Rah Rah

Lexi had her first cheer competition this weekend.  So cute, and I love the cheer world.  I’ve done the dance mom thing for 13 years, and I have 3 more to go, but it’s fun to explore a new world.  Competition cheer is a lot like dance.  “Dress” practice the night before, which was good for hair and make up practice.

 

 

It was an early foggy morning with an hour drive to get there.

Once we made it there we were fired up!  No nerves for Lexi, just excitement!

Unlike Lexi, our neighbor friend was on the verge of puking from nerves:(  Poor thing!

The awesome thing about cheer compared to dance(although I was told not all competitions are like this) is that you can take pictures and video, and there is a special viewing area up front for the team that is on. 

My beautiful girl remembered to keep her smile through the whole routine!

 

    

They hit all their stunts and looked awesome!

After the routine they change into their spirit wear for awards and Then watch the other teams.

There was a special needs team there that stole the show.  The crowd went wild for them, and they totally deserved it!

Once Lexi found out they sell soft pretzels she was sold on cheerleading forever.

Finally it was time for awards!  They won first place and got a trophy and a medal.  Great way to start off the year!

The most important thing is that Lexi had fun!  She loves her coaches and teammates!

I love that we found a sport(and trust me, it’s a sport, some of the things the older teams do is CRAZY!)that requires everyone to wear a bow.  Now come on, what more could you want as a mother???

The Last Christmas Party

Christmas was not over, at least not in our house.  We hosted our last party on Saturday, which was the perfect excuse to leave the decorations up! 

This party was with our friends who are family the Klimek’s.  They live about 2 hours away and have schedules like ours-busy!  So, our time together is always short and too far between, but quality when it happens. 

The kids immediately found their groove playing, while the adults mulled around eating and drinking and chatting.

We’re way girl heavy in this group!  The 3 of us girls all went on to have girls of our own!

My Aunt Sally and Uncle Erik have a gift and love for hosting.  I am always willing to have people over, but I’m not so much into the presentation.  As I was laughing about the Chinette I actually served dinner on, I looked over to notice that Mark had pulled the big trash can from garage into the kitchen!  That’s so us.  I can totally appreciate the work that goes into putting on a well presented meal, I just don’t have the desire for that!  We’re more like “come as you are, eat as we are”.  I’m proud to say no one left hungry;)

 

We did away with gifts a few years ago, but my mom brought something for everyone anyway.  Bracelets for the kids, and wall art for the grown up kids.  The kind where you make your last name with pictures taken of things in nature that look like letters.  She let us pick our own frames and letters and will order them later!

At one point we couldn’t find the kids!  They were being awfully quiet and were no where to be seen!  Low and behold I found them in my closet on Sof’s little mattress.  I knew that would be a favorite spot once they discovered it!

We always end with a game of LCR.  It’s a dice game played with 3 dollar bills each.  It’s a riot, and the winner ends up with quite the pot of money!

We thought for sure Nan was going to win, because she had so many dollars piled up!

You just never know though, and the dice said otherwise.  In the end my mom took home the winnings!

The curly blond in the pink sweater…that’s Grace.  She married into our “family”, but blended in beautifully from the start. 

She’s been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is facing a double mastectomy in February.  She has a brilliantly positive attitude about it, and even thinks of how it affects her daughter and husband before herself.  We’ll be praying and supporting in any way we can from now until she is whole and well and cancer free.  We love you Grace  

Like always, we had a great time, and we were so thankful everyone was able to get there!  We had been forecast from some really bad weather that night and the next day.  Everyone left just before dark, but had pretty bad drives home!  Everyone made it though and we were together! 

New Year-Day 1

We said good bye to 2013 with our kids and friends.  Together, playing games and hanging out, which is how it should be.  Resolution Number 1: Make more face time(like really, face to face time, not on the iPod face time) for friends and family.  It’s important and it’s good for your health and well being(as long as you do indeed like your friends and family).

Resolution Number 2:  Love more, judge less.  I need to work on that

Resolution Number 3:  Spend time making the space we live in inspiring, interesting, and reflective of us.

I did good on that one today.  I spent the entire day painting Adrienne and Sof’s bathroom.  It took a long time, but I’m so happy with it! 

Mark spent the day at the Winter Classic(an outdoor hockey game).  It was the perfect day for a project:) 

Later the girls and I went over to Em’s to watch the Rosebowl.  We were ecstatic when Michigan State won!!

I’d say we had a good first day of the year.  Only one fail to speak of.  This little darling…

She cut the cat’s whiskers.  I can’t imagine how she managed to do that, but somehow the cat sat still for a trim. 

Most days I’m crazy in love and like with this girl of mine.  She’s a gem.  She has a naughty streak though, especially when no one is paying attention(like when mommy is in the bathroom painting for 6 hours).  It always shocks me a little, and mostly disappoints me.  I hope 2014 is the year she loses that impulsive naughtiness that seems to lurk just under her ability to do right.