Tennis Sectionals, Awards, & Band Concert

Bella's team played against Brown County for the tennis sectionals. Unfortunately, they lost, bringing an end to their tennis season. It has been so much fun to watch Bella play. Her record for the season was 12-6. Her coach said Bella was her first singles player to make All-Conference and that Bella had the best record of any singles player she coached. Way to go, Bella! 

Hauser awards were this past week. Bella received several. 

The junior high awards were held after. 

Graydon was also called down for an award, but I ended up fumbling with my phone and I missed the photo.

Curtis's awards were: All A's in Math and Science, Highest Math Average in Advanced 8th Grade math (even though he's in 7th grade), and Perfect Attendance. 

Graydon also had perfect attendance. Later in the week, his math teacher also gave him a certificate for having All A's in Advanced Algebra 1. Also, at the band concern two days later, his band teacher rewarded him with the MVP award for junior high band! 

I think Bella won every possible award she could. She received her academic letter, was one of four Rising Stars of Indiana, Perfect Attendance, Achievement Award for Agriculture, Outstanding Achievement in AP Literature, Highest Average in Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Outstanding American History Student, and Highest Average in Spanish 3. 

Friday evening was the spring band concert. All the students improved so much throughout the year.

This was taken after Graydon was awarded co-MVP of the junior high band!

In other news, Andy power-washed the deck. Look at the difference! 

The peonies by the mailboxes have started to bloom!

All the hydrangeas and hostas that I planted at the end of last summer came back! 

My winter-long crochet project was this blanket whose home is at the end of our bed. It's heavy, which I really like. I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

Tennis Tournament, Hope Vending, and Mother's Day!

Bella's team competed in the Mid-Hoosier Conference Tournament last Saturday. Bella came in as runner-up in the #1 Singles bracket. In the championship match, she played an opponent who she had beat in the regular season (although it was a super close match), but she couldn't quite seal the deal on this particular day. Still, her performance earned her All-Conference. 

Also, her team was undefeated in conference during the regular season, so they were the MHC champs!

Curtis and Andy went into business together by purchasing a vending machine and setting it up in our town square. A percentage of sales will benefit a local non-profit called Students' Fund of Hope. During the first year Andy and I were married, there was a vending machine outside a small business that was a few blocks away from our apartment. They sold cans of Fanta soda for 25 cents. We have fond memories of walking to that vending machine and buying soda from it during those early marriage days. So, on the very first evening this vending machine was installed, the five of us walked down to the square and made the first purchases. 

Cheers to Hope Vending!

The next day was Mother's Day and I received breakfast in bed! 

The youth in our church were in charge of the whole service, so Andy actually sat with me during church!

Graydon and Curtis each had scripture readings.

Bella delivered part of the sermon. 

Me and my babies!

After church, we went out to lunch at Papa's Grill and then went for a family walk in a nice area of Columbus that had walking trails. Family together time will always be my favorite. 

5K & Track Meet

I was up by 4:30pm and our bus left school at 5:05am for our Hope Elementary Running Club to run in the Indy 5K. The group gets bigger and bigger every year! This was my second year running. 

We were back in Hope by 9:30am, which was just enough time for me to change my clothes and head out to Graydon's Mid-Hoosier Conference Track Meet!

Hauser boys took 3rd place (out of seven schools) and our girls took 2nd! The meet ended in just enough time for me to make it to a birthday celebration for a student from school that I am close to. I made it home a little before 3pm. A nap was calling my name, but I had so many Saturday chores to do. And naps usually backfire on me and I end up having a hard time falling asleep. So I pushed through, but was in bed by 8:30pm that night! 

Prom

Hauser Prom was help on Saturday, April 29th. Bella and Sam (her friend, now boyfriend) went together.

Off they go!

They got some really nice photos taken in front of the prom venue by Sam's best friend's mom.

Sam and Evan have been friends since elementary school. Evan has been dating Grace, one of Bella's closest friends, for the past few years. Sam just started going to Hauser this school year and it was through Evan and Grace that Bella and Sam got to know each other better. They all had a great time going to prom together.

After getting their photos done, the four of them went out to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Columbus. They finished before prom actually started, so they just walked around downtown taking photos. These are some from Bella's camera.

It got a little rainy that night.

Just about time to head in! 

These photos were from an online news article in the Columbus newspaper. As a junior class officer, Bella was part of the prom planning committee. She also got the honor of crowning this year's prom queen!

I thought this was kind of funny. This photo showed up in the newspaper photo collection.

And this is the photo that was being taken in the photo above.

Bella planned these mocktails, designed the menu, and made the list of ingredients for her advisor to purchase.

A couple teachers served as "bartenders".

After prom, it was time for After Prom! This is an event held at school where students can go hang out after prom until 2am. This is such a great event because it allows the party to continue in a safe and fun environment. I didn't take any photos, but it was a 60's/70's disco theme. We had inflatable obstacle courses, 9 Square, limbo, air hockey, foosball, corn hole, large Jenga, large Connect Four, limbo, lounge areas with bean bag chairs, decks of cards, etc. There were also amazing prize giveaways throughout the night. For example, Sam won and Apple watch and Bella won a $100 gas gift card! They also gave away a couple of laptops. I heard we had over $7,000 worth of prizes. Everyone got something. Growing up, my school never had anything like this, but I love that an event like this is part of the culture here. Apparently, After-Prom has been going on for decades!