Pom Pom Day

Savannah was so excited this weekend to finally have Daddy home to watch her cheer at the football game! Between camping with the scouts and driving other kids where they needed to go, he hasn't been able to come to one of her games yet. And she IS a daddy's girl.....if you can't tell!

It also just so happened to be the day they gave the girls pom poms for the first time! If you have never been a 6 year old cheerleader, you have NO idea how incredibly exciting this is! The girls came back from their half-time show and lined up on the track to cheer and the coaches started pulling out pom poms. You would have thought it was Christmas! The girls were squealing with excitement!

We noticed that the pom poms actually hide a world of mistakes! Savannah is not known for her rhythm....or her exactness....but pom poms actually make her look like a better cheerleader! And doesn't she just have that "cheerleader look"?

"Be Your Best Self" Essay by Shelby

As teenagers, we hear the phrase “Be your best self” more often than we like. To us, it’s pressure. It’s saying that what we are at the moment doesn’t seem good enough, and our first reaction is almost one of anger. It isn’t easy to change, to admit that maybe, just maybe, we aren’t the best we can be. It’s a lot simpler to go through life being average, or adequate, and society tells us that’s how we should be: just like everyone else. There, however, is the hypocrisy of our culture. Our role models, the ones we feel pressured to be just like, only got where they are today by being their best selves.
Until this summer, I was content to follow the crowd and avoid attention. Rising to life’s challenge and being different seemed so foreign and unacceptable to me. Yet starting senior year, preparing to leave and go to college, and participating in Junior Miss helped open my eyes. Now, I’m working daily to be my best self. It’s a goal that, in theory, is unattainable; after all, no one is perfect. To me, however, this motto is so personal. No one knows me better than I do, and therefore, no one knows better what I need to fix, what I must improve on. It’s only with my own motivation and incentive that I can begin this lifelong journey of growing up and maturing. No one else can make me exercise or avoid peer pressure and be the one who stays away from drugs, nor can anyone else force me to be kinder or more responsible. We, as individuals, control how far we go in life and how much we can succeed.
So now, when I hear the words “Be your best self,” it isn’t anger or annoyance that rises within me. Rather it’s pride, knowing now that each and every day, I am reaching my goal and growing emotionally and intellectually to becoming a better person.

Junior Miss

My very first experience with Junior Miss was at age 9 when our family's babysitter competed and my mom brought me to watch her win the title. I was absolutely entranced! The fancy dresses, the incredible talents, the fun production numbers.....I totally wanted to be a part of it when I grew up! Unfortunately for me, my family lived in a small town that didn't have a Junior Miss program. I did compete in some other teenage pageants, but I always thought of Junior Miss as the very best one to be a part of.

Now, I am not a mom to push my children to do things just because I wished I would have, and especially not my teenage daughter (who will actively push back and often NOT do something that I suggest she do!). So when she came home on her own and said "Mom, I think I want to do Junior Miss. What do you think about it?" I was shocked....and secretly pleased! Shelby is really the last person I would have thought would want to do something like this, but I knew it would be a great experience for her that would make her step out of her comfort zone and really grow. She is a beautiful young lady, but very shy. Being up on stage would be a whole new experience for her! And it really has been! I have seen her become more confident, well-spoken, poised (we used to tease her that she looked like she was a little girl playing dress up in her mom's high heels who might trip and fall at any moment!), and well, just basically brilliant! Boy did she ever shine on stage! I was seriously thinking "Who is this girl?!!!" She performed an incredible piano solo perfectly and kept her cool under pressure with the ease of someone twice her age! She walked away with the Scholastic Award and the Be Your Best Self Award (for an essay that she seriously wrote in 20 minutes!) and $550 in scholarship money! But most importantly, she walked away with confidence that she can do things that at first seem daunting....and do them WELL!!!

Congratulations Shelby! We are so proud of you!

My Thursday....and this is why I am hanging on to my sanity by a thread!

