Tag Archives: Lex

Marching Band @ WPI!

Posted on by
Reply

My posts are now going to come in threes, apparently. You’re welcome.

Tonight I got to watch WPI beat WSU in football. They livestreamed the whole event. Do you care? No, me neither. HOWEVER, they have the “greatest band in the land” and THAT is why I tuned in! Lex had his first marching band performance tonight. His first week at WPI was for marching band camp. He auditioned for the drum line and was given cymbals. He was hoping for the snare drum, but he is just a freshman after all, so cymbals was a good place to start. Half way through the week he told me he was so glad he was on cymbals because the marching part was so complicated, he really appreciated having an easy instrument to play. Maybe the band director knew what they were doing. :)

So tonight was their first game. They livestreamed it and I loved it. WPI is a NCAA Division III school, so their football setup (and streaming setup) is only slightly better than high school, but they have a marching band and it was awesome. Apparently the football team is good too. Or at least better than WSU. :)

  • He sent me a selfie!! <3 (I might have suggested it a few days ago, but he did it and that's what counts!)
  • The band playing during the game.
  • The drumline
  • The cutest cymbal-er in the world. :)

I’m incredibly happy that he decided to join the marching band in college. He has made friends, learned new skills (marching!), and even put on a silly uniform that matches everyone else. He’s come such a long way. And the best part is, he’s loving it!! I’m so proud of him!

Lex and Eve, then and now

Posted on by
Reply

I talked the kids into a quick photo before they both left. It wasn’t hard to convince them. They are so good to me. 💗

It reminded me of a photo from a long time ago.

I paid a little more for the second one, but I love them both so much. The kids and the photos! Thirteen-ish years later and they still love each other. I’m a lucky momma and enterally grateful for them both. I hope they continue to love and support each other forever. 💕

Things We Said

Posted on by
2

Things Lex said to me yesterday:

  • “I’d like to start wearing jeans.”
  • “I get hungry a lot.” (which led to a conversation about nutrition and him deciding to have a PB&J for lunch (for the protein) with a side of fresh strawberries)
  • “Maybe tomorrow would be a good day to go shopping since we have no plans and I get restless after sitting around all day.”
  • “I like when I’m the first one up and walk the dog. Fresh air in the morning is nice.”
  • “I’d like to wake up at 9:00 or 9:30am so I don’t sleep away the day. It’s weird and disorienting when I wake up at noon.

Things I said to Lex:

  • “Who are you and what have you done with Lex?!” 😂

Today he woke up first, walked the dog, and happily came shopping with me and Eve. He tried on a bunch of jeans and settled on an style he likes. Eve also bought a pair of jean shorts and a button down shirt with crabs on it. We all had fun, until we got tired and headed home. :)

Graduation!

Posted on by
1

Lex graduated this weekend!! He’s such an amazing young man. It has been amazing watching him grow from a tiny baby to a stubborn toddler to an anxious tween to a thriving teen. He wore the robe and the silly hat, he wore the FRC tassle I got for him. He wore the “hood” that he earned for rocking his Honors Program. He earned a few scholarships and a diploma. If the weather had been better, graduation would have been outside and we would have gotten to see him in one final band performance as well, but with the weather so iffy and so much rain all around, they moved graduation indoors and cancelled the bad. Sad. It was a great ceremony anyway!

We had had a little tiny party at our house after graduation. Alan’s new wife made cake (she’s a professional baker) and cookies, and I got pizza for the crew. We had a champagne toast with a goofy speech by me. LOL. It was a really great night all around!

My family rented a lake house nearby to combine graduation with our annual lake week. The weather didn’t fully cooperate, but it was a great house and location, and I was happy to be able to wrap up work, graduation, and all the other stuff while also spending some time at the lake with the family.

On Saturday we invited the D&D group that all three kids are a part of over to the lake house for swimming and gaming. It was only 60° but that didn’t stop the teens from getting in the lake!

