KG Homecoming 2016

 Well, didn't Garrett snag a cutie for homecoming this year?!  Abby is in marching band with Garrett this year, though she is in percussion and Garrett is still tooting on the trombone.  A magical few weeks of intense marching band camp, followed by numerous trips to the local Sheetz for food, all conspired to create a night of enchantment for these two.  Tim and I took Garrett shopping a couple of weeks ago for a new white shirt and a tie that coordinated with Abby's dress.  Then this week, it was alterations for Garrett's dress pants and a corsage for Abby.  
The couple decided to meet up with fellow band member Markal and his date Rachel.  I was the designated chaperone and driver to Umi's for a dinner of sushi and then the kids stopped by Carl's for some ice cream.  Back to King George for the dance and then everyone was home by midnight.  

Jason's Big Bed

The tiny toddler bed.....

 Poor Jason.  The 4th kid always gets left behind.  Considering that Jason has never complained about his toddler bed situation, I probably would have left him in it until he was 16 if I hadn't noticed how incredibly long he is in that little bed.  We kept putting it off, but it became obvious that Jason needed a "big boy"/twin bed.  We went shopping a couple of weekends ago (Labor Day weekend, so there were sales galore) and found him a solid wood bed frame and new mattress.  As a bonus, Timmy and I happened to hit on an excellent sale on latex mattresses and our new king size was delivered a week ago!  I swore that we'd always stay in a queen but there is something magical about a gigantic king bed.  And latex mattresses don't depress like regular ones so I feel like I'm floating on top of the mattress at night.  

Jason's new bed!

Jason even picked out his new sheets--puppies!

Caroline & the KG Marching Band

 This is Caroline's first year at KG High School and she was quite excited to join the KG Marching Band--the "Royal Regiment". It 's a huge time commitment with 4 day a week practices, home football games, and competitions all over VA every weekend from September through November.  They started all-day practices during August two weeks before the kids even went back to school!  This is Garrett's third year in marching band, so Caroline definitely knew what to expect.  They had their first competition yesterday and scored the highest in the whole competition! Not just their division....the.whole.competition.  They work so hard so I know it's very rewarding for the kids to see the awards after a competition.  Marching band isn't cheap (especially with TWO of them in it!) but it covers a trip in the fall and their annual Spring trip to a concert at Hershey Park and a couple of fun days at the park in May.  

Practice, practice, and more practice!  That girl has developed the best arm/shoulder muscles and a tan to die for!

Ready to line up in the bleachers for the football game.

In formation, getting ready to enter the field for the football game.

In uniform with her bestie Lolo!

Library News: Revamping the Biography Section

  When I saw the biography section upon my arrival to my school's library, I wasn't too impressed, but I had so many more pressing issues to deal with first.  Once I had time to deal with the biographies, I could see why the kids never checked them out.  Most of the books were old, not in the best condition, didn't include color photos, or included people that the kids didn't know.  I used about $500 of my budget to buy some biographies on recent people of interest (Drake, anyone?) and decided to divide and conquer the whole section.  I decided on 9 different groups:  authors, leaders, athletes, explorers, notable people, entertainers, scientists & inventors, musicians, and artists.  Each group was assigned a color and I ordered color-tinted label protectors to place over the already-existing spine labels.  Then the heavy lifting began.  I moved the books to their new locations and started stickering.  Then I made signs for each group and voila!  The section is so much easier to use!

What I lack in $ I make up for ingenuity.  This sign was made with colored cardstock and the trusty laminator.  Not that it prevents the kids from asking "Where are the biographies?" while standing. right. under. it.

The shorter bookcases house the smaller groupings:  entertainers, scientists & inventors, musicians, and artists.

Sorry for the glare!   This section in orange is entertainers.  It includes mostly actors, like also had some oddballs like Annie Oakley, comedians, and Houdini.

Notable people was created because "Leaders" included too much variety.  Anne Frank, Helen Keller, and Eleanor Roosevelt weren't exactly "Leaders" so where do they go?  That's when I made up the "Notable People" section.

This section is the most used, obviously.  I just added some updated biographies.

My tiniest section!  We'll see if the kids even use it much.  It might never get much bigger, but if the kids actually check out the books, I might use some of my precious budget to get updated bios for it.

We had plenty of author bios, I just added updated ones.  I also weeded out the duplicates (not sure we ever needed 7 bios on JK Rowling).

I ended up with an empty bookcase and created this display!  I picked out a variety of bios and placed them here.  The lazy kids who don't want to graze through the bio section usually stop by here to grab a book.