5:20 am Alarm goes off, get kids up for seminary
5:35 am Drive to seminary
5:45 am Exercise
6:25 am Pick kids up from seminary and take to bus/home
6:45 am Shower and get ready for day; wake up Joshua
7:30 am Wake Savannah and Samuel, eat, help with lunches
7:50 am Take Joshua to school
8:10 am Finish lunches, pack backpacks, lunches, brush teeth, comb hair; start laundry
8:40 am Samuel to bus stop
8:48 am Savannah to bus stop
9:00 am Drive to stake center to pick up knives I left when we did the zone conference luncheon Wednesday, remove food that the missionaries didn't take home; run home to change laundry
9:40 am Volunteer for an hour at Savannah's school
10:50 am Change laundry, get forms for Joshua's physical, pick up a little around the house
11:15 am Go to Target to buy "The Hunger Games" book (I borrowed it from a friend and Joshua wanted to read it so he took it to school and lost it....)
12:00 noon Meet visiting teacher for lunch at Panera
1:00 pm Drive to Joshua's school to pick him up for his physical
1:40 pm Doctor's office
2:15 pm Leave doctors and drive to pick up Shelby at her bus stop
2:35 pm Have Shelby try on dresses for Junior Miss and finish final alterations
3:45 pm Walk to Savannah's bus stop to pick her up...it was LATE!!!
4:10 pm Drive to pick up Caleb from his bus stop
4:25 pm Drop off Caleb and pick up Shelby for Junior Miss dress rehearsal
4:45 pm Stop at Walmart to pick up a sports bra required for the rehearsal (nice of her to tell me now!)
5:05 pm Drop off Shelby for rehearsal
5:12 pm Flip a u-turn and drive back to drop off Shelby's phone that she left in my car
5:40 pm Arrive home and quickly heat up leftovers for dinner
5:50 pm Eat
6:05 pm Get Savannah dressed and drop off at cheer practice
6:30 pm Open House at Joshua's school (Chris was attending open house at Shelby's school)
7:20 pm Leave open house a tad early and head back to pick up Savannah from cheer practice
8:00 pm Arrive home, send kids up for jammies, change laundry and start loading dishwasher
8:30 pm Brush teeth, say prayers, skip scriptures yet again (we have got to get this under control), send them up to read in their rooms
8:45 pm Leave to pick up Shelby from rehearsal
9:55 pm Return with very grumpy and tired Shelby, change laundry and start one last load, start dishwasher, sit on the couch and read papers from Samuel's open house, pack up table cloths to return to church tommorow, get ready for bed
11:00 pm Lights out

IS IT REALLY SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY????

Music in My Life

Exciting things are happening around here... Joshua got his flute for band this week! Actually he wants to play percussion, but the band director makes all the kids who want to play percussion play trumpet or flute for the first 9 weeks. She wants to see how good of a musician they are and whether or not they practice or cause problems in class. If she didn't do this, there would be 40 percussionists in her band! Joshua is dead set that he will be one of the 4 percussionists....he updates me on how many kids get in trouble each day and secretly adds up his odds!

Caleb is moving on in piano to classical pieces now. He is on his last lesson book of the Faber series and begged me to go take him to the music store to pick out some classical music and this is what we came home with. He was so frustrated that he had tons of homework to do the night that we brought the new book home so he wouldn't be able to play the piano! I had to smile because I have never had a child be upset that they couldn't practice! His piano teacher was telling me the other day that she is so impressed with the artistry and feeling that he is able to put into his pieces. She says that she has more advanced students who cannot do this and she loves to listen to Caleb when he plays for her. It is a talent that he has, that's for sure!

I am so thankful for music in my life. I always heard of people who had children who played all these instruments and the mom and dad were usually very musically talented and I felt sad that we wouldn't have that. I did feel impressed that I wanted all my kids to take piano lessons. It is something that we have struggled to afford through the years, but that I have made a priority. There were years of actively encouraging Shelby to stick with it and I feel like she has really developed her piano skills. She is going to be in the Capitol Region Junior Miss Pageant in a few weeks and we hear her playing her talent piece, Solfeggietto, over and over again. It is so fun! Caleb plays piano, clarinet and bass clarinet, although it is obvious piano is his favorite. He loves to sit for hours at the piano and I am thoroughly enjoying hearing him play the classical stuff now! Joshua and Samuel are following behind and have never complained about practicing. Music fills my home for hours each day and I love it! It speaks to my soul and brings peace into our hearts. Someday when I finish investing in all these kid's lessons, I think I will start over myself because I will miss the music in my home!

Game Day!

Savannah was up bright and early for her first game today! She could hardly wait to get dressed and packed up for the game....as a matter of fact, she was dragging me along.In spite of being a little bit sick, she was still peppy and cute....Oh, and her team won the football game, but who was watching the game?!!! Well, Samuel was engrossed in the game because Savannah's team was playing Samuel's school team! Yet another problem that arises when you have kids in five schools!

Back to School!

