Lax Life / Laxer for Life

Yay!  Yay!  Yay!!  KJ finally had an official high school lacrosse game!  They lost by 1 but considering our girls have only been on the field two or three times, I'd say it was a success!  The weather has been so horrible and has totally wrecked the fields so they've mostly been in the gym conditioning and working on stick stills.  Some of the new girls were unsure about the hash marks, marking-up, etc.  KJ is definitely one of, if not the most, aggressive player on the team (shocker!) and definitely has great stick skills.  She still has a lot to learn but she really did great yesterday.  She had a couple of shots on goal, didn't score, but still took the shot nevertheless.  She played a little attack, she played a little defense as well.  She likes attack better.

I love the girls' uniforms and naturally my child has to coordinate her cleats and shoelaces.  She said they looked like a bunch of highlighters running around out there.

Unfortunately, Coach Stone couldn't be at the first game due to a family scheduling conflict but she asked Champ to help on the sidelines.  He warmed up the goalie and helped the assistant coach run the lines and was very vocal from the sidelines (shocker!).  I know it was killing him to keep quiet for most of the game and defer to the assistant coach but he did point out (rather loudly) to the ref that he awarded the ball to the wrong team.  Ref acknowledged he made a mistake, gave the ball to us and game on.

Being a little sassy and giving a lot of attitude on the field.  

Football and Pageants (story of my life!)

KJ had a GREAT time last night at the Damascus football game!  She said she wasn't sure what to expect coming from Hoover but said the game was great, the atmosphere was great and it was great sitting in the student section.  Overall, she said it was GREAT!  She said the band and the cheerleaders were great, too.  She said it was similar to Hoover and the seniors had "seniority" in the student section.  They got to sit in the front row with all the lower class men behind them and the seniors were the body painters.  Today she went to a pool party and then her friend Britt came over and now the girls are making cookies.

T was on duty last night so she and her friend Tana drove up to Nashville early this morning for the game vs. Vandy.  She didn't have a ticket and the box office was selling seats for almost $80 so she was getting a little frustrated.  Tana told her, "Just smile and walk in."  So she did.  She walked right through the security line and walked right through the gate.  That's my girl!  The Ole Miss game was kind of boring.  I'm happy they won but the game was pretty much a blow-out.  Not an exciting game at all.  Vandy obviously didn't eat their Wheaties this morning.  Cosmo has the Ohio game on and that stadium is positively rockin'!  Not an Ohio fan but I do think that would be a great place to see a game!!!

And now, to counter-act all that football testosterone, here are some more Miss America photos!!!

I luv, luv, luv the clean lines on this gown!   

Go Jasmine!!!  I think she's going to do great next Sunday!

FriDay = FriYay!!!

So happy it's the weekend!  Had such a busy day today, it's nice to relax tonight.  KJ is at her first official football game as a Damascus Swarming Hornet.  It's a gorgeous night for a game and she looked so cute in her cute pink camouflage t-shirt!

She had a pediatrician appointment today and afterward we ran a couple of errands before I dropped her back off at the high school for volleyball practice.  Although I think we've transitioned exceptionally well, there are some things that really trip me up sometimes.  For example, I didn't know I had to write a note for KJ to check her out early.  The attendance office told me if she has a note, she can check herself out and wait at the front door for me.  I don't even have to walk in the door.  Very cool.  Especially since my Alabama license doesn't work in the security reader at the front office!

I luv, luv, luv her new pediatrician.  She was super cool, treated KJ like an adult and everyone at the practice seemed very nice.  We then went across the hall in the professional building and made appointments for October with our new dentist.  Kind of weird to have to find all new doctors again.  Our pediatrician in Alabama was the only pediatrician KJ had ever known.  And the OB/GYN I saw for 15 years was the same doctor who delivered KJ.

T is so super excited -- her new gown came in the mail today so . . . on to a few more Miss America photos!

Had to include the following photo of Miss Maryland 2013 -- Miss Christina Denny.  We met her a couple of weeks ago, she was super sweet and this is the custom gown T tried on.  The gown was absolutely gorgeous, a big statement gown, and fit T perfectly!!!  

