A Clean Sweep for Cami

   You'd think that things would start winding down stress-wise by last week or two of school, but, as it somehow always happens,  things are crazier than ever.   And that's with only one of my children in public school this year!    

These are the things which are overtaking our lives right now:      

1.   end-of-year concerts, recitals, etc.   2.  end-of-year banquets, award ceremonies, etc.

3.  we're inundated with getting ready  (filling out forms, writing checks, volunteering, etc) for all the summer activities (and with my calling, this takes up A LOT of time)   4.  it's time to plan for the fall (when lessons are going to be, what sports will the kids do, which classes to take, etc)

With Cami being a graduating senior, her stress levels are high too.  Here's what's consuming her time:   

1.  teachers are jamming in all of the projects they can before the end of the year  2.  Normal end-of-year finals and stress  3.  signing up for classes at BYU--the stress of actually choosing a schedule, and then having to stay up past 2am on a school night to do the actual registering   4.  Still trying to work and save money for college--this past weekend she had an overnight babysitting job, a cupcake order, and a tutoring job.     5.  WRITING A GRADUATION SPEECH--The mentor/teacher that's helping with the speech is a hard-driver who has a very particular idea of what kind of speech she wants and she keeps Cami after school working on it for hours and hours per day....sometimes well into the evening hours.      

So earlier this week, on a normal busy day, I had an alert pop up on my cell phone that Cami had her sports award ceremony that night.    I was pleased that there were no other conflicts and I made plans to go.   Several hours later, when it was time to leave, Cami seemed surprised that I was attending and tried to talk me out of it.  She claimed that it would be long, boring, and definitely not worth my time.   Sadly, this is true about a lot of sports award ceremonies that I've attended over the years, but I figured that since it was her senior year, I would go despite her protestations.   

And thank goodness I did!  

Cami was the star of the night!  

She won every single award she was eligible to win and was definitely the most frequent visitor onto the stage...male or female.     

Here's a run-down of what she won:  

1.   $1500 scholarship (awarded to only one female and one male athlete at her school)

2.  a tri-athlete scholar award (for participating in three sports and maintaining an over 3.5 GPA)

3.  a four-year three sport award (for participating in three sports for all 4 years of HS--only a handful of other seniors received this)

4.  Coach's award for varsity lacrosse (only one awarded for each spring sport)

All four of these awards were a HUGE honor to receive and it was hard not to blush a little at all the really wonderful things they said about Cami during the night.    She is a hard-worker and that night was a little pay-back, for her and for me,  for some of that hard work from over the years.     We are so proud of our Cami Rose!  

Way to go, Cami!  

Six Down, Eight to Go...

With Cami's graduation from early morning seminary this past Sunday, we officially have six years of early mornings down.....only eight to go!  

It's a huge sacrifice to wake up an hour-and-a-half before the rest of your peers....

to study the scriptures BEFORE school each day....

but this amazing group  (plus about 30 others from our stake) did just that every day for FOUR YEARS! 

These three...

will all be attending BYU in the fall!

As a parent, I am so grateful for her  teachers (Bro. Goodson, Bro. Atchley, Bro. Koch, Bro. Ferrel, and Bro. Liljegren) who sacrificed not only their sleep, but also their time in preparing the lessons each day.  

Glen was a seminary teacher for a couple of years back when Emma was a baby and it was a relentlessly exhausting (but rewarding) job to do!    A job without pay...of course!

I am also grateful for Cami's good friends.   What a great influence they've been and I'm grateful that their friendship is such that it can continue as they all head off to Cougar territory this fall!

Trudging Through

So, I'm not blogging much, because truly our heads are barely above water right now.   I totally forgot how over-the-top stressful this time of year is, especially with a graduating senior.   There is stress oozing out of the walls of our house right now and I cannot wait to be able to relax a little.... maybe in August. 

I've been working on this blogpost on and off for two straight weeks and it's still not done, but since I don't want to get any further behind, I'm publishing it as is.    No video.   Nothing funny.   It is what it is.  

My little girl is graduating from high school in a couple of weeks.   

As per Vienna Ward youth tradition, we recently had a "senior roast" to honor all of the graduating seniors.  

This year we honored Katy H, Cami, and Kaili E. 

Each senior's family set up a display table featuring some important items from their lives.    Here's a little glimpse of Cami's table.   

And a close-up of some of the items....

We estimate that we had about 70 people in attendance...

We fed them an easy summer-style dinner of BBQ pork sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, and a vegetable platter.   We had easy finger foods for dessert.  

We played a Jeopardy game with questions the seniors had answered in advance.  It was a fun time-filler, since we didn't have as many seniors as we normally have, and it was a great way to get to know each senior better.   

After that was the highlight of the evening, when  each family presented a slideshow and told stories about their senior.    I eventually will  try and publish her slideshow here, but seeing as I've been trying to get it web ready for 2 weeks now and I'm still not done, I'm going ahead and publishing it without.   

