Jamboree

Saturday was the opening day of lacrosse season.

Go Hawks!

It was cold, of course.

(Thanks, Meme for the underarmour pants for Christmas!)

That's a trip! Penalty box.

#22- Casey and Mikey Powell's number.

Coleman's team won.

I didn't take a single picture. Luckily my neighbor did!

Christian had an orchestra competition Saturday morning and a game Saturday afternoon. Carolyn and I shuttled back and forth among it all. Unfortunately, Christian's team did not come out on top. It would be an understatement to say that he wasn't happy about it, either!

The Swiss

Overheard while watching the Olympics:

Coleman: "I like Switzerland."

Jim: "I'm kind of neutral about them."

Later:

Coleman: "What do they (the Swiss) do if someone attacks them?"

Jim: "They break out their Swiss army knives."

It's Lacrosse Season, Again

Christian, Spring 2006

Christian's team played an exhibition game at halftime of the Philadelphia Barrage game.

Wedded Bliss

In honor of our 16th anniversary:

Not QUITE Princeton Bound...YET!

Christian's SAT scores came in the mail yesterday. I'm feeling pretty confident about when he takes it as a junior!

Just ReLAXing

Sunday afternoon was gorgeous.

I looked out my window and there was a full-blown three-on-three lacrosse game in my back yard.

Although there was as much "discussion of the rules of play" as there was play!

"Half-time" included warm from the oven homemade chocolate chip cookies!

Reader Rally

Christian was one of ten students who made his middle school's Reader Rally team. Last Saturday, we went to the county competition.

The team competed against other middle schools in a quiz bowl format based on their knowledge of the twenty Georgia Book Award Nominees.

Our team ROCKED! It was so much fun watching them. Unfortunately, they missed winning by ONE QUESTION. Christian did awesome and I was SO PROUD of their team!

Father Daughter Dance

Last week was the first annual Father-Daughter Dance at our school. Carolyn was very excited about it, as you can imagine! This was not the dress she planned to wear, but apparently she's had a little growth spurt. Her party frock is MUCH cuter than my party frock was!

"Daddy" even remembered that you always bring a corsage for your date.

Even the Cardinal put in an appearance!

There was even a craft!

Jim: "I've never been to a dance with a CRAFT before!"

Cuttin' a rug.

Jim: "Carolyn has never heard about the three beer before dancing rule!"

Dancing the Cotton-Eyed Joe

Jim: "And the hits just keep on coming!"

And no dance is complete without a gaggle of girls in a conga line!

I couldn't believe how much dancing there was. Carolyn and Molly did eventually dump their dates. And Jim asked Molly to dance and she declined, which I think hurt his feelings. But other than that, they both had a wonderful time! And since I worked the ticket table, I was one of the few moms who got to watch!

Missing

No teeth, no glasses

Party Frocks

Andrea and Amy, August 1979

Jim and Carolyn are going to a Father-Daughter Dance tonight at school. I really have no words to describe the party frock that I am wearing in this picture. With cowboy boots, no less.

Lenten Sacrifice

Did I tell you what I gave up for lent?

(So far, so good!)

My Sweet Ninth Graders

At the beginning of January, the youth pastor at our church asked me to be a group leader for the ninth and tenth grade girls. I said yes and then spent the week before our first meeting wondering what in the world I was thinking and what did I know about teenage girls?!?! (Other than the fact that I had been one, but it's been a l-o-o-o-o-ng time since I was fifteen!)

At our first meeting, I couldn't get a word in edge-wise. These girls can TALK. But each week has gotten better and better and I ♥ these girls!!!!

They are so funny and smart and sweet

and I come home from church every Wednesday night with a smile on my face

and a happy heart. I still have to fight to get a word in, but I am happy to say that I am successful some of the time! You girls rock and I love you!

This Cello Should Be PG-13

I took Christian's cello in to be tuned today. He has a concert tomorrow night and he popped a string on it. When the cellist at the music store took a look at it, it also needed another string replaced. To the tune of 45 dollars! I called Jim on the way home and told him that the G string was 22 dollars. He said for 22 dollars it should be a real G string!

One, Two, Three, Four

I made king cakes ALL DAY today.

Four of them to be exact.

Each one takes an hour and a half in the breadmaker, then 45 minutes to rise again, then rolling out and filling and then in the oven for 35 minutes.

My breadmaker walked itself right off of the counter this morning. It crashed on the floor and the lid busted off. Luckily, it still seems to be working just fine!

Snow

It began snowing mid afternoon yesterday and was still snowing when I went to bed last night.

I think we have about 5 inches or so. Beautiful! The view from my window:

Kelly and Carolyn built a snowman.

And finally! Enough snow for a snow fort!

Of course we left all of the sleds in Blue Ridge! Never fear, a recycling container works, too.

They were out again at the crack of dawn this morning. Carolyn is still outside playing. Jim and the boys are here:

I really wanted to go, but the thought of sitting on metal bleachers for 2+ hours did not hold much appeal. Duke lacrosse or not.

Secret Decoder Valentines

I found these great valentines on the Martha Stewart website:

"If you want to know

How I really feel

Wear these special glasses

And flip this card to reveal..."

Secret message:

With the special glasses!

The valentines turned out really cute. But I should have known something of Martha's would be VERY labor intensive! It took 2 kids a LONG time to cute out 48 pairs of glasses, special lenses and cards but it was worth it. The cards were a big hit at school today.

Valentine Teacher Gifts

I found umbrellas for $2.50 on the Dollar Spot at Target.

A quick monogrammed initial later

and they made great teacher gifts for Valentine's Day!

Catching Snowflakes on Her Tongue

It began snowing this afternoon in the middle of her Valentine's party.

Her teacher bundled them all up and took the class outside to play in the snow! Needless to say, there were some very excited kids!

Three hours later and we have almost three inches on the ground.

U R Sweet

Coleman, Carolyn, Christian-February 2004

This post should probably be titled " U WERE Sweet".

Secret Decoder Valentine Cookies

These may be the coolest cookies I have ever made! When I saw them here, I knew that I would have to make them for the kids' classes for Valentines Day.

After making the cookie, I made the secret messages. These were for my youth group girls.

Can't read it?

Try looking at it through the secret decoder cookie!

This is one of my FAVORITE verses and went with our lesson tonight. My ninth grade girls LOVED them. The ones for the kids classes say I ♥ U, U ROCK, etc.

This recipe made 5 dozen 4" cookies (plus five dozen of the middles that I iced.)