Jenna's New Look

Jenna got a hair cut today. I think it makes her look 5 years older!

First Marching Band Competiton

On Saturday I went to Florence, AL with the marching band to their first competition of the season. We had to be at the school at 5:30 a.m. - it was dark and rainy. We first went to a high school in Muscle Shoals, AL so we could practice. We no sooner had all the equipment off the truck when it started to rain. Fortunately we were able to move into the gym where we practiced for about an hour-and-a-half. We loaded back up and went to Florence where a crew had gone ahead of us and had lunch waiting. It was just cloudy at this point and by the time lunch was over the rain moved out and we had a sunny but humid rest of the afternoon and it didn't rain again until after the awards ceremony in the evening.

Seth's last words to me before they headed to the field were, "I think I'm going to throwup." I told him just to have fun and enjoy it. Our band did a great job with their peformance. This year's marching band is 50-60% freshmen, so it was their first taste of competition. After our show the kids changed, loaded up the equipment truck and went back into the stadium to watch a few other bands. After dinner we went back into the stadium to watch the University of Northen Alabama's band perform. They were incredible!! It was fun to see that level of performance.

At last it was time for the awards ceremony. There were 20 bands in the competition and each band is judged indivdually as well as overall in their division. We received superior ratings in all areas - band, drum major, guard and drumline. Our drumline took 1st place in our division and our guard placed 2nd in our division. Overall we finished fifth out of 20 bands. It's a great start and gives us something to build on for the upcoming competition this Saturday in Gibson County, TN.

Warm-ups before heading to the field for our performance.

Seth (first one in picture).

Lined up to walk to the competition field.

Our performance.

Firsts and Lasts

Jenna's been very excited this week about going to her last Cheetah Fest tonight at her school. That got me to thinking that there are a lot of "lasts" for her this school year, and a lot of "firsts" for Seth. Jenna has already had her "last" first day at the elementary school and tonight is her "last" Cheetah Fest. The year will be full of "lasts" for her. Seth had his "first" week of rookie band camp, his "first" week of regular band camp, his "first" day at the high school, his "first" day of being on the field playing in the marching band....and tomorrow he attends his "first" competition with the band in Florence, AL.

Crazy Day

This week is Spirit Week at Jenna's school and today is Crazy Day. The school has Spirit Week every year in the week leading up to Cheetah Fest which is the school's carnival-like event held each fall and is the school's largest fundraiser. Monday was hat day; Tuesday was pajama day; Wednesday is Crazy Day; Thursday is Sports Day and Friday will be school spirit day. Here are some pictures of crazy Jenna for Crazy Day.

Another Busy Weekend

I was thinking the other night that we are all going to have to reassimilate to life together as a family once the build-out at our church is done and marching band season is over. Steve and Jenna have been busy helping in the evenings at the build-out and with Seth having band practice and games, it's been hard to even have dinner together as a family.

Our high school had an away game last night. Since we've had a lot of rain this week and the field wasn't in optimal condition, the marching bands from both schools stayed in the stands and didn't perform their halftime shows. It was still fun listening to them play and watching the football teams play good, ole fashion football in the mud. (By the way....we won 21-0.) Today Seth has another all-day band practice starting at 9:00. This evening they will be participating in the Williamson County Band Exhibition. Our county marching bands hold this every year, rotating to different host high schools. Once again, because of all the rain, they are not sure if this event will be held out on the field or not. I think the host school had a home football game last night so the field is probably not in condition for marching bands. If that is the case, the showcase will be held inside the gymnasium and the bands will just perform their songs. That's disappointing since I was looking forward to seeing all the halftime shows. Next Saturday is our marching band's first competition in Florence, AL. Hopefully the rain will stay away this week so they can work on polishing up their performance and get ready for this event.

Seth

Over the last month or so, Steve and I have often talked about the changes in Seth over the last few months. Seth will shoot me if he ever finds out I posted this, but here are two pictures so you too can see the difference. It's hard to believe he's going to be 15 next month (and getting a driver's permit!).

Spring break, April 2009.

First day of high school (August 2009).

