Acceptance

Annabelle got some happy news in the mail the other day: She has been accepted Early Decision at the University of Rochester, so her college hunt is officially over! We took this picture today for our holiday card:



If you click here, you can see a really great video put out by the Rochester admissions office. It'll show you some of the stuff that got Annabelle so excited about becoming a Yellowjacket!

Formal Friday

Annabelle attended her first official event tonight as a JROTC sponsor. We were kind of fuzzy on the details leading up to tonight except that it would be formal and that they would be taking a van from the high school to a Kansas City hotel. Well, it turned out to be a fancy party hosted by the Kansas City Recruiting Battalion! She went in her position as sponsor, and the other kids went to serve as the color guard.

She had one of her table mates take some pictures and send them to me:







She is really having fun being a part of the program!

Fun night with the ladies!

A group shot from tonight's wine tasting:



I'm waaaaay up toward the top, on the right. You can barely see me peeking out to say hello.

And even more music!

The LHS bands had their winter concert tonight and sounded great, as always! I shot this clip of the jazz band to share here:



If you look to the far right of the first row, Annabelle is the little girl with the big saxophone!

Music, music, and more music

We've crammed a lot of music into Dad's last 2 days with us. Tonight we went to the LHS choir concert, and this afternoon we got to sit in on the jazz band's rehearsal, since Dad can't stick around for tomorrow night's band concert.

Yesterday, the Acapella choir performed as part of the Christmas concert at Immaculate Conception Church:





Then in the evening she and her friend Aimee played their bassoons in the Vespers concert at the University of Saint Mary:



That's not a very good shot, but there was a fellow there taking pictures with a mas macho camera, and I'm going to try to track down his photos.

This doesn't feature the bassoons unfortunately, but it's a great little taste of the overall evening:

Do I kiss my mother with this mouth?

This post was supposed to be called "Don't judge a parking garage by its cover." Oh, how I wish that were the title!

Dad and I spent today in Kansas City. We had lunch at Andre's, an amazing little Swiss tea room, and visited the National World War I Museum. First though, we stopped by the Central Library for what was supposed to be a quick photo op of their super-cool parking garage:









While we were there, however, we decided to go into the library to visit the . . . ahem . . . facilities. Then we browsed the video collection, got our parking validated, and headed back out to the car, where I discovered that I was no longer in possession of my cell phone. I freaked out, and we raced back into the library, with Dad heading for the security guard at the circulation desk and me going back to the ladies' room.

When I got there, the stall I had used was occupied. I said, "Excuse me, but is there a cell phone in there?" Indeed there was! I must have set it on the paper dispenser and forgotten it. Before I could say, "I'll just wait for you to come out," my phone was sliding across the bathroom floor like a hockey puck. I snatched it up with 2 fingers, stuffed it in my pocket, and ran upstairs to share the good news with Dad, and we had a laugh about my phone's misadventures.

I wish the story could end there, with us going on our way for a delicious lunch and an educational tour of the museum. Unfortunately, later that afternoon, I found myself in a parking lot, fumbling with my gloves, my purse, my phone, and as I sometimes do when I could benefit from a third hand, I STUCK THE PHONE IN MY MOUTH!

In answer to the question posed above, it's going to be a long time and a lot of Listerine before my mother lets me anywhere near her with this mouth!

Tree lighting ceremony

One of my favorite things about our house is its convenient location across from Zais Park. Every year the post has a big tree lighting ceremony, and we are able to just slip across the street at the last minute, just as it gets dark. This year Dad was able to be here, too!

There are carriage rides around the park:



It's always magical when the lights appear out of the darkness for the first time:



We have the occasional celebrity:



And we even got to meet a Newfie named Annabelle:



Here's a picture of the front of our house:



Fred was terribly clever this year and ordered Christmas bulbs to replace the lights we usually have outlining our porch. This saved a lot of time that would have otherwise been spent stringing up more wire!

JROTC sponsor assembly

Annabelle was chosen last month to be a "sponsor" for her school's JROTC program. Today was the induction ceremony where the girls found out which unit they were assigned to. Annabelle was thrilled to pieces to find out that she was chosen represent and support Special Teams.

I wasn't able to be at the ceremony, but the school's public relations representative sent me some photos. Here is the whole line-up of all the girls:



A closer shot of Annabelle and her very high heels:



Annabelle receiving her spiffy ceremonial cape:



I really need to have her dress up again so I can get a clearer picture of the cape, which is a very impressive garment!

Don we now our gay apparel

Scholars' Bowl success!

The LHS Scholars' Bowl team took first place among 5A schools at the Quest High School Academic Competition:



This means that they will return to Topeka in January to participate in the televised competition!

Jazz cats

Annabelle with jazz saxophonist Bobby Watson before his concert here in Leavenworth:



Mr. Watson was one of Annabelle's teachers at the UMKC jazz camp last summer, and they also share the same birthday!

What a Croc!

Seen on the way to the Veterans Day parade:



Now there's an almost attractive use for those shoes!

Veterans Day parade

I finally made it out to see Leavenworth's notable Veterans Day parade!

















Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a good picture of Annabelle as the LHS band passed by. So after the parade, I cornered her and her friend Josh, otherwise known as She-Bari and He-Bari:

Taking care of October

Oh, hi, blog! Kind of forgot about you for a while. Actually, I kept meaning to get caught up but just found myself getting further and further behind. I'm motivated to blog today just to cover my bases in case I decide I want to participate in NaBloPoMo this year (but I seriously doubt it). Here are the highlights from October:

October 3-5: Re-visit to Macalester College in Minnesota

My friend Barbara says it's always fall in college, and the few pictures I took from this most recent (and FINAL!!!) college tour seem to support that:







The squirrels at Macalester are a diverse bunch:



Annabelle had a great visit, and while she was sitting in on classes, Fred and I got to meet up with my friend Emily for a cup of coffee:



October 18: College applications are all done, and the first acceptance is here!

It will be mid-December at the earliest before she hears from any of the others, but University of Pittsburgh is a yes (with an invitation to join their Honors College):



October 20: Haunted Leavenworth

Annabelle worked a couple of nights for the Haunted Leavenworth tour as a service project for NHS. One night she got to portray the Lady in Black:



October 20: USAPL Florida Collegiate Championship

Mike traveled to Orlando with his FSU teammates to take part in this powerlifting meet. Here's a video of his lifts:



He placed third in his weight class!



October 26: Marching band season is over

I kept thinking I would get some good video to share, but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards. The band had a great season though and got ones (superior) at both of their competitions. They still have the Veterans' Day parade, but now attention turns to concert band and pep band and, of course, jazz band. It looks like Annabelle is going to stay on the baritone sax for the remainder of the year, which she is very happy about. She's having a blast with it!

And now you know what Paul Harvey would have called "the rest of the story!"

365-day countdown!

Can you guess who is going to be retired this time next year? Uh huh, this guy:



It's exciting and scary and unbelievable all at once!

Heart Walk

Here's Annabelle and her friend Aimee on either side of their band director during the jazz band's performance at this morning's Heart Walk:



This was their first public performance this year, but the band sounded great!

At Ft. Leavenworth's Oktoberfest celebration

The view . . .

. . . across my bowl of Cap'n Crunch:

Kansas Honors Scholars

Tonight the University of Kansas honored the top 10% of each local high school's graduating class with a special ceremony downtown. Each student was presented with a dictionary and certificate. Our school's awesome PR person got an individual photo of Annabelle:



And also a shot of Leavenworth High School's group:



I took this photo of Annabelle and her dictionary after the ceremony:



Senior year is such a fun time!