This past week was
Homecoming at my alma mater and the kids’ current school. They had themed days each day at school (you
can see the recap here) as well as a gala, the alumni social, and the football
game Friday night.
The gala was to honor the
sixtieth anniversary and diamond jubilee of the school (yes, it was “born” the
same year as my Momma!) and everyone was encouraged to wear red because it is
the school’s primary color. I just so
happened to have a dress in my closet that I had purchased two or three years
ago for another ball, but I never ended up wearing it because it arrived too
late. Y’all, this dress might be one of
my favorites that I’ve ever worn – it fits like it was made for me – and I’m
going to let y’all in on a little secret… it was only $12-ish from
Shein.com. Not even kidding. The sleeves are AH-MAZE!!!!
My mother-in-law came over
to our house to watch the kids since it was on a Thursday night and they needed
to be put to bed at their usual time since it was a school night. Before we left, she was kind enough to snap a
few pictures of me and my handsome date.
We sure do clean up nice!
We arrived at 6:30 and
headed straight to cocktail hour in the hallways of the high school. B and I grabbed a beer and a glass of cabernet
respectively and then we roamed the halls and chatted with old friends before
the main event. I’ve been walking those
halls since 1992, books in hand, and I’m still walking them today in 2018… wine
in hand. Lol.
The gala was held in the
high school gym, and the steering committee made the most incredible
transformation I had ever seen using plush black velvet curtains and string
lights galore. You would have never even
known that we were in a gym! One of the
best chefs in our city catered and we sat down to a dinner of Caesar salad, chicken,
rice, a zucchini and squash combo, and red velvet cake for dessert. That fancy thing on top of the salad tasted
like a homemade Cheez-It, but better. It
was soooo yummy!
After dinner the president
and high school principal spoke for a bit and then introduced the guest speaker
for the evening, who was the old bishop from our diocese. He also happened to be the pastor at our church
(and my mom’s old boss since she works in our church office) so he was also the
priest who baptized me. I don’t get to
see him too often anymore so it’s always nice to get to spend some time with
him when he’s in town.
After he finished speaking,
one of the current teachers at the school (who also graduated from there just
ahead of me) spoke as well and she brought up so many sweet memories of
teachers past. Her speech was so
heartfelt and it made me that much more proud to be a graduate and to have our
babies there, too. Once the speeches
concluded we hung around a bit longer to chat with the other guests and then it
was time to head home since we had to be up early to get the kids to school the
next morning.
Friday evening was the
alumni social and the homecoming game, so we headed back to the school at
6. Olivia was going to make her little
cheerleaders debut that evening so I let her wear a touch of lipstick because, “Mommy,
cheerleaders always wear lipstick.” She
was pretty much thrilled so I had to capture her happiness on the drive there. And on the way, we jammed out to one of our
favorites because – it just so happened to be the twenty-first night of
Septembah. ;o)
The alumni social was
Mexican themed so there was a spread of quesadillas, chips, and salsa as well
as lots of other treats. B and I grabbed
a couple of beers and tried to make the kids eat something with little
success. Their friends were running
around everywhere so we just caved and let them run around, too, while we
visited with my family and some old friends.
Since Olivia is a little
cheerleader this year that means that she gets to go practice the cheers with
the big cheerleaders and then do three cheers on the football field before the
games. Unfortunately on the way down to
the field she was trying to keep up with Jacob and one of his friends and she
skinned both knees and her little wrist, which pretty much killed her
spirit. One of my friends had Band-aids
on hand, but she still looked so sad when she was practicing and she wouldn’t
really get into it. Fortunately once
they got out to the field her little smile returned and she started having fun
again.
After she was done cheering,
the game started and both kids took off to run around with their friends while we
watched the game. My Mom, Dad, both
brothers, sister-in-law, and nephew had all come as well, so they sat with
us. I was able to chat with several of
my friends whose kids also go to the school (one of whom is Jacob’s current
teacher) and I also got to chat with a couple of old classmates who I rarely
get to see these days. It was such a fun
evening, but we cut it short a little after nine because we had an early
morning ahead on Saturday.
We were up bright and early Saturday
morning because Jacob had a 9 AM soccer game, but he was also scheduled for
team pictures at 8:15 AM so we had to be there reeeeally early. His game followed just after and they ended
up losing 8-3 which was a bummer because we played so well for the first 45
minutes of the game. It was close until
those last 15 minutes when the other team completely started running over
us. Jacob played defense again and I was
so proud of him because he had so many good saves. I think this was the most aggressive he’s
been in a game so far and also probably the longest he’s stayed in. At this age they have to rotate in and out
frequently but he probably stayed in for 80% of the game.
We headed straight home
after soccer and spent the afternoon watching the Georgia
After church we went to
Longhorn with my whole family and then we made a stop by DQ to get some
Blizzards to go. The kids were both so
exhausted that Olivia couldn’t even stay awake on the ten-minute drive
home. She was out cold by the time we
pulled in the garage but that didn’t stop her from eating that Blizzard. Haha. After
the kids went to bed B and I enjoyed our Blizzards on the couch and watched
football and then it was time to call it a night!
Sunday morning was for
homemade waffles with orange and black sprinkles, and later, we headed out to
have lunch and run some errands. Olivia has been begging to wear some of her new fall clothes and even though it was still blazing outside I finally obliged because you know what? I'm ready to wear mine, too. So we both did. And we brought the garage pictures back to document the moment! :o) My MIL
didn’t cook so we had lunch at Chipotle and then we grabbed some new cleats for
Jacob before heading to the Halloween Store to peruse costumes. Olivia found what she wants to be so we went
ahead and bought it, and Jacob has decided what he wants to be as well, but we
have to see if we can find the costume elsewhere as they didn’t have his size.
When we got back home the
kids helped me bake a birthday chocolate cake with chocolate chips and
chocolate frosting with Oreos on top for my Momma (can you tell she really
loves chocolate?) and then we spent the afternoon getting ready for
company.
I made vodka sausage pasta,
steamed green beans, and garlic breadsticks for dinner and then we finished the
evening with the cake. My Momma opened
her gifts and we had the best evening celebrating her!!
Another wonderful weekend in
the books and we get to do it all over again in just a few days! Have a great day, y’all!
Don't forget to link up with Heather, Johannah, and myself... just grab our new fall graphic (seriously how cute is it?!) and link up below!
Don't forget to link up with Heather, Johannah, and myself... just grab our new fall graphic (seriously how cute is it?!) and link up below!
