Life is Sweet: Cheer

Showing posts with label Cheer. Show all posts

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Timing

I'm telling you, things just keep getting crazier around here. Maybe it's just that I'm getting crazier.
Yep, that must be it.

I shared in my last post about how we were dying Easter eggs at a ridiculous time of the evening (and on a dateless date night, might I add), but we've been keeping odd hours all week.

Saturday morning, in the bleak midwinter-like spring, we attended a track meet.

Yes, that is snow.

FYI: Lex is not a fan of the compression shorts that ride up while running. Next year we will have to look for a better fit.

Saturday night, we were scientifically investigating the realm of liquid dish soap effectiveness.
ANYTHING to get that Science Fair project done.

We finished the project phase around this time:

That's PM. No make-up date night. Just 5 brands of dish soap and some greasy drinking glasses. We fell into bed exhausted, only to rise bright and early for church on Sunday.

After all the busy-ness of Easter Sunday (if you haven't read about, you simply must), and the guests had all gone home, we started in on the write-up and display phase of the Science Fair project due Monday morning. We finished around 12:30. That's AM. I didn't take a picture, so you will just have to take my word for it.

The early morning seminary alarm(s) - (we have 4 that go off within a matter of 30 minutes or so, starting around 5:10 AM) - started a-buzzing, and a-beeping, and a-nnoying.

We made it to the Science Fair after school, with a really put-together looking project. The good news? Actual useful information. Dawn original cuts grease the best. Dawn Hand-Renewal came in second.

Don't buy Palmolive OR Kroger if you are interested in cutting grease. When Bill was kindly washing dishes (yesterday? this morning? I can't remember), he said, "Wow. I learned a lot about how detergent works." See? Useful.

Those styrofoam balls (meant to look like dishsoap bubbles), were my ingenious way of using up the leftover 5 styrofoam balls from a 6-pack I had to purchase because Shilo needed ONE for a math project. No, you can't just purchase a single styrofoam ball. You have to buy 6. For somewhere in the ballpark of $4. The remaining 5 seemed purposeless and like a colossal waste of money (and aren't they bad for the environment?) until we tied them ever-so-effectively into the Science Fair display. Mar was thrilled with the 3-D option. Bill did not like that we made an actual dollar bill into a sticker, forever stuck to the display. But it made such a nice statement, don't you think?

The past few evenings Bill has stayed up late working with Lex on her math. Really late. We've been reading our Preach My Gospel books (a Stake assignment) around 10:30 every night, usually hitting the hay around 11. That's PM. While the tutor sessions were going on, I was locker-tagging it, involving tedious printing (each name needed to be adjusted on the tag to fit right), cutting, laminating, cutting again, writing on locker numbers, magnetizing, then sorting. 76 of them. I was at the school at 6:15 (AM) on a non-seminary day (juniors were taking the ACT... here's hoping Lex did okay), to get them hung. Thankfully, Shi helped. Awesome.

Last night was late because... well... Bill was helping Lex again, and Shi, Mar and I were catching up on Survivor, Top Chef Masters, and American Idol. Terrible matriarchal parenting, I know.

But today I made up for it. I took Mar to work with me, so she could witness first-hand the fun I have every day. I really do talk a lot to my family about the kindies, so Mar was anxious to see who some of the infamous kids were. It was a pretty mild day, as far as crazy antics go, so she may have gotten a glamorized view of the work of a part-time SSN EA. I actually think some of the kids behaved well because there was someone new and different hanging around. And she was nice and helpful. And a kid, not an old lady.

Mrs. Marchese, the kindergarten teacher, is also Mar's Activity Day leader. Mar liked it so much, she said she would like to come every day. Personally, I would love it. If wishes were fishes...

