Days with the Dorans

Joe had his last choir concert of the year. I'm so glad he decided to take the class and step out of his comfort zone. Of course he didn't go for any solos because he's quiet like that (though we know he can sing from his musical stuff...). I hope he gets the opportunity to sing in high school too! I'm just so proud of him. You can hear the 8th grade numbers and one where they joined the other choirs  HERE . As we begin these "lasts" I'm reminded of how anxious I felt (the stress on the "I") about Joey starting middle school. I thought he'd be eaten up but I was wrong. He thrived and his talents uncovered~ from music, art, running and just being a cool kid! He came in as this little tiny 6th grader and he's leaving bigger than his mama (in height anyway...). Nana and Papa were able to make it and Al also was able to get there in time to hear the concert including one of her friends who did well with her solo (not all solos wer...

So I had been a nervous wreck leading up the race. I didn't sleep well. My dad said not to run those last couple days and I was carb loading (who thought that this girl would get sick of carbs, but she did). Still I was overwhelmed with the messages, texts, calls, cards and words of encouragement. Even my students knew how big this was! I was able to sneak out a little early from work on Friday and Jeff and I were on the road by four. He was able to get the Littles out of school so I could hug all my babies before I left. They wrote me some messages on my hat and I packed up a PB & J and we were on the road. Despite it being a holiday weekend, it only took us 20 extra minutes to get there (it was NOT a short drive). I was able to get my numbers and shirt. Kyle and Jodie got there late and we went to bed pretty soon after they arrived. I slept AWFUL and in the morning I threw up three times. I felt yucky but wondered if it was nerves. I didn't really have anythin...

The plan was for Papa to run with his best buddy for the Stride race again this year. Unfortunately Papa fell on a recent run. He was OK but a bit scraped up and asked if I could run with Z instead. So I became Bob and wore his shirt and Bib and laced up my shoes. Jeff drove us and it was so much fun running with the Goose. I didn't let him go too fast out of the gate mostly because I couldn't keep up with him. He had a friend who ran with us too. We were in the first wave which was nice. I couldn't believe how well he did! He walked a little at the second mile and I think he appreciated that I had a watch so could tell him exactly how much further there was to go. He started to get tired and wanted to walk again at 3 miles but I said, "No way! You have only a tenth to go! Dig deep!" and that's exactly what he did. Once he saw how close he was, he put it in gear and finished strong beating his old mama! He averaged 9:13 minute miles WITH walking! ...

 While Al and I were busy at her dance competition, the rest of the family was busy with other things. Z had a soccer game and then they were all off to see Joey in his play. Even though I wasn't there, I was very thankful that others were who could send me pictures. As I've mentioned (I think) in other posts, CHS double casts which is quite brilliant since you have a built in understudy should something happen. Joe and his buddy Garrett were both cast as the White Knight! They both were wonderful. I'm so proud of these two! I also loved that Ella and Joey were in the same cast! She was the White Knight's side-kick and did an outstanding job! These two have gone to school since elementary and Ella played soccer with Al for years too.  I can't wait to see what they do in high school! Ella's mom sent me these pictures. After their first show, Joe changed out of his costume so fast I didn't even get a picture with him so Ella's mom and I made...

It's hard to believe it was Al's last regional dance competition! They had a great season. I think that throughout the season all of her numbers got platinums and they had many overalls too. I'm excited to see them at Nationals.  I didn't take lots of pictures this season. I did snap a few of the awards today though. Al was chosen to pick up the awards for Queen of Swords which is her lyrical. The studio also got an award for being the highest scoring studio (or something like that). I got a video of it. One of her tap numbers also got a scholarship to NY or something (I left the awards a little early because it gets kind of loud and I thought they were pretty much over... whoops!).  It's been such fun watching her grow her dance and friendships over the years. So proud of her!

With a busy weekend coming up (which including a dance competition), Al and I were not going to be able to see Joey's performance with the rest of the family. We actually went both Thursday (when he was just in the cast) to see Al and Joe's other friends and then again on Joe's opening night which was Friday. On Thursday we got to meet Lily and her dad. Lily is a girl Joe's been talking to a lot and she's adorable. Her dad seemed super nice too. The fact that she brought her dad to meet Joe on a day he was not the star told me that it was serious. Her mom was going to come on the Saturday show (which of course I wasn't at). It continues to blow me away that Joe can pull things together when he needs to. He was still learning lines days before the play which was stressful to say the least but he looked calm and cool and was super funny in this comedy. I took video that you can see HERE of the whole show (well- Joey's parts). He also did some funny ...