Cheer First, Shower Later

Last week Lexi had another cheer competition.  It was an hour away again, but this time it was in the direction of our family.  So, we had a big group come see her!  Grandma Linda, Papa Curt, Nan, and Emmerson all drove in to see her.  There was no dance because of winter break, so sisters and cousins were able to see it too!

It’s obvious Em and I don’t exactly fit in.  That’s because right after Lexi performed we had to split out of there to go to Joni’s shower! 

Of course they were running late!

When they finally went on they hit everything!  You could just tell they were on! 

I wasn’t surprised when Adrienne texted me to say they won first in their division!  Go Lexi!

By then Em and I were in the car headed to celebrate Joni’s wedding shower. 

I’m going to be a bridesmaid in their wedding.  I’m honored and excited to be a part of their big day!  Especially after seeing what wonderful ladies she had to choose from!

 

Sweet Aunt Jill made a valiant effort to be there! 

Joni was every bit the glowing bride.  A proud Anne said, “How come with all you beautiful young girls, it’s still obvious she’s the bride?”.  I’m sure it was that special glow…or maybe the accessories

All kidding aside, I don’t have a bad picture of her from that day. 

 

We had so much fun that evening!  I can’t wait for the actual wedding now.  She has been properly showered!

Learning to Ski, and Learning to Like It

This week was our mid winter break, and we decided to join some dance friends on an up north ski trip.  Last year Adrienne went with them and had a fabulous time.  They have a large group that’s been doing it for years, and they have it all figured out! 

It’s no secret I’m not a skier.  I have skied, but I’m not a skier.  I feel very out of control and unnatural on skis.  I have conversations with myself like…”You are fit and coordinated, you can do this.  You just need more practice, fall a few times and get up.  No big deal.  Although, you have lived 40 years and skiing has never added any positive value to your life, so why bother?  I’m sure there are other mothers that sit in the lodge all day.  Just tell people you had a bad knee injury training for the Olympics.  Bottom line, your whole family is doing it so get your ass out there.”  And so, Jen the skier was born.

The first day was met with hopeful anticipation.  Sof was super excited for ski school.

We got Sof signed in, and were told to meet at the bottom of the bunny hill. 

She joined her group and didn’t look back.  I was so thankful for this confident little girl we have.  Not only was she excited to try something new, she didn’t need me to be there to do it. 

She spent three days(one full, two half) in ski school.  By the third day she was using the chair lift and doing the same green runs her momma was still working on!  She was owning the hill and she LOVES it!

The first day for me was still a struggle.  My boots were hurting my ankles, I was creeping down the easiest hill, and I wasn’t willing to try any new hills.  By the second day I started off much the same, but slowly gained some confidence.  I got bored on my same hill and let Adrienne show me some other green runs.  At the end of day two I thought, “I could actually keep doing this, I’m not ready to be done”. 

Mark and the big girls took turns skiing with me.  Adrienne and Lexi like to do the “terrain” runs. That means they can do things like ski off a picnic table.  No mental struggle there…I won’t be joining them for that.  At the end of day 3 they all left me to myself(at my urging) so they could do some more challenging stuff.  I stayed on the green runs I was comfortable with.  Once again, I really wasn’t ready to be done at the end.  I’m no Olympic skier, but I can appreciate the fresh air, family time, and challenge of the hill.  I actually look forward to doing it again. 

 

Other trip highlights…

Bedtime snuggles before exhaustion takes over.

Sadie and Adrienne checking in on Sof at ski school.

Tubing fun!

Nighttime shenanigans.

Breakfast buffet…my kids LOVE a breakfast buffet.

Pool and hot tub time at night.

 

Coloring in bed.

We had such a great time.  You can bet we will be doing it again next year.  I may even be ready for a blue run by then…we’ll see:)

The Competition That Almost Never Was

Let me just talk to all the not-yet-mommies, want-to-be-mommies, and know-someone-who-is-a-mommy peeps.  Here’s the deal with parenting(and life in general really).  When you feel frazzled, unprepared, and disorganized life will still happen.  When you feel totally on top of your game and Pinterest worthy, something will sabotage you, but life will still happen. 

One of the greatest things to happen to me between parenting my oldest and my youngest, is the realization that I am capable of salvaging any situation.  I really can.  If you are a parent, you have no choice but to roll with the punches.  Otherwise you will never go anywhere or do anything because it’s just to damn hard and unpredictable with kids. 

Case in point…Lexi’s most recent cheer competition.  It was very early Saturday morning after Valentine’s day.  Livy spent the night so she could join us.  I was up at 5:30 getting myself ready, and woke the kids at 6am.  I grabbed my phone to head downstairs and start the car, and noticed a missed call and voicemail from the late the night before.  I thought that was odd and didn’t recognize the number, so I quick listened to the message.  Sure enough it was Lexi’s cheer coach announcing a change in time for her event.  Turns out we didn’t need to be there until an hour later.  That would have been nice to know before we got up, but I figured better to be early than late.  We took our time making coffee and packing the car, and finally left about 25 minutes early.  It was a beautiful sunny morning, and I was feeling on my game!

   

Foreshadowing…notice the kids in the back of the van reading. 

About 20 minutes(into our hour drive) down the road, something hit me.  I asked Lexi, “You did bring your cheer bag right?”.  She didn’t have to answer, I knew by the look on her face.  I reasoned in my head.  Without her shoes and bow she can’t perform, so there’s no reason to continue, and we are 25 minutes early.  So we turned around to get the bag.  I ran in the house, grabbed it, shot a quick explanation to Mark who was looking at me puzzled, and jumped back in the car.  At this point we were slated to be about 3 minutes late according to the GPS, but I figured I would be able to make that up on the highway.  Off we went again.  About 20 minutes down the road(again) Livy moves from the back to the middle of the car with tears welled in her eyes.  Lexi explains that she’s car sick and needs to look out the window.  I empty a Target bag that happens to be in the car and instruct her to puke in there if she has to.  A few minutes down the road she says she needs to use the bathroom.  We stop, find a bathroom, breath some cold air, and get started again.  Livy rides the rest of the way looking a bit green. We pull up about 15 minutes late and another cheer mom runs out to get Lexi while I park.  Livy and I get in there just as Lexi’s team is warming up.  Livy is still looking a little rough around the edges at this point:(

   Poor baby!  She was a trooper.  Lexi’s team performed and didn’t miss a beat! 

We had time before awards, so I got the girls a pretzel.  Livy really perked up after eating something! 

The girls had fun running around the event center.  Up, down, and around, pausing everywhere for me to get their pictures! 

 

Moral of the story…Parenting is full of bumps in the road.  I could have lost my cool, or given up, but you just gotta keep trudging on.  In the end, it was a long, but fun day with my middle girls:)