big sister spent
her first few mornings (8am-noon) of “summer break” hard at work …. learning
the fundamentals at freshman marching camp. she is excited to be playing
clarinet again when the school years goes into full swing. luckily, she
has an instrument that is not so bulky or heavy. hopefully she will enjoy
it!!
today was the last day of 6th and 8th grade for these amazing girlies. we are so proud of them for making it through another school year, with much personal and academic success.
love them to pieces!!
last day selfie 5.23.18
first day selfie 8.16.17
just before the last day early dismissal - we attended the 8th grade walk.
good-bye middle school, hello high school for this kid!
we ended the day with the 8th grade awards ceremony, where big sister earned medals for NJHS and the LEAD award for 95% grade average all year. she also earned perfect attendance, and missed all A's all year by just one grade (an 89 in history 3rd quarter)!
the monkeys played up an age division at this weekend’s
regional volleyball tournament.not surprisingly,
they were unable to come out victorious, but they have been working hard all
season, growing as a team, and having the most fun ever! here’s hoping they all brush up on their
serving game over the summer, and come back in the fall unstoppable!!
tonight was big sister's final concert of her middle school career. i am positive that the band director's sole intention of the show was to make all of us parents cry.
the show started out light and festive, with the band playing a tune from the incredibles.
next, they introduced us to a senior from the high school (also the current marching band drum major) - who had composed a song during his 8th grade year, and since he was in their shoes 4 years ago when he wrote it, it was only fitting that they now play it as they leave 8th grade. (cue the lump in my throat...) this one is titled clash.
next the band director gave a small intro to the song the kids were about to play, titled heaven's light. here is the basic story about the writing of this song:
In the early morning hours of Friday, October 4, 2002, a house fire took the life of Holly Spivey, her mother and her father. It was Homecoming at Evans High School in Evans, Georgia and the student body, especially the band students, were in a state of shock. One of Holly's closest friends wrote this about her. "Holly was this bright shining star who lit up everyone's life by being in it. She always made it comfortable for people, especially freshman just starting out. She had many interests but nothing quite impacted her like the band. Her big infatuation was with the stars. Now she is a star watching over us." That was all the inspiration I needed for Heaven's Light.-Steven Reineke
then came the announcement that one of the band teachers was retiring (the man big sister had in 6th grade when she first started learning the clarinet). he was retiring after 11 years in the district, and a whopping 42 years total teaching! WOW! and, he was going to direct them playing heaven's light. (blink...blink....blink back the tears...)
the last song was uneventful, by comparison, and it's kinda a blur to me if i'm being honest.... it's called scramble.
with all the playing now complete, it was time for the slide show of all the kids with their baby photos. we were asked to submit a photo and i happily obliged. it was funny to hear all of the oohs and aahhhs and awes as people first saw the baby pic, then saw the student photo from today. it was pretty cute! some kids were quite embarrassed, i'm sure.
little sister’s 6th grade awards was tonight, and
she earned medals for being a member of student council and national junior
honor society.she was tickled pink to receive
them and hang out among her amazing awesome, smarty friends.brains & beauty will take her far!
oh so proud of our honor roll student! all A's for 1st quarter, all A's for 2nd quarter, and A/B's for 3rd quarter....and will most likely earn all A's for 4th quarter by the time this school year is done in 8 more days....
little sister was inducted into the national junior honor
society tonight.she was excited to
receive this honor and we are very proud. keep up the great work!!
little sister is auditioning today for placement in 7th grade band - there are three levels: concert, symphonic, and honor. she has to learn and play from memory on the xylophone and snare drum. there is a piece she'll have to sight read, too. she's nervous, but doing great - and she's been practicing nonstop, so i think she's ready. wish her luck!!!
today, big sister had the longest day. she was up and at school by 6:15am. she travelled with the honor & symphonic bands to a competition at an area high school, where they ended up earning 1st division (superior), 1st place in class, & best band of the day. then they drove to six flags where she had lunch and spent the afternoon at the amusement park. lastly, she had to be back at school in time for two more performances of crushed, at 5:00 and 6:15pm.("thanks, mom, for driving the hour to and hour back to make sure i was at the play on time"....)
while big sister was away, we were not just resting at home. in the morning, daddy and i signed her up for freshman marching band, and wrote checks for all the $$$ that goes along with that....with the 10am soccer game cancelled due to wet fields, little sister waited around for her two afternoon volleyball games, at 2pm and 3pm. they won both games, and little sister played pretty well from what i was told (i had to miss both since i was driving to & from the amusement park...)
we ended our "cinco de mayo" with a taco dinner, that i did not have to make, outside on the patio. yum!
big sister has been practicing almost daily after school with her theater buddies, and tonight we got to see the fruits of her labor. she played princess 2 in crushed.
Guy and Girl are pretty pathetic. Rather than interact with other
humans, they've retreated to their own personal fantasy worlds of sappy
romantic comedies and violent video games. Luckily, their hours of
gorging on ice cream and battling imaginary enemies cause them to
hallucinate their own spirit guides to romance, who will gleefully usher
them into the world of dating, starting with lessons in what not
to do (like creating a doll made of your beloved's hair or wearing a
sympathy pregnancy suit). A hilarious and wild look at the pitfalls of
having a crush.
it was a funny, clever, and cute 45 minute production.
