1st Cheer Practice

I was surprised that even with the heat (it was 113 today). The new Cheer Coach, still wanted to hold practice. Of course, I also did do something a little crazy and volunteered to be Assistant Coach since no other parent stepped-up to do it. I asked her ahead of time what she wanted me to do and she said to just run them to the bathroom, that she was a strong coach and didn't need help. Ok, sounds good to me. Practice went well, two of the girls weren't there but hopefully they will be there on Thursday. They learned quite a few new cheers and worked on their Half-time routine, which honestly isn't as exciting or challenging as last year's. I think what bothered me most was during the entire practice the Coach stared at Keree's brace. I mean, it wasn't like I hide anything on her registration paperwork, it clearly states that Keree wears an AFO, so I'm not sure what the problem was. Also, after turning in my paperwork in for Assistant Coach, she never did ask me for my shirt size. Things that make you say hmm. I'm hopeful that this season will be alot better than last years.

Snowy Monday

We all had a rough night, so when I startled myself out of a dead sleep at 730a. I laid there and debated if I was going to get Keree up and take her to school. When my eyes finally focused, I noticed that the ground outside was white. I had to do a double take since they weren't predicting snow, we were suppose to get a little bit of rain and thats it. I sat up and pulled back the curtain and it was coming down so heavy that I couldn't see the tree line. I flipped on the news and they were advising people not to drive unless they had to, so that meant a self-appointed snow day for Keree. Keree actually ended up sleeping in till almost 8a, so it was nice to have a little quiet time just watching the snow fall. So after some breakfast and getting dressed, the snowflakes that were falling were huge and some puffy looking. So we decided to put on our winter coats and head outside. It was such a slushy mess that we didn't move off of the sidewalk but it was so pretty. Keree spent part of her time trying to catch the huge snowflakes on her tongue. It was pretty funny watching her, with her eyes closed and her tongue out. Once we headed inside, I checked my email before heading upstairs. I was excited to open an email entitled "singles allowed to adopt from Chin@." How exciting that the country is open again to Singles who choose to adopt from the special focus program. I have to admit that I did take a peek at a few of the kiddos on the list and some totally melted my heart. I'm just so happy that it's an option again for so many singles out there. After the mail was checked, we headed upstairs to work. Well in Keree's case play, she spent her morning playing in her play kitchen. I don't know how many times she served me poison soup, sandwich or drink. We headed downstairs for lunch and since it's Monday that meant Muffin Tin. I decided that since this week is St. Patrick's day that would be a perfect theme. So in my first cup is half of an whole wheat english muffin, I used edible markers to draw a rainbow on it. Our next cup is Key Lime flavored fluffy yogurt, I then used some green apple licorice to make a clover on top. Then I added a raspberry milano cookie and again used the edible markers to write Happy St. Pat's day on it. The last cup of the top row has two marshmallows, again I used edible markers and drew clovers on them. The next row, the first cup has some cucumbers coins, I really wanted to make them gold for the money at the end of the rainbow but couldn't come up with a way. Next is some cornbeef hash, I used canned because I haven't had time to make homemade. Finally, the last cup is some green olives which Keree loves any type of olives. As for the rest of our day, I did get Keree to lay down for a short nap. It was less than an hour, so I'm hoping that she's exhausted tonight and will go to sleep early. Otherwise, we checked on my Grandparents because my Grandpa had doc appts today. Luckily, they made it safely to and from even in the snow. My Aunt V sent us a package, inside was both Keree and I's birthday presents. I got a gorgeous 2.75 ct garnet ring (which is my birthstone) and Keree got a Rapunzel pillowcase and some Rapunzel hair ties. So we called my Aunt and thanked her for our gifts. We also got to talk to my Brother for a short time while he was driving home from Pennsylvania. He had been there for a wedding and then took a few more days off to see a few sites with his girlfriend. Keree was suppose to have our final cheer practice this evening but when she woke up from her nap, she had a low grade fever again. Since there has been all kinds of stuff going around, I choose to keep her home and not chance anything. Keree spent the rest of the evening working in some workbooks and drawing.

