Graduation . . . Finally!

Well, Finally!

It was time for Maddie's graduation from high school!

Only a little more than two months later than originally scheduled.

We were happy that a graduation could and did happen!

It was held at the Pinnacle Bank Arena so that there was plenty

of space for social distancing.  

Of course, we all wore masks.

Maddie and her brothers, Philip and Connor after graduation!

It was really a special celebration of the 2020 Senior Class of

Pius X High School.  

What a crazy, hectic, stressful final semester it was for these amazing students!

Maddie and her friend Hannah.

                        

Oh look -- I got in a photo!  

Hmmm - need higher heels as I am the shortest there!

Catherine and the Littles stayed home because tickets were restricted and

 seating was limited and it was naptime!

We celebrated with them later in the day!

In other news, in a couple weeks, Maddie is starting college at

our community college.  

Exciting things ahead for my girl! 

The Grad Walk!

Since the 2020 Graduates 

all had their graduations postponed 

(most likely to late July or August),

our City had a Grad Walk on the 

weekend that the public schools would

have had graduations.

Pius X Colors - Green and Gold

All graduates were invited to wear their caps and gowns and

parade around their neighborhood at  8:20 PM (military time 2020)

so neighbors could hoot and howl and celebrate them

in a totally unexpected way.

Maddie and Mia

Does that sound a little corny?

I believe our Mayor came up with the idea because her

daughter was graduating from high school.

The Mayor got all choked up and teary when she announced

the 2020 Grad Walk!

It was SO. MUCH. FUN!

I got balloons and noise-makers.  Maddie's friend, Mia,

came over to join our block.  There were about 4 other graduates

on Stratford Avenue and it was a blast to see them 

being cheered by all the neighbors!

Maddie and our neighbor, Harrison

Thanks Mayor - that was much

appreciated!

She definitely gets my vote when she runs again! :)

First Day of School - Senior Year!

Maddie enjoyed two First Days of School

this year for her senior year!

Pius X First Day - In Uniform

She started her senior year at Pius X High School

where she has attended all years of high school.

Their first day was a little later than her other first day!

TCA First Day - civilian clothes

She's also attending our local public school 

dual enrollment program with Southeast Community College - called

The Career Academy (TCA) program.

Maddie is taking two college-credit business classes and one

high school English class through TCA.

She takes her other high school classes at Pius.

Basically, she's at Pius every morning (in uniform)

and then off to TCA for the afternoon (no uniform).

It's a busy schedule and

she's enjoying it so far!

How can she possibly be a senior in high school?!!?

Last day of school!

Maddie's last day of finals was May 23!

Yay -- junior year is in the books and it was a good year!

The Landscaping Club was fun for her and as she said,

a very chill club - no drama at all - gotta like that!

Last final is over and done!

Her classes were good and she especially enjoyed

U.S. History with Sister Jacquelyn.

Sister J is an amazing teacher and all the students

love her!  So happy that M had her for history

and worked hard every day to do a good job!

And on to summer break!

A little trip is planned and lots of volunteer work and

even working in the Rickster's office sometimes.

She and I have a big, long "summer bucket list!"

Happy summer!

On a Bus For Days!

Last night, Maddie and 267 other students from the

Lincoln diocese boarded buses to Washington, D.C.

to participate in the 46th Annual March for Life!

 There are 81 students from Maddie's high school

on this pilgrimage.

We are so proud of her for joining in and being a part of the March for Life!
Such a wonderful way for her to grow in her faith.

And hey, it's a long bus ride from Nebraska to Washington DC!

They are supposed to arrive around dinner time tonight - 

so approximately 24+ hours on a bus!

They have numerous events on the agenda and some sightseeing.
The actual March for Life on the National Mall takes place on

Friday afternoon.

They will jump back on the buses on Saturday, 

arriving home on Sunday in the late afternoon.

She is so excited to be a part of the March

and go on this trip!

Please pray for the students and others participating 

in this year's March for Life.

Stay tuned for reports from M when she returns!

More Cheer!

As you may or may not have guessed, cheer is winding down.

The last JV basketball game was a couple weeks ago and 

now the schedule is silent except for the cheer banquet

to be held later this month.
Truth be told -- we don't miss the 6 am practices!

