Band camp for Madison!

High school band camp is much more tiring, being that they have to be at school from 6:30 am until 4:30 pm - half of that in the Texas heat!  Madison finished her first week and survived, although she's exhausted.  Plus she worked three nights, closing two of them!

Clarinet section!  Madison is on the bottom left...

She went to Strike and Reel for their band party today.  The photo booth's printer broke right after they took their pictures, so they weren't able to get them.

However, the highlight was getting these beautiful rings from the tickets they won.  Mr. Dixon wanted a selfie with them!

Madison survived this week, and is looking forward to a day off before it starts back up on Monday!  Band is tough, but it has provided some wonderful high school memories for her.  She has already talked about how much she will miss it...she's going to soak up every minute this year!

Main Event band party!

Nathan had band camp this week, and he really enjoyed it!  (Granted, it isn't near as gruesome as highschool band camp, and this is his last year before the crazy really starts).  His director told everyone that he was the best saxophone player in the band though, and that made him really happy.  Tonight, they had a celebration at Main Event and he had a good time with his friends, Matias and Thorne.  They bowled, played laser tag, pool, arcade games, VR, then ate pizza and just had fun!

Track!

Nathan completed his six-week track course and they did timed trials tonight.  He ran a 400m in 58 seconds!  The coach said he's the fastest he has had in a 400m.  Nathan was dying afterwards because it was really hot and he gave it his all...he said he's not sure he could do that again!  He has a two week break and then he starts up again after school starts.  He's really enjoyed it!

Chick-fil-A fun...

Madison ended up referring her friend, Rachael, to Chick-fil-A this summer.  She's heading to college, so tonight was her last night, but Madison really enjoyed working with her the past few months!

On a brighter note, Madison got big kudos tonight!  She was working headset all by herself during a big rush.  Which means she had to take drive-thru orders....getting the drinks/desserts first while memorizing their order and going back to the computer to input the order!  She said she was beyond stressed but wanted to prove she could do it herself.  The shift leader offered to open up lane 2 and getting her some help, but she pressed on by herself.  On the team chat later tonight, the shift leader wrote this note!

Each and every person tonight did an amazing job, but I gotta give a special shout out to Madison.  She DOMINATED headset tonight like no other.  When our 9pm rush came, like it usually does, she powered through like a rockstar and got our guests through our drive thru in an efficient manner!  It was quite amazing to watch!!  You're awesome Madison.  Love ya girl!

And then she sent this directly to Madison.

You deserve some praise tonight.  It was truly amazing!  I thought we were for sure gonna need to open a second lane, but you remained calm and got it done.  I was SUPER impressed.

Chick-fil-A has done SO MUCH for her.  She used to never hurry in any situation whatsoever, and now this!  She has also really come out of her shell and has learned great communication skills.  So proud of my girl!

Birthday sleepover...

Since everyone was busy on Nathan's birthday, we told him he could have a sleepover this weekend!  Matias came over last night for pizza and marble cookies from Dominos!  They played games, watched Space Jam, and just had fun together.

Today, we headed down to the pool a bit before lunch.

Turns out Nathan is fast at swimming too!  He kept giving Matias a huge head start, and won every time.  I wish he would think about being on a swim team, but he says he doesn't want to do that.  Track is it - that's the only sport he'll do!

We had lunch at Whataburger and then took Matias home.  It was a little non-birthdayish since we did everything last weekend, but he had a fun time!

Five Nights at Freddy's...

One of Madison's gifts to Nathan was a board game - Five Nights at Freddy's, Survive til 6am.  This doesn't happen often anymore with Madison's schedule, so I had to snap this picture quick!  They really enjoyed this game.  I love seeing them have fun together!

Escape an 80's dance party!

Today, we tried out another escape room (our last time was back in 2019)!  We had to escape an 80's dance party, and it was a lot of fun!  We escaped with 3 minutes left!

Nathan's day!

Madison had an all-day band leadership event that she couldn't get out of, so she had to miss Nathan's birthday!  Everyone was either busy or out of town, so it was just mom and dad today.  We started off the fun with doughnuts, kolaches, and balloons!

