Christmas Cards

Today started out with an early photo session with a friend and her adorable girls.  I am no professional photographer by any means, but said friend likes to flatter me, and I just love to snap photos of cute girls, so it works.  I could not convince the little lady the get picture ready this morning, so we ventured out to the back yard for a mini photo session of our own this afternoon.

G has inherited the grand Christmas Card obsession from her mother.  This year she has decided to do her very own photo card to send out to her friends and teachers.

And she likes to use props. . . 

I like the photos we did today.  But I can't wait to go to a really pretty location and try again next weekend.

In other card news, I finally ordered our family Christmas Card tonight.  I think creating the card is my favorite part of Christmas.  We are already receiving cards in the mail, so I feel like I am so behind.  I can't wait to get them in the mail!!  

Better late than never. . . .isn't that the saying?

Cheer Competition:

Competition arrival started at 5:30 am. Meaning we had to leave our house at 4:00 am!!

But it was all worth it to be called. . . . .

 2012 NCATA Champions

This squad worked so hard for months to prepare for the competition.  I'm so glad that babyG had the opportunity to learn that hard work and determination pay off in the end.  And she had a little fun in there too.

The picture below is G with her cheer coach, Mrs. Kim.  And the NCATA championship trophy.

Not to mention her very first medal of any kind.  She was SO excited about getting the medal, that she was the first girl off the mat at the end of the routine. 

After the first competition the girls and parents took a vote on whether or not the squad would participate in the state competition.  The entry cost was minimal, and it was nearby at a local high school in the Birmingham area, so we decided to participate.

The squads competing were all so good!  We finished fifth place. 

 I was so proud of my girl for holding back her tears of disappointment until she was in private.  Several of the girls started crying right on the floor after they received their trophy.  G held her head high and conducted herself very well.

It was after we got in the car that the tears started to flow.  Luckily Nana was there with us, and she came to the rescue by taking us out for a nice dinner. 

And, a little build a bear fun really helped get G's spirits back up.

The football team made it to the semi finals in the play offs, but lost to the only team that beat us all season.

So, for now, cheer is over and we have our life back.

I am so proud of babyG and all the girls for what they accomplished this season.  She has made some sweet memories, that will follow her for a lifetime. 

Until next year, I love this little Rams cheerleader!!

Jumping into the Photo Season

It's that time of year again.  Time to start snapping hundreds of photos in hope of getting one sweet photo for the Christmas card design.  

I'm practicing today.  And I'm a little rusty!!

Halloween Recap 2012

I cannot believe that Halloween has come and gone already.  I had barely decorated, and now it has passed me by.  This year has been a little crazy for me at work, so I have a ton of vacation time left that I need to use before the end of the year.  So, I decided to take the day off for Halloween.

I had a very productive day.  I got a lot of cleaning and organizing done in the house. And I was able to put out all of my Fall decor.  I only have a few short weeks to enjoy my favorite season, and then we will all be speeding into the Christmas festivities.

This year babyG decided to dress as a nerd for trick or treating.  The week of Halloween is always Red Ribbon Week at school, so she was also able to wear her costume to school that day.  Normally she has a hard time deciding on a costume, but she knew months in advance what she wanted, and she never even thought of changing her mind.

I must admit, she made a pretty adorable nerd.  This is the second year that her BFF Caity-bug has joined us for trick or treating.  Caity lives WAY out in the woods and has nowhere to go trick or treating.  And we just love having her with us for all the fun.  I laugh when I look at this picture of the two of them together.  Sweet C-bug is very tall for her age, she is only eight. But she is already as tall as big10 is at twelve.

After trick or treating we came back to "sort" and take inventory of our goodies. . . 

 Catch up on the news via the Iphone. . . .

And eat some of the goodies while looking extremely tired.  Both of these boys had been worked hard all week at basketball practice.  Luckily they had a short practice on the day of Halloween. 

I can't believe how fast this year is flying by.  It makes me realize that we have been way too busy, and are moving entirely too fast.  I can't even enjoy what is right in front of me.  I am working on taking it a little slower and trying to enjoy the moment.  Rather than looking ahead at what is coming next.  That being said, I am not going to let it stop me from pinning Christmas decorating ideas on Pinterest. :)

Hoops

I realize that when you fail to post on your blog daily, you fall WAY behind.  I have so many things to post about, that I am just going to skip a few for the sake of getting caught up to current events.  Except for cheer competition, I'll come back to that.

On October 24th, and 25th Big10 participated in middle school basketball tryouts.  

Just a couple of weeks before basketball tryouts, he went out for baseball.  We were all so disappointed when he did not make the baseball team.  However, I was very proud of the way he handled himself.  It was the first time that he actually had to try out for a team, and I was a little concerned with how he would deal with rejection if he was not chosen.  He was clearly disappointed, but decided it is just life, and he will try again next year.  I think his dad and I definitely took it harder than he did.  It just breaks my heart that he can't have it all this time around.

On to the happy ending. . . .basketball.  He made the team!!

I am so thankful that he was chosen for the team.  Big10 loves basketball even more than baseball.  And he was so confident that he would make the team.  He never thought otherwise, and would have been devastated if he was not chosen.  

