Home for the Weekend

October 16, 2011

For the first time in six weeks, I got to see my college-aged daughter, who came home for the weekend. I can't even tell you how excited I was to have her home! She got on a Greyhound in San Diego late Thursday night, switched to Amtrak in the wee hours of the morning, and arrived in Fresno at 6:45 a.m. Unfortunately, I had to be at work bright and early, so I had to leave the homecoming to her dad. My reunion with her would have to wait just a little longer.

Although she didn't sleep much at all on the bus or the train, she powered through and stayed awake so she could come back during the school day on Friday and visit her choir and drama teachers and lots of friends who are still at Buchanan. She showed up at school with coffee in hand, and we got to catch up (and give big huge hugs!) during my prep period before she headed off to make the rounds of the school. During my last class of the day, not only did she come back to visit with several of her friends who are currently in my A.P. Lit. class, but a few of my former students also stopped by to visit with her and say hello to me. These are some of my 'extra daughters,' so getting to see them was icing on the cake.

Bree and one of her sister-friends, Miss Kaitlyn.
As luck would have it, Bree came home on the weekend of our local elementary school carnival. Bree has never missed this carnival since kindergarten, believe it or not, and even though this is my first year without any children at that school, we all found ourselves back there Friday night.


Several of Bree's friends joined her there. This a sweet, loving, beautiful group of college freshman, laughing and having a great time together at the carnival for kids. (Shelby, Marlowe, Bree, Nicole, and Mallory.) I love these girls!
Danielle also met up with a good friend at the carnival--Andrei. These girls both managed to win goldfish to bring home, much to my chagrin. (As of press time, only two of our four have survived. If the remaining two make it through the week, maybe we'll name them.)
Nicholas found his fun (and luck!) at the Cake Walk. He won four times in fairly quick succession, focusing his eyes on various forms of chocolate as his prizes. After years of Bree being the lucky one at the Cake Walk events, I'm so excited that we came home with something besides vanilla cupcakes and shortbread cookies! After we had Nicholas' four baked goods plates safely ensconced in the car, he made another trip back to the Cake Walk. He made it his goal to win another cake for his former robotics coach, who happened also to be there at the carnival, and to win something vanilla for his big sis, who was home visiting from college. Lucky boy managed to do both. What a sweetheart!
Me with my beautiful girls.
When the carnival ended, we found our way to Target, because Target is like the Mothership to both Bree and me. Danielle provided comic relief while I pushed her around in the cart.
Bree, trying to figure out if she can lug a beanbag chair back on the train with her for her dorm.
Because of the carnival, we decided not to go to Family Dinner Night until Saturday lunch. We amended our Family Dinner Night rule, so that whenever Bree comes home, she bumps right into the rotation. Dinner, or lunch, as it turned out, was Bree's choice, then, so naturally she chose Thai Fusion. Afterward we stopped in to Heart Village for dessert. Yum!
Sunday, of course, came too soon. Doug and I took Bree to the train station, and honestly, the only reason I didn't get too emotional was because I know that Family Weekend at the college is coming up very soon. In just two short weeks, I get to visit her!
Hard to see her go, but oh, what a wonderful weekend it was.

My, How They've Grown....

June 1, 2011

My friend Susan, who is a librarian at our elementary school, just sent me this picture the other day. It's an old picture of the Destination Imagination team that I coached when the kids were in second grade--Bree, Austin, Nicole, and Macie. They were checking out materials for their competition skit. So many years later, just the day before this picture was sent to me, I had taken a picture of these same little darlings, all grown up, at the CSF Banquet. It has been a real privilege to see these kids all grow into amazing young adults. It's also been an especially meaningful year, since all of these kids ended up in my English class for their senior year.

CSF Banquet 2011

June 1, 2011

The CSF Banquet: the culmination of an awful lot of hard work and effort on the part of the scholarly, academic-minded kids of the graduating class. It's a night to honor all that hard work (and an amazing collective I.Q. in the room), as well as a night to pay tribute to the parents of those kids and mentor-teachers who have helped and inspired their students on their educational journey. This year I was lucky enough to attend the banquet in a dual capacity--extremely proud parent to my darling daughter Brianna, and honored sponsor of Miss Macie Mellor. It's honestly one of my favorite events each year, but this year was especially meaningful. It's so amazing to hear about all the things these kids have accomplished, as well as their lofty goals for the future.

Simone Leighty, CSF speaker

Brianna with her proud mom and dad
Brianna with her sponsor, Kathleen Gleason

Macie and me

Austin and Bree

Me with Maddy Roubicek
Bree, Angel, and Macie
Nicole, Bree, and Simone
Austin and me
Me and my baby
Bree, Austin, and Nicole

Musical Jeopardy--Spring Choir Show Bree's Senior Year

May 19, 2011

Last week was the Spring Show for choir. Bree's been involved in choir for several years, and this was the final performance of her high school year. The Musical Jeopardy theme was fun and upbeat, but nostalgia still kicked in for Mom, so it's quite possible there were a few tears--in a good way, of course. So many of these friends of hers are kids she's grown up with, and I've seen them all blossom from little kids playing on the elementary playground to wonderful young adults getting ready to seek out their futures in the world. I can't wait to see what's next for these kids.

My baby, all grown upBree and her best friend, Shelby
Bree and her boyfriend Aaron--their very own American Gothic

Bree and one of her oldest and dearest friends, Austin
Nicole and Bree--friends from many years back
Part of the kids' second grade Destination Imagination team, plus the mom-coaches: Michelle and Nicole, Bree and me, Cindi and Macie, and Austin
Proud mamas
Bree and her best friend from elementary school, Macie
Austin, Nicole, Bree, and Macie--friends for eleven years

My sweet boy Austin
Miss Natalie--gotta love that kid!
Amber and Bree--these girls adore each other
Kathryn and Bree--'just-as-good-as-sisters' friends