Chattanooga Band Competition

On Saturday, October 24, we went to Chattanooga, TN for the final band competition of the season. It was a sunny, but chilly day. Our band had the performance of the season but came up short, placing 3rd in our class and 5th overall. It was a disappointment and we're not sure what the judges were looking for. It was the lowest we placed all season. The kids still have a chance to perform at the football game this Friday night (for senior night) and in exhibition at the contest we host on November 7th.

Seth's Birthday Weekend

We started celebrating Seth's birthday on Friday (his actual birthday) and continued celebrating on Saturday. We had a home football game on Friday night and we had family in town to watch Seth march. Although I don't have a picture of it, we made bright green and orange signs and held them up during the pregame show for Seth to see from the field. The signs said "Happy 15th Birthday Seth".

On Saturday we went to Uncle Brad and Aunt Sharon's house. Tunte and Uncle Carl and Grammy were there too. It was a chilly day, but some of us went hiking while others stayed back at the house to watch football. Seth asked Uncle Brad to fix his birthday meal for him this year. The menu consisted of wontons and crab rangoons for appetizers (and Brad also made a squash bisque). The main meal consisted of pork lo mein and pork fried rice. For dessert Seth asked for an Oreo cake.

Seth's birthday table.

Blowing out 15 candles on his Oreo cake.

Chapel Hill Band Contest

Our kids had a great night last night at the band competition in Chapel Hill, TN (and it was nice that it was just 30 minutes from home). We placed first in our division and 2nd overall in the contest. Our percussion placed first in our division (for the 3rd straight week!) and first overall. Our drum major placed 2nd in our division. It's been so exciting to see our kids improving over the fall marching season and finally getting all four movements down for their show. We have one more contest left on October 24th in Chattannooga, TN. We are so proud of Seth and the IHS Marching Eagles Band!!!!

Seth

I noticed one day last week that my camera was out and I had not used it. When downloading pictures this morning, this is what I found. Seth's fall picture of himself taken in our kitchen in a mirror that I have hanging up over the table with a fall wreath on it.

Gibson County Band Competition

Another Saturday, another band competition. This time it was in Gibson County, TN - about three hours from Spring Hill. We originally were not planning on going to the competition because of the distance and Steve's commitment to set-up for church on Sunday morning, but after talking about it Saturday morning we decided to go. The kids put in so much time, effort and hard work into each show that we needed to be there to support them. Thankfully it was a gorgeous fall day and traveling to Gibson County was enjoyable. We thought competition had been going on all day, but when we got there we noticed the sign and realized the competition didn't start until 4:00 p.m. Since we arrived at 3:45, we were able to see all bands perform. Our band performed at 7;30 and did a great job. Our band walked away with 3rd place overall, first place in our division for drumline and guard and pit crew!

By the time awards were over, it was after 10:00 so we knew we'd be getting home late. Steve, Jenna and I got home about 1;15 a.m. and Seth got home about 2:15 a.m. (They had to stay for critiques so were not able to leave immediately after awards.) We all got caught up on sleep on Sunday afternoon.

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.