Sadie is loving high school, and the transition has gone smoother than we expected. Any guesses what's been our biggest stressor over the past couple of weeks though? Homecoming! Unfortunately, our school did it extremely early, so it felt like there was a lot of pressure to make plans, find a group all while trying to settle in at a new school with new friends. And let's be honest, Sadie isn't my super social or girlie girl who would be normally into this, but I didn't want her to miss out or regret it later, so we started with the crazy tradition of the mum. Our cheerleaders do a fundraiser if you order yours through the Mum Shop, which was a whole experience in itself:
It is a large space with every ribbon and trinket you can imagine for any school. In the back, they even had all of the made mums on display so we could use them as examples:
This is how many schools they work with:
And of course, ours is the 2nd name on the list because we were so early. I worked with a personal shopper who helped me build Sadie's:
She could have cared less about this, so I tried to keep it simple & focused on her. I knew she would not want any trinkets, feather boas or cowbells. Basically, anything that would bring attention to herself. But we did include a soccer ball & XC:
Everyone wore them to school on game day. She had cross country practice early before school so a few of them got ready together & she sent me a picture from school:
Then they all wore them to the game thtat night:
And check out our sunset - it couldn't have been better weather for a football game:
Sophie sat with all of her friends in the middle school section, and we all celebrated with a nail-biting victory - we literally kicked a field goal in the last few seconds to win!
Instead of going with a huge group or going with any boys, Sadie decided to go with some girlfriends and on Saturday, they kicked off the morning early with brunch:
If you didn't notice, Sadie was in her soccer uniform while the rest of the girls had the pajamas on. That's because we had to leave early to head straight to her game. I had hoped to make her a hair appointment but instead she played soccer in 100+ degrees, and was a sweaty mess:
I don't know how she did it, but she had less than an hour to shower, blow dry her hair, curl it & get ready & somehow, she pulled it off! I found this picture on Sophie's phone and it cracked me up. I guess Bryan wanted to take a picture with her before she left, but check out the second picture - he is doing the girls new pose with the popped hand & Sadie's face cracks me up:
Her friends met at 5:15 for pictures and we came in at 5:30, so we missed a few but at least we got there in time for a mini photo session:
Then we quickly headed to dinner:
We made the girls reservations at one restaraunt and one for the moms next door:
and then they went to the dance. From what I hear, no one goes to the dance but most of the freshman did. Or at least they made an "appearance" since they didn't stay long. But I think personally it's a rite of passage & I'm glad they did. This is my only proof they were there. Ha!
To wrap up their day, we threw an after party at our house. I made warm brownies & had everything set up for an ice cream sundae bar:
Instead of doing orange & navy for Wakeland, I put out all of our Longhorn & football decor but in case you didn't hear, there was a big game Saturday night so while they were at the dance, I snuck home to watch the game with Bryan. Not only did we have fun celebrating HOCO with the girls, but we also celebrated a BIG win for the Horns. It ended up being a fun, late night at our house!
It was a fun and exhausting few days for HOCO and next year we will know better what we are doing. By the time Sophie gets to Wakeland, I'll be a pro, which will be helpful because she is already full of ideas for homecoming. Go Wolverines!
