Brooks & Dunn

Brooks & Dunn fly a hot air balloon during their concerts. Apparently they fly over the concert venue and then try to land somewhere. For their recent show at the Nissan Pavilion, that Tracy attended, they landed their balloon very near our house. Look at the picture below and see if you recognize anybody:

BTW, if you want to check out the other pictures, go to the Brooks & Dunn website and click on the Bristow, VA link under 'Balloon pics' to see the rest.

National Junior Honor Society

Yesterday, Kellie was informed that she is being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. Congratulations, Kellie and keep up the good work!

Gifted Education Program

Kellie has been nominated by two of her teachers for possible inclusion in the Pennington Gifted Education Program. This is similar or the same as other TAG (Talented and Gifted) programs offered in Prince William County. I will know more about this as the process moves along. For now, I just wanted everyone to know that she has been nominated and the process has begun. It goes without saying that Tracy and I could not be more proud of her academic success.

Flag Football

Austin's first Flag Football practice was tonight. Although Tracy seemed overly concerned that he is the smallest player on the team, he survived the practice intact. He really seemed to enjoy the experience. The team's first game is in less than 3 weeks.

NCA Nationals - Myrtle Beach

Kellie had a cheerleading competition in Myrtle Beach this past weekend, and it proved to be a good opportunity to get both the Boones and the Clarks together. Last year, both of Kellie's squad (RAH! Lightning Storm and RAH! Extreme Vortex) earned an automatic bid to compete in this year's nationals. The event was held in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. This proved to be only three block from the Breakers hotel where Uncle Mike and Tabitha were wed last year.

Jim and Jane Boone live in nearby Calabash, N.C. and we were able to spend the weekend at their house and commute to the event. Mod, Dad, Jim, Jane, Chuck and his girlfriend Kristin all made the trip to cheer Kellie on. Mom even dragged herself out of bed with the Flu to make the event. Lightning Storm placed second and Vortex placed fourth in their respective divisions. Lightning Storm lost their first day lead, but faced some good competition on the second day. Vortex had a rough weekend and didn't make the medal round.

This was the first time that any of the relatives had had an opportunity to see Kellie perform. Kellie really appreciated the interest and she never shies away from the spotlight. Thanks to Jim and Jane for putting us up and thanks for all the family support from Pembroke.

Action Shots:

Dad, Kristin & Chuck. Lunch at Planet Hollywood, Myrtle Beach

Kellie & Friends. Lunch at Planet Hollywood, Myrtle Beach

Kellie & Friends. Broadway on the Beach

Award Ceremony

Award Ceremony

Group photo outside the Convention Center, at least those girls we could round up.

Temples and Tombs

Last night, Kara and the entire second grade class at Bristow Run Elementary School held a performance of Temples and Tombs. Here is a picture of Kara taken after the show.

Indiana's New Coach

Indiana University has hired former Oklahoma University basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. Why is this news? Kelvin Sampson is a Pembroke, N.C. native and a Lumbee Indian. When one of us makes it big, we all share in the glory. It can be argued that Kelvin was already in the spotlight. He remains a very respected member of the NCAA coaching ranks beginning with his success at the University of Washington and clearly his work at Oklahoma has impressed someone. Kelvin stated that he wanted to coach at a school where basketball is #1. He's clearly not going to get that at OU, so when Indiana offered him the job, he got what he wanted. Indiana is one of the most visible coaching jobs in the country, so let's wish Kelvin the best of luck!

Kelvin Sampson Official Website

Happy Birthday to Dr. Clark

Yesterday, Charles celebrated his 39th birthday. I called him to remind him that this was his last birthday in the 30's, but he was well aware of that fact. He celebrated the big day with a nght out with his girlfriend? (Kristin), Mom, and Kristin's mother.

Second and Last Playoff Game

Austin's basketball suffered a season ending defeat this past Saturday. They were beaten by this team earlier in the season, and played them far tougher this time around. The whole idea is to have fun and her certainly did that. All that is left is the season ending party. The league decided to distribute shirts this year in lieu of a trophy. This may be a cost-saving measure, but rest assured that young Austin is quite upset by the new development.

