Our First Prom

Here is Amanda all ready to go to her first Prom. At her school, you can attend when you are 14, you just can't bring a date until you are 16. It is a lot of fun. They have it at a fancy reception center where they have a lot of weddings. The dress code is super strict which makes finding a dress nearly impossible. We found this one on a clearance rack for $60, which is a steal. Prom dresses easily go up to $400. The only other dress we were considering was $120. We found the store where we got this dress in a last ditch effort, but I will always go there. They were amazing. Not only did they have the dress we needed, but they altered it in record time and gave us a great deal on the shoes. The shoes came with laces in about 110 different colors so she can use them over and over again. Andrea helped us with hair and make-up. She has all the curling irons and other such tools and body glitter to make all this possible.

Justin and I chaperon the Prom every year. I always get assigned to man the punch bowl, in case someone tries to slip a Red Bull into it, hehe. The food this year was made by a mother who is also a professional chef. It was amazing. She had all sorts of finger foods and desserts. She even dipped strawberries so they looked like tuxedos.

Amanda had a few friends that she hung out with at the dance. She was asked to dance a few times by the boys and she danced with her dad a few times. The was pooped by the time we left. The DJ was messing around and played the "Boot Scootin' Boogie" song for 12 minutes instead of 3. It was hilarious. The kids started dropping out and sitting at the sides. Amanda kept going for the longest time, probably about 10 minutes of it. Most the music was the modern teenage stuff, but edited for content. Her school has a cool tradition of crowning all the graduating seniors, about 20 students this year, as Kings and Queens of the Prom. They all get a moment in the spotlight. Afterwards all the seniors were crying. It is good to see kids who love their school and their teachers so much that they don't want to leave them. They are a neat bunch of kids. The Student Body President is a great guy. Andrew says he is his friend, and I believe it. I've seen him befriending all the kids.

Prom day was crazy. I had to run the kids to school, 13 miles, and then back home, 13 miles, then to deliver flyers, 7 miles, and back, 7 miles, then to pick the kids up, 13 miles, then to the dress shop, 6 miles, then home, 17 miles, to bath and eat lunch, then take Amanda to drama, 10 miles, then to scouts, 10 miles, then to get Amanda ready and drop off the kids to Grandma, 10 miles, then to the dance, 4 miles, then to pick up the kids, 4 miles, then home 10 miles. WHEW! That's 124 miles in a lot of traffic. I was either on my feet doing flyers, scouts, beautician, chaperon and punch police, or on my wheels, being the family taxi. I was glad when Thursday was over, and so were my feet.