White House Singers

I could go on for hours but suffice to say our day was fabulous. Here are just a few pictures (of the gazillion I took.) The kids were just thrilled with the opportunity to sing at the White House and performed beautifully for nearly 2 full hours!

The theme this year is red, white and blue. The decorations are gorgeous and we were given a beautiful visitor booklet and some star shaped cookies for the bus ride home.

What an amazing thing to be a child in the nation's capital have such opportunities!

In the upper hallway

One of our parish priests, a representative from the Catholic Schools Office, our choir director, principal and pianist. Our math teacher made red bows for all the girls to wear.

Brenna really wanted to wear curls. I wish they hadn't worn their sweatshirts though.

With Anita McBride who is Laura Bush's Chief of Staff

Blue Room tree

I've seen this view of the fountain many times from outside the fence. It was nice to be inside again! Since Dean's dad left the Secret Service several years ago, we haven't had much access to the White House other than a Christmas party or two when Dean was on the Hill.

Christmas Concert

The girls had their school concert last night. Adorable - as usual. We have a sweet music teacher (A 27 year old nun!) who does a great job with the kids and they simply adore her.

Stay tuned because a bigger concert is happening Monday - Brenna will sing with the Children's Choir at the White House! I will be going, as an official school representative of course!, and will be allowed to take pictures. Say a prayer I get some good ones!

Endurance

Sometimes as a parent one is asked to endure things that normally would not be asked of you. I have determined that one of those things is being asked to attend a band concert.

A band concert for first year instrumentalists.

A band concert for instrumentalists who have only owned the aforementioned instruments for 9 weeks.

Oh. my. word.

I taped a little clip on my camera and was just playing it for Brenna. Okay, I have to share it . . .

Brenna watched it and this was the conversation:

B:"That was cool!"

Me: "It sure was. You guys really did well for beginners!"

B: "Did you tape us doing 'Jingle Bells'?"

Me: "Uhhh . . .well . . . honey . . . that WAS "Jingle Bells."

B: "Oh. Are you sure?"

Yeah.

Endurance: 1. The act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress. 2. The state or fact of persevering.

We will persevere!

Christmas Preparations

The tree is up and trimmed. The decorations are all done from the attic (and scattered around the living room, but that's a work in progress . . . ) and some shopping has been done.

The only thing that hasn't been started is the Christmas card photo. Well, I actually did start. It just wasn't very successful. It never is. Somehow I eventually seem to get a nice one, but then it's a rush to get them out.

There's still plenty of time though, right? I sure hope so!

Father Daughter Dance

This has become a nice tradition in our parish. The girls were excited to take Dad out but Molly decided that sharing a date wasn't going to be fun. So she invited Grandpa - who was tickled pink to be asked - to be her date. A good time was had by all!

Still here!

Things are a bit hectic here but I do have some backlogged posts to do. The girls had a Father/Daughter dance, we went to Boston for Thanksgiving, did some Monster golfing with cousins, etc. We're always busy. But for now I'm just scrambling with house stuff, work stuff, scout stuff, dance stuff - oh yeah - and I have to fit Christmas preparations in there somewhere!

We are alive and well though!

Dance clip

Molly's class is trying jazz for the first time. How can you not love 6 year olds rockin' it to a song from Hairspray! I just keep telling myself that somehow it all comes together by the time the curtain opens on the recital in June! (This won't be their dance though. They don't start those until January. I'm hoping the teacher decides to use it though because they love the music!)

And this was about the only one I got in Brenna's class. The older they get, the faster they move. Everything came out blurry, backwards, etc.! She has a nice class and the girls really get along well. This is her 4th year with them and I think she likes having friends outside of her school class.

School Pictures

Not bad this year. Given our track record with the "deer in the headlights look", this may be the best we'll ever get!

Altar Server

Brenna finished her training and has started serving Masses at our church. I love seeing her on the altar! She's quite proud of herself but is still a bit timid. Luckily there are always several older kids serving with her that are very helpful to the new servers. Here she is with her friend Mary just before Mass tonight.

We are very blessed that our parish has 91 altar servers. My home parish in Boston probably has 9 if they're lucky. We have a great priest in residence at our parish who spends a great deal of time really preparing these kids and keeping on top of things. The only problem is that they are usually only assigned to serve twice a month (on a team of 6) because there are so many of them! Brenna also sings with the Children Choir once a month so she's quite involved and that does make it much more personal to her.

