Has spring sprung?

It would be an understatement to say that this has been a really warm winter. (Trust me, this is not a complaint! If we aren't going to have snow, I'm just as happy to have it warm.) This is evidenced in the picture that I took today! My azaleas are trying to bloom...in January!!! If we get a cold snap, I seriously don't know what that will mean for them in spring.

No snow here.

Since we are having temps in the 70s, and there is no immediate hope of snow, I'll post a couple of pictures that my dad sent of their snow. It didn't look like they were going to get any, so it was a pleasant surprise this weekend.

Like mother like son.

People frequently comment that MK and I look alike. I rarely hear that about T. Willy. I call him "Little Erik" sometimes, because I think they look alike. However, with the pictures my dad has been posting, I've seen more similarities between T. and me - especially in the mouth. So here are a couple of pictures that illustrate it to me.

Before & after? Before & during?

My dad sent me a link with some old pictures that he had loaded from slides. So here is a picture of me, perhaps on my sixth birthday, and a picture of me yesterday. There are noticeable differences, but the Big Man pointed out one thing that seems to be the same - my pointy chin.

My favorite

With a 9 year gap between kids, I had concerns that they may not get along or play together. MK is a great big sister and does play with T. Willy quite a bit. I hope he will remember it!

Changin' it up.

I was in need of a change - so I chose to change my hair. Here is what it usually looked like (okay - if it looked like this more often, I may not have changed it, but it rarely looked like this) and how it looks now (as long as I keep straightening it - we'll see how that goes.)

Before and after

T. Willy has a new haircut. The look on his face in the "after" cracks me up.

We made it to Sunday! We are exhausted but can recharge today to take on the new week. It's exam week at school, so that will be a little more taxing for the students, but it also means half days, so I'm looking forward to that.

Again hit send too soon

Ooops, hit send too soon.

So, now we're waiting for all of the events to finish, then we will have closing ceremonies, and I can go home!!! I am so glad that church doesn't start till 11 tomorrow.

A friend of mine took this picture on the California trip. I think it was right after Bandfest. I love it!!!

Sunday's comin'

This very very long week is almost over. It hasn't been miserable, there is just so much that needs to be done, and I haven't had time to do it.

I'm at our district Thespian festival right now. T. Willy is with me, so we're just hanging out supporting our school. We did the one act yesterday, and it was better than we'd ever rehearsed. I'm so proud of them!!! I must admit that it was hard to keep my eyes off the character of Yuma played by the marvelous MK!!!!

I can make it to Sunday; I know I can.

We have been non stop since we returned from California. Thespians (the club at school that I sponsor) is participating in district competition tomorrow. We will spend two full days in a neighboring town, and then I can relax. I may actually be able to go right home after school. Due to districts, I haven't done that in quite awhile.

So, I'm just going to post a quick pic of T. Willy and his new penguin and call it a night.

Dorothy said it best.

There's no place like home. That isn't original, but it's great to be back. I missed the Big Man and T. Willy, and it's great to have the family back together again.

We should have had a nice quiet day, but it was pretty busy. I was up early to spend time with T. Willy before school, we had an appointment, I went to school to work with the drama club, and then went to scouts with T. Willy. I just keep reminding myself that I'll be able to relax next week; I just have to make it until then. Our district competition is Friday and Saturday, and then drama club is pretty much finished for the year. It's a lot of fun, but I look forward to spending more time at home.

So I'll add some of our last views of the trip (including a picture of the roses the Big Man left for MK and me when we got to the car at school) and I'm going to try to get some sleep. It was a dream vacation, but we're back to reality tomorrow.

My favorite parade ever

Today was the day! I cannot explain the excitement we felt as we walked down Colorado Blvd. to our seats. We had a great view of the parade - especially our band. We had programs so we knew the order of the parade. My job was to announce to those around me which float was which and how many floats until our band performed. And when they did, the sea of red around me screamed! I teared up; I just couldn't contain the emotion.

