And Then There Were Two in Momma's Nest

PEACE and CHACOS a middle school must!

It's official, I'm old.  I have a daughter that started 7th grade this year.  How did this happen? 

 Seems like just a couple of years ago that we were dropping her off with Ms. Laura at preschool and now this.  I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't seem at ALL fast when you are in the full thrust of raising children.  But, somehow, you manage to get to this point where you see how quickly it has all gone.  One day they're your baby, and the next, they are grown and ready to take on life.  Karson was made for middle school.  In fact, when I was dropping the boys off at Plano yesterday, her PE Teacher Dan Smith asked about her and told me that girl was ready for middle school is 3rd grade.  It's the truth.  She's exceeded all of our expectations and is a fine young lady.  My mornings have started a little earlier this week.  I go and get in bed with her at 6 a.m., and we snuggle before she has to get up.  It's a special time of the day for us.  I don't get to take her to school anymore.  I don't get to eat lunch with her or go to her school parties, nothing!  It's just plain SAD, y'all!  I am thankful daily that she gets to be with her dad for these next six years.  What a blessing to have a parent on campus looking out for her!  I miss my preschooler but wouldn't trade her for the young teen that I have today.  I love her and it pains me to think that she will one day leave us - I tear up just thinking about it.  If the next six years go as quickly as the first seven in school, it's way too soon!

 My mornings are quiet for about an hour with only two babies at home.  I SHOULD work out, I SHOULD do laundry, I SHOULD read, but instead I find myself lost thinking about how quickly my kids are growing up.   Paul George Isaac started his 5th grade year at Plano.  I mean, REALLY, only two years left in elementary school. I asked both he and Miles if it would be weird not having Karson there at school with them.  They both kind of shrugged and didn't answer.  When Isaac came home from school yesterday, he said, "Mom, you know how you asked if it would be weird without Karson there?"  I said, "yeah."  He said, "well, it kind of was weird."  And, he left it at that.  I told him that he and Karson wouldn't be under the same roof for a while and that she and Miles would never be at the same school again.  He had a great first day back!

Isaac will spend his 5th grade year with teacher Mr. Zach Graupner who instantly became one of my favorite people because of his love of the restaurant CHUY's.  Instant connection =)!  And, yes, he is taller than the bulletin boards in his classroom.  Isaac will love him I'm sure (and vice versa).

 We have waited a whoppin' three years for this moment - the Deatons are officially reunited with Ms. Sara Rather. Both of our kids were fortunate having Ms. Rather for kindergarten, but she moved grades the year Miles started at Plano.  I was disappointed - I needed her to be Miles's teacher and couldn't fathom not having her help me ease my third and final child into the school realm.  He had a great kindergarten year though, but I was totally EXCITED when I saw that she'd be his 3rd grade teacher this year.  Ms. Rather will be the only teacher that all three of my kids have had at Plano.  He's going to have a fantastic year with her!  He's already worked on his first school project, and I received the kind email below...

Miles is such a good leader.  He helped me get my paperwork to the appropriate places as well as, being a great helper to a friend and a wonderful speaker.  I am so glad I finally get to be Miles' teacher.   Have a great night!!

 

 

 Lots of change and lots of emotion this year!  But, it's sweeeeeeet emotions (thanks Steven Tyler)!

School, School, School

Did you know that South Warren High School has a new golf coach...

 

Miles current pastime includes EVERYTHING GOLF.  To say he loves it is an understatement. He's obsessed!  Matt takes him to play or to the driving range or both on a weekly basis.  Matt recently was hired as South Warren's new boys golf coach, and Miles is in the middle of the action.  The boosters bought Miles his own golf shirt and hat to wear.  He loves going to golf practice with the high schoolers and sporting his swag.

South Warren's new Golf Coach - Matt "crazy eyes" Deaton

While we are on the subject of sports, I'm not sure if I have mentioned it or not, but Karson is part of South Middle's Volleyball team this year as a 7th grader.  We learned about the importance of sports pictures in middle school the hard way last year.  Apparently, when you are a female and take pictures in middle school, it's a glamorous event.  Karson is far from glamorous - don't get me wrong, I think I have a beautiful daughter but she could careless about her looks.  She usually has her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, doesn't wear make-up, and has on a t-shirt and pair of gym shorts.  She gets that honest - I think it took me about 30 minutes to get ready for my wedding.  We don't focus on looks much at our house, just ain't our style.  SO, when Karson made the team last year (6th grade), the picture day was coupled with a practice afterwards.  Karson, like usual, put on her jersey and spandex, pulled her back and wore a headband to keep her hair out of her face - ready to play after pictures, right?!?  WRONG.  My jaw dropped when we got there for pictures.  Karson was the only girl with her hair up and zero effort made.  I think some of the girls convinced her to take her hair down for the pics.The girls had pictures made last week.

