Marching on and Running Fast

           I have been MIA for a bit. Sorry about that.

                My darling daughter J was competing with her Marching band upstate. 


OK, can I tell you....I had NO idea how hard these kids had to work. They practiced and practiced in the heat of summer and the cold of fall nights to compete every week against neighboring school districts. The very top competition was held in Syracuse New York at the Carrier Dome.
                                            

                              The Band marching into the stadium

Of course The Hubster and her brother and I drove the 12 hours+ round trip to see her and the team in competition.


My son, as always cheered her on and was so proud.
                                           

                                          I got goose bumps!

                                          


                                         Mid routine 

    

               

                    All the bands in their category waiting for judges decision

They won fourth place. (I thought they should have won first!!!! what can I say  I'm a bit bias).


Almost every week we sat in the stands sometimes hours and hours to enjoy the band's routine.



Now, on another note...my son joined the school's Cross Country team.
                           

Their meets were quite fast, lasting  maybe 15 minutes or less. My daughter J went to every one.


                           Out of all the pictures I have taken of him in Cross Country...this one is his favorite because I told him he was running sooo fast...even my camera wasn't fast enough to capture his whole image!

Here's where I get a bit of a lump in my throat...in addition to Marching band my daughter J volunteered to work the lighting and work on set design for the school play. This entailed staying after school ruining clothes with paint and studying and working on lighting cues. She absolutely loves working on the play.

The last few rehearsals coincided with her brother's Cross Country meets.

She missed one rehearsal knowing full well that she might get in trouble no matter the reason she gave.


She was told that she would lose her position as lights person if she didn't show up to the next rehearsal.


Guess what she did...after all those after school hours volunteering?





She was out on the Cross Country Field with me and her Dad cheering her little brother on.





When I asked her if she minded that someone else was going to take that much anticipated bow at the end of play after all the work she put in...she said 


         " Mom, it was totally worth it. D was there for me the least I could do is be there for him. It made him so happy that we were there cheering."







Sometimes even when you lose....you win.