SOAR 2011 ~~ Freshman Orientation ~~

So Thursday and Friday was Dak's Freshman Orientation at MSU. 

It was so fun and a little scary at first,

but in true Dak fashion,

he SOARED!!!

Here is Dak and I leaving on Thursday. 

See how nervous he looks.....

Yep, Starbucks helped =)

This is what we saw standing in line. 

So pretty and poignant....

Okay, so loosening up =)

Yep, I did the mom thing for two days....

It was magical!....

I know this is blurry, but you know how sometimes your kid just does the look that is completely them?...  

Yep, this is a Dak look. 

I LOVE this look!!!!!

And this one.....

We spent some time in some beautiful arcitecture....

This guy you see here is Dak's mini-me....

too funny!!

After dinner, Dak wanted to stay and bowl with the SOAR leaders.

Yeah, I was down with that. 

I sat and laughed and took pictures and made new friends at my age.....

It was a GOOD day!!!

One of the SOAR leaders ~~ really funny guy!!

Dak, getting his bowl on.....

Then Friday we brought Sir Cuteness and Legs with us.....

Oh my stars....did he ever have fun at college.....

 

So MSU is home of the Bears....

So this giant bear is right in front of the Student Union....

HI!!

Ok so this was suppose to be me saying STOP,

instead it looks like me surfing on the bear =)

hahahahaha

Me and Sir Cuteness.....

He is hugging me SO tight right here .....  I love this boy so!!!!!

One of my FAVORITE pictures!!!!!

He was absolutely taken by the bear's tail.

Cracked.us.up.

For the love people..... 

=)

Oh.my.stars.

LOVE.

Legs is my girl.....

Totally my girl!!!!!

Okay so this is another fav.....

Sir Cuteness was ALL about the fountain.....

And what a BEAUTIFUL fountain it is.....

So are you wondering where all the pics of Dak are for Friday?

Yeah, we didn't get a SINGLE PIC of him on Friday.

He was so busy getting his schedule worked out and then we had to go to the bookstore and reserve his books and then go to financial aide and get that worked out too.

So much to do on one of these visits. 

But we did it and move in day is August 19th.

I am so happy and sad all at the same time.

I am already checking out the parent page and figuring out what I can do to make it really special for Dak.

I got a few tricks up my sleeve =)

If anybody has any fun things I can do for him, please let me know.

Also, Legs and K are moving in the same day, same school, so looking for some fun and thoughtful things to do for them to, and remember I am a mama and grandmama of ALL boys, so except for being a girl myself, I am a little challenged in that area =)

So there you have it, our SOAR day ~~ it was SO fun and SO informative ~~

Dak also got the head of his department for an advisor.  He is so pumped!!

He has art classes downtown, so he is double pumped!!!

Love you so ~~

Random Friday on Thursday?.... Yep =)

So I have been wanting to post ALL WEEK, but I have been SO busy I just haven't had the chance. First off, I'd like for you all to remember my mama. She fell on Sunday and fell hard on her face. She has two black eyes and a nasty knot on her head, and she broke her thumb. We go to the doctor this afternoon for her thumb. So I'd love it if you'd pray for my sweet mama. She has really felt bad this week. In other news..... Dak and I went back to one of the schools he's looking at for the fall, and of course, we had to take our walking shoes pic........ please note I have boots on. The weather here has been SO cold......blech.........it's spring already!!!!! I'm not bitter. But..... We have a decision ~~ My sweet Dak will be a BEAR in the fall!! He will be staying close to home and going to MSU in Springfield (about 30 mins from here ~~ YAY!!) He will be living on campus and he is SO ready!!!!!

We both feel like we can concentrate on the rest of his Senior year and graduation.

And WOW the end of this year is going to be CRAZY!!!!! Tennis has started and his schedule is NUTS!!!!! But he is loving it. He is singing in the school play this year and that is next weekend (I think =) He has Districts for his Ensemble this weekend, Spring Concert in a couple of weeks and then Prom and Graduation are just around the corner. See, CRAZY!!!!! But I just love it. I'm proud of my sweet boy!!!

