March

Similar to the last few months, once you take cheer out there's not much left!  However there were a few other notable moments, like my staff charity volleyball game.  I remember well the first year I was at this school and participated in the game.  We needed to win the third game and I assumed we would put our best players in(of which I am not).  Several colleagues said to me, “The kids just like to see their teachers play.  It’s fine.”  Ummmmmm, hell no.  Kids like to win just like grown ups.  Winning is fun.  We got the trophy back a couple years ago and I’m determined to keep it!  This years game was amazing.  It came down to the third game and we were pretty even.  We ended up squeaking it out by the skin of our teeth and the students came running down from the stands like we won some championship or something!  Fun, right?

I had a conversation with one of my(5 year old) students in which I had to choose my words carefully(even though I really wanted to smack talk!).

Student:  We’re the winners!

Me: Yes we are!

Student: They are losers!

Me:  Yes, they lost.

We intend on hanging on to this trophy for many years to come.

I had a cute little helper one day shopping for Lexi’s bday!

Emily got Sof a subscription to Little Passports for Christmas.  Each month she gets a packet on a new country to learn about.  March was Egypt and she got a pyramid to uncover a hidden tomb. 

We got invited to a birthday party that involved ax throwing(and Alcohol).  Makes sense.  It was actually really fun and we all tried our hand at ax throwing.  It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be!

The end of the month brought some much needed rest from cheer.  Still practicing, but some weekends free.  Sof rediscovered her Littlest Pet Shops, and I did some spring cleaning!  Cheers to slower days!

 

Lexi’s Sweet Sixteen

Lexi turned sixteen this year!  The celebration was quiet.  She had had some awesome cheer trips this year and her pearl in Disney was part of her gifts.  She has taken drivers training, but needs a little more practice so her license will be forthcoming. 

Plenty of helpers to open gifts!

We celebrated at cheer with Tropical Smoothie.  They always put the birthday girl up in a stunt and sing.

Dear Lexi,

I can’t believe you are 16!  You are still the kind, loving, thoughtful person you’ve always been.  That will take you far in life.  You can accomplish anything you want.  The world is yours, go get it!  I love you very much and am proud of every one of your accomplishments.

XOXO, Mom

Sof’s Gotcha Day/St. Patrick’s Day/Cheer

We celebrated Sof’s 7th Gotcha day with, I’m not kidding, another cheer competition.  Also, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so not gonna lie, no one was very excited about this one.  Also, Sof competed at 8am and Lexi competed at 8pm.  I can’t make this up.

I do love the early morning drives in.

Because of the long break in the afternoon, I had Mark come pick Sof up after she was done.  Lexi was getting a ride with friends later, so I had several hours in the afternoon to kill by myself.  As luck would have it, Livy was at a dance competition about a half mile down the street!  I got to see two of her dances compete for the first time!

The bonus was it was a beautiful day for a walk!  Who would’ve thought it was only March!

I got back in time to grab something to eat and meet Lexi.

It was late when we got home, so there really wasn’t any celebration for Sof’s day.  We made up for it later though!

I had ordered some squishies before we went to Florida to give her for Gotcha day.  I had no idea she was going to end up buying some there!  Good thing you can never have enough squishies according to Sof!

Dear Sof,

Seven years is a long time.  I rarely think about how you became my baby girl, it’s unimportant and all important at the same time.  I love your story, I love being your mommy, and I love you.  You love squishies, creating things, being with your sisters, playing with friends, school, learning and treats!  There is not enough sugar in the world for you.  I will never not celebrate Gotcha day for two reasons.  First, because it was the most amazing day for our family, and second, because the way you light up when we sing to you is everything. 

Love you baby girl,  Mommy

UCA Orlando

The first weekend in March we headed to Orlando for, you guessed it, a cheer competition!  The gym had a send off where each team performed for friends and family.  Sof was lucky to have her best buddies come.

Then we were off on our adventure!  First stop was Leos in the airport and then boarded the plane!

The first day there the girls had a pool party.  Lexi and her friends spent the whole time in the hot tub while Sof spent the afternoon stunting in the pool. 

That night we went to Epcot with Sof while Lexi went with her friends to Hollywood Studios.

The next day was our first competition day.  Sof was earlier in the morning.  Lee had mentioned that one of her friend’s granddaughters was competing there too.  She wanted to come see Sof perform and thought maybe she would be able to meet up with her friend.  She had no idea what team she was on though.  After a few questions back and forth we realized she was actually on Sof’s team!  Small world!

We had some time in the afternoon to chill out at the hotel.  Sof spent her time cheering along to YouTube routines.

Then it was back to ESPN for Lexi.

They had an awesome tumbling save(one of our littlest girls grabbed the hand of a girl that was about to fall after her full) and we ended up hitting zero!  The video of the save actually went viral days later.  It was their 15 minutes of fame!  In the cheer world anyway!

The next day both girls performed again.  Sof was up first.

Another zero pin, this time for Sof!

Sof was able to swim since her competition was done.  I was so glad, because let me tell you it is a LONG day.

Lexi competed again, and did a great job.

That evening we headed to Magic Kingdom.  It was extended hours and we had no intention on staying the whole time, but time flies when you’re standing in line you’re having fun and we closed the place down!

It was freezing!  We were marginally prepared for it, but toughed it out!

The next day our flight left around 6pm, so we checked out of the hotel and headed to Epcot with no intentions of riding anything.  The lines are so ridiculous.  We ate hibachi in Japan and continued to shop and eat from there.  

Lexi wanted to do pick a pearl in Japan.  I admit I gave her a hard time about it being a waste of money.  She insisted though, so we let her.  She ended up getting the biggest one of the day and the silver color.  It was very pretty and I had to eat my words!

Sof really wanted to buy a squishy.  She found some in the Japan store, but determined them to be not good squishies.  She was super disappointed.  We found out they had other ones in China so we headed there.  She was so excited when she saw them!  Exactly the ones she’d been wanting!  She declared she now understood why everything is made in China, because they do it better! 

The only thing left was finding dessert in France. 

Then it was back to reality in a tough way.  Late night flight, then right to school the next morning!