XC Banquet

Another awesome Cross Country season has come to an end.

In addition to another varsity letter (pin in lieu of), this year, Patrick was honored with "Most likely to be remembered" and "Best Farmer Tan" peer awards. He started unbuttoning his shirt on the way up, in an effort to protest the "farmer tan" title...also demonstrating why he's so memorable, I'm sure.

Here's some more pics with Patrick and his friends. Don't they look like a fun bunch?



















And we're the most fun of all, of course! (Doesn't Troy look like he's lots of fun?)

Congratulations, Patrick!

Steppin' Up and Getting Older...

So we had another first...the "Stepping Up" ceremony. Sort of an elementary school graduation. When Troy left 5th grade, there was no ceremony (it was a weird school anyway) and we home schooled after that (and having our own ceremony would have been weirder). To tell you the truth, I was still hung-over from all of Troy's graduation events...but we didn't want Jake to think we didn't love him...so we rallied.


These kids looked almost as polished as the high school graduates. They did a great job forming up, singing, etc.




Speaking of singing...they did 3 darling musical numbers. I'm only including this one, though (wouldn't want to send my laptop over the edge again). The others were "The World's Greatest" from the movie Ali, and "We are the World". This one is my favorite, though. It made me teary-eyed (but without incapacitating me like Troy's number).



They had a Marine Colonel as the guest speaker. I was totally impressed that he came out for this. Let's just say he's single and I know him from the O Club. I never thought of him as the "spend the day with a room full of 5th graders" type...but he did great. I guess you just never know!



This man is awesome! He has been so helpful in getting Jake placed in the perfect classroom. Very supportive and knowledgeable. We were able to achieve our goals with open communication, without the need of going back to an IEP...making Jake's year and a half at Killin ROCK!



And here's the teacher of the year! (In our hearts, anyway.) Mr. Johnson is one of those teachers every kid loves to have. I'm sure Jake will remember him forever. Full of stories and adventures, this man is.



And here's Jake with all of his peeps.



Is he smokin' hot or what?



This was a surprise...Jake was one of the students to receive the Presidential Outstanding Academic Excellence award. Jake is convinced this means the President has seen his name on a list of some sort. He has plenty of time to grow up and learn the cruel realities of impersonal rubber stamps...so I'm going to let him believe.

There was a big combined potluck afterward with all the 5th grade classes. I found out about it this morning...as Jake was headed for the bus...an hour before the ceremony, when he asked if I could make something really quick. Like brownies. Not wanting to show up empty handed, I flew into a frenzy, pulling out butter and sugar. Cliff came in the kitchen and asked what I was doing. When I informed him, he said, "We are NOT going to a potluck on my birthday...I told Jake we'd take him to lunch after." (Oh yeah...I forgot to mention...It's Cliff's birthday today.)



Sushi Go Round is SO way better than a 5th grade potluck. I don't care how good the brownies are. Or if the Filipinos brought Lumpia.



And if Daddy's happy...Mommy's happy!



They had such a gorgeous selection today. Better than usual, even.



Salmon and avocado, anyone?



How about some crab?



The parade of yumminess was almost too much. And we got a good seat, right by the beginning of the belt, so we pretty much had our pick of whatever we wanted.



And what birthday/stepping up lunch would be complete without cake?



Or Udon noodles?

That night, Cliff wanted to go to dinner and a movie with the family to celebrate. We started (in the pouring rain) at Climax cafe:















Mine looks kind of boring compared to everyone else's. It was good, though. But plain noodles and plain rice together was kind of odd.

And then went to see Shrek Forever After....which was pretty good.



Then threw some candles on top of the Stepping Up Potluck Birthday brownies.



How old is he, you ask? Count the candles. Everyone knows 4 + 4 = 44, right? (I can math with the best of 'em.)



May all your wishes come true, Sweetie.

Seminary Graduation

One final event till the graduation marathon is complete and we can all go to bed. Troy managed to get about 30 minutes of sleep in between church and the ceremony (still in his suit, lying on the couch).