Cheer tryouts are this week, and Lex has made the definitive decision not to participate. On one hand, Bill and I are a little sad that we will no longer have the need to be so involved in the overall high school sports arena. Although it's been busy and challenging, it has also been a lot of fun. And a great excuse for being super involved in Britt's and Lex's extra-curricular lives. We have met a lot of great parents, and have been happy (usually) to be supportive as volunteers in many ways. (The funny thing is that Bill has been mourning the death of cheer more than I.)

On the other hand, we have plenty of things to fill the imagined high-school-spirit void (and the not-so-imagined financial one). The withdrawal will be short-lived, I am certain of it.

In Memoriam:

The timing of this upcoming weekend couldn't have been better. Lex has a track meet in Fort Collins (slightly more than 1 1/2 hours away) tomorrow, and Shi has a swim meet in Fort Collins on Saturday. We are so LUCKY. We booked a {cheap} hotel, and plan to make it a family event... minus Mar (camping with the Billats), Britt, and Tay. So maybe not so much of a family event, as a Parent/Teenager event. Doesn't that sound like fun? Good times will be had by all. Or at least GoodTimes will be had by all.

Either way, it will be awesome.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Cheer Banquet.

Since my brain is still on vacation {unpaid}, I polled Shi for a clever post title about Lex's cheer banquet.

"How about 'Cheer Banquet,'" she responded. There you have it.

Monday night was the cheer banquet (or have I already said that for the 4th time). Remember last year? This year I purposefully took a somewhat less-active roll in the planning/decorating (call it survival mode), but I trimmed the paper table coverings when we were setting up, and I made darn sure to cut as straight as possible, in appreciation of the effort put forth by some willing parent to stamp and stencil them. A Chinese theme had been selected by the girls, and Panda Express was providing the chow (mein).

(I snapped this picture before the banquet started -- is that sky amazing or what?)

Lex, always a sucker for trophies, was delighted that one was included in her gift bag. She also received her 3rd-year Letter Award and pin, and an Academic Honorable Mention.

Kudos, Lex!!

(Bill likes trophies too!)

I took at least a half dozen pictures of this group (Varsity and JV teams), and didn't get a single one with everybody looking. Oh well.

Lex and Kelsey re-enacted a moment from the beginning of the year:

I think they captured with authenticity the original moment. Nice job, girls.

So the season is over. It's been the roughest year we've experienced in the cheer arena, but it ended on a high note, just as I had hoped. I'll confess, I will probably miss it for a moment, should Lex choose not to try out next year. But then the moment will pass, Lex can find a job, save for college, and start preparing for life beyond high school. I'd be okay with that.

Did I mention that track started Monday?

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The USF Returns

Yesterday was another long sports day. Shilo had a tri-meet against two Castle Rock schools. I only managed to capture a portion of their team cheer before agreeing to fill in for the other teams' absent parents as a timer.

I came away with wet feet and tired legs, but I found down-time in a quick game of sudoku on my phone while the diving was going on. Shilo, despite her feelings of tiredness, swam well. Her relay team placed first in the 200 Free, she handily won the backstroke, and placed 3rd in the 200 IM. Today is yet another meet. A long, drawn-out, 12-team invitational. Then we get a good 10 meet-less days. Awesome.

After the meet, Bill and I headed over to the boys basketball game against the big cross-town school. The one Tay and Britt graduated from. The one with history. The one that thought the game would be so easy to win, they didn't even send their cheerleaders.

We were there to support Lex. Of course.

But the game was so amazing, I got a little caught up. Here's the scoreboard story:

Oh my. I was sweaty, flushed, and I lost my voice. The only thing that could have made that game better was for Legend to take it. It was a heartbreaker (double overtime), but at least we played tough, and even put some fear into them. Serious fear. They would have had a hard time living that loss down (which is what would have made it so awesomely amazing if we could have pulled it off).

I just want to say, "Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait." (Because I'm a nut.)

Reckoning will come.

The USF (ultimate sports fan),

Monday, December 6, 2010

All In A Day

I loved that Pres. Uchtdorf talked about the Grinch during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

Mauri and I read that awesome Dr. Seuss book the other day. Maybe it was even THIS {blogged-about} day... but I couldn't tell you for sure, since all my days are running together like the watercolors in the Kindergarten class.

