More Pictures from Senior Night

These are the pictures I purchased from Party Pics for Senior Night. I just got them. Here's the 3 of us going through the arch on the basketball floor. We were sort of laughing because Kaitlyn had just warned me about the bar that we had to step over, only I ran right into it and tripped, so did the mom behind me! Anyway, you can see how tall Kaitlyn really is. I HAVE ON 2" HEELS TOO!
This is Kaitlyn and Holly, the girl that did Kaitlyn's senior board.

Here's the senior pom squad girls with their senior "nightie" shirts on.

This is a "silly" squad picture of everyone but captain. She was AWOL for the beginning of the game. Kaitlyn and Lindsey are in the middle hugging.

These are all the senior cheer and pom girls (6 pom, 4 cheer) and their cake.

Here's a close-up of the 3 of us.

Here's a full squad picture. I think they are using this one for the yearbook. All the seniors are on the front row holding hands.

Here's Kaitlyn (on the right) and Lindsey with the star glasses they got as part of the senior gift.

Here's another picture of the 3 of us.

Joe is on a Man-cation

Joe left today to go on a guy's ski trip. They usually go each year around this time. One of the men owns a house in Winter Park, CO. They take a long weekend (Friday thru Monday) and eat, drink, and ski. This same group of guys plays golf together a lot, too. The funniest connection they have is that they all have 2 or 3 daughters, no sons. I call them DOODs (dads of only daughters). They also all went to OU together and are within 2 years of each other's ages. They'll have a lot of fun, I know.

Fort Worth, Texas Cheer & Dance Nationals

We left Friday morning for Fort Worth departing the Norman train depot about 8:30 AM. Here's what our depot looks like. The inside is an art gallery and the building is often used as a venue for small concerts, wedding receptions, etc.


Here's a picture of the group of girls. Kaitlyn is bottom row, middle.

Here's a picture of Kaitlyn and her BFF Lindsey. They were sitting in the last row of our car. I couldn't belive how much room all the seats had. The chairs reclined and had a foot rest (like a recliner) that popped up. You could put your bags in the floor beside you (the bigger ones had to go above like in an airplane). You could get up and walk around, go downstairs to the bathroom or to the "cafe" car which had vending machines for food. I really, really enjoyed the train ride. I knitted the whole way and looked out the window. It was just like I remembered from a little girl. Except I wasn't riding backwards and the seats are way more comfortable.

We arrived in Fort Worth about 12:30 and went to Joe T. Garcias for a mexican food lunch. The food wasn't that great (Norman has better I think) but the gardens and stuff around the place were fabulous. This is a picture of the parents that either rode the train down with the girls or drove down to meet us so they could chauffeur us around. I'm on the front row with the white sweater on.

After lunch, we went to the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees outside and not a cloud in the sky.

A couple of the girls tried the mechanical bull. "Urban Cowgirl" Anna is always up for a challenge.

Some of the girls were lined up on the fence to see the cattle drive come down the street.

Here's the cattle drive. The girls are singing their school fight song in the background.

We competed on Saturday morning and again on Sunday morning. I didn't put the girls jazz and hip-hop routines on here because you've already seen them. Here are some of the action shots Joe and I purchased of Kaitlyn's solo routine. I asked her why she wasn't smiling and she said the song is by Kanye West about his mother dying and it wasn't supposed to be a happy dance.

The final results were as follows: In the jazz routine, we got 3rd place (out of 4 teams), in the hip-hop routine, we got 2nd place (out of 3 teams). On the solos, Kaitlyn got 4th place out of 9 people (it was by far the largest group of dancers). We were disappointed, we felt she should have been 2nd or 3rd. There were a lot of politics involved, and we thought the girl that got 2nd should have gotten 1st (she goes to Yukon High School in OK). Anyway, we had a great time during the weekend. Fort Worth is a lot of fun. If you stay downtown there is lots to do and plenty of places to eat, drink, and be merry. The parents got together for happy hour both nights and then we walked to dinner somewhere and ate. The girls had their own itinerary.