So, here's to the JV cheer squad -- they were fabulous!  

Love this sweet group of girls!

They did an amazing job under sometimes difficult

and exhausting circumstances and loads of cheer commitments!

These four girls (above) all went to elementary/middle school together

so have been together since kindergarten!

Don't they all have the best smiles!

Maddie and Caitlin

Emily and Maddie

Skylar and Maddie

Maddie and Rachel

Maddie and Christine

Maddie and Annie

Maddie and Maia

I've been so blessed with watching these girls cheer and
getting to know their families!
GO BOLTS!!

State Cheer Tournament

Last week all of the cheerleaders attended the 

Nebraska State High School Cheer and Dance Championships!

It was an even earlier wake-up call than their usual

6 AM practices as they had to be at school and ready

to  roll out of town at 5:45 AM!

Do you see Maddy?  She's in the back line pretty far to the left.

The Pius X girls came in 3rd in sideline cheer and 5th (out of 10) in tumbling.

So proud of all the girls as they did a great job this year!  

I had no idea how much work and practice goes into 

cheerleading!  And the girls really enjoyed supporting the

team sports at Pius.
   

A little sad and hard to believe that cheer is over now.  

They have an end-of-the-year

potluck banquet in March, but no more practices until . . . 

tryouts for next year in early April!

GO BOLTS!!

Homecoming . . . The Dance!

The next big event after the homecoming football game was . . .

you guessed it - 

the Homecoming dance!

Homecoming was really early this year due to football scheduling and gym

availability which, of course impacted dress availability!!

Locating an appropriate dress that met the requirements was tricky!

Yes, there are requirements.  

Dresses cannot be too short or too revealing. No cut-outs allowed, no short skirts, no slits!

The length determination is measured by a convoluted credit card measuring formula!

Seriously!! :)

Anywhoooo -- we had a tough time finding a dress for Miss M.

We located an absolutely adorable dress on Macy's.com!

However, when it arrived, she deemed it " meh, just ok."

The search was back on!

Luckily, we found another appropriate dress and bonus --- it was on sale!

Maddy went with some friends from elementary/middle school.  Really, there is no need to date as freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors --
am I right?  Dating can wait for college!
These girls have been friends all through elementary school.

Sweetest girls ever!

Our Penny Bridge in our neighborhood -- in the old days,
 the trolley charged a penny to go over the bridge!
The bridge was rebuilt a few years ago.

The girls had a fun time though said the gym was
super hot!

Homecoming No. 1 is in the books!

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!

Cheerleader Camp 101

One of the ways Maddy's school prepares the

cheerleaders for their work ahead is by scheduling a

cheerleader camp for the girls to attend.

This year the camp was at our hometown University -

University of Nebraska-Lincoln - 

GO BIG RED!

Freshies with their Spirit Stick

Since this is her first year, we really had no idea what to expect  but figured it would be a 

lot of cheer practices. 

They stayed 3-1/2 days in the dorms and attended

cheer classes, drills and other cheer-related instruction

from a national group - Varsity and UCA.  Other squads from all over the State were also in attendance.

Freshman squad - award for Most Improved Squad!

This is not a camp for the light-hearted or weak!

Camp days began for Maddy at 5:30 am when she got up to shower

and get ready for a 7 AM breakfast/meeting.

Cheer camp started at 8 AM and often  lasted until 8:30 PM

with a short break for lunch and water breaks throughout the day!

It was quite the learning experience!

The freshman squad (known as freshies) were assigned the 

morning shower times as the senior, juniors and sophomores

claimed evening showers!

Pius X Cheerleaders

To say she learned a lot is an understatement!

Not only did she learn cheerleader skills, but maybe even more

important, she got to know the other freshman and upper class

cheerleaders better, making new friends and memories to last a lifetime!

Bonus -- a preview into dorm life --  it's not like a hotel! :)

Freshie team with their coach Katy

Cheer practices at her school have now started up and they are

having two-a-days!  If you thought two-a-days were only for football players like me,

you'd be wrong.  

The girls are practicing from 7 AM - 9 AM and then again from

6 PM - 8 PM three days a week!

So proud of Maddy and all of the girls as they are working so hard

and doing a great job!

