A Sweet Gift for a Partner (or Anyone, Really)
9 hours ago
Thursday, June 18, 2009
May 29th was a busy day at our house! First we started with Brandt's 5th grade Graduation. Only James and I attended because Emma and Chelsea both had their graduation practice that morning. (Jordan decided that since it was his first day to sleep in he was NOT going to get up at 8 am.) It was all going well until they started showing the video of the 5th graders over all their school years. Brandt looked so little in all the pictures! He has been attending Cedar Creek since 1st grade and it was very touching to see him with all his buddies growing up together. Suddenly he was looking way to grown up for his mom who ended up having to leave the ceremony so as not to embarrass her son with her crying!
Brandt receiving his diploma.
Brandt using his diploma as a gun to shoot his dad.
Brandt and Mrs. Browning (his 4th and 5th grade teacher) ~ she is truly the perfect teacher for Brandt. We will miss her!!
Brandt enjoying his favorite part of the whole ceremony ~ Chocolate Cake!!
Next was Emma's 8th Grade Graduation. Hers started after lunch so everyone was forced to attend. Being 13 we got one picture chance! (good job James for capturing this). They had speakers, performers, awards, diplomas and even Dr. Wellman (the principle from WHS) came to welcome them into high school. Where have all my babies gone??
Emma walking in blissfully unaware of the camera.
And then it was on to dinner and Chelsea's graduation. First we went to her favorite restaurant The Melting Pot. Unfortunately she was so nervous that she hardly ate and really seemed stressed. Finally James left dinner early to just go ahead and take her to the Austin Convention Center where graduation was going to be held. Can you spot the 13 year old in this picture??!!
(that is steam obscuring James and I ~ we look a little magical!)
Chelsea getting a hug from Al Bennett the girls athletic director.
He genuinely seemed to appreciate Chelsea despite the fact that he could not convince her to tryout for volleyball!
Finally all her hard work paid off and she has that diploma in her hand!
We are so proud of her.
Brandt's opinion on the length of the ceremony.
There was over 500 kids graduating, several speakers from the school board and the high school, the usual valedictorian and salutatorian, plus the class president and the school president and then a few kid favorites. They would break up the actual walks across the stage ~ do a hundred then have a speaker.
The end. (yes mom is crying again by this time!)
And then they loaded into buses (we weren't even allowed to approach them. They had them cordoned off with ropes and guards; we could just cheer from afar. One boy tried to run over and hug his mom and was almost thrown to the ground!). They were taken back to the high school for Project Graduation. They had to drop all their things off before graduation to be searched and then when they returned they were once again walked straight into the school, through ropes, and sent straight into the locker rooms to change. Chelsea forgot extra shoes and had to go barefoot all night as they were not allowed to go to their cars or receive anything from us! But it is really a great time that they look forward to all year. They are gambling tables set up and they are all given chips that they play with and can win money. There is also a money machine ~ it is a booth that blows money into the air and you try and grab all that you can in a 60 second time period. There was at least a 45 minute wait! There were also carnival games set up outside, a basketball game going on in the gym, lots of dancing, food, rock climbing, bungee jumping, and raffles all night (they gave you 5 tickets at the door to do with what you will). To claim your winnings you had to stay all night and if anyone left early they called your parents and told them you were on your way home. It ended at 5:30 am. Chelsea was exhausted and slept until 3 in the afternoon but came home with winnings! She got $60 for staying all night, won a gift card at the blackjack table and $500 in a raffle. Some kids won cameras, jewelry, purses, bikes and diamond earrings. She was pretty excited with her winnings since she only put 3 of her tickets in. Needless to say if we ever start playing the lottery she is buying all our tickets!!We are so proud of each of our graduates ~
1 Comment:
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June 18, 2009 at 12:30 PM
wow! how awesome you had two kids graduate....how are you doing...by the way its me Danielle!
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