No Go

Well this morning, we took our time. Keree's squad wasn't cheering today, so it worked out perfect for us to head back up to the Farm. As we were getting ready to head up there, my Aunt called and said that my Uncle didn't want us to head up there today. She said that they weren't heading up there either because it was just too cold and rainy. So since our day was now wide open, we decided to head over to a craft show. We actually were suppose to be doing this show but with how bad my Mom has been feeling, there was no way I could handle setup, the show and tear down completely by myself, while also having Keree along. Which honestly, I'm glad we didn't do the show, the Producer had actually allowed people with flea market type stuff in and I was really disappointed. I did find it interesting because I dressed Keree as plain as I could today because I was comparing prices and such. I was shocked at how many people recognized her. It was also nice because we did run into a few Crafty friends and we had a nice visit with them. It's also a little sad because we won't see most of them until Fall now. As we were driving home, we always pass a grain elevator. Keree loves this elevator because it looks like Rapunzel's tower. So since we didn't have anything planned for the day, we stopped and grabbed a few pictures of her and the tower. What's cool about this grain tower, is unlike most of them in the area, it's still being used for it's intended use. When we got home, we spent the day upstairs. Of course, I worked and Keree played.

5th Birthday Day

Our morning started off pretty eventful, actually it was just a little after 12am when the sirens started going off. I had actually been watching the storms move across the two states and listening to all the warnings the Weather people kept giving us as Keree slept next to me. I decided since it was so dark outside to watch the storm through the bedroom window. Right as the storm was moving in, I saw the sky turn colors I had never seen before. First the sky turned a bright aqua-marine, then a bright red, that is when I scooped up my daughter and went to wake up my Mom. At first my Mom thought I was nuts but I pulled back the curtain and the sky was flashing bright red and it sounded like there was rocks being thrown at the windows. As we were running to the bathroom we heard the freight train sound. As we huddled in the bathroom, the house started to breathe, literally the ceiling tiles and walls lifted up, it did it several times. This honestly is the first storm that has ever scared me. I'm the type who usually loves to be in the thick of the storm, but this time I was just fine huddling in the bathroom. When the storm finally passed and we emerged, I honestly expected to see massive damage, trees down, damage to the roof, etc. There was nothing, no tree limbs down, no damage to the house, it was a miracle because all around us was damage of various degrees. Needless to say, Keree was restless the rest of the night. When we woke her up this morning with a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday, she pulled the cover back over her head and begged for more sleep. Keree enjoyed some Crunch Berry cereal for breakfast. Then Keree put on her Birthday Girl shirt, which she has worn on her Birthday for her last 4 birthdays. The shirt started out being down past her knees and then this year it fits her perfectly. I'm a little sad that this is the last year she will be wearing this shirt but I guess I should be happy since it's a size 18mos. Before we left for school, I decided to take a few pictures. I also wanted to document the treats she brought to school, Blue and Yellow mini cupcakes, which Keree was so excited about because they are her favorite colors. Needless to say, there are more than 12 kids in Keree's class but she couldn't hold all of the containers. When we arrived at school, I was surprised when the Main Teacher actually wished Keree a Happy Birthday. I had taken the camera in because I wanted to take a picture of Keree making her Birthday crown but they were dragging their feet in getting it ready, so I ended up leaving without a picture. When I came to pick Keree up, she was so excited because they had lantern stickers and she put them on her crown. We headed home and while I worked on lunch, Keree got to open up her Birthday presents that she got in the mail and the few my Mom and I had tucked away. Keree's Great Grandma and YeYe sent her a new outfit, a lollipop shirt, some flowered tights and a white shrug. Next she opened up a card from her Great-Great Aunt