Braces For The First

Well, our first now has braces!  I was worried that she wouldn't get them until high school, but she managed to get them before she became a freshman.  Hopefully the process won't take more than a couple years, so she'll be braces-free by her senior year. :-)

She was pretty nervous about getting them, but got through it without any difficulty.  Here is the BEFORE picture...

And, here is the AFTER!  Can't wait to see how beautiful her smile is at the end of this journey.  Let's hope Noah's turn doesn't come until a year or so from now, because we are now officially MUCH poorer than we were at 11am this morning. ;-)

To celebrate, Pete joined us for lunch at Wendy's, where Madie got some fries and a frostie.  It's all about nutrition with braces, right? ;-)  This kid of mine is growing up!

8th Grade Night

 Today was Madie's 8th grade night at the school.  I remember doing this with my parents when I was a senior in high school and now I'm doing the same thing with my 8th grader.  It just is crazy to me how quickly time goes by!

I went out today and got her some flowers and wrapped them up in Panther colors today.  She had found a really cool copper peace sign necklace that she really liked when we were out shopping the night before, so I got that too and wrapped it around the flowers.  She was really excited to get them both!

Here are all of us parents and 8th grade cheerleaders and basketball players. :-)

When we found the copper necklace, it was when we were out shopping for a THANK YOU gift for her coach from all the 8th grade girls.  Madie picked out a scarf, some scented goat milk soap, and a handmade necklace with the letter "S" on it for Mrs. Schomas.  That's the necklace she was holding up in this picture.

Since this was not only 8th grade night, but their last night as cheerleaders for MES, I wanted to make sure I got a picture of her at the top of the formation.  She's always been nervous doing this, but she did a great job tonight!

Had to take a quick picture of them cheering as well. :-)

We didn't win the game, but that didn't stop the girls (and Livie and her friends) from cheering them on into the locker room.

Once the game was over, I was able to take some pictures of all of us together.  Here's my grown up girl!  She's holding the necklace charm that we got her. :-)

Here's my grown up girl with her goofy siblings.

Here's Madie with her flowers and necklace we got her.  I can't believe she's almost done at this school!  Did I mention she got measured today for her graduation gown?  Yeah.  Totally not freaking out over here.  Who am I kidding?  That's a total lie.  I'm a nutcase!!  P.S. - She made sure I knew that she measured at 5'1" and is a whole 3" taller than me now.  She was quite proud of that!

Here are the 8th grade girls with their coach. :-)

And, here is my family.  We're all growing older and things seem to be changing rapidly around me.  I'm so proud of each and every one of them!

Freshman Orientation (GASP!)

Let me start by apologizing for the following pictures.  For some reason they are all blurry.  I even took them with my regular camera, so they would turn out better, and I STILL managed to mess them up!  Maybe it was my nerves.  I was a little goofy this evening, as you'll read about in a bit...

I'll start by telling you about Freshman Orientation.  It's exactly what it sounds like.  It was a night when the high school was opened for all incoming freshman.  We got to tour the school, talk to teachers, etc....  We go to a K-8th grade school, so this is the first big move for us.  The high school is fed by many area schools, so Madie is going from a class size of about 70, to a class size of like 450!  That makes this mom VERY NERVOUS!!

I took this picture of her standing outside of the main doors.  We've been in the school several times for dance recitals and a couple POM camps, but other than that, this school is a mystery to us.  So, I was nervous.  She really wasn't.  It was dark out, so the flash of the camera nearly blinded her (and made the picture wash her out), and that was just the start of our night. ;-)

 We got there a little late, because we couldn't find parking to save our lives.  So, when we got there, the principal (that's who I assume was talking) had already launched into his speech/explanation.  All I caught was the end when they said we could team up with a teen leader to give us a tour.  "GOOD!" I thought, because I didn't know where to go or what to do.  But, when you're 4'10" and you head into the foyer with hundreds of other families, finding a teen leader is nearly impossible, so I grabbed Madie and we headed out on our own.

As we were walking through the crowd, we ran into one of Madie's friend and her mom, who I found out when to the school.  I basically stalked her and made her show us around.  Thankfully, she obliged....at least for a little while. :-)  The first stop was the band room.

I introduced myself to her soon-to-be band teacher and let Madie talk to her for a little while.  The band at the high school is an award-winning band.  I do believe they've won state competitions several years running now!  Madie LOVES playing her flute, so I am very excited for this to be something she's a part of.  I know she's super-excited too!

We walked around some more with her friend and her mom, as her mom showed us a few more places and explained how the different floors were numbered.  The school is split into three connected buildings, I guess, and they are numbered in the 100s.  That helped a bit.  Kind of helped us get our bearing.

After Pete arrived (he had to pick up Livie from dance and was a little late), we said goodbye and thanks to Ashleigh and her mom and started walking around ourselves.  We stopped by the gym, which is where Noah's had basketball camp and the girls have had POM camp before.  We're going to be Pirates soon, not Panthers anymore!  So many changes coming up!

We went up to the 900th floor (that's it's label/name), where most of the freshman classes are.  We checked out the math rooms and saw the art room.  There were lots of signs up in that lobby that showed the incoming freshman some of the clubs that are offered there.  Really hoping she takes advantage of being a part of a few.  I know clubs were big with me when I was that age.

Throughout this "adventure", I seemed to be making rookie mistakes - according to my teenager (and husband).  Here's what I posted on Facebook that night.  It pretty much summed it up our night:

"A few things I learned tonight about my teenager at freshman orientation:

1.  She really does not like when I call her "Madie Moo" out loud around anyone that could be listening.  And, I mean, REALLY doesn't.
2.  Announcing to every teacher that I mean that I'm a "newbie" apparently embarrasses her....any my husband.
3.  Telling random parents that I come across that I'm "totally freaking out and have no idea what I'm doing" warrants her walking away from me while rolling her eyes....and, again, Pete too.
4.  Finally, if you do any of these things often enough, she will let you know that it's best that you go home and that she'll just finish up the tours with her dad.