Brenna will also serve the St. Nicholas Mass in December which is a special celebration for the children of our parish as well as an inner city parish we sponsor. Last year the children's choirs of both parishes sang together and it was absolutely beautiful. Then we all go to the parish hall and Saint Nicholas comes to visit and tell his story. Even more special is that this year my principal requested that this Mass be offered for my aunt who passed away in September. Who loved Christmas any more than Auntie Dottie? I'm sure she'll be with us in a special way that day . . .

Fall Flashback

I was looking through one of Brenna's scrapbooks and came across this photo. One of my favorites! I loved this sweater set and used it so much on both girls. And those first little white walking shoes . . .

This was in Oct. 2000. She had just turned 1 and wasn't technically even walking then.

Because all of Brenna's first 2 years were before I got a digital camera, I don't have these early pictures on my computer unless I scan them. I need to do that more to refresh my memory.

Silly Scouts

Today was the first day both girls had Girl Scouts on the same day so I finally got a picture of them together. (Granted they were chanting "lo mein!" because I told them I would take them out for Chinese food as soon as I took some pictures!)

The troops usually meet at their school on alternate Fridays. A scheduling problem had all 5 troops meeting this week. Logistically that would be a nightmare - more than 70 girls in one big room! The kindergarteners were dispatched to to a nature hike and Brenna's troop came to our house They had planned to do a special session with a teenage scout who often helps us and the extra space was needed. So I had a dozen 9 year old girls with pocketknives on my front lawn cutting twigs and rope!

Luckily no one was injured and my stash of BandAids is still good.

Feis

Brenna's Irish dance school hosted a feis today in Emmitsburg, MD. She was excited to dance again and even though a medal wasn't in her cards this time, she had fun and it was a great experience.

(If you clcik the photo and make it larger, you can see Brenna in the line of dancers 7th from the left. She wears the beginner costume. The girl 4th from the left wears the school's dress which is black with a white cape. I'm not sure why her school wears black tights instead of the white socks . . .)

Happy Halloween!

from the spa girl and Cleopatra! They had a great night and we have loads of candy in our house now!


Here they are with the kids next door.
Not that I'm hoping she goes goth as a teenager, but Molly looks good with dark hair.

Past and Present

When I was with Brenna's scout troop the other day one of the girls noticed that I have my ears double pierced. Suddenly I was surrounded by a dozen 4th and 5th graders fascinated by my earrings (just small diamond studs and small gold hoops.) It was the strangest thing because they couldn't stop remarking about how awesome it looked.

One of them said, "Holy cow Mrs. K! Were you really cool in high school?"

I admit I really did stop to consider the question . . .

and then promptly answered . . . "Yes, I was!"

Who says you can't rewrite history! :)

Busy Weekend!

In the past 48 hours we've had:

1. A scout trip to the Board of Elections
2. A First Grade Parent cocktail party
3. A scout trip to Potomac Woods for an outdoor odyssey - in the rain
4. Brenna's first Mass as an altar server
5. Dinner with Aunt Julie
6. A Fourth Grade Parent cocktail party
7. Back to Mass to see Brenna sing with her choir
8. A group science project
9. Neighborhood Halloween parade
10. Grocery shopping
11. Another round of running errands
12. Tons of laundry
13. And now I'm waiting up until midnight to order theatre tix

Phew - the weekend is over. Now we just need another one so we can relax!

And no pictures of any of it! I had dead batteries at the election trip, didn't want to take pics in the rain at camp and then Brenna was too self-conscious to pose in her server robes at church!

Two wheels

Forgot to mention - Molly is finally tooling around on two wheels. She's feeling like hot stuff!

Flute

After much debate and discussion, We've allowed Brenna to start music lessons at school. She's been saying for several years that she wants to learn to play the flute so I wasn't at all surprised when that's what she came home with! She has a lesson every Thursday with 3 other girls in her class - all new flute players. So far she's been great practicing nearly every day and enjoying it.

So if you need a mental refresher on the tune "Hot Cross Buns," just give us a call and she'll play it for you. Sort of.

Brownie #2

Molly has been dying to join Girl Scouts. For the past 2 years she has been dragged along to many of Brenna's meetings and outings and has always enjoyed herself. We finally got a troop together in her class and they had their first meeting yesterday. This was actually the best picture I got since I was busy running the meeting. Brenna and her friend came along to help as part of their Junior Aide badge requirements and they wound up being our designated s'more makers too. Overall it was a great start and we are all excited to add one more scout to our house. I'll be ironing badges twice as much now!

