The State Competition in Jacksonville

We attended our first 2-day competition this weekend. The State Competition is, obviously, a competition for gyms in Florida. Carissa's squad did great! They were the only ones in their division again, but they still did great. The first day's performance was very full of energy and exciting. They were the only squad from our gym that had no deductions! The second day they were all very tired and there were some mistakes. They still took first place (it's possible to get 2nd place if no one is in your division if you don't get a certain point score) and won championship sweatshirts. Last year they gave them jackets, but this year it's sweatshirts. They were very excited. It was a long weekend and we were glad to get home! Big MACs didn't compete this weekend, but we do next weekend! Next weekend is in Orlando, so there will be no traveling involved!

Here are some pictures that we purchased at the event. They were taken by Universal Event Photos. They always do a nice job. You can click on the pictures below to make them bigger.

Carissa flying (this is called an extension):


Carissa's squad (end of the cheer portion of routine)


Carissa after she landed her tumbling pass (check out the hair):

Lion King

Carissa and I went to see Lion King with Joan and Kellie on Friday, Dec 22. Joan and I had seen it when we went to NYC a few years ago with the whole gang. We all said that if it ever came to Orlando that we'd take the kids because it was just incredible! Well, it's at Bob Carr and Joan and I bought tickets back in March for it! Steve didn't want to go because he didn't want to have anything to compare the NY show to. We weren't disappointed. It was a fabulous show and the girls loved it. There were differences. The stage at Bob Carr is MUCH smaller than the one at the Amsterdam theater on Broadway. The made the set appear crowded from time to time. The sound system at Bob Carr also isn't very good. In NY they must have surround sound, but at Bob Carr all the sound came from up front. That was a little disappointing, but the music and singing were both still fabulous. Joan and I were also disappointed that they didn't have the African costumed singers at the end of the show like they did in NY. That had given me goosebumps, it was so cool. We got drinks from my friend Margaret who was working the bar, enjoyed good company and an awesome show. Aside from the rain and the parking issues (there was a Magic game going on right then, too) it was a great night!

Shopping Trip

Every year for Christmas, Carissa and Kellie have given each other the same gift. They caught on a long time ago. So this year instead of doing our annual gingerbread houses, Joan and I decided to take the girls shopping instead. We thought they'd be able to shop for the gift that they each wanted and get to spend time together. Joan and I sat in Starbucks and let the girls walk around the mall together with their cell phones. That was another first for each of the girls. They had fun! The girls are wearing their choice in the picture.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2007! We are all back at work now. It will be a very busy month for all of us. Carissa has two competitions this month and a Girl Scout camping trip. I'm also guessing she'll be selling Girl Scout cookies at some point. I have HUGE work deadlines at the end of January that I will be suffering for all month. Steve will be preparing for the pottery pit firing. Resolutions? I would like to resolve to take a nap everyday, but I don't think that will happen. So I resolve to aim low this year. That is my new philosophy. Maybe if I don't set expectations too high, I won't be disappointed/frustrated/stressed. So if I get around to exercising, losing weight, organizing my life, etc., GREAT! If not, there's always next year. That's what I'm telling my OCD self anyway. =) Have a great year, and I hope if you made resolutions that they work out for you!

A New Look!

I get bored easily. I decided to change the way my blog looks. Hope you like it!

Christmas

Well, another Christmas has past. Nothing exciting to report. I chose not to take a million pictures that look just like the million pictures I took last year. Instead I took a picture of the Christmas tree. It is a sorry looking tree this year, but it really didn't look like that when we bought it. It just oversettled, I guess. Anyway, it was more than willing to accomodate the huge amount of loot that Carissa amassed again this year.


And the kitties enjoyed the decorations, too. Who says two adult cats can't become friends? Here they are helping decorate, and again snuggling up on the warm bed on a chilly day.


So that's it for our Christmas pictures for this year. I will blog more soon as cheer season is kicking in! Love and kisses to you all!

Birthday, Work, and Christmas Dinner! Oh, my!

My birthday was nice! I shopped in the morning and took a nice long nap in the afternoon! That night we went out to dinner with Mom to Colorado Fondue - one of my favorite places on Earth. Yum!

