Spring Concert and Awards

 Monday night was the Spring Concert and Awards Ceremony for the high school band.

Tristan played trumpet for Symphonic Band and baritone for Concert Band.

He also earned several awards for the year.

Tristan was given an award for being a First Year Pace Setter.

He does not know what he did to earn this award, but he's proud of himself for earning it!  Haha!!

Here he is with all the other Pace Setters, even a girl who has been a Pace Setter for all four years!

He has an opportunity next year to get this award again, he just has to figure out what the qualifications are.

Bryce, Tristan, and Andrew with their awards for making District V Honor Band.

Tristan, Andrew, Nathan, and Anna with their Honor Band awards.

Tristan with the Executive Officers.

Nathan--First Lt.; Tristan--Assistant Drum Major; Ashton--Drum Captain; The Girl who is officer of the color guard; Sidney--Second Lt.; Amanda--Head Drum Major; Derek--Band Captain

~  All the kids that made Honor Band  ~

All the officers, including Executive Officers, Color Guard, Drum Line, Field Marshals, 

Librarians, and Quartermasters.

Beta Awards

Thursday night was the Awards Banquet for Beta.

Savannah and Allen went and had a nice time.

~  Alyssa, Savannah, Taylor, Paige, and Hailey being photo-bombed by their sponsor, Mrs. DeFelice ~

Savannah was given an award for Outstanding Freshman Service.  This award is given to the student in each class that has the highest service hours.  The Freshman class has two that had 70 hours, Alyssa and Savannah, and one, Taylor, had 73 hours.  The next closest student with the highest number of hours was just over 30 hours, so the sponsors decided to honor all three girls at the top.

~  Morgan, Savannah, and Taylor  ~

She has not stopped serving our community though.

On Friday, she and other Beta Club members went to Moss Bluff Elementary to help with their end of school carnival.  She spend all morning there and is already racking up service hours for next year.

Savannah loves being in Beta and is looking forward to being the Treasurer next year.

Marching With Mickey

Tristan is at Disney World this week.

He of course, is sending me nothing.  Nada, zip, zero.  Nothing!

But I stole this photo off the Band Boosters Page, taken right before they lined up to march down main Street leading the electrical parade.

This one was taken by my good friend, Brenda.

Love, love, love it!

He looks so amazing in his uniform.  Tall and straight at attention, saluting.

Thanks to my friend for a fabulous picture of the band!

Emily was able to go to Disney World on Saturday and meet up with Tristan for a bit.
They rode Pirates of the Caribbean and visited for a few short moments before Tristan had to meet up with the band to dress and prepare for the parade.  So glad he was able to see her.

They left on Thursday around 3:00 PM and drove all night to arrive at Disney on Friday morning around 10:00 AM.  They played all day on Friday and Saturday before marching Saturday night.
This morning, they got up and drove to Tampa and Busch Gardens, Monday back at Disney all day until they load the buses and drive home all night to make it here on Tuesday before 4:00 PM.
What a fun trip!  I'm glad Tristan got to go.

NAMI Walk

This morning, Savannah and some of her SPARK friends donated money and participated in the 5K walk 

for the NAMI foundation for mental illness in honor of their friend and classmate, 

Channing, who committed suicide in February.  

They had shirts made in honor of him.  The front said "Team Fabulous," 

which is something he said all the time.  The back of the shirts had a quote from his favorite novel, 

To Kill a Mockingbird.  They sold the shirts at school and donated the money 

to Channings Family for funeral costs.

Savannah has been deeply touched and affected by Channings death.

She was happy to be able to spend the day with their mutual friends in honor of his life.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view,

until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.

Haiku Fun

One of the requirements for the Faith in God Award that Ethan earned for his Webelos Badge was to write a poem about one of Heavenly Father's creations. I told Ethan about the haiku and he was excited to begin. He wanted to write about animals, so he chose the dog and came up with the following poem.

