Confession - I wasn't NEARLY appreciative enough of what my mom did for me growing up. As the daughter of a former baton twirler, I started twirling by age 3 or 4. Whenever I had a baton competition or performance it was almost as if elves came in the middle of the night and rhinestoned & sewed my costumes; cleaned my batons; made sure I had the right accessories; and even had snacks packed. I know this is late and cannot be said enough, but, Mom, YOU ROCK!
And so now - I'm the elf. My middle child, Lily Brooks (aka 'The Princess'), is now a baton twirler. On Friday night she twirled during halftime at our high school football game and then Saturday had a baton competition in Birmingham, Alabama. So after Halloween festivities Thursday evening and getting the kids ready for bed, I turned into Twirl Mom Elf.
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| The Rain Stopped Just in time for home Halloween Fun! | | | | | |
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Sweet hubby (aka 'Honey') poured me a glass of wine Thursday evening. Sadly, this is where I found it Friday morning. Right where I left it while helping the girls brush teeth and hair before bed. Kind of sad isn't it?
Here are a few of Lily Brooks's costumes that I worked on so feverishly. Fellow twirl mom and good friend S and I make a fabulous team. I take care of any sewing and she glues all of the rhinestones. The costume below was for Friday night for Lily Brooks and Little S to wear at the football game. It matches our school's colors and turned out beautifully. Best of all, Lily Brooks feels like a super star wearing them.
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| Duet Outfit for twirling with her friend Little S |
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| Aladdin themed dance twirl costume for competitions |
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I really want Lily Brooks to enjoy traveling to competitions and make new friends with some of the other girls. To make it a little easier for her to introduce herself to some of her competitors, I make little 'Good Luck' treats for her to hand out to the other girls. She loves handing them out, it is a great ice breaker, and each time she hands them out having practice introducing herself. For this competition I used fun sized Starburst packs and made a label with 'You're a Star! Good Luck! Love, Lily Brooks' for each pack. I used Avery return address labels and they are the perfect size for a fun-sized candy treat.
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| You're a Star! Good Luck Treat |
Two other treats I've used at previous competitions are a fun sized pack of M&Ms with "Be Mighty Magnificent" and a fun sized crunch bar with "It's CRUNCH time. You can do it!"
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| Be Mighty Magnificent! Good Luck Treat |
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| 'It's CRUNCH time - You CAN do it!' Good Luck Treat |
Lily Brooks and her friend, Little S, did fabulous Friday night and I was very proud. I will end with a sweet picture that my mom took of me Friday night watching Lily Brooks twirl. What is so neat is that my mom (aka 'Mama Jane') wasn't just watching Lily Brooks, she was also watching me. Thanks mom for being my Twirl Mom Elf and for teaching me how to be a good elf too!
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| Proud Twirl Mom |
I was proud to be your Twirl Mom Elf. I'm proud of you. Hope, you rock!
ReplyDeleteHi Hope,
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was the recipient of one of your daughter's good luck treats. I can not tell you what an impression your gesture had on my daughter and myself. Lily was extremely polite and well spoken in her delivery :). We even talked about it again on our ride to TN Sunday when we saw your exit.
When I mention to friends that we are trying out competitive twirling this year, they often respond with the mistaken impression that it's something akin to a TLC 'reality' drama. This was my daughter's first competition and thoughtful, kind people like yourself helped to make a long day even more enjoyable. Thank you for a personal testimony we can now share with others about the sportsmanship and comradery the girls experience through twirling.
Good luck to you and Lily Brooks the rest of this year. Maybe we'll meet up again one day.
Sincerely, Kelli Smith
Kelli - I cannot thank you enough for your kind words and am so touched that Lily Brooks's gesture made an impression. I am also relieved that she was polite! You never know sometimes! I hope that your daughter enjoyed the competition. I love that Lily Brooks is gaining confidence in her presentation and a little bravery by performing solo! I really hope we get too meet y'all again at another competition. We will most likely attend the competition in Jackson, MS in Nov. and other Twirltacular events.
DeleteGood luck to your daughter this season! Oh, and I have found that those good luck treats are a really easy icebreaker with the girls she is competing against. I'm happy that I've found competitions to be an encouraging atmosphere and not what most people think it is.
Hope
As a 9 year Twirl Mom, I salute you! Judging by the date, I'm assuming y'all went to Twirltacular. How fun! Our leader chose not to do that competition this year--just AAU and State. Wish we could've been there. We've enjoyed that one. :)
ReplyDeleteI came across the picture of the beautiful maroon & gold costume above & I think it is absolutely beautiful!!! I'd love to have one for my flag solo, so if you don't mind me asking, Where did you buy it???
ReplyDeleteBTW: I tried to post this before but it didn't work so if you see this twice that's why...