Queen City Meet

This past weekend Sebastian had a meet in Cincinnati. It was hosted by Queen City Gymnastics.

He had a great meet! Sadly, we had family members who tried to get there but couldn't due to weather-related traffic issues... they were stuck on the highway for 2 1/2 hours waiting for an accident to be cleared. By the time they got through it, they wouldn't have been able to make it to the meet in time, so they turned around and headed home.

This post is for them... Here's what you missed... the sum total of about 2 minutes of gymnastics that you waited 2 1/2 hours to NOT see. :(

High bar: He actually fell off of this even right at the beginning. His first attempt at casting to handstand didn't work out, and he came back down and let go. This video picks up where he got back up... thankfully the rest of his routine was pretty good. He scored a 9.4 and placed 1st.



P Bars was one of his best!! He scored a 10.8 and placed 1st


Floor... so far this year, this has not been his strong suite. For whatever reason, he just isn't finishing and polishing things on floor like he did last year. Still, a solid routine, if not wowing. He scored a 9.6 and placed 1st.


Pommel horse / Mushroom... his highest score of the day with an 11.2!! He placed 1st.


Rings, he actually took out one of his bonus elements. He said he didn't feel like the transition out of it was smooth enough, and he wanted to keep it clean. Totally respect that. He scored a 9.9 and placed 2nd.


Vault. Better than last week, when he flew forward, took a big step, and put his hands down on the landing. He's still trying to work out the balance between too much power and not enough. He scored a 9.0 and placed 3rd.


All of that adds up to an all-around score of 59.9 and a 1st place all-around trophy! It has been so great to see him progress and advance through the first 3 meets already this season. I love to see his hard work paying off. I've got my Mom Goggles on, for sure, but I think this kid is pretty amazing, and I am beyond proud of him!!

first meet under his belt

Yesterday was the first meet of the 2013-2014 season. Leading up to it, Sebastian had been rather tired and worn down all week, even missing practice on Friday and sleeping for hours Friday night to Saturday morning. And now today (Monday... the day after) he is home from school with a stomach bug. Not fun. Still, he showed up yesterday in Champaign, IL excited to compete.

As usual, warm ups were a bit rough, but he seems to be able to pull himself together when it's time to impress the judges. Even still, he would be the first to tell you he could have done better. I think his biggest disappointment was on p-bars. Don't get me wrong... WE weren't disappointed in his p-bars. With my mom goggles on, I thought he looked good! But HE told me that he had not done his best, and he could have done more. We watched the videos of his routines this morning, and he immediately started making plans for what he will focus on in practice this week. That's just who he is - an "I can always get better" kind of kid.

For all of that, his meet results weren't too shabby! He made podium 4 times: 3rd on floor, 1st on pommel horse, 3rd on high bar, and 3rd all around! Great job Bas!

I am seriously SO very proud of how hard this kid works and how much dedication he has to this sport. Justin Spring said yesterday at the meet, "It takes a certain kind of person to make it in gymnastics." Every day that goes by, Sebastian shows more and more of those qualities of that 'certain kind of person.'

So, here's video of his mushroom and pommel routines. WARNING: Turn the volume down!! You can hear me yelling at the end, and let's just say I've never been accused of being quiet!

Spring Sports & Crummy Weather

What a week we've had!! Wednesday was the official start of lacrosse games, and it was also Meagan's first soccer practice! The return of Spring sports.  Unfortunately, it was also the return of crazy Spring weather! 

So, Wednesday, Isaac had to be at the field at 5:30 for a game that started at 6:00. Meagan had to be at her field by 6:15 for a practice that started at 6:30. Meg's practice was to last until 7:30, and Isaac's 2nd game was to end at 8:00. Throw in Sebastian's gymnastics practice from 4:00 until 6:30, and factor in that Lucas was several states away for work, and you have one insane effort at playing SuperMom on my part. Thankfully, I had a little help from the weather! 

Meagan was all dressed and ready to go for her practice. We took Isaac to the field, with plans to stay until about 6:10 to watch a bit of his game. But... around 6:00, lightening started in up north of us, where the soccer fields are, leading to one canceled soccer practice. This freed us up to just hang out and chill at Isaac's games.