I woke up about noon and had to start baking cookies. (Funny how I thought I was going to decorate for the party yesterday morning, then shop for Troy's present, they go to graduation, then the farewell roast, then stay up all night for the grad party...then go to church AND come home, bake cookies, go to Seminary graduation and then, finally...after being awake an on the run for 36 hours, finally get some sleep. Talk about grandiose notions.)

Troy forgot to mention he was speaking at the graduation. I don't know whether he forgot, or just kept it to himself...but he got up there and spoke off-the-cuff in a very touching and humorous way...until he stepped away from the pulpit without closing, said, "Oh Crap" and then closed "Humbly"...in the name of Jesus Christ. (Good save!)

At least it was memorable.

(Mental note: Suggest we not plan Seminary graduation for the day after the all-night grad party.)


Here he is with the goods.



Congratulations, Troy! Way to be dedicated to your faith. Thanks for always getting up willingly (and dragging your brother along, too...what will I do next year without your influence?). What this means for me? It means 4 years of early morning carpool down, 6 more to go!

Last time I listen to HIM!

So, I am sure you are getting the point that we have been extremely busy lately, right? Just by the sheer volume of posting happening on Imperialstuarts? And I don't even blog about everything we attend or that happens here...only the stuff that I want to save for posterity and/or think might be interesting to the folks back home and/or is decent to photograph (some of those military functions...not so much. I'm just sayin'...hehe.)

Last Saturday, we had four different events to attend. One of them was Patrick's JROTC awards dinner, which we attended last year. For whatever reason, this year's seemed to be less organized. I don't know if I just got that impression because Patrick didn't give me timely information, or if that was a fact. At any rate, we found out about it after the RSVP deadline, sent an email to find out if it was really too late, didn't get a response, debated just showing up for the awards portion...but Patrick assured us, "It's not a big deal...I'm not even getting anything this year."

Under the circumstances, we decided we could cross this off the list. I mean, this would mean one less thing to pile onto the day's demands...and if it wasn't really about Patrick...then what would it matter?

Well...Patrick arrived home from school yesterday, and I asked him if there were any repercussions for his absence on Saturday. He said there were not, that since it was a paid event, they really can't make attendance compulsory. Then I asked him if he got any awards (just to make sure) and over his shoulder, he placidly replied, "Oh yeah, a whole boatload." Immediately, my mom guilt went off the charts. I think I started sweating, I was so instantly remorseful. And I started whining, too.

Me: "Patrick! I thought you said you weren't getting a thing?!"

P: "I know...but I had no idea."

Me: "But by the way you said it, it sounded like you were sure...why did you not tell me you didn't know for sure?!"

P: "I really didn't know."

Anyway, you get the idea. I was sick at the thought of missing an opportunity to bask in the glow of my child's accomplishments. And what must his instructors think of our no-show? Would they demote him just to get even with us? Remember our status as shirkers when it came to deciding next year's awards? I don't think I could handle the shame.

As punishment, I bought Patrick a bigger ribbon-rack to hold his THREE new ribbons (2nd athletic participation, longevity and fidelity, distinguished conduct) AND made him get into his Charlie uniform (when he had NO inspection or event at hand) so I could photograph him with his THREE certificates he was awarded...two leadership certificates AND the award for "BEST SQUAD LEADER". He was none too happy and said it was wrong to be "showboating" and disrespectful to the uniform. (Whatever! To which I replied that it was not showboating if it was for his mother.) He conceded that at least we were "even" now.

Then, I had to email the instructors to apologize for what probably appeared to them as not making their program a priority. (Well, I guess that's really what it was, huh?) At any rate, I humbly apologized, told them our son lied was misinformed and the only reason we did not attend was that we had so many events on our schedule that day...but in hindsight, we should have divided-and-conquered, since ROTC is so important to Patrick.

Hopefully they believed me and won't write him off come next year's banquet...because you better believe, I'll be looking for another opportunity to showboat there with bells on!

The Awesomeness of Troy

Today was Troy's Senior Awards Ceremony at school. We were told he was receiving an award, but didn't know what it would be (just like last year), but we did know he'd be receiving his commissary and NOSCO scholarship certificates today.



