Tiger Paw Classic

We've had a busy week around our house and Daddy's been in Atlanta so he missed all the fun.

Here's what we did Thursday night:

(Mine's the top left) Just warming up.

Getting some of her medals for individual events.

Her scores were: vault 9.3

bars 8.9

beam 9.2

floor 9.1

Getting her All-Around medal.

She came in 3rd (out of 68 girls) with a total score of 36.5.

**Update: I checked the scores & she actually tied for 2nd!!!

Great job, sweetie - we're very proud of you!Even got some love from the Tiger.

This was a fun meet (even if it was on a Thursday night).

Upstate Gymnastics & Clemson University put on a really good show.

One more meet to go and then on to State.

Cell Phone Craziness

I like to think of myself as a pretty laid back, understanding and compassionate mom but I do wish someone could please explain to me why my 11 year old son is begging, pleading and harrassing me for a new cell phone.

Ugh!!

Notice I said a NEW cell phone. You see, we don't usually believe that an 11 year old homeschooled child who usually is only a few houses away when playing with friends really requires a cell phone, however when Daddy had to get a new phone we decided that since our contract wasn't up on the other one we'd let the children share it.

Ah, ha. That was a clue - notice I said.....SHARE.

You see, my lovely son and adorable daughter can't agree on anything, much less the sharing of a certain cell phone that neither of them ever take anywhere.

He wants his NCSU logo as the wallpaper. She wants pictures of kittens.

He wants some weird ringtone. She wants a chiming one.

The torture of this mother never ends.

I'm telling you, if I hear one more word about how he desperately needs a new cell phone so that I will be able to find him while he's out playing I'm going to take that red Razor and flush it down the toliet and the next time I need to find him while playing I'll use the same method that has been used for years.........

I'll walk out on the back porch & yell.

Special Note: I'm back on twitter - want to follow along?http://twitter.com/foureds

Beautiful Farmhouse

Our local newspaper puts out TALK Magazine and sometimes they feature beautiful local homes.

Look at the one they've featured this time.

So beautiful and relaxing. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

All photos are from The Greenville News/Owen Riley Jr.

Weekend Update

Just a quick little update (in between school subjects) to give friends & family an update on our busy weekend.

G's gym was hosting "The Sparkle City Invitational" and that means lots of work for the booster club parents.

Friday night we had set-up. That involves a lot of equipment moving, cleaning & decorating. Concession stands, check-in desks, and lots of other things need to be in place for 7:30 gymnast's arrival on Saturday morning.

We survived that and got home around 9:30 Friday night (others were still working but I brought both kids home). We were tired.

Saturday, of course, was Valentine's Day. We got to spend the day as a family but as usual, the kids went over to play at a friend's house in the neighborhood while Daddy & I ran some errands and picked up food to grill out later. That was very nice and the steaks were delish.
We turned in early because G's check-in was bright and early Sunday morning.

Waking up at 6:30 am is not G's favorite thing to do but we both suffered through it and got to the gym by 7:30. March-in started around 9:05 and the competition got under way.
Here are her scores for the meet:

Bars 8.65 (not what she was hoping for)
Beam 9.00 (Improving)
Floor 9.10 (Even better)
Vault 9.375 (That's what I'm talkin' about!)
___________
AA: 36.125

She ended it pretty well and managed to place 1st out of all of the girls on her level.
Great job!! She's really excited since it was her home gym and the owner doesn't usually go to watch their competitions but she got to see this one.

After the meet I had to work concessions until 5:30 then after that I came home & crashed in the recliner. These gymnastics meets can wear a mom out.

Hope you all enjoyed your V-day weekend.

Valentine's Day

Well, it's that time of year again. Valentine's Day.

Yuck.

Don't ask me why I really don't like this holiday. I don't know the answer to that.

When you think about it, a girl should love a holiday where she's showered with flowers, candy, jewelry and poems of love.

Not me.

I think it's a completely over-rated Hallmark holiday.

Don't get me wrong. We usually do the card thing - just because it's always nice to tell your spouse how much you love them. We even do the go out to dinner thing (on a different night) because, let's face it, any excuse I can get for not cooking is an occassion to celebrate.

Since we've had children, we do celebrate this "holiday" a little more just for them but we don't go over the top. Just candy, cards and a little something extra.

I do hope all of you who celebrate this St. Valentine's Day have a happy and memorable weekend. Don't eat too much chocolate.

Canine Art

We are definitely animal lovers in this house.

If my husband (and dog) would let me, I'd have as many as possible. As it stands now, we only have one dog, a 7 year old border collie named Chase and a 15 year old cat, Murphy.

Earlier today, as I was browsing around one of my favorite sites, Southern Living, I found this great artwork by some very talented people.

Check it out:

Artist: Amelie Marchesseau

Artist: Amelie Marchesseau

This one is one of my favorites. It looks so real and reminds me of the black lab we used to have named Kentucky. Oh, how I miss that dog. The artist uses a technique called portrait fusion.

