Friday Night Lights Report!

I know you've all been waiting for the cheer

report for the first Friday Nights football game, haven't you???

YES!

It happened last Friday and it was not only the first home

football game, but it was also Homecoming!

The freshie cheerleaders cheered along with the JV and Varsity

for the first half of the game!

Can I be the first to report

they were . . . 

Fabulous! Adorable! Spirited! Incredibly Cute!

I'm not biased, at all! :)

Back row - 2nd from left

Prior to the game, the school had a "tailgate" 

(sorry, no beer or alcohol, of course!)

with  food and bouncy houses and cotton candy

for littler fans!

My sons and Philip's family both came to the game and my 

cousin's daughter did too!  

She recently moved to our fair city after she graduated

from law school and is clerking

for the Supreme Court Justice.  

We are so happy to get to know her better!

So, cheering at various sports has started!

This week she's cheering at softball and volleyball; next week tennis and football!

Miss M has a very busy schedule as does her driver!  

It's all good -- we are having so much fun!

GO BOLTS!

P.S.  The Bolts won that first home game - 31-13!

Photographer in Training!

One of Maddy's favorite things to do over the summer

was to take our Scottie, Muffy, out for photos!

Maddy was determined to build up Muffy's Instagram account and

had a goal to obtain a certain number of followers

She met and exceeded her goal.

Muffy now has over 7,000 followers!! 

Dogs are very popular on IG!

We love following all the Doodle pages!

 Maddy spent a good part of every day this past summer

with her hand-me-down camera capturing the essence

of a Scottish terrier who did not always appreciate

having her photo taken.

Bonus -- that Instagram "fun" goal has turned into a real

interest for her.  She has applied to be the

photographer for choir at school this year.

Even if she doesn't get it, she is looking forward to 

taking some photography courses in high school.

The other bonus of Muffy's popularity on IG, Muffy has

won a few contests!

So far, her prizes have been a new bandana and

a new collar. 

 Muffy is thrilled with both!  :)

And I was able to sneak in a few photos of my high schooler

recently too!

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!