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Monday, August 31, 2009

Still Here

So, I missed my Sunday post. And I did not update as often as I would have liked to have last week. Big Sigh. Such is life. The good news is that I get another chance this week. :)

We had a very busy weekend. My mom and stepdad spent the night Saturday night while Chris and I went to the movies. It was our first adult outing together, alone, since April when my parents kept all 3 so that we could have a weekend to work on grad school. We saw The Time Traveler's Wife...and while no movie thrills me the way a book does, this one did a very good job. We then went to visit Molly, which was a lovely treat.

Sunday we all went to church. The girls and Quinn were "bapimatized" (how the girls pronounce it) and I became a member of the church. I have never pledged membership to a church before, so this is something new for me. I do love this church though, and the people there, so I expect this to be a good thing in my life.

Perhaps there will be pictures soon, perhaps not. :)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Brief Update

1. On the way to cheerleading practice Chandler said, "I know you're nervous, Mama." And I replied, "How do you know that?". (Thinking the pained look on my face might be giving me away.) "Because I am nervous, too." Sweet, right? Keep that in mind for later.

2. Upon meeting the other parents at the start of practice, I made mention that we were cheering for the Black Panthers, and I snickered slightly. Another mom said (insert southern drawl) "Oh, I know! I said to my husband, 'Aren't the Black Panthers some kind of motorcycle gang?'" All I could do was look at her and say, "Um, not really," and walk away.

3. Conversation between me and another mother...
Jane: Have you thought about shoes for the girls?
Me: No, not really. I think they'll be ok in whatever tennis shoes they want to wear.
Jane: Well it just looks so much better when they all match.
Me: I feel terrible telling parents that they need to buy shoes when they just spent $100 on uniforms and to be on the team.
Jane: The cheer shoes are so much lighter on their feet and better for them. I looked into it and Wal-Mart has them for $15.
Me: Well that's great! I'll send out an email and suggest it to parents.
Jane: Have you thought about hair bows?
***in my head*** Yes, I've thought about shoving a hair bow up your ass.

4. I am 50% Polish. Not really, but I definitely move like one. I cannot move my feet, clap my hands and say things all at the same time without looking like a spaz. I am ok doing this in front of 10 7 year olds, I am not ok with doing this in front of the 9 parents that open their butterfly chairs up to sit there and watch. Seriously? Do you have to stay? Don't you have some laundry to do or bills to pay? This is your chance for some quiet time.

5. I visited my friend CB (who has cheered all her life) after practice to learn some new cheers. While cheering her dog started growling at me. I think she thought I was having a seizure.

6. On the way home from practice, Chandler was in the back seat going on and on about the half time dance. I was tuning her out until the part where she said...
Chan: ...and then we will all take 10 steps back until we are out of the way for you to do a back flip.
Me: (as I swerve off the road) What??!??? You know I can't do a back flip, right?
Chan: You could learn.
Me: Um, no. I can't do a back flip. (Didn't this child see me at practice??? I can't clap and stomp at the same time!!!)
Chan: Well it would be really cool if you could.
Me: Yeah, not going to happen.
Chan: When you were YOUNG could you do one?
Me: No.
Chan: You couldn't even bend over backwards, put your hands on the ground, and flip your feet over?
Me: No. I'm lucky I could walk a straight line.
Chan: (super disappointed) Oh.

Seriously? Did this child not just see me spend an hour with sweat rolling down my back? An hour of my life that I will never get back? Really? And now she wants a back flip? Sheesh!

7. I did a Touchdown cheer for CB. She asked if I knew when the girls were supposed to use this one. I told her that I did not know when to use this cheer, so how were the 7 year olds supposed to know???

8. If you did not already know this, my mom was captain of the pom pom squad. She was also Homecoming Queen. I know. When I called her this evening, she offered to help me with cheers. And she has a great half time dance to "Spirit in the Sky."

9. Also in my conversation with my mother, we discussed the fact that in 5th grade I desperately wanted to cheer and she told me that we couldn't afford it. There was no money for me to cheer. Looking back on this, I don't think that money was a problem, I think my mother was protecting me. She didn't want me to be an embarrassment to myself. She knew how uncoordinated I was and was trying to protect me. It would have been helpful for her to share this with me sometime prior to tonight.

