Cheer Drama!

Petite Fille loves to cheer. She cheers in the car, while I am out and about shopping, while I am trying to for just once make to the end of a movie, while I am cooking, while bathing, pretty much everywhere! This year instead of dance we put her in a cheer establishment. So that she can learn how to properly do cheer moves, and so that she doesn’t break a bone trying to do something she has seen on any of too many "Bring it on" movies.

So we have cheer in the establishment and we have cheer for the city league. Cheer in the establishment runs pretty smooth, however cheer for city league...not so much! I am amazed at the cheer drama that takes place for this rinky dink city league. It starts at registration and runs all the way to closing ceremonies.

Registration Drama....no advertisement you have to stalk them to find out when registration is cause you will miss it if you blink! Kinda like our city.

Uniform Drama....Oh the uniform drama we have had! Sit back cause this may take awhile... We will start with last year... they were horrible, the colors bled onto each other before they even delivered them to us, and they were ugly to boot! Well every team but that one team's was ugly, you know how it goes. So another parent wrote an email to the league cheer president and copied me on the email so that I could write and express my same concerns. Well that league president had the nerve to respond to me that she has not had any other complaints! So I replied with the other parents email attached and advised that was how I got her email. So she proceeds after getting called out to post on her facebook her frustrations not knowing that I had a friend.... who was friends with her... who then showed me the post! Drama, Right! Well that was last year you say sooo let's fast forward to this year. I will say that same said cheer league president has been doing much better this year. The uniforms are beautiful this year. An hour before it was time to pick up this year’s uniform I get a call advising that Petite Fille's skirt did not come in, that it was not their fault, and that they have no idea when the skirt will come in. That and the recommendation that she should just wear the ugly skirt from last year until her's comes in. So the 1st game passes with the ugliest mis-matched uniform...still no skirt....2nd game comes....I just have her wear the complete uniform from last year in hopes of it looking better overall. Still no skirt. Then the skirt comes in....well a skirt comes in....it is similar (as in the right color) but still not the correct skirt. Fast forward to the 3rd game and finally the right skirt has arrived! She can now match the rest of the team! If only uniform drama ended there....it doesn’t. There was drama with the hair bows....tonight is the 4th game, still no hair bows, drama with the socks, pom-poms...yup they were delayed too, Cheer Drama!

Practice Drama- 6 of the 7 girls all go to the same school. 1 of the 3 coaches is a teacher at that school, the other coach taught at that school last year. So I will never understand why these coaches...after not showing up to practice on Tuesday...decide to start competition practice on Thursday the same day as Open house that the above mentioned school. And to boot, let us know on Wednesday night by text sent at 10:21 pm! Cheer Drama!

Game Drama- I assume that the whole reason for 3 coaches is because collectively the three of them cannot be on time for anything! At the game last Saturday the head coach showed up for the last 15 minutes of the game. The other two had no idea what to have the girls do in there absence. Then pulled the girls aside after the game to advise him that they were not in there "cheer ready" positions as often as they should have been. Cheer Drama!

Cheer Drama....So not worth it! The things we do for our kidos! ♥ Bless their hearts they will never know ♥ Cause us momma's make it seem seamless.

Summer Time Ya'll

It’s summer time ya’ll and school starts back August 3rd in my neck of the woods. That’s less than a month! Oh how the time fly’s by. We have had a busy summer. Come to think of it we have a busy life. So I am going to give you a break down of my summer so far in a little more detailed.

We lost a family member…my grandmother on May 13th and then welcomed a new family member baby Luke on June 10th.

Petite Fille’s last day of school was May 20th. She was so excited, I can remember those days. Well she was sick so her last day was actually the 19th. We had our 1st summer birthday party on the 21st. Followed by Baby Disco on the 22nd.

Baby Disco was in New Orleans at the Lowe Hotel and was sponsored by Macaroni Kid (http://national.macaronikid.com/) We bought tickets and they have a DJ come in and play music and get all the kids moving and dancing. They also had different games they played with music… which included the parents as well. I’m just not a big public dancer; we did however win the overall dance competition. How I don’t know, but Petite Fille won a new Wii game and she was on cloud 9. They had other activities as well face painting, sock puppets, masks, temporary tattoos, etc. They also had finger foods that were kid friendly.

