Busy cheer week

There was picture day, and another game that was moved to a different location than the original plan, and then it was delayed.  They wore their red uniforms this time.  I am more a blue fan myself, but the middle school cheerleaders wear hand me down uniforms that the high school has retired, and the red fits the girls better.

They are working on full extension on this stunt - so the base girls will hold the flyer above their heads, and they are doing well with it.  Julia likes the stunts, so this is a good thing.

The girls ended up on their home field, so that was nice. Oh, and they got their poms...it was unclear last week whether the girls would have them this season.  There weren't enough old ones, and they were worn out.

She's lovin' it!

Julia is loving middle school, making new friends, and can't wait for cheer practice and game days.

She cheered her first football game today.  The girls did great!  They were so pumped for the game, and much confusion surrounded the game.  We planned our entire day around a 1:30 game only to learn at 12:50 that it was postponed and relocated for 7:30.  We arrived at the field which happened to be at my alma mater thirty minutes prior to game time only to find that a lightning delay during an earlier game threw off the schedule so much that the game prior to ours had not even started.  

The girls got to cheer under the lights.  They cheered non-stop and fit some tumbling in too.  They have great stunts, and they only had two weeks to prepare.  Impressive!

Better yet, this is one sweet group of girls.  Julia loves them already.  Julia is a pretty amazing gymnast, so she did a tumbling pass with eight back handsprings (I am sure she will figure out soon enough that that is overkill).  The girls cheered for her, and Tiffany left the game following one of the girls and heard C say to her dad, "Did you see how good Julia did?  Wasn't that really good?" Tiffany said there was not a hint of jealousy, just sheer happiness for her friend.  I think we are in for one fun season.  I am so grateful to the friend who made it possible for Julia to experience all of this.  

The final piece to the uniforms arrived yesterday.  Wow!  You've never seen so much excitement over white tennis shoes.  They arrived neatly packaged in a handy shoe bag, and that just put the whole team over the top.  The insoles even say touch on one shoe and down on the other so they can get them on the right feet - as if that is an issue at this stage!  The moms were certainly chuckling over the enthusiasm over shoes at the game.

Julia's coach is new to the school and our town.  Mrs. T hails from down south, and I could tell that from her very first email.  She has lots of experience coaching cheerleading at all levels, and she happens to be Julia's math and science teacher.  She's super!  Mrs. T revealed to me that someone from the high school (I am guessing the high school cheer coach) saw Julia at practice and approached Mrs. T to inquire/ state that Julia would be cheering with the high school team this year.  Mrs. T quickly told her no and let her know it's not happening next year either.  I told her that is a-okay with me.  She can't move up until 8th grade anyway, but can you even imagine a 6th grader among girls discussing important high school topics such as homecoming plans and prom dates, not to mention the drama?  Um, no thanks.  What fun would that be for Julia to miss getting to know these sweet girls in closer to her own age?

It was a late night.  The girls could not wait to get out to that field and cheer, and they were really tired when it ended. We arrived home close to midnight.  I am sure Zach never played such a late game, but it was very cool for the girls to cheer their first game under the Saturday night lights.

School starts again...sigh

The kids returned to school today.

One of these three was sick this morning.  Another was in denial.  If you don't put your feet on the floor, can you pretend this day is. NOT. happening?  The other felt the uniform was too loose and needed a safety pin alteration.  

This is not the most flattering picture of Savannah, so here's another senior picture that I really like:

 She's a SENIOR!

Andy experienced morning carpool for the first time at this campus today. I experienced afternoon carpool and waited well beyond my expectation when I arrived at campus more than 25 minutes after school dismissed.  So much for missing carpool by going late!

The kids all had a good day.  They like their teachers for the most part.  Julia thought it was downright fun!  Wyatt was glad to have his homeboys in two classes in a row (his words). Savannah's still disappointed that she could not make a creative painting class fit into her schedule, but maybe we can squeeze something like that in at a local business. I am really bummed that her senior year includes no art classes, but she didn't really have any options.

It was the first day for my students too.  It went very smoothly other than the crazy high heels I wore that killed my feet.  I put on tennis shoes for Jazzercise, and they have not come off.  Oh how I dread putting my feet through that again tomorrow!  A teacher friend of mine posted that she will be in tennis shoes tomorrow.  I am not allowed to do that at my school:(

This is happening! She's a senior!

All photos courtesy of Derrick Dixon Photography


Remember that you can click any photo to see it larger.  My favorites are changing constantly, so there may be more to come.

We started with a beautiful and perfect setting.

This one may be my favorite because this is how I see Savannah with a natural and ready smile.

Savannah loves this one.

I love how the colors pop in these photos, and her outfits coordinated nicely with the settings.

This one was daring and fun.  We saw the cyclists coming, and Derrick just had Savannah step out in the street.  The bikers had fun with it, and Savannah loved it.  She could feel the wind created by the crowd.

Savannah rarely spends her money as she is diligently saving for a car, but she's a shoe girl so she will occasionally splurge on shoes.  She bought those wedges just a couple of weeks before her pictures and likes the shots that show them off.

These photos were Savannah's favorite part of the session.  This is an actual working bridge, so she and Derrick ran out to the middle and took quick photos when traffic was clear.

I tried to figure out how to put this one on a canvas and then chucked the idea and did a collage instead, but I may have to revisit this one.  This is Savannah's favorite outfit.  There's just only so much wall space in this house.

We stopped by the studio, and I really thought I would like the yellow against the black background, but I actually like the black.

This shows off Savannah's fun-loving side.  She's always smiling.  It's candid.  I love it!

The only downer- is it just me, or does she really look grown up in this one?  I blinked.  Seriously, she was two yesterday.  I know you are reading this, Tessa.  Hang onto Kinsley.  She'll be seventeen herself tomorrow.