Lastly, the seniors gave their "Last Will and Testament" where they bequeathed items and talents to other members of the youth.   It's always funny to hear what's important to them and to hear the youth's reactions when something is left to them.   One of Cami's favorite bequeathals was the baby of her Sunday School teacher, whom she left to two other nurturing YW who were always fighting for a turn to hold him.  The two girls literally squealed in delight when they realized there would now be one fewer baby-holder to fend off.  :) 

Marine Corps Museum

What better way to spend the Friday before Memorial Day than to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia?    

In our 15+ years of living in the DC area, it was a place we'd passed a million times while traveling along I95, but never  had visited before. 

It is a very well-done museum that tells the story of the marine corps from the 1770's to modern day.  

The museum is bright and flooded with natural light. 

And the exhibits are interesting to kids and adults alike.

They are also interactive...

and emotionally moving. 

The life-size dioramas were powerful...

and the detail amazing.  This room depicting a war zone in Korea is kept several degrees cooler than the rest of the museum to let visitors,  in a very small way, experience a little of the discomfort that the soldiers experienced during battle.  

This desert war zone  diorama is heated to be uncomfortably warm. 

It is a fantastic museum that instilled in us a newfound appreciation for those who serve in the military.   I will now be recommending it to friends who come to visit the area.      

Even the grounds are peaceful and beautiful.   

It was a great way to engage the kids in conversations about how blessed we are to live in a land that is free.  Free because of the sacrifices of so many.  

God Bless America! 

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Sunday

It's been a busy few weeks filled with good things that have kept me away from the blog.  There are several things I hope to get to blog about eventually, but today was too eventful to let another day go by.    Here's a glimpse at today...


Adam gave his first talk in sacrament meeting today.    It was a special experience working with him to write his talk and I think it turned out well.    Click here to read it.


Cami and her best friend (and future roommate), Katy, received their YW recognition awards together today.  It was a long time coming and I am so proud of their hard work to earn it!

Right after church we headed off to award ceremony where Cami received the "Women in Sports" spirit of sports award for her high school.   They chose one nominee from each high school and this was the district award ceremony where all the nominees were honored.   

The two nominees from FCHS.

 Cami was the "Spirit of Sports" award nominee and Preethi (pictured with Cami), our neighbor, was the "Sportswoman" award nominee.

After the very long ceremony, we came home and went on a family walk in the sticky weather, Emma made us delicious meatball sandwiches for dinner (from scratch), and I am excited to stay up later than normal to blog because there's no more seminary for the year!  

It was a great day and we are proud of our kiddos!  

Hurrying Time

We've gotten to that  busy end-of-the-school year time when our schedule  goes into overdrive.   It is filled up with  a bunch of  "extra" events that get heaped on in addition to our normal busy life.    This past week, in particular, has made me start  to get really excited for this last month of school to be over so that we can finally get on to the more laid back days of the summertime.  

Here's a small glimpse of a few things we've been up to:

Cupcake Order:

At only seven dozen cupcakes, it was far from being the biggest cupcake order Cami's ever had, but it definitely  was one of the more stressful ones.    The order was due at 8:00am on Saturday morning, but after a full day of school on Friday, then one of her last lacrosse games of the season that evening, she didn't get home until nearly 10:00pm.    The cupcake making didn't even start until I was ready for bed.  I attempted to sleep, but the banging around in the kitchen meant that it was fitful.   She finally finished up around 3:00am and collapsed into bed.    At 5:55am I awakened and realized that Cami hadn't gotten up for her 6:00am babysitting job yet.   Cami jolted awake and ran out the door  unkempt and still in her sweats.    My sleep had been so interrupted, that I attempted once again to go back to bed, but alas I did not really fall soundly back asleep until right as it was time to wake up for my 8:30 YW camp meeting.     

Civil War Days:   

Because my sister's roommate has been in charge of the children's activity tent the past few years, we get the inside scoop about all the fun things they're planning for the Falls Church Civil War Days each year.  Ellie's become quite enamored with the event and it's now something that she looks forward to all year long.    She was an official (costumed) volunteer this year that went  to assist AnnaLisa and her roommate.   We didn't have a whole lot of time, but Adam, Cami, and I  dropped by to say hello and try out some of the activities.   As per usual, their favorite activity was making and dipping their own candles.   Cami brought along the cute little boy she was babysitting, who  really enjoyed himself as well! 

Emma's Spring Voice Recital:   

Emma's been singing for us since she was a small child, but recently has been very interested in developing this talent more.  This school year we decided to sign her up for voice lessons with our favorite 6'3" opera singer that lives in our ward and it's been amazing to watch Emma grow in confidence as the year's gone on!  I love hearing her sing! 

Here are videos of her performances:  

Mormon Prom

What is Mormon Prom you ask?    

It's a prom without alcohol, drugs, sex, and immodest clothes.    In other words, it's awesome and I, for one, am very grateful for the efforts that go in to making it a special night for these teens who are trying to live up to a certain standard. 

This year Cami went with her friend, Rex, who as you can see has been her friend since preschool.   

They had a great night and it's hard for me to believe that yet another milestone has passed for Cami!  

I'm going to miss her in a few months!