Taylor Swift Concert

Jenna and I went to the Taylor Swift concert last night and had a lot of fun. Our neighbor is her drummer, so we went with his wife and daughter and some girls from the neighborhood. On Friday after school the girls had fun getting together to make and decorate tye dye shirts to wear to the concert. Saturday afternoon before the concert they got together again to make posters. Before the concert started, Al surprised the girls by giving them autographed copies of Taylor's latest CD. Jenna cried when she got hers - she was so surprised and excited.

Gloriana then Kellie Pickler opened for Taylor. I enjoyed Kellie's set - she did a lot of new songs. Faith Hill made a surprise appearance and sang one song with Taylor. Taylor sang for two hours and is definitely an entertainer - the entire show had a lot of set and costume changes.

Most of the pictures from the concert are on Jenna's camera, so I'll have to figure out how to download her pics onto the computer and put them on the blog. In the meantime, here are a few from before the concert from my camera.

Jenna and her friends show off their tye dye shirts before leaving for the concert.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

What a great way to kick off the 2009 NFL season - a match-up in Heinz Field of the game we have been waiting for since December....the rematch of the Steelers and the Titans. Our Steeler flag was unfurled earlier this week and is waving in the breeze on the front porch, the Terrible Towel went up in the front window today (mainly to bug our Cleveland Brown neighbors), the trash talk has started on Facebook and The Bridge's blog (thanks to Pastor Josh's premature post when he thought the game was last night - what would you expect from a Bengal's fan?) and we watched the 2008 Steeler season again on the NFL channel last night. The Steeler nation is ready!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS.....HERE WE GO!!!!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. It began Friday evening in Brentwood for an away football game. It was my first time chaperoning with the band - it was fun. I even got to wear a bright flourescent green t-shirt that on the back reads, "I'm With the Band". Stylin'! Steve, Jenna and Sharon were at the game also. Since my only chaperoning duty was putting plumes on hats before halftime and removing them after halftime, I was able to sit with them for most of the game. Unfortunately IHS lost another one - 24-21 when Brentwood kicked a field goal with 4 seconds left in the game.


Saturday was busy with us all doing different things -Seth caught up on sleep, I did grocery shopping and band treasurer duties, Steve worked at the build-out for the church and Jenna went to gymnastics and then helped at the buildout. (She came home and informed me that she used a power tool - thankfully she still has all ten fingers.) Of course we found time to watch college football. In the evening we went out for dinner to Applebee's (because they have TV's and we could watch college football).


Sunday was our typical church day with church at 10:00. Seth goes out for lunch with the youth group and they have their meeting from 1:30-3:30. We have small group at 5:00 on Sunday evenings.


Today is Labor Day. Once again Steve worked at the build-out for the church. Jenna and I went to Lowe's and got some mums that were on sale and a drywall patch kit to fix the hole that her heel put into the wall at the bottom of the steps back in August. (She had too much momentum going sliding down the stairs in her sleeping bag and her heel went thru the wall.) Jenna and I worked in the yard and also put on the Upper Case Living welcome sign on the front door as well as her name above her bedroom door. (The stencil on the door came out a little crooked. Oops!) Seth made his famous dixie burgers for dinner tonight. Yummo! And you'll never guess what we're doing tonight......watching more college football!

Here are pics of the labor that Jenna and I did on Labor Day.

Sometimes it's hard to put up fall decorations when it's 90° and humid. Jenna and I found the basket of mums at Lowe's for just $2.00 (basket and flowers). With a little TLC and plant food it'll be looking great in no time.

I forgot to take a before picture. Jenna did most of the work herself since she is now a semi-pro construction worker from all the work she's done at the church build-out.

Jenna did a much better job of putting her name above her door than I did putting the Welcome sign on the front door. Oh, well....if you ever come to visit us, just tilt your head sideways as you walk up the steps......and remember, you're always welcome at our house.

Breakfast for Dinner

An on-going discussion in our house is whether or not it is "proper" to have breakfast for dinner. Three out of four say yes; Seth, however thinks "it's just not right" to have breakfast for dinner. So last night Jenna and I made pancakes for dinner - chocolate chip for the two of us and plain for Steve. Seth opted for a McDonald's fish filet sandwich on the way home from band practice. The kid doesn't know what he's missing.