Meagan, all dressed up and ready to go.

It was a good thing I was able to hang out at the lacrosse park... it started raining and lightening there shortly after. The game was delayed twice for weather, and was finally called at the end of the 3rd period. The second game was nixed entirely, but we still ended up getting home at 8:30, so it lasted as long as 2 games would have on a regular day. 

Isaac's team played great! Considering that last year they one all of ONE game, and they had seemingly NO concept of passing or setting up plays... this year, first game, they scored twice on a series of nice passes and play set-ups! They ended up winning 4-3!!  Good start to the season! Hopefully they continue to improve as the season goes... win or lose, it's always more enjoyable to play when you know you're playing well!

Know what else lacrosse sticks are good for??  Sword fights. 

 This year, Isaac has been getting some nice compliments from his coaches about his defensive play, and it really showed in the game. He is a lot more aware of the plays this year, and plays a lot more aggressively.  Good to see him gaining confidence and understanding of what's happening. It's a tough sport to learn, and the first year was one giant learning curve.

*****

Okay, so on to soccer. With no practice to date, today was their first game. Her coach had emailed me and told me their jersey's were green. Since she does not yet have her jersey, we went with the green m&m shirt. Perfect! Meagan even said, "maybe it will distract the other team because it will make them hungry for m&m's!"  Love that girl!

 So.
This sport fits her. It's full-go and non-stop. There's always action. There's always something to do. And it's intense. She got about a 15 minute crash course on the VERY basics before the game started. And that was it before go time. Even with all of that, she played rather well. And she's QUICK! When she gets the hang of dribbling and passing and shooting, this could work out well for her. She even ALMOST scored! So she's feeling okay about things, and has plans to score at her 2nd game, which is tomorrow.

 

I love the intensity and focus on her face. And the pink socks. Love those. ;)

This is what you do when it's FREEEEEZING outside and it's not your turn to be in the game. *LOL*

**********

We Love a Long Weekend!!

Long weekend?! Yes, please!
This weekend is much the same as many others we've had recently, with one big difference... we get Monday off!! Recovery day! Sa-weet!

Yesterday was pretty typical for a Saturday, with practices in the morning. After gymnastics, we did some browse shopping... Uncle Bill's (no tempting puppies this time), Lowe's (I have a to-do list a mile long), and Meijer (because I actually needed some groceries... boo for grocery shopping on Saturday).

We did do one fun thing that we haven't done so much lately. We had ourselves a family movie night! Love that tradition! Last night we watched Here Comes the Boom! And we laughed. A lot. Good fun movie!!

This morning, we all forced ourselves out of bed e.a.r.l.y so we could get to Sebastian's meet on time. He had another great day! He placed 2nd on high bar, 1st on all other events, and 1st all-around. But the cooler thing was that he was brave enough to put a new bonus element into his floor routine - a handstand pirouette that has plagued him all year! But today, he totally owned that pirouette! And he did great on floor! I was proud of him for going for it! He told us afterwards that he is planning on trying flares on mushroom at his next week (which is another bonus move he's been working all year but has never competed). So happy to see him getting bolder! Love it!

So this afternoon, I think we're going to lay low... maybe do some laundry, watch some hockey, take a nap (at least that is on MY list of things to do... not sure about anyone else). Enjoy your Sunday afternoon and your long weekend! I know we will!

32

It's the magic number these days! Meagan needs 2 32.0 All-Around scores at 2 different meets this season to qualify for state. Her first 32 came at Circle of Stars. But it didn't come easily, and her score came in at 32.0 exactly!

Since then, she's fallen short - not by much, but by enough that it's not a 32. Yesterday was her LAST chance to get that last score to qualify for state before the qualification deadline.

Beam came first. She did great!! It was the cleanest, steadiest routine I've ever seen her do in a meet! So proud of her! And she scored an 8.025!

Floor was next. Again, the BEST routine she's done in competition all year! Unfortunately, the judge was judging hard. All of the scores were pretty low, unless the routines were near perfect. Her best floor routine earned her her lowest floor score she's gotten. A 7.25. Sometimes it just works out that way. Judging is subjective, so from meet to the next, scores can vary greatly. Anyway, a low 7 was a big blow to needing to average 8's on all 4 events. But not a deal-breaker. Yet.

