Awards Ceremony

Warning.....brag alert.  I apologize up front.  

Our oldest had her award ceremony this morning.  Out of 178 students in her grade, she received the highest average in all four major subjects:  AP World Geography, Honors Biology, Honors English III, and Honors Algebra II.  (By the way, these are the most difficult classes offered in 10th grade, and are given the highest point value toward GPA.)

She also received the Patriot Scholar award, was on the Principals List, and received MVP of her soccer team.

Her classmates told her to sit on an aisle seat next time.  :)

Strawberry Jam

The season for strawberry picking is finally here!  The berries weren't perfectly ripe yet, but we couldn't wait.  










Our favorite place is Hunter Farms, about 10 miles away in Easley.  The only downside is that our little one did not get to milk the "cow".  It's a wooden cow built for the kids to practice milking.  The utter broke off, so they are building a new one.







After picking two beautiful baskets full (and eating quite a few more that weren't weighed), we hurried home to wash, chop, and cook about 1/3 of freshly picked strawberries.










Eric does a nice job making jam, and he's perfected quite the recipe.  Not as sweet as most jam's, but plenty tasty.  The kids love it with their PB&J's and on morning biscuits.








These 9 jars will last us about 4 months, so we'll be heading back out to pick again soon.  The jam also makes great teacher gifts at year-end!  Now, if only we can hold out for the peaches, then the blueberries.....ah, we love this time of year!  :)

U6 Soccer Season

The Under 6 yrs old players had their final game this week, then they celebrated with a pizza party.  Coach Eric looks forward to this event as much as the parents and players.  He starts off giving a wonderful pep talk about how much the team has learned over the season and how far they will continue to go if they stick with the sport.












Then, one by one, each player takes the stand (or chair), as Coach Eric speaks to that child's individual highlights for the season.  Each player then receives a medal as their teammates applaud.




Before it's time to go, the team huddled for one last "Go Team!" like they did before each game.  It was a wonderful end to a great season (1st place)!

PVHS Prom Night

The new high school finally had it's first prom, and the kids seemed really excited.  Lots of parents volunteered to set up and clean up, but only teachers could chaperone.  Our daughter went to the prom with a friend in her group who is so polite and well-mannered.  Eric & I enjoyed talking with him the night before at the bonfire.

The four here are all really great friends, and it made for a wonderful evening.  I have to admit that it was difficult watching them all drive off together in one vehicle.  A parent or two may have secretly followed to make sure they made it safely to dinner and then later, the prom.  But, the kids were good sports about everything, including the pictures.

Pre-Prom Bonfire

Since the weather on Saturday was calling for rain (and lots of it), the group of about 30 decided to do a pre-prom bonfire on Friday night.  The weather was perfect for roasting marshmallows, hot dogs, and hanging out.







One of the students played guitar, and the vocal talents who accompanied the music were amazing!  It's nice to see teenagers enjoy camaraderie that keep their friendships strong.

After 3 hours of manning the fire, monitoring activities, and replenishing the snack bar, we were exhausted.  But, this is such a great group of kids that we love hosting these a few times each year. It was a great ending to a busy week.  Now, time to rest for a busy day tomorrow - the school's first prom!

Studio M

"M" is for McConnell, that is.  Our oldest is developing a program for K5-2nd graders called "Kids Fit Health Week".  This is for her Gold Award project in Girl Scouts, but will also be repeated next year as her senior project in high school.










For one week, the elementary school will show a video to the students about eating right and the importance of exercising.  We hired a production company to film these 5 videos, one for each day.

Our home was turned into a studio, and it takes about 2 hours to capture the footage that will be used in only 3-4 minutes of video.  I'll be posting the videos below as they are completed, so check back often.  They have done an amazing job!  They really worked with our daughter to bring her script to life in a high energy, fun video.  We're very appreciative of the grants that came in to help fund this project, and hope that it makes a positive impact on our community.



Script 1 - Introduction (Monday's video)
Script 2 - Healthy Foods (Tuesday's video)
Script 3 - Exercise (Wednesday's video)
Script 4 - Snacking (Thursday's video)
Script 5 - Proper Hydration (Friday's video)

GattiTown

Well, it's the end of an era for our family.  After 12 years of a monthly tradition, our favorite pizza place closed their doors.  We met our friends here on the last day it was open, just to be able to say good-bye.




Where else could you go for $6.99 and get a great salad bar, amazing pizza, the latest movie, free game cards (if you brought your report card or had a coupon), and 3 hours of fun?










The kids played one last time on their favorite games.  Everything went up for auction the next day, and most of these games sold for $1,200 or more!

We gathered up all our cards collected over the years and just let the kids use them all up.  The points tally was pretty high, so they had fun picking out as many toys as possible.  Did you know that 50 army parachute jumpers can all be released from the top of the stairs at one time?  One big tangled mess is the result, though.





Before we left, we wanted our little "keepsake", so Eric bought a pizza pan for a few dollars.  We'll take pride in using that for cookies, pizza, and anything else we feel, just knowing it's our own souvenir.