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