Class of 2018

So we've got a Froshie in the house!  Today is day 3 of high school and  so far, KJ has had a GREAT week!!!  Monday I picked her up after school to drive her to her scrimmage over at Sherwood High School and I asked her if she was intimidated by the upper classmen.  Her response?  "Uh, no???"  Classic KJ.  She's got friends in every class and she said they've eaten lunch in the courtyard every day.  She gets an hour for lunch (which I LOVE!) so they can meet with a teacher if they need to, play some pick-up games in the gym, get some homework done, etc.  They get out of school at 2:10 and she goes to the varsity coach's science lab for study hall for 45 minutes.  Practice is from 3 to 5 PM. 

She played AMAZING in Monday's scrimmage!  They played 3 twenty minute games . . . she played all 3 games, she started all 3 games, she played setter all 3 games and she put up 7 or 8 points each game.  Very, very proud of her!!  She's not crazy about playing setter but I told her to stop fighting it.  That's the position for short white girls! 

Yesterday I drove down to Georgetown to spend the afternoon with my Hoover friends Judy and Amanda.  Amanda had jaw surgery so Judy's been up here taking care of her.  I love, love, love spending time in Georgetown and it was SO nice seeing Judy!  Haven't seen her in a year!  The weather was great and we had a nice lunch at Tony & Joe's sitting by the water.

Looking forward to the long weekend . . . KJ has a scrimmage Friday afternoon at home and my folks are coming down for the weekend to chill by the pool.  Depending on the weather, we may meet them in Gettsyburg and spend the day walking around.  If it's too hot, I'd rather be at the pool.  Sunday we'll grill and Al and Z will join us.  So, so nice having family around!

Our Little Froshie

So our sweet girl made the JV volleyball team!  I couldn't be prouder and I taught her everything I know!  (Yeah, this 5 ft. tall mama taught her girl a lot about volleyball!).  But seriously, she did work very hard and I did practice with her a lot. There were over 40 girls trying out for JV and they only took 14.  She had a little bit of a come apart on the last day of try-outs . . . she accidentally left her bag in Cosmo's car.  We didn't realizxe it until a few minutes before try-outs.  Cosmo was waaaaaay down in DC when she hysterically called him.  He drove like a maniac and was able to get her bag to her just a few minutes after try-outs started.  She did have an extra pair of sneakers and an extra set of knee pads at the house but she was VERY, VERY upset that the coaches would think she was irresponsible.  I had to give her a tough pep talk in the car.  Basically I told her to buck up and kick butt!  Try-outs ended at 5:30 and at 6:30 PM they posted the results on the gym door.  KJ and her friend Maddie both made the team so all four of us girls celebrated at Jimmie Cone!  The girls had their first practice Wednesday, Wednesday night we had a parent meeting, they have practice Thursday and Friday, Friday they're going to a rope course for team building and they have a scrimmage on Monday...the first day of school!  Yikes!  KJ's going to be in for a rude awakening next week . . . her bus comes at 6:28 AM and she'll have volleyball practice until 5:30 PM each day. 

Can't wait for her to get home sin a few minutes o I can hear all about today's Freshman Orientation!  Damascus does things a little differently that what we were used to with Hoover.  There is no "registration day" where we have to write a massive check to cover items such as activity cards, yearbooks, agenda, locker fees, mailing costs, PTO, extra curricular fees (T's Buccanette's just about killed us every year!).  At Hoover T's registration usually cost us a couple hundred dollars.  So far, the only bill I've been hit with at Damascus High School has been a $30 extra curricular activity.  I think Cosmo & I are going to join the booster club so we can get into football games, basketball and, of course, KJ's vball games!  

Freshman Orientation sounds pretty cool.  It's only a half day but the kids are encouraged to get on their bus like they will on Monday and today they'll get their lockers, walk their schedule, etc.  And then tonight, we have a Freshman Parent Picnic.  We'll meet the teachers and also attend a meeting with the Athletic Department.  Concussions and cardiac disease are a hot button this year and KJ had to take a baseline concussion test before she could even try-out.