And the winner is. . . .

This weekend the girls had their first ever dance competition in Oklahoma City.  We planned to leave Friday morning, but decided to take off Thursday night when blizzard conditions were forecasted for early Friday in Amarillo.  

After frantic phone calls I found out that all of the other families were worried about the weather and had made similar plans.  Everyone arrived at the Holiday Inn Express between 4 pm and 4 am Friday morning.  We were one of the 4 am groups because we didn't leave Clovis until 8:30 pm  our time or 9:30 pm Oklahoma time.  

The extra day in Oklahoma City ended up being a lot of fun for the girls.  I took my girls and Abby (one of the girls we took with us whose parents couldn't leave until Friday and got stuck in the blizzard like weather) to the science center.  The last time Rebecca and Sara went to a science center they were 2 and 4 years old, so needless to say they didn't remember much.  They thought the coolest part was the show where our science guy Isaiah blew things up.  

After the science trip, we met some of the other kids and their families at the pool for a swim and then all the girls gathered at 6 to go out to dinner.  We had a table for 21 at the Olive Garden and I think we scared off a few waitresses, but the food was great and the company even better.  After dinner we stopped by the competition to #1 know where we were going the next day, and #2 let the girls watch some of the senior solo and duet/trio competition that was taking place Friday night.  We talked a lot about what a dancer and a person who simply dances was (there's a difference) and then we went back to the hotel to practice for a bit.  At 10 pm the girls went to bed and I crashed after having very little sleep from the long drive the night before.  

Saturday was competition day.  I got up at 6 am to get us checked into the competition and then I came back to the hotel and woke up the girls to get ready.  We had breakfast, hair, makeup and costume checks before leaving for the Rose College Performing Arts Center at 10:30 am.  Our lone family who got stuck in bad weather ended up driving all the way down and around through Texas to get up to Oklahoma and arrived just in time to watch the girls perform and give them the jackets I had made for them.  The girls were pumped and really nervous as they waited backstage for their performance time.  

After about an hour of backstage jitters, the girls performed their first dance "Fly to your heart"  then had a quick change before they performed their second dance "One step at a time." For a first competition the girls did awesome.  The small group section took about 2 1/2 hours for all the groups to perform and then there was a 15 minute break before awards.  

With this being the girls first competition experience and with most of the girls receiving less then 3 hours a week of dance instruction, we entered the first level category of competition (the rising star category).    Dance competitions are scored with a point system.  So your team's placement has to do with how many points you earn and then high point awards are given based on all the participating team's scores.  (Does that make sense?)  Basically the girls scored a High Gold in both their dances, took 1st place with the highest points in the Hip Hop category and a 1st overall for the same dance with an overall 3rd for their lyrical piece.  

The girls were so excited and I was super proud of them.  They worked really hard and I was glad that their first experience competing was positive.  Awards ended, the freeway opened up and we were able to drive home Saturday night without any problems.  I was so tired by the time we got home, but really glad that we had the opportunity to go and do this.  I hope this is something the girls remember and look back on as an uplifting experience.  Dance is about so much more then winning trophies, but it was definitely nice to watch them do so well.  Great job girls.  I am proud of you.  

Miracles Happen!

After 4 days of refusing to poop (because I put Joey in underwear full time) and 20 minutes of sitting on the toilet we finally had our FIRST successful poop!  Yippeeee!  Don't act like you aren't feeling my excitement because I know you are.  At least humor me.  I've had 6 months of potty training to never have even ONE successful poop, but TODAY was the day.  Let's hope it wasn't just a fluke.  

Guilt Gone

Being the mother of 4 and now 33 years old, I don't have the same energy level I had at 25.  Two days ago I received an email from a girl at church who wanted to start a play group.  She is planning to do something very similar to what I remember doing with Rebecca.  (Plan an activity, provide lunch, etc. . . )  

At this point I was starting to feel a little bit of guilt for having never set up play groups for the boys.  So, I asked Rebecca if she remembered anything about any of the activities we mom's worked so hard to plan for play group in St. Louis.  Not only could she not remember even ONE play group activity, she couldn't remember any of the places we used to go to all the time, or any of the kids we used to play with.  A few pictures jogged some memory, but not much; and we had done play group every Wed. for 4 years.  

The moral of the story is moms should never feel guilty about not doing or doing something different with each child. . . because in the end they won't remember and it really doesn't matter anyways.  

