The Weekend Report & a Cheerleader Gift Tag

This past weekend, my parents and sister wonderfully offered to keep the children so that Honey & I could go to the Ole Miss football game and have a little less than 48 hours sans kids.  Wahoo!

It all started out wonderfully, except of course for the horrible asthma attack that hit me.  (In hindsight, I think the asthma attack was a foreshadow of things to come).  We met my parents at the driving half-way point after C-man's acting class performance Friday evening.  (He did great and learned so much in his first semester of classes!  He has much more to learn, but we were very proud that his confidence has increased.)

After dropping the kids off, we headed straight to the late movie to see 'Catching Fire' from the Hunger Games Triology.  FABULOUS movie.  Honey & I both enjoyed it and I highly recommend it.

Saturday morning Mama Jane sent me these pictures of the girls having a tea party while C-man was with his cousin at a college football game.  Isn't she an awesome grandmother!!

Tea Party Spread

Tea Party at Mama Jane's House

Poor Honey started to feel awful Saturday morning and realized he was passing a kidney stone.  :(  No football game and fingers crossed that he wouldn't have to go to the ER.  Sadly, about 8:30 Saturday night we had to take a trip to the ER.  Thankfully he was able to pass the terrible kidney stone, but we were there until midnight. 

It was a still a wonderful weekend of just leaving the house we got the notion - such a novel concept.  There were no shoes to find, no snacks to make, and no complaints.  We had needed a day of just us.  Of course we were so happy to see them, but immediately after they got into the car three voices asked for snacks, water, and a bathroom stop all at once.  Honey turned to me and asked, "Hope, please tell me.  Why did we pick them up again?"

We decided Sunday night would be a movie night and here is the precious sight I found after preparing dinner.  The girls were snuggled together watching the movie.  Ok, maybe they were just sharing popcorn, but it was still a sweet sight.  

Sweet sisters

While my sweeties watched a movie, it was time to turn my attention to the cheerleader gift bags that I was responsible for preparing for the cheer banquet Monday night.  (The bags had been neglected during Honey's illness.)  Each bag needed the cheerleader's name on the tag because the gift was a t-shirt and there were 4 different sizes of shirts.  I prepared this tag and thought it turned out cute.  You can download the cheerleader gift tag FREE HERE on Scribd.  You can also personalize them!

I hope y'all are having a fabulous Thanksgiving week!

Hope

Confessions of a Twirl Mom & a 'Good Luck' Gift

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.

The Rain Stopped Just in time for home Halloween Fun!

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.

Duet Outfit for twirling with her friend Little S

Aladdin themed dance twirl costume for competitions

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.

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!"

Be Mighty Magnificent! Good Luck Treat

'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!

Proud Twirl Mom