Brigade

Here is my now high school baby......I cried when she put on her uniform for the first time. She has wanted to be in the Blue Devil Brigade for several years now....all she wanted was to were one of those "plumey-feathery" things on her head. Now she has one and she is so excited. Actually when they are in full uniform her hair is required to be pulled up, but for this quick snapshot for mom, her hair is down. She was so cute when she first put on the uniform. She couldn't believe that I started crying. She kept saying "Walk away, mom, walk away. Don't, mom, don't". But I couldn't help it.....if you are a mom, you understand why, and I don't need to explain myself.

This is a shot of the whole Brigade. You can't see Sarah in it, but she is in the second row. There are 126 members total this year which is a good size band for our school. This is Sarah's new "love interest"......yeah right! His name is Chase and he is a nice kid. He had all of us laughing all week. He is one of the drummers in the band. His parents are in the Booster Club with us. Bailey kept calling him "her man" all week because he kept calling her "his girl". I think Bailey was a little jealous of her sister when she got this picture made....LOL

Half way through the week, Bailey got her braces off finally! She was so excited to get them off! She kept licking her teeth and saying she felt like all she had in her mouth were gums. She kept biting her tongue all day because she was not used to having "smooth" teeth. She has a permanent retainer on the back of her two front teeth now. She looks different to me without them now.
This is one of the many long mornings that Sarah spent in the field doing the marching drills. She is in the pink. She was so beat by the end of the day, but as she put it she has some "power calves" now from all the exercise! It really was amazing how long these kids were out there and with little to no complaints. They did a great job learning parts of their half time show.
On Thursday night, the Brigade had a show and tell for all their parents/families. At one point they had the students go and get one of their family members out of the stands to make them march with their instruments and go through what they have done all week. Let's just say we are glad Sarah plays the flute cuz some of those parents had to carry a tuba or a set of drums that weigh about 75 pounds. Sarah got Bailey to do it, which I thought was very sweet of her. This picture is of Sarah giving Bailey the "instructions" before they started. Bailey did quite well for a first timer. She was so proud of herself when she was done, and Sarah was proud of her too cuz Sarah said she did better than the actual band girl that is in the picture in pink.
And here is my favorite picture of my baby! She looks so grown up and it was at this moment that I realized that my baby is officially in high school. I am so proud of the young woman that she has become. No mother could be prouder. She is such a sweet, beautiful, loving and kind person. I am very humbled by the wonderful child I have been blessed with. I know as she starts on this journey of her high school years, she will make mistakes and sometimes she will make poor judgement calls, but I know in my heart of hearts, she is a great kid. I can only pray that she will follow what she has been taught, and that she will come out of it all a better person than she already is. I hope that she has tons of fun, makes lots of memories and most of all that she fulfills all she can in what hopefully will be some of the best years of her life. I will end tonights post with the words from one of my favorite children's book, "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. This is a book I used to read to Sarah all the time when she was a baby........
I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I am living, forever my baby you'll be.

Have a good weekend.