First and last day of 8th grade pictures

This girl has rocked middle school and especially 8th grade! She got straight A's and was voted "hardest worker" in her yearbook class and "most likely to become a workaholic" (not sure that is a good thing though!). She has done such a great job learning how to balance the increased school load with being a competitive swimmer. We are so proud of the young woman Claire is growing into and we know God has big plans for her! I cannot believe we now have a high schooler under our roof. Onto the next chapter...this momma just wishes the chapters were longer and would take longer to get through.

 

Claire's 8th grade Cotillion Formal

Claire had her Cotillion formal last evening and looked absolutely gorgeous! She even allowed me 10 minutes to get photos before we dropped her off!

Claire, Annalee, and Abigail....all looking beautiful for their formal dance!

The country club where the dance was held was decorated so beautifully (Ellie and I did the lights in the skyline along the wall). Claire had a wonderful time and even got to dance with a few boys who were "pretty good"! This was such a great experience and I am thankful we were able to participate in it throughout the year.

 

Swim, swim, and more swim!

Claire had swim meets all weekend long. She swam at Fleet Friday night, then with her summer swim team on Saturday, and again with Fleet Sunday. I don't know how she does it!

Today she had to swim her first ever 200 butterfly long course. She was not excited about it and was very worried she wouldn't finish. Well, she did finish and did amazingly well! She held good form throughout the entire event and her coach even told her it was the best butterfly he has seen her ever do! She even said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be when she finished! Proud of her for facing her fears head on and conquering!

 

Ellie was here!

Ellie came to visit us for 5 days and we had so much fun! We spent a lot of time IN the pool...

and AT the pool (for Claire's swim meets Friday evening and Saturday morning). Ellie got to learn how to be a head timer on Friday night and on Saturday she got some lessons in how a swim meet is run!

Claire is almost as tall as Ellie...Watch out...by August she may just pass Ellie up!

These two girls quickly made up for lost time and acted like sisters more than cousins! They were always picking on each other and playing rough!

Every once in  while I was able to get a nice picture!

Then on Friday Ellie got to help decorate for the Cotillion formal dance. Ellie and I strung all of the lights on the city landscape...It took a long time!

Finally, Ellie helped Claire get ready for her Cotillion formal by doing her hair. Thank you Ellie for letting Claire wear your dress and for spending the week with us! We had a great time and hope you can come down again soon!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed to be the mother to this amazing young woman! I thank God every day that He chose met to raise Claire up in the way she should go. Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mother's out there!

 

8th Grade Dance!

Claire had her 8th grade dance last Friday....Hard to see my baby girl so dressed up and mature looking, but she looked beautiful and I have to allow her to grow up I guess....This is the response I got when I told her I wanted to take ALOT of pictures!

Annalee, Caroline, Claire, and Abigail...such a great group of young ladies!

Abigail and Claire...praying this friendship lasts their lifetime! God had big plans for these girls and I look forward to being a part of the journey!

 

8th grade award ceremony

 

Claire was up for some awards for 8th grade so we attended the award ceremony. 

Claire got an award for making honor roll and for being outstanding in Art (nominated by her Yearbook teacher). We also got to watch a slideshow at the end of the ceremony that captured the students throughout the year. It was made by Claire and two other yearbook students!

Caroline, Abigail, and Claire...all super amazing students!

We are so proud of all of the hard work Claire has put in during her middle school years. In only a few more weeks, she will be starting a new chapter and heading to high school!

First summer league swim meet of the season...go Stingrays!

Spring Cypress Stingrays! We are a bigger team this year with 203 total swimmers...that means we will be swimming against bigger teams and that also means longer meets. Today we had time trials and the meet went for 7 hour (in 90+ degrees I might add). I have a feeling the meets we have coming up will last longer than 7 hours and will be hotter as the summer hits us full speed! However, it is worth the sacrifice to watch the kids have a blast and hopefully take home some first and second place ribbons!

Abigail and Claire...the best of buddies and great swim partners! I love how they push each other to be the best they can be and encourage each other every day at practice!

Absolutely love this shot of Claire finishing her 50 Fly! What awesome form and concentration!