Vault. Oh my gosh!!! I didn't know my girl could vault like that! She looked great!! Score... 8.9!!!  Almost a 9 for her!! Sweet! That' more than erased the deficit she carried over from floor. It's okay.

And bars is one of her strongest events. At this point, she needed a 7. 825 to get her 32. Totally doable. And then... At the beginning of the routine, there's a combination series, where the girls are supposed to combine a few elements without a pause. If you DON'T combine them and you stop between, it's a small deduction. But not major. Well, she WENT FOR IT!! She had a pretty decent first element, and she went for that combination. And missed. She fell on the 2nd element. Stink. The score posted as a 7.45 or something like that. She missed the 32 by a few tenths. But at least she didn't hold anything back!!

But wait!! The meet was all over. The last gymnast was just finishing up on floor, and all the other events were DONE. The only people left in the stands instead of the award room were those of us from our team who staid to watch the girls finish on floor. All of a sudden, Meagan's  name starts flashing up on the score board again. Bars: 7.850.  What?! They changed her score!

Come to find out, when her coach got the score cards back (or something like that, I'm not exactly sure how that all works), there was a pretty big discrepancy between the 2 judges' scores - a 7.2 and a 7.9 or something like that. So he, being the incredible person that he is, inquired. And there had been a math error in calculating the deductions taken by the 1st judge. The result... her score was bumped up to a 7.85! And her ending all-around score was a 32.025!!!

Now, in a gymnastics world where most of the girls are getting 36's, 37's, and even 38's as all-around scores, this may not seem so spectacular. But to me, and to Lucas, and to those around us who know and love and have been rooting for Meagan all year, really it meant the world. Sappy as it is, it choked me up a bit. Not because I care if she goes to state or not. But because I've watched her struggle. And try. And struggle. And try harder. And struggle. I've watched her watch her teammates load up on the medals while she walks away empty handed. And I've watched her continue to support them and congratulate them and cheer for them. And I'm just happy for her. That's all. I'm happy that she's been rewarded with the chance to compete with her team at state. No matter what the score is.

Back to Back to Back

We have had our fill of gymnastics meets in the past 2 weeks! Last week was Circle of Stars, and both Meagan and Sebastian competed on Sunday. Meagan had a milestone meet!! For starters, she got her roundoff back handspring and was able to compete floor!! This was a first for her this year! And then, on top of that, she got her first of the two 32.0 all-around scores that are required to qualify for the state meet! Now she just needs to have one more good meet to get her second 32!!  Sebastian competed in the evening, and did very well! He placed in every event and won first place all-around!

Then, this weekend Sebastian had another meet. This time in Chicago. So Sunday, Sebastian, Meagan, and I (Isaac stayed the night with a friend, and Lucas stayed home with the dog because he had to work Monday morning) hopped in the van and trucked it up to Chicago. We stopped at IHOP for dinner on the way (sshhhh!!! don't tell Isaac he missed out on IHOP!!).

We stayed at the Hilton Chicago, and can I just say that the kids had sticker shock of sorts! Sebastian kept ogling at the chandeliers and the marble and blah blah blah. Let's just say it was a bit fancier than the Holiday Inn Express that we usually stay in when we travel. Our room was on the 22nd floor and looked out over Lake Michigan and Navy Pier. Beautiful! I only wish it hadn't been so polar outside so we could have walked around and enjoyed it a bit. As it was, we had to settle for our view of the 5 degree night from the window of the hotel room.

At night... Navy Pier all lit up...

And in the morning... this is looking the other direction, toward the museum and out over the water.

There was a shop in the lobby that served Starbucks. After all the driving and the freeeeeezing cold weather, a chai tea sounded delicious!! So the kids and I headed down to the lobby for a warm drink (they got steamed milk with caramel flavoring) before bed.

 And we headed to the meet bright and early this morning and had a full day of competition.

Again, Sebastian had a pretty good meet! He had a few hiccups, but still ended up placing first on p-bars, 2nd on floor, pommel horse, and high bar, and first all-around! Great job buddy!!

It was good to get home and relax after a lot of traveling. Now, apparently, the kids are on a 2-hour delay for tomorrow morning due to cold temperatures...????

Now I'm off to watch the new show on Fox - The Following... we'll see how it is, but it sounds intriguing. So have a good night!!

Project Life 2013

In 2012 I tried for a second time to complete a Project Life album. And for a second time, I did not finish when the year finished. In 2011, I was doing alright until our move, and then I fell off the wagon. In 2012, I tried to take a different approach, and I'm fairly confident that it was the approach that tripped me up. I had tried to do a paper approach, printing out the photos individually and all that jazz. Clearly, I am not a paper kind of girl. Digi is my thing. I think it's best if I stick with what I do best.

So this year, I'm going back to what comes easy to me. We'll see if I can keep up a little better. Because I have this funny feeling that keeping up is the key to actually finishing! *lol*

There's been a lot so far. A lot I haven't shared on here, as I've just simply been trying to live through it and wade through it all.

So here's what I've got so far. I'm 2 weeks in, and so far, I'm up to speed.

Intro page...

week 1...

week 2...

Meet Schedule Updates

I've updated the meet schedule page, and also the meet schedule facebook group for those of you who are affected by that.

For some of you, you might have seen this on facebook already, so this will be redundant. But I thought I would share videos of Sebastian's first meet. He had a great day, & did really well. After being sick for the latter part of last week, he made the decision to take out a few of the bonus elements from some of his routines, and he did make a few mistakes... but he wasn't derailed by them. We talk often about moving on past the stuff you can't change, and not letting one mistake carry forward into the next thing you do. I think he did a great job at staying calm & focused. I was really proud of him for that!
The meet results: He won first in all 6 events and all-around! His age group was rather small, so that's not to say that this is indicative of how the whole season will be for him. But I'm one to take the good when you can, so we'll play up the win and let him enjoy it!

Vault: score - 9.5

Parallel Bars: score - 10.8

High Bar: Score - 10.6

Floor: Score - 9.2

Pommel Horse: Score - 10.7

Rings: Score - 10.1

Sebastian's First Meet

This Saturday is Sebastian's first meet. For those who are interested, I've updated the meet schedule page with the address and competition time. From what he says, I think he's mostly ready, but has a few trouble spots. He's worried about his high bar dismount - a fly-away this year. And on floor, his handstand pirouette is giving him troubles. And maybe a handstand on parallel bars? Although I think he said that was getting better. Either way, we'll go and cheer him on, no matter what. I'm excited for him to get back into competition... he's been missing it! Plus, I think he wants to add to his medal collection on his bedroom wall. Uncle Shane made him such a cool medal display rack, that he wants to get it filled up. Love it.

*****

On another note altogether, Meagan is home AGAIN today. *sigh*  I got home from a meeting last night at about 8:15, and she was already sound asleep (and had been for some time, according to the boys). I went in to kiss her goodnight... she was burning up, so I checked her with the ear thermometer. She was almost 102. Eeep. Not going to school again. So she slept in until about 8:30 this morning. Still won't eat breakfast, and she's coughing like a maniac. But she seems to be in good spirits. We'll see how the day goes. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that she is better by tomorrow.

**********

Giants

Among some of the other things that took place this weekend, Sebastian had a state clinic for gymnastics on Saturday. Four hours of gymnastics, a collaboration of coaches from around the state, and even Justin Spring (2008 Olympian) as a guest coach. Pretty sweet.

The highlights of his day were (1) getting Justin's autograph and getting to talk to him about the Olympics, and (2) doing giants for the first time. He was super pumped that he did something new for the first time!! And even though I took very few photos or video, I did happen to get this on video.

So there you go. A major milestone in my kid's gymnastics life, caught on film.

**********

Friday Updates

So far so great with the school year!!  The kids have all had a fantastic first 'week' and are excited about the year! Meagan has a few good friends in her class. And she has been invited to participate in accelerated math this year. She's pumped about that!

Isaac really likes his teacher, and has more than a few familiar faces in his class as well. Plus, he has a class pet - a big fat guinea pig named Daisy. So he's happy!

Sebastian has two teachers this year instead of one... so he will be switching classes... not counting his special classes like strings and computer lab. Plus, he has already taken the cello to school and has strings every day. He has a place to keep it at school during the week, and will bring it home to practice on the weekends (which means it looks like I will be picking him up on Friday's).

*****
Last night Meagan lost her 2nd tooth ever. I've told you before, we don't really do the tooth fairy around here. For the past few years, whenever the boys have lost a tooth, I pay them a dollar to go throw it in the trash. Yep, I'm that kind of mom. So, we did the tooth fairy for Meagan's first tooth, but I told her from now on, she will just throw it away like the boys do. Well, last night she worked and worked and worked (and cried a lot in between all that working) to get her tooth out. When it finally came out, she asked me if she could put it under the pillow... I told her no, just to throw it away. I also told her I would have to go to the bank in the morning to get money because I didn't actually have a dollar to give her last night.  Not happy with the answer, she went to find her daddy, and apparently busted out the Puss in Boots eyes on him. So he told her to put it under her pillow. You can just imagine, she was pretty excited!! She wrapped it up in a tissue and carefully laid it under the pillow. She even wrote a little note and drew a picture for the tooth fairy, who, by the way, she has named Tina.  The problem is, now I HAVE to scrounge up a dollar somewhere because her dad can't resist the Puss Eyes. *eye roll*  So yes, I won Mother of the Year accolades by taking a dollar out of the kids GIVING jars (yep, stealing out of the giving money... there's gotta be a whole lot not right about that) to stick under her pillow!

*****
And tonight was Meagan's first ever 4-hour practice. I wasn't sure what to expect... after a full day of school, practice from 4:00 to 8:00 with no dinner could prove to be her undoing. Surprisingly, when 8:00 rolled around, she was in a great mood! Cheerful and happy and chatty, not at all what I was expecting. She was even excited that she had gotten two new skills at practice tonight that she had not previously done on her own (a back walkover and a shoot-through on bars).

And then.

The drama busted out of its cage some time around 9:15. She TRIED to show her dad her back walkover, but was too tired, and plopped down on her noggin. Not good. I'm sure it hurt, but I don't think that was her biggest trigger as much as embarrassment and frustration. Oh. My. Word. Did the drama ever start flying! She cried. I told her she could just show him tomorrow when she wasn't so tired. She then began rambling off this whole string of irrational thoughts full of extremes and absolutes like you would not believe!! "I'll NEVER have a time that I can show him! He'll NEVER see me do a good back walkover because I don't do them in meets! I ALWAYS lose my concentration and mess up!" And on. And on. And on. Seriously.

I gave her an ice pack for her head. Then put her in bed. That was one tired seven year old. So maybe the 4-hour practice schedule is going to take some getting used to.

*****
And that's it for my random bits of info and updates. Tomorrow is another sport-filled day of dance, a football game, and state gymnastics clinics for Bas, so I'm off to lay down and read until I fall asleep.

**********

Updates

Well, I'd say the cat is gone for good. Last Saturday (over a week ago), when we were loading up the truck to head to Ohio, I guess she slipped out the door without our knowledge. Lucas and I came home Sunday (the kids stayed with Grandma & Grandpa for a few extra days), and she was gone gone gone. I did what I could - checked the humane society, filled out a missing cat form, and made sure her microchip contact information was up to date. I even posted on an area facebook page and craig's list for missing animals. No luck. So, I suppose we are catless. The kids took it well, but I think it's because I was able to tell them she decided to go out on an adventure... she may come back, but she may not, but SHE chose to go out and wander off. So yeah, they handled it really well. Every now and then, they'll comment about missing her, but I really couldn't have hoped for a better response.

*****

So, I mentioned that we went to Ohio for a quick trip. We went Saturday after gymnastics practice. Went to Red Lobster for dinner when we got there. Then Lucas and I went to see the last Batman movie while the kids went home with my parents to play.

Then on Sunday we had a cookout, and got to see aunts and cousins that we don't get to see nearly enough. And of course, the kids got in the pond! These two sat on the edge of the dock 'fishing' while they waited to be able to get in. Love the imagination!

And here are the cousins (minus Joey and Cole, as neither of them was getting in the water):

Not a great photo because I did a photography no-no and had them facing into the sun. Oops. But, it's still fun to see them all together!

*****

Okay, so I got my hair cut. And colored. It's been a LONG time since I've taken the time for color. And it's been a long time since my hair has been this short. What do you think? I don't feel like myself in it yet, but I think I'll get used to it.

Meagan got her hair cut too.  She was super worried that the hair lady would cut all her hair off! In reality, she had 3 inches trimmed off the edges, and Meagan was thrilled! It's been YEARS since I've had a set hair person, but I think I've finally found someone I'll go back to.

*****

Isaac had his first football game already. This Saturday at 10:00 his team, 'Penn State' (no comments, please) played 'Ohio State' (their league uses college team names for the 3rd and 4th grade teams), and won 14-0.  He was thrilled!! The opening play, his team received the kick off, and Isaac blocked - aka wiped out - 3 guys at once and made a huge hole for his teammate to run. They scored on the kick off!!  What a way to start off their football season! Good stuff!

Besides football, we also had dance and gymnastics practices on Saturday. And Sunday was DeVeau's 30-year anniversary, so we went to the big bash to celebrate! And somewhere in there, we also managed to pick out and purchase the tile for the kitchen. It was a busy weekend! With our lives, though, I would expect nothing less.

**********

Summer Swing

We are in the summer swing of things around here... all the summer camps and such are just getting started... and the kids have gotten their first sunburns already.

Did I tell you that BOTH boys want to play football this year? That means we will be doing lots of schedule juggling between 2 football games, 2 sets of practices, plus gymnastics thrown in (because remember, football season coincides with the beginning of competitive gymnastics season... eeep). Should be fun! Last week was the first of 2 football camps this summer. It was 'transitional camp' for grades 3-6, which focuses on fundamentals of offense and defense. Fun! Both of the boys LOVED it! Sebastian came home after he first night of camp and said, "Mom, now I don't know WHAT to do - college gymnastics or college football!!" I told him he had plenty of time to figure that out. *giggle*

Both of the boys practiced with the receivers on offense nights, and defensive backs on defense nights. They were full of stories about catching passes and having to back up fast (which was 'really hard'). Fun stuff! This coming week is another football camp that will be a week of 5-on-5 scrimmages to teach them how to move the ball. Nice.

Also this week, Sebastian gets his cello for strings, and he starts a 2-week strings camp to learn about his instrument and start learning to play. He is beyond excited about getting his cello!! He had to get a 1/2 size instrument because it's so big, and he's so not.

Tomorrow we go back to the doctor for more x-rays on Meagan's foot to see if she gets her boot off.  Keeping my fingers crossed because she has that thing torn up!!

And then next week is gymnastics camp. (So let's hope the boot comes off!)

Tonight Isaac has his lacrosse end-of-season party. They're doing a cook-out and scrimmage at a nearby park. Should be fun!

**********

Wanna See?

Okay. After a LONG hiatus from blogging, I'm back again. It's just been a C.R.A.Z.Y. chunk of time in my life, and I've had ZERO time to sit at the computer to blog or scrap or even browse the internet really. I have 10 minutes this morning before I have to wake the kids up for school, so I'll take advantage of the quiet time. It might be all I get today, who knows!

Sunday morning Sebastian competed in the IN boys state meet for gymnastics, and he did GREAT!! He is now officially 'state champ' in 2 events, and co-champ in a third. Nice! He placed 1st on high bar and floor, tied for 1st on parallel bars, and placed 2nd all-around! We are SO proud of him. (I, however, am still having a bit of a tough time letting go of some judging inconsistencies, but I guess that's what you get with a subjectively scored sport, right? I'm gonna have to let it go.)

So here are the videos I have that turned out pretty well. One he fell (pommel horse), so I'm not posting that just to save him the embarrassment. And one (vault), a guy walked right in front of my video camera as Sebastian was going, so I mostly got the top of the guys head as I tried to shoot over him. grrrr

Rings: 15.1, 2nd place


Parallel Bars: 14.7, tied for 1st


High Bar: 15.1, 1st place


Floor: 15.4, 1st place


Vault: 14.9, 5th place

Pommel Horse: 13.7, 3rd place

All-Around: 87.9, 2nd place

We are SOOOO proud of him! He had a great first year in gymnastics! Now they've started working on level 5 skills, and he is being challenged and having a blast!

