HOCO Happenings

The football team was ahead by a goal at halftime and after I left, they eventually won!

It's always a good Homecoming dance if the team wins...

Then my house filled up with these kids.

The bathroom was cluttered with six different make up bags, various articles of clothing and a few pairs of heels that a young girl had been indecisive about.

The boys were all in Meri's room chowing down on pizza and waiting for the girls to get prettied up. 

After the obligatory photos were taken, all by me (no other parents showed!), the kids all cleared out and headed for the dance.  They went to Perkin's afterwards for the late night, half price appetizers, then finally home at "would be" 2:30. 

As usual, there were complications.  Meri didn't sleep all night and Robb and I were up by 4.  Robb because that's what he does and me because I really shouldn't have had that Diet Coke at the football game the night before.  

Meri came into our room at 5am and needed our help.  I wish she'd come in earlier, but when a kid is as independent as she is, she thinks she needs to handle grown up stuff all on her own.

sigh...  So there was drama early in the day.

You don't need to know what it is.  sorry.  But I'm proud of my girl.  

Her heart is bigger than the moon.

Another Homecoming to remember!  Not that we could forget if we wanted to...

Eminent Postponement

Meri came home from school yesterday and I overheard her on the phone talking with a friend.

"Yeah, you guys come to my house at half time and the guys can come here too to get ready when the game gets over. "

...

Excuse me?  What is being planned here?

So there are five girls coming by tonight to get prettied up for the homecoming dance and some guys will be here too for pictures.  Potentially their parents too.

...

I'm not a slob.  I'm just putting that out there right now.  But I personally, closely, know some people who are.  The house is usually ready for one or two understanding friends.  But ten kids in all their finery AND their parents??

Homecoming from 2010 with Maddy.

Dress designed by one of her friends and I made it.

and yes, Sluggy.  I still have that dress stored in my home...

not the garage.

Meri purchased a dress for tonight.

Not that she had to...

But she wants to save me for THE prom dress.

I think.

Well, a few doors will be shut and I need to dust.  and pick up toys.  and get the dogs into the garage.  and look around the house with a critical eye.

Yeah... 

Sorry kids...

Homecoming will need to be postponed.

HOCO 2016

Our team won their homecoming football game!! YAY!!!  

Not that I even followed the game much.  Robb and I arrived on time to see the game and then realized that they started at least a half hour earlier than usual so the kids can get all prettied up for the dance afterwards.  Who knew??  Well a lot of people...  

The bleachers were COMPLETELY jam packed and there was only standing room only against a back fence.  Not even one that faced the field.  So fun times over here!!

But it all worked out.  The second quarter was almost done when we arrived, so just enough time to each a bag of popcorn before pulling out the camera to capture the homecoming queen and candidates walk and then the band at half time.

An old neighbor's daughter was the queen.  COOL!

 

Meri and some friends got dolled up at one of their houses and I was lucky enough to get invited to take pics along with a few other parents!

Crazy kids...

They had a great time at the dance too.

And Meri's hair is just too fab...

Being Brave

This was a false sign of hope for the weather last Friday night.  It greeted Robb and I as we walked down the steps to get to the bleachers...  Leon would have come along, but it's just as well that he was just getting over a doozy of a cold.  We left him at home with his hacking father and braved the cool fall-ish night.

(To those computer nerds out there, hacking means coughing too)

Because there was a soft rain that fell off and on throughout the 1st half of the football game.

Poor Robb.  He had neither a jacket with a hood on NOR a bleacher seat to keep his butt dry.   

I had both, so I was good.

But we were there for the band!  They played just before the game and then did a longer performance at half time.  Then we were OUTTA there!!  Our team was winning so we felt confident they'd win in the end and they did.

Meri thinks they did terrible, but they really didn't!  I recorded every one of them. She can judge for herself later, when she's more calm about it.

On Monday night, Meri and I attended the homecoming skits and coronation.  After 1.5 hours of skits, *yikes*, Meri mentioned she had a bunch of homework still to do for the next day, so we skedaddled.  The king and queen were announced within ten minutes of our leaving.  Figures...

Meri was in one of the skits to advertise the fall play.  FUN!  

But I only videotaped it and didn't take pictures. Darn.

They had Shaving cream twister.

It got a bit messy...

I noticed that Meri didn't volunteer for this!

And some dancing towards the end that involved all students...

Except Meri and her friend...  

This is some of the more brave student body...

and this is the lesser brave...

I'm just being brave that I got out of bed this morning.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Weekly Wrapup

What have I NOT told you about this week...  Let's see...  Ok.

