ECU Orientation

Tori and I left on Sunday evening for Greenville for her orientation. What a couple of days it was!! I have blisters and Tori got bad burns on her feet for trying to do her impersonation of Marilyn Monroe. I can already see our down fall is going to be Tori and her, "Ya dare me?... I can do it better than you can!!" We have toured every last nook and cranny of the campus. We have perfected our "Arrrrggghhh", to include the hooked finger and the dance for when the "No Quarter" flag is raised. Her schedule is set, just waiting on her AP scores to come in and she is very excited about the nursing program. She is also already familiar with the important places on campus such as Starbucks and Krispy Kreme. Now if she pays as much attention to her academics as to those things she should really perform well!!.... All kidding aside, I think she is truly ready for this transition. We are proud and amazed by her achievements. Me and Tori in the car. Tori still proud of and wearing her Carolina Blue.. Is this really what college is about??

Tori and Risa on the Lake

This past Saturday Tori went to Jordan lake with Risa and her family. These pictures are hysterical!! You really need to pay close attention to the picture with Risa in the middle of the tube and a pair of legs in the air. Yes, those are Tori's. How funny is it!!

Graduation Day!!

Last Saturday was a perfect day to graduate. The whole family was there and Tori looked beautiful. We celebrated at Maggiano's after the ceremony and then went home for the party.

On Sunday we went to Carolina Inn for brunch with Mom and Dad and Jeff and Heather before they left to go home. It was beautiful there and the food was great.

We are so proud of Tori. Our next adventure will be to go to ECU this coming week for freshman orientation. Exciting!!

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Tori's first road trip....

Tori went on her first mini road trip last weekend with Bekka to Wilmington. She had a blast, however I told her to remember one thing, don't get sunburned!! What did she do? She got burnt.. She had fun so I guess it was worth it anyway.

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Senior Pictures

So today we decided to set out to take pictures for Tori. We went to Briar's Chapel and I made her become one with nature!! We were able to get some really good pictures and got some funny "model" pictures as Tori calls it.


Here she is being really serious!!

Tori's Sweet 16!!

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Sweet 16!!

The day finally came! Tori turned 16 and we celebrated with Nana and Papa and Zach by surprising her with balloons, flowers and dinner at her favorite steak restaurant. Daddy took her on the following Friday to get her license and she passed the test!!?!! Tori wanted a coach purse for her birthday and picked it out the following weekend. We then thought of many different ways to celebrate her birthday with her friends. We decided a true sweet sixteen party with booking a venue was just more than we wanted to spend. So we decided to rent a 15 passenger van and take 8 teenagers to Williamsburg VA. to Busch Gardens.

What a day!! The kids arrived at my house at 6:30am. Everyone was on time, very impressed!! Then the journey began. After a 4 hour drive there, everyone was ready for a good time. We stayed all day, stopped for dinner on the way home and safely returned at 3am. I really think I'm quickly approaching the phrase, "I'm getting too old for this!!"

It was great though, everyone behaved, no injuries, and I did bring them back home.

Poor Chipper!!

Chip was neutered last week and then got a really bad infection. So the poor fellow has had the cone on his head for a week now and it is killing me. Cowgirl just thinks he's stupid, it's hysterical!!

Star Systems in Myrtle Beach

This past weekend was the last competition for the dance year!!!! We stayed in North Myrtle Beach. Tori had a great time doing the bump for all the mini's hair. She was so excited to go.

Madi's group won a high gold for their Jazz number and took four place overall. They were very excited about that!! They won gold for the rest, and Madi placed with a gold for her solo! She did an awesome job landing her turn, drop, split. Couldn't have asked for a better performance!!

KAR Dance Competition

So while I was enjoying Tori and her guests from prom, Cliff was on his way to Hickory, NC for Madi's second dance competition this season.

This was the first time the guys tried taking food and grilling for all the families who go. Cliff said it was a success and everyone enjoyed it!!

This was also the first time Madi tried her spin drop split in a competion. She feel forward slightly once down but pulled it off. The main thing is she went for it!! She did great. If I can ever figure out how to add a dvd to this I will post it. Her faces and arms are getting better with every performance. How proud we are!!

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Prom 2010

Last night was Tori's Senior Prom. There certainly was a lot of drama leading up to it, but it turned out just perfect!!

Tori and Zach went ot Maggiano's with Martina and Trevor. Then, while taking pictures of the kids at Prom, it turned into several people coming to the house afterwards, including the dates!! YEAHHHHH ME!! It turned out just perfect in the end. The kids came over and made s'mores with a fire in the firepit. Then they all came in and rented a movie. The boys left around 4AM without incident and I could not wait to turn the lights out and go to bed!!

Let's just get to graduation!! Less than 2 months to go!!

Easter 2010

Happy Easter !!!

This year we just stayed home and enjoyed the company of Nana and Papa. The girls looked for easter eggs and their baskets that the bunny hid. We enjoyed our traditional honey ham that was as delicious as ever and Papa snoozed to golf just like normal!!

It was a very relaxing day.

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CDM Competition in Albemarle.

CDM was the first competition for the 2010 dance year.

We stayed in Albemarle last weekend. On Friday night Madi danced in the solo competition. She won a high silver even though it was the best performance she has given yet for her tap routine to Rockin Robin. Her facial expressions and hands were the best yet. We are having a little trouble with judging since she looks 12 years old competing in a "cute" routine in the 9 year old group. Judges tend to forget what the paper says when all they can think of is, "Can we see a birth certficate for proof?"

Saturday was a long team competition day. Madi had a melt down for the first dance which was acro. Nerves and self-confidence all played a huge part in that. It was down hill from there. The group tap was adorable to "Grant Avenue" and my favorite. They placed high silver for acro, gold in jazz, and high silver in tap (which I thought was a crock!!)

All in all, Madi was beautiful as ever!! We are very proud of her. There is no way I could have ever gone out on a HUGE stage by myself, at her age, and perform a solo. She is always a joy to watch.

Getting Ready for the First Competition for 2010

This past weekend was a long one. Madi was at dance from 10 - 7 on Saturday and 1 - 5on Sunday. She has worked hard this year and is very excited and a little nervous for the first competition of the year. This coming weekend we're off to the rocking town of Albemarle, NC for Friday and Saturday. Solos are on Friday night. The group costumes are really cute this year.

Here are a few pictures of dress rehersal with some of Madi's friends.

New Dance Instructor

So while I was rushing to Raleigh with Tori and Jimmy, Cliff was taking Madi to her first session with Mr Paul from Triangle Academy of Dance.

He was wonderful!!!!

I was hoping to find an outlet to try to inspire her and kick-start her desire to become a great tap dancer once again. I think we have accomplished that. He has added a split to the end of her dance and improved her exit from stage with a very advanced step. I'm not sure we will get it worked in completely before the first competition in two weeks, but I am hopeful for the second one in April. We have another session scheduled for Monday night at 8:15pm.

We'll see how it progresses.

Couldn't Resist

This picture sums up how the original Queen of Hearts Gala was. I just got a copy of this from Abby. I couldn't resist!!

Another Black Tie Affair

This past Saturday Tori and Jimmy attended the Carolina Nights Gala at the Renaissance hotel at North Hills. What a beautiful event. Tori went and represented Chatham County for the ARC. They couldn't stop talking about how "upscale" the event was. Tori, Jimmy, Taylor and Garrett are becoming fast friends. It was a late night and we finally got Jimmy home around 1:30am so the two of them could get up and volunteer for church. It was a very early morning.