Our Friday night in videos

Alternate post title:  Life is good. 

From snow to sunshine

Last Wednesday looked like this:

And the following Saturday afternoon looked like this:

I love where I live. Period. 

Our February in pictures

Fresh air on the back patio, probably trying to walk off one of the many sicknesses we were plagued with last month. Spring needs to get here. Now. 

Successful trip to the dentist. Just in time to rot our teeth with tons of Valentine's candy.

Luke found a new love in Spider-Man. And books. 

We've been working hard on our letters. 

A sweet family pictures snapped before a date night.

Someone turned thirty-five.

Taylor climbed to the tippy-top of the jungle gym for the very first time.

Luke embraced his new dress-up outfits.

We soaked up the much-needed sun on our side porch.

Luke tried his first spicy tuna roll.

We birthday partied with our buddies.

We practiced our baseball skills.

Ruby ate some little sticks. And some big branches.

Rah rah rah

A couple weeks ago Chris scored four tickets to a weekend UNCA men’s basketball game. We didn’t have anything going on, and decided going to watch some Bulldog basketball would be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We had to wake Luke up early from his nap to make tip-off, and to supplement the extra sleep he was used to, we just gave him a few sips of Sprite, resulting in Chris and I taking turns following him as he ran hotlaps around the concourse.

And while alternating Luke-duty, we were able to see the Bulldogs pull off a victory, and watch Taylor keep all focus on the cheerleaders. Our favorite babysitter, Becca, is on the cheer and dance team, and was sweet enough to come up to our seats a couple of times before and during the game to give Taylor a big hug and let her hold her poms. My daughter was in heaven.

So when Becca let me know that the cheerleaders were holding their first ever Cheer and Dance Clinic for little people last Saturday, I knew that Taylor would explode with excitement to participate. And all I had to say was, Hey Taylor, would you like to learn how to be a cheerleader like Becca? and she started bouncing around the room squealing, I’M GOING TO CHEER SCHOOL! It was like popping a balloon filled with confetti. It was everywhere, and all we could talk about until the big day.

She was so wound up that she didn’t even flinch when I told her that in order to take part in it she would have to wear a black t-shirt and black cheer shorts. Which to most people would be no biggie, but Miss T hasn’t worn shorts or an outfit without the color pink on it since she was Luke’s age. And after we got home from buying her new uniform the day before the clinic, she immediately put on her new threads and strutted her stuff around the house until bedtime.

And because Cheer and Dance Clinic rivals Christmas Day for a small girly-girl such as Taylor, it only made sense that we also bring along her BFF, Elliot.

Best. Day. Ever.

There were about forty little girls between the ages of five and eleven participating, with Taylor and Elliot being two of the youngest. And I was so proud of both of them, as they both stepped up and blended in with the older girls.

First they got into a big circle and stretched.

And then they went around that circle, telling everyone their name and why they liked cheerleading. Taylor liked the pom poms.

Everyone moved into the practice courts and learned a few chants, and then broke into age appropriate groups to individually learn cheers.

Of course we had snack breaks.

And then back to learning the routine that all the girls would be performing at halftime of the women’s basketball game that afternoon.

They even did a short tumbling section, where the itty’s practiced their somersaults and jazz hands.

At the end of the clinic, the whole group assembled to practice the entire routine. And they passed out pink pom poms. And Taylor and Elliot’s heads almost exploded.

We then went home to eat lunch and take a short break, after which we met everyone back at the game to cheer on the women’s team and get geeked up for the big performance.

Making her way onto the court.

The big show.

How adorable was that? I can’t even explain how proud I am of Taylor and Elliot and all of those precious girls.

It was definitely a day we will never forget, and I’m pretty sure we have a future cheerleader in our house now. 

Our January in pictures