  • Down to the lake they go.
  • Brr….
  • Rose and G’Tom kept watch.
  • Beautiful
  • WPI cookies by Rosy
  • <3
  • Game time!!
  • Sisters

It was a big, eventful weekend with lots of planning and prep. I’d like to say that now we rest, but truthfully now we are hard at work prepping for our Norway trip, Eve’s Rotary trip, and Lex’s college adventure. We have a big summer ahead of us, kicked off by an awesome graduation weekend.

Senior Awards Night

Posted on by
Reply

Tonight was Senior Awards Night where they gave out 75 different awards, often to multiple people. It was long and my hands hurt from clapping, but we had fun. Lex got a handful of recognitions:

  • Honors Program (certificate and sash thing to wear at graduation)
  • The Frank Kinison Scholarship (certificate and $)
  • Frank & Olivia Gilman Scholarship (certificate and $?)
  • English Department Award for Excellence in Film Study (certificate and bookmark)
  • Blue Honor Roll Scholar (certificate for being on the honor roll all through high school)
  • Vermont Principals’ Association Award (certificate)
  • Community Service Award (certificate)
  • President’s Award for Educational Excellence (certificate)

Not too shabby for little Lex. I was impressed with the variety of awards given. They didn’t all go to athletes or college bound scholars. A lot of them did, of course, but there were also lots of awards for everyone else as well.

Another day at WPI

Posted on by
2

Lex, Alan, and I went to WPI yesterday for their “First Year Welcome Experience” day. We had a fun time. We started together at the opening greeting, then the students went off to follow their schedule and the adults had an entirely different schedule. We didn’t see Lex again until the end of the day. There were lots of sessions about academics, financials, housing, and more. We had lunch in one of the dining halls. Lex got to visit some dorms. We met new people and got lots of questions answered. It was really nice.

I felt really assured that he made a good choice and would have a good experience at WPI. He signed up for the marching band (they perform at football games, among other things) and will get to move in a week early. He knows who is roommate will be, and will learn which dorm they will be in next month. The campus is a nice size, the dorms are good, the academics seem just right, and the overall energy of the place was really positive. He’s excited for this next step and I’m excited for him. 💗

  • I heard rumors that there is a ceremonial bridge students cross when they start at WPI and again when they graduate. We shall see.
  • When Lex and Alan visit last month they took an “evil genius” photo in these “evil genius” chairs. Not sure why, but it amused them.
  • Alan thought we should recreate the photo with me. Lex had no interest (it was the end of the day and he was tired) but he agreed to take the photo. :)

He’s 18!

Posted on by
2

Holy moly! My baby is 18. Somehow that happened today.

At this time 18 years ago, we were snuggling a tiny baby. The first in the next generation of Collier/Johnsons. It was such a surreal experience.

And in the blink of an eye he turned into a giant, functioning human being, rocking his life in high school and preparing to spread his wings and fly.

For those who can’t do the math (me!) the answer is WPI. :)

We had a perfectly lovely, low-key Lex style birthday day. He wanted cookies instead of cake and an evening with the robotics team, which he hasn’t been to in awhile due to recent theater and band commitments. We all did the normal school thing, of course. Eve and friends sang to him at lunch and his buddies bought him Twizzlers. After school we had a quick appointment at the doctor’s office where Lex had to fill out his own medical forms and a separate form authorizing the doctor to talk to me and Alan. Welcome to adulthood, it comes with paperwork. :)

After that we came home to open presents. He got fun stuff like WPI gear and a new phone (sort of fun, he is a neophyte after all — Mom, this is not the right word! What is the word you always use?!), and boring stuff like sheets and towels for college. After a quick dinner of New York bagels, he was off to robotics to prep for their match at WPI next weekend!

We had another fun surprise this evening when I was tidying up the birthday celebration and we realized the bagels were a monthly subscription! Who knew you could get a subscription for authentic NY bagels?! (clearly Rosy knew!)