I like animals
Dogs are my favorite pet
Running, jumping, fun

You can never stop with just one haiku, so we kept thinking and wrote this one about armadillos together.

Grey, strong shell, fast, round
Digging deep down in the ground
Coming out at night

Cowgirl Soccer

 Ethan got to go to a soccer clinic last night at McNeese University

to play with the Cowgirl Soccer Team.

A dad of one of Ethan's STEEL teammates won a soccer clinic for 12 kids in an auction and he gave it to Kirsten to use with the players.  Ethan was free to go, so he got on the list.

 Ethan scored a goal during scrimmage!  When I asked Ethan about it, because he did not tell me that he scored a goal against college players, he said, "They were taking it easy on us."

~ Zack, Daniel, Ben, Josh, Ethan, Braden, and Dallas ~

Afterwards, they went to Gatti's pizza for food and fun.

Ethan rode with Kirsten, Ben's mom and the manager of the STEEL, who said she had never heard Ethan talk so much before.  I guess it was such a good night, he opened up and was able to be his real self around his friends and their parents.  Always good when Ethan feels he can be himself.  Fun times!

STEEL Soccer

Yesterday, Ethan's soccer team competed in a tournament in Shreveport.

Ethan and I went up to Shreveport on Friday night and spent a cozy night at the Homewood Suites Hotel.

After a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, and bacon, we headed out to the fields.

It was much colder than we had anticipated, so we had to stop at the Burke's Outlet Store 

and buy some winter apparel.  Being April, there was not much to choose from, 

but we were lucky to find a few items on clearance to fit the bill.

They played two games, which turned out to be the best STEEL soccer EVER!!

They won their first game 6-2, with Ethan scoring one of the goals, and with STEEL players scoring the second goal for the other team.  Adyn bounced it off his knee up and over Daniel's head, who is the goalie, right into the goal.  A score for the other team!

They lost their second game 1-0, but had quite the nail biting ending.  It was awesome!

Front Row:  Braden (cut out of photo...oops!), Daniel, Maddy, Landon, Ethan, Bryce, Dallas, Josh.

Back Row:  Coach Andrew, Ben, Taylor, Coach Ian, Adyn, and Coach Damian.

Ethan and I drove home after the second game and the tournament was scheduled to continue today, 

but ended up being cancelled due to rain.  

The kids played so well in their two games yesterday.  Since we don't play on Sundays, I'm so glad Ethan could be there and be part of the best STEEL game ever!!

What a Bunch of Nerds

Ever year, the week before LEAP testing at Gillis Elementary, the kids are encouraged to dress up for Nerd Day.

The school wants the kids to know that it is okay to be smart, to want to work hard in school, and to make good grades and high scores on their testing.

Jackson was reluctant to dress up for Nerd Day at school today. He did not know what a nerd was, 

so I explained to him that a nerd is someone who loves learning and enjoys certain subjects and activities. 

We are all nerds, just about different things.  

We discovered that our family is incredibly nerdy, each person loving many different things.

Jackson loves science, especially space and planets, soccer, drawing and coloring, 

math, grilled cheese sandwiches, everything about The Wiggles, and watching movies in French.

Ethan is nerdy about soccer, the color orange, science, math, social studies, swimming, roller skating, 

sunflower seeds, reading, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

Savannah loves doing hair, Taylor Swift, reading, frozen yogurt, cooking, eating, David Archuleta, 

finding modest outfits, Beyond 5, hanging with friends, Pintrest, American History, Seminary, and baking.

Holden likes coloring, reading books, yogurt, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, playing at the park, chesse, wrestling, Yo Gabba Gabba, cookies, and taking baths.

Melinda is the biggest nerd who loves to cook and try new recipes, read, sleep, cheer for her kids, go to lunch with her friends, learn and speak in sign language, and listen to music and sing at the top of her lungs. 

Tristan is nerdy because he loves wrestling, drawing, music, band, swimming, wear bow ties, maps, Hunter Hayes, learning new instruments, tying knots, roller skating, and Rick Riordan books. 

