School - She got good grades last semester and is in the Science, Math, and Technology (SMT) program at school (although she says she might not stick with that program because she technically doesn't really like science, math, or technology). This year she is taking Pre-AP Biology, Geometry (yuck - she would say), Calligraphy, Dance, Tech Tools, French, and SMT English. She does a lot of her homework sprawled out on the ground of her bedroom. I'm not exactly sure why we bought her a desk??
Here are some pics of her recent school Dance recital. They demonstrated some Zumba, country line dancing, etc,
Party time - Last weekend she invited 10 guys and girls from her "friend group" from school to our house for an end-of-semester party. We are really grateful that she has a fantastic group of friends. We're happy to host activities to get them together. So, Dan, Bailey, and I spent all day Saturday cleaning the house and prepping the house for a party. (This was an especially big job because we recently sold our big entertainment center in the bonus room and replaced it with a small console and flat screen TV. That means that all the tons of stuff which was housed within the huge entertainment center was piled around the room. We worked frantically to sort it into piles and dispose of/store it so the bonus room was ready for company.)
Dan and I ran out to Costco and the grocery store to stock up on all the essential teenage food groups - sugar, salt, and grease. It was awesome . . . and very tempting to the rest of us, who ate way too much pizza, M&Ms, chips, brownies, fudge, etc. The party-goers got along great. They played some party board games, played Just Dance on the Wii (my favorite moment is when all the boys did a rousing rendition of the "Barbie Girl" dance), ate lots of food, ran up and down the stairs about a bajillion times (sitting in our room at about 10 p.m. and listening as a herd of boys thundered up and down the stairs, I wondered if the house was going to literally fall down. But it didn't - all is well.) At about 10 p.m. they all played a pickup game of basketball outside in the cold. As parents came to pick up their kids, several of them assumed that we had kicked the kids out of the house because they were driving us nuts! No, we were tired, but we hadn't locked them out of the house . . . yet.
I didn't take any pictures of the party, but one of the girls snapped some photos (not surprisingly, the photos she took were of the guys . . .) Here they were goofing off after playing Just Dance. Joseph was right in the middle of the fun!
Basketball - In January Bailey participated in our ward's YW Basketball team. This meant she pushed herself way beyond her comfort zone. Bailey is frequently asked if she plays basketball because she is so tall, but she didn't have a lot of confidence with the sport. At the beginning of the season she agreed to attend the practices and games just to cheer on her friends, but soon found herself practicing with the team. And she realized that she has a good shot and was having some fun. So she somehow ended up playing in the games. The first time she entered the court she said, "NOBODY throw me the ball!" And she would do everything possible to NOT touch the ball. Her teammates, the refs, our coaches, and even the girls on the opposing teams were supportive and helpful. For instance, when she was in "the key" too long, someone from the other team pointed it out to her and then explained what "the key" is. And when she made a basket in a game EVERYONE - the spectators and everyone from both teams - stood up and cheered! With her permission, her are some excerpts of Bailey's letters to Brandon which better describe the experience:
"I'm playing on the church basketball team. Against my better judgment that is. I literally knew not one rule in basketball before I started. And now I know about one more rule than I did before. Case in point, on Saturday I shot into the other teams basket. Twice. And almost made it both times. No one informed me before hand that there were 2 different baskets that were assigned to certain teams at different parts of the game. Now I know. Kind of. Even after they told me, I did it again. That one's gonna go down in history. I also did not know the meaning of "open". I was also informed of that. Did you know it meant able to catch the ball? Because I definitely didn't. All in all, this whole experience has definitely taught me a lot. Like duck when a ball is flying towards you. And don't stand in the "key" for longer than 3 seconds. Whatever that means. Also, basketball is a lot more fun when you know what you're doing. I'm pretty sure I'm now the laughing stock of the stake but at least I had fun doing it! Well... kind of."
"Saturday was our supposedly "last" basketball game. We played Salmon Creek, which is a VERY tough team. The absolute highlight though was I MADE A BASKET FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN AN ACTUAL GAME!!!!! It was kind of far away too! I made it and it seemed unreal for a minute then I jumped up and down. I was surprised to realize that I had to actually still play, even after my basket. haha. When I turned around after I made it though, my whole team, plus the majority of the crowd had given me a standing ovation! It was crazy! Afterwards Mom took me to Muchas Gracias and Yo2Go from a burrito and frozen yogurt. Yum!"
Look closely at the look on Bailey's face below as she waits for the rebound:
Moneybags - Bailey is a sought-after babysitter, and she makes an exorbitant $10 an hour, which is the going rate here for babysitters. I'm just glad we have built-in babysitters now, because I'm not sure I could handle paying that much for a a night out! She puts a hefty amount of her money into the bank (where, under the agreements of the "Porter Bank," any money she deposits for long-term savings is matched 100%). The rest of the money she spends on clothes, especially clothes from Forever 21.
Dances - Every month there is a multi-stake dance, and Bailey and her friends never miss them. Every fourth dance (when it's hosted by our stake), Dan is the deejay. That means he stays on top of the current music, so whenever Bailey's friends are around he "tests" songs on them to decide what he should play at the dances.
The end of January - on Dan's birthday - he deejayed our stake's fancy "Yule Ball" dance. It is for 16 and older and dates are arranged between Laurels and Priests in the stake. Everyone in the stake donates extra prom dresses for "Fairy Goodmother," where all the girls are able to choose a beautiful prom dress to wear to the dance. It is quite an event - amazing decorations, a very nice dinner, free pictures, dance instruction, etc. Dan did a GREAT job running the show that night, and had found some fun, new, appropriate music. Bailey was the only lucky 14-year-old in attendance, as she was able to come as Dan's "music helper."
We love our intelligent, beautiful, witty, fun 14-year-old daughter!
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