THS Homecoming!

Drew has had a fun homecoming week, and it has been fun to tag along as the parent of a senior!

After working on the senior float all week and helping decorate the gym for tonight's dance ... it was time for Drew to have some fun. Thursday evening was the community pep rally, and all seniors participating in fall sports and activities were recognized. Drew was recognized for his particpation in marching band, madrigals and student council. We were called out onto the field during one of his introductions and the kids were given the mic to announce their parents, talk about how long they had been involved with the sport/activity, and what their future plans were. I actually got through it with no mama tears (ha) ... and then after he handed off the mic to the next person, he turned and gave me a flower and a hug. Mama was still doing good until he said "Aren't you going to cry?" and then mama didn't do so good. HA

After those recognitions, the homecoming court was introduced. It was so special to hear his introduction and see him join a small group of his peers for the court. He was not named king, but it was still a very special thing to see him involved with.

Friday afternoon was the homecoming parade, and Drew got to ride perched in the back of his car, chauffered by dad, for the court. Their senior float won first place in the parade and it was really neat. TJ and Abby loved the way it was "raining" candy. There is always a lot of candy thrown, but I have never seen as much as this year! The kids filled up the big bowl I use to serve Halloween candy, and then some.

Friday night was the game, and Drew's last time to be part of the THS marching band. I watched the halftime show and enjoyed it, instead of watching it through the camera lens as usual. But I did do a quick digital camera video of the very end of the halftime show, with the school song. It's so hard to believe that we won't see Drew out there anymore in the Turks uniform. It has been a great experience for him.

Drew was out the door at 8am this morning to finish dance preparations for student council. Tonight is the dance, and he is going with a group of friends. Their homecoming theme is a Hollywood type thing, so parents are invited to the school as the kids are arriving for the dance and our role is that of the paparazzi ... so I may have some pics of that later.

Overall, a fun week and one of very special memories for Drew!

(Drew's final time on the field as a THS band member!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtoUsmgRfWo

Happy 18th Birthday, Drew!

We had a fun day on the river celebrating Drew's 18th birthday with a couple of his friends on Saturday ... it was hot and good to be moving! TJ and Abby really enjoyed having the girls around. After the boat ride we had a nice Chinese dinner. Fun day with the kids and so hard to believe Drew is 18!

He has a big week now with homecoming activities, and he spent a lot of time helping TJ with a geography project for school ... more pics to come!

A Better Band Video ...

This is a much better video clip of the band that what I posted from my own camera, check out "Thriller" by Michael Jackson ..

http://turkbands.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-about-little-thriller.html

Friday Night Lights!

Next to last home game for Drew to be part of the band ... beautiful evening tonight for the game and the win! Here's the band in the pre-game/school song!

Cooking School in Morton

I took off work this morning to go along on a field trip with Abby's pre-k class to a cooking school ... we had fun making pumpkin cookies and decorating them with cream cheese frosting! YUM!

Senior Pics!

Drew had some senior pics taken on Saturday with Jenny of Simply Charming Photography ... she had a few spots in downtown Peoria where she wanted to take him and do some fun, artsy shots ... and also help boost the guys pics she has to show on her web site. We had a good day, and here are a few of the early proofs she sent over. He has to have a standard (boring) head and shoulders shot in a shirt and tie for the yearbook ... so these were the ones to be more creative and expressive.

We're going to do one more round of shots with his car and out on an old bridge near Tremont once the leaves turn ... and also a few of all 3 kids so we can have one more family pic of the kids while they are all still living at home!

Band Pics

I swiped a few pics from the THS Band site with Drew in them that other parents had loaded ... better pics than mine since they were taken on the field and with a better camera, apparently! :-)

Happy Birthday Mitch!

It was late in the day, but still his bday ... just had a little cake to celebrate Mitch's special day!

New Jewels for the Princess

Miss Abby got some pretty new jewels in her ears on Saturday ... she has been asking and asking to have her ears pierced and mommy told her we'd do it for her 5th bday in January. Then she was such a good girl in putting up with all the dental work that I thought a special treat was due.

We headed to Claire's at the mall on Sat, where it was recommended to me that they could have 2 people do her ears and do both at the same time, which might be easier for her to take. Made sense to me, so on the count of 3, both ears were done at the same time. The pics show her in the chair ... she requested to sit on the lap of her favorite body guard, Drew ... and she squeezed a fuzzy Claire's teddy bear as it happened. After getting a dot on each ear for mom to approve the location of the earring, it was a done deal. She said she chose the "prettiest earrings in the world" which are pink and white flowers. Very cute, and she has done really well letting me do the 3x a day antiseptic treatment and turning so they will stay clean and heal well.

THS Football!

A nice evening for a home football game tonight ... it was also the dedication ceremonies for our new stadium. I can't believe I'm watching Drew in his last few games with marching band. Rain threatened for awhile, but held off and we enjoyed the game and the chance to explore the new stadium. A few pics of band are above ... Drew is in the pre-game line up on the left. He's on the right in the half time shots at night that are fuzzy! Darn point and shoot cameras don't like the intensity of the lights!