Pyles of Clutter

Tessa at the Talent Show

Ahhh. She did great.

Tessa on Tuesday--Artist edition

For no apparent reason, which is generally the case, my dad bought Tessa an easel to put in her room. It sat out in the garage for a couple of months until Zoey moved out of the room and it was hers, all hers! Then there was some room for the easel and we set it up, along with all the other artistic materials she could possibly ever want.

This was my first great picture from her:

In case you can't read that, it says, Happy (early) Mother's Day.

She made this for me in February.  

Here's a little close up of this magnificent sign:

How do you like my hair?  Isn't that just a great rendition?  With the little pokey up parts?  ;)

Tessa also decided to have a drawing for a great prize!  There were three people in her drawing, me, Terry, and Zoey.  All the rest of you losers lost out!  ;)

Guess who won?!  This girl!  I won first prize in the drawing of the Pyle house.  This was my prize:

I will proudly display this on my wall.  

Further evidence that Tessa is basically raising herself....

This last weekend, we had our competition at the Great Wolf Lodge in Centrailia.  This competition was not ideal in that you had to pay to go watch your dancer.  I'm a cheap person, people.  Terry has seen all of Zoey's dances, and will see them again at Spring Fest, and at recital.  I'm not paying $20 for him to see them in a ballroom setting, trying to see passed the lady's huge head in front of you.  (No offense to the lady sitting in front of me.)  Consequently, he was on Tessa duty.  Which means they sat in the indoor waterpark all day, he on his Ipad doing work, and her, wandering aimlessly from one pool to the next, making friends willy-nilly.  It's her gift.  And our curse.  Sometimes, honestly, she scares me.  

At one point, we had a friend of ours come up and tell us that Tessa in the wave pool was scaring her.  It was scaring me too.  The wave pool was about 5 feet deep at one end.  Tessa is not five feet tall.  So every once in awhile, I would go to find her and tell her, stay in the shallow end, and she would reply, but there aren't any of the good waves there!  Our friend was telling us that she saw Tessa dogpaddling in the deep end through the waves, barely keeping her head above the water, and when she asked if Tess was doing okay, Tess was like, I'm doing great! See!  My head's above water. 

Well, that's a pretty low standard, now isn't it?  

At any rate, after she had been in the pool for about 7 hours, I told Terry he HAD to take her out of there.  It was time to dry out a little. 

He thought she was doing great, just keeping her head above water.  

;)

MLHS Molahiettes 2011-2012

It's time for a recap of last year's drill team experiences.  It was a great year, with lots of highs and very little drama.  That's so awesome.  This is really just for Zoey, so feel free to skip this post.  Really.  I'll be back tomorrow with something else.  Don't you worry.

We started out the year with the promise of becoming a team.  Lori (the coach) worked hard to bring the girls together with one purpose.  Our goal: Teamwork makes the Dream work!  Everyone working together for one goal, Total Domination!  ;)

Ugh.  Bad lighting.  It just so happened that drill camp was on Zoey's birthday!  I went there to pick up girls and give the girls some birthday treats.  Camp was at Great Wolf Lodge, so I was thinking that could just be Zoey's birthday party, right?  That didn't really go over with her though.  

One of the fundraisers we had through the summer was holding a BBQ for Team Caitlynn supporters!  It was fun to be part of the madness!  But I'm telling you, it wasn't easy to have to stay awake every Wednesday, voting my little fingers off.  And then holding my breath all day Thursday to see if she made it through! This season should be much easier on my nerves!

And then it was time to start our football performances!  These girls worked so hard, and came together so well.  It was just amazing to watch them, each and every time.

A good luck cheer to go out on!

Camiel and Zoey have been through drill team together their whole careers.  It's fun to see them grow and progress.

One of the fun performances of the year is Guy-Girl, where every girl rounds up a boy to dance with and there is a fun theme.  This year we had santas and little girls.  I think Zoey should have pigtails every day, don't you?

Zoey and a few of her drill friends...

We had a few trial performances of our competition numbers; one at BBCC for our kick number,

and another at the high school for our military number.

