Epcot Day 1

The Disney Adventures continue . . . 

On our first full day, Maddie and I had a fabulous

character breakfast at Epcot!

Maddie loves Mickey waffles!

The restaurant is called the Garden Grill and it 

is SO GOOD!!  Plus, it slowly rotates as you eat and that is fun too.

Luckily, it did not make me dizzy!

The characters there are so fun!

Yes, we still love seeing characters!

We could not miss seeing our favorite Mickey Mouse

in overalls!

Maddie mentioned that she saw a very old photo of 

me in similar overalls!

Yep -- I wore overalls sometimes in college! 

It was a super fun way to start the day and 

we made sure and eat enough to count for breakfast and lunch!

Catching Up ... A Little

Hello there -- Yay -- it's Wednesday -- my third favorite day of the work week,
just behind second place-Thursday and first place-Friday!
Oh my word, I've gotten way behind on blogging, haven't I.

I will be attempting to catch up a bit.

We had the Best. Time. Ever. on our spring break trip

to Walt Disney World!
The weather was perfect and so nice to 

have warm sunny skies while
winter continued into its 96th week in Nebraska!!

The only downer (do people still say "downer?") was that Mr. Tennis was unable to go with us.
He has not been feeling the best and that's putting it mildly.  OY!!
Truth be told - I was worried about leaving him at home!
Back in November, he was in the hospital for a Crohn's flareup and meds were changed,
which helped a teensy bit for a little while.
But, he was feeling quite poorly before a pre-surgery checkup, and it was discovered

he also has rheumatoid arthritis (another auto-immune disease)!

Right after we returned, he he had surgery and just starting some new meds to fight the
auto-immune issues.  He is doing better lately and we are so delighted
to see him feeling more like his usual self.
He's such a trooper and has been working at least half days or

more and finally able to get out and see his beloved horse -- not ride her -- 

but visit her and that has brightened his days!  Yay!

Love the castle!

But, let's put all that stress and worry behind us and
talk about Disney -- our favorite place!
The weather was absolutely heavenly!
Warm and sunny and not even humid!!
After such a long and dreadful winter - we were
definitely ready for sunshine and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse!



Maddie and caught a flight to Orlando at 5:15 AM!
Oy!!  Why do I always think that the first flights are the best and we have
to be at the airport by 4 AM!!  Yikes!
But . . . the best thing about those early flights is an early arrival -- we were at our hotel
by 12:30 or 1 PM!
We visited Epcot and Magic Kingdom that day and planned our strategies for days to come.
Of course, we couldn't leave Magic Kingdom without a Mickey ice cream bar!
Stay tuned!

Cheer Banquet 2018

Hi y'all!

I'm a bit behind due to spring break and other stuff . . .

but didn't want to forget the

end of the year Cheer Banquet!

Yes, it's true, cheer is over for the 2017-2018 school year!

Missing sweet JV cheerleader Christine who was ill

The banquet is a fun evening and dinner for the girls

and parents and it's not a potluck!!

It's catered and seriously YUMMY!

Plus, I didn't have to cook a single thing!

We watched a video of the entire cheer year and the 

graduating seniors all spoke on their future plans.

The first thing that each senior said was,

 "Thank you to my Mom and Dad for supporting me in cheer, 

sending me to Pius and paying for all the cheer uniforms and activities."

The banquet was held on the night of some of NCAA final 16 bball games.

There may or may not have been a few dads watching games

on their cell phones!  Mr. Tennis didn't watch, but he did manage

to check in with one of the other dads who was watching! :)

And the girls got to dress up a bit.

I worried for weeks about what I would wear -- silly  me  --

no one is really looking at me anyway!

But somehow, you'll be happy to know, I managed to get my 

hair looking good!  I think by now you all know how focused 

I can be on my hair!

Anyway, it was loads of fun!

The girls are adorable!

Maddie won the JV Squad Spirit Award!!!

The Spirit Award is voted on by her fellow JV squad members and 

represents the cheerleader with a great attitude and spirit 

 throughout the season!

She was so surprised and pleased.

JV cheer squad has been incredibly busy and demanding.

We are all enjoying a break from the twice weekly

6 AM practices and multiple games three times a week!

It's been an adventure and

she's made some life-long friends and memories!

GO BOLTS!!!

Have You Seen These??

Thank you all for your kind comments about my

blast-from-the-past prom story!

Maddie still does not believe my dress looked so fabulous!

So, here we go --- from the oldies to new-fangled things . . .

have you seen or heard of a heated eyelash curler???

Yes, they do exist and Maddie is trying one out!

She has long eyelashes that are very, very straight

like her beautiful straight hair!

Attempting to use an eyelash curler has not worked

very well for her . . . as in - did not work at all!!

So, when I saw this one posted  as a favorite on Preppy Empty Nester,

I mentioned it to Maddie and it immediately

went into the cart on Amazon!

Will be sure and update how it works!

Flower Power!

While we are waiting for spring to finally arrive . . . 

(shhhh - snow/ice predicted on the weekend),

I thought it would be fun to repost here a

story that I sent to Story Worth.

Story Worth is a subscription service given as a gift 

to me and to Mr. Tennis.  

Each week, we receive a question to answer about our earlier years, so

as to provide our kids and grands with a bit of an idea as 

to what it was like growing up back in the dark ages!

At the end of the year, a little book is generated!

Recently, Miss M submitted a story question asking about my prom experience.

It was such a hoot thinking back on it.  

I just wish I had a photo

of my most incredible dress. 

Since it's nearly prom season, here's my prom story for your reading enjoyment!

Prom is so magical and exciting and fun, but . . . 

I didn't go to prom when I was a junior in high school!

  I'm afraid my dorky hair and quiet studious self kept any cute guy from inviting me to go!  :) 

Also, there were not any cute guys at my high school anyway!

 But, when I was a senior, I took the plunge and asked a college guy that I knew and he said yes! 

  I had already graduated from high school as I finished all my requirements 

a semester early, so after my January graduation, I went to work to earn some

 extra money for college.   

I knew I really wanted to make an entrance back at the high school prom, 

since I hadn't been there for a couple of months. 

 Instead of one of the pastel puffy-fluffy dresses that most girls were wearing (including my twin),

 I found a fabulous multi-colored flowery fitted dress like this one, only a long version.  

It was so incredible-- absolutely stunning!  

Everyone at prom was talking about it.  

I know they were flabbergasted at my gorgeous dress as many girls 

asked "where on earth did you find that dress???"

The prom theme that year was based on the song "Precious and Few" -- 

I can still sing a few bars - which drives Maddie crazy!

  I did my own hair and it looked really good (for me). 

 It was fairly straight with some soft beachy curls - very similar to Megan Markle*!

 I went with a group of friends and their dates.  

We went out to eat before prom  (Johnny's Cafe - yes named after Nebraska's own Johnny Carson)

and then to the dance where I boogied and did the "swim" and twist!  It was so much fun!  

Afterward, we went to one of the boys homes and had some 

more food and played board games. The highlight of prom was really my dress!  

I can still picture that gorgeous flowery dress -- it was really special!  

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!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my oldest son!

His birthday was a couple of days ago and

he turned 33!  Wow -- what a fun age!

Birthday lunch with Catherine -- that cake!! Yum!

Hoping to get together with him sometime soon

to celebrate his bday and his oldest daughter's 8th birthday, 

but it seems like I've come down with 

Round 2 of Influenza!  Oh joy!!

Happy Birthday Philip!