104 days to go!

Valentine's Day is done and was a huge success! I think many of us still have aching feet from dancing on Saturday night. We are now 104 days away from our departure date and have no more large fundraisers in front of us. We are still a little short of our goal, but we hope to be able to make that money through lunch specials, donations, and a bake sale this spring.

Over the past two years the kids have done a great job working for their money. They are, of course, a group of teenagers, but for me they are superstars. I have rarely ever had to ask more than once for something to be done. They are always willing to help when asked and they know their goal.

We will be covering a huge span of Italy as we visit Rome, Naples, Capri, Pompeii, Florence, Pisa (hopefully), Venice, Milan, and then a train through the Alps to Zurich for our ride home. It is exciting for me to watch the kids begin to prepare for such a huge trip, and frankly they have little idea how to prepare. The seniors seem to be more excited for the trip than they are for graduation.

Our plane tickets have been purchased, our rental car has been reserved,  and all of our stays have been booked. Now we are really just raising money for our play (food, tours, travel). I can just imagine the pictures and looks of awe that will soon become a part of the memories and lives of these six kids. I hope it is something they will never forget, I know it will be a trip I will remember always.

Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is upon us, and as citizens of Valentine, TX, that is a huge deal! This is one of our busiest weeks of the year (aside from Homecoming), and by Sunday, February 16th, we'll all be exhausted!

Not only do we have the holiday coming up where we are selling chocolate covered strawberries, we've also got a concession stand at a town roping, our dinner and dance, preparing for a huge party put on by the Big Bend Brewing Company here in town, and of course the beginning of spring sports.

Spring semester is always busy, and with so few kids in the high school, we are always busy. Those of us planning for our trip to Italy in June are counting down the days!

Yesterday, my co-sponsor and I drove to Midland (a 2.5 hour trip one way) to pick up these beautiful strawberries from HEB. We have purchased about 200 this year since last year we had more ordered than we had purchased. We've had orders pouring in, so we sure hope we bought enough this year!

Not only will we be dipping strawberries this week, we will also be setting up for our dinner and dance! I've spent the day making over 100 mini-cheesecakes for dessert! We had a great turnout last year, and with the roping in town hope we have as many people or more than last year. One of our dads is cooking our brisket again and he always does an AMAZING job! We get lots of compliments.

Once this week is done we'll be 105 days out from our trip! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!