Blue Ribbon Regatta

After 4 years of working my tail off for the annual Gala Auction at the girls' school, this year I was finally roped into chairing it. I didn't go it alone though. Five of my good friends also worked with me and as a Committee we worked so incredibly well! Each of us has worked on various aspects of the auctions in years past, so this time we all just took on our own "specialty" (some did solicitations, some the event planning, some the business end of things) and enjoyed the process. Don't get me wrong, it was still a ton of work including some late nights (one notable night last Sunday found us all in my living room at 2:15AM just laughing and plugging away at details) We logged some serious hours though and have decided to hang up our hats after this event. Two of us work full time, two part time and collectively we have 18 kids so it's time for us to give others a chance.

Given the state of the economy, we didn't have a goal in mind and aimed more for a "party" atmosphere to celebrate our Blue Ribbon school. We chose regatta as a theme knowing we could keep the decorations simple (okay, maybe bring a sailboat into the gym and another in the Parish Hall wasn't "simple"!) and still have some fun.

The evening was a rousing success and hands-down the least stressful gala I've worked on.

I'm still retiring though. Time for all the new folks to take the helm!

Dance Recital Preview #2

Okay - I'm loving Brenna's costume! Her class will be tap dancing to a medley of "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" and "Welcome to the 60's" from Hairspray for their jazz number. It was visitor day at her class and as much as we enjoyed watching them, it was even better when the teacher gave out their costumes and let them try the dance wearing them. So cute! Aside from Brenna's go-go boots being a bit to tall (an easy trim) it worked out well and the girls looked adorable.

They will be doing a jazz dance to "Omigod You Guys" from Legally Blonde. They've decided to switch costumes for that and use one from last year (yipee! no additional cost!) and add some accessories. The Finale will be Phantom of the Opera and both she and Molly will be in that number this year.

This is a great little class. There are 11 girls from 8 different schools. All are 9-10 years old and most have been together for 3-4 years. I think Brenna likes having this group of friends because they are not the kids she's with day in and out at school. It's nice to mix it up a bit.

Rose Mass

The Rose Mass is a special Mass for health care professionals in the Archdioceses of Washington and Arlington. Our parish hosts the Mass and a luncheon for several hundred people.

Brenna did a great job serving Mass! It was huge - 15 priests, one deacon, one cardinal, four bishops and Archbishop Donald Wuerl (in the photo) who presided. Because she's so small, they reassigned her from Bishop Holley (who is very tall!) to Bishop Broglio. He has a neat assignment in that he's not from a particular diocese but rather is the Bishop of the US Military Archdiocese. In a neat twist, Brenna's scout troop was at the National Shrine when Bishop Broglio was installed.

It was a great day!

You can't even see Bren in the group picture - She's too short behind the torch bearers!

Last minute instructions.

Church

Brenna enjoys being an altar server at our church but she can still be very timid. She has always served with at least two others and she generally defers to the more experienced kids and lets them do the more complex parts of the Mass.

I decided to sign her up to serve at a special Mass which will be very involved that is happening this weekend. There are 17 servers so she'll be in good company! Our Archbishop will be here along with a Cardinal, 4 other Bishops and a host of other priests, deacons and other guests. She's actually excited to try something "big" and I'm hoping it will be a good confidence booster.

One of our parish priests coordinates the servers and he's known for planning everything down to the last detail and making sure the kids really know what they're doing. Well today he sent the servers an email that included 6 attached files with instructions and diagrams. I called Brenna in to go through them with her so she's be comfortable with all of the special instructions. Things were going along just fine until she saw the final diagram. I must admit I laughed too. I've seen subway maps with fewer colored lines! But it actually makes perfect sense and Brenna's got them all memorized.

Say a prayer that all goes well on Sunday! (By the way, Brenna is pink Mitre #3) :)

St. Pat's Preview

Brenna has 2 parades this weekend with her Irish dance school. Today was the first and it's just a very short one but still fun for the kids. Tomorrow is a much longer one in downtown DC but the weather is supposed to be pretty cruddy. Let's hope it holds off long enough so it doesn't ruin her cool hairstyle! We played around a bit and found some braiding and elastics can make some cool shamrock hair. I think I'll make it smaller tomorrow so it holds up for all the hopping and jumping she'll be doing. She was excited with it though so now we have to try it on Molly too.

Of course we had to top off a day of dancing with a quick drive-tru for a shamrock shake!

Pajama Day

Thursday was Pajama Day at the girls' school. Any excuse to be out of uniform is a good one for them, but Pajama Day is extra special. Both girls did a little advertising for me by wearing the new flannel pants that we will be selling as our "spirit item" at our Auction in 2 weeks. All of the us who are chairing the event had our kids wear them as a way of building some excitement.



And speaking of excitement, part of every fun spirit day at school is the school activity that the Student Council runs. On Sports Day it was an obstacle course, Mismatch Day was a dance contest and Pajama Day is ALWAYS an event called Messy Room.


Our school kids are placed on the Red or White team when they start at the school. They stay on that team all the way through the 10 years and we use them as ways of breaking the kids up easily for things like Field Day or whatever. Anyway, for Messy Room, it's the Reds vs. the Whites from each class in a pillow fight. We string up a big net across the gym and put 30 pillows on each side. The Principal pulls a grade out of a hat and that class splits Red vs. White and has 2 minutes to toss all their pillows over while keeping the other team's pillows out. It's alsolutely hilarious! (and I can't believe I didn't being my camera!) The funny part is mixed in with dozens of plain pillows are some novelty ones so we'd catch glimpses of a huge Spongebob going over the net or a big stuffed skunk and flamingo flying through the air! The kids have a ball and my little Reds were happy to come away as the winning team this time.


(The brunette in the middle is Molly's best buddy who is the little sister of Brenna's best buddy. And it's not the way they're standing - She's truly very tall!)

Complete 180 Turn

After having a snow day on Monday and a delayed opening due to ice the following day, the weather took a turn. Temperatures started climbing and we were in the 70's Friday and Saturday and then 78 today! So while the snow pants and gloves we're still being washed and dried, we were instead pulling out short sleeved shirts and capri pants. Welcome to the mid-Atlantic where spring comes and goes a few times before settling in for good.


Things are busy as we gear up for some busy days. Brenna has a few Irish dance commitments coming up - par for the course around St. Patrick's day I guess. She's busy with school work and listening to her mother gripe at her. :) Molly's ready to start baseball practices and patiently waiting to see what team she'll be on this year. She started a science class afterschool on Wednesdays that she really likes. I have to say I signed her up purely for my own sanity. I'm chairing their school's Gala and Auction this year and am quickly realizing the amount of work I have to do in a very short time. Since Brenna has choir on Weds. that means they're both occupied for an hour and I'm officially off the clock at work. I can squeeze in some Auction time in hopes of heading off some of the late nights that usually come with this turf. And I'm going on record as saying I'm officially retiring after this year. I love the work - getting to use some long dried up skills and talents - but it's definitely too much now that I'm working every day.

More Snow!

We got our biggest snow of the year in March when we are usually seeing temperatures rising and crocuses popping. The girls enjoyed a day off school today playing in the snow and just loafing around the house.

But shhh . . . I'm not telling them that I already know there's a 2 hour delay tomorrow morning! They can just head up to bed and read for a bit longer than usual. :)