Name Those Goblins . . .

My cousin sent this to me a few years ago. What a hoot!

That's my brother Don on the left, then cousin Sharon, cousin Debbie, me and cousin Michael.

If I had to guess it's 1976.

And odds are we went out with snowsuits under those costumes on Halloween night!

Friday Night Lights

A few times a year the Fathers' Club at our school hosts a "Friday Night Lights" on our school field. They pull out the big grills (though none of the kids eat anything but the chips and soda/juice!) and we moms bring the folding chairs. It's a bbq for 300+ people! They've tried organizing games for the kids but frankly, the kids only want to run around anyway. So now they rope off a huge section of the parking lot for scooters and trikes for the littlest ones while the rest just run like crazy on the field (which is artifical turf and completely fenced so it's perfect!) One dad brings big floodlights and a generator and it's just a casual fun night for everyone.

Since we have no school tomorrow they moved it to a Thursday Night Lights. It was a perfect mild evening and everyone had a ball. I forgot my camera but I probably wouldn't have gotten any photos that weren't blurry anyway. No one stopped running for even a minute! So needless to say, I have two very tired but very happy little girls tucked in bed for a quiet night.

Farm Girls

We took advantage of glorious weekend weather to go out to a local farm to pick some apples and just generally enjoy the day. I love autumn!

Happy Birthday Brenna!

My big girl is having a birthday.

My big girl is turning 9.

9!

That's halfway to 18.

That's halfway to gone!

(Well, it would be if she wasn't constantly telling us that she's never moving out. She claims she's staying here forever and never getting a job. Having Anna-Nicole living in basement is how I envision this, but I digress . . .)

So, 9.

May it be even half as good as the first 8.

She is one great kid and I am really looking forward to another year of watching her grow and continuing to see who she is becoming.

I really like what I see.

Cousin Days

In the past week we cousins talked a lot about special memories we have of being at Auntie Dottie's house. Of course I have tons and tons of stories having spent so many of my February and April vacations staying with them, not to mention the seemingly hundreds of family events they hosted there.

Some of our favorite memories though have been made in recent years as we "big cousins" have brought our own kids - the "little cousins" - to spend fun-filled days together swimming, swinging, playing ball in the yard, ransacking the toy closet in the den and eating our hearts out in a house where absolutely everyone feels welcome.

These "Cousin Days," as Auntie Dottie called them, will certainly continue because that's exactly what she would want us to do. And also because I think Uncle Al enjoys them as much as Dottie did! So we'll swim, drink blue juice, play in the kitchen drawer and tap dance while singing her "meatball song" so that a whole new generation of cousins become the best of buddies - just like their mommies and daddies! And for that gift we will always thank Auntie Dottie.

(This drawer in Auntie Dottie's kitchen is chock full of 30+ years worth of Happy Meal toys and small figurines. At any given time nearly half of its contents are strewn all over the floor! Every kid has their personal favorites that they search for each time. Brenna likes the mini Cabbage Patch Kids and for Molly, no visit is complete until she finds Gumby and the McDonalds fries box that flips into binoculars. The very same ones I played with when I was their age!)

Saying Goodbye

We said goodbye to my aunt this week - a goodbye we just weren't ready to say. Losing her has left us all asking that age-old question "Why?" and grappling for answers that will never come. I read something a few weeks ago and mentally filed it away not really thinking I would have to pull it out so soon.

"In God's plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better. And - this is very important - though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones, they don't. Ironically, the first to accept God's decision of death is the one who dies. While we are shaking heads in disbelief, they are lifting hands to worship. While we are mourning at a grave, they are marveling at heaven. While we are questioning God, they are praising God." From Max Lucado....Traveling Light.

I am trying to find some truth in this.

I do truly believe that Auntie Dottie is in a perfect place. I do truly believe that it is this eternal happiness completely transcends what we know on earth. I know I can't begin to understand the larger plan that He has in store.

But my heart feels something different.

Because no matter what heaven is, and no matter why you called her Home,

I'm sorry God . . . You took her way too soon.

As Brenna said "we weren't done with her here yet."

Uncle Al is right - "It is what it is - but it stinks."

Con Artist

Brenna is a very sweet and kind girl. She's a good friend and I hear all the time about what a nice kid she is.

She's also a con artist.