I've been feeling a little Grinchy myself this season, but I'm blaming it on PMDD.

I'm feeling much better today (sigh of relief -- I would hate to think I'm really getting crotchety and mean in my old(er) age). And I have renewed resolve (thanks, Pres. Uchtodorf) to get my heart in the right place.

On to the sharing of a single day in my life last week. I think it was a Thursday.
Oh yes, that was it.

I started the day going on a field trip. I feel like I've been on a bus more in the past two months than in the past two years prior to that. Probably because I have. And you'll never guess WHERE the field trip was to...

Here:

Just in case you aren't clear of where here is, it's the same place I spent nearly a week of my life (most of which was NOT sleeping, by the way), as I was cleverly disguised as an event planner.

For comparison shots, go here.

The Inverness hosts a Trash-to-Trees event, where different schools decorate Christmas trees with recycled (the "trash") objects. Then there's an auction, and prizes, and all sorts of good things. Last year, GRE won $300 for their learning lab. Nice.

My boss ("Mrs. C" to all the special needs children) was the creative genius, and the kids had been working for the past two weeks in the lab on all the decorations. GRE's mascot is a Golden Retriever, so the tree had a dog theme... Santa Paws is Coming to Town or something like that.

The kids had a great time decorating the tree,

and I was totally impressed with the finished product.

And I just have to say, those Inverness people are the nicest people around. They were awesome with the kids. After Christmas cookies and lemonade, we were back on that bus, heading for the school.

After work I met a friend for lunch, ran some errands, and then ran home to make breadsticks for the cheer team dinner. And I had a helper. Who, by the way, is an awesome breadstick maker. I kept having that nursery rhyme run through my head about the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker... but I substituted the breadstick maker. Just to humor myself. I didn't share with Chase, since I figured he would think I was a nut.

Shilo helped whip out a salad, and I ran it all across the street where the cheer girls would gather for the big pre-State team dinner that night.

After the dinner, the girls were headed off to cheer at a wrestling match vs. a neighboring team (lots of rival tension) who has pretty much dominated the sport for years. As in State Champions. After the first 20-second pin, there wasn't a lot to cheer about, other than to encourage those LHS boys to give it their best effort. I've decided that wrestling is the most intense sport ever. It stresses me out. Every match has a winner and a loser, and there's only two of you out there.

Finally, after many losses (some quick, some not-so-quick, and one super close heartbreaker), the third-to-the-last (heaviest weight) Legend wrestler pinned his guy. Then the second-to-the-last wrestler pinned his guy. And the last wrestler pinned his guy. So although the final score wasn't in our favor, it was not a blow-out. Or a shut-down. It was a respectable loss. (Kind of like that last football game where we played the team that won the 4A State Championship this past Saturday.)

So that's about how every day has been around here lately, but we are counting down to our vacation.

11 more days.

I am anticipating

relaxation,

rejuvenation,

reconnection,

and rest.

I'm looking for a good book to take with me... any suggestions?

Monday, November 29, 2010

Locker Talk

In between the Holiday preparing, baking, serving, shopping, and decorating, I worked on locker tags.

These are fun little signs/tags/decorations to give encouragement to various teams and clubs at the high school. They are done by parents, and put up on lockers prior to a game/event/competition.

I have helped with many locker tags, and although I enjoy the creative and sometimes-social aspect, they have never been convenient. Like now. And sometimes they aren't even fully appreciated, but for some reason, I find satisfaction in making them. I feel like I am fulfilling my role as a loving, supportive mom.

And, deep down inside of them, I know my girls appreciate my efforts (rarely expressed, but they are teenagers).

The process can be messy... and it can suck printer ink like none other. Prototypes are recommended, to avoid costly mistakes.

