Fun Visitor!

Earlier in May we had another visitor and she was very much welcomed!

My mom came and spent a couple of weeks with us! She came at a great time, the weather was just starting to really heat up, it was in the 90s most of the time she was here and she thought that was hot! She came just as I was getting some relief from a pulled/twisted muscle I had in my back. Just the day before she got here, I could barely breathe without severe pain.  Her visit allowed me to get time with the chiropractor without the extra work of hauling kids! AND it allowed me to heal faster with her wonderful extra set of hands.

Except, we ALL got sick while she was here! Allergies seemed to hit us all. Some of us had morning sickness/ tummy bug, a few got fevers and worst of all, even Grandma didn't feel well while here!  I can't tell you how nice it was just to do my regular running and have the option of not taking everyone, especially when someone needed a nap or just to go to bed earlier!  Or I could stay home while she did a run. We didn't just stay home and look at each other.

We did go to the school's community fair. The First grade family picnic day. She was even here for the girls' gymnastics showcase and meet! 

 She encouraged haircuts

This picture makes me laugh. He had gone from some crazy wild hair to...well a clown living in a cave look. He was not excited about getting into the chair and having his hair cut!

The next day she took the kids kayaking.  Or something kinda like it.

 We made a trip to the Olive Garden, where the children became bandits with their napkins.

 And we made it to church to have the kids sing to us for Mother's day.  Wait, where's the little guy?

Oh, there he is, eating cake instead of singing. That sounds about right.

It was nice having her here and the kids miss her! Now we are consistently in the triple digits. Today and for the next several days we are in an extreme heat warning, and well, this pregnant momma sometimes gets a little grouchy in that weather and the kids would love to have a grandma around again!

a visitor!

We had an unexpected visitor this morning and what a commotion we had!


I was sending sweetness to a neighbor's with some books. As she stepped out the door she nearly stepped on a snake!

She continued on her errand and invited the neighbors to "Come see our snake!" As if it was ours and we were going to keep it!  The boys came to check it out.  While she was gone I took this picture and called the fire dept.  It crawled, slithered, right up under that little lip and refused to come out. A hose and some water took care of that!

 Not very big, 12-15 inches, just a baby really!  It is either a Gopher Snake or a Bull Snake. Also referred to has "typical snake" since they are so common in desert regions. It is non-venomous.  I knew it wasn't a rattler, but wasn't sure just what it was.

They took the now angry snake and I assume released it into the desert.  Recently our little man has been rather obsessed with snakes and telling anyone who will listen that he EATS snakes.  As far as I know, he doesn't. And we didn't keep this one for lunch either!

A snake AND a fire truck. Could our morning have been more perfect?

Floor

And our final event, the floor.

First up, Sweetness:

CJ elected to not use the music.  That is probably the area on floor she needs to work on the most.  However, they did learn the routine without the music and practiced most of the time without the music, so with more opportunity I am sure she will feel confident in using music with her routine.

Bars

Sweetness may have had a short and sweet routine, but she did her best and had fun!

And CJ on the bars, she has really begun to fly during practice!  She talks about wanting to be able to stand on the bars and I know flipping through the air from low to high or high to low is also something she is dreaming of.  Be still my heart!

Balance Beam

The girls did a great job on the balance beam.  If you ask them, is it scary to do a handstand on the beam, the answer is no, with no hesitation at all!  Momma finds a few of the things they do on the beam scary, and that is just from the viewing of the skills!



The night before, CJ was very proud that she had done her handstand dismount without a spotter. Even though at times we could see some nerves, she did a great job with all her skills!

Sweetness doing a fantastic job with her beam routine.

Vault

Vault

Each got two chances on the vault. Both girls needed the second opportunity.

I was really happy she was able to laugh when she watched the video herself.

Vault #2

Sweetness #1

And her second vault

It has taken all week to get this to work, and I am not sure if you can even view these videos properly yet.  I will get the others posted as soon as I know these were successful.

Gymnastics part one

Today was a very big deal around here.  All week we have been limping through with allergies and other bugs trying to bring us down, and Sweetness still wasn't feeling 100%, but today was a day NOT to be missed.

It was gymnastics!  Sweetness participated in the showcase, where each class gets to show new skills they have been learning and learn a little routine.  She received ribbons and "scores", it was all about fun and the judges were older team gymnasts.

 Warming up on the beam. She missed practice yesterday so it was a quick run through of some of the key parts.

 Floor

 Vault

 Showing her medal

Gymnast salute.

CJ had her first ever mock meet with real judges and being judged like at a real meet.  She did fantastic! Nerves and all!  As I tucked her into bed Friday night, I reminded her that it was about having fun and doing her best and that is what mattered.  Her reply,"and to get practice doing a meet before I go to U of A".  Well, I think she might have a few more meets to practice through before she'll be on the U of A team, but the girl has goals!  She also missed practice on Tuesday due to a fever and was still pretty worn out at Thursday's practice, so proud of how well she did as well, and she had a ton of fun!

 Cheering on her teammates on the vault

 Bars...she has really begun to fly through the air!

 Handstand on the beam.

 Warming up for floor, she's on the right

 Medals with part of her team

Gymnast salute!

This is part one. I do have video this year, but I need to process it before I get it loaded on here. That just means, you'll have to check back if you want to see the girls in action!