College Visit

Our oldest toured a college over the weekend.  Her eyes are set on the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.  The campus sits quietly in the heart of our capitol city, like it's own sanctuary, surrounded by beautifully landscaped buildings and walkways.

The mascot is the gamecocks (or a rooster), and the tail feathers are a common symbol, as shown here on their administraion building.

The tall oaks and azaleas line the sidewalks.  It was here that my daughter told me to stop taking pictures, but on this momentous occasion, I was just getting started.

We met up with a friend from church who gave us a personal tour of the honors college and dorm rooms, and shared a personal account of life at the school.






















The camera-happy mom was really impressed with the Southern Charm of the campus and it's beauty.  There's a funny story here about the young guy and his dad in the foreground.  We hadn't met them yet at this point, but later they were in our tour group.  They are from Round Rock, TX, and we talked to them quite a bit about Lake Granger, Hwy 79, and Rockdale.  The son, also a junior, will probably end up at A&M.  But, they wanted to see what another college on the East Coast was like.  Although they were impressed, the out-of-state tuition costs may prohibit USC as his choice.

I promised her this would be my last picture, but....

Then we went to the Student Union and the campus main cafeteria.  They had a huge salad bar, several hot bars, fast food lines, and LOTS of iced tea!  My personal favorite was the one on the end that's half sweet and half unsweetened tea.

This is her goal....the Honors College.  We have a lot of work to do to get her there, but we're going to try.  They are the #1 honors college in the nation.  On paper, the admissions counselor said she didn't qualify.  I wish he knew what we know about her talent, academic history, her drive to suceed, and her passion for making a difference.  We'll let you know the results in about 10 months!

SJCS Photos

I can't take credit for these amazing pictures because my son would never allow me on the soccer field or at a school event.  The mere thought of his mother having that much of a presence would be absolute torture for him.  Fortunately, parents are able to download photos from the school website.

The above shot was taken during an offsite 8th grade class retreat.  The school has designated photographers who truly have talent in capturing the smiles and personalities of each student.

















This picture made the "photo of the week" and will be a keeper for years to come.  He's on the high school team and is responsible for 2 dozen "saves" this season alone!  For someone who's played more baseball than soccer in his youth, he's truly found a niche as goalie.

Little One

Since I've been posting about the older ones lately, the little one has had a few really cute moments that I've captured and put together below in a random collage.

With the video camera out from recent projects, she wanted to film herself reading a book.  I didn't upload this one to YouTube, though.

When Daddy goes out of town, she likes to sleep in his "spot".  However, she insists on brining all her stuffed animals.  I usually end up getting about 1/4th the bed, but it's cute.

This is her favorite statue in Downtown Greenville.  I don't know why, but each time we walk past it she wants me to take her picture.  I probably have 6 or 7 of these by now, but never posted.  Finally, this pic made the blog!

And for the young soccer player taking after her big brother and sister, we have to post an action shot.  So proud of our little one!

Women of Distinction

Our oldest was invited to speak in Columbia, SC at an awards ceremony Women of Distinction.  To hear her speech, click on this link:  http://youtu.be/i2HfGQEDIiU

She did an amazing job!  She met the president of a local college, the Univ of SC Women's Basketball Coach, and many other outstanding women.  After the event, everyone came up to talk with her.  I was really proud.  :)

Stations of the Cross

Our two oldest were in the youth presentation of Live Stations at our church.  Below are some pictures from the program, but I've also uploaded a 4 min video to YouTube if you have time with this link:  http://youtu.be/U-SxL8Xi6fk

Our oldest was a "Woman of Jerusalem" and our son played Jesus.

The whole program took an hour to go through all 14 stations, and with each scene, the youth stood still for 3-4 minutes.

They did such a great job!

Prom Invite

It's a big deal now in not just going to the prom, but in how you're ASKED to go to the prom.  Some invites are so elaborate that they could compete with marriage proposals.  Last year, this same friend found out how much our daughter loved pumpkin, whether it's pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin chips, really anything to do with pumpkin (afterall, it is a melon!).  So, last year he bought her a pumpkin muffin from a bakery and had them write "Prom?" with icing on the top.  She loved he did that, so she agreed to be his prom date.

This year, the same sweet guy wanted to ask her again.  But the question was how?  To take you back several weeks ago, there was a soccer game in which our sweet, intelligent, and considerate daughter played a bit too aggressively on the soccer field.  She had received a yellow card earlier this season (which is a warning from the referee), but was given a red card on this particular game becuase the aggressive behavior occurred within the goal box.  Since this was the first red card given to any athlete in the history of the school, our daughter got the nickname "red".

So, her date decided to purchase an official referee shirt and an official red card and wrote the word "Prom?" on the card.  Our daughter accepted with a smile at the elaborate length he went to ask.  She told him it would have been cheaper to just purchase a watermelon.