Practice started immediately this past Monday.  They practice an hour or two after school each day.  

Friday he came home from practice with his first injury of the season.  

And his first ever black eye.  He went up to block a lay up and his team mate's elbow got him right in the eye.  He said that all he remembers is seeing black and falling to the floor.  I know it must have hurt so bad!  But now he is walking around like he is so super cool to have a black eye.  Boys. . ..

Tomorrow is the first game.  And they will play again on Tuesday.  We are about to get real busy again, as they will have two to three games each week.  I'm not sure how much playing time he will get as a seventh grader this year, but he is just thrilled to be a part of the team.  And I am thrilled for him!

More Cheerleading. . . .Competition Part I

Life revolves around cheer these days.  It is keeping me very busy.  Practice, practice, and more practice, and then games on the weekends.

But we are all enjoying.  A couple of weeks ago the girls had competition.  The night before all three cheer squads met up for dinner, and hair rolling.  They had tons of fun!

The night was full of dancing.  And near the end of the night each squad performed its competition routine for  the other squads.

The mom's spent ALL night rolling tiny pieces of hair into rollers.

{Happy Face}

It was a fun night full of great memories that will stick with baby G for a lifetime.  So, although we are extremely busy, I am SO glad that we decided to cheer this year.  And we will definitely do it again next year.

Stayed tuned for Part Two with TONS of competition photos.

FIELD TRIP ~ Native American Festival

Friday I had the day off from work, and was able to attend babyG's first field trip of the year.

The third grade class headed to Moundville for the Native American Festival.

 They had so many cute activities set up for the kids to participate in.

 But G, said that she felt like she did not really learn anything.  I agree with her.  I learned more about Native American history when I attended this field trip a million years ago.

 But, the trip was so much fun.  And we did have a good time hanging with our friends and enjoying the festival.

The best part of the day was having a picture made with the Hoop dancing Indian.  He danced with about 30 hula hoops wrapped around his body. It was pretty entertaining.

After this trip, I am definitely ready for some fall holidays!  Thanksgiving in particular. :)

Game Day - Go Rams!

Happy Saturday!

Go Rams!

Aloha!

Sunday was a gloomy, rainy day.  G's friend had a Luau/pool party planned for the afternoon.  Needless to say, the girls did not get to swim due to the rain.

But they still enjoyed the Luau festivities.  K's mom is a close friend of mine, and she normally doesn't do parties at home.  But it was a GREAT party, and I was so impressed with what all she put together. 

I used my new camera lens, and I think I am getting better with the close up.  Maybe?

 The hubby even attended the party.  He typically doesn't do birthday parties.  Especially the little girl ones.  I was so happy that he came along, and even happier when I got the picture.  Cutest picture EVER!

The girls went out to the barn for a hula hooping contest, and The limbo.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.

Great games, great food, and great friends.  A little rain could not ruin the day. 

 This face?!?

They even had the cutest photo prop's.  We had to have a photo on the beach!

After this party, baby G is in full planning mode for her own party.  After all, she only has 6 months to pull it all together.

Life these days. . . .

I just opened my blog and can hardly believe it has been a month since my last post.  We are just carried away with running around these days.  Baby G has practice three nights a week for cheer.  They are preparing for competition that is now only two weeks away.  Big10 has been meeting up with friends to practice a little baseball in preparation for middle school try outs that are THIS WEEK! 

I've just been hanging on, it feels like we live out of the car sometimes.  I'll be glad when we can settle down a bit, and enjoy home.  I love fall and everything that comes with it.  Especially decorating and all the cooking and eating that comes with fall. 

We are spending our Saturday's watching the Pee Wee Ram cheerleaders.

It is a nice way to pass time. . .they are all adorable!

This one in particular! 

We managed to fit family portraits into the schedule.  Really, I made our schedule around our appointment that had been scheduled with the photographer of my choice.  He is kind of hard to get time with, but it was so worth it.  Just the "sneak peeks" that he has shown me so far are fabulous!  I can't wait to see them all.

I had a birthday.  The number is getting bigger and bigger every year.  I am to the point that I will no longer say my age out loud. My lovely husband bought me a new lens for my camera.  A 50mm.  I have not actually used it that much just yet, but am looking forward to playing around with it.  All tips are welcome as always!

I think that is all the news worthy of writing down.  Until next time. . .hopefully not a month from now!

The Cheerleader

The first week of school flew by.  But it was a good week for all of us.  The kids are adjusting well to the school schedule, and so far everyone is happy and content.  BabyG has her first test this Monday, and she will start her GATE class this week as well.  GATE is the gifted program at the county schools, and she was chosen to be tested and was accepted into the program.  She is so excited, and we are so proud of her!

This week will also be the beginning of after school gymnastics classes.  This will be the first year that she has taken gymnastics from the coach that comes to the school.  With cheer practice on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights, we just can't squeeze in the time to drive to the other side of town for tumbling/gym classes.

I think she will do just fine.  We are both looking forward to something new.  And, these girls are getting really good with the cheers.  Monday, they will start learning the competition dance.  We are looking forward to another busy and fun week!