10. The good news is that I get to do this again on Thursday night.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Irritated

So, it's Sunday...and I seem to be on a "Sunday posting only" roll lately. It irritates me. Really it does. Mainly because I read other people's blogs and it irritates me when they don't update as regularly as I wish they would because then I have things to do to help me procrastinate about posting to my own blog. :)

Some points of interest...

1. The best part about this cheerleading thing is the fact that the team Chan will be cheering for is....wait for it...the Black Panthers. Yep. Its true. The league has the Red Panthers, the White Panthers and the Black Panthers. I think I may teach the girls to raise their right hand in the air. I friend of mine suggested a cheer involving Malcolm X. Perhaps a jacket with "By Any Means Necessary" embroidered on the back.

2. Quinn has molars coming in. Big boy teeth. Awesome.

3. We had Josefina's b-day party yesterday. Yes, a party (complete with cake and ice cream) for the doll. Ella brought her dolls over to join in the fun. She also brought 3 gift bags full of presents. She apparently cleaned out her room and brought over what she no longer wanted. So thoughtful. I made crowns for the girls...and the dolls. Between that and the cheerleading coaching gig, I think that I am a shoe in for Mother of the Year.

I will try to post more frequently this week. It may happen and then again, it may not. We'll see.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Good Grief! Where have I been, right???


Casey and Chandler. 1st day of 2nd grade.


I mean really, where have I been??? Well, it has been back to school and back to work for us. Adjusting to a new school year is always tough, especially this year...furlough days, new principals for both of us, new responsibilities....certainly overwhelming. After 4 days in the media center, I found that I was sick. I'm not sure if I should blame it on the books, air conditioning, or germs, but it was not how I wanted to start the year. I found myself in bed at 8:30 more times than I would like to count. The girls began 2nd grade...in separate classes! Yay! Last year was just too much time spent together, so Chris and I are both hopeful for a good year with this change. Thursday night/Friday morning is on the list for the worst ever - Q was up from 2 to 3, Casey had nightmares between 3 and 4 and Chan came in our room throwing up (and continued to do so every 10 minutes for the next 3 hours) a little before 5. Not to worry though, our pediatrician assured us that it was just a cold. Awesome. 5 minutes after I talked to Chris after he got home from taking Chan to the doctor, the sitter called to let me know that Quinn was sick. So, Chris got to get him as well. It was a great way to start the weekend. By Friday night though, Chan was feeling much better and since she was fever/throw up free for 24 hours, I took her to the cheerleading clinic Sat morning. There are 7 girls on her squad and we found out that there was not a coach for her team. So, guess who is coaching cheerleading? Yep, that's right, yours truly. Have I ever cheered a day in my life? Um, no. So, practice starts next week - 2 days a week for the next 2 months or so. Right on.

We have also broken apart the girls bunk beds and are in the process of taping off their own sections of their room. The mess was out of control and each was blaming it on the other. So, perhaps this will work. Of course, we couldn't have done this during the summer. That just would have made too much sense! Hopefully we can get it wrapped up today.

I am hoping that we will begin to settle into a little more of a routine this week. The stress of a new school year is always ridiculous.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

It is the End

So today was Chan's debut as an acolyte. She was fantastic (if I do say so myself)! She was completely nervous and walked very, verrrrrrrrry slowly. As an acolyte, you have to sit in the front pew so that you can resume duties during the offering and at the end of the service. This means that the 2 acolytes have to sit by themselves (meaning no adults) on the front pew...where everyone can see them. I threatened Chandler that if she goofed off (such as laying down, asking for gum, or talking Aiden into playing tic-tac-toe) I would organize her stoning myself, which apparently worked. She was an angel. Her hands were numb by the end of the service because she was proactive in keeping herself out of trouble and sat on them for the full hour.

Yesterday was also mine and Chris's graduation from UGA. He now has a M.Ed. in Educational Psychology, and I have a Ed.S in Instructional Technology with a focus in School Library Media. Whew! We did not actually attend graduation (which has made the whole thing anticlimactic), but I did consider putting on my cap and gown while serving the children breakfast yesterday morning.

To help celebrate, I did have a girls' night out since dear Jules is in town from the NYC. MMe, Molly, Julie, Christy and Mandi had a great evening together - eating, drinking and laughing- which is definitely what we do best.

Tomorrow marks the end of our summer. We both start back to work in the morning. I will miss these sweet faces all day. *Yes, I know Chan isn't in the picture, but since she and Casey are identical, I figure its ok.