Senior Moments

Y'all. I wasn't kidding when I said life has happened in the nearly three years that I was away from the blogging world. It really has. There've been so many things, many of them being senior moments. And I mean that in a couple of ways. Now, I'm by no means old enough to be having 'senior' moments of the elderly variety, but it seems as though I am having more and more. I forget things. Lots of things. I ache all over. Lots of aches. I indulge in 'old lady' pursuits more and more. However, these are not the senior moments I will write about today.

My babies have grown up.

Lefty graduated high school and moved off to college.

 

Her first job, at the local SnoCone stand.

    

She won numerous awards...Young Person of the Year, Arkansas Scholar, and All-State Cheerleader

She led her cheer squad to Nationals at Disney, separate post soon!

A few college visits

Colors Day Queen

Even did a little modeling

Prom

Graduation

Temporary new home...OBU Frances Crawford Hall

Boo has two months left in her high school senior year.

Last event as a dance team member

Got an adorable new car

Went to prom with her then boyfriend (his prom)

Toured several colleges, accepting many scholarships along the way

Theatre became her main attraction, being named to All-State Cast in performance arts.

Colors Day Court

Senior pics

They are beautiful pieces of me. I can't believe that they are grown already. When I think of them, I picture them as this...

Forever.

Full Speed Ahead...

...and it's only Tuesday night! What a week we have had so far. This post may feel like picture overload! Yesterday, Halloween, was my mom's birthday. I stopped by there on my way home to say hey and happy birthday to the wonderful young lady! Then, I picked up a car full of cheerleaders to take trick-or-treating. I imagine that it was probably the last year that I will be asked to do that for Lefty. Boo was at her dad's. It was a bit weird to only have one of my daughters with me for an event like that. Lefty was Alice in Wonderland. These girls really cracked me and Chris up all night! This is how much fun was had...

Today was Colors Day. I mentioned it briefly here a few days ago. We were excited to find out that her pep rally escort was to be one of her best friends from as far back as kindergarten. He was so cute then, when he would wait in the office for her every morning to carry her backpack to the playground. He was so handsome today, as he escorted her across the basketball court, looking like he belonged in GQ and she could have graced the pages of ANY magazine!

Shot of the back of those great shoes and the cute hair! 

So many people came to see my girl today. She is definitely a kid to be proud of. I love seeing how people react to her...especially when they think no one else is looking. There were many girls looking at her in what appeared to be envy...just that 'gawd, I wanna be like you' look. A look you probably only see in junior high, since older girls learn to wear a mask over their feelings. Other great moments from the day were...

Glamorous!

Hubs and Lefty

Me and Lefty...she makes me look like a midget!

Lefty with my mom

Lefty, my Nanny (my grandma, who just turned 81 last week), and Boo

She couldn't stand it and had to change so she could be cheering with her squad!

Got facial expressions much?

She looks so grown up!

It was cold...she was freezing!

The Court...

Then tonight, the girls were escorted by their fathers onto the football field during a pre-game ceremony.

I wish I had taken this grown up girl's picture as we ended the day...she begged for ice cream on our way home. So what did we do? Stopped and got her some, of course! Perfect end to a terrifical kind of day!

Licensed to Drive...

God help us all!

Yesterday, Lefty took the driving portion of her driver's test. She passed. It was so hard watching her drive away without me in the car beside her. Just to clarify, she isn't licensed to drive alone...but with a licensed driver over the age of 21. Because she is just 14, it is considered a learner's permit. The permit is a restricted license; looks just like mine, except that it has a red stripe where mine has a yellow stripe. A hard plastic ID card...I told her she has to start watching her tracks now! Sigh. Where does the time go?

We also took her to have a practice session with her stylist, because last week we found out that she was chosen for Colors Day Court at her school. Essentially, it is the same thing as Homecoming. At the high school, there is Homecoming for football season and Colors Day for basketball season. She is in junior high, so they limit it to one event in between both seasons. Crowning will be on Tuesday as they are escorted by the boys selected for court at a pep rally (no one knows who is queen yet...there will be a dramatic reveal at the pep rally), and then the court will be escorted by their fathers to be recognized at the last football game of the season.

The team that Lefty cheers for (she is the captain of her cheer squad) won the 2011 Conference Championship last week. If they win on Tuesday night, they will be undefeated in conference play. They are the first team from our town to be conference champions three seasons in a row. Team spirit runs deep and wide for this group of boys, and morale is really high right now! I am thrilled that she gets to cheer for and support such a talented group of young men. High school football should be pretty exciting! The basketball team is just as gifted, so there will be more team spirit to come. If you couldn't tell, I am one pretty proud momma...not just of my girl, but of her amazing friends as well! They might as well all be my babies!

Lefty is the one with the red lipstick...go bold or go home, I suppose!