**********

State Meet #1

Friday 3/9:
The day before her meet, Meagan was a bit nervous. So we decided to surprise her with this...

It was waiting for her on the kitchen table when she got home from school. Just to make it a fun experience and memory instead of a nerve-wracking one.

And this was the reaction:


See, a few weeks ago (or maybe last week?? I can't keep track anymore!) she went to her friend's birthday party. For the gift, Meagan picked out these 2 little monkeys. But she carried them around with her all afternoon until it was time to wrap them up and take them to the party. So we decided it would be fun to surprise her with her own 2 little monkeys. Can you tell she LOVED them?! :)

Saturday 3/10:
This weekend was Meagan's Level 3 state meet. What an adventure!! Her check-in time was 7:45. We left our house at 6:45... 15 minutes later than we were planning.
We are maybe the last people in the US who do not have a GPS of some sort, so we use mapquest. Until now, this has worked for us. This time, however, it did not work. Not at all.

We made good time getting to where we thought we were going. We would have been there by 7:45ish. ISH. Close enough to check-in time. It would have worked fine. Except. Mapquest ended right in the middle of a residential road. The end. Nothing else to go on. For whatever reason, it decided to change the ending address... it must not have been able to find the one I typed in, so it made up it's own?? Random. Anyway, we ended up finding the address online at USAG Indiana's web site. Lo and behold, we were still a half hour away. Not so good. I called her coach and told her we were on the way... don't scratch Meagan from the meet!!! And then So we drove quickly. And got there at 8:45.

They were just finishing up with march-in and team introductions. The theme of the meet was 'princess ball' and all of her teammates were on the floor with tutu's and tiaras on. Until this point, nothing about our hectic morning had phased her. But when she saw that they all had princess outfits on, she started crying... "I don't have one and I'm going to look dumb!" *eye roll* Stay calm... you've gotten through a morning of pandemonium, you can' handle a wardrobe malfunction. Right? Luckily, though her coaches had been watching for her. They came right over and got her, gave her her very own tutu and tiara, and got her out on the floor. End of crisis. Thankfully she hadn't missed any of the warm-up time for the first event, and there was no more drama after that, so it all worked out!! Yay!!

So here's how it went...

Vault: 8.625, 14th place


Bars: 8.5, 11th place




Beam: 8.65




Floor: 8.375 (yay!!! she scored in the 8's on floor!!), 15th place


All-Around: 34.15, 13th place

She did a fabulous job! We were SO proud of her, especially how she handled herself after all that craziness trying to get there! She stayed calm and had fun, didn't sweat the mistakes, and did the best she could that day. I love that! Couldn't ask for anything more!




(Oh yeah, and she got flowers... 3 carnations for finishing level 3... and she was beside herself! She kept making her friends smell them, saying "smell them, they're real!" I'm glad that she felt special and loved. She deserves that. It WAS the 'princess ball' after all)

**********

right now: the 2/28 edition

random bits & pieces from right now...

right now i am sitting in the quiet living room in my pj's with my hoodie on and my hood up. random. but i'm a bit chilly. i can hear lucas down in the basement... he's playing online with his buddies. i like that.

right now there is a lacrosse stick and ball on our kitchen island, and a helmet and 2 bags of equipment in the floor. we found a second-hand sports shop not far from here, and saved about $45 by getting a few of the items used. nice. parents' meeting tomorrow. first practice on thursday.


today (although not RIGHT now, because he's sleeping) sebastian came home from school and told me he wants to play the cello. ummm... apparently they had instrument testing today at school, when the kids get to try out different instruments and see what they like. sebastian took a liking to he cello and has it totally set in his mind that he will be playing cello for music class next year. there's an informational meeting about 'strings' on thursday. after gymnastics. and after lacrosse. but before we ever get to sit down to eat dinner. ;)

right now meagan is reading at level I. seeing as she started at level C at the beginning of the year, this is a huge improvement. she has gained such confidence in the past few months with regards to reading aloud. it's great!!

right now i'm pondering whether i'll do anything eventful for leap day tomorrow. i doubt it. but it seems like we SHOULD do something for it... i mean, we've got a whole EXTRA day at our disposal... you would think we could do SOMETHING with that, right? maybe i'll try to make cupcakes or a fun snack for the kids for after school. we'll see.