On May 29th hubby and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! Wow how time has flown by. We celebrated by going out to dinner just the two of us! This rarely happens and was a special treat. It was so nice to just be the two of us and to just be in the moment. I ♥ that man.

On June 4th Petite Fille had her 3rd dance recital. She started when she was 3 years old and each year I am amazed at how much farther she has come. They have 2 performances on the same day. This year I decided to volunteer to be a back stage mom for the 2nd show. The time flew by during that 2nd show. The girls kept us busy they whole time! I am not sure if she will be in dance again next year. We are thinking of moving into more of a gym/cheer type of program.

On June 11th went left for our second camping trip of the year. This time we went to Santa Rosa Island Florida and camped at the Fort Pickens. We went with our friends the Tanner’s again. Went spent most of our time playing at the beach, but also found time to visit the Fort. The last time that I camped at Fort Pickens was before I met my husband and was of course before Petite Fille was even born. On this camping trip hubby joined us almost at the last minute. He was unable to go on our last camping trip because he had to work. I had literally left the house on my way to meet the Tanners and decided that hubby should join us. I called him and said you are coming and you are going to miss a day of work! So I swung my car around and went and picked him up. It was so nice to have him there to be able to spend family time with us. It was so worth the day’s pay that he lost.

Petite Fille was scheduled to be on vacation with my mother in law from June 16th to the 26th. MIL was taking her to Arkansas and then to Texas to visit various family members. As her mom, I knew that Petite Fille would never make it! I wanted her to make it…the selfish part of me wanted to be able to do all those things that always take longer when she is with me….house cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning out my car, going to visit my sister and her new baby, sleep in late, cleaning out her play room, and so on. But I knew that she would never make it that long. See Petite Fille has not made it a full night sleeping over at anyone’s house since she was a baby…and I don’t think that she even remembers that. In fact just days before she left she wanted so bad to stay at her other grandma’s, she made me call her and packed her own clothes. But low and behold at 2:30 in the morning my mom called and said that she was bringing her back home. So here is what happened they left on the 16th and she was back home by the 19th.

On June 24th she went to summer birthday party #2. She missed a pool party on the 18th, and another birthday party on the 25th.

On June 30th Petite Fille turned 6 years old! I think she thinks she turned 16 though. We send cupcakes to camp with her. When I called the camp to see how many kids were in her class you should have seen my face when she replied 75! We took her to the circus the night of her birthday. I also took her to have feather extensions put in her hair. I haven’t had her birthday party yet because she could never decide exactly where she wanted it. So she finally said she wanted to wait until after school started so she could invite her school friends.

We spent the 4th of July relaxing at my mother’s house. My brother cooked some yummy red beans and rice and my mom made cornbread casserole. We had a movie marathon day and sat around watching movies. It was a great day!

So that pretty much has been my summer in a nut shell! This weekend I plan on taking Petite Fille to the splash pad or the lake, or both.

So Petite Fille came home from camp yesterday and said...."Mom I got to see a play of Cinderella today" so I said..."Did you like it?" She said "Yeah, but I think u are Cinderella" So I go "Why?" She said "Because u have to do all the chores"

Throw Me Somthing Mister!!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez… Let the Good Times Roll! Happy Mardi Gras ya’ll! Mardi Gras is one of my absolute favorite times of the year! What is there not to love about Mardi Gras?♥?♥? Ok so traffic can be a problem….but the Mardi Gras balls, the floats, the throws, the music, the old men who will gladly give you a paper flower for a kiss…wait scratch that…more than make it worth the effort! School is always closed for Mardi Gras which falls every year on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. This year it was touch and go with the rain. One thing about Mardi Gras is that Mardi Gras will and does happen weather it is raining or not. Petite Fille’s school had a Mardi Gras parade on the Friday before they got out for Mardi Gras Holiday.

All the Kindergartners are pulled in wagons (which they decorate) by their parents, they throw to the 1st thru 3rd graders. Petite Fille loved it and even invited a little boy that she went to preschool with to ride with her in her wagon. It rained ten minutes after the parade was over. I thought for sure we would get drenched, seeing how I walked the wagon to the school from our house which is very close to her school.