And then it was time to get serious.  Our first competition was at West Valley Spokane.  We competed in military, kick and pom.  And we placed....

first in all three categories!!  Off to a good start!!   We also had a competition in Moses Lake, right after this, but unfortunately, because I was busy, I didn't take one picture!  Putting on competitions is a lot of work!!  But it's fun to be on our own turf!!

We had two other competitions, one in Quincy with 3 first places and...

 one at Shadle Park where we also took all firsts!  The roll continues!!

We did get to have a little fun in between competitions.  Every year on Valentine's Day, we do a little fundraiser called Kissing Bandits.  This was our group this year.  Aren't they looking very Valentiney?  It's a really fun tradition, not only for the Molahiettes, but also for the school.

And then the real work began.  First up, districts were all of our dances took first. Even when you are winning though, it's a little nerve wracking to go to the big competition.  Dance is like gymnastics, where it's really subjective to what the judges like, if they like your style, or your costumes, or whatever.  We been on the receiving end of that, both good and bad.  It's really just a roll of the dice....  So when we went to state, even though our routines had never lost... you just never know.  So when we took two first, and a second, we were some happy campers!!  Look at those jubilant faces!  

We sooooo appreciate all that our coaches do for the team!  I know how much time and effort goes into running a team of this caliber, day after day.  It's a tireless job, that has no days off.  I'm very grateful they are willing to do this for all of these girls.  What a great experience they are giving them!

And then it was time to head to nationals.  Off to sunny California!

We had some fun goofing off at Disneyland....

We performed our military first.  I'm not going to lie, it was rough.  Lots of mental errors.  Consequently, we didn't place.  It was a combination of not executing well, and back to the subjection of the judges.  They just really didn't like the style of military that we do.  It was evident in who they put through to the finals.  I'm not sure that even if we had done it perfectly we would have made it through.  Oh well, you can only do what you can do.  We still had one more day and two more routines....

We came out on fire people!  On fire!  We did our pom number and it was great!!  We had something to prove with it, because it was the routine that took second at state.  

And guess what?!  It won!!  National champs in the large pom category!!  Next up, kick...

Again, a great performance!!  We looked awesome!  In this category, they have a finals.  So when the awards came, we found out that we were in the top three, to perform in the finals arena that night!  Another chance to improve even more on our performance.  

Performing in the big arena is like no other performance you've ever had.  Stadium seating, filled to capacity, all the lights trained on you.  It give me goosebumps just to think about it, and I'm in the stands people!  So I was decidedly nervous for our girls.  They needed to be absolutely perfect!

And they were!  All the little mental errors that had happened in the previous performance (and they were little!) were gone.  We were strong, confident, and showing it! It was just so very awesome.  But we were still unsure if the judges would like what we had to offer.....

And they did!!  National champs in the Championship kick category!!  People, I know that you probably don't care that much about dance, but that is quite a feat.  Moses Lake has never done that before.  It was so very, very awesome! And I was so overwhelmed with all that this team had come back from and accomplished.  

And so we came back from California with two national titles.  I wish that our military would have done well too, I loved that dance.  But still, not too shabby to come away with two championships against some of the best dancers in the nation.  Not. Too. Shabby.  

With two state titles, and two national titles, we had a lot to celebrate.  Zoey had a lot to celebrate!  She has grown so much as a dancer this year.  Her technique has gotten stronger.  Her confidence has grown.  Her ability to perceive the dance is better.  She still has some work to do, but she has gotten so much stronger.  I'm so proud of her.  

And here we are to a brand new year.... Living the Legacy!  A lot to live up to!!

Tessa on Tuesdays--Home alone edition

I've stated often that I feel like Tessa is basically raising herself.  When she was first born, I can remember loading her up in her car seat, driving out to Walmart, getting out of the car, walking into the store, and then thinking.... I'm forgetting something.  It was Tessa.  I had forgotten Tessa in the car.  But at least I remember her before she had sat in the car by herself for hours.  It only took me about 10 minutes to figure out that I was missing something.  Sheesh.