My internet is FINALLY acting decent again.  At least for the moment...  Here is Meri on Clash Clutter day!

She did NOT bring the dog, but that would have been interesting...

She had more jewelry on than Mr. T.

She wiped out on her moped yesterday...  Poor kid.  She was only meeting me out at my besties and as SOON as she turned off the blacktop onto the gravel road, she took a tumble.  So it wasn't fast, but she was proud to show everyone her road rash.  JUST in time for Homecoming tonight!   

When I had MY moped, I wiped out on my neighbor's gravel driveway when their big German Shepherd dog charged me.  I had a huge sore on my hand from landing on it.  My mom poured some Hydrogen Peroxide on it and it bubbled up like crazy.  And another time I wiped out on a gravel road further up by the park.   I talked about that one here.

If you got a postcard in the mail with THIS on it, would you be offended or creeped out a little?  I mean, if a girl on there was you?

At least I think that's the one I sent Maddy's roommate this week...  If it was the other one, I'd totally understand where they were coming from with those comments.

Leon and I moved his road rug into his bedroom last night and he tried to drive a huge Transformer big rig on it.  He's happy...  And the living room carpet looks cleaner where the rug was...  We've got a nice clean rectangle in there now...  I guess I need to rent a steam cleaner sometime.

Looking forward to the Homecoming football game and band performance tonight!  I hope the rain clears off before then.

Have an awesome weekend!  Make some memories!!

Who you gonna call?

He's going to call me!

 

Wow.  It took 2 hours before I could get online to even post this...  My internet is still acting wonky and I can't check my email because it times out before it gets to the messages...  ugghhhh....  Just got a call from my internet tech guy and got the story.  It's not a good one.  So anyway...  How's your internet service??

BACK TO SPIRIT WEEK!  In bringing our spirits up, I'm here to show you Meri's "ER" day of Homecoming week!  Today everyone has to dress up in something that ends with -er.  She's a Ghostbuster!  Cute huh?  And just an fyi, we'll never use that vacuum hose/wet vac again...  

Meri and I made the t-shirt last night.  I used to LIKE that t-shirt as I wore it often.  Oh well.  As soon as we started drawing the ghost, I knew that was it.  Meri colored it all in and wrote it up.  

Looking forward to the homecoming game tomorrow night and dance!  I won't be a chaperone but that would be so much fun if I could...

Maddy's car has been fixed!!!  WOOHOO!  It was only a belt issue and not the alternator at all.  Whew!  Dodged the bullet on THAT one!

Come HOME already!!!

On Friday afternoon, Maddy's Senior girls competed against each other in the Powder Puff football game.  Robb attended that

 and I did the parade.  

 LOVE her expression in each of these!  Not sure if she was yelling during the performance or what here...

 Oh.  The green team won the Powder Puff game!  Woohoo!

 

Then onto the actual Homegaming game that night.  During half time, each of the girls of the court were driven out in golf carts by their fathers to the other side of the field.  Then being serenaded by the band, each were introduced. 

 The lists of things these girls are in in high school is astounding.  I mean... How do you find TIME for all those activities!?  Oh yeah... their families never see them...  I have one like that too.   It was interesting to hear what they all had planned for next year too.

 Maddy is the big plume on the left.

 Leon just enjoyed the game because he got mobbed by all of Meri's friends. 

 

The attention to him is never lacking at these sorts of things.  It's an added bonus that he's such a doll!

 

That afternoon I received a package in the mail from Singapore or Hong Kong... It was the homecoming dress that Maddy had had me order about 2 months ago...  When we realized where it was being shipped from and there was only 2 weeks to homecoming, she gave up on it and bought a different dress.  But Friday afternoon when it came, I texted her that it had finally arrived.  

 My text to Maddy: "Your dress came"

Return text from Mads: "Ha!  Wanna drop it off at K's and I'll try it on?  I have my other one with me too just in case!"

My text: "It is very see through."

Mads: "Just bring it please.... K has spandex I can borrow."

Me to her as soon as I arrive at the game dress-less: "Forgot the dress.  Or rather nighty..."

And oh my... It is seriously an uncomfortable nighty with netting...  

But anyway, her other dress worked out nicely for her and she had a great time at the homecoming dance and then spent the night at a friends.  Then another marching band competition on Saturday... I saw her briefly face to face Friday morning and then finally on Saturday afternoon... when she napped.

Is it like that with your kids too?

Homecoming week!

It's homecoming week and you know what THAT means!  Goofy outfits for the kids every day!  Especially Seniors, because this is the last time EVER they can act goofy! 

(....)