Mardi Gras balls start around December and end after Mardi Gras. The house I grew up on was about 2 miles from the Biloxi parade route. We would always park one of my mom’s cars on the parade route a few days before the parade. Biloxi had at that time three parades…morning, noon, and night. Since Hurricane Katrina they now only have 2 parades that run back to back consecutively. We would get up early and walk to the parade route, find our car, and have a blast just visiting with our parade neighbors, friends and family. In-between parades I could be found walking the parade route with friends stopping along the way to visit anyone we recognized. Then we would rush back to my mom’s parked car just in time for the parade to start. We would return home after the night parade exhausted and hoarse from yelling “throw me something mister.”

Now days, my friends and I each take a different holiday to celebrate. Mardi Gras was my holiday up until last year, when we all decided to start our own Mardi Gras Krewe and ride in the parade. The house we live in is even closer to the parade route than my childhood home. We are literally one block from the St. Martin/D’Iberville parade route. Hubby goes and gets my mom’s truck and parks it down the road. Family, co-workers, friends, and friends-of-friends, all gather at our house the Sunday before Mardi Gras day (cause this is the day the St. Martin/D’Iberville parade runs.) The little kids all play, and the grown kids enjoy crawfish! Then when it was time for the parade to start we all walk down the street to mom’s truck and enjoy the parade.

A group of my friends decided that we would start our own Mardi Gras Krewe and Mardi Gras 2009 was the last year that I had my Mardi Gras party. We formed the Krewe de Chapeaux (Krewe of Hats) came up with a board, made it all legal, had some fund raisers, started to build a float…ditched that idea…then decided to buy a float, and did a little community service. When Mardi Gras 2010 came around we were ready to ride. We had our Krewe, our float, our throws, our drinks, and our boys with their air cannons.

I was president of the Krewe for 2010 so while I had a good time, I was also worried about the Krewe and their safety. We rode in 4 parades in 2010, Orange Grove, Ocean Springs, St. Martin/D’Iberville, and St. Patricks Day. For Mardi Gras 2011 I was a float rider…as in non-member…I had a much better time! One of my best friends Leia picked me up bright and early (7:30 to be exact) Sunday morning, we loaded up her huge assortment of Mardi Gras throws…which she graciously shared with me…and headed to the float. We started drinking and putting up our throws on the walls of the float then headed to line up. We were float 51, once we were parked in our spot we danced on the float, had some jello shots, danced some more, had some “well water,” then… just as we did when we were kids…we walked around to the other floats and visited with friends and family who were also riding in the parade and were at parade line up area. This parade is..in my opinion…in the top 3 (with Pass Parade and Biloxi) for the largest parades in our area. The parade started at 1:30 so by 2:00 we were loaded back on the float and on our way. My favorite spot on the route is where my hubby, Petite Fille, and the rest of my family are parked. We unload all kinds of beads, stuffed animals, toys, cups, jello shots, and trinkets; I was in Mardi Gras worry free bliss. That was until I got home and realized through my alcohol induced haze that there was a fire truck and an ambulance at my house!

Now, I don’t have the same party that I threw when I wasn’t riding the float, but I still open my home to friends and family to chill before the parade, have a place to park, and a clean bathroom to do their business. I do however do not expect to pull up and find an ambulance and a fire truck. The 1st thing I thought was…Oh there go the neighbors again…they tend to get a little rowdy on holidays. That was until I saw them wheeling someone out of my back yard on a stretcher. I thought I was going to need a stretcher myself. Come to find out it was one of my neighbors who had wondered into our territory. Butthead couldn’t fall out in his own yard. He’s ok, just had too much to drink.

Now that the Mardi Gras Season is past us we are looking forward to spring break and our camping trip (March 26,) or Bear Hunt as Petite Fille calls it. I am looking forward to a whole week of vacation!

I'm just here for the cake!‏

In my neck of the woods we have seasons, but not the normal....summer, fall, winter, spring seasons... we have the summer camp, school, cheer, dance/recital, birthdsy, etc. type of seasons. These seasons are the flow of our family life throughout the year and can sometimes overlap. And when they do you can usually find me running from place to place like a chicken with it's head cut off! We are currently in the birthday, dance, and school seasons! We have three family birthdays this month, one of which was my husbands, and several children’s birthdays. So this