Mom is Always Right

Although, this one cost me a few dollars!! Maddie had a history project due and there were about 15 ideas to choose from. All the topics were "frontiersy" and involved poster boards, brochures, videos, etc. She was set on a nice poster board project when I noticed one was about railroad music. I told her I'd pay her $20 if she used her violin. She had mentioned that the teacher didn't like her (I'm sure he has a personal vendetta against her), but I was convinced that if she took her violin to school and played something, he'd be impressed.

She got to work and after listening to a few "Casey Jones" songs, that darn kid wrote a short "frontier" sounding song. She wrote it out on staff paper and worked it all out. It did have a "frontier" sound to it, too. She she played her newly written song and "Ashoken Farewell" for her class. The teacher recognized "Ashoken" from the Civil War series on PBS and remarked that is one of his favorites. He had never had a kid choose that option for this project. He wants her to come back and play. Apparently all the classes heard about Maddie and her violin all day.

I'm just really proud of her for doing it!! She kept her violin in the band room all day and played it for her band teacher who also recognized "Ashoken". See, I was right. If you do something very different, that might be a little embarrassing, but also shows you care about the project, you will be rewarded.

No Fooling

I still don't think I have recovered completely from last weekend. It might have changed me forever. All of spring break was nice and relaxing. I got work done around the house and enjoyed my relaxing schedule. Then Thursday night was the big movie night. The girls had made plans with friends and so it was that we went to see "The Hunger Games". It was very good. I'm glad I saw it, although I could have done without the 3am bedtime. This was problematic as the next day, we needed to head out to Orlando for the JUMP dance convention/competition with Maddie's studio dance company. Rozzie participated in this one since a girl was in Germany and Rozzie knew this dance from last year. The convention classes were all taught by world renowned dancers and choreographers - some that we knew from our love of the show "So You Think You Can Dance". The convention was held at the hotel that is actually in the Orlando airport. We checked in at our hotel "across the street" and then took the girls to the convention. Now, it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to Orlando from our house. We dropped the girls at the convention with their group and then Travis and I headed to Miami. Travis had gotten tickets to the Florida Panthers vs. the Edmonton Oilers game that night. It is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Orlando to Miami. We got to Miami and met up with a friend of mine from high school. Chris is a HUGE hockey fan. I haven't seen him in about 20 years. It was a great time to sit and talk and then we headed to the arena. We had tickets up in a suite - which was really sweet!!

After the game, we met up with Bill Lindsey who is a former hockey player and is now one of the announcers for the games. Travis' parents are friends with Bill's parents in Southern Utah. He is the one who got us the tickets!! It was fun to meet him. Chris noted that Bill has really good hair!!
We had a very nice time, but it was soon time to head back to Orlando (a 3 1/2 hour trip).
That was two days in a row with a 3 am bedtime. I was exhausted. I thank Travis for buying me a Diet Coke so that I could sleep in the hotel lounge undisturbed!! You can see the airport terminal in the background. You can see the socks I was knitting as I fell asleep. The knitting bag provided head support but was not very comfortable. Surprisingly, I slept like this for 2 hours.
The girls enjoyed their classes a lot. One of the teachers started in the recent remake of "Footloose". Rozzie made sure she wore make-up that day and that she got a picture with him - just them, not anyone else!! I was able to get a glimpse of my favorite choreographer, Mia Michaels. That was a treat!! This picture is nice as both Roz and Maddie are in it - 2nd from left is Roz and 2nd from right is Maddie.

Here is one more picture of Maddie in her magical leg-elongating pants!!
Finally, two weeks after the accident, Travis replaced his car. He is thrilled with his acquisition. It takes us back to our roots when we first got married. This car is about 2 years old with only 2500 miles on it. The man that owned it, just bought it for fun. Apparently he does that. It is a Honda CRZ hybrid. Travis got a good price on it and, barring any accidents, it should last him a long time. It is fun to drive a manual transmission again!! It was so rarely used that it still has the new car smell.