Monday - Come as you are day!  Maddy went in sweats and a flower tee with her hair a mess.  Looks like she crawled right out of bed... which she did.  This day sure saved a lot of prep time in the morning!

 

Such lovely girls...

The girl 3rd from the right is the Homecoming queen!  She's a regular around these parts especially when  there are puppies at our house...

 Tuesday - Fictional Character day!  Maddy went as Jess from New Girl!  I thought it was funny when she said that everyone recognized her after she told them who she was.

Because you have to TELL them...

Wednesday - Royalty Day!  Mads wore her prom dress that we put our blood, sweat and tears into last spring, topping it off with a royal purple jacket.  She couldn't find a crown but had a lacy headband.  She REFUSED to wear our gold crown of thorns....  It would have been perfect!

 Thursday - Today is "ER" day.  You need to dress up with something that ends in ER or OR.  For example, Mother, Teacher, Dentister... You get the idea.  She chose Doctor.  As in Dr McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy.  Up until Tuesday night, she was going to be a grandmother and had all the clothes and jewelry ready for it.  Necklace with all the grandkids and their birthstones, etc...  Her grandma was having a ball getting it put together for her.  Then Maddy changed her mind.

She sent me the photo of the scrubs hat below over my lunch yesterday and asked that I whip up a couple for today. 

So after Bible study last night, I did.  It took all of 20 minutes and probably looks it.

 We have tons of scrubs that I bought from someone on a local Facebook swap page, because the girls wanted them to lounge around the house in.  No one has yet...  They sit in a heap.  But anyway, Mad pulled out the manly ones that didn't have hearts or frogs all over them.  Then last night she printed off two name tags.  One of her friends is doing this with her.  Maddy will be Dr. McDreamy and her friend will be Dr. McSteamy. 

 The above picture of the scrubs hat doesn't look that attractive laid out like that, but it did turn out pretty neat on.  Using one pair of blue pants, I made a wide band to go around the forehead back to an inch or so behind the ears.  Then made a big half circle casing and strung through part of the waist straps to tie it with.

From behind they'll look Amish, but from the front, they'll be very medicinal...

Can't wait to see everyone's pictures on FB later!  Then you can see what I mean!

Tomorrow is Spirit day because of the homecoming game tomorrow night.  Wow, these kids get creative!

Homecoming... literally.

It's Homecoming week for Maddy. As a Junior and part of the student council, she has to do the dress up stuff even if she doesn't feel like it. But Sunday night, she wanted some of my clothes from the 80s for Throw-back day on Monday. I mentioned that I might have saved my old button fly jeans and I think they would fit her. I was very skinny then. But I was either ruthless last year or packed them away in the garage and she couldn't find them. After digging around in my closet for a while, she pulled out my old school jacket!
A little worn. But she tried it on and loved it. She decided she's going to wear it all the time now.

Oh, we couldn't find my Albert Ingall boots either, so she settled for my suede boots. Albert Ingalls was not the official name of those boots, but they were awesome. My husband dubbed them that. I've had them since I was a freshmen in college and worked at Kinney's shoes where I got them with a discount. Brown leather flat soles, laced up front up to just above the ankles. I loved those. Obviously haven't worn them for many many years since I couldn't put my hands on them.

They're probably packed away in the garage.

Then I advised her that we tucked our shirts IN in the 80s. She reluctantly did that. She wore a white tee tucked into her jeans under the jacket and then wore the boots. Maddy found a funky flower headband and I showed her how I would have worn it back then AND she wore her dads glasses. She looked so RAD!

But because her tee was tucked in, she didn't feel comfortable with that so she kept the jacket snapped shut. She saw herself in a mirror later at school and felt like she looked really creepy. So she probably won't wear the glasses anymore. Or the jacket.

And can you believe the embroidery people spelled my name wrong way back then?

Valeria...

Being in a Christian school (which doesn't exist anymore) doesn't immune you from name calling and rhyming... I was called Valerie, Calorie, salary, Mallory (nothing wrong with this one!), dallery, etc.

But with Valeria on my jacket, Malaria was a very common nickname...

Oh the woes of the teenage life!

Every day this week, she's been dressing up differently. Yesterday was safety day and I believe she took bubble wrap and wrapped her calves in them. Not sure if she ended up doing this, but the bubble wrap is still sitting in the dining room... And she's been leaving so darn early in the mornings that I haven't had a chance to snap a picture of her at ALL!

Today, I believe, is Celebrity day. She and her friends are dressing up like characters of the tv show Friends. Maddy is being Phoebe and has been practicing the Smelly Cat song all week. I now know it... in it's entirety...