And then they performed for the television cameras. We could see them pretty well and thought they were great. We've read a lot of Facebook comments and texts, but I think my favorite came from one of the announcers: "Can you believe this is a high school band?"

Our hearts are full; the kids are tired, and we are ready to go home. We hope to be in our house by 3:00 a.m. This has definitely been the trip of a lifetime, but we miss our homes, and I really miss the Big Man and T. Willy. So, here are pictures, the best I could do on my phone.

Also, something funny: we were frequently teased or cheered for by Oregon and Wisconsin fans, because there was red everywhere we went, and people thought we were Wisconsin fans. We'd just say, "Go, Badgers," and move along.

Almost time...

Tomorrow is the entire reason we came to California. It's parade day!

We've had a blast. I am ready to see my Big Man and my Little Man, but I'll be sorry to leave too. California has been wonderful; however, my home is pretty wonderful too.

We spent today at Universal Studios, and ended the day at Jillian's which is a Dave and Buster's type place. It was really neat. We had the entire place to ourselves, and the kids could play all the games and had unlimited soda, pizza, nachos and salad. A kid's dream!

Now we're on the bus heading back to our hotel to get a few hours of sleep before getting up at 3:00 a.m. We are feeding the kids bagged breakfasts and getting on the road at 4:30. If you can, watch the parade and look for #53: the Big Red Machine!!!!

What a Band!

That is the phrase that the band director uses to describe our band. It's accurate! They are a great bunch of kids, and they really made us proud today!!!

Today was Band Fest at Pasadena City College. The bands marching in the parade performed their shows in front of a crowd. Since the entire band wasn't able to come, they asked some moms to fill in as prop holders. I was one of those moms, and I confess to being completely terrified. However, right before we went out, another mom encouraged me to just enjoy it, so I determined that I would, and I did. (In the picture, my prop is the "O" without James Bond on it.) It was a thrill to hear the crowd and be right in the middle of the band. They did such a great job, and the moms did okay too!

After the performance, we went to the Rose Bowl where the band had their official portrait taken. We were able to tour a tent where floats were being decorated, and it was neat to see them hard at work to have the floats ready before they are judged tomorrow.

We had the first free time of our trip this afternoon, so I took a nap. I felt refreshed after being in the heat all day. It was amazing how different the weather is around here. We were really hot in Pasadena, but needed jackets when we got back to our hotel which is in El Segundo.

The hotel had a buffet dinner for us, and I'm writing now from the New Year's party. They have a DJ, and the kids are all dressed up and having a ball. They'll call it a night after they're able to watch the East Coast ball drop.

Another big day tomorrow. We're going to Universal Studios and a place called Jillian's. We are busy and tired but truly having the trip of a lifetime, and we still have the parade to look forward to!

Whew!

We had a very full and fun day. Oh my goodness.

We toured Los Angeles, saw the La Brea Tar Pits, lots of landmarks, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills, then we ate at the Farmer's Market. I ate at "Chipotle" which is a place I'd wanted to try for a long time.

After lunch, we went to the Santa Monica Pier. I'm chaperoning, so the kids I am chaperoning stayed with me much of the time, and it was a lot of fun. It was really cold and foggy, but we still made the best of it. We walked to the water and put our feet in the icy cold water, and then we went to the pier and rode the Ferris Wheel. It actually reminded me a lot of Atlantic City, NJ. They had some free time to walk around, and I was able to pick up a couple of souvenirs.

We are now on the bus on our way back to the hotel. We are supposed to freshen up, then we're headed back out for a dinner cruise. We are packing a lot into a little bit of time, but we're making great memories!

Tomorrow is Bandfest. We are to perform at 10:30. It will be broadcast on the Internet -http://tournamentofroses.com/bandfest-webcast - just remember 10:30 is PST.

Wow. I think I'll rest for a little while. Pictures!