Last Days of School

Today marks the official last day of 8th grade for Peyton. Tomorrow she graduates and will join her brother in high school. How nice it will be to have at least two kids in the same school again (we've been three schools for three years now)!

Last Day of 8th Grade

Peyton and Hailey left for their last walk to school together (well, they walk a good 20 feet apart down the same street - no idea why they can't wait for each other)! And, next year it will be just Hailey making that walk alone while Austen drives Peyton to school. 

During these last few days of school, they've had field day, 8th grade ditch day (which we did not let Peyton partake in and the teachers abundantly rewarded the kids who stayed), award ceremonies (Austen for being the student of the quarter in his architecture class), fun school lunches (pizza!) and projects (Hailey and Tom worked on a food truck). 

It's been a quick year as we wrap up 4th, 8th and 11th grades. But it's been a good solid year for all of them too. Hard to believe that we'll have two in high school next year and Hailey will be finishing up her last year of elementary school. Time moves too quickly sometimes so just enjoying these last few days of school before the craziness of summer hits full on!

Hailey's Crepe Food Truck

Dad drew that!

The back - super cute!

Students of the Quarter (Austen, Architecture)

Daddy Daughter Dance 2024

All ready to go!

The Daddy Daughter was this past weekend for Hailey and Tom. Held at Hailey's elementary school and featuring a photo booth, snacks, and a deejay, Hailey and Tom put on their best attire and danced the night away (okay maybe Hailey was the only one who danced!).

The theme was Barbie so that was super fun. I bought Hailey a cute pink dress and fun shoes, made her a hair appointment to get some beachy waves (her pick which her straight hair did not hold) and ordered her wrist corsage for Tom to give to her. 

Tom put on his best "Ken" attire including a light linen jacket, pink shirt, shoes and sunglasses. Per usual, the girls ran around with their friends while the Dads chatted then they went out for ice cream (a tradition that he used to do with Peyton). 

Next year is the last year for the Daddy Daughter Dance for our bunch and you can bet since our rising 5th graders and moms from our Girl Scout Troop will be planning it, it will be the party of the decade! Can't wait!

The dance!

Ice cream date afterwards

And lastly, fun Photo Booth snaps...

Happy Mother's Day 2024

Mother's Day weekend kicked off this year a few days before with brunch and the spa with just me and my mom. We continue this tradition after more than 10 years of doing this (it actually is closer to 15 really) and it's exactly how I want to spend Mother's Day with my mom. We have done this for so long because my kids have so many sports. If it wasn't baseball, it was soccer and on Mother's Day I was always at a game (but there was never any games on Father's Day!).  So we decided to kick off Mother's Day a bit earlier so that we could get in our celebrations together. 

That weekend, only Austen had games this year but they were in Michigan, so after Hailey's Friday night softball game we made the trek up to our place in Michigan - which was only 45 minutes to an hour from where Austen had to play on Saturday and Sunday. 

Games were not that challenging but Austen managed to score from a half volley during the actual Mother's Day game so that was a nice gift for the day. All the boys then presented their moms with flowers after the game. We drove an hour back to our place in Michigan and packed up and drove home - arriving at dinnertime. We went to dinner at a new place called Pella - it's a beautiful mediterranean place and the menu was pretty good too. So we were able to enjoy a nice dinner together as well. 

Another good Mother's Day especially when my kids make me homemade cards that they put a lot of thought and effort into. Austen said he was going to go to the store and buy me a card this year. No, I told him, I love your homemade cards! I'm hoping I'll continue to get them forever from all three of my kids! 

Goodbye Swim, Hello Cheer!

Last week was high school cheerleading tryouts for next year. Now, Peyton has been doing cheer since the 3rd grade. Remember, my previous post about her not wanting me to sign her up for cheerleading in the 8th grade? Luckily, I didn't listen to her (sometimes we have to go with our gut). She did do 8th grade cheer after getting over being mad at me for signing her up and had an absolute blast doing it. (I told her that if she had any inkling at that time of trying out for cheer in high school then she could not quit her last year before high school.)

Well, these tryouts were no joke. They had to tumble (probably her weakest element but she's working on it and actually is super strong from swim and can do a walking handstand) and working on a back walk over and back handspring. Then they had to have really good jumps (she does); be a good stunter (she is a base and strong); perform a very, very fast and hard dance (created by the current Varsity Cheer Captain who also happened to be her 8th grade high school cheer coach); and lastly perform a cheer. I guess I should mention you also had to fill out questions about why you wanted to be a high school cheerleader AND get two recommendations from current teachers including your PE teacher. 

We agreed she would tryout for basketball cheer only since swimming (something she's also been doing since the 3rd grade) is a fall sport and I really wanted her to try high school swim for at least her freshman year. However, unbeknownst to me til much later she told the coach that she would do both seasons (and to be fair they did say you had a better chance of making it if you did both seasons). 

So she practiced, went to clinics and tumbling class, and last Thursday she performed at the final tryout. We get an email a little before 9pm that evening saying that she made it! She was beyond excited. She did work very, very hard for this and wanted it so bad. But, I think mostly so she wouldn't have to swim anymore! She's free! Almost. She still has to complete her spring/early summer club season where she will swim mostly just practices to keep in shape. She is signed up to compete in only one meet but she's done. Hates her coach there and is realistic about where she would be on a high school with a swim team that is always in the top five in state. She's a good swimmer - just not nearly as good as some of these superstars at our high school and on her club team. I guess I can't blame her. She wanted to work at something she has a chance at and good for her for going after it. She says she's not giving up the pool entirely though - plans to pursue some water polo and eventually be a lifeguard so I guess all that swimming was good for something besides exercise!

Anyway, congrats to P on making JV Cheer!  

Hailey Striking Out Players at the Mound

Hailey started her spring softball season after spring break and is loving her time on the field. We got her a new bat and helmet and she's wearing Austen's old Under Armour baseball cleats. She's armed with snacks in her bag for the team (sunflower seeds which is a team favorite) and chomping on some Big League chew. 

Just take the pic!

It's a growing and learning season for sure as the girls are now pitching! She had to pitch one of the first games (they're giving all the girls a try) and she did great - striking out a few of her friends on the other team. She's up to pitch again tomorrow so fingers crossed she does as well. 

At bat, she's been able to hit off the other team's pitchers as well as the coach pitch (if the team pitcher gets 4 balls in the count then the coach steps in and pitches). She's got to get those arms up to get even more power in that hit but her team is doing great. They are undefeated so far this season. She's loving the eye black and hanging out with girls who aren't from her school (she has two classmates on her team this year) but she knew most of them before anyway from other sports. They use a draft system so it's unlikely all girls from the same school will end up on the same team anyway. 

Tom is helping out in the dug out and keeping "the book" which has saved the team when the other team contested the score and their book was nowhere as neat as Tom's book! I guess it pays to have older kids who played baseball or softball and you've done "the book" before and know the correct way to keep it. It was the difference in one of their first games winning 8-7. 

Anyway, these Vipers (team name) are off to a great season! 

The Vipers!