F, inside was $10 and a bag of candy. Her next present was from her Godmother, I really wish I would have video taped her opening the present because she shrilled with excitement when she discovered that she got a "real camera" with Kai Lan on it. The last gift she got to open was from my Mom (aka Grandma) it was a clock of her very own. But the neatest thing we found was a Birthday card and what happens to be on front? Not only Rapunzel but also the number 5. How awesome is that. But what was even better, when you opened up the card it played a song. The lyrics are this "suddenly I see, standing here, it's all so clear, where I'm meant to be." Finally I had lunch finished, since it's Monday, I did a Birthday Muffin Tin. So I turned some cupcake liners inside out, I thought I had birthday themed ones but I couldn't find them, so I settled on the stripes. In the first cup, was a slice of cheese folded in half, I then cut out a salami cupcake and for the candle, I used a piece of licorice tie. The next cup is some cherry yogurt with small candy princess crowns. Keree was so excited about those princess crowns. The next cup is another piece of folded cheese and I cut out a 5 also out of salami. In the next row, the first cup is some pasta salad leftover from the weekend. The middle cup was two stonewheat crackers and then the final cup was the rest of the kiwi that didn't fit on the kabob. In the middle of the tin was a kiwi and marshmallow kabob. Keree didn't have a lot of time to eat but she did finish all of her kiwi, the kabob, and salami. She ate a good majority of the rest but honestly we ran out of time. We then headed out to my Mom's doctor's appointment. Luckily Keree fell asleep on the way there and took about a 1 1/2 hr nap plus the upside also was my Mom was only in the doctor's office for about 2 1/2 hrs. While my Mom was in the doctor's office and after Keree woke up, she was excited to play her new vtech game she got for her Birthday. It's rated for a 4yr-6yr old so I thought she would be challenged on the easy level but it was way to simple, so once I flipped it over to the difficult level it was a little better but honestly, she was breezing through it also. I'm thinking for next Christmas we are going to be looking for a more challenging learning game system. After my Mom was finished, I had to stop at HL for some supplies and then we had to head to Wallymart to get my Mom's prescription filled. Since my Mom wasn't feeling too hot, I told her and Keree to wait in the car and I would take care of it. While I waited the 15 minutes (ha, it turned out to be almost an hour) for the prescriptions, Keree and my Mom witnessed a lady hit the concrete pole the stop sign was on. When I finally got back to the car, that was the first thing Keree told me, she said it was scary and the lady kept going back and forth, back and forth and there was yellow paint up and down her car. Because Keree had cheerleading picture tonight, we had about 40 minutes before we had to be there. Since we didn't have enough time to really do anything, I let Keree pick a fast food restaurant for her birthday dinner. Not exactly what I had planned but it was that or nothing. So Keree picked McD's and got chicken nuggets and fries. Once we were at cheerleading, we changed Keree into her uniform. Tonight they were having team pics taken. It was a little disappointing that 2 girls didn't show up but for some reason that always seems to happen. Now my plan was to quickly have pictures taken and then leave, instead the Coach decided we should wait for the 2 girls who didn't show up, so we were there waiting for our entire practice. I was not happy but there was nothing we could do. When we were finally done and headed home, my Brother called to wish Keree a Happy Birthday and talk to her. They talked the entire way home (20 min) plus a good 10 minutes after we got home. This evening, we surprised Keree with a carrot cupcake, we sang Happy Birthday to her and then she got to blow out her candles. I asked her later if she remembered to make a wish, she said she did but couldn't tell me her wish. We also surprised her with some knock off dippin dots. She had seen them several times and wanted to try them, so what better time then a special occasion. Keree almost finished off the entire cup of cotton candy flavored dots. She ended her 5th Birthday by calling her Birthday Twin and wishing her a Happy Birthday and then talking with her Great-Grandma and YeYe. Right before bed, I asked Keree if she had a good Birthday, she just smiled. Happy 5th Birthday Baby Girl!