....I got home 30 minutes ago"

So, it seems I have a lot to learn in the next few months, before my oldest enters high school, or I might just be forbidden to accompany her anywhere ever again! ;-)

Bragging Rights

Most people, especially people on social media, aren't really enthusiastic when you post things about your child's academic achievements.  They don't like when parents "brag" in that way.  But, you know what?  I'm SUPER proud of my kids and their recent report cards, so I thought I'd just post about it here instead.  

The first report card is Livie's.  She did a fabulous job!  Especially considering, like her mom, math is her worst subject.  School isn't her thing as much as it is for her brother and sister, so to see her doing so well each semester is exciting to see.

This is Noah's report card.  Um, this one kind of blew me away.  He didn't just have As.  He had all but one A+!  What?!  I don't think I've ever seen a report card with that many A-pluses in my life!  I'm telling you, he does not get his smarts from his mom.  This is ALL Pete right here!

Madie's report card was almost as good.  She had 5 A-pluses and 4 As.  Again, I thought that was totally fantastic!  Pete and I were so proud of their great grades this semester and I just had to share our pride with our family and friends. :-)

It's Been a While

 It has been several months since I last blogged.  In early October I had a bit of a breakdown.  After mom died, I was so excited for her.  I knew she was in Heaven and no longer suffering and it made me so happy for her.  Watching her suffer, at the end specifically, was heartbreaking for me.   It consumed my mind those final weeks before the end.  When she passed away, I thought of little else but "Thank you, God!", because I knew she was ok then.   But, the joy in her homegoing doesn't make up for the fact that I missed her.   I didn't want to feel the sadness of her loss though, so to keep myself from feeling that, I decided to keep myself busy.  And, not just busy, but barely-catch-your-breath busy.  You can only do that for so long before it catches up with you.  At least, that's what I've discovered.  One night the kids were all talking over each other, pulling me in 10 different directions, I lost it.  I dove straight into a really awful, 2-day long, vomit-inducing panic/anxiety attack.  I was a disaster. Everything I had been bottling up inside came out.   To make a long story short, I've been struggling with depression and anxiety attacks since. I've started taking anti-depressants and had a couple counseling sessions with my pastor.  I'm taking anti-anxiety pills when I feel the need to as well.  It seems to be helping a little, though some days I'm ok and others, not so much.   I'm trying to learn to cut back on the things I've been doing too, since "busyness" is one of the things I've used to keep myself from feeling the yucky stuff.  One of those things I gave up was this blog.  I just needed a break from all the things I was able to take a break from, ya know?  Well, I've been having a good couple of weeks recently, so I thought it might be important to start blogging again in this new year.  It's something I've always enjoyed, because it gives me a forum to talk about my life and the life of my family.  So, I hope to do a better job this year of keeping up on it, though I have a feeling I may still only blog on occasion and not weekly (or more) like I used to. To start, I thought I'd post all the pictures of things we've done since I stopped blogging in late Sept.  I'm not going to post about each picture.  Instead, I'll just give them a heading, so you know in what context they all fall.  Hope you enjoy catching up our family and what we've been up to.  And, if you are so inclined, I would really covet your prayers as I try and find a way to manage these new feelings and find a way, a healthy way, to deal with the loss of my mom.  I know she wouldn't want me to feel these things - in fact, she's come to me in a couple dreams recently to remind me of her joy in Heaven - so, hopefully I'll find a way to let go of the guilt and sadness I'm feeling and focus entirely on the happiness and wholeness she's feeling now that she's with her Savior.  Anyway, here you go!  The last 4 months...in a nutshell:

CHEERLEADING BAKE SALE:

This was the first time Madie was able to be there and participate in this Bake Sale.  She was really excited to be there, especially since this is her last year cheering before heading off to high school.

SCARECROW FEST:

This was a hot, but fun day together.  We always love Scarecrow Fest!

MEDIEVAL TIMES:

We always pick something special to do the day before our JDRF Walk and this is what we chose this year.  We all had an AMAZING time!!

JDRF WALK 2014:

Another great year and we raised several hundred dollars for JDRF research!

PUMPKIN PATCH:

Our annual tradition with our cousins. :-)

YOUTH KICK-OFF EVENT:

We went to Chaser's Laser Tag place in Naperville and had the BEST time!!  The kids and I have never done laser tag and it was awesome!  Would love to do it again sometime. :-)

 HALLOWEEN PARADE/PARTY:

Livie was the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.  Her costume was a hit!

HALLOWEEN:

Can't believe I got Pete to dress up with me.  We went trick-or-treating with our friends, the Burkeys and some of their extended family.  It was a frigid night, but tons of fun!

ILMEA MUSIC CONCERT:

Madie tried out and was picked to be part of this Northern IL divisional choir.  She spent the whole day at Augustina College over by IA.  It was awesome and she did a great job!

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD:

Our 4th or 5th year collecting shoeboxes in our Sunday School classes.  

CHRISTMAS CONCERTS:

Madie and Noah had their Jr. High concert and did a great job in both band and choir.  Livie had her concert the following week and did a great job singing her heart out as well.

LIVIE'S BIRTHDAY:

My little girl celebrated her 9th birthday with a "Pancakes and Pajamas" theme.  Only 2 of her friends could come (the hazards of having a Christmas birthday), but they had a great time!

BASKETBALL TOURNEY:

Noah finished up the basketball season with a couple of great games in a weekend tourney.  They lost the first game, but ended up being the overall winners of the consolation rounds.  It was a really fun year and he had a great time.