You did it!

You were an unexpected blessing when you came into our lives. Your smile brightened our days and those baby blue eye were mesmerizing.

You were solving math at the age of 3 yrs. I thought it was just entertainment for you. Little did we know you had a gift for math.

Your love of music was evident very early on and when you demonstrated at the age of 2 yrs that you could move like "I Dream Of Jeannie", your dad raised his eyes with father-like concern.

Your first few years of school were difficult. You cried every single day for 3 years. I remember prying your little body from mine at the bus stop each and every morning. You still managed to maintain straight A's throughout but we were concerned you would never like school from a social standpoint.

You begged to take flute and we enrolled you in flute lessons and again you demonstrated quick learning and a natural ability.

Middle school is well......middle school. You still struggled adapting to school life but you were at the top of your class with straight A's throughout the years. We were busy running you to dance and music lessons.

Your math teacher called us to discuss your math talent. I must admit that at this point it began to sink in my wee non-math brain that you were gifted. We were informed you were doing math formulas in your head that had not been taught or introduced to you. Your father and I sat in front of the teacher completely dumb-founded. Where did this come from? (I know since I don't have the math brain, I must've passed it onto you.....lol)

High school arrived much too soon and you loved it! The days of crying were over and we secretly wondered if we would need to burn the school down to get you to leave.

Much to my denial, graduation day finally arrived. You have fulfilled our days and years with "your attitude" (lol), laughter, fun and a few tears when you were disappointed.

You have a mature perspective beyond your years about people with immature behavior. Throughout the years your teachers loved you and you maintained an impeccable scholastic record.

Your class chose Final Countdown as the theme song at graduation. The band director asked if you wanted to direct the band, an honor that is usually reserved for the drum major. The band members and the drum major told you to take the offer. You did.

( the picture is a bit fuzzy but it's difficult to focus when the photographer is fighting tears)

You graduated #1 in the class with full honors and we're so proud of you. You worked hard and you deserve it. I know you heard your sister and your friends cheering you on. I now understand why you say your friends are your family. They support you and they love your "attitude" lol.

You have a loving family along with many friends who respect and love you.

You have dreams and ambitions and while they may not always come easy, we know you will do your best to achieve them.

Honors College is waiting for your arrival:).

Congratulations! You did it! We love you, kiddo!

Your favorite quote: "Impossible is nothing"

Ya Gotta Love 'em

Do you see this? It is the top of our driveway. Slick and icy.
The DD got up late to go to school. She had 15 minutes to get ready and head out. The DH assured me that she would have NO problem getting out. After all, Mr. "I-have-driven-for-35-years" had NO problem getting out when he left for his 2 hour trek to work.
However, DD has only had her license for 5 months. And this is her first time driving in icy/snow conditions.
Our driveway is a gradual slope. Not good in the winter. One must tromp the gas pedal to the top.
She went to the car and unfortunately drove slow. I was in my sheep pjs yelling from the deck for her "tromp" it. She never heard me. She slid and got stuck. I called the DH who then said, "I didn't have a problem. Tell her to back down in the grass and start over." Obviously he hasn't noticed there IS NO GRASS! It is covered in snow and ice. She backed down and this time she almost hit the apple tree.

I called the DH again. He couldn't understand how that happened. MEN!
I looked outside and there was the DD with her head in her arms against the car, sobbing. When I asked what was wrong she was blubbering in a total meltdown (and no it didn't melt any snow/ice).
"I-I wa-anted to-o throw snow un-nder the t-t-ire for t-t-r-raction. I shut the door and it l-o-ocked me-e OU-U-T!" Loud wailing at this point.
The car was running and she was locked out. Miss "I-never-get-fuel-till-it's-on-empty", only had a 1/4 tank of gas. I anticipated the car running stuck in the driveway until it ran out of fuel.

But wait...........it gets better..........we have a second set of keys. So I called the DH. "where is the second set of keys." Answer? "in my pocket." The DH was at work 2 hours away. So he took another vacation day and came home. He is out of cell service for most of the 2 hour trip so when my dad broke into the car and towed her out, I had no way of reaching the DH.

On top of it all, the DD has a horrible cold and insisted on going to school because, "I don't want to miss my AP literature class." She was late but she finally made to school.

We are getting several keys made for this car and they will be in MY possession instead of the DH's pocket 2 hours away.


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I grabbed the camera for a rare shot of Mr. Bettis and Gypsy napping together with a cat within slobbering reach.
There's plastic on the bed to keep animal hair off the bedding (not that it really works around here). Aren't they being good?

School's Out.......Again

The DH called on his way to work ( I find it interesting, that he was on his way to work when he called rather gleefully) to inform me that school is out.......again.