President's Day

This morning, we had to wake Keree up at 730a. From what we knew, they were suppose to have school today to make up a snow day but when we arrived, school was closed. The sad thing, I wasn't the only parent there with their child. So our next stop was suppose to be the bank, there was a huge fiasco over the weekend, they had to cancel our cards because they had been hacked. We were concentrating so much on the fact of everything that happened, that it didn't hit us until we were almost at the bank that it was also closed because of the holiday. We then ran to the store because we really needed a few groceries and Keree wanted to look around to see if she was going to spend anymore of her Birthday gift cards. I was surprised when Keree suddenly spotted a pair of fuzzy jaguar spotted blue pants, blue top and stuffed jaguar. She feel in love with the gift set plus it was on clearance, so that is what Keree decided to spend some of her money on. She looked for a new pair of shoes but didn't find any that she liked. Once we got home from the store, she wanted to change into her new clothes. All day, she kept coming up to us going feel my pants, they are so soft. Keree ended up taking a long nap and even though I had no intention of falling asleep, next think I knew Keree was waking me up. Before we knew it, it was time to leave for cheerleading. I honestly am over this league. Keree is not enjoying it as much as she did with OLPL which makes me sad. The girls on the squad are super cliquey and Keree is treated as the odd girl out even though they preach the whole togetherness and inclusion of the league. When we got home, I fixed Keree a Muffin tin dinner. Since it was Presidents day, I decided to try and go with a Americana theme. So I used baseball themed liners, which I turned inside out so you could see the pictures. I then decided on a Mickey Mouse theme because honestly when I lived overseas everyone equated the USA with Mickey Mouse, Hollywood & New York. So in the first cup is some cheddar Mickey Mouse shaped cheese. The second cup, I cut some hard salami into Mickey Mouse shaped heads. The third cup also contained some mozzarella shaped Mickey Mouse shaped heads. The next row starts with some cherry tomatoes, just because I had them in the fridge. The middle cup then was some cherry yogurt...I was thinking along the line of apple and cherry pie because that's pretty darn American. I needed something for the final cup, so I decided on one of Keree's favorites, green olives. We spent the rest of the evening watching documentaries on tv before finally heading to bed.