He has a few more weeks of senior-slide school left, then it’s summer vacation. I’m going to make those days last as long as possible before I deliver him to his new life on August 20th.

  • Birthday cookies!
  • It was a 7A birthday. :)
  • The drumsticks work!
  • Hmmm…. if it is big and square and sounds like lots of little plastic bricks… what could it be?! :)
  • Bagels!

Happy Birthday Lex!! I could not have asked for a better kid. I love you forever and ever. 💗

Lex’s last concert

Posted on by
1

This week was Lex’s last concert at Hartford! He has come such a long way from his first concert so long ago. At this concert he programmed the lights and taught Eve to run them. He played with the concert band and the jazz band, he accompanied the Concert Choir and Chamber Choirs with some of their songs, and he won two awards! He got kudos and recognition and had a blast.

After the concert they had an ice cream social and all the kids stayed to socialize. It was another really nice night that left me smiling from ear to ear.

  • Eve and Simon in the tech booth.
  • “Act natural,” I say. This is what they give me.
  • Lex and a fellow percussionist receiving awards.
  • <3
  • We forced him to take a few pictures.
  • New Rule: When you just rocked your final high school concert and win a bunch of awards, your parents are allowed to kiss you in public. Lex didn’t put up too much of a fuss. :)
  • One awesome kid right here.

Side story: I got a new phone this week and have been setting up all the apps and stuff again. Google has been giving me a whole new series of “recommended photos” and “memories” and whatnot. I clicked through one today with a bunch of pictures of me with other people. In every picture I think I looked really good, but I remember hating the pictures back in the day. I reminded myself of that when I look at the two pictures of me above. I hate everything about how I look in those pictures, but 60yr old me might disagree. We’ll see. In the meantime, it was an awesome night I’ll stay focused on my amazing son and how proud I am to know him. 💗

Black belt!

Posted on by
Reply

Lex tested for his full black belt this weekend and did amazing! They had a 3+ hour technical exam in the morning, then a brief break for lunch, followed by the presentation and award ceremony. It was indoors and mask-free, which was really nice.

Lex (and the others) showed off a variety of katas (series of moves), including partner katas and weapons katas. He has been going to karate on his own since he got his license and a car, so I don’t get to watch anymore (and I’ve forgotten a lot of the words!). It was really awesome to see how powerful and confident he is in the dojo.

I didn’t have my camera out quick enough for that first video. He was doing the application drill with four “attackers” coming at him, one on each side. Each kata is a series of moves that can be done with a partner (“attacker”) doing the opposite moves, together creating a fight sequence. Katas are learned first on their own, then with a partner.

I’m super proud of Lex. He has really found something he enjoys and stuck with it through the good times and bad (masks!). He is so strong and confident on the floor. He even learned that Sensei Ken (head teacher) has a mentor who runs a dojo in Worcester, MA! We are going to look that up and see if it’s accessible from WPI. Lex had planned on letting karate go once he started college, but upon hearing about Sensei’s mentor, he is reconsidering and might try to continue through college. That would be cool.

Then and then and now. 🖤

WPI Accepted Student Day

Posted on by
2
A sugar cookie that came with the swag bag.

WPI hosted several “Accepted Student Day” events. Lex was unsure at first if he cared to go, but last week decided it would be a good idea. I already had plans and also can’t walk for more than a few minutes, so I asked Alan to take him. They were both up super early in time to get to WPI by 8:30am, but both said it was well worth it! They learned about the robotics team (WPI has a FIRST FRC team that Lex could help coach!) and the music opportunities (Pep band and rock bands!) and some courses that interested Lex. He learned that May 1st is the deadline for enrollment (first round, I’m sure) and that lots of information will start flowing after that. I can’t wait! I love information. :)

I asked Alan to buy him a t-shirt for “Future Plans Day” at school. I got a text at 8:30 this morning from Alan saying “They gave him a t-shirt at registration, so one job done!” :)

Lex came home exhausted, but happy, and confident in his decision to attend WPI. That makes me happy. <3