Work is crazy! We were told that we might not be able to take time off at Christmas, but then were told just so long as someone from our team was here each day that we could. I have a huge deadline on January 8th, so I might have to take work home over the holiday or come into work over this weekend! To top it all off, I have to host Christmas dinner! I don't know when or how I'm going to get it done! Stress, stress, stress! Gotta love it!

The good news is that my friend Joan and I are taking the girls to see Lion King on Friday. Joan and I saw it in NYC a few years ago and it was awesome! I can't wait for Carissa to see it. I know she'll love it! I'll post pictures of holidays if I remember to take any!

Have a great Christmas!

Competition #1 - Lakeland ACDC

We had our first competition this weekend! It was a long day, but a lot of fun. Carissa's squad was the only team in their division, but they still could have taken 2nd place if they didn't reach a certain point score. Fortunately, they did get at least the minimum amount of points to score first place. This was Carissa's first competition as a flyer, and she did awesome! All the stunts hit, all the tumbling hit, and the motions looked great. Their squad also won a "WOW" award for wowing the judges for their pyramid. This was one award given to one squad that wowed them all day. So it was quite a big deal for Carissa's squad to earn it, as there were probably 100 different squads competing throughout the day. As for the parents, we did better than we had at dress rehearsal. We had no teams competing against us either, so we got first place, too. You can find the new parent routine for this year here. I am hard to point out, but usually on the right side of the routine. For the jumps and the cheer, I am on the far right in the front row. =)

I'll post Carissa's video if it's ever posted. So far no one has a video of it.

Oh, yeah. Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We went to my brother's house for dinner. We picked up Mom, went over for a delicious meal, and were home by 7. There were several people there: us, of course, my mom, brother (Davie), sister-in-law (Denise), niece (Casey), nephew (Ryan), Denise's daughter (Kristie), and Denise's ex-husband, Bob. It was great food, and nice company.

I got up EARLY today to go Black Friday shopping. I was up at 4, out by 4:20, and home by 11:30. I went all over town and have about 95% of my shopping done. It was worth it. The crowds weren't too bad, and I wasn't irritated by anyone because there really wasn't any "gotta have it" item this year. Of course, I did avoid Wal-Mart. That place is always crazy, and I can never guarantee I won't kill someone while I'm there.

Whenever I think of going to Wal-Mart, I think of the time I went and was walking behind a man that was eating fried chicken (from the deli, I assume). When he finished the chicken leg he was eating, he just tossed it into the men's department! Right on the floor! Just -swoosh- and it was on the floor. GROSS! I couldn't believe it! I'm betting he hadn't paid for the chicken either!

Anyway - I hope you all had a super Thanksgiving!

Christmas Carissa

Here's the picture that's going on our Christmas cards this year. Notice the straight hair!

Birds of Paradise

There are big trees in our screen enclosure that we figured out are birds of paradise trees. I've never seen them this big before, and they sure do grow quickly! We have to trim them back quite often. They're blooming now. Here's a picture. The blooms aren't as colorful as other ones I've seen, but they're still cool!

MAC's "Cheerful" Halloween Party

What a busy day we had on Saturday! First we had to show up at the Dick Batchelor Run for the Children at Lake Eola. MAC had to cheer for the runners. It rained on them, so they didn't perform this year, just cheered as the runners started the race. Then we had to do Mass Band (see post below). We then went to MAC's Halloween party! Here are some pictures:

Carissa and Ariel

Shelby

Haunted House













Castle Decoration

Sue as an Old Lady

Mass Band

No, this is not a religious thing. The district did the marching band evaluations for the high schools and asked the middle school students in the district to come perform the National Anthem. Carissa is just to the left of the 40 yard line in the second row. We estimate there were about 350 kids there.

Another Cow Note

Just a funny side note to the blog entry about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party . . .

When Carissa was about 2 or 3, we used to live near a bunch of cow fields. One day as we were driving past one, Carissa said, "Mommy, when I grow up . . . I wanna be a cow." I told my mom and my aunt, and my aunt told her if she wants to be a cow that she'll have to drink more milk!

