Homecoming!!!!!

This weekend was homecoming at our high school. Thankfully, there is no longer the expectation that those who go to homecoming go with "a date." It makes so much more sense to let anyone come with whomever they like or even come alone. Mary went with a group of her girlfriends and had a fun time dressing up!

Big sister Anne came over and worked on her hair.

Whoa. She's no little girl any more, that's for sure.

Anne's masterpiece hairdo...

Anne presenting Mary to the rest of us in the kitchen and gesturing for her to turn around.

I love this dress. She borrowed it from Anne who wore it to a high school dance. It's simple, elegant and pretty modest, much better than most of what's in the stores these days.

And... presenting Jim--- homecoming prince!

In the past I had always wondered if it's really necessary to do the whole homecoming king/queen/court thing in high schools. After all, don't the popular kids get their own reward without putting a crown on them?

Then, to her utter surprise, my daughter Anne was voted homecoming queen of her high school in 2003. It was such fun to see her so validated by her peers.

Then, this year, our Jim had the delightful surprise of being voted to the homecoming court. He was one of the princes. We were so excited for him!!! Kind-hearted, sweet, humble Jim !!! I guess his classmates have also noticed what a good guy he is!

As a mom, it is just so special to see one's children honored by their peers. It means so much to the kids. I just hope that all the students know how special they are, regardless of who gets voted what. It's God's regard that matters, after all, and we know how he feels about every one of us.

Here is Jim with one of the princesses, someone he happened to go to grade school with too.

Jim with all his sisters and future brother-in-law Zach. They were all sweet enough to come to the assembly with me to watch.

LOL. Yup, he's a fighting Irishman. And he's always been a prince in our book.

It was a really busy but very fun weekend.