Allen loves math and science, licorice, movies, watching the news, sushi, human anatomy, 

listening to talk radio, and camping.

We are all passionate about different things.  

Following our passions and discovering our talents is important, but also fun!

Here's to being a NERD!!    

Vivacious Vannh Girl

Earlier this year, Savannah's Gifted English class made chains.  On each link of the chain was written words to share the positive ways the classmates felt toward each other.  It's gotten pretty beaten up and needs to go in the trash, but I wanted to keep the words for Savannah.

~ Vivacious (Mrs. Wamsley)

~ Perfect

~ Absolutely Hilarious (Alyssa)

~ A Gift From the God Almighty, Bless Your Heart! (Alyssa)

~ Original.  Very! (Allie)

~ Generous (Allie)

~ An Amazing Actor and Opera Singer (Allie)

~ "You have a nice smile."

~ "Kinda bossy, but the good, queenish kind!"  (Breanna)

~ Vivacious (Breanna)

~ Imaginative (Breanna)

~ Enthusiastic

~ "You have a nice voice."

Just Keep Scrolling, Scrolling, Scrolling!

I've updated a lot of things in the past week, so if you want to see it all, you have to keep scrolling way back until October 2013.  When you get to the post about the DeRidder Marching Festival, you should be caught up.

Quotable Quotes

"When I find raisins in my cereal, it's like finding buried treasure!"

~ Jackson

Beta Volunteer

Savannah has been busy again volunteering around Moss Bluff with the Beta Club.  

On Saturday, she went to Moss Bluff Elementary to help paint the court yard.  

The Beta Club leader, Mrs. DeFelice, wrote about it on Facebook.  

What a beautiful day to make a difference! Boy Scout Troop 21 of Moss Bluff and the Sam Houston Beta Club joined forces for six hours today to repaint the USA Playground Map at Moss Bluff Elementary. This playground map was our son Zach's Eagle Scout Project nearly six years ago, and it was so fun to see the kids bring new life to it today! Take a quick look through the before-and-after pictures - what a great job they did - quite professional-looking! And a special thanks to Troop 21 for raising the necessary funds for the project with a car wash last fall. Mr. Vern and Mrs. Nita - those boys are so blessed to have you as their leaders...just as my son was so many years ago.

The map before.

The map afterward.  Great job, guys!!

Then, this afternoon, she went with Beta again to Moss Bluff Elementary to paint the windows of the cafeteria to encourage the students before the standardized testing next week.

Mrs. DeFelice, again on Facebook:

The SHHS Beta Club spent the afternoon painting the cafeteria windows at Moss Bluff Elementary School with encouraging words for the students in preparation for LEAP Testing next week. What a fun way for the older kiddos to show their love and support for the younger kiddos!

Savannah said she painted the frog.

Tomorrow afternoon, they are headed up to Gillis Elementary to decorate their windows for testing too, and later this month to decorate the windows of a local nursing home for spring.

These guys and all the other Beta volunteers have done so much good in our community.

Savannah loves being in Beta and decided to run for an officer for next year.

She had to get teacher recommendations and one from the principal and she had to prepare a speech.

She found out on Friday that she had been voted as the Beta club Treasurer for next year.

She is so excited to have this opportunity.  She was up against some stiff competition.  

She's going to do a great job!!

Let Me Remind You That He is Five

This morning I received a tutorial from Jackson on how to take care of his clothes when I do laundry. 

The other day he fussed at me about it too.  I told him that he could roll them himself before he put them away. 

This morning, he showed me how so I could do it instead, making sure I was paying close attention to the different treatment needed for long vs. short sleeved items. 

Oh, that boy.  He's going to be so disappointed!

Portfolio in Progress

Tristan has decided that he wants to study Digital Art and Animation.

We have looked up several colleges and their programs.

One mentioned that he would need a portfolio before applying.

He has always been a drawer and sketcher, doodling on the margins of all his papers, but this must have inspired him because he has been drawing a lot lately.

