He doesn't need any help.

Me: Cali, please help your brother go to the bathroom.
Fletcher: I dont't need any help! I can do it myself! Watch and learn.

What a little punk!

Whatever.

The Book Character Parade judges can suck it! Cali was robbed! Unfortunately she did not win for grade. (Apparently I am not only competitive but a sore loser as well)
I think next year I will be bribing the kids with cash to not participate in this event. I don't know if I have it in me to do it another year.

We MUST Win!!!

I have never been a particularly competitive person. That all changed when I had kids. Today was the Book Character Parade at Cali and Macey's school. Everybody dresses up as a character from a book and all the parents come and they have a little parade. Each class votes for the person with the best costume, and then each class winner goes before a panel of judges where they are asked a bunch of questions about their book, and one person from each grade is awarded Grand Champion. At least one of my kids wins every year. I have serious panic attacks each year because I feel so much pressure to come up with something creative and unique. This year was no exception. Macey decided to go as the girl from the book "Today I Feel Silly".
It was a fairly easy costume to create since we had most of the dress up clothes already. Everyone thought she was wearing a wig, but only someone that is in it to win it spends an hour rolling up strand after strand of hair in tiny rollers. I thought she looked so cute. She tied for first place in the class division but lost after a re-vote. Whatever. Cali was the best. She looks exactly like "Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly".
I woke up 3 times in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying about getting her hair to stay out. That's normal, right? She won for her class and I am now waiting on results from the grade...

Go Fight Win

I really love living in Texas. It has been a great place to raise my family. I love my neighborhood and I love my kids' school. I love the shopping and the food. And the people here are the friendliest I have ever met. So far we have avoided ever saying the word ya'll, never gone to a rodeo, and have yet to cheer on the Cowboys. One thing we have not avoided though is the whole crazy cheerleading thing. Before I moved here I thought cheerleading consisted of showing up to some Friday night football games wearing a short skirt with matching sweater, doing a lot of jumping up and down, and shouting "rah rah" every now and then. I was so wrong. Cheeleading is serious business here. Perhaps the most competitive, dangerous, and obnoxious sport there is. I had no idea. So when my girls decided they wanted to do competitive cheer I thought it sounded like fun. They belong to a gym that is very small and everyone who tries out makes the team. There are only 12 girls on the team and when they started Macey was the youngest at 4 and the oldest girl was 9. There were some girls that could not even do a cartwheel, and some that could do back handsprings. Their first routine was so simple and cute, and the girls could not wait to perform it in front of a crowd. Their uniforms were even more simple and make up consisted of lip gloss. All of us moms made cute little signs to hold up. Someone may have even brought a clapper or two. We had no idea what to expect at a competition. I don't think anything could have prepared me for what we were getting ourselves into.
Let me try and paint the picture. A cheer competition usually takes place in a college gymnasium or community center with stadium seating. In the middle of the floor is a very large spring floor with a curtain behind it which blocks the whole back half of the gym.
In front of the spring floor sits 4 rows of tables where the judges sit. There is a small area to the side where the music is played and the performing team's coaches stand.
The stands are filled with crazy cheer parents, most of which are wearing head to toe gym colors. There are a lot of moms with big hair, and a lot of dads that wear camouflage. Our little posters and clappers were a joke. Other signs consist of feather boa and lots and lots of glitter. And people get very creative with the noise makers. Lots of teams bring blocks of wood that they clap together, or have filled up plastic bottles with beads that they shake. There are usually 4 or 5 bullhorns, and always a siren or two. It is so loud in there. The most disturbing part of the whole cheer experience to me is what some of the teams wear. The skirts are so short that booties are hanging out, with shirts that only cover the girlie parts.
Hair and make up are unbelievable. Lots of hair pieces. And lots of glitter. I don't know what bothers me more- when I see it on a teenager or on a 3 year old. It's crazy. I walk around all day just people watching. It is very entertaining. And I am still shocked at every competition.
Our first year was a learning experience. The girls loved it but they never won. Last year they worked really hard and went all the way to Battle of the Champions in Georgia where they won first place. This year they decided to go up a level, which, after yesterday (they got 10th place) we may have to reevaluate. It is a little bit out of their skill level. They stuck their routine but do not have hard enough stunts to compete. I am happy to say that the gym they go to believes in modesty and building self esteem, so we have never had to deal with somebody not making the team, or feeling uncomfortable in a uniform. I am really proud of my girls for how hard they work. And I am glad they have something they love to do.

(This is all of the level 2 teams getting ready for awards)


(after the competition)


(Yes. We colored Fletcher's hair.)

Update

Ok, ok. So I'm not an "everyday" blogger. I am fine with being an "every once in a while" blogger. The important thing is that I update every so often- or at least often enough that my mom and Shannon get off my damn back about posting some pictures. So here is the update:

Fletcher had his last soccer game of the season on Saturday and here are the stats: Games won- 8
Goals scored by our team- 127
Goals scored on our team- 2
Goals scored by Fletcher- 0
Times Fletcher actually touched the ball- 5
Out of those 5, times kicked in the right direction- 2
Times Fletcher told me what a great soccer player he is- too many to count.

He was so funny to watch because he literally just ran up and down the field as far away from the ball as he could possibly get. The very first time he touched the ball it was only because someone kicked it directly into his shins. That counts in our book. I am happy to take a break until next season- it is a little bit of a beating watching kids at this age play any sport. Go Junkyard Dogs!

We had quite the Halloween this year. Cali was the cutest 50's girl with her yellow poodle skirt, Macey was the best Harajuku girl even though no one knew what she was, and Fletcher owned his hamburger (NOT cheeseburger) costume. I swear he put it on and actually became a hamburger. Every year we have friends over and eat jack-o-lantern shaped pizzas before we head out to go trick-or-treating. About 10 houses into candy begging, Macey comes up to me and tells me that she is ready to go home. I made her push through for a few more houses until I finally realized that she didn't feel good. She had a fever and said her throat hurt. I sent Cali on with her friends and the rest of us got in the car and headed to the kid's urgent care. Yep. Strep throat. The good news is we were in and out of that place. Not a lot of kids at the doctor on Halloween night. So to bed she went. And Fletcher too. Apparently trick-or-treating really took a lot out of him. He kept complaining that his legs hurt from walking so much and his arms were sore from carrying his bag of 10 pieces of candy. Note to self: start pushing Fletcher down to try and toughen him up.


Cali and Macey have a cheer competition next weekend and they are busy practicing for that. They have yet to do the routine to the music and have not been able to hit a stunt, but I have been assured that it will all come together by Saturday. I'm pretty sure it won't. Entertaining blog to follow.

Ben started playing ice hockey and I am so excited he has found something he loves to do. I have yet to see a game because his games are at 11:00 at night but I believe him when he says he "has a hockey game". As long as his fingers all stay in tact it's all good. Another note to self: make sure disability insurance is current.

As for myself, I took a couple of weeks off from running due to burn out, and am now paying the price. It's like starting over which is good and bad. All my runs seem very hard now, but I also love that I "feel it" again. It was a much needed break for me.

So that just about sums up the last month at the Edmunds house. I am counting down the days until my family comes for Thanksgiving. It's always a good time when we all get together. Especially when lots and lots of food is involved.