The temp outside is a balmy 12 degrees farenheit. It's cold. The snow turned to ice and the streets in town are a mess. So the kids are out once again. It's not that we have that much snow, after all we have been known to have snow measured by the foot, but this particular snowfall is slick. It glistens like diamonds, beautiful, but slick. So once again, I will be "entertaining" the 16 yr old. She is the last one at home out of 4 kids. As I told a friend, she's a good kid/student but how much high school drama/gossip can a parent take? Although said gossip/drama has been used by me (unbeknown to her) as life learning tools.

I'm off here to find "entertainment" for the 16 yr old i.e. dusting, cleaning........well you get the picture..... and if I get any flack I'm thinking Mr. Bettis could put those huge paws to work and become a sled dog. He could pull her to school.

p.s. Now where's that dog sled?

The Game

This is the Big Red Machine coming through their helmet on game day.







The Red School's Marching Band during performance. There is a sea of blue on the opposing side and the Red sea is on the home side. (we're the red in case you haven't figured that out).










The Piccolo Pirate is the one with the long pony tail. These are not happy faces as we were losing the game.
It was cold. It was wet. And we lost.
But all is not so bad as we head off to playoffs this Saturday. We're a 9-1 team so they have done well this year.
The kids have fun so that is what really counts anyway. We're the school who has fun even when we lose.

There was one small problem. The opposing team's band never shows for this game. They have a boombox they play during their teams' achievements. It sounds like a tin-can but to each his own. There was an announcement that the Red school would play the national anthem and then their alma mater as we are the home team this year. The Blue school stood respectively during the national anthem then turned on their boombox to drown out the alma mater. There's a big to-do going on right now with the alumni of the Red school and the local newspaper editorial is bombarded with letters. Good, I say. The Blue school owes the Red school alumni an apology for their disrespectful, rude and bad behaviour. But I doubt that happens. Thank goodness the Red school has respect and regard for the opposing teams.




Mr. Milo came to visit and he is getting big. Here he is on "time-out." His "parents" had to discipline him several times on Saturday and he was put on "time-out" for 11 minutes.

Do you think his "parents" know he's a d-o-g?


There will be a contest posted this week so get ready. I'll give you a hint........it has something to with Thanksgiving.

Homecoming Week

Homecoming week is B-I-G around here and NFL Hometown Network chose our school rival football game to be televised. The two local high schools have been rivals for over 50 years. It started as the Turkey Day Game back in the 1950's. It was moved to the first of November in the 1980's. The Blue school wanted it changed so their band could attend competitions. They lost school unity over that decision. But the Red school has persevered and the band is respected and loved by the Red school fans.

Homecoming week consists of locker decorations, yard decor, school decorations, pep rallies, powder puff football games and a lot of fun. The theme this year was the Pirates for the Red school where I, my mother and my 4 children attended. My youngest daughter is now in the school and we decorated her locker in the Pirate theme. She is in the band and the band halftime show coordinates with the Homecoming Theme of Pirates. It is awesome with ship flags and pretend sword (instrument) fights. I love it.









My daugher in law, my youngest son's girlfriend, my oldest daughter and my sister were on hand to help with the decorations. It is a surprise to the students when they attend school on Monday after locker decoration day which was last Saturday.




While we were decorating, little daughter was decorating the band room. This is one of the walls the band students decorated.



These are replica Pirate flags hanging from the band room ceiling.

Pirates have conquered the school! The Band Ship Rocks!



I did get the Pirate socks knitted for her locker and I'd take a picture except she wore them today. I made a treasure chest and filled it with sweets and candy along with the Pirate socks. I had a sweatshirt made just for her, dressed one of her teddy bears in Pirate clothing and filled a kettle with candy. She was surprised and loved it all.

The game is on Saturday so I'll let you know if we win.

Happy MOLE Day! Scarf

Here it is, the MOLE scarf.
My 16 yr old knitting, mathmetician, chemist DD knitted this for MOLE Day. Her Chemistry teacher challenged the students to create a MOLE project. This is what we came up with. An illusion knitted MOLE 6.02 x 10 to the twenty third power scarf. She insisted it be knitted in mole brown colors.

The 23 power numbers were a bit of a challenge but it will do. I am anxious to hear what the Chem teacher has to say about this project. I think she will appreciate the project.



Kinda fascinating don't ya think?









I am knitting an illusion knitted scarf for her with her school band logo. It is slow going but I plan to have it finished by Nov. 3rd. Along with the pirate socks. The Homecoming theme this year is Pirates of the Carribean. I'll be posting pics of the locker decor etc on the weekend of Nov third.
In the meantime Have a Happy Mole Day!