Moose

Only Nineteen but His Mind is Older

Today we celebrated Moose’s 19th birthday!

It was a grey, rainy day, which was perfect for hanging out at home and watching TV. We did venture out to go out to dinner at Moose’s favorite restaurant, Red Robin.

He asked for the same kind of cake as he had last year…a chocolate cake with purple and orange stripes. This cake, however, had a fun surprise…I filled the center with m&ms!

It was a fun day celebrating Moose!

Three Students, Three Colleges, Three States

I was thinking to myself the other day how funny it is that over half of my children are now in college, and they’re going to three different schools in three different states!

A Look Back…Graduation Then and Now

I don’t know how we got here from there; I don’t know how it came upon us so quickly, but Moose is now a high school graduate! So much has changed from his kindergarten graduation to now, starting with how very tall he’s grown over the years, but he is still the sweetest guy and hardest worker you’ll ever meet!

  • Honor Roll
  • Astronomy Club
  • National Honor Society
  • National English Honor Society
  • Clarinetist in Pit Orchestra and Marching, Pep, and Concert/Symphonic Bands
  • 2023 Mighty Maroon Recipient
  • 2024 Graduate
  • Gentleman

High School Graduation

“Headmaster Charleston, faculty members, fellow students, family and friends, welcome. We never thought this day would come. We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, minutes, and seconds, and now that it’s here, I’m sorry it is because it means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who have been my mentors – so many people who have shaped my life and my fellow students’ lives impermeably and forever.” Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls

Today was Moose’s high school graduation!

We had the best case scenario possible for graduation. The weather was clear (albeit a little warmer and sunnier than we would have preferred), and the ceremony was held outdoors in the football stadium, which meant Moose received enough tickets for our whole family to attend! It was quite a thing to see the entire class process in…I think there were between 400 and 500 graduates!

You can barely see him, but he’s walking off the stage after receiving his diploma:

After the ceremony, I got a few pictures of him with friends and teachers, and a few solo, as well:

We took some family pictures, too:

For months, he has been planning to go to our family’s favorite Mexican restaurant for his celebratory dinner…it’s the first time we’ve been there since before the pandemic, and the food was just as good as I remembered!

For dessert, I made his favorite…s’mores pie.

This was an amazing day…he has worked so hard, and done so well, and it was a thrill to see him wearing all his awards as he received his diploma! I am so happy we had this opportunity to celebrate his accomplishments!

Scholarship, Service, Leadership, Character

This week really marks the start of the final push to the end of Moose’s high school career, and what a start it was…he was inducted into the National Honor Society!

Last year, based on his grades, he received an invitation to NHS. Before he could become a full member, though, he had to complete 30 hours of community service (in addition to maintaining his GPA). There were times when I wondered if he would be able to squeeze enough volunteer hours into his busy schedule, but he got it done, and the ceremony was this afternoon.

It was quite short, but he had his moment, where he received cords to wear at graduation and lit his candle from the National Honor Society candelabra, which, in addition to the center candle for the class of 2024, has candles for the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

This was a Big Moment…the beginning of a month’s worth of Big Moments, including playing in the pit orchestra for the spring musical, induction into English Honor Society, the final band concert of his high school career, and finally, graduation. Which is my way of saying that I’m planning on crying for about the next month…pride is not the word I’m looking for, but it’s a start, because I am so proud of my son!

Chickadee Thursday

When we took Bunny back to college last weekend, we also had the opportunity to see the night sky with a bit less light pollution than we have at home, and Chickadee was very excited that Moose was willing to point out all the constellations he knows, and then help her draw them, too!

18 Already!

It’s hard for me to believe, but Moose’s 18th birthday was yesterday!

Since he had a busy school day, we split the celebration over two days. He waited until after school to open his presents…Lego is still one of his (well actually all of ours) favorite things!

He had a late day at school, so he picked something quick and simple for dinner…chicken patties and mac ‘n’ cheese (I added the green beans so we could pretend there was a healthy component to the meal!). It was excellent timing, because yesterday was also National Fried Chicken Sandwich day!

And we had his cake on his actual birthday, which worked out well, because there enough left for round two today!

Today he had off of school, so he spent the day relaxing and doing some of his favorite things. And tonight, for the first time in about four years, we went to Red Robin for dinner!

I can’t believe that 3/5 of my children are now legal adults, but I have loved seeing the people they have become as they’ve gotten older, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Moose!

Senior Night

Tonight was Senior Night at Moose’s high school, and the senior members of the marching band and their parents were recognized at the football game along with the football players and cheerleaders. It was very exciting for me to be there and be recognized with Moose, especially since his marching band career got off to a rocky start thanks to the pandemic. While there was technically a band his freshman year, they didn’t get to play at any games or competitions, so it wasn’t exactly the beginning he was hoping for, but he has loved all of the events he has gotten to be part of since they resumed normal activities his sophomore year!

Tonight was extra exiting because following their usual pre-game music, they got to change into their new show uniforms for the first time for their halftime performance!

Here are a few more images from the festivities tonight:

I’m so proud of Moose and all of the hard work he has done as a member of the marching band!