Draper Choir Girls

Grace, Sailor, Ellie and Nia

Everyone needs a tribe.  This is Ellie's tribe.

They are all part of the Draper Intermediate School 6th grade Choir.  We cannot wait to hear what they sound like!  How can these smiling faces make any more joyous a sound than when they are altogether for a common cause?

You all know how much Ellie loves to sing.  And she proves that everyday.  At home, in the car, on the field, and now at school too.  Surround her with friends that she loves and the sound will heavenly.

Couldn't be happier for her, and for the friends in her tribe.  They'll need each other in the days ahead.  As sixth grade turns to eighth and then high school.  These bonds are so important for these girls.  So glad they have one another!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy Birthday Papa from these familiar faces!

A flashback from 2014 when Ellie was in 3rd grade!

Just in case you're wondering, Watch DOGS is a group of Dads that spend a day at the school following around their student/child.  DOGS stands for Dads of Great Students!

Bill has had awesome experiences doing this.  Mostly when a student yells, "Watchdog! Watchdog! Can you open my milk/yogurt/cheese stick"  or "Watchdog!  Watchdog!  Can you tie my shoe?"

He comes home exhausted.  And I remind him this is why we have ONE child!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!  We'll see you at Thanksgiving!

Just having fun

It takes several tries for Ellie and I to take a good selfie.  I'm pretty sure that happens on purpose.  We end up with more outtakes than good shots.  So here are a few that didn't make the cut!

2008 & 2017

1st Day of 6th Grade

Here she is on the first day of sixth grade.  This will be her second year at Draper Intermediate School where they house both fifth and sixth grades.  She met all her teachers on Meet the Teacher night and was surprised to find she had two MALE teachers!  For her Math teacher, Mr Keisler, this is his very first year teaching!

She has three Advanced Placement (AP) classes this year:  Math, Science and English/Language Arts.  That's up from two last year.  She's excited about her classes and eager to learn.  It's awesome to see her look forward to it!

For the record several of her teachers are young enough (mind you I didn't say we're old enough) for those teachers to be OUR children!  And it's hard to deny when their first names are Austin and Reagan!  Seriously!

She's off to a great start and looking forward to all the awesome things to come!

Vacation Highlights

First Day of School - 6th grade

This amazing, funny, smart, spunky and brave girl began 6th grade last week.  She is in three, count 'em three, advanced placement classes this year.

Advanced Math
Advanced Science
Advanced Language Arts (English & Writing)

So, so proud of her!  And of all to come this year!

Then and Now

Lucas and Ellie

Then and Now

2011- Virginia Beach - holding hands

2017 - Saratoga Springs - no way we're holding hands

SMART Girls Tech Camp

Ellie's week has been full of science and technology as she attended SMART Girls Engineering Camp this week through Wylie ISD.  They've learned how to make a rocket, design a smart car and use soldering equipment and today is a field trip to an Engineering firm.

She's made new friends, learned about new careers and tried new things.  Its been a great way to prep her for the upcoming school year and all the options she'll have.  More to come on the field trip - and the grand finale to the week!

Mexican Sugar

Saturday night we tried a new Mexican restaurant.  Mexican Sugar.  When we were seating the server explained they had many Central, South American and Mexican dishes.  What a treat!

We shared a few, split a few and tried a few new beverages shown below.  It was warm, but even walking to and from the car to the restaurant was manageable.  Dallas is the melting pot for culture and cuisine!

Retreat

Several weeks ago I managed to get away for a long weekend in the Adirondacks.  I attended a women's retreat led by a life coach and business strategist.  It was more than I could have hoped for.  Girl time, me time, delicious food, great wine, time by the water, time in motion, meditation and even massage.

What a wonderful weekend!

These wonderful ladies below joined me on the journey.

Susan, Pam, Meghan, Lori, Avon, me and Jen.

Girls' Day Out

When Ellie and I have a few days together we always find an adventure.  We had the best day on Thursday with only a couple things on our list to do.  Bank drive through to deposit a check, Starbuck's (OF COURSE!) and get my glasses repaired at Warby Parker at North Park Center in Dallas.

That being said we left the house at 8:30am and didn't return home until 4:45pm.  Another stop and Bill would have beat us home!

From our first stop at Starbuck's, Ellie was excited to be out.  We had a bit of breakfast and headed to Barnes and Noble.  We found a book on Bermuda, a few novels and as always, checked the clearance table.  Feeling rather accomplished I surprised her with a visit to the nail salon for pedicures.  She was so much fun to sit next and watch her squirm as her feet were so ticklish!  She picked her own color and had a full spa pedicure!