  I was in on the secret this time and made sure Karson wore her hair down and added a dab of cover-up, blush and mascara.  Sheesh!  We are so not girly!

The end of the summer is nearing.  I managed to actually get some school shopping done early for a change.  The first round of supplies cost around $75 - gasp!  It's costly this time of the year.  Karson was chomping at the bit to get her school schedule which came out last week on Infinite Campus.  She cannot wait to go back to school.  I was NEVER that excited about going back to school, especially MIDDLE SCHOOL. 

We went shopping for backpacks.  Karson hasn't had a new pack in a few years and was really wanting a new one.  Many of her volleyball friends have cool, monogrammed black/gray or pink Under Armor packs.  I'd asked her if that's what she wanted - NOPE.  SO, we started looking online to find her the "right" pack and lucked out at Dick's Sporting Goods.  She was leaning towards a deep purple or the one pictured below, but I convinced her that purple was "iffy" with the BGHS Purples =).  She agreed and actually liked the other one better - nothing plain about it.

Isaac, on the other hand, went straight for comedy with his backpack...

Anyone hungry?  My friend told me there are french fries lunch boxes at Target.  I might just have to get one of those to match the burger.

Miles hasn't mentioned anything about wanting a new backpack so I'm not going to mention it either.

Matt and I celebrate our 20th high school reunions this year.  Has it already been 20 years - wowsers! GHS hosted their 20th reunion this weekend at Indian Hills.  We had lots of fun catching up with some of Matt's old high school friends.

We are also planning something a little less snazzy for our BGHS 20 year reunion.  It's more family friendly and casual - in September.  I'm looking forward to catching up with some of my high school friends and hope we have a decent turn out.  Stay tuned.

It's a Wrap!

 

Another theatre camp is officially in the books!  Karson wanted to participate in Aladdin this summer at SKyPAC.  Theatre camp is something she looks forward to each year.  Playing sports doesn't allow her any extra time to participate in youth theatre during the school year, and this is the perfect avenue for her to get the opportunity to perform.

Karson was selected as a Palm Tree in the production.  I'm thinking it might have been because she was wearing a shirt with palm trees on it during her auditions.  Another girl named Malia was also selected, and the two of them were pretty much inseparable the whole week.  That's the cool thing about camp - meeting new people.

What exactly does a Palm Tree do in a production, you ask?  Karson and Malia had lots of puns basically centered around the word "date."  They were also in quite a few of the musical numbers and hid brothers Cassim and Ali Baba. 

 It's an amazing task to take 58 campers who have little or no stage experience and produce an entire production in one week.  The kids worked SO hard all week long!  It was a special week, and I got to spend it with not only Karson, but Evan, Elizabeth and Samuel.

 Missoula Children's Theatre residencies are "versions" of familiar stories.  In this version -

For Aladdin it’s not easy to find a magic lamp but it’s even harder to get a date! It’s a swirling sandstorm of famous Arabian Tales from Ali Baba to Scheherazade, and even Sinbad the Sailor, as Aladdin journeys to find a magic lamp in a Cave of (not-so-great) Wonders. Along his way Aladdin seeks answers and advice from wise Genies, a powerful Sultan, and his own Mother, to find a way to meet the Princess. However, even with the lamp in hand, Aladdin will have to learn that it takes more than a wish to make a good impression. Full of memorable characters, from lost Penguins to talking Palm Trees, this is an adventure worthy of 1001 laughs.

 When the kids weren't in rehearsal for their roles, they were in workshops with our intern playing games and learning fun theatre activities.  One of Karson's besties, Elizabeth Warder, was at camp this week.

The kids did their first dress rehearsal on Friday and only had a few small errors to correct.  I found that this particular show was a little harder to follow than shows from year's past. The script seemed complicated, and it was tricky for both our accompanist and our lighting people.  It was a treat letting the kids get to perform in the main hall.  Many actors/actresses would love to have the opportunity to do a production in our beautiful performance space.  

 The kids had a show on Friday night and a Saturday matinee.  Our family, of course, brought a large crowd both days.

 When I signed Karson up for camp back in the spring, we didn't have her volleyball schedule at that time.  She pulled double duty all week long being in camp for about 6-7 hours and then racing to grab dinner and heading out to South for volleyball practice.  She didn't get home until 8 and then crashed and started all over again the next day.  Karson's a trooper, and it was a great week!