Now it is time to get back to General Conference and my knitting!!

Maddie's Turn

Way back a few weeks ago, Maddie had a dance competition. Maddie dances with her studio, Art's Edge. She is in the "company" and has four different dances that she competes. She loves it very much. This coming weekend we are going to another competition in Orlando that is called "JUMP" which features classes with world-renowned choreographers. If you watch "So You Think You Can Dance" as we do, you know a number of their choreographers at JUMP. They travel all over the world and host this competition and convention. The most famous of the choreographers is Mia Michaels and it is my goal to meet her. I'm so excited for this opportunity for the girls to take classes from these people, especially Mia. I'm so excited at the possibility of getting a picture with her. I could just faint.

Anyway, back to Maddie's previous competition.... I finally got the pictures I was waiting for. The photographer was none to good, but there are a few shots worth posting. This is the tap dance to "Beat It". Notice (how can you miss it) the red Micheal Jackson jackets.

This is a jazz dance to "It Don't Mean A Thing" and it is so cute. The costumes aren't cute until they are on stage dancing and then they transform into just the right thing. Although, they make Maddie's legs look impossibly long!!
This is the modern piece called "Flight" and it makes me cry every single time. The music is just beautiful. Rozzie will be dancing in this one at JUMP this weekend, filling in for a girl who is in Germany.
This is the contemporary piece called "Let It Go" and Maddie has a solo at the end. She is very intense!!

Top o' the Mornin' to You!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I should be including a picture of our cat Patrick here. It is his birthday. He is such a nice cat and we are so happy to have him around. He is easy to get along with and is nonjudgmental. He doesn't mind other cats. He is always willing to sit still for a petting. What a good cat. (Licky is the opposite of everything I just mentioned - especially judgmental.)

Last night, Rozzie had some friends over and we made Shamrock Shakes - just like McDonald's. It was pretty good, actually. This was a new experience for the girl in the foreground who is from Taiwan. She moved her to live with her dad's cousin's family to go to school. I don't know why. So she is in our ward and is Rozzie's age. Rozzie and Hannah have done a great job at helping her feel included.

It is interesting to listen to all of them together. Rebecca doesn't understand a lot of their jokes and she isn't shy to ask. Roz, Morgan, and Maddie have a joke about "rash ointment". When Morgan would see Rozzie at school, she'd yell out, "Hey Rozzie, don't forget your rash ointment you forgot in my car!" They do it to each other. Last night, I picked up Maddie's eczema prescription on the counter and said (without thinking), "Maddie, don't forget your rash ointment that is here in the kitchen." This time, I literally meant that there was actual rash ointment. Rebecca didn't understand what a rash was and why it was funny. They just explained it to her. They watched funny youtube videos and had a great time. I like Rebecca's Facebook posts - they are in Chinese characters and I don't understand that!!!

As promised - here is a picture of Rozzie at her Nationals competition. Many of you have seen this on Facebook, but I thought I'd put it here for the non-users. This picture is the exact opposite of her personality. Many people just ask who it is.
This is the team as they finished the dance. I really like this shot.
Yesterday, I got to work at 6:45 for my teacher planning day. I had about 4-5 hours of work to do. I was really looking forward to it, too. It would be nice to get this stuff done. Third quarter is over and there isn't much left of the school year. What a blessing!!

At about 7:45, Travis called to say they had been in an accident. I called the assistant principal, but she was off to Europe, so I told her secretary the problem and the other AP was sitting right there and he said to just go. I was told later that they didn't want to see any paperwork, to that is a real bonus!!

