This morning Elliott learned and perfected her {pencil jump} at her first cheer clinic hosted by Saugus High Cheer.
$30 well spent…they each received a t-shirt, their picture with a cheerleader, instructions on jumps, chants and a dance routine, bagels & cream cheese, orange wedges and pizza for lunch! It was so cute…once we checked in, there was a cheerleader that greeted her and escorted her into the gym to have her picture taken and then showed her to her group for some stretching and jumping jacks to warm up.
I only stayed for a hour and then ducked out and ran some errands. Jay & Holdy met me back there at 11:30 for the performance. All the girls showed off their jumps, cheers, claps and shouts.
Here is Holden cheering on his sissy:
Elliott and one of the darling girls waiting to get pizza…
It really was cute…
Below is the infamous pencil jump…
There were lots of claps…
She loved it.
She really looks up to the older girls and was borderline {teacher’s pet}…
Now she wants to do dance, cheer AND add soccer in the Fall. I told her that it might be packing too much in…
She quickly came back with, “But Mommy, it’s good exercise!”
Can’t argue with that?
Looks like we may be doing pencil jumps, shuffle steps and dribbling real soon!
I signed Elliott up for a cheer clinic at one of the local high schools.
I figured it’d be a nice way to introduce her to cheer…afterall, she wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up.
Here she is at about 2.5 years of age.
We spent Halloween ’07 in South Carolina with Lolo & Lola. I wanted a costume that was easy to pack and travelled well….found this at Gymboree for cheap. Perfect! She loved it.
I hope she enjoys the clinic. She says I have to stay with her for the whole 4 hours in case she gets thirsty or needs to go potty…..
Should be super cute.
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Since we’re cheering this morning, I wanted to share a few of my morning rituals {deodorant, coffee & exercise duds} with you that, I feel, deserve a little rah! rah!
{Dove Pomegranate & Lemon Verbena}
LOVE it! If you’re looking for a new anti-perspirant might I suggest this.
Sweet. Clean. Fresh.
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My Mom brought us some of Starbucks {Tribute} Blend to celebrate their 40th year.
Wow…I am older than Starbucks. Wah!
The house smells amazing when this is brewing and the taste is undeniably that of the famous {green circle}.
Certainly a must in the mornings {along with deodorant!}
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Speaking of deodorant, I haven’t been very successful in the {sweat department} lately. Most mornings I don yoga pants and a dri-weave top of some sort, but more often than not I don’t get out and move. I’ve been lazy and I need to spring into action! I think that the reason I haven’t gotten out and hit the pavement is because I feel like I have to do a {big} run. Like 5 miles…but I don’t. I just need to get out there. 2 miles a few times a week is OK. I need to be OK with that, too.
So, to get me pumped up, I got a new {orange, my fave} Under Armour tank yesterday at TJ Maxx. It’s super comfy, fits well and keeps everything {in place} if you know what I mean, ladies.
Please pause the music to fully enjoy the short video below. Thanks!
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Gramma is visiting today.
She’s nice and says, “Yes!” to the ice cream man.
I am mean and say, “No, not today” every. single. day. Our ice cream man comes rain, shine, snow, sleet or hail. He’s faithful like that.
Today was the first day ever that they got to pick something out of the old beat up van…Elliott, a snow cone and Holden, a Spiderman popsicle thingy with gum ball eyes.
{Did you know that Spiderman’s real name is Peter Parker? That was news to me…}
Gramma is so fun. It’s a treat to have her here during the week. Lots of fun was to be had this afternoon.
Yes, I am the mom that sent her child to school in pajamas when it wasn’t a designated {pajama day}! We’ll see if I get a call from the office…I’m a rebel, but it’s all for the love of Dr. Seuss!
How amazing and inspiring are these quotes all from the rhyming genius…
“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”
“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”
There are a million more, but these should be enough to put a smile on your face and get you thinking on this Wednesday…so {open your eyes} and see all the simple beauty in TODAY!
I love throwing parties for my chickens, but it’s a lot of work.
Thank goodness I had some helpers here, otherwise some things wouldn’t have happened! I’ve learned my lesson…you can NEVER do enough ahead of time. If you can do it a day or two before the party, DO IT!
My Dad {Popsi} cut and polka dotted 20 tails for the Pin The Tail On The Dalmatian game and perfectly taped the red tablecloth on our huge table so it wouldn’t slip. My Mom {Gramma} rolled and tied the utensils in the napkins and ran to the store for balloons. Jay was on vacuum and Windex patrol while I made a big pot o chili and corn bread muffins. My friend Ralph{s} supplied the boneless hot wings which was a huge help! My friends Karen, Melissa and Janet were my sous chefs and helped get the kid eats secured to feed the hungry little mouths after the big fire house tour.
Thanks to EVERYONE for their help…it wouldn’t have come together without you. Three cheers for group effort!
Hip Hip Hooray!
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I had a leftover foam wreath thingy from Christmas so I whipped this up for the front door…75% off tinsel and a hot glue gun do wonders!
