Youth Art Exhibit

The Turner Art Center is hosting a youth art exhibit this month.  As part of this celebration, students from local elementary were given the chance to submit a work of art to be hung in the museum for the month. We received a note last week telling us that a picture Owen had drawn in his art class at school was chosen to be displayed.  Later in the week, his art teacher called the house to tell us that Owen's picture was also chosen to be entered into the competition portion of the exhibit.  Of course, we had to go check this out, so we all loaded up and headed to Valdosta for the opening reception.  The museum was really crowded- tons of parents were there with their children.  After some searching, we found Owen's picture- and his art teacher.  This was such a neat event, and a great way to promote art among the next generation.

The kids were asked to draw a "spring" themed picture.  When I asked Owen what he drew he told me that his picture was of "baby animals being born".  Thankfully, that wasn't exactly correct, although his picture did have lots of animals in it.

Owen's Field Trip

Owen's WINGS class recently took a field trip to Jacksonville.  While they were there, they saw the play "I Have A Dream" (about Martin Luther King Jr.) at the Florida Theater and then they toured the Cummer Museum of Art.  Granny Mel chaperoned the trip and she reported that they both had a wonderful time.  Here is a picture of the happy travelers about to board their charter bus.

Father-Daughter Dance

 The father-daughter dance is always a much-anticipated event at our house. This year was no exception.  Olivia chose to wear one of the dresses that her Nana sent her for Christmas.  I think she was as excited about finally getting to wear the dress as she was about going to the dance.  Brian arrived at the door in the 5 o'clock hour with a corsage to match Olivia's dress.  We snapped a few picture and then the two set off for dinner and the dance.  (While Owen and I got ready to go see Kung Foo Panda 3 at the movies).

Olivia had a great time at the dance.  She saw her cousins and several of her friends from school and church. The girls (and dads) danced the night away.  When Olivia came home she was all-smiles.  I'm so glad that Brian and Olivia have this special even that they can attend together each year.

Team Special Kay

Team Special Kay

 In the Spring of last year my Aunt Kay was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She has been undergoing chemo and radiation for several months.  At Thanksgiving dinner, some of my cousins and I decided that we wanted to form a relay team to run the National Breast Cancer Marathon Relay (aka the 26.2 w/ Donna) in honor of Aunt Kay. 100% of the funds raised by this race go to funding breast cancer research and to financially helping women who are undergoing treatment. We had so many in our family who wanted to participate that we ended up forming TWO relay teams which we named Special Kay 1 and Special Kay 2.




The race day came, and it was such a wonderful experience. Our relay was made even more special by the fact that Aunt Kay finished her last treatment four days before race day. She and Uncle Bobby were able to attend and were present at the start, finish, and along the course.  I know that it meant so much to my cousins and I that we were able to do this in honor of our sweet aunt.

Leg 3 runners

Hunter and Bailey crossing the finish line

Basketball

 The kids participated in rec basketball again this year.  This was their second season participating in basketball, and they both had a lot of fun.  Olivia moved up to the 9-10 year old division, so the referees were a lot stricter on making sure the players followed all of the rules.  Olivia gave it her all whenever she got into the game, and she improved as the season went on. We were happy that she was placed on the same team as Ava, so we were able to cheer for both girls at the same time.

 Owen moved up to play in the 7-8 year old division this year.  It was his first time playing "real" basketball, and he also did a good job.  Owen is an easy-going kid, and he was stand-offish when it came to going after the ball.  Being aggressive was one of the main things that we tried to work on during the season.  He did get more comfortable as the season went on, and he learned a lot about the game this year.

Each team had 2 to 3 games a week and on different nights, so for the last month we have been at the gym five nights a week.  We were not alone- there was a large crowd present to cheer for the kids at each of their games.  Gigi and Papa rarely ever missed a game, and all of their Aunts and Uncles made it to at least one game.  The kids received a participation trophy at the end of the season.  Now that the season is over we can get a break- at least until softball/baseball season in the spring.

2cellos

 My friend Anna and I recently saw 2cellos in Jacksonville. These Croatian cellists blend classical music with classic rock and roll.  They are super-talented.  They played music from bands like U2, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, and ACDC on cellos.  Both Anna and I enjoyed the concert. I would love to take the kids should these guys come back.