We drove into Dallas, to one of her favorite malls.  This one is high end with Nordstom's, Macy's, Apple, Vera Bradley, every high end cosmetics place, shoe store and designer you could imagine.  For the first time Ellie held a pair for Christian Laboutin's ... and was amazed that pair of shoes could cost $895!  That's my girl.

Below we are wearing matching frames.  Mine are the ones I got fixed, and Ellie's are from the shelf.

We bought some vacation things in Vera Bradley, Nordstom's, H&M and even some amazing loose tea at Teavana to take home and brew over ice.  There were prizes for Ellie, for me and of course, for Bill!  What a wonderful day we had together.  Is it possible we have another full girls day on Friday?

In prayer

Today I pray.

Yesterday as the rest of the world was preparing for backyard cookouts, flying flags and watching fireworks I got a call from a friend in Bloomington.  She shared her brother-in-law had been in a fatal car accident the night before and she was flying to Dallas in the morning to be with her sister and three nephews.

Stop.
Breathe.
Pray.

Life became a whole lot more in focus in that moment.

The impermanence of anything solid was very real.  Each. moment. matters. Every. single. day.

The mug shown above is one of a pair that I painted in Bloomington before I left for Dallas three years ago.  They are not identical.  They are opposites.  I gave one to this friend as we always met for coffee to share our stories and our lives.  She is a soul sister to me.  The bottom has both our names and the date.  When we use our respective mugs we think of one another and we're grateful for our friendship - even across the miles.

When she arrives in Dallas to be with her family in their time of need, I'll be here for her.  For coffee, for a shoulder, for a quiet, soft place to land in the upended reality she is living.

Friendship doesn't end with miles.  It actually becomes more meaningful.

Cannot wait to give her a hug and tell her everything will be okay.

Amen.

Izzy

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of checking in on Izzy while her human-parent was away in Chicago enjoying a few Dave Matthews Band concerts.  You may recall, Izzy is a scared-y cat.  Apparently she doesn't like people - and likely wouldn't come out of hiding.

Just call me the cat whisperer.  Cause she didn't hesitate to come out and play.  We found long-lost toys under the couch and it was like Christmas all over again!  She stretched and purred like she understood my role as Godmother.

There's an upcoming trip in September, so I'll have another opportunity to bond again in a few months!

Family Table

My favorite place in the house is the kitchen table. Our table belonged to my in-laws who married 57 years ago. This was their table. Where they raised their family. Ate together, prayed together and laughed together. Through the mess of this amazing life I choose love. 

Coffee Time

Ellie's favorite thing to talk me into is stopping at Starbuck's.  I know that Howard Shultz would be proud because to her it's less about the taste, and more about the experience.

Starbuck's isn't the coffee business serving people.  They are in the people business, serving coffee.

And Ellie gets that.  She's so happy to put her order in, wait for it to be crafted for her and then savor it wherever we go.  She's a loyal customer!

July

This is us.

Three generations.

Beginning the summer, we welcoming Grammy to Dallas to spend a few days with us.  Oh, how my girl has grown.  Matured actually.  She's so amazing in her thoughts, her words, her actions.  She makes us laugh, wonder and grateful.

She showed Grammy all these wonderful sides of her during her trip to Dallas.

Father's Day 2017

We recently visited Tupp's Brewery in McKinney for a local Texas beer taste.  What a cool place that resembled an airplane hanger with quite a bit of distilling equipment!

Bill did a beer flight.  That was right up his alley.  And in little plastic cups so no one gets hurt.  The atmosphere was casual, the staff was friendly and we were relaxed!

What a great visit.

Bill's shrimp and crab leg boil that we enjoyed on Father's Day!

Birthdays - Here's to you

What a lovely gift to receive in my inbox this morning!  A Starbucks coffee on them in honor of my birthday .... and all I did was need to be celebrating a birthday.

The celebration continues!

Happy Birthday weekend - continued

Part of the celebration this weekend was going to breakfast on Sunday morning.  Since Erica and I had such a wonderful time last weekend, this weekend was Bill and Ellie's turn!

On the rainy, Sunday morning off we went by 9:30am to downtown Plano to visit XO Coffee Co.

Ellie chose the table with the oversized, wooden Tic-Tac-Toe board to use while we waited for our food.  We shared across the table.  Cinnamon Waffle, Nuttela-stuffed french toast and Sausage and Gouda omelet .. with sides of rosemary potatoes, fruit salad and cherry compote with Texas Toast .. all fair game to share!

It was wonderful.  The coffee was wonderful, the food delicious and the company was perfect for a birthday weekend breakfast!

YUM!