Twas a Grande Ball, Indeed

[SunKneeMarie]

I had a request to make the story of the Grande Ball its own thread, so I copied my blog on the subject and put it here. It's a bit longer than the original, but it explains the evening a bit more in depth.

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The Grande Ball hosted by the Circle of Friends was tonight. For those who don't know, the Circle of Friends is a group at Michael's high school that strives to bridge that gap between regular ed and special ed students. They have a number of events throughout the school year, but the Grande Ball is by far the biggest. The whole evening is so well organized and pretty. And families come to share this special "prom" with their children.


It is always such an awesome event. Tuxes and formals; limos and pictures; decorations and dancing; weird chicken and cheesecake.... They had it all.

The theme this year was Silver and Gold. The invitations and the decorations were done in silver and gold and the boys had a choice of black, white, silver or gold for their ties and vests.

I had wanted to have Michael wear gold, since Riley's dress was black and gold and I thought it would be a pretty picture when they stood together. But I got sidetracked the morning of the ordering and I forgot to write the request in his notebook. So we had to wait and see what color they had chosen for him. As luck would have it, they must have been channeling me because when I picked up his tux I was happy to see that the tie and vest were gold. They had fitted Michael for his tux at the school and it was a perfect fit.

Here's Michael transitioning from Texas Rangers fan:


into Grande Ball attendee (with a little help from Dad):


Looking sharp:


We took a bunch of pictures of all of us in our finery.
Here's Riley:





Riley and I:






Riley pulling on my earrings... her and that ear touching... kinda odd:


Riley and Michael (isn't the gold beautiful together! okay, shadddup):


Riley and Michael and I (notice Riley's necklace... she wanted to wear one like Mommy):


Mike and Michael:


Ryan and Riley (seriously, enough with the ears):


Mike and I (like the big laughing faces? wanna know the secret? a good goosing. yeah, baby.):


Ryan took this really nice pic of the three of us:



The limo was running late, so we paced a bit in the living room. It was then that I noticed Michael had a bit of a mustache. What to do, what to do... was there time to give him a quick once over with the razor? Or would the limo come mid-shave? We decided to take our chances and Mike gave him the quickest shave of his life.

Finally the limo came and he was loaded in... and Riley was screaming on the sidewalk, hysterical that these strange people in a strange car were taking her brother away. It was very sweet, in a loud, good-lord-what-will-the-neighbors-think kind of way:






When we got to the Texas Motor Speedway, we took the elevator up to the ballroom to watch the limos go around the speedway track. Riley loves elevators and the fun feeling when they go up fast, so I snapped a shot. Ryan is ducking out of the picture... Mom, you're taking a picture in the ELEVATOR???



I took pics of the limos going around the speedway track through the giant wall of windows at the back of the ballroom. That's why they're kind of blurry. They had a pace car... or pace truck, I guess... and everything. You know the limo drivers were loving this:







Then we had to go back downstairs to watch the kids exit from their limos to come into the Ball. My sister in law snapped this pic of the four of us, getting ready to head downstairs:



As the kids exited their limos, they were met by their escorts. Then the couples entered the Speedway Club by walking under the sword arch made by members of the ROTC from the high school:



Here's Michael and his escort walking under the swords:



Then they came into the ballroom and had their pictures taken:



Michael's escort was named Taylor and she was really good with him. He doesn't really understand the whole rigamarole of all of this, and he had to be redirected a lot to get in and out of the limo and to get in line for the picture and to stay on the dance floor for the first dance. But she was a trouper and kept helping him.

It was a lot of those kinds of moments that made me tear up throughout the night. I expect the teachers to understand how to deal with the students, but I am in extra special awe of the fellow students who reach out to the special ed students.

So, deep breath....


Meanwhile, back at our table... Here are some of the table decorations:







We had fewer attendees this year at Michael's table. It was just THE worst weekend for scheduling conflicts. My brother came with his family, and my parents made it. Here are my parents attending to important business:



And my brother and his family getting settled in:



Jason and Lauren got bored at this point. It is kind of a weirdly long section in between the students taking pictures and the ceremony actually starting where they introduce everyone. So they entertained themselves by playing hide the chocolate and giving clues to find said chocolate. The game ended when Jason buried a chocolate in the small dish of butter on the table. Eeeeww, Jason:



Riley G ate her baggie of healthy snacks... she hadn't spied any chocolate at this point:



Ryan entertained himself playing with the games on my phone. And I entertained myself by going around the table and posing for pictures with everyone like I was some wayward politician:








Finally the students were introduced as they came through the arch and they had the first dance:





Then we ate some dinner:




Had a few more photo opps (Ryan, dude, fix your tie!):







Does Bunny Ears ever get old, really?



And you can see from these two pictures that it's pretty much time to go home:




Once again, the Circle of Friends did an outstanding job of hosting a beautiful event to make the lives of some special students a little more special. I'm tearing up again thinking of the kindness that goes into an event like this. And the fun that comes out of it. So thank you, Circle of Friends, for doing what you do. In their words:

Make A Friend; Make A Difference

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[Tesla 573]

Very lovely Char.... You and your family made some beautiful pictures.
Thanks for sharing this event with us.

[MN Annie]

What fun! I am simply in awe of Taylor and all the escorts that volunteer to make this evening such a special night for the special ed students.

It was all wonderful to see and read about. Thanks, Char

[BonnyW]

Very nice!
to the Circle of Friends!

[Nan]

That was wonderful. Thank you for sharing. It reminds me of the Gala that my nephew goes to every year. He lives in a group home in MN (he has cerebal palsy) and the owner of the group homes throws a ball for the residents every year. My nephew is in a wheelchair but he dances with his girlfriend. They have a great time. It is so nice to see the kids making an effort to know and understand the special ed kids. My sister-in-law has a way of judging people - if they go up to my nephew and talk to him and say hello - good people. If you act like he is not in the room - maybe good people but not that good.

[Jacko]

Twas, twas, indeed!

[TAPPY]

Some great pics Char - and so nice that you had the whole family around to share in this event.

[Buggirl]

This brought tears to my eyes- what a great organization and event My sister had CP and needed a lot of help in her short life so people who take the time to help children with special needs occupy a warm space in my heart.

Thanks for posting this

[jamesblonde]

I love seeing these pictures. I think it's wonderful that the whole family gets to enjoy it too. I love the picture of Michael and Taylor dancing. What a great day. (too bad Riley is so shy in front of the camera)

[farmgirl]

That was wonderful, thanks for sharing. Everyone looks so good in their dress clothes!! Nice to do that once in awhile! I think that is a very special program, I wish more schools would do that! Will have to mention it to my sister, she works with special needs kids at a high school near Edmonton.

[CaroleLB]

You made me cry, again.

Char, you have such a handsome family. All of you, so beautiful and loving.

xoxoxo
Carole

[monte]

Char your family looks so lovelywhat great pictures. How exciting to go around the track in a limo.What a great night

[cpfstich]

Fantastic!!!

[Tommygurl]

Looks like another great prom! Love the pictures Char! Michael looked very handsome......as did you all! Thank you for sharing! I can only imagine the excitement in the air!

[Tbonita]

Wonderful Photos !
Taylor was a lovely escort and looks like she took good care of Michael.