At least I have a lot of fun memories.  Maybe playgroups are more for young moms then young kids.  You think???

Where to Next????

Go to my 2008 archives and look at the Dec. 23rd entry.  The program is listed as #10.  (It was actually Chad's 2nd choice. . hint hint. . )  We are super excited.  

Happy Hunting. 

So now that you've all had a day to figure this out I will just give it to you. .  . It's the University of Arizona in Tucson.  YIppeeee!!!!  We have a job. 

3D Dance Workshop in Roswell

We just got back from Roswell and a two day dance workshop with Greg and Ryan from 3D Dance network.  Sara came with me and she did an awesome job.  I am super sore but Sara claims that she has no pain and is just tired.  What would it be like to be 7 again.  I can't believe how much she is learning.  It will be fun to watch her as she gets older.  

We matched!!!

At long last we know that WE HAVE MATCHED!!!! YIPPEEEEEE!  Now we wait the eternal 3 days until Thursday at 11 am our time to find out where.  Personally I am just happy that we have a job in a program somewhere.  Hopefully it will be one of our top picks but regardless we have a job next year.  

I have a chair stacker!!!

When we lived in San Antonio my really good friend Melanie Christensen told me that her dream in college was to marry a chair stacker. Now if you aren't a Mormon, you may not know the significance of this particular title. A chair stacker is someone who always volunteers to help and stays after to clean up events. (ie. . help put away the chairs, etc. ) In Melanie's case a chair stacker would also represent someone who is not only service oriented outside the home but also helpful inside the home as well. (If you know her husband Dee you would also know that she did indeed marry a chair stacker)

Today we had primary in the chapel because the primary room was having heating issues. The temperature was stuck at 54 degrees. At the end of church I was busy picking up the chapel and putting things away and what do I see???? My 5 year old Jake in the freezing primary room is folding up all the chairs (by himself). Every Sunday the kids usually have to fold up the chairs because we use that room as the family history center during the week. I was so proud of him. So now I can let Melanie know (for future reference . . . she has two little girls ages 3 and 1) that I have a chair stacker.

Destination Imagination

Yesterday Rebecca, along with all the 3-6 grade GT students, traveled to Albuquerque for a state wide academic competition.  Each group was assigned a challenge they would have to complete and then, at the end of the day, the first place winners would be invited to a national competition in Tennessee.  

Rebecca's 3rd grade group had the challenge of designing two robots that would perform basic tasks and to incorporate the machines into a skit.  I can't remember what the 4th grade task was, but the 5-6th graders had to take a piece of literature and turn it into a music video.  In the end the 3rd and 4th grade teams from our school took 2nd place and the 5-6th grade team took first.  

We were so proud of them all.  There were 80 teams participating in the days events and apparently that is the largest number of entries NM has ever had.  (Oh and if you couldn't tell from the pictures, Rebecca is the only girl on her team).  Good job Rebecca and everyone at Ranchvale.  

This is why we are just weird. . . .

Okay, so looking at the first two pictures you may not think weirdos, but the third one is self explanatory.  So let me explain.  

Chad and I often have conversations where the discussion ends with "you know we are just weird."  The good news is that we still manage to find other people as crazy as we are to hang out with.  

Case in point number one:

Poor Jake is 5 years old and so excited because he just got his first bike.  Yes, until last week he was riding a tricycle around the street.  How sad is that.  He's child number 3 and totally neglected sometimes.  

Case in point number two:

I love to bake but hate to cook.  Make any sense??? Okay for those of you who know me, you know that I have a sweet tooth.  I love strawberries and chocolate and pretty much anything that has sugar in it.  I hate dieting.  I stink at it personally.  So instead I try to run and lift weights to make up for it.  I would rather run 4 miles and eat my daily dose of M&M's then give up the chocolaty goodness.  Strange right, ya I know.  

Case in point number three:

My weirdness is rubbing off onto my children.  Chad and I have often caught both Rebecca and Sara sleeping like this.  (Legs bent and crossed).  They didn't believe us when we told them, so I took a picture to prove it.  

Now I'm not even getting into Joey's upset when he can't play with the girls American girl dolls, Jake's jetes that are better then some of the kids I've taught in my dance classes and Chad hoping to finally get out of training and into a real job by the time he's 40.  To add to it all we like to play Pinochle and we're not even 60 yet.  The more tired I become, the more I start to sing instead of talk and at any given time there may be an extra 5-10 kids running through our house.  Yes, we are weird, but hey it works for us.