Fast forward to present day. Steve wrote a note to Carissa Friday morning that said:

Congratulations, Carissa! Today your wish is going to come true. You are a cow!

Cute!

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

OR Adventures of the Chick-fil-a Cows . . .

I took Carissa and Kelsey to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on October 20. Carissa and Kelsey were going to dress as Pooh and Tigger, but Carissa saw a Chick-fil-a cow on someone's car antenna and thought of the idea you see here. My friend Jenny and her husband Jeff came, too. The girls were the hit of the event by drawing MANY comments. Some people would say, "Eat More Chicken" to them, others would just say they were great costumes. By the end of the night, whenever someone would comment on their costumes, Carissa or Kelsey would say, "Eat More Chicken," and the other would then say, "Eat Less Cow!" It was funny. Even parade characters stopped during the parade to look at their costumes or comment on them! Other highlight of the night was getting all the candy. I still don't know who was more excited about the candy, the kids or Jenny!

Front and back of Kelsey and Carissa's costumes:


































Jeff and Jenny

















Chick-fil-a Twins and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum Twins

Steve's Adventures

Steve came home very excited from the studio a few weeks ago. He said that one of the people from the studio, Wyn, is a heavy equipment operator and is going to take him out to drive some of the equipment. They went on Sunday, and here are some of the pictures.

This is the pit that was being excavated. The land owner sells the dirt to people that want it. He gets about $8 a truck load. They remove about 200 - 300 truck loads a day. Not bad income for someone that doesn't even need to do any of the work!



















Here is Steve in the excavator . . .






















And with the front-end loader . . .



















This is the view from inside the front-end loader . . .




















And, of course, we need to give credit to Wyn, Steve's tutor! Thanks for making Steve's day, Wyn!

Steve is a star!

While Tropical Depression Ernesto was limping through Florida yesterday, Steve decided to spend the day at the pottery studio. He came home explaining that he might be in the newspaper, as his picture was taken and he was interviewed. Sure enough, his picture is on the front page of the paper this morning, and is also online! Here is the picture.














The article was just explaining how some people were spending their "Hurricane Day." He was quoted, too:

Schoolteacher Steve Czerniejewski sculpted elaborate vases at Orlando Pottery Studio, where other storm refugees also exercised their creative urges during the quiet, gray day. He called it a "mental-health day."

But he wished he were working at Fern Creek Elementary, which had closed for the day. Missed classes are missed opportunities to learn, he said.

Back to Normal, I guess

Well, everyone has returned to their normal routines. Steve and Carissa are back in school. Carissa's teachers actually seem pretty good this year. I think she might actually read (and write) something in Language Arts this year! She is also in pre-algebra, gifted Sci. and Soc. St., and has jazz band and wind ensemble. She's doing well so far. Steve wasn't excited to go back this year, as he traveled a lot this summer and didn't get enough pottery time in. He'd much rather be a potter full time. Cheer is also back in mandatory practices. That is going well, too. And . . . yes, I'm still on the parent squad. We will really be stepping things up this year! It should be exciting.

Beach Week!

Wow! It really has been a long time since I've posted! Carissa and I went to New Smyrna Beach with a group of friends in July. Jody and NiCole have a friend/client that owns a house right behind the dunes and let them use it for the week for free! Since that is in my price range, we went despite me HATING the beach. It was a great week. Here is a picture of the house and a picture of the view from the upper balcony:















During the week, we usually went out to the beach each morning. I tried not to be out too much because I don't like to burn. The kids would often go out with the adults in the evenings, and even for a few moonlight walks. Carissa didn't like the crabs much. They look like spiders to her, and I have to agree!


Christina, Kellie, Carissa and Connally
















One of the days we were there, the kids were boogie boarding with Jody and saw 2 sharks! They were black-tipped reef sharks and were very close to where the kids were playing. Jody had everyone get out of the water (which wasn't an issue for Carissa - she was out as soon as she heard the word "shark") and they built sand castles instead.

Jenny Got Married!

My friend Jenny at work has been talking about getting married for a while. She and her fiancee, Jeff, had been engaged for about 3 years. They decided to make it official on Thursday morning and went to the courthouse. We had a little shower at work for them!

Congratulations Jenny!