Loving this color guard. I love that not only is the Pledge of Allegiance not controversial in the schools here, there is most always a color guard to lead it at events like this.



Of course I had to find Troy among his classmates and embarrass him with the photo op. (You're welcome, Troy.)



And this is Troy receiving his Presidential Excellence in Education Award. Along with the presidential seal, it came with a genuine, computer-stamped signature of President Obama. Oh...and it had someone else's name on it. Where Troy's should have been. A kid who already moved. Seems that lots of kids got someone else's certificates in their envelopes. I wonder if someone just made a mistake or if there was tomfoolery at play? I'm hoping for tomfoolery...makes a WAY better story than someone just losing their place in the count.



And this is the guy from the Foster Commissary presenting Troy with his certificate and some lapel pins. Enough for the whole family. Sweet.



The check will be mailed to the school of his choice mid-July.



This is where they had all the kids who had been awarded scholarships come up on stage while they announced the amount. See the tall guy on the far left? $194,000 scholarship! That is one expensive school!



Had to include this one. No, Troy was not selling advertising space on his suit (although in hindsight, that wouldn't have been a bad idea), it's the PowerPoint on screen-save.



I love these people. These boys are awesome...and their moms are awesomer (yes, I just made that word up). Seriously, though...we have all been blessed with great friends here.



I had to get this picture in here, just as proof that Cliff was actually here. (It's been fun to do all these end of the year events with him this year since last year he missed them all.) Patrick and Jake were still in class.



By this time we were starving. We stopped by Gen for a late lunch, where Troy had the nerve to order this dish which I had not. It looked even better in person than on the menu.

Oh, did I mention the commissary scholarship also came with a free cake? Pretty sweet deal, huh? We stopped by to pick up the cake, which was scheduled to be waiting for us. The plan was to bring it to the church pool party tonight to share with friends, since we won't be having an individual graduation party for Troy.

The lady in the bakery seemed confused. Guess the manager failed to give her the memo. I assured her he promised it would be waiting in the back. Reluctantly, she went back and checked and brought out this beauty:




*Facepalm*

At least it was free. I guess all that matters is that they spell it right on the check.

Dragon Choir

This week has been non-stop, with no end in sight until after graduation. Most of it good stuff, mind you...like tonight's choir performance....Troy's last one of his high school career.
(*sniff, sniff*)


The show choir band warmed things up...and they were incredible! I would not be surprised if we are saying we knew these guys "when".

Then, the different choirs (beginning and advanced, show choir, Dragon choir) performed several numbers, including:



Moonglow



And Flashdance.

Interspersed with awards and other musical numbers.



What a handsome young man!



Troy received a couple of awards for being so awesome. (I'd tell you what they were, but I have to admit I can't find them right now. You'll just have to enlarge the next photo and try to read them.)



And here is Troy with his choir director/football coach (Coach Geist) on the left, and his head football coach (Coach Bales) on the right. These guys have helped Troy to have a fabulous high school experience, and we will be forever grateful to them.

Next stop on the Senior Express...Senior Award Ceremony. Followed by, Baccalaureate. (All aboard...Woo-woo!)

Free Money ROCKS!

Congratulations, Troy, on another scholarship win! $1000 from these peeps here:


Many thanks to NOSCO!

And thanks to all of you who (like me) like to shop here:


That's right...it's all for scholarships and charity, ladies! Shop on...shop on!

Congrats Troy! (or...We LOVE the Commissary!)

When we were going through the process of helping Troy obtain transcripts, fill out applications, gather letters of reference and come up with essay ideas...I was thinking I understand why so many scholarships go unclaimed. It's not that so few people fit whatever the scholarship requirements are...it's that it's a pain.in.the.behind.

Well, all the hard work paid off in this case. Troy was selected as the winner of the $1500 scholarship for our commissary on Camp Foster. This is a tougher one to get, because each commissary usually only awards one (unless they have a large number of applicants).

Way to go, Troy! And we'll make sure to keep supporting our local commissary. (Like we wouldn't, anyway!)