GO BOLTS!

High School Orientation!

Big night last Monday night . . .

High School Orientation for Miss M!

She will be attending our local (the one and only)

Catholic high school where her brothers

attended and mastered the curriculum

and dominated the tennis courts! :)

Photo courtesy of Pius website

Huge crowd at orientation with students and parents

from all of the city's Catholic elementary schools and 

any other interested students in town.

Truth be told, I think the guidance counselor

scared most of the kids with the class

schedule -- oy -- how to handle all those classes,

find the way through the halls and the most 

important task of all . . .

figure out how to open your locker!

There are tons of activities and clubs to participate in at Pius.

She took information on choir, cheerleading and tennis!

Photo courtesy of Pius website

It will be an exciting time to be sure!

Gooooooooo Bolts!

A Little Bit of Cheer

Hello all -- I didn't fall off the face of the earth,

I'm just in a slow blogging mode.

But, I wanted to share a little cheer with you all.

Last Friday night, my granddaughter, Janie Boo (kindergarten)

got to cheer at a high school football game!

She was so excited!  

Janie cheered the entire 1st Quarter and

while some of the kindergartners stood around

wondering when to cheer, not Janie.  

She cheered the entire time and even harder when a touchdown occurred.

Sadly, most of the touchdowns were made by the opposing team!  

Maddy participated in a Thunderette dance routine

at halftime that was pretty cool and was over very fast!

Dancers really have to move and get off the field in a hurry.

Even though Janie kind of wanted a ring-pop, popcorn, cotton candy or Gatorade --

 I suggested she wait ( I hate sticky messes), 

so promised 

 ice cream after the game.  

I also may have reminded Janie that 

ring-pops cause cavities and are sticky, messy and icky.

Janie agreed and then informed a 

couple of 9 or 10 year old girls

 who did have ring-pops that those things were really bad for them 

and maybe they should throw them away.

The girls looked a little puzzled by such a wise-beyond-her-years

5 year old and smiled at her!

The real cheerleaders

And yes, we did stop and get ice cream and french fries

after the game -- gotta have a few treats, right!

Friday Night Lights 2015  -- we are there!

Friday Night Lights and a Chance to Help Our School!

It's high school football time again! While I am not a huge football fan, I do enjoy some high school football. I think it's because it's fun to see the students, the parents and feel the excitement in the air. It's not quite "hot chocolate and cool temps" football weather yet, but knowing Nebraska, that's not too far off. Maddy and I went to the first game last Friday evening ... and our team won -- in double OT!! Woohoo! Go Bolts!!

For Maddy, it was more of a social event than a sporting event. She watched like a hawk for her friends to arrive and then spent most of her time with them on the sidelines, chatting and doing some of those hand-clapping things that little girls do.

And here's where your chance comes in to help our school out. I'm not one to ask for favors -- at least not very often -- but I'm asking for one now. Would you, could you, go on FB and vote for our local high school in the Kohl's Cares campaign. It is still in the top 20, but losing a bit a ground as the campaign nears an end on Sept. 3.

Have you heard of the Kohl's Cares campaign? Twenty schools around the country will win $500,000 from the Kohl's Cares campaign! Isn't that incredible! Both of my sons graduated from Pius X and received incredible educations. Maddy will be there too when her turn comes. More than 90% of their graduates go on to college and graduate from college! That's a great statistic for any school!

Plus, for all you Nebraska people, Pius X is the only Nebraska school in the running that has a chance of winning! We need everyone who is at least 13 years old to vote!

Anyway, here's how to help. Go to www.facebook.com/kohls. Click on "Vote Now -Find My School. When prompted, click "Allow" to the Kohl's link. On the drop-down menu, enter Pius X High School Lincoln (Lancaster) NE. Select our school and then click "Case a Vote." Click "Like" and then click on the x in the top right-hand corner. Cast your vote 5 times (the vote counter will keep track and your vote will go from 20 votes to 15 votes left). You will see a facebook share link underneath where you case your vote. Click on this and then in the box say "Vote for Pius X for a new kitchen." Select publish to share with your FB friends and hopefully find some more votes for Pius!

Thank you for helping!