AP Testing

Monday was the beginning of AP testing for Anthony and Christina. Anthony has four AP classes: AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP US History and AP Language and Composition. Christina has one AP class: AP Environmental Science. Monday was AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science and both Anthony and Christina came home tired; Christina told me that she was "Physically and mentally exhausted"! 

Last High School Volleyball Match

Last night was the last High School volleyball match of the season. Anthony was able to play half of each sets. Since he is still recovering from a sprained ankle, the coaches decided to put him in as a setter in the back row; this way, he didn't have to jump to block and didn't have to hit. He was happy and says his ankle definitely feels better. Club season is starting again soon, with tryouts this weekend. His Club Coach asked if he could come and help out with the tryouts which he of course agreed to!

Zombie Prom

Last week was another busy week with the final two home matches for the GVHS Boys Volleyball teams which meant last two Snack Bars to organize. To top it all off, Christina was performing in the musical "Zombie Prom", on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. It was a fun musical, full of great dancing numbers and with a cute storyline. She had a blast but was definitely exhausted! The following photos are from the professional photographer who took shots during the dress rehearsal.  

Week of April 18th, 2016

Too busy this week to post everyday. So here is a recap of my week: Monday, Anthony and the GVHS Boys Volleyball team had a friendly game against AVHS. They played great and won. Anthony had 8 aces and 4 kills that night. Not bad for a setter!

On Tuesday, another volleyball game, this time a Foothill League game against Saugus. Despite Anthony playing awesome, the team couldn't get it together and lost. Needless to say it was a very disappointing night. 

Wednesday was the one and only quiet night. The last night, another volleyball game. GVHS hosted the Canyon High team and lost in 5 sets. On top of that, Anthony sprained his ankle in the second set and didn't return. Came home at 8:00PM tired and disappointed. And today, Christina has a group study for her upcoming AP test and Anthony has a Jazz Band performance at Canyon High. To make things even busier, he sprain the right ankle and can't drive yet. So I have to chauffeur everyone to their respective activity! TGIF!

Tall Alice

This girl did it again! Congratulations Christina for being cast as Tall Alice and Lily in Alice in Wonderland Jr. She auditioned last Sunday at the Fremont Theatre in Pasadena. The Theatre Company called "Young Stars Theatre" puts out show casting exclusively young actors. So happy fro Christina!

Frustrating Match

Last night, the GVHS volleyball team played against Hart High School. What should have been an easy win ended up going into 5 sets! They won the first two sets and lost the next two. According to Allan, even in the last set, they were trailing behind until the very end! I didn't stay for the last set. I needed to get home and make dinner so Christina would have something to eat before her Skype session with Gray studios. Needless to say that it was a frustrating match to watch! Anthony played well, despite his obvious frustration and he remained calmed and composed throughout the whole match, which is a big deal for him!

USF

On Saturday, we visited USF... a beautiful campus at the top of the city!

San Jose State University

Christina's English teacher assigned an extra credit project for Spring Break: visit a college and do a presentation on it when you get back. The luck of the draw gave Christina University of San Francisco. She begged me to go. So I decided to make this trip useful and pleasurable. USF does not have a Speech Therapy program (which is what Christina is interested in). So on our way to San Francisco, we stopped at San Jose State University. It has a Speech Therapy program and Yovanna (Nicholas' girl friend) goes there. Plus, Nicholas is only a 10 minute ride from there. So we met with Yovanna, got to explore the library with her and took the guided tour. We then hung out with her until dinner time, since Nicholas was working until 5PM. We then picked him up form Santa Clara University and went for dinner. It was great to spend some time with my boy... We left him at 8:30PM to go to our hotel.

University of California in Irvine

Visited UCI on Wednesday with Anthony. Beautiful campus...Too big for my taste. But Anthony liked it. He said it would be a great place to find inspiration for his book. Sadly, the Volleyball coach was too busy to meet with him on that day. But he emailed Anthony and told him that he will seek him out at one of his Club team tournament in May.

All Better

I took Conan to his Eye Doctor's apt today. Just a re-check to make sure that we are doing a good job. And we are... He is doing much better. Now he only needs one drop per day to help produce new tears. I mentioned to Dr. McNabb that he seems to be tearing up a lot more when we go outside lately. She suspect that he is suffering from allergies and suggested an antihistamine eye drop to be administered before going on a walk. His next apt? in 6 months... Yay!