In other news, Sir Cuteness is currently, at this moment, sitting in his high chair in a tee shirt, underwear and his boots. The boy cracks.me.up. He is SO funny!!!!!

**************************

So let's talk about the knee, shall we? I took my mom to her Primary Care Doc last Friday, and she asked about my leg (she is my PC doc too) and I told her she didn't want to know =) So she looked at it, and said something is wrong. She asked me if I'd consider going back to Mayo to have them look at this knee. So, not really =) I'm trying to take it easy, but boy I am still not so good at it.

Here is my sweet Dak, after our meeting and his decision is made. The pressure is off. YAY!!! At least as far as where he will go.

And of course, one must eat cheesecake with two forks when one has decided to be a bear =)

Okay, so I gotta run. So nice to be back in touch =) I hopefully will be visiting y'all later today as well.

Love you so ~~

Will he be a bear or a lion? hmmmm.......

So yesterday, Dak and I had his last college visit. tear. I am so happy that he has checked out options and was not so set on just one thing. He is starting to see things come together.

So in honor of our college visit, we took our walking shoes pic =) And notice Dak's green for St. Patty's day and yes the other is orange. I know, just work with him. Afterall he is 18 =)

Here is my sweet son. We had so much fun. Oh and let me just interject. Yes Dak's hair is still blue, okay so now it is a nice shade of blueish-green. nice. He is, however, getting it cut and colored, a more professional color =) (thank you college visit) next week on spring break. YAY!!!!!

Here we are. Me and my sweet boy. We had SUCH a good day!! Even though our tour guide left a lot to be desired, he started looking at things beyond her and seeing things as they might really be if he went there. I was so proud of him. Sometimes a tour guide can make it or break it, but Dak really looked at the campus as a whole and really took in the experience, much like he did at MSU. So I feel like he has a real sense of what it might be like.

Another plus, Dak has some friends that go there that were really able to give us the low-down.

This is beautiful Cheyenne. She helped us a lot. We had lunch with her and Addie. I didn't get a pic of Addie, but she really gave us a lot of feed back and was very honest with us. It was great.

Addie told us to go to his department (business) and really get a feel for it. So we did and then we met Addie at her music building (she is a music major), and he met the choir teacher. He has an audition on April 13th at 1:00, for Concert Chorale and Show Choir. He has to take a concert piece and a Broadway tune. This audition will also be for a scholarship. I'm so excited for him. He is really nervous.

So now we wait for his acceptance letters and packages and then he will make his final decision. This is such an exciting time. I'm trying not to think too far ahead, because then I get sad. I was laying in bed last night so happy he was laying in his bed, knowing that in the not-to-distant future, he will be living and sleeping away from home. WOW!!! It has seriously happened SO quick!!!!!

So what will we be?..... a bear or a lion?..... Time will tell.....

Love you ~~ have a Super Blessed Day,

College Day ~~ Fun & Exciting ~~ Narrowing it down.....

So yesterday, Dak and I went for another college visit. We went to Missouri State University in Springfield. It is only about 30 mins away, but Dak has decided if this is where he goes he wants to live on campus.

It is a beautiful campus.

See..........................................

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this was a walking tour and the information we received said to wear comfortable shoes.
And as you might guess a walking tour is kind of a hard thing to pull off when you are on sitting duty from your doctor.

So we donned our walking shoes..........mine is the leg with the tuba grip =)


I grabbed my crutches, and off we went. They were SO nice to us and were SO accomodating to my knee needs. It was really a great day!!

Dak got some much needed information and I'm starting to see a beautiful pattern emerge. My beautiful son is finding his wings. I love him so much and knew that he would be spreading those beautiful wings. I didn't think I was ready........ and probably still not, but I am looking forward to seeing him branch out and really become the person that God created him to be.

How cute is this child? I love him so!!!

We have one more college visit: Missouri Southern in Joplin, MO, about an hour away from here. We will be going there in the next couple of weeks I'd say and then the decision making begins.

He is getting very excited and of couse I am SO excited for him. Spread your wings baby!!!

"I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams,
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things.
I'm here for you whatever this life brings,
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings."