Prom 2022!

How was that for a dramatic pause? And of course, so MUCH has happened during that pause that I am soooo behind on catching this page up! So, let's start in reverse, shall we? Prom took a ton of coordination for six families, half public-schooled, to get to a homeschool prom. But it was a special night for PaTch. Our kids are blessed to have oodles of good friends. Gabby went to get ready for the dance with C and M at M's house; C's teenaged cousin came over to help with the make-up, which turned out lovely! Normally this would be Caelan's tag in, but she's off at summer camp training (and she requested lots of pictures, which of course we took!)

This is what the boys did when I told them to "look casual . . ."

Brennen, of course, invited his sweetheart to the dance. Her earrings matched his smashing new three-piece suit quite well! They are so stinking cute together :)

We had to wait a bit for fancy B to arrive from work, so some silliness ensued before and after his appearance :)

Three out of four don't need work on their "smolder," but one could put in some extra practice in front of the mirror. Lol :)

And of course the nice pictures! Some deer ran through the forest behind as we were taking photos, but they were too quick to catch in the background :)

The weather was chilly, with rain in the forecast--because for EVERY dance there is rain :) After we finished the likewise chilly pictures, the kids all loaded into our pastor's family's 11-seater van for transport to the ball. I headed to the hotel to meet Buck with all the kids' afterprom bags. He and I grabbed some dinner at an unpleasantly noisy venue, and to make-up for okay, expensive food, we went to Chick-fil-A for milkshakes and cookies :) We had very little time at the hotel, which was weird, because last year it felt like we sat there for hours. But soon enough we scrambled out to pick up the kids; it took both our vehicles to transport them!

The boys waited in the hallway, while the girls changed in the hotel room. Soon Gabby said, "Mom, we need to talk to you." It turned out the ladies forgot several important items like, pants, socks and shoes, and undergarments to wear to afterprom. I loaned one of the girls a pair of pants I'd brought along for myself to change into, but as for the other items, we set out at 11 PM, dashing through the rain, trying to find ANYTHING that was still open. Google said Walgreens, not close, was open til midnight. We pulled up to the door at 11:05 and the guy locking the door said they were closing early because no one was available to work. Despite our confirmation phone call on the way, and my begging once we arrived, he was not willing to help or let us shop. Gas stations were even closed. So, the girls went to afterprom missing a few things, but they just hung out in the bowling alley part, so I guess bowling barefoot is okay :) At least C had pants!

We picked them all up at 1:15 and were back to meet all the other parents at our pastor's house by 2 AM. Everyone made it home safely, except for a deer-new-car incident for fancy' B's family--bummer! The kids all slept in their beds, and I expected them to sleep waaaaay in, but they were up bright and early (before 10) to get ready for the five-hour youth group event this afternoon. Now Brennen is at work, Gabby took G$ to do his lawn job, and then they are bike riding. I tell you, we are non-stop around here! So, that's my mini-update. Enjoy all the pictures!