US Finals 2011

Brianna chose to stay with a friend, but the rest of us headed to Indy for the big finale to cheer season.  As usual, traveling with us is interesting.  After several bathroom stops, lots of rain and many MANY rounds of Lucy’s favorite songs, we arrived in downtown Indianapolis to find several conferences and proms had taken over the local establishments.  We attempted to eat at Webbers Grill and an Italian place before realizing we were much better satisfied with cheeseburgers and shakes from Steak and Shake.  Of course we were running up and down the street without Lucy’s wheelchair and holding her hands down to make sure she didn’t destroy anyone’s hair while packed into an elevator.  A note on current prom dresses- YUCK!!  Too short, too high heels, too much skin, just a general “what were they thinking.”  Also curious after this event and our stay at Vandy- When did the “F-word” become acceptable in public conversation??
We slept in the next day.  There comes a point it is simply impossible to watch all teams from your own gym and still keep family sanity.  Yes, we know we are awful.  I got Hadley’s curlers in late so she wore them to lunch at PF Changs and around town till the competition.  We did have Lucy’s wheelchair this time,but as usual, the world is so far from accessible.  We were directed across a parking garage and down an elevator that didn’t meet directly with the floor requiring the chair to be picked up etc.  I’m not sure why these things tear me up so much.  I just fear Lucy will never be able to manage independently as long as silly things like that are allowed to happen.  Maybe architects and city planners need to spend a few days on wheels instead of on foot.
We arrived at the competition to enjoy team after team of amazing athletes.  I am so impressed with what these young girls accomplish.  Lucy enjoys the music and Jack has plenty of little brothers to play with.  We all just really enjoyed each others company.  We talked and laughed.  I balanced multiple cups of to go coffee.  We cajoled Jack and Lucy into trying Ahi Tuna.  We visited every bathroom in the downtown area, and of course took in other ideas like the homeless man with the cardboard sign “Why lie.  It’s for beer.”  Good times.


Not sure the little brothers had enough sleep.  I know Brian didn’t.  He woke up when the team above us at the hotel started practicing at 4:45am.



I have tried all year to get this picture to turn out and still failed.  Oh well… That’s Had in the back striking her final all attitude pose.  Great Year Total Cheer!

Play Ball!

Brian has made the move from softball to baseball and last night was the beginning of what we hope will be long careers for father and son at Youth Inc. Baseball!  This is Jack’s game face.  I am confident I have the too cutest boys on the field. High points of the game included Jack holding down his own team mate with me yelling from the stands to “LET GO”  “Okay Mama!!”  And, Jack making the final catch of the game and instead of throwing the ball home, dutifully touching all the bases in order before taking the ball home.  He was so proud.

I guess Hadley needed to pitch.  Jack slams the ball back at her head, but against the high school asst coach/ Eli’s dad,  he batted butterflies.

Yes, there are more coaches on the field than kids!  The best quote in the stands was from a grandfather to his daughter "They do realize there have already been 3 outs?"  No,the kids don't but I'm sure a few parents kept up.  Really, I don't have a clue.  I just loved opening day. Aren't these the moments we dreamed of??

Do Not Leave Me Alone with Hadley

 

Hadley had too much time over spring break and Lucy was the receiver of her extra energy.  I can only imagine what Lucy was thinking.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

"Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's exhausted and ready to bite and claw?"  No, not me, but just as that mirror of the wicked stepmother sometimes gave her news she didn't want, so has my mirror.  My mirror, or mirrors have names.  They are shorter than me, have many of my bad habits and call me Mama.  They reflect my attitude and issues back just as well as a mirror.  I would like to think a sometimes funhouse distortment, but a mirror none the less. 
The last two weeks have certainly been a good examples.  I am an introvert.  Yes, let the laughter of "tell us something we didn't know" begin.  I have heard there are those among us that are charged and invigorated by parties and big events, that the thrill of interactions with multiple people keeps them going.  Who are you nuts???  Oops.  Rephrase "outgoing delights."  We are in the middle of a redecorating project.  I love what is happening to my house.  I love the new butter yellow smiling from my walls.  I adore the way the chocolate brown paper with accents from my Longaberger dishes matches and shows off the wood and granite in my kitchen.  I am ecstatic about the ordering of my raspberry colored couch and chairs.  Now Mirror on the Wall, please send a fairy godmother with a wand to install it all.  Instead, installation has come with decorators, painters, carpet layers, as well as my usual support team of therapists and household help.  Please don't think the blessings are escaping me.  I know I am really lucky to have these things and people, but...  It is exhausting.  Even the nicest of people begin to challenge me when I don't have space to myself.  The simple joy in going to the bathroom with no one calling your name.  I asked Brianna why she was, for the upteenth time, standing in the doorway while I sat on my throne.  "It's just such a good time to talk to you."  Ahhhh.  But as days and hours with people have increased, Brianna and Lucy have, just like their Mama, begun to chaff.  The rolled eyes. The stomp up  the steps, the escape to the basement girl cave.  Okay, I may- may roll my eyes, but I do not stomp.  As my pressure and exhaustion from having to talk to people and being unable to get into my kitchen (my place of solace and stress relief)  so has Lucy's.  I think I manage pretty well, that I increase my coffee and hide in the basement with Brianna.  That we went to the zoo and to the park to get out of the house.  That less stressful Aunt Karen and cousins came to give me a buffer.  But... my mirror is screaming back "TOO MUCH!"  And since Lucy has no words or ability to stomp away, she is biting and clawing.  My attitude, my issues, made manifest in Lucy's actions. Mirrors tell no lies.  Time for me to smile back at my yellow paint and those filling the room with it.  Time for my inner attitude to be joyful and then perhaps I will find a way to speak nicely to those around me and not get caught talking to objects on my wall.

Daytona 2011

 

It has been a rough winter.  Lots of snow and plenty of sickness have combined to put all of us in at best a funk, at worst depression.  We have dealt with excessive anxiety, high blood pressure and the death of a classmate.  The girls and their Mama were very much in need of the break a cheer competition in Daytona offered. We decided to fly and got a much better deal by traveling on Thursday and Monday.  Brian very graciously managed the home front and little people.  Like all things we do, it was a juggling act.  We brought in some one brand new to Jack and Lucy to manage the Friday and Saturday- this is called trial by fire, or in our case trial by biting, hair pulling and bodily fluids - and school kept Lucy on Thursday when they probably should have sent her home.  We flew out on a VERY early flight.  When we landed we waited in a crazy long line to get our rental car.  I guess the representative was overwhelmed by the huge family groups and golf bags.  She took one look at my little group of 3 with only 1 suitcase and offered us a free upgrade to a VW Bug.  It made the girls trip.  Hadley told her “you have made my dreams come true!”

On to Daytona we went.  We soaked up rays, walked on the beach and ate excessive amounts of crab.  Oh yeah, we cheered a little too.

One flips. The other runs.  No need for photos,  but Mama sat and read.

On Sunday we drove back to Orlando where we spent the afternoon and evening at Downtown Disney.  We lunched on enormous ice cream sundaes from Ghiradeli.  Best hot fudge ever.  Spent a few hours playing at Disney Quest, where Brianna got up to 11 upside downs on the virtual Space Mountain.  Disney Imagineers look out!  And, shopped all that is Disney.  What a wonderful trip.

Aquarium of the Smokies

 

A cheer competition in Gatlinburg gave of the opportunity to enjoy this really fabulous aquarium between performances.  This is in the tunnel that goes through an enormous fish tank.  Yes, we are headed back to the competition site.  I don’t wear mardi gras beads just to hit the town!

 

I love seeing the girls this excited about learning.

Sharks up close and personal.

Even Hadley couldn’t eat this crab!

The fish overhead and the marks on the plexi glass from a shark attack were a little unnerving!

But the views were more than worth it.

Jack and Lucy are 5!

 

 

Hadley is 10!!!

 

Ever the sports fan, H chose a competitive fun and games night for her birthday.  New friends and old gathered at the church’s CLC for pizza relay races and Titan’s cake.

Blowing ping pong balls across the floor and turning the Hixsons into toilet paper snowmen were the highlights of the night.