Posters are a nice touch. Something to hang around the school, making sure students are aware of the impending event. This may even encourage them to attend and give support. And, if nothing else, they can at least wish the team luck.

Posters are messy too. Especially if, like me, you think everything could use some glitterizing.

Lexee's cheer team has a theme every year...this year it's "HOT."

They will be competing at the State Spirit Competition this Friday, so the tags and posters needed to be up today. At 6:30am, Rebecca and I headed to the school to git 'er done. In my rush to get out the door, I left my camera home. Bummer. But Rebecca snapped a few pics with her phone:

I know... some random team member. You can't be choosy when you don't have a camera, and when students are starting to filter in and you just want to get out of the school before you embarrass your children because you look like you just got of of bed because you did.

In between all that cheer stuff, I also volunteered to laminate the tags for the swim team's first meet. I thought this would be simple, since another mom was doing the prep work of designing and printing. When she dropped them off, they were too big for my laminator, so I had to carefully disassemble each one and cut it down to size. THEN I reassembled and laminated. I'm tempted to glitterize, but they aren't really my locker tags, so I'm holding off.

Phew! Glad it's done. Now on to the business of cleaning up glitter (I think it's going to be around for a LONG time), Christmas decorating, housekeeping, and laundry.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Bid

Saturday Lexee had another cheer competition.

I'll give you a very brief explanation of cheer competitions from my understanding, obtained by attending many over the past 5 years.

League and State are scored by deducting penalties. Things like stepping off the mat, touchdowns, incomplete stunts, and falls. You compete in your division (5A, 4A, etc.), and it doesn't matter the number of members on each team. You can have a team of 25 (Colorado's max), competing against a team of 12. It's a little harder to make sense of these competitions, in my humble opinion.

UCA and Nationals are scored more on the team's skill in dance, stunting (# of stunt groups), tumbling, and cheer. It doesn't matter what division you are in (5A can compete against 3A), but you compete according to your team's size: small, medium, large, or super large. To qualify to go to the UCA Nationals, you need to achieve a particular score at the regional UCA competition (place doesn't doesn't really matter - except for bragging rights), and you are given a bid. These competitions are a little easier to understand from a spectator's point of view.

So Lexee's team was hoping for a bid. Which would mean they would plan to go Nationals in Florida in February.

I was torn. Of course I wanted them to perform well. Of course I would like to have Lex get the chance to go to Nationals (Britta went twice). But I (along with a few other parents I chatted with) knew it would mean a longer practice season, and needing to cough up $1200 for the trip.

I decided that I wanted them to get the bid.

(Also secretly thinking that maybe Lex would change her mind about trying out next year if she had a really great experience at Nationals. Which sounds like I enjoy cheerleading more than she does. In my defense, I really don't. But I think hard work, discipline, following direction, active participation, healthy competition, physical exercise, and teamwork can only be of benefit in the long run. And if she still decides not to try out next year, at least she will have had the complete cheer experience.)

The competition was held here... a new venue. It has been held at the Denver Coliseum the past 3 years, but they were hosting the 5A girls volleyball finals. I like the Coliseum MUCH better.

After their performance, another mom came and told me Lexee was throwing up. I went to go find her... not knowing if she had thrown up on the floor? in front of everyone? I searched around for her and asked a few girls if they had seen her. "She was throwing up in a garbage can," one of them responded. After more search futility, I called her cell. She answered. She had gone downstairs to a bathroom. She didn't really throw up, she just couldn't breathe after the performance, and was gagging and choking as she tried to get air.

Oh yeah. She has exercise-induced asthma. We have an inhaler, but neither of us remembered. I was just glad it wasn't a stress-induced-all-over-the-floor-I'm-so-humiliated-nasty-puke scene.

The Convention Center was not the most hospitable... they closed down the food venders about halfway through the competition, and shut off most of the lights immediately following the awards. (Which is why I have this lovely glowing-eyes picture.)

But LHS got a bid. Congratulations, girls!