CalBaptist University

Yesterday, I took Anthony to visit CalBaptist University, in Riverside. We attended a quick information session and walked around campus with a Guide. After the tour, Anthony met with the volleyball coach and spent the day at CBU. He met with an English Professor, a Psychology Professor, spent the afternoon with a few volleyball players on the team and watched them practice for a bit. He had a great time and really liked the school and the team. Let's hope he made a good impression on the coaches...

Hiking

Today was a beautiful Spring Day. I went for a hike with Allan, Christina and Conan!

New Leash On Life

Mobile Pet Adoption for New Leash On Life today; Anthony and Christina got some Volunteer Hours and some "puppy love".

Stiff Neck

I woke up a couple of days ago with a stiff neck. Over the two days and two nights, it got worse. So on Friday, I went to Urgent Care to make sure it was nothing serious. Diagnosis: Torticolis.

Been A While!

It's been a while since my last post... Volleyball season started and I got really busy with Snack Bar duty. So, other than volleyball pictures, I didn't photograph much. This past week, the GVHS Varsity team played two tough games against opponents they could've beat. But they play pretty bad (including Anthony) and they lost.

Trouble Maker

Conan the Trouble Maker was at it again yesterday; Anthony left without putting up the gate. So Mr. Conan went upstairs and found a bottle of Ibuprofen. He managed to open it and spilled the content on the floor. I don't know that he ate any of them... If he had, he would probably be very sick! 

Lemons

Does lots of flowers on our lemon tree mean lots of lemons?

Newberry Park Jazz Festival

This is a busy season for the Performing Arts and for Christina and Anthony. Christina has Choir 3 more Choir performances this week; One today with the Santa Clarita Concert Choir, one each Tuesday and Wednesday night with the GVHS Women's Choir. Anthony participated in the Newberry Park Jazz Festival yesterday with the GVHS Jazz Band where they played 4 songs, 3 of which featured Anthony on the Alto Sax! I am so proud of my kids and the way they are performing and presenting themselves...

Heritage Festival

Christina and the GVHS Choirs are participating in the Heritage Festival in San Diego this weekend. The performance was last night, Friday, March 18th. The Women's Choir did an excellent job and received a lot of praises from the judges! Today, they were spending the day at Sea World and are scheduled to return tomorrow  around 1:00PM.

Alumni Game

It was fun to watch Anthony and the GVHS Boys Volleyball Varsity team take on the Alumni Team. Some of the past athletes showed up and there was a lot of familiar faces. Of course, the Varsity team won, but the Alumni team make them work for it.

Happy St-Patrick's Day!

HAPPY ST-PATRICK'S DAY!

Missing Days

I have been missing a lot of days lately. The kids are keeping me pretty busy. I also lack the motivation and the inspiration. I miss the days when the kids were little. Documenting there lives was so much fun. Now a day, if I can get a picture of Anthony, it's usually in action; Either playing volleyball or playing the sax. And Christina is becoming more and more self-conscious everyday. She will only take photos when she feels like it. So that leaves me with Conan... Not the most cooperative subject, but with a treat or two, I can get him to sit still long enough to photograph him. The problem is, without props or a change of scenery, his photos are starting to look all the same.

Quartz Hill

Anthony and his High School Volleyball team played Quartz Hill on Thursday. Unfortunately, they lost in three sets. The Coaches are still playing with the line up and trying to figure out who the best players are. We are hoping that by the time league play starts, the team will be ready. Anthony set in the first 2 sets and half of the third set and hit the other half.

Victory Rolls

It's Black and Gold day at school today; that's when the 8th Graders go visit the high school and get a preview of all the Clubs and activities they can be involved in. Anthony has been asked to be the representative for the Boys volleyball program and Christina will perform with the Choir and the Theatre Departments. "Zombie Prom" is the Spring musical and they will perform one of the song for the visitors. Since it takes place in the 50's, Christina created "Victory Rolls" in her hair. Cute isn't it?

Emmys

Playhouse of Cards, the Web Series that Christina shot this past Summer was nominated by the Collegiate Emmy's for "Best Scripted Series"!

Antelope Vally Volleyball Tournament

Yesterday, the GVHS Varsity Volleyball Team participated in the Antelope Valley High School Tournament and made it all the way to the Championship Match. Unfortunately they lost by 2 points and finished in second place. The pressure got to a few key players and at the end, too many mistakes happened. Anthony had a solid performance and did his best to lead his team.