We are ready for some FOOTBALL!!

Evan's eighth grade football season has begun and we are excited!!! He is playing varsity defensive tackle and varsity offensive guard. He has really impressed us this year! He is a big guy but not the biggest one. They won their first game against Lincoln and we can't wait for Tuesday afternoons to see the next game. I get so excited at the games, I forget to take pictures. He is number 67, just like his dear old dad!

Pictures of the day . . .

I have asked my girl to send me a picture everyday. She is not very good at it. Yes, I am crazy, I admit. Here are some fun ones! ;o)

T-shirt Quilt

I gathered Miss Blake's Cheer Central T-Shirts and had them made into a quilt. She loves it! I am so proud of it, too. Lots of memories of our Cheer Central family!

Evan at the Lake

While I was away in Stillwater, the boys enjoyed a day at the lake with good buddies Griffin and Colton. The jumped off cliffs into the lake, enjoyed good grub, and Evan stayed to camp overnight. They had a good time!

Recruitment (Rush)

We left Miss Blake in Stillwater two weeks before school started because she wanted to participate in the Fall Sorority Recruitment. The week included over 800 girls trying to find a good "fit" for a sorority home. After day two, each girl has to narrow their choice of 11 houses to 8, and the houses are narrowing their choices as well. They say it is rare to have 8 to choose from after day three, Miss Blake had 8. She visited all eight and had to narrow down to 5. The houses were narrowing their choices as well. They say it is rare to have 5 to choose from after day three, Miss Blake had 5. After day four, down to 3. She had 3. After day five, she makes her choice as do the houses.
I flew down after the week to participate in Bid day. There is a list for parents stating which house each participant was selected. Zeta Tau Alpha selected Miss Blake. It was her first choice. I waited at the house while the girls ran to their selected house. Fraternity boys lined the street. It was quite a production! Wow! I really felt good leaving, knowing she had one more family unit to take care of her.
As a member of the sorority, she has strict GPA guidelines, study rooms available, three meals a day all week, and lots of opportunities to fully enjoy the OSU experience. It's gonna be a good life!

Off to School!

We loaded up the slug bug and drove to Oklahoma over the weekend. Evan and I decorated her car for the trip. Twelve hours to Grandma's house in Wynnewood went by fast. That little car is a rocket! We drove through 105+ degree heat and a couple of thunderstorms but enjoyed every minute of it.
Miss Blake started sorority rush on Sunday and we left shortly after dropping her off in Stillwater. My heart was ripped from my chest and it took me a few hundred miles to be able to breathe again. Crazy how you can have so much pride and joy and excitement for your child, but so much pain for yourself letting them go. :`/

Water World!!

Evan finally got to go to Water World this summer. Gosh, it was tough to find free time in his sister's schedule to take him down there. She dropped the four boys off and went to say goodbye to her Cheer Central friends. Mom's instructions to Evan, "Stay together, have fun, and wear sunscreen". Guess which one he forgot? hmmmmm.

Good Bye Hooters!

Miss Blake's last day at work was last week. They greeted her with a goodbye cookie and many well wishes for her new journey. She enjoyed this job so much and really did make and save a lot of money. I can't praise their management team enough. They took very good care of our girl and had very high expectations of their employees. She really learned a lot about hard work, dedication, patron interaction, and ignorant judgement of others. She handled it all with such grace and humor. We couldn't be more proud.