According the the witness, the lady driving this car was going about 45 mph and drive right into the next car. There is speculation that she was on her phone. She was unable to get out of the car on her own. She was transported with injuries to the hospital via ambulance. You see the bumper of the car she hit embedded in her front bumper. You also see the back window of the car she hit embedded in her windshield.
This is the car she hit. It was a car sandwich. There isn't much left other than his speakers in the back. The car ends at the wheels. He was also unable to get out the car on his own and was transported, with injuries to the hospital via ambulance.
Travis' car isn't too bad. It is hard to see, but the outer shell of the car is buckled above the tire. It is a little more than just a fender-bender, even though it doesn't look so bad from here. He was definitely fortunate that the middle-man wasn't following closely. Travis and his carpool buddy, Jack, were fine.
I took them over to Urgent Care, just in case. It just makes for a lost day. Now we have to wait and see what insurance says about the car. We might get insurance back on Morgan's car so that Travis has something to drive in the meantime. What an inconvenience!!

Now for Spring Break!!

March Madness

March started out with a trip to the National Dance Alliance dance competition in Orlando at the Hard Rock Live auditorium. I'll have some other pictures of Rozzie dancing on a later post. Many of you have already seen the scary picture of her that is on Facebook. Here is a less scary picture of her at her school away from school, Hogwarts.

The dance competition went well, although not as well as last year. This year, every team was really good. We came in 8th place and are really happy with that. There are some really fantastic teams out there and we are glad to be one of them. The team that won is the team that won last year and also went on "America's Got Talent". West Springfield Dance Team is amazing to watch!!

Today, my Fashion Design class finished out a project where they had to create an article of clothing or outfit out of "trash". They weren't allowed to buy anything, and they weren't supposed to use fabric. They used a lot of trash bags. They had a lot of fun coming up with different ideas. Today was the judgement day. I had a panel of judges come in to be my judges. The school TV station also reported on the show. I jokingly told them that first place gets an A, 2nd place a B, 3rd place a C, etc. They were so shocked at the grading system. There was a great sigh of relief when I told them that I was joking and then I handed out the grading rubric. I was pleased with how they used their time as well as their creativity. They worked in groups and one person in the group had to model.
This is the winning group!! They made her jacket from a shower curtain. They actually cut out pattern pieces and hot glued it together, including a hood. They also hot glued a zipper in it. Her tank top is newspaper. Her skirt is a garbage bag that they spray painted. It was really cute.
Now we start our Spring Break!!! WOOT WOOT. I can't believe that when we go back to school, it will be 4th quarter. Inconceivable!! (and it will be my birthday!!)

February Follies

February started out with our favorite weekend of the year at The Cloister Resort at Sea Island in Georgia. Travis attends the Georgia Foreign Trade Conference each year and we look forward to this weekend ALL YEAR!!! This year, the kickoff to the conference was on Super Bowl Sunday (see what I did there?). Everyone was instructed to wear their favorite team's colors. Despite the dismal season, Travis and I donned the purple and gold. During the party, a lady came up and asked if I was from Minnesota. We talked for quite a while on the virtues of living in Minnesota. She lives there currently and I had to tell her how lucky she was. Then her husband came up. I noticed that his name tag put him with Target and so we discussed the virtues of Target. Then Travis found me and we chatted a big longer. The next day, Travis came back from his big meeting and said that my Target friend was the keynote speaker and was a HUGE bigwig with Target. Luckily I was on my best behavior and didn't swear or anything.

