Once each semester, the parents are allowed to enter the dance studio to watch what the girls have been learning. That day had arrived – and we were treated to a delight as the girls showed off their latest choreography. They’ve been taking from Miss Nina for 7 years and it is really beginning to show.
http://youtu.be/MOS4P453ykQ
Madeline is a true childhood friend – one of the earliest friends the girls had. I’ve known her Dad since 5th grade back in Manhattan; her Mom I’ve known since high school when they were dating. They were the first people we contacted when we moved to Kansas City – because they were about the only people we knew.
Madeline is just a few months younger than Anna – and they’ve played together for the past 12 years or so. At least a couple times per year, Madeline spends the night at our house or the girls go to her house (she now lives about 20 miles away).
After spending the night and the whole next day together, we finished it off with a trip to Cheeseburgers in Paradise – where the girls got to enjoy virgin strawberry daiquiris.
Yes, we love our Madeline…
Each year the elementary school puts on a Haunted House and carnival in October as a fundraiser for the 6th grade. The funds pay for the big field trip taken in the Spring. Each 6th grader and their parents are required to participate and in the event.
Emily was a character in the haunted house (themed as a haunted school) – part of the haunted school crossing. Linda was the coordinator of all volunteers (a HUGE job). I was officially a fill-in, designed to take the place of anyone that didn’t show up. Of course I like to get into the fun, too…
This past Thursday was awesome if you’re a K-State fan – a 59-7 trouncing of the KU Jayhawks. This game went a long way to help overcome the bad feelings about the previous week against Nebraska.
Carson Coffman did so much better in this game – accounting for 5 touchdowns. We just looked better all around – on both sides of the ball.
Of course, there’s usually the “wait until basketball season starts” comments. However, this year, KSU is picked preseason as the #1 team in the Big 12. Hee-hee.
Last night was the first Strings Concert of the year for the Middle School. Anna was 1st chair violin, thus the Concert Mistress. Not only is this a position of honor, but she also was responsible for establishing the correct tuning for the whole ensemble.
I will soon try to post video clips of portions of the concert.
Congratulations, Anna. All those hours of lessons and practice are paying off!
I recently cleaned up the man cave in the garage (termed the Doctor’s Lounge). This is a great place for watching TV, playing darts, and enjoying the finer things of life. The back door to the garage was open and in walked Sally. Seems like she just wanted to hang out.
Sure do love this dog…
Sometimes your children can lift you up just when you need it most.
After having a particularly long and difficult stretch of shifts at work, I found this note left for me:
I’ve been really busy with work the last few days, but it’s taken those few days to get over the horrible loss that the Wildcats suffered against Nebraska on national television.
The wonderful part of the experience was hearing the roar of the crowd at the beginning of the game. The KSU fans brought their A-game. It was so loud I couldn’t hear the announcer over the big speakers.
Nebraska was just too much for us to handle – either on offense or defense.
Half-time brought us entertainment from the NU Marching Band (which wasn’t well-received by a grumpy crowd) and the KSU Marching Band (which was very well received by a crowd that loved anything that wasn’t NU).
The girls stayed behind on this trip because it was such a late game on a school night. So, our very good friends Trey and Jennifer came with us. We had a wonderful tailgate with grilled burgers made from ground prime rib. Sides included beans and cheesy corn from Jack Stack BBQ. Complemented with good beer – the tailgate meal was awesome. Too bad we lose every game that we invite them to!
Well – here’s hoping that we can win against KU this next Thursday. We’ll be playing in Lawrence, so we won’t be going to the game. However, we WILL be watching as it’s on TV. K-S-U WILDCATS!
Both Anna and Emily have been lifelong members of the Blue Crew – a club for young fans of the Kansas City Royals. Their membership packet usually includes free tickets, a hat, and other free stuff from area businesses. A perk of the club is additional free tickets are often sent to the house towards the end of the season (they’re not exactly selling out the stands these days). Four free tickets arrived for both girls for a game against Tampa Bay the other night. Despite being a school night, we decided one last Royals game before the season ended this weekend would be a nice thing to do.
So, bundled up in jackets, we went to the game and enjoyed a win. Zach Greinke pitched the game and did very well.
Because we had to leave for the game straight from picking the girls up from dance (which they went to straight from school), we chose to treat ourselves to dinner inside the stadium. I decided I would do dinner Kansas City style: Strouds chicken dinner (a famous local fried chicken restaurant) with Boulevard Bob’s 47 beer (a seasonal favorite of the local brewery).
We had lots of fun, but needed to leave at the end of the 5th inning so we could get the girls home to bed.
Here’s hoping the Royals can do it next year…always hoping.
Wednesday nights have become a midweek Friday night for a handful of the dads in the neighborhood. Many of us congregate at a friends house after the kids have all gone to bed.
A full-sized dart machine, a flat screen HD TV and a refrigerator retrofitted beer taps and a keg provide hours of entertainment. Additionally, several of the guys often enjoy the cigars that always seem to show up with me.
If I’m working Thursday morning, I usually can only stay about an hour. However, if I’m not working Thursday morning, it’ll usually be well after midnight – and I’m usually one of the first to leave. I don’t know how the other guys do it when they have to be up and working the next day.