First Playoff Game

Austin's basketball team had their first playoff game last night. In an earlier post I described their comeback game of the season. They drew the same team for the first playoff game. This time, however, there was no comeback and no drama as they easily won the game 28-20. The game wasn't as close as the score might indicate because they let up with two minutes to go, allowing a few easy scores. Their defense flustered their opponent and even drew comments from the peanut gallery. One of the opposing team moms made several derogatory comments about the inept offense during the game. This type of behavior used be typical of the boy's fathers, but I am seeing more and more women act like this. Austin and the rest of the boys did get a big kick out of listening to her yell at her team.

Offense is nice to watch, but defense wins playoff games.

All American

Kellie just returned tonight from her 2-day competition at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Kellie is on two squads this year and placed 1st with one squad and 2nd with the other. The big news of the weekend was that Kellie's coach nominated her to participate in the All American challenge. She wore a special orange ribbon on her shoes throughout the competition and was judged independently for this award. At the end of the 2-day competition she was awarded All American status and invited to participate in the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl halftime show in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is extremely excited about the offer and is showing the typical Clark modesty about the whole thing.

We are sending away for the trip details, and I'll report more on this subject as I know it. Her 1st place team was also invited to the "Final Destination" competition in Baltimore which will be televised by ESPN on May 6 & 7, 2006.

Basketball Playoffs Starting

Austin wrapped up this year's basketball season with a hard fought loss in their final game. Playoffs begin this week. His first playoff game will be Wednesday or Thursday.

Temples and Tombs

On Wednesday, March 29, Kara will perform in "Temples and Tombs", a school play about ancient Egypt. Kara has singing role in the production. She and I spent this afternoon preparing her costume for the big day. We took a trip to a craft store and got the supplies to make her Egyptian collar. She docarated it with gold paper and jewels and is quite proud of the effort.

Swim Team

Kara tried out for the Bridal Waves swim team on Saturday and was invited to join the winter team. She will practice every Saturday until the Summer league starts. This is a prepatory phase for the competitions this summer.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 36th birthday to Tracy! In lieu of the traditional birthday dinner, Tracy's girlfriends organized a "progressive dinner." Under this format, you travel from house to house, having part of your dinner at each location. We had four stops; drinks and appetizers, side items, main course, and desserts. At each stop Tracy was given a part of her composite gift; a charm bracelet with new charms at each stop. Each charm was particular to the person giving the gift to make it truly personal. Everyone had a great time, and it was the first time that we had done something like this. Even the kids were able to participate. It was definitely a unique experience.

We have a winner!!!

For the second consecutive year, Kellie Clark has won First Place in her category in the School Science Fair. This year, Kellie competed in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category. She measured the number of items one can recall from a written list versus an oral list to determine if the memorization process differed. She clearly demonstrated that we can recall a written list better than one read to us.

She received a first place medal and an automatic invitation to regionals. Congratulations, Kellie, we are very proud of you!!!

Snowtubing

This past Friday, the Clark family joined a group of friends for our third annual snowtubing trip to Ski Roundtop near Harrisburg, PA. Here's a few shots from the trip.

Kellie & Chelsea hanging out in the lodge.

Austin taking a break from the slopes.

Chelsea.

The whole crew.

Austin & Austin in the Holiday Inn pool.

Denny with a little vino by the pool.

Ron, Denny, and young Jackson at dinner.

No More Braces!!

Yesterday, Kellie had her braces removed after a short, but successful application. They left a single wire behind her bottom teeth, but it can't be seen. She will be fitted for a retainer next week, which she will have to wear for another year. She's really happy to get them off and if you call her, she'll tell you all about it.

Boys Night Out

Last night, Dad, Uncle Mike, Charles, and Ché went to the RBC Center in Raleigh to see the Wolpack host the UNC-CH Tarheels. The preferred outcome didn't happen and the Wolfpack dropped their first home game against their cross state rivals.

Final School Board Vote

Those of you that have read about my continuing saga about keeping my kids at the local Elementary School will be glad to know that the School Board formally passed the latest zoning recommendations with an unanimous vote. Kara will not have to change schools, and all my efforts were not in vain.