Well anyway, with the crazy that is Zoey's schedule, now that she is back at work, is starting up drill again, is finishing up her dance year, striving to stay on top of school work, and is getting into girls camp responsibilities, I'm trying to just keep up.  Unfortunately, Tessa is falling by the wayside.  I realized today that she has a choir concert this week, and I'm not really sure she's been singing those songs.  I haven't told her to, I haven't asked her if she has been, I haven't even heard her singing at all.  This could be bad.  She even has a little duet.  Heaven help her partner.  Seriously.  Please people, pray for us.  And Carrie, the choir director.  She's a saint. 

To go along with choir, Tessa's also in Glee.  Glee is a little group of girls that sing and dance, just like the tv show.  Only not nearly as amazing.  But not too bad for 9-12 year kids.  A-n-y-w-a-y..... Tessa has a little solo part in the song where she stands out in front of everyone and sings a little part and does a little dance.  It's seriously about 5 seconds long.  That isn't stopping me from worrying that she doesn't know what she's doing!  I haven't watched this class.  I haven't seen her do it at home.  I haven't made her do it at all.  So sad. 

In fact, this is the way of Tess' life.  We make plans, such as, Terry is here, Zoey is here, I'm here.  And then I realize I haven't thought about Tess at all.  And then I realize that this poor child is going to be home by herself for 3+ hours if I don't figure out something else for her.  Thank goodness for good neighbors.  She is often "playing" at a friend's house for hours at a time because we are all gone from the house.  Tessa is good to stay home by herself for an hour or so, but after that she starts to get a little "nervous", i.e. crying hysterically and wondering if we are ever coming home.  It's not good, people.  The hysteria takes hours to mellow out. 

Well, I keep wondering what will happen when Zoey is gone, and she will be getting all my attention.  I'm not sure she will be able to deal with it, or even welcome it.  My attention can be, well, maybe just a little intense. 

It looks like an all or nothing proposition.  Good luck, Tessa. 

Tessa on Tuesdays

Tessa had her very first dance competition on Saturday.  She was equally excited and nervous.  At dance competitions, they have something called a dance down.  Participants are taught a short dance, usually about 30-45 seconds long, in about 5 minutes.  Then they are asked to perform this dance and the judges select the ones that do it the best, or at least do some great moves, whittling down the participants until the final four are chosen as champions. 

So we got to the competition and I asked Zoey, do you want to do the dance down, and she was like, um, no, and then I turned to Tess and I was like, what about you?  And after telling her what happens, she was like, of course, I can win this thing! 

Yikes.

So I signed her up, and she went out there with her friends, and she learned the dance, and..... was out in one performance.  Ouch.

I had already prepped Zoey to go to the side of the stage, and bring my little broken hearted dancer to me to console.  But, to my surprise and delight, Tess was just fine!  She was a little chagrined about not making it at least through one round, but in all, I think it ended up being a good experience for her. 

Who knew?

Getting ready to go for it!

Looking sassy!

Dancing Divas!

April 27, 2005

For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. ~William Penn

Tessa on Tuesday

Tessa had to go to the studio with me on Wednesday.  I brought her dinner, and some snacks, but totally forgot to bring her something to do, such as homework.... So I called Zoey, who was still at home, but who was coming to the studio, and asked her to bring that stuff with her.  Tessa piped up from the back seat, "Sisters.  Sometimes you just hate 'em, but other times they can be really useful!"  Hmmmmm.  Hate?

I took Tessa to our local pageant on Saturday.  Several of Zoey's friends were competing.  So Tessa was giving me a little commentary about how she felt about the dresses, and the talents, and so on.  At one point, she turned to me and said, "You know girl number --?  Don't you think her shoes are just a little bit much?"  I seriously about started laughing. 

I bought Tessa some new dresses on Saturday.  After she tried them on, she came and told me, "How did you know these would suit me so perfectly?"  I know you Tessa Rae.  I know you.

;)

*sigh* Tessa....

Sunday quip...

"Who knew Dad had a face under there?  What else do you think he's hiding?"

;)

Changes...

A change for me....

Glasses!

A change for Terry....

Beardless!

This is the first time I've seen that face in 20 years!  I can't quit staring at it.....

The reason for the change, a new calling.  In the bishopric. 

I won't be seeing that beard again for awhile. 

;)