**********

schedule me this and schedule me that....

oh my word. i do honestly see now how i manage to get almost nothing done sometimes. i'm running running running ALL. THE. TIME. truly.

last night i got an email from isaac's lacrosse coach with the schedule. can i just say that i had to go over it three times before i felt like i wasn't going to have heart failure. aaack! i guess i did not realize it would be a 3 month season, or that there are so many double-headers involved in this sport. or that the equipment requires a second mortgage for purchase. *sigh* but he has been SUCH a champ for the past five months as i've drug him around from gymnastics practice to gymnastics meet and back to practice again. he doesn't complain. he's not crabby about it. he just does it. and so i am excited for him to finally be the one who gets to be DOING instead of sitting and waiting.

unfortunately, it will mean double driving duty for me, especially on days when lucas can't get home from work... which is often these days... but that's another topic altogether. isaac's practices will be on the same days as meagan's gymnastics practices - tuesday, thursday. thankfully, they are staggered JUST enough that i should be able to drop him off and get back to the gym to pick her up, and then get back to lacrosse to pick him up again. i'm not really sure where dinner fits into all of this yet, but i'm sure we'll manage to squeeze it in somewhere. we may very well be relying on canned soup and cold cuts for a few months. but it's doable.

on top of all of this, we DID decide to go ahead and sign meagan up for softball. i talked to her about it several times... even tried to nonforcefully talk her out of doing it (for my own sake, more than anything, as i'm not super excited about MORE driving). but she just very simply, and without whinng or anything (surprisingly), said 'i just want to TRY something new. i've never done any sport except gymnastics.' and she's right. and i want her to do gymnastics because she loves it and it's what she wants... otherwise we're paying a lot of time and money into something she's doing by default... which makes very little sense. so, softball it is. i think i shall need lots of bubble baths to get me through these next few months. :)

**********

Clean Sweep

Sebastian had his last meet of the season before State today, and it would suffice to say that he had a good day at the office. He had a fantastic meet and came away with seven gold medals!!! Yes, he won all 6 events and all-around! We are SO proud of him and the way he conducts himself!

Thought I would share a few of his routines with you...

Rings: 15.4


Vault: 14.9

Parallel Bars: 15.3


High Bar: 15.4


Floor: 15.5


Pommel Horse: 13.5

All-Around: 90.0

He has made it his personal goal to win parallel bars and high bar at State. He told me that one of his teammates explained to him that you only have to get first on one thing at state and they will have to call you 'state champion' for a year. *lol* I thought it was pretty funny that this little tidbit of information has motivated him the way it has! The state meet is the weekend of March 24th and 25th, so we'll see how it goes.

**********

sports nuts

We are going sports nuts around here! We're coming up on the end of the competitive season for gymnastics. Sebastian has a meet this weekend, and then we only have their State meets in March to contend with. I can see the light!!

Today I registered Isaac for lacrosse. I guess the season will be starting up just as gymnastics is winding down. And if that wasn't enough to add into the mix, Meagan is giving me pouty lips and puppy dog eyes, BEGGING me to let her play softball. Some of her friends at school are softball players, and she wants to see what it's all about. I get that. I talked to someone with the program this morning, and she said they usually have practice one day a week and games on Saturday. So maybe it could work, even with her gymnastics schedule. But there's no way to know for sure until we pay the registration fee and she gets put on a team. Hmmm... So we'll have to make a decision on that... registration ends Feb. 28th.

And speaking of sports, I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to scrapping my sports photos. I did one layout this week, and it happens to be of Isaac playing football. Here ya go...

journaling: the concept of getting low for blocking and tackling was tough to get at first, but once you got the hang of it, you loved it! tackling & blocking drills against coaches and teammates became highlights of practices. it was great o see you having so much fun!

(Click here to view full credits)

**********