Megaphone!

As you  may have guessed by now . . .

cheer has become a big part

of Maddy's freshman year in high school!

There have been and continue to be a ton of practices and games for the freshie cheerleaders!

And we don't mean just football!

They are cheering at Cross-Country, Softball, Tennis, Ping Pong . . . 

When my sons played tennis at Pius, the cheerleaders never

showed up at their matches and it made them so mad!  

We are really happy that

has changed and cheerleaders will be at tennis matches!

One of the fun traditions for the new Pius cheerleaders

is receiving a personalized Megaphone door art before the start of the season!

I don't know about you, but we love our door art around here!

We also love our school traditions!

New cheerleaders receiving their megaphone door art!  Maddy is second from right!

GO BOLTS!

High School!

Oh gosh, Maddy's in her second week of high school

and I haven't even talked about her first day or first week yet!

So, sit back, get your coffee and here goes!

The freshman!!!

Oh my word -- they are just adorable.

School started an hour late on the first day - that was nice!

But, Maddy and I had to be there early to sell planners for

a cheer fundraiser.  Great little planners -- I even bought myself one!

It was so fun to see the students all coming in for the first day

 in their uniforms and Birks (Birkenstocks seem to be the

shoes for high school -- with socks, of course) and 

giving friends big hugs and high fives!  

Even though there is only 5 minutes between classes, Maddy was on time 

to her classes and did not get lost!  

One of her friends went into two wrong classes and 

then was late to her real classes plus the poor girl couldn't get her locker open!

We went in a day early and walked her schedule so I'm sure that helped.

Maddy was so happy to see familiar faces from her grade school

and friends from the cheer squads -- just seeing friendly faces

helped with the nervousness that comes with a new experience.

Every day improved a bit!  

The best thing about uniforms is 

the only clothing decision to be made is what color polo and

 what color shorts to wear!

Easy peasy -- love that!

Cheer practices continue and the big Fall Kickoff occurred last Friday!

Sadly, stormy weather meant it had to be at the inside gym instead of the

football field, so the big performance the cheerleaders had

planned and worked on ALL summer was cut back to a

short performance.  Homecoming is coming up fast

and fingers crossed that the big performance will be then.

Now, if only her backpack wasn't quite so full or heavy 

[not enough time to get to her locker between classes],

everything would be near-perfect.

Welcome to high school!

Baby Dorothy!

I know you are all waiting to hear about the start of high school, 

but before we get to that, 

we have some incredible baby cuteness to share!

Last week, Maddy and I spent a couple days watching little Miss Dorothy 

while her parents, big sister and big brothers went to an

 amusement park out of town.

We're not sure who had more fun! 

Dorothy is already 4-1/2 months old!  

Time is flying by and she

is growing and changing every day.

She is the sweetest little thing, not demanding or

fussy at all.  She's starting to talk and make the most

delightful little coo sounds, lots of smiles and giggles.

Seriously, isn't she the cutest baby!

Seeing as we were on a "staycation" with her, I let her

jump on the beds, stay up late, watch tv and have whatever 

her heart desired for meals!

Go figure -- she chose formula!  :)

Guess she'll have to wait to share chocolate milk with the big kids!

Sister/Cousin Fun

Even if it wasn't 't officially Sister/Cousin day last Sunday, it was for us!  

My little sister, her husband and daughter were in town for a quick visit from Florida.

Besides seeing her in-laws  too, they were looking at the university.

Amy, me, Maddy, Granddaughter Jane

How can it even be possible that the sweet baby girl I met with Amy in 2000

will be headed to college next year!

Maddy & Grace

Grace is absolutely one of Maddy's favorite cousins!  We really wished

we had more time with them, but were happy to have one evening together. 

We had a wonderful family pizza dinner at Philip's so Amy and family could meet

Harry (now 3) and baby Dorothy!

Just before they headed out, we made a quick request for a few photos! 

It was such a scramble that we missed getting others in the photos too!

Next time!

It was so good to see them all and spend some time together!  Now, cross your fingers that our University is her favorite and she picks the Big Red!

Hello August - Hello High School!

Hello August!

It's almost time for high school!

Quick photo in the stairway so as to not be seen by other students! :)

ID photo - check!
Lanyard - check!
Class schedule - check!
Locker assignment - check!

Last Friday the students had ID photos taken,
received their class schedule, locker
assignments and
locker combinations!

This is getting real people -- next Monday she starts
with a half-day retreat and then full day of classes on Tuesday!
One big worry -- mastering the locker!

Success at last!