Live version Open Pom

 I love this version of the video because you can hear the crowd...

Open Jazz from Regionals 2022

Open Pom from Regionals 2022

 

ECDT UDA New England Regionals Dance Challenge 2022

This was the 11th consecutive New England regional championship title for ECDT!! They won 1st place in both Pom and Jazz...and won the best choreography award for Jazz!  Fantastic way to end their season! 

There are actually 14 members of the team but only 10 danced.  One senior graduated (she's in the pic below as she was there as an alternate just in case), one is studying abroad this semester, one is injured and another had Covid.  But they pulled through and still won! Yay!!

What a freshman year these girls had (minus one who was sick)...

College tour #1

Today was Gianna's first official college tour.  We went to look at Sacred Heart University.  She liked it!  She saw UNH when Julia toured there but didn't like it very much.  And of course she's seen Endicott which she thinks might be a bit too small for her.  

I was asked not to post pictures of her so this will have to do...

Next up URI! 

Two years and a day

That's how long it has been since I've seen my Mama. The pain is still so raw.

Endicott College

Excellent School of Nursing...fantastic internship opportunities...gorgeous seaside campus...national winning dance team...what more could you ask for?  One of the best decisions Julia has ever made...

The Sickies

Julia is home recovering from the sickies and Mr. Moo couldn't be happier...

Brothers

A new day

Happy Valentine's Day

Acceptance #2

Nicholas received his second college acceptance letter! This time from Westfield State College!  Nice work Nicholas!  I honestly don't even know if attending a 4-year college is the right path for him but I'm just glad he's thinking about it. The future is wide open for The Boy : ) 

Epiphany

I love these definitions of an Epiphany:

1. A moment of sudden revelation or insight

2. An intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking 

3. A moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way

I had an Epiphany yesterday.  I don't want to go in detail about it here because it is personal but something became very clear to me.  

Then my sweet Julia facetimed me while she was here at her beach collecting sea glass with her friends.  I love how she wants to share those moments with me.  I love her so much...

Miracle

My brother was taken off the ventilator on February 1st and left the ICU on February 3rd.  He's now in a regular hospital room.  He's making slow and steady improvement.  Truly a miracle. 

I've been praying like crazy and asked Sandy for her help too.  Because of her love for me and Rick, if it's at all possible then I know she also played a big role in his recovery...

College times three

Julia made the Dean's List for her very first semester of college! 

Nicholas has been doing some on-line college classes at our local community college while he's playing junior hockey.  But now that he's aging out of junior hockey, he's applying to four year colleges for the fall semester.  He just received his first acceptance letter! Hopefully more will be on the way so he'll have a nice selection to choose from...

And last but not least, Gianna just received her very first college brochure in the mail.  I'm very excited to start the college visits with her now.  First up will be my personal favorite (and hopefully hers too) Sacred Heart University...

Such an exciting time for the kids!!  And such an expensive time for Mom and Dad : /

Teenager Truth

You can feel like you are losing them during the teenage years, even though they're right there in front of you.

One day, you are laughing and getting along, the next you feel like you are sitting with a stranger you don't know in the least.

They might be unrecognizable, growing six inches in a span of six months.

They might have changed personalities, from sweet and loving to salty and stoic.

They might have changed their interests, their focus, their dreams.

You lose them to their phones. You lose them to their rooms. You lose them to their friends, their activities, their jobs.

You may feel desperate to cling to the child you once knew, the one who adored you, the one you got along with, the one whose hand you thought you'd hold forever.

You may feel like crying from their constant rejection. You may feel lost when you can't get them back on track. You may feel insignificant when they ignore you or lash out.

You will grow impatient with the status of your relationship. You will feel frustrated with the push and pull. You will grieve what is no longer there.

You will pull back. You will say less. You will watch from afar.

You will take whatever interaction you can get even if it is always on their terms.

You will pick and choose your battles because you are tired of so many battles.

You will try to stay available even though they are mostly unavailable.

And then one day when you least expect it, you will feel something shift.

You’ll see glimpses of the person they are becoming, and you begin to look forward to seeing what they will do with their life.

You start to learn about their new interests, their new passions, their new sense of self.

You will begin building a new relationship, one where you are no longer their sun. Your job is to be their moon, connected by a force so strong that it will never break. You will follow them along, providing light in their darkest moments, direction when needed. Sometimes your presence is large and looming, and sometimes it is small, barely seen by the naked eye. But you will always be there.

It won't be perfect. It won't be what it was.

But if you can survive losing your teen for a little bit, what happens when they come back to you can be even more beautiful.

Written by Whitney Fleming Writes

Dessert

Dessert at CeCe's is always so good! 

Encouragement