Pa-Po Has Passed Away

Kristen and Kaitlyn's grandfather (Joe's stepfather) passed away earlier this evening. He was 70 (or 71) years old. He had 5 grandchildren, Kristen, Kaitlyn, Stephen, Hayden, and Taryn (3 girls, 2 boys). Apparently there won't be a church service but we are planning on going to Destin this spring to scatter his ashes. His name was also Joe but when Kristen was little, we called him Papa Joe (which she couldn't say) so it was shortened to Pa-Po. Pa-Po had been very sick recently and he went fast with little suffering. Godspeed Pa-Po.

Senior Night Pom and Cheer

Last night was senior night for the cheer and pom teams at the high school. Here is a picture of Kaitlyn with her senior board that one of the junior girls on the squad did.

Here is a closer picture of the board. Kaitlyn was anal about how she wanted her board to look so she gave Holly (the girl who did it) DETAILED instructions.
As senior gifts, the girls all got a senior "nightie" with their name monogrammed on it. They got some sunglasses that looked like stars and a $50 gift card that they can use to spend while in Fort Worth for nationals.

Modeling their senior nighties, the theme for the night was walking the red carpet so they each had stars on the floor with their name on them. Kaitlyn is the tall one here.

This is a picture of Kaitlyn and Calli. They have been on cheer (Kaitlyn is now on pom) together since 8th grade in middle school. This picture is from senior night.

This is from 10th grade cheer on the varsity squad together.

Kaitlyn's Solo for Nationals

Tonight, the pom squad had a "dress" rehearsal for their nationals routine for the parents. Kaitlyn is doing a solo at nationals as well. Unfortunately, we had to do it in a dance studio so there wasn't a lot of room to videotape. Kaitlyn stops halfway thru, her booty shorts were going up her rear, which temporarily made her forget where she was, then she picks back up. I had another mom use my camera and film this while I used the videocamera in the middle of the room. I filmed it twice but I haven't transferred it over to DVD yet. We leave for nationals (in Fort Worth) on Friday. I'll have lots of pictures this week, it's also Senior Pom and Cheer Night during the basketball game on Tuesday night.

Valentines Day

Here's a picture of the cake Kaitlyn made for Matt for Valentine's Day. She's a regular Martha Stewart - she loves baking and sewing and being creative.

Here are some presents I wrapped for my boss to send to some of her clients. These were mugs with kitties on them stuffed full of candy.
I finally finished the prayer shawl I started last summer! It has bands of different colors of blue.

I got a haircut today. I had Joe take pictures of the back and sides. Now if I can just make it do this tomorrow after I take a shower! Joe gave me a "deluxe" manicure for Valentines at the nail place up the street and I got a box of chocolates. Ymmmm.

Halftime Routine

This is a new half-time routine that Kaitlyn's squad did tonight. She is in the very middle and she and her BFF walk up to the front and then Kaitlyn does the solo at the end.

It's Tornado Time - Again!

It looks like we're in for a long night. There won't be anything on television but the local meteorologists forcasting until the watches/warnings have passed (which looks like at least 8 PM this evening). Norman is usually very lucky (hear me knocking on wood). The tornados start up to the west of us and move in a northeasterly pattern usually cutting a path between Norman and Oklahoma City (20 miles away) or to the north of OKC. We're supposed to go to a high school basketball game tonight here in Norman. If it starts hailing, I've been instructed by Joe to park my car underneath the oak tree in the front yard here at the house. (My side of the garage is full of my junk and Joe keeps the Yukon, our travel vehicle, in his side). I'm keeping one eye to the sky, the other on my computer, one ear to the TV, the other ear to listen for the tornado sirens outside. I don't have a 'fraidy hole, but I do have a "sports equipment closet" in our bedroom that has come in handy over the years. I feel lucky in that the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Laboratory are both about 1-1/2 miles from my house. So we will be the first to know if anything is coming our way.

Semi-Formal - Norman HS

Last night was the semi-formal dance at the high school. Kaitlyn did not go with her boyfriend of 2 years, she went with a "friend." Matt, her boyfriend didn't want to go. Joe took these pictures before she left (I was at work at Kohl's). She just had her hair highlighted yesterday morning and she's been fake-baking for a couple of weeks in preparation.
Hopefully, I'll have a few more pictures to load if she'll let me download some from her camera. Anyway, I loved her dress and she looked cute (much older than her age - 17). As you can see, we still have some remnants of the recent ice storm, but it was like 70 degrees yesterday outside during the afternoon.