For two weeks now she's been on a quest to get us to commit to sending her to sleepaway camp with her friend next summer. She's been pestering and pestering and I finally said she could go if she saved up the money (knowing that's that's a complete impossibility because I could never save up that amount of money much less have her save it!) So now her focus is completely on what she can do to get cash quickly and with the least amount of effort. (Because although she's sweet, kind and nice - she can also be a bit . . . sluggish shall we say, when it comes to doing the hard work. wink wink!)

Yesterday I heard her talking to her sister.

B: "Molly, would you like to have two weeks home all by yourself?"
M: "I don't know. . ."
B: "Think about it. Two weeks that I wouldn't be bugging you all the time!"
M: "I don't know. . ."
B: "If I went to camp you'd be like an only child."
M: "I don't know . . ."
B: "Well, think about it. If it's something you'd like, we could arrange it. If you just save some money and give it to me, I could make it happen."

It was an honest-to-goodness shakedown! "I could make it happen" . . . Where did that come from? It's like my darling little blonde is a hitman or something!

The worst part? Molly went and gave Brenna her whole piggy bank!

Camporee

Yesterday Brenna had a Camporee with many of her fellow scouts from school. It was a great day and the girls had a ball making crafts, hiking to the river (thus explaining why very few of them are wearing the same clothes in the morning vs. afternoon photos. It got a bit messy!) singing songs, learning first aid and of course, making s'mores!

Since I'm a co-leader for one troop I had the joy of managing a craft station where the girls made tie-dye shirts and bandanas using markers and rubbing alcohol. They came out great!

Molly was sad that we don't yet have a troop registered for her grade (no one will volunteer to lead and although I will happily assist, I can't take a full leader role) but I promised her she'd be all signed up before the sping Camporee. In the end she was quite content to spend the day with Daddy.

(You can always find Brenna in her floppy hat!)

One more!

Tooth that is. This time it was one of the top incisors.

So Miss Molly has lost a whopping total of 7 teeth so far and she's not quite 6 1/2. That's only one less than Brenna who will be 9 in a few weeks!

Those front teeth have come in amazingly fast. I'm just hoping these next ones coming in help straighten things out or we're well on our way to keeping the othodontist in business!

Blue Ribbon!!!!

It was announced today that our school has been awarded a national Dept. of Education Blue Ribbon!!

There are about 30,000 non-public schools in the US and no more than 50 awards are given each year (they also recognize 200 of the 95,000 public schools). A school must have test scores in the top 10% of the country and meet a number of other criteria just to be invited to apply and then within that, a school can only be invited to apply once every 5 years.

We were told just 5 days ago (the third day of school - like we weren't already swamped!) that we are among the 2008 winners. Six public schools and 2 non-public schools in Maryland are being honored and we are the only one from both our county (public or non-public) as well as the Archdiocese of Washington so it's a great award. So today we had a huge announcement celebration.

All of the kids had to come in at 7:15am because the Archbishop was only available at 7:30am. Naturally we couldn't tell the parents or kids why so speculation has been running wild all weekend. (Some kids were saying the Jonas Brothers were coming so there may have been some letdown!)

We decked the school out with blue and white balloons and had blue hairbows for all the girls. The kids got blueberry muffins for breakfast, a special pizza lunch and then blue cupcakes at the end of the day. Laura Bush sent a congratulatory letter and will visit sometime later in the year (we weren't given enough notice to get the necessary clearance for her to be there today) and we'll be getting new banners with the Blue Ribbon logo.

So yesterday was a frantic day (and I had the stomach flu - came home and got sick as a dog but was better this morning) but it was so well worth it!

Brenna sings with the Children's Choir

Molly in her class procession

School Days, School Days

Today was the big day! my 2 little darlings headed back to school - Brenna to Gr. 4 and Molly to Gr. 1. They were excited and came home wearing the same smiles they went out in the morning with.

We'll see how long those smiles last!

The session is finished

Well, all good things must come to an end and today was Brenna and Molly's last day at Camp Nana (poor Papa! He gets overlooked in that title but he sure is a big part of Camp Nana!)

Anyway, it was very hard to have to be the party-pooper that put everything in the car and drove away. There was a whole lot of stalling, whining and crying . . .

And that was just from Nana! The girls didn't do too well either. :)

Poor Nana and Papa - they're really going to be lonely these next few days as they adust to a quiet house again. I'm not sure who enjoyed Camp more. How incredibly lucky we are!