Jack Turns 13!!!

 Another teenager in the house!!  I mean, it seems like he's already mastered being a teenager....voice changing, hairy legs, face full of pimples, starting to develop the attitude (a little bit), stays up late, would sleep until noon every day if we'd let him.  You get it....but even so, he's still as sweet as they come and plenty of "little boy" in him still.  For his birthday, he got new video games, clothes, shoes, a Naturals tournament victory, a dinger in the semis, and a DQ ice cream cake for dessert.  Everything he'd ever want!!!

Cotillion

 Cotillion???  What the heck is that??  Definitely not something that was offered in Warrenton.  HA!  They teach the kids to dance, dress up (how to tie a tie, etc), and traditionally they teach table etiquette.  But, once again, due to COVID, they had to skip the dinner/table etiquette stuff.  AND.....they had to learn to dance.....6 feet apart.  HA!!  The Waltz, six feet apart looks pretty hilarious.  But for the awkward middle school aged children, it was probably great!  

The also had fun with dances like, Cotton Eyed Joe, the Wobble, YMCA, etc.....

The kids had a blast and were a sweaty mess after......they looked like they had just came from a good wedding reception!!!  

Mike and Jack were playing baseball, so Peyton had me as a dance partner....I wasn't the best, but she didn't mind!!

One Last STP class of 2021 Mom Event

 One last time for all the moms to gather before they are out of STP for good.  It was a fun afternoon, filled with good food, company and drinks.....until it was time to go pick all the kids up from school.....

Peyton's Confirmation

 Peyton chose Leigh-Anne to be her sponsor.  They managed to get through the list of things to do, and the night of confirmation came.  They asked Jack to serve the Mass, he obliged, even missing a baseball game. 

We had assigned seating in the church, because of COVID, and only the parents could go to mass.  When we got to church, our assigned seat was the very back, right corner.  We asked Peyton what in the world she did to get us the back corner seat of the packed church.  Because of our seats, we never saw Jack on the alter at all.  After the mass we told Jack, we never saw you up there.  He said, "it's because I had the best job.  All I had to do was sit in a chair and hold the Arch Bishops hat."  HA!  He wasn't sad about it.  

Peyton's name (saint) she chose was Saint Angela Merici.  

Big Kids and BWW

 The big kids have really gotten in to hot wings lately.....Maddie, not so much.  So we started going to BWW weekly, during one of Maddie's gymnastics night.  Date night with the big kids, and Maddie doesn't have to suffer through hot wings.  Everyone is happy!  

I'll let you decide what is happening in the pictures below.....

The Nats Go To Lenz

Tic-Tac-Toe.....three in a row.  Back, to back, to back championships for the Naturals.  

They had a great weekend at Lenz.  Fun was had by all, on and off the field.  The championship game was the most exciting.  They overcame a 7-1 deficit to win 11-8!!  

The dogs saw us packing up the car and the wanted to make sure they weren't left behind.....poor dogs!

Peyton's Ribbon Mass

 Father Jack does THE BEST Ribbon Mass for the 8th graders.  He presents them all with a set of ribbons that they pin to their uniforms for the remaining days of the school year.  He talks to them about all the memories that are held inside the ribbons.  From all their teachers, to all the sports games, St. Patricks day parades, field days, etc.  He also brings out his ribbons from when he was in grade school and talks about many of his grade school memories.  It's a really cool mass that all the kids love.....and I'm sure her ribbons will be one of the things she will hang on to as well.  

Jack's First High School Visit

 Good grief.....time flies!!!!  We just got through this process with Peyton, and now it's Jack's turn.  Up to this point, Jack has ALWAYS said he wants to go to SLUH for high school.  They are not doing true shadow days at this time, due to COVID (everything is "due to COVID")......but they are doing morning tours.  SOOOO......Jack and I signed up for one of the morning tours.  

We get there at 8:15, so when all of the current high schoolers are rolling in.  The first things Jack says as we get out of the car and walk towards the school:

"This place is BIG".......and "I feel small."

HA!!!  I said, "Of course you feel small.  You are in seventh grade and some of these boys we are walking in with are SENIORS!"  I think he felt overwhelmed for a split second.  Once we got on our tour, with another 7th grade from St. Gerard, and toured some of the freshman classes, he started feeling not quite as small anymore.  We were able to see the entire campus and visit many classrooms......

We got in the car and got halfway down Kingshighway, and Jack says, "shoot!  I didn't get to see the baseball field."  So back we went, and it was locked, so we really couldn't even get a good view......but we tried!  The thing we liked the most about SLUH, "I love that they can get food all day long."......oh boy!!!!  Hopefully he liked the academics too.  I feel like Peyton said something very similar on her first high school tour as wel.....HA!  

We naturally went and had lunch, and then went back to school for the rest of the day.....