Pyles of Clutter

So. What are ya doin'?

So.  Generally, I like to pretend that no one reads my blog, and it's really more like a journal for me, and then someone will say to me, "You know, I was reading your blog and ....."  It always takes me back a little bit!  First, that someone really is reading my blog, and second, that they had a thought about my randomness.  It can be a little startling.  ;)

I bought a bunch of Baker's Twine to do stuff with, and I'm finding the thing that I really want to do with it is just look at it.  It's just so pretty sitting on my desk, not doing anything but looking very happy.  I can see some cards in my head using it, and I also think there's a couple of crafty projects in their future, but over all I just like looking at it.  *happy sigh*

Honestly, I'm just so tired of having headaches.  At least two or three days of the week I have headaches that pretty much debilitate me.  Seriously.  It has gotten so irritating that I've made doctor's appts to have all my bloodwork, and so on done.  I'm just tired of being out of it.

The dalmation fish finally died. RIP Dolly.

I've been going through all my clothes, all of Tessa's stuff, and the horror that is the garage getting stuff for our big Drill team garage sale!  Not that I have any great stuff to sell, but it's always nice when you can get a little bit out of it.  I look at stuff and see what I paid for it, and you're getting it for $1.  If you think about that too much, you go a little crazy.  Really. 

So come to our Drill team garage sale and car wash.  Saturday, TG Studio on Gibby Road, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Be there and spend some money on all my good junk!  ;)

I bought some new movies the other day.  Nothing new about that.  And I haven't even had a chance to watch them yet.  I must schedule my time better!  I love to watch movies!!  I've been trying since it came out to go see "The Avengers."  But first, I had to see Thor, so I would know who the bad guy was, and then I've been hoping to get Terry to go with me.  So far, he's been just a little bit busy to go see any movies.  Bummer.  It might have to be a Redbox for us.  I did, however, get him to go see Hunger Games with me, which was a must.  Although I love the story, the premise of children killing each other, is just a little hard on my heart.  I'm working my way through the third book Mockingjay right now.  I had to take a break from it.

Is it true?  I heard that the sno shack opens today!!  SNO SHACK!!  I love sno cones.  Truly. 

Remember how I was in this super productive mode last week, and now I'm struggling to get any little thing done?  Yea, awesome.  I did get some of my fundraising stuff done, and also found some fun stuff to do for Senseless with Susan.  Oh people!  Bring on the fun!  I'm excited to go to camp now!  The girls have no idea what is waiting for them!

We are ready for the pool to open next weekend!  Who's with me?! 

In the next six weeks, I am jam packed with stuff to do.  Like activities that have to be attended, etc.  Sometimes, it becomes just a little overwhelming, and then I have to tell myself, just one day at a time, one event at a time.  I can do this.  Sheesh.

This is one of my favorite quotes right now:

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until Heaven.  But for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."  ~Jeffrey R. Holland. 

Til tomorrow.

Love,

me.

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!!

Some card making

I made some cards yesterday....

Here was my inspiration:

found at Stamping & Sharing.

Here's what my finished product looked like:

I think it turned out pretty good!  I just used exactly what I had at home already.  That's the best kind of card!  Some of these little beauties may be coming your way!  

P.S.  As you can see, I've made progress with my picture loading issues.  Still have some work to do in that front, but at least I've gotten one post out of it!

 

So irritated.

I'm seriously irritated with my typepad account today.  It won't let me upload any pictures today, onto my blog.  So the one day that I'm finally ready to upload some pictures and finally have something else to see, no can do.  So I'm just not doing anything then.

Take that Typepad.

Wednesday Wanderings

Here we go....

:-) We are off to another dance competition this weekend.  It is on the west side, at a place called Wolf Lodge.  The nice thing is that the hotel has an inside water park, so I'm bringing Terry and Tessa along.  Terry is really just coming to keep Tess busy in the pool.  This is the beginning of the next busy season.  This weekend, Wolf Lodge.  Next weekend, big Drill Team Garage Sale.  Then it's Spring Fest here in ML town.  Graduation, Recital, Stake conference, girls camp, ward conference, 4th of July.  Sheesh.

;) I cannot believe that Zoey is on the cusp of her senior year.  When did I get so old, to have the main family of kids out of the house?  Just so crazy.  I know that it is weird that I don't really count Tess in with the other kids, but really, 7 years people.  It's a long time to be counting the time when they are all gone.  7 years.

:0  I was sad to see Roshon and Chelsie get eliminate from DWTS last night.  First, because I love Chelsie and will always cheer for her.  Second, because I think Roshon got some raw deals because he's young.  Third, because I don't think you should get votes just for taking off your shirt.  Seriously.  Do some dancing people!

:/  The weather for running is so awesome right now!  Its warm, but not too warm.  I can run in my t-shirt and shorts and not be sweating up a storm.  It's just super awesome.  And now we are running about 5.2 miles every morning.

:))  I'm kind of really liking the music from the band Karmin.  Have you seen them?  She's got some weird hair stuff going on, but I really like their songs.  I saw them on GMA and also Live with Kelly.  Too funny.  Look at me, getting all hip. 

:>  How do people wear those really short skirts?  I mean, you bend over wrong, or slide when you sit down and you are showing some precious parts there.  This is not good, truly.

