned of Lincoln's death there, but I was not in a position to get any worthy pictures.

We followed that by going to the Gettysburg Cemetery where we gathered by the site that was originally believed to be where Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address.  However, documentation has revealed that the marked spot is actually incorrect, but moving the marker would disrupt gravesites (I think), so the real site is marked with a flag pole.  Many of the 8th graders were assigned the task of writing the Gettysburg address in modern language, and one of them was chosen to read it at this location.  Leigh did a great job with it.

From there we proceeded to the Gettysburg Visitor's Center. The cyclorama presentation was fascinating, but we could not get the kids to go into the museum.  They hung out for too long near the gift shop and got a bit too squirrelly for the taste of most of the chaperones.

Finally, we started our Gettysburg battlefield bus tour where we learned that people came and watched the battle.  Say what?  One sixteen year old girl is memorialized in front of the house where she went upstairs to bake bread for the union soldiers only to have a stray bullet pierce the door and end her life.  

We learned that the north had good cannons, and we could identify them because they were black.  The southern cannons were green.  We learned how to determine a real cannon from a model.  We learned that some decisions changed the battle, and our country could be completely different today had a few minor things gone differently.

Fences as they would have looked.

A lookout tower over Gettysburg.  I don't do open stairs, so I did not get to check out the view from the top.

Devil's Den

We took lots of pictures of the kids at the memorials and looking over the battlefield.  I don't share them here due to my desire to respect the privacy of my friends.  It is a little strange to take pictures on sacred ground where lives were lost or in places where lives are memorialized.

The land was beautiful.  What surprised me about Gettysburg were the wooded areas and rolling hills.  I expected something more flat, and I guess I thought it would look more like a natural arena.

Then there was the broken bus.  We sat on the bus and waited for this one to be fixed just in case we had to take some of their passengers.  The ordeal ended with the bus driver taking a leak on the side where you see the trees in view of the girls side  of our bus (as much as you can see in this picture - we did not get a full view of the action - just enough to know what was happening, thank goodness).  The laughter from the moms was terrific.  

Thus ended day 3.