For the boys’ goody bags, I found some {flame} beanies and gloves. For the girlies, I picked up some black beanies and made rosettes out of the same flame fabric as Holden’s “4” shirt and pinned them on. They also got either a Red Hots or Dr. Pepper lip gloss. I just packaged them up in some bakery bags and secured with a little tag:
Lunch was chili and cornbread for the adults and piggies in a blanket, Bagel Bites and Tater Tots for the kiddos. I also had some boneless hot wings, spicy peanuts and cheddar jalapeño Cheetos to snack on.
Easy.
We almost had a Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory party instead. Holden was major into the movie around the holidays and I toyed with changing the theme. SO glad I didn’t! But I had the whole {candy bar} idea in my noggin and still wanted to carry it out on a much smaller scale…
Needless to say, the kids LOVED filling up their little bags with sweet treats! I was joking with the parents and saying it’s much cheaper than a trip to the Sweet Factory!
Remember the Martha Oreo Tower? Well, don’t laugh, but something tells me that Martha’s Oreo budget called for more than two packages of double stuffed cookies! I was certain that I could do something attractive with that….uh, NOT so!
{You’ll see a full shot of the Oreo lameness in just a minute…}
As far as stuff for the kids to do, I just gathered all our fire trucks, related books and picked up a little fireman Lego set. The boys had a fabulous time huddled around the coffee table putting that together. I also crafted a {Pin The Tail on The Dalmatian} game. This was very informal and we didn’t blindfold or spin them around before they pinned…or taped! We used the honor system and they just closed their eyes. Everyone was a winner!
{yes, I misspelled “dalmatian”…hopefully Gramma was the only one who noticed! ;-)}
How cute is our neighbor, little Miss Nataliyah? She is the most social little 21 month old!
After all the kids were hopped up on hot dogs and candy, we took a torch to the {little pink fire engine that could} and sang to Holden! I swear this was one big cake wreck and this confection needed a rescuing of it’s own!
And try to hold your laughter at the sight of the Oreo mound!
Somehow the little striped {4} candle perked it up a bit! I tell ya, Martha sure knows what she’s doin’.
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Thank you again to all who responded to the call and came out in the crazy weather to help Holden celebrate!
And one more big THANK YOU to Station 156. I honestly cannot thank them enough!
Holden’s Birthday Weekend was jam packed with excitement. I’m going to summarize the festivities in two parts since there is so much to cover.
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About 3 years ago we went to a fire station birthday party when we lived in Nor Cal. This was my friend and neighbor, Gina’s brilliant idea. The kids loved it…at the time Holden was only about 15 months and I KNEW I was going to host the same theme for him down the road.
I started out by calling the county and getting the number to the community services liaison for the LA County Fire Department. She then put me in touch with the captain that would be on duty the day of Holden’s party. I called about 6 weeks in advance {way too early, but remember my OCD} and he put it on his calendar. The problem with arranging a tour at the local fire house for your child’s birthday is that at any given moment the alarm can sound and the plans can go up in smoke. Fortunately EVERYTHING went off without a hitch and the party was an amazing success.
First off, I cannot say enough positive things or show enough gratitude for Capt. Seifert and his guys at station 156. I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do on a Saturday afternoon is corral 20 almost 2 – 7 year olds and explain what they do! They were all extremely nice and enthusiastic to have us there.
The weather was fierce ~ cold, rain, hail, sleet & snow. All while we were at the station!
The station is a temporary trailer with a new building going in next door opening this June. After a brief welcome and some rules and regulations, the kids got to see where the firemen sleep, eat and do their laundry! They were all given a little red fire hat and a Junior Firefighter badge. The alarm sounded and we were able to hear the dispatcher give us a little shout out…very cool!
We then headed out to the garage to see the apparatus {fancy word for fire truck}. The kids were able to sit in the front and back and even try on one of the coats. They were reminded what 9-1-1 means and to only dial it in an emergency!
One of the firemen got into full gear complete with his tank, mask and axe. Surprisingly I don’t think any of the littles were traumatized!
We then braved the cold and the kids sprayed a small hose.
Again, I was blown away by the time they spent with us ~ we were there for over an hour. It couldn’t have come together more perfectly.
{Thanking Capt. Seifert for making the party a blazing success!}
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After leaving the station, we headed to our place for some lunch and sweets!
Elliott received the most darling {Cat In The Hat} nightgown for Christmas. I told her that she’s going to wear it to school as a {dress} with leggings and boots next week. I mentioned if anyone asks to just say it’s a dress. She looked at me and said, “But Mommy, I can’t lie!”
Nothing like a little cold air to wake you up on a Saturday morning!
By 9:00am, after a quick stop at the bagel shop, we were about 45 miles from home for a little early morning sledding.
It was gorgeous!
Last night we ran to the local children’s resale store and scored some snow pants for Elliott. They had ONE pair left in a size 6…perfect!
I love this one…
Do you like my mustard gloves? They were this week’s frugal find at Targé…$4.48 {reg. $17.99}, and yes, they are leather. I bought them for the early morning walks to school and took a chance wearing them in the snow today. I thought for sure they would get ruined, but they held up fabulously and dried out nicely. My hands stayed surprisingly warm, too. They had TONS of pairs left…I think I need to go back and pick up another pair in turquoise suede…that is if they’re still there!
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Looking forward to staying in and trying out a new recipe this evening. I know it’ll be one that I pass along….yum yum! Also looking forward to popping open that bottle of almond champagne from Valentine’s Day, as well.
