the volleyball team

At the end of last year Paige decided she wanted to try out for the volleyball team at school. She had had minimal volleyball playing experience so we signed her up for a volleyball camp right after school was out. She had a great time and so at the beginning of this school year she tried out. She made the team and has been working hard. She is in a athletics pe class and then has two hours of practice after school. She has enjoyed it and we'll see if she stays with it.

I took this picture the day the teams were announced and she found out she had made it.

I took pictures at her 1st game (actually a scrimmage). It is horrible to get a good shot in the gyms with a point and shoot camera and a uncooperative subject but I did my best. She came up with this new "hairstyle" for volleyball. It is intended to distract the other team and keep them from concentrating. I don't know that it is very effective, Paige's team was beat pretty good.

Ready for the serve

Up in front

After the 1st game. She was coerced into posing for this picture

1st day of school

Here we are at the end of the 1st 6 weeks of the school year and I am just posting about the 1st day. Tells you that life's been crazy. Big changes this year with school. I went from kids in 3 different schools to one school. It's been a long time since we dealt with just one school. The girls are in 8th and 6th grade at the jr. high. I can't believe my baby is in jr. high. The girls are doing great and have enjoyed school so far this year. They are both in all pre-AP classes so they are busy with keeping up with the workload. Paige is still doing percussion in the band and Lexi is also in the band playing the bassoon. Paige has made the volleyball team (more in a later post). Lexi joined the pep squad but is rethinking that commitment. The girls are on their way to a successful school year.

Paige before heading out

Lexi-she ditched the backpack this year since she has a locker now.

I snapped a picture as the girls got out of the car. Had to be quick in the car line. I can't get in front of the school anymore so this is the best I could do.

Lexi heading into the school. She admitted to having butterflies. A rarity for this go getter.

Anniversary

Ken was gone on our anniversary-Aug 16th. The day he got home was crazy with the girls orientation at school and he had a trip to Austin. Well I guess he made some quick arrangements and he told me to pack a suitcase and we were going out of town for a few days. This is the nice part of 1. Having older kids, and 2. Having a husband who is a pilot. He took his passenger to Austin and then he and I continued on to Fredericksburg, TX. It's about a 4 hr drive from Houston or 1 1/2 by plane. At the airport there is a hotel right on the property called the hangar hotel. It is decorated from the 1940's era, complete with big band music over the speaker system. It was very nice and quiet away from the craziness of regular life. Fredericksburg was settled by German settlers in 1846. Ironic history-a group of mormon settlers that came to Texas in 1847 following the exodus from Nauvoo are credited with keeping the Germans from starving to death. The Germans were not familiar with the land and what crops were appropriate so the mormon settlers showed them how and what to plant and helped to build up the area. It is a very nice tourist town. Lots of little shops and yummy food. There is German fare as well as many others. Don't wait too late though, things close up pretty early. We spent a couple of days browsing the shops. We went to a museum that was all about the pacific conflict of WWII. Probably one of the best I've seen. It was a great getaway and fun way to celebrate 24 yrs. together.

This is actually a cell tower. It has the German decorations to blend with the park around it

The lobby of the Hangar Hotel

Us outside.

In the plane ready to head home.

Braces

Just after returning home from California, the girls had a consult with the orthodontist about braces. Paige has finally gotten her permanent teeth in and so it was time to get started on braces. There was a cancellation in an appointment the day before she left to go to girl's camp. Paige was very excited to get started so she went for it. I figured when she was in pain then someone else could listen to her complain. She figured out what color bands she wanted and was all set to go.

In front of the orthodontist office ready to get started

A very attractive position to be in. Since Paige has only had cleanings and x-rays on her teeth she is not familiar with the many torture devices dentists/orthodontists can come up with. This was just the beginning.

Brackets and wire in place and now for the pink and green alternating bands Paige chose.

All done and still smiling. It was a few hours later that the soreness kicked in. She was pumped up with ibuprofen and from all reports did okay at camp. I just sent the medicine and soon she was back to regular eating. Little does she realize that soreness reoccurs whenever the wire is changed. Oh well, she'll learn.

Honesty is the best policy

One day I took Lexi and a friend to Walmart to pick up some things before heading out of town. I needed to do a return and so I sent the girls to get the needed items while I took care of the return. As I was walking towards customer service the girls came running up to me very excited and told me they had found a $100.00 dollar bill. They showed it to me and I decided to take it to customer service and let them know it had been found. When I got there, there was a couple of customers ahead of me. A man did his return and was digging in his pocket and then was very upset as he said he had lost a $100.00 dollar bill. Being that it was pretty early in the morning and not a lot of customers I figured it had to be the owner of the one the girls had found. I told him they had found it and he was very grateful to have it returned. He left and I did my return and he had come back up to the desk with a bouquet of roses. He paid for them and then gave them to me for the girls along with some change. While the girls were disappointed not to have gotten the original money they thought the flowers and change was pretty nice.

Girl's camp 2010

The 2nd week the guys were gone was when Paige went to girl's camp for church. The thought of camping in Texas in August is not something I would attempt but the girls have a great time. They go to a local Girl Scout camp which has cabins. There is a air conditioned lodge and some classrooms but for the most part it's you and the heat. And during the week the temperatures were around 105. Luckily there is a lake and swimming pool and during that week there was quite a bit swamping of the canoes. Thurs the 11 yr old girls were invited to come for the day to participate in different activities and see a glimpse of what camp is like. Lexi was very excited because she would be going up for the day.

Paige and Lexi at camp


The girls in the lodge before skits/singing

Paige and her BFF with their matching bandanas and t-shirts.

cabin mates.

With the boys off to Philmont for awhile it was just girl time. We kept ourselves busy with many activities.

The girls with a mani/pedi time


Paige made some sleep shorts to get ready for girl's camp

Lexi had her big Girl Scout party at ITZ, a indoor amusement park venue. Kind of like Chuck E. Cheese but for older kids.

Lexi and I rode on the bumper cars.

Lexi and I repainted she and Paige's room

In preparation for jr. high, Lexi got several inches cut off her hair.

Before the cut.

Beginning of Philmont trek 2010

It's hard to believe this time had finally arrived. This trip has been 3 years in the planning and preparation. The day after we returned from Ca. it was final shakedown for our Boy Scout crew's Philmont trek. The boys & leaders all had their packs, to check and double check equipment and make sure everything was ready to roll for the next day. They would be leaving to head to New Mexico for the next two weeks on a 11 day trek in the mountains of Philmont. Some were prepared, some not quite as much as they could have, but all were excited. There were 3 leaders and 9 boys. And all were ready for the adventure.

The boys checked the weight of their pack



They checked the equipment list one last time. Some made a quick trip to the sporting goods store for the forgotten item


Packs lined up ready to go.

Probably the most essential piece of equipment, a good pair of hiking boots. I don't even want to think about how much $$ is lined up there. If your feet aren't properly taken care of it can make or break the experience.

The crew all ready to go. we were missing two of the boys, they would meet up with the others in Dallas.