OUR TREE

NOTE: I can't get blogspot to let me move around my pictures so they are where they are and you can deal with it right?

I witnessed a talking tree today. Can you believe it? And it was the most handsome talking tree I've ever seen :)

Our Kindergarten did the play Goldilocks and the Three Bears today and what a great job they did. We've done several plays throughout the year and I'm not even sure if they made the blog. Not because they weren't blog worthy but because I've had to prioritize. But today's Goldilocks is one of the "bigger" ones with lots of lines and singing, more props, bigger costumes, etc.

Even Hudson came up for the occassion although I'm not sure he could spot our "star" under his disguise.

We may be headed to Hollywood....or maybe we should just stick to the National Forest.

MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE

I just finished watching last week's American Idol where they picked the Top 24. I know I'm a week behind and this time of year usually leaves me up late in my bed catching up on all my DVR'd shows. I don't even know the word that describes the feeling that I get as I watch episode after episode. These young VERY TALENTED kids aspire to do something BIG with their life. I'm in awe as I watch a policeman, a High School young girl, a Worship Leader, a personal trainer and the list goes on and on who want something so bad and have just a few shots to show they've got "it". They are normal people. Everyday folks. The girls and guys next door. They've got a snowball's chance in H-E-double hockey sticks to make it big and yet this is their shot. They've got no money, they've had a rough road or maybe an easy ride....regardless they've got DREAMS and for one person (actually a few as the show usually goes) those DREAMS will become reality. And for that I think the show is pretty cool!

I can feel their excitement as they jump like a maniac after they've made it through to the next round. I hold my breath when my favorites start to perform. My heart breaks when the news is given that the journey has ended. I sit in my recliner (or bed) and wonder how it would feel to be that talented and be that close. I have nothing to compare it to because I don't have dreams that big. I don't have talent that big either but regardless I'm living vicariously through them. It's fun!

REALITY CHECK?

You betcha! For this group of varying aged young girls, this weekend was one of those AHA moments. On day one the girls had a couple areas of uh ohs but nothing major. Their less than perfect but still worthy of praise performance landed them in 4th place after day one. Uh-Oh! After a pep talk from the coach on day 2, they went out and rocked it! While the other teams ahead of them had a couple of minor errors, day 2 was 80% and I think there was a feeling that they may have moved up.

I've never seen such obsessiveness among mature adults.....okay so maybe some of these aren't mature?!?! Let me be clear that 90% of the parents are very normal, non-nhatzi cheer moms. But there are those few that might send all the scores to their statistician friend who can calculate all the scenarios, or might have moved to the Woodlands solely so their daughters could cheer at our gym, or those that sit through all 4 hours of practice EVERY week, or maybe those that try to calculate the score for each team counting off for bobbles, non pointed toes, etc....ok there's no maybe about it, those things are real.

So when it came down to it, the girls didn't move up and had to settle with 4th place. As an undefeated team, this was a hard pill to swallow for them. We were all about promoting how well they did, how much fun they had and that's just how it went down....life goes on! There was competition from Georgia, Florida, Colorado....really there was.

We hit another competition this weekend, they'll be back with a vengeance I'm pretty sure.

CALGON TAKE ME AWAY

Things have been a little crazy around here for the last couple of weeks and in particular the last 3 or 4 days. I had a busy week ahead as Monday kicked off as I was headed to Dallas on Wednesday afternoon for work related events and since Calli has a cheer competition this weekend in Dallas, I just stuck around and had Calli ride up with Jennifer and Carson and another mom and cheer girl this afternoon. I now sit in the comfiness of our hotel watching Olympics and I pause to check in with my two readers. Tuesday night was going to be a crazy one I knew. I had to pack for both kids as I shipped them off to different places while I was out of town and then had to pack for me for the 5 days and Calli for the weekend. Can I tell you that I hate packing? I'm always paranoid I'm going to forget something. Then there were all the other things that come outside of the packing called work....and....church.....and.....life.

Anyways, Tuesday evening after we got home from 3 practices (and yes I still just have 2 kids) I walked in the house thinking I didn't feel too good. 5 minutes later Calli comes up and says she doesn't feel too good and 5 seconds later she throws up all over the kitchen floor. Nice! Really Lord, is there time for sickness in this crazines. I guess so! I get her settled and passed out and finally at 11:45 head to bed with about 3 more hours of stuff on my to do list but I just couldn't take it any more. 45 minutes later, I joined Calli's ranks....only I wasn't in the kitchen. So needless to say my plans to leave the next day at noon were put on hold. Calli and I managed to make it through Wednesday morning and by the afternoon we both were feeling better. I couldn't have run a marathon but I was much better. But really could I have run a marathon before being struck by "the bug"....NO!

I ended up leaving town about 3 making it in time to my work festivities that evening and leaving a puny Calli and a roaring to go Colson with my in laws, who had one down with the virus. Thursday Wes woke up with it and today my father in law has it. So we've all had it except Colson...how does that happen?

Let me just say that my kids are so well taken care of when I'm away that I never worry about them and sometimes because of schedule conflicts, I don't even get to check in with them and if I do...it's not for long. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa, Grammie and Grandpa! I did call this evening to check in on Colson. He gets on the phone with 3 short words for me....you. are. fired. Just like that. Not sure what that means except that he thinks he's really funny.

Well we're in Dallas. Ready to taste the leather.....it's the Superbowl of Cheer competitions. We'll see how they do. I'm really hoping they win because we need another jacket don't you think?

I need to get caught up on so many things but this is all I have tonight....it's been a long week with late nights.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

We have a hampster. If you know us you are thinking you should NOT have a hampster...but we do so get over it. I didn't mean to agree to the hampster but I did one day when we were in Petsmart. Calli wanted one (and has wanted one) for a long time but of course I say no. So as we took our dogs into be groomed one day, the pleading began for a hampster. Not thinking the kids had any of their own money and assuming that by the time they did get there own money, they would have forgotten about their desire for a hampster, I told her she could get a hampster when she had enough money to get one. That backfired on me because 1. hampsters are cheap and 2. Colson had lots of money that Calli talked him into using on the hampster.

So the hampsters name was Taco. Cute huh? That's the only good thing about getting pets....you get to pick out cute names. But Sunday after the Superbowl, Taco went missing. I'm 99% sure that he wasn't eaten by the dogs, but instead think this destruction was done by my ever so sweet yet curious nephew HUDSON! I noticed the dishoveled cage on Sunday night after I was picking up from some friends we had over to watch the game. The dogs had been nowhere around all day which is why I don't think it was them. The next day Colson and I discussed what could have happened to little old Taco, who's VERY fast and bites!! Colson says "it couldn't have been the Coker boys because they are too smart. But Hudson's not very smart but he does know how to say mama and dada". Now of course Hudson is brilliant but brilliance has nothing to do with the descruction and curiosity that comes with all little boys and in particular toddler boys!

So, 4 days into this and still no taco! No tears here....sorry.