Band Concert for Sammie & Alex

 26 Seniors are part of the band, this year and   Mr Hunkins gave them each a rose during the concert.

 Afterwards, there were lots and lots of hugs and laughs.  This was the last concert for all the Seniors.

Alex was in the Concert Band tonight too!  :D  This was great!  I got to go to one concert and see both our beautiful girls perform.  Great concert!  :)

 Our beautiful girls!  We are so very proud of them.

 A great night had by all.  It is hard to believe I met all these young people when they entered kindergarten together.   Amazing… they are all grown up!  This was just the best concert, so much fun, lots of tears and hugs.  

Reba and Alyssa

 We were able to see Reba and Alyssa this afternoon. :)

Mom Conn invited us out to get to see them before we went back to work for the week.

Oh my goodness, she is just the cutest thing! :D  

College Days

Sammie, Alex and I spent a Saturday looking around SUNY Potsdam this month.   What a wonderful and exciting time!  We sat through orientation and wandered around the campus twice, shopped at the gift store and went to lunch to discuss.  (Sammie did this months ago with Daddy first.  I took her to SUNY Canton so that we could compare and decide which school she like better.)

Sammie is heading here in the fall and Alex will join her in three years (Alex had already decided on attending SUNY Potsdam when she went on the field trip from school to see all the surrounding area colleges).  They are attending for completely different degrees, but they will get to share Alex's freshman year and Sammie's Senior year together.

Sammie has already located a dojo she will be a part of once she is living in Potsdam.   She has her roommate picked out and has been in constant contact since they found one another.  May and June are all we have left of her Senior Year of high school and then our summer together.  Our first bird-y will fly the nest.

We are so proud of you Sammie!  Can't wait to see you fly! :) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Thoughts of Bagels

Ah.  That first cup of coffee.  Sun is rising in the sky.  I just heard some gulls calling.  My very favorite cheese.  And a bagel.  :-D

  As a teenager at Bible College

in Lima, NY, I thought my friend was crazy.  She was from Long Island and was always complaining about the bagels… not being bagels.  Her family would send her about 8 at a time and she would freeze them.  And she NEVER shared.  They were too precious.

Sitting here in the still of the morning with this "all natural" homemade bagel I found this week. I'm reminded of those moments from my youth.  And I realized.  I'm a bagel snob!  Who Knew!?!?

We have a bagelry up the road in Potsdam, NY.  Its a college town and when you are there ordering it feels very much like the Soup Nazi of Seinfeld days of yore.  LOL  Sure they are nicer, but the line is almost out in the street.  The door in front is open, even in the colder months.  And all you can think of is getting to the front to order.  

Mine is always a baker's dozen of plain.  

They give me two clear plastic bags, twist ties for each, 13 plain bagels in a very large paper bag.  

We all love them.  They are crusty and firm.  This.  This is what is missing from average store bought bagels and this is what my friend from Long Island new.  A fresh… real bagel, is out of this world.  A completely wonderful experience.. that a soft wimpy bread like "bagel" that is sold in bags at the grocery store is simply not. 

So.  I sit here with my less than stellar wimpy bagel…. wishing it was Saturday and I could make a run to Potsdam.  :)  Ah.  Bagels.