February brought about Maddie's first church dance!! She turned 14 in November, but hasn't had the opportunity to go to a dance until this month. Rozzie warned her that guys will ask her to dance and will somehow manage to ask the girl's age. When you answer, "Fourteen," the young man will simply say, "oh." So, Maddie was asked to dance a few times. One young man was a high school senior. He chatted with her a bit and then nonchalantly got in, "how old are you?" She answered, "Fourteen." .... .... .... "Oh." At least the guys know the rules and when someone is off limits, they are off limits. Rozzie, Maddie, and Hannah all had a good time at the dance.
The same weekend that Maddie danced her heart away, Uncle Shan was in town for a visit. We always love to have Uncle Shan around!! He brought his brother-in-law, Clark, along for one night. Clark has a few cats at home that Shan figures he misses quite a bit. When Shan came in for breakfast, Clark was reading Maddie's Cat Fancy magazine!!
This past weekend, Maddie had her first dance competition. She has been looking forward to this for a long time. She was in 4 dances: Tap, Jazz, Modern, and Contemporary. They did very well and we are sure proud to be associated with Art's Edge. She loves her friends in the Company!! These are "The Blonds".
January seemed to go on forever. However, February flew by. It has been very nice to have a break from Cheerleading. I was in bed by 9:00 every night last week. It sure made a big difference. Too bad I can't always do that!

Cheer Champs and Dance Champs

Well, well, well. The last you heard from me was that all was lost. Sadly, Loretta posted her last post. Meet Monique! I have finally figured out how to change the pixel size on pictures so that I can post them on this blogging program.

January was a very long month. Cheer was at its height with basketball games 2-3 nights a week, plus three competitions. It was pretty rough. I knew it from the get-go. I told Travis that January was going to be band and I didn't know what was for dinner...ever. He never complained, I guess knowing that it was just for January (kind of). We survived and February has been a bit better.

The big highlight in January was that both Cheer and Dance won championships and the same competition in Daytona. My girls did so well. We had our struggles throughout the season, but they really pulled it together and performed so well. They went up into one of their stunts and the flyer closest to me looked right at me and saw me jumping up and down, clapping and yelling and she SMILED!! She couldn't see anyone else on stage but she knew everyone made it up and was holding!! They finished the routine and hadn't dropped anyone and we were all so happy. At this competition, when you win, you get a Championship jacket. I handed those out and we posed for pictures - even the coach gets one!! My girls finished out in the early afternoon with their trophy!! We took all that back to the hotel and then went back to the venue to see the dancers take the floor. At that point, Rozzie knew that I had my jacket and she DID NOT want to leave Daytona without HER jacket!! So the dancers showed up and got a lot of stares in their outfits. Here is the entire team: Rozzie is front, just to the right of center.

Their "theme" this year is tribal/jungle and they looked really good! Here is Rozzie with her friends Nora and Chelsea. They looked like cannibals or witch doctors!! Then they got up on stage and danced and it was a crowd pleaser. Next day, they went and did it again. Lo and behold - they won!! Rozzie had her jacket now and I could wear mine.

Here are some of the dancers celebrating on the beach!! YAY!! The two bookends were injured.

All the girls (both cheer and dance) wore their jackets to school on Tuesday (Monday was MLK) and we got this GREAT picture of all of them together. What I really love is that they are not standing by teams at all; they are all mixed together. It really was a great experience!

Somewhere in there the girls participated in the Young Women's Sacrament Meeting program. They always dress alike or at least coordinating and this year it was white shirts and purple scarves. They did a phenomenal job and look how happy they are - both without braces!!

Last but not least, I had to post this of my cheerleaders at their official FHSAA State Competition 2 weeks ago. As they went up into the cheer stunt, the two middle girls realized they had the wrong signs and threw them to each other right during the stunt!! The judges were incredibly imposed with that save. The head judge told us he had never seen kids recover a sign problem like that and he was so impressed with it. Well, it wasn't enough to overcome a deduction from standing on a sign after a tumbling pass. We went from 1st place to 4th. I guess the lesson is that you don't always get what you want (Excelsiorites know the reference). I was really proud of them. I was also relieved that I could go home and be done for the season.

Travis just got home from Toronto - he loves to travel up there. Morgan has signed an apartment lease for next year at The Glenwood. She'll be marching again next year and needs to be close to the stadium. I think it is a great place for her.

Thanks for your patience. I'll post with more regularity now. Oh, our boys' soccer team just won state. Very exciting. Going to meet them at the school tonight. I have to go early to coordinate the banner making.