Anyway. Have a great Wednesday! For me it's Thursday... But that's just the way I am!

Homecoming inspirations

Got NO pictures of Maddy and her date for homecoming on Friday night... Because I didn't want to hang around the last half of the game, then sit and wait for her to get gussied up at a friends house (Plus the mere fact that she didn't want me to anyway...) I didn't get a pic of her or her date. I've been looking on FB for pics posted by some of her friends, but nothing so far. I don't think anyone brought a camera to the dance. *shoot*

Her friend who designed the dress really liked it and apparently there were sounds of *skwee!* heard round the high school... Or so I've been told. I went to an American Sewing Guild meeting on Saturday morning and showed my boppy pillow. It wasn't as glamorous as some of the clothing the other ladies showed. OK - it wasn't glamorous at all! It's functional, ok? But WOW! We have got talent in our bunch of women! We brought 4 boxes of fabric to give away and because the other members must have been cleaning house over the summer, there were 5 or 6 tables loaded down with free fabric. So it was basically a feeding of the five thousand kind of thing. We came away with more than we brought...

I got inspired by some free wool-like fabric and started cutting into it yesterday. I'm making the shorter (red) jacket of the two, minus the shoulder pads. In a brown/orange/black plaid. Lining up the patterns is proving to be a challenge. I just gave up on the sleeves trying to match. We'll see what happens! It doesn't require lining, but I'm going to anyway. Mainly because the fabric is a bit itchy... But it's all FREE!!! Unless I buy some funky buttons to go on it. I'll have to see if I have enough that look good. In the future I may line it again with some insulated stuff to winterize it. We'll see...
Wow - in this light, the orange doesn't match at all... IRL it's perfect! hmm.. Is that a red or a deep orange stripe? The orange swatch suddenly turned more yellowish/brown than the true orange that it is. JUST took another look to compare... I'll think I'll keep it. I'm thinking about making the bottom half of the lapel in a black wool. What do you think? The top half of the lapel or the bottom in a solid color? I want to kick it up a bit, so it's not just a plaid coat.

So Sew Update - Maddy's Homecoming dress

I've gotten THE dress done to a certain point. Now comes all the hand sewing to get the bodice lining nailed down, hook and eye sewn in, surger ends sewn down.Maddy twirled and twirled in it last night once the zipper and hem got done.She's already sent a text with a pic of it to her designer friend and got her approval.I think Maddy likes it!Oh! and guess what?! She has a date taking her!

Cotton - It's not just for quilters anymore

My lovely daughter decided that it was time to start thinking about Homecoming which is quickly approaching in 2 weeks. She was going to go shopping for a dress with friends, but something came up. So she asked me if I'd make her a new dress! Wow! I felt honored.

Of Course I will!

However I wasn't looking forward to going to JoAnns with her. Especially when she has a cold and doesn't feel good. NOTHING I pick will be right... So I suggested she bring a friend who she can bounce ideas off of. She had the perfect one. Paige.

Paige wants to be a designer someday, so we picked her up on Sunday afternoon and spent only 1 hour at JoAnns! Yes! One hour! How long does it take YOU to buy a special dress? Ordinarily, it would take Maddy a whole afternoon with her friends at several different shops in the mall. I was impressed.They picked out a pattern within 20 minutes. And of course it's almost identical to Maddy's Easter dress that I made for her this year, but with straps, no pleats and a flat midriff. So hey! It'll be easier! The dress they picked out on the pattern sleeve is the white bodice and midriff and then the blue dresses skirt. It still has a little boning on the side seams of the bodice. But those are a snap when you figure them out... and grab a zipper foot.I have an old shirt of Robb's that I cut into for a sample and by Sunday evening was ready for her to try it on. It fit beautifully! You know... no zipper in it yet, but there is room for one!I didn't get a chance on Monday until late afternoon to start cutting into the real fabric. At the store, Paige and Maddy browsed thru all the beautiful silky stuff, prom dress stuff and decided it was all too fancy and shiny for this event. Homecoming is a bit more low-key than glitz... So they went back thru the clearance fabrics and ended up in the cotton section.

Granted... That's all the fabric I knew existed until I was a teenager. ALL my sewing projects up to that point had been cotton. But then I discovered silky, bumpy and texture and forgot all about the little cotton plant. The commercials keeps telling me cotton is the fabric of our lives... but I thought they meant quilts and sheets.

Sorry! I haven't pressed it right side out yet. Waiting to install the straps. The straps will have little loops on the back side to thread the narrow bra strap thru.

Anyway, they decided on a pink bodice & midriff, with the fabric below as the skirt part. This is going to be cute!I hope...