Here are two of his latest drawings, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tarzan.

Much more interesting than my stick figures!

Quotable Quotes

Last night, we were having dinner.  I had made some mixed vegetables that had sliced orange and yellow carrots in it.  Jackson was not interested in eating the yellow carrots, saying that they tasted weird.

I told him that I could not tell a difference in the flavor and that lots of foods have several different colors, like potatoes are white, brown, red, and even purple.  Apples are red and green and yellow.

Then I explained that carrots are really good for your body and provide Vitamin K that is helpful to maintaining good eyesight. That started us on a conversation about vitamins and minerals and which foods have what our bodies need to stay strong and healthy.

After a minute or so, Holden stood up out of his chair and walked over to where I was sitting.  He opened his mouth wide after asking, "Mom, can I have some of your Vitamin K?"

The Droid Files

I have a ton of pictures on my phone that I never think to blog about, 

so here are some of them in random order from random dates.

From the Republican Club field trip I took with Tristan to New Orleans last April.

At the I-Max Theater with my friend, Vicki Hilliard.  (It's a horrible picture of me and I am only posting it to have proof one day that I existed and did all the things I have said that I have done.)

Savannah with her friends, Taylor Andrepont and Savannah Stebbins, on a dress up day at the middle school, possibly Halloween 2012.  They are supposed to be triplets.

Holden, Dylan, and Jackson playing in the dirt at Dylan's house.

Ethan at CiCi's Pizza after a swim meet in the Summer of 2013.

We went there with some friends after a meet and piled all of our plates in front of Ethan to make it look like he ate all that food by himself.

Holy Batman, Tristan!  Being silly on a band trip.

Savannah caught her first fish on a trip with her friend, Alyssa.

I think she was more afraid of it than it was of her.

My friend, Brenda, brought me some awesomely yummy chips that are only found 

in her hometown in Pennsylvania.  She brought me a bag each of two different kinds.  

When she visits home, she packs her bags and trunk full to the brim and hoards them until they are gone.  

So sweet that she thought of me when she visited the last time!

A little freaked out by the picture above.

A loose white powder?  Can't find that listed in the ingredients.

Last time I bought that for the kids to take to school for lunch.

Holden just laying around, watching television.

Jackson's adorable artwork from the first week of school.

The cutest little study buddies ever!

The cutest little brothers ever!!

At least two PB&J's made daily at this house, using Grammy's famous blackberry jam.  Yumm-o!!

Jackson at soccer practice with Coach Drew and the Bacon Bits.

Holden hanging out around town with bear and alligators, oh my!

Ethan helping me tear out and staple workbook pages for Jackson's teacher, Mrs. Castille.

Self portraits in the hall at Gillis Elementary.  Love, love, love them!

Savannah was given a couple of dresses that were a bit too short, so we ordered her some slip extenders, one brown, one white, and one black to go with several different outfits.

They look awesome and really will go a long way to make her wardrobe more modest 

and wearable for a much longer time!  SOOOOOOOO excited about that!

Two of these planters sit outside the Chiropractor's office.  

Holden says they are trophies.

 Making birthday gifts for the children in the Jennings Primary.

Holden and I went to pick up donuts for the Moss Bluff Senior Citizens breakfast being thrown by the Beta Club at the High School.  All they ordered were plain and boring glazed donuts.  Holden was thrilled when the donut shop owner gave him a glorious sprinkled one!

Ethan's French teacher, Jean-Paul went into the hospital in October for problems with his feet.

We went to visit him and found this awesome poster signed by Jackson's French class hanging on the wall.

Tristan getting his hair did by the girls in band.

More Bacon Bits!

Tristan ice skating on the band trip to Dallas.

And visiting Medieval Times on that same band trip.  Turned out to be not so much a fun activity for him.  This picture was taken right before Tristan had a major sneezing attack because of all the horses.    

Tristan is on the second row from bottom in the black SHHS swim shirt, next to the kid in the Batman shirt.