It’s become a bit of a tradition for our family to catch a KSU BB game at the Sprint Center with the Lonergan family in December.  Sometimes we can’t get our schedules to align, but when we do, we always have a great time.  Cara and I met in 3rd grade and have been close friends ever since.  Our kids have practically grown up together, but since we live in opposite ends of the city, we don’t see each other near as often as we’d like.  Congrats to our Wildcats for a victory against Washington State.  What a fun night!!

We tried desperately to get on the jumbo screen (especially Reece!) and never made it. What!?  Who wouldn’t want to see this adorable group!?

Carrie & Cara…oops I mean Morgan & Emily Kate…;)

Did I mention ’tis the season for band and orchestra concerts?  Here’s another one!  Jake is trying out an instrument this school year (the clarinet) and he had his first concert this week.  The title of of the performance was “Our Christmas Wish.”  My Christmas wish is that I don’t forget to attend any of these events because it’s getting a bit hard to keep it all straight!  In fact, technically this is not his first concert, they did a tour of the Olathe elementary schools last week and performed.  Of course, I rushed up to Manchester Park to see it and mid concert, somehow my phone became possessed and started playing music and I couldn’t get it to shut off.  So I had to frantically climb over a bunch of kids and exit the gym to try to get the sound off.  Ugh…so embarrassing!  So, I gave up my front and center seat and traded it for a side view through a doorway and have no videos or pictures. I was too afraid to turn the phone back on and/or show my face back in that gym!

Here are a couple pictures of last night where the 5th graders from 4 elementary schools performed and the 6th graders from Prairie Trail.  It was a really great concert and I was very proud!  Playing an instrument sort of takes a back seat to Jake’s beloved sports, so I absolutely love seeing him in a different environment.  Way to go Jake!

Here are a couple of very short video clips:

 

 

 

‘Tis the season for holiday gatherings, parties, band and orchestra concerts, chorus performances, and ugly sweaters!  Brian and I were invited to our first ever ugly sweater holiday party with our soccer team friends.  I don’t own any ugly sweaters, didn’t want to buy any, and was running low on time for making anything.  But I was totally up for participating!  So we decided to borrow this beauty…

Do you believe these double sweaters actually exist!?  When my friend told me she had an ugly “double sweater,” I thought she meant something with a weird double collar or something.  She brought me the sweater to a basketball game and I started taking it out of the bag and it never stopped coming out!  I thought to myself…this is absolutely huge…I don’t think it’s going to fit.  Until I realized it actually was a double sweater meant to fit two people!  What a riot!  Once I saw it,  I was all in for wearing it and was certain we would win a prize.  We wore this crazy contraption all night long and….brace yourself…we did not get one single vote!!!  I’m now boycotting all ugly sweater parties.  Can you tell I’m bitter!?  Bah Humbug 😉

P.S. I still think this sweater is pretty awesome.  Thank you Coad’s for letting us borrow this gem.

 

Ok I couldn’t let this one get through without mention.  This short YouTube video clip is song 2 of Morgan’s 8th grade orchestra performance on Monday.  It is a rendition of “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake.  Reece happens to really like this song (I think mostly due to the fact that it was part of a cheerleading camp cheer she learned over the summer).  I think these musicians do a great job with it, but most entertaining is what I captured at the end!  Reece may have a future in conducting…this is in addition to orchestra cheerleading of course!!  😉

If you really love music, go ahead and tune into the first song…It’s great too and a small cheer at the end by Reece.  I’m certain she was the only person in this room full of spectators with a pom pom!  This was one memorable concert experience!

 

On a last minute whim, Brian took the boys to Manhattan to go to the Wildcats vs. Jayhawks football game.  Lucky!  There’s nothing more fun than going back to our old stomping grounds to go to a football game!  Check out these cuties.  Yes, you may need to take a double look, our little Drew is wearing KU gear!  We aren’t sure where he gets his love of the Jayhawks, but he insisted on wearing this shirt.  ugh!  Thank goodness he’s so cute he can get away with it 😉

Apparently it was more than just a 34-19 win; it was also coach Bill Snyder’s 200th career victory.  Super cool!

GO CATS!!

 

 

These lucky kiddos were able to meet and get autographs from Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, and Seth Sinovic!  Many of the players workout at the gym we belong to and occasionally they create opportunities to meet players.  Life is good for these soccer super fans!

Go Sporting KC!!

Awwww…we sure are going to miss this giant sweatsuit…aren’t we MoMo!?  The uniforms and gear have been a source of much entertainment and laughter at our house over this season.  The home of the Huskies opened its doors in August 2004, and apparently hasn’t changed its girls basketball gear since!!  Look at these…

And I’m pretty sure Morgan and I could both fit in that sweat outfit together!  Tonight Morgan’s squad was defeated but we’re not hanging our heads because we had an absolute blast watching her play (even with jammed & taped fingers).  The last game of the season is always a night game so the gym was full of fans and excitement!

MoMo, I know I speak for all of us right now, we could not be more proud of you this season.  In each and every game, you have played with so much tenacity and commitment.  You really are an amazing student athlete-you never complain about all the time spent practicing on top of loads of homework and soccer too and still have straight A’s!  You are a total rock star in my eyes.  I am going to miss watching you play as a Husky!

And one last photo I took of your other super fan…Reecie…wearing your PRT shirt as a cute little tunic dress.  Hey–she can pull that off, right!?

 

 

This is the 4th time I have had the privilege to attend the Olathe Schools Orchestra Festival!  It’s held in the gym at Olathe Northwest high school and it is a complete zoo.  It is all the area Olathe schools 5th grade through high school Orchestra members and all of their families and spectators.  We are certain the fire department would shut this concert down if they realized how many people, instruments, and equipment were shoved in that venue. This year had to be the record-breaking year with over 850 musicians.  Despite the fact that it’s 8 million degrees in there, the music is spectacular and I’m continually amazed at the talent these kids possess.  The most intriguing thing you discover is how much of a difference it makes from 5th grade to high school.  It’s simply awesome!  So proud of both of you…

Did you know that cheerleaders existed for Orchestra?  We didn’t either…we just got lucky (or cursed) sitting next to this crazy girl…

This is a YouTube video clip of the finale song…it’s soooo good!!  Morgan is about in the middle of the screen in a white shirt with the long hair in her face playing cello and Collin is in the back left (not visible) playing viola.

What…another basketball tournament?  Don’t worry, this is the last one the Panthers will play in 2016.  In another quest to see the other 5th grade competition out there, we entered into a tournament in Basehor.  We faced some great teams but lost in the semi-finals.  These guys play so hard, it’s a blast to watch!!  And Jake had a great cheering section.

Keep it up 20, we love watching you!

Just when I thought we might get a slight reprieve from activities for the winter…Reece started 3v3 basketball with her 1st grade buddies!  Even though I’m not sure if I’m coming or going these days, I can’t help but smile watching her play.  She misses all of the extra practices because it conflicts with gymnastics, so luckily she has learned to dribble all on her own over the course of having older siblings.  Whew…thank goodness!  I shouldn’t actually say this out loud, but her first game sort of hurt my eyes.  The other team didn’t appear to know what a basketball was… Yikes, I’m really sorry for saying that!!   The Pink Chocolate Wolves (Reece says this is their team name but I’m not sure I believe her!) won by a landslide and Reece had 4 baskets!  I tried to get some good video but every time something good happened I turned my video off…isn’t that always the case!?  Reece made the last basket of the game and here’s the best I could do (I was so close to the basket, I couldn’t even get it in the video view).

Way to go Pink Chocolate Wolves!?!?