:)  I watched the movie "We Bought A Zoo".  What a cute, fun movie!!  There is a bit of swearing, but truly, so fun, so sweet, and so happy.  I would recommend it with the understanding that there is that little swearing.  So different to see Matt Damon in a really calm role.  I mean, not only is there really no stunts in it, but it looks like he put on some weight to do this movie.  He isn't heavy by any means, but he is a little rounded out.  It was nice to see.  I love to see celebrities that look like real people.  You know what I mean.  Don't pretend you don't. 

:+)  So what else is going on?  The new neighbors are finally moving in.  They were gone for the weekend, but they have their dog here, so we fed Mick for the weekend.  Yep, if I was thinking about getting a dog before, I'm not now.  Dogs are just so much work!  I love Sarafina even more now.  He pretty much sticks to himself, and has his little clues when he wants my attention.  Usually it means he needs food in his bowl, or water.  Or that he wants to be brushed.  Otherwise, I don't see him all day.  I love it.  He really only cuddles up to me when it's cold outside.  It's a perfect relationship. 

:) And now it's time to go do work.

Until tomorrow. 

Me.

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. 

Friday Favorites

My favorites for today:

Favorite movie: Being at Disneyland made me love all those old Disney movies.

Favorite TV show: Once Upon A Time is a fun watch.

Favorite music: I've put together a collection of love songs on my Itunes.  Love that.

Favorite pastime: I love putting together cards. 

Favorite thing I've bought lately: I love our new comforter.  I won't love it when it gets warm.

Favorite treat: Sweetart Jelly Beans.  Still.

Favorite time of the day: Snuggling in bed at bedtime.

Favorite person: Terry.  Always Terry. 

Any favorites for you?

Confidence

Well, here I sit, waiting for the new drill team list to be posted.  It was tryouts today, and Zoey tried out for her very last time. 

It's a funny thing about dance.  It's a team sport, and an individual sport.  Wrestling, is completely an individual sport.  There's no one else on the mat to help you.  You've got to do it on your own.  Other sports, like football, give you the chance to lean on the other players, to give them a chance to take over and make the big play.  Dance is one of those weird places where you aren't on the floor by yourself, but if you aren't with it, 100%, everyone will see and it's a deterrent to the team.

The tryout routine was challenging this year.  Both right and left splits, a triple, fast arm movements, two different kinds of leaps.  Very technical.  Zoey can do all of those, except that triple.  She struggles with her turns.  One time, I was discussing turns with Danielle, who is excellent at them.  She told me that most of the time, it's about confidence.  If the dancer has the confidence that she can do it, than she will.  Zoey doesn't have that confidence yet, I guess.  We'll have to work on that this summer.

That thought brings me to something I had to teach about in YW on Sunday.  I was talking about what gives us confidence.  What gives us the confidence we need to try new things, or to speak up when it's needed, or to strive to be a better person?  Where does that confidence come from?

Elder Holland gave a great talk about that, quoting the scripture in D&C 121:45  “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth”.   

So if we are always striving to do what's right, to always have the Holy Ghost with us, to keep on the side of righteousness and truth, then we can be confident in all we do, because we know that 1) we will always be doing what's right, therefore having the right to ask for the Lord for help, and knowing that whatever we do is a righteous desire and 2) even if we fail, we will have the strength that comes from God, and the comfort that comes from His Holy Spirit. 

Such a great lesson for all of us. 

And Zoey made it back on the team. 

Smells of summer

Goodness me, May came by fast, didn't it?  May is notorious for being super fast, and then it's June, and so on, and so on.  Pretty soon, it'll be September and school will be starting all over again.  Crazy. 

::So here's a great story.  On Sunday, we went to dinner at a friend's house and we were taking some bbq chicken.  The pieces of chicken were in a jelly roll pan with bbq sauce all over it.  It was a little sloppy.  Well, this friend's house is on a steep hill and when we drove down the hill, the sauce started to escape out of the pan!  All over my van!  Zoey sacrificed her shoe and stuck in the path of the spilling sauce trying to stop it from going under the seat.  We got stopped, and then I threw some napkins at Zoey to sop up as much as we could, but seriously, it was still a big sloppy mess.  Go to Monday, when I was going to go shampoo it out, but I forgot, due to a bad headache.  Tuesday saw me at the car wash, shampooing away.  I got it all cleaned up, and you can't see it all.  BUT.  You can still smell it.  Yep, my car smells like bbq sauce.  Just in time for summer....

::Seriously, how can the fish tank be dirty again already!??  Argh!!

::Drill team tryouts tomorrow!  This will be my last drill team tryout for 5 years, if Tessa tries out.  How crazy is that?  It's also my 8th tryout in a row.  Sheesh.

::I super love the TV show "Once Upon a Time."  Super.

::Remember that little teaser of warm weather we had?  Do you think it's ever coming back?  I sure hope so.  I was really enjoying it. 

::Three weeks until Spring fest!  Yahoo!!

::I went to go see the Hunger Games movie.  I thought it was pretty good!  I can see a little of the hubbub of the casting of Peeta.  It's a little awkward that he's barely taller than her.  It followed the book pretty well, but seriously, the book was just way better.  It always is. 

::I'm finally getting used to the post-beard face.  I'm kinda like it. 

::And that's it for me.