This is it.....The year that does me in! Five kids in FIVE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS!!!! What was I thinking?!!! It all started out so innocently a few years ago when we got our children started in the gifted program. Our home elementary school doesn't offer gifted services, so when the kids qualify for them starting in 3rd grade, you have the option of being sent out to a special school for center-based gifted classes. They are incredible! Everything you would want in a child's classroom to keep them stimulated and excited about learning! How could we not send our children who were basically keeping a seat warm and reading books all day at their current elementary school while pulling straight A's. It was a no-brainer! Then came high school where we found out that our county offered lots of choice in high schools by way of specialty centers and Governor's Schools. Once again, amazing programs that we couldn't resist. There was a rigorous selection process involving applications, interviews and auditions that in my mind rivaled that college application process and here we are......Savannah in first grade at our home elementary school, Samuel in 4th grade at the center-based gifted elementary school, Joshua in the center-based gifted middle school, Caleb in the Governor's School for the Arts, and Shelby in the honors program at her high school. I feel like I have done the very best thing for each child, but in the process have not done the very best thing for the family as a whole. Needless to say, with 5 different start times for schools, it was a very hectic morning on the first day back and I only ended up with pictures of the youngest two. Samuel couldn't stand still long enough for me to snap his picture because he didn't want to miss the bus, but this headshot reminds me of that little touch of mischief I have always loved in him!

Savannah was more than happy to oblige my need for pictures. First we had to get the backpack and the hair do which she designed herself (notice the doll which she picked out because it was the only modest one in the bunch!)....

Then we had the pose to show off the outfit......

Followed by the close-up on the shoes, which really couldn't be missed.....

And then this morning, on day 2 of school, she wanted to do it all again! I mean really, shouldn't we all have a photo shoot every morning before we leave for school?!! I am just taking time to document this first week when I actually do something besides running a brush through my daughter's hair so when she gets big I can make her think I was the best mom because I always fixed her hair cute!

Labor Day is for LABORING!

My children were shocked to find out they would actually be LABORING on Labor Day weekend this year..... Chris taught the boys how to powerwash the deck and then I had them out helping us waterproof and stain it.

The birds were not impressed with our efforts and had to add their part.....

We realized how much we hated the railing around our deck when we had to paint them each by hand. It was MISERABLE!!!

But after all was said and done, this is what we ended up with and it was worth all the hard work! I can't wait to see the rain bead up on this baby!

My Attempt at Shelby's Senior Pictures

Due to some unexpected and very expensive car repairs this summer, we were unable to afford traditional senior pictures. So I told Shelby I would take some pictures of her when we were on vacation to see if we could get some good ones and here are my favorites....

I am sad that we can't get pictures done this year, but was really excited about how these turned out. She is so pretty and I found her incredibly easy to photograph!

End of Summer Beach Vacation

Ever since the snow in February, we have been looking forward to our beach vacation. We spent countless hours when we were snowed in searching beach houses, but in the end, decided to return to the same condo on Topsail Island where we have been going for several years.

Who could resist this view?!!! Sitting on the balcony made us feel like coming home! The kids were so excited to be back at the beach that as soon as they carried their required bags up from the car, they were right out on the sand! They spent most of their waking moments boogie boarding, searching for seashells or building elaborate sand castles and then watching them be destroyed! (and yes, I KNOW that Joshua looks like we starve him to death in the picture below....he is my pickiest eater, so I let him choose our menu for the week at the beach! I think he ate more than he has ever eaten in his life, but just burned it all off running around in the ocean!)The boys kept reinforcing this castle even when the tides were coming in and it was flooded with water. They wanted to see how long they could make it stand! But at some point, you have to throw in the towel and acknowledge that the waves are mightier than you!
Savannah kept begging me to build a sandcastle with her, but since mom is not the best sandcastle builder, I drew her a picture in the sand (no, I am not the best sand artist either!)....

We invited all Chris' family who live near Topsail to come spend a day at the beach with us. It was fun having cousins to play with and Chris and I enjoyed visiting with the adults. Shelby, Savannah and I went out shopping for food for dinner and ended up coming home with these cute beach cakes! They were a hit, of course, and there was nothing left over!

A favorite stop on our way home has always been the aquarium. The kids love to see the fish up close! I thought this was the coolest picture with the kids sillouhetted against the fish tank! Savannah and Chris were off talking to the shell lady about different kinds of shells that you can find on the beach, so she is missing from the picture, but it is still very cool!

As a side note, when I posted this picture on Facebook, my sister Rachel pointed out to me that Caleb is now taller than Shelby! I hadn't even noticed that! So I made them stand back to back and sure enough, he IS taller! A few days after we got home, I had to take Caleb in to the doctor (he has swimmers ear....yuck!) and they measured him at 5 feet 4 and 3/4 inches. Shelby has topped out at 5 feet 4 inches. We are so glad that Caleb is finally growing! Sadly though, I noticed that the jeans I bought for him in June are now too short!

Anyway, back to the beach trip.....

I cannot say enough good things about Topsail Island. We absolutely LOVE it there! The pace is so unhurried and relaxed and there is not much to do besides go to the beach and that is exactly why we love it! We cannot wait to go back!