The Birthday Party

This morning, Keree woke up super excited at 4:30am, yep you read that right, 4:30am because number one, her Uncle was home for the weekend and secondly, it was her Birthday party. We didn't know exactly what to expect because we had won her party over the Summer from a Martial Arts dojo. Basically the only thing we had to provide was the drinks and cake but of course we always go a little overboard. Because of the Dojo's schedule, we couldn't have it on her birthday weekend (her birthday is the 28th) because they had a competition. After loading the cars, our first stop was Cheerleading. I had really hoped Keree would nap for a short time on the way there since she had been up so early. She feel asleep for about 10 min but that was it. When we arrived, Keree was ready to cheer. Her Uncle enjoyed watching her and she really loved that he was there just for her. After the game was over, they passed out their stars. Keree was awarded her effort star today. We stopped for a quick lunch before heading over to the Dojo. We got there early but there was no use in heading home before we were allowed to set up. We started setting up at 230p, the Instructors were super helpful and very accommodating. They only had one table, so I was thankful that we had brought ours. After moving the tables to the nicer wall, we placed the table clothes on the tables. The table clothes were white with little pink and red hearts which we got on 90% valentine clearance. We then set up the Rapunzel tower we made with Keree as Rapunzel. On each side of it was the Cupcake cakes. In front of the cakes were 3 little bowls that housed the decorated kisses and a single bowl of spring colored tootsie rolls. On the left end of the table was some Vietnamese coconut cookies (in the bear jar), they are sort of like meringue. On the right end of the table was the basket of decorated water bottles, there was additional decorated water bottles in a box below the table and as it got depleted in the basket, we added more. In the front of the basket was two cupcake boxes, in the boxes were single servings of crystal light and Hawaiian punch to be mixed into the water. On the second table we set out all the gift bags for the guests and the Thank you candy bars. We were so pleased with ourselves when we finished with time to spare. We had planned on taking pictures of Keree by the table, with us, etc. But that plan was spoiled when guests started to arrive almost 25 minutes early. As guests arrived, the Instructors played games with the kids until we gave them the go ahead to begin the Instruction in Karate and Ju-Jitsu (which was about 15 minutes after the party start time). It was amazing to watch the focus and excitement on all the kids faces. They learned 6 key words (please, thank you, your welcome, yes sir, excuse me and I can't remember the last one). They then taught them the ready stance, which was to stand with their hands in a fist by their sides. They then showed them how to place their feet and hands to do a front punch. Finally, they taught them how to correctly high kick. It was so adorable watching all the kids try and to perform the tasks. A few of the kids that are high strung, we were amazed at their complete focus and concentration. After the instruction, we gathered almost all the kids over for a group photo. We were only missing one because he is super shy and the other little girl who is super shy is actually starting to run off in the picture. Otherwise I don't think it's too bad of a picture, most of the kids are looking and some are actually smiling. After the group picture, they gathered the kids around and sang Happy Birthday to Keree. Then as in tradition of their dojo, the Head Instructor walked into a back room and returned with a Samurai sword. He explained that Keree was going to get to cut her cake with the sword. Keree's eyes got super big because this sword was a good foot taller than her. The Head Instructor helped her hold the sword and they slowly made a cut into the cake. I love the pictures of her cutting because she has such determination and concentration. After cake cutting, luckily I had some extra help (thank you G) as we passed out the cupcakes, drinks and drink flavors. I was a little surprised by the parents lack of helping their children carry their cupcakes or mix up their drinks, so again the Instructors stepped in to help. While the children were finishing up their cupcakes, we let Keree start opening her presents. Usually the kids spend at least a 1/2 hr or more eating but they worked up quite an appetite because I swear they all inhaled their cupcakes in less than 5 minutes. Keree actually opened up her presents quite quickly also. She got a wide range of presents mostly Disney Princess related, I was a little shocked that she got nothing Tangled/Rapunzel related. She also got Monster High dolls, Squinkies and Zoobles. Once the presents were open, it was time to play games. The first game to play was spoon balls, basically you place a ball on a spoon and hope it doesn't fall off. Anytime their ball fell off the spoon, they had to start back at the beginning of the race. Keree did so well and she made it completely around the room at a pretty fast pace never once losing her ball off her spoon. After everyone made it around the room and claimed their prize (a piece of candy). It was time for Simon Says. They played 4 rounds of Simons Says and Keree never made it past the 4th or 5th Simon Says command. The final game they played was Duck, Duck, Goose. Some of the younger players weren't sure how to play so anytime they saw someone start running, they started running too. It was hilarious to say the least. After they were done playing, it was time for Keree to say Thank You and then we passed out the treat bags and candy bars. Keree gave most of her friends good-bye hugs, which are always sweet. After we packed up everything, it was then time to head out to eat with my Step-Mom P and her Mom S. We decided to go to O'Charley's because we knew their menu was reasonable and of course they have good bread. I know my Step-Mom wasn't too thrilled because we had my Mom join us but I really don't care. We ordered our food and then just enjoyed visiting together. Keree spent the majority of her time drawing in the menu activity book but after awhile she got hungry. She looked at us and goes "where's are food?". Usually she gets shrimp because she loves it but she surprised me this time by wanting chicken strips. Then after we were finished with dinner, they brought out a slice of turtle pie for Keree's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to her and then she took a huge bite. She then passed it around and let everyone take one bite but she wasn't going to share any more than a bite. Once we were finished, we headed to our cars. My Step-Mom P didn't bring in Keree's presents, so we stood out in the windy cold and she opened them in the parking lot. Keree was excited because she got a Rapunzel lantern that lights up and plays music, which is fitting since all Rapunzel wants to do is see the mysterious lights on her birthday. My Step-Mom also gave Keree money to buy tickets to a baseball game. The sad thing, is she thought we could buy 3 or 4 tickets and instead, it will barely cover a child's ticket. We finally headed home and even though Keree was tired she didn't go to bed until almost 930p.