Then we headed to the pool.  I told Nathan to do something fun for the picture, and this is what I got.  He said, "Take it.  This is good enough."  Teenagers.

Then he agreed to jump in with dad!

Meal #2 choice....Subway.  He loves Subway and never gets tired of it!

Then we went to see Escape Room 2.  We loved it, but we were all pretty tense the entire time!

Next stop was Kung Fu tea....

After tea, we came home for a birthday present scavenger hunt.  Michael and I worked pretty hard on this, and it was NOT easy.  We didn't time him, but I'm pretty sure it took over an hour to figure out all the clues!

Meal #3...of course, Panda!

We came home and played Mario while we waited for Madison to get home.  He opened a couple more gifts and then we called it a day since it was after 10:00!  He told us that he wasn't thinking it would be that great of a day (because Madison wasn't here), but he said he had a really fun day.  He gets the better end of the deal having a summer birthday!  Happy 14th birthday, Nathan!

14 years...

I always say this, but how does time go by so fast once you have kids?  I can't believe Nathan used to be this little!

Now he's a young man, trying to be funny in a woman's hat and purse!  This picture doesn't show his sass or his silly voice, but he still makes me laugh at 14.  Nathan has always been the little jokester and loves to make people laugh!  He's entered the moody teenage years, and he's a bit more serious now, so he doesn't act quite as silly as he used to act.  But it's still in him, and I love when he lets the goofy come out!

He loves gaming (especially on his Oculus VR headset), staying up late, sleeping in, pizza, pretzel goldfish, Panda and anything sweet!  Lately, he's been doing online surveys for money and has made $120 in the past three weeks.  He can be a little obsessed with it, but loves cashing out with Amazon money!  Between surveys and mowing the yard, he is raking in the money this summer.  He loves watching Impractical Jokers, Jeopardy and Forensic Files.  He started attending a track club and goes once a week.  Nathan is a fast runner and really enjoys it!  He also spends a lot of his time solving escape room puzzles and loves Exit the Game (but only the easier levels with that game)!  He's still enjoying his saxophone, and has gotten very good at it!

Nathan still loves hanging out with family (I'm appreciating these days while they last).  He likes running around with Madison, when she has time, and also playing games and watching tv shows/movies with us.  His favorite thing in the world is Max though, and loves cuddling with him!

His faith is still very important to him.  Covid made things a little challenging, but he was really excited when we started going back to church and class.  He enjoys doing things with the youth group and loves learning new things.  He's even brought up baptism lately and is praying about that!  He is kind to others and is very caring when people are going through a hard time.  Nathan is always wanting to grow in his relationship with God and become a stronger Christian.

Nathan, you have grown up so much this past year, emotionally and physically!  No more little boy.  You are becoming such a wonderful young man and I love watching you grow.  You always make me smile and I love your personality.  You are a joy to be around and I'm proud of you.  I pray that you always keep God in your life and that you make Him a priority.  Keep laughing and find the joy in life.  I love you so much, buddy!  Happy 14th birthday!

Senior picture proofs....

 More tears....

The beginning of many tears...

Today Madison had her senior pictures (cap/gown and yearbook picture).  I can't even believe it, and I'm having a really hard time not getting teary-eyed every time I think about it!  They took her back for her cap and gown pictures, and I had to stay up front.  They called me back for a picture with her, and the second I saw her, I was fighting back major tears!  MY BABY is about to graduate.  I can't believe this is her last year in highschool - how did it get here so fast?

She and Ruthie had the same time slot for pictures.  So weird seeing these girls in caps and gowns!

From preschool graduate to "almost" highschool graduate....just like that.

Hopefully I can manage to get through this year without embarrassing her too much!  I have a feeling this is just the beginning of many tears to come in the next 10 months!

Cards with Max...

 Max likes to play Skip Bo!

But he gets tired of waiting around for his turn...

Horse...

We went to Mi Cocina tonight, and we were reminded of all the times the kids used to go off and explore the creek area while we waited on our meal.  Also, how many pictures we've taken on this horse!  I went back and searched for the pictures, but only found a few even though I know we have more.  They've both grown so much!