Artist: Matthew Donovan

This last one wasn't in Southern Living but it's a watercolor that I like.

Artist: Marley Ungaro

Hope you enjoyed these beautiful works of art and if you have a pampered pooch that deserves the honored spot above the fireplace for their portrait, just click on the artist's name under each picture and it should link you to their site.

She's so excited.

I'm a huge fan of reality TV. I've always been a people-watcher and these reality shows get me everytime.

Well, last night came the big announcement of the new Dancing With The Stars cast and my little one is beyond excited.

Why is an 8 year old girl so excited you ask?

Because her all-time favorite athlete is going to put her dancing shoes on this season.....

It's Shawn Johnson!!

For those of you who don't recognize the name, she was on the US Women's Gymnastics Team competing in China last summer. She's only 17 and will be the youngest ever to compete on this show. I hope they'll be gentle with her.

Some of the other contestants on this season of Dancing With The Stars are:

Lil' Kim (a rapper)

Jewel and her hubby Ty Murray (singer & rodeo cowboy)

Steve-O (TV personality?)

Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood)

Lawrence Taylor (football player?)

Chuck Wicks (country singer & Julienne's boyfriend)

Gilles Marini (??)

Denise Richards (should have known she'd find a way to get on tv)

Steve Wozniak (no idea.)(just found out, co-founder of apple. thanks, Tarah.)

Belinda Carlisle (The Gogo's - hope she has The Beat, hehe)

David Allen Grier (Comedian)

I think I covered everybody. Looks like it's going to be a pretty good season.

Time will tell. What about you? Are you a fan of DWTS?

If so, who's your favorite this time?

Much better

I didn't want everyone thinking I was puttering around a dirty house unshowered and feeling sorry for myself all the time so I wanted to let you know that I'm officially much better.

Blogging friends are the best. You're right there to support and lend an ear whenever it's needed. Thanks for all of the advice and well wishes.

I woke this morning to the sun streaming in through the blinds and the sound of birds singing in the bushes. (It's a much better alarm clock than that buzzing thing that goes off every morning.)

It looks like we are in store for a beautiful weekend here in SC with temperatures in the 60's.

Yay!!

I think I've officially diagnosed my funk as SPRING FEVER.

I actually looked it up:

Spring Fever - noun. A feeling of restlessness, excitement, or laziness brought on by the coming of spring.

Yep. Sounds right.

I'm so looking forward to the sun filled days of spring and being able to get outside again without shivering to death.

I found some pictures online to help give me a visual of things to come. Hope they put a "spring" in your step this weekend as well.

Have a great weekend!

Misc. Nonsense

Do you ever get in a funk?

I do.

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who suffers from this official disorder but I'm currently in one now.

I don't really know why.

Life is good.

We're healthy.

Hubby has a job.

I get to stay home with my two children everyday, educate them & shape who they will become as adults.

Why do I have this blah feeling lately?

I know I usually get a little blue during this time of the year anyway - it's winter. blah.
Spring is too far away.

I have a long list of projects I want to do now that we've really settled into this house but now that I'm homeschooling the children my project time has been drastically diminished. blah.

I miss my friends from our old town and those that have moved to other locals. blah.

It's just not the same discussing painting projects with an 8 year old girl who only wants to talk about doing her room & doing it NOW and an 11 year old boy who could care less what color the family room is. As long as it has Wii he's good.

How long does it take to feel really at home in a new community? I'm not there yet. blah.

Last night the kids were looking at the web site for their old school - just looking for glimpses of their friends and asking if we could move back to our old house.....blah.

So, here I am in my Official Winter Funk of 2009 boring you with all of my nothingness.

I am thankful for all of the above and don't usually wallow in self-pity but this morning I just had to have my pity party & will work on my outlook later.

On a positive note, we have some family members coming this weekend for an overnight visit. Maybe that will help to cheer me up.

The weather is supposed to be in the 60's this weekend - I'll go sit outside and boost my Vitamin D levels.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Palmetto Invitational

This past weekend our little gymnast had another meet. Luckily, this one was only about 30 minutes away. So, around 7:15 am, with coffee's in hand, we all loaded up to head out.

This meet was pretty nice & well done. They actually had some activities for the children, such as jumpy castles, batting cages and putt putt. The older brothers appreciated this very much.

Our girls being introduced.

Checking in with the beam judges.

I usually take tons of pictures during meets, but this time I decided I would spend more time watching than snapping. Well, wouldn't 'cha know it, she decided to do the best she's EVER done.....on EVERYTHING.

She flipped and twirled her way to these fabulous scores:

Vault: 9.0

Bars: 9.0

Beam: 9.35

Floor: 9.15

That was just wonderful - we are so proud of her hard work.

When I went over to her after her last event, she smiled as big as possible and said, "I did my best for Daddy." You see, Daddy doesn't get to come to all of the competitions so she wanted to do her very best for him. How sweet is that?

We only have 3 more regular competitions and then her State Meet is in March.

Looks like she's getting her routines perfected just in time.

Great job, G - we love you and are very proud!