Sunday's Events....

Well, we all survived the band contest and slept in a bit today. Tired doesn't even begin to explain how exhausted we are. We didn't get home and to bed until about 12:30 am last night. Thank goodness the contest was nearby in Pearland. The poor folks from Woodlands, Spring, San Antonio (Churchill), Hurst (LD Bell), had much further to drive than we did. Long day & night. They did really well. One might think 9th isn't all that great, but it really is. The Bands of America contests reward bands not only for how they play and march, but also their creativity and "entertainment" (how loud the crowd claps) value for the general public. Contrast that with UIL which still rewards more traditional marching more highly than the creative sort. So, the BOA winning bands generally did things that FHS would probably not do - at leat not with our current director. FHS marching style is more traditional and doesn't use a lot of props or crazy movements. The other bands dance around a bit more, bend down on their knees, stand more relaxed, use interesting props and the like. The last time FHS competed in our regional BOA, we placed nearer to the bottom. We made the finals this year which is great. I've marked where Rachel is in most of the pictures with a big red arrow! It's like "Where's Waldo" with trying to find her on the field. :-) I'm just thrilled that she actually got to march!!



Our other major task for the weekend was to find THE PERFECT Homecoming Dance Dress for next weekend. FHS Homecoming is next Friday and the dance in Saturday. The common thing today is to go no matter whether you have a date or not. It's just a dance and everyone goes. It's semi-formal so we went out looking for a nice dress under $100. That was the goal. Rachel's friend Kayla went as well to look for a dress. We made our way over to Baybrook Mall to Dillards in search of dresses. As you can see from the pictures, the girls didn't have any problem finding dresses to try on. Make note of all the BRIGHT colors. They really like the bright colors. More pictures in the gallery.



I think Kayla made her selection pretty quick - maybe after only 5 dresses. It took Rachel a bit more time (and trying on about 10 dresses) to make her perfect selection - she's a bit more specific! Finally though, they have their dresses. Kayla selected a really pretty royal blue halter type dress which is beautiful. Rachel selected a strapless red dress which also looks dynamite on her and what just slightly above our $100 limit. None of which I have pictures of so we'll have to wait until next weekend!!



We finished our trip to the mall with a quick run into the cheap jewelry store for some earring that only cost $5. YAY!!

Decided to stop for nourishment after all that shopping and enjoyed some Italian gelato at the end of our trip.

Homecoming Events... Parade on Thursday afternoon/evening down our Main street (518), Homecoming Game on Friday evening, and Homecoming Dance on Saturday night. I do hope Rachel actually gets to go to dance next week. The marching band is participating in another contest on Saturday up in Conroe - the Lonestar Preview. If they were to make the finals, they would probably not be back for the dance. If they don't make the finals, we'll have to see if the director lets them come back or if they have to stay to watch it. If she's not marching... I may just go get her so she can at least have some fun that evening at the dance with her friends.

Stephen came home from his Scout camping trip to Camp Strake this weekend and had a good time. They did a lot of mountain bike riding which he has decided he really likes. He finally decided that it would be good to learn to ride a bike a couple of months back and now he's going gangbusters on it. Apparently, his chain broke while they were out riding bikes about 1 mile away from the base, so he and his dad had to walk quite a ways back. Rob got a new chain and everything is better now, but he loved the riding so much that he now wants a new mountain bike for Christmas!


Dallas is playing Arizona right now and it's not pretty at the moment. Currently, Arizona is leading Dallas by 7. We'll see how this ends up. I may be glad John is out of town tonight instead of here. :-)

More Later!