2 down, 4 to go

Kaiya's fall gymnastics season is in full swing, which means my butt hurts. 2 weekends in a row on hard bleachers is not good for the rear end! I feel like I get a good workout, however, when it's Kaiya's turn on each event. My heart races until it almost comes out of my chest. I get so nervous for her--it's so dumb!!

She had a pretty big bummer of a first meet. The judges were being extra hard and she let her nerves get the best of her on beam and fell three times on silly stuff. It was a big jump to go from Level 4 to Level 5 in the gym and suddenly, things are not so easy. After a long, hard cry and my begging her to no avail try something a little less competitive, she came back this weekend and did so well! She improved her all-around score from a 30.1 to a 32.4 and just needs a 33.0 to qualify for the Level 5 state meet.

Things have always come pretty easy for Miss Kaiya--school, sports, etc. She and I have had many heart-to-heart conversations this last week about the value of hard work and the importance of the mental "game" in all she does--not just gymnastics. My kids have always had chores and responsibilities, but sometimes life requires more than just going through the motions. Cooper has a baseball teammate in the hospital who was fighting for his life and limb a week ago after a freak accident and she has heard me talk about how much sheer determination and hard work it's going to take for this young man to regain the use of his arm. Hard work and determination are of paramount importance in this life!!

Kaiya and I got a great book that we've been reading together about mental toughness in sports and it has led to a lot of great "ah ha" moments for her. She worked so hard at practice this week and got to see the results of her labor today.

I guess through all my parenting mistakes, every once in a while you get one right. :) So proud of this young lady!!

Action shot of cartwheel on beam

All smiles after meet #2

One of her best floor routines ever!

What would you do . . .

. . . . if your child's bill for his/her favorite activity came and it was $705 for one month? Stunned? So were we. Sometimes being a parent means making very unpopular decisions and yet, this one was really a no-brainer.

Miss Kinley was invited to be in a jr. dance company in May and had just been loving it. She had 4 parts in the Nutcracker coming up in December and was living at the dance studio. We knew there would be some extra fees associated with the Nutcracker, but when they threw in a handful of mandatory conventions and competitions and started charging for rehearsal time, it became a joke. They have always charged about double their cost for costume fees, which irritates the crap out of me, but then multiply that by 5 and it started to be comical! So, when that $705 bill was presented, we pulled her out.

She had some pretty big tears at first and still has some sad moments, but has been a real champ about it. It didn't hurt that we told her she could start going to the dance studio at Kaiya's gym, who just recently started their own Performance Company. Just one week into it, she is loving it and she and Kaiya have been so cute together talking about being at the same place for dance and gymnastics. And, it was a huge benefit that one of Kinley's bestest buddies decided to bail and come to Mountain Dance as well. It made the transition so much easier and they already have their first performance in two weeks. Add that to the fact that Kaiya's fall meet season starts this weekend and we are gonna be busy!

Both girls got to be in the Louisville Labor Day Parade on Monday and they had a ball! And, I just found out that they won 1st place in the parade in the kid's division! So, there will be a big trophy waiting at the gym when they get there tonight. Kinley just walked along the parade route and did cartwheels and handed out candy while Kaiya's group did a little gymnastics performance for the judges. They really had a fun day!

Ready for the parade!

Performing in front of the parade judges

Getting a little help from sis after so much walking!

Rounding out the week was a fun day yesterday with Cooper at his 7th grade field trip to the Rockies game. I was a chaperon for a small group of kids and we had to walk all over downtown Denver doing math and geometry problems. The game was fantastic as we watched the Rox come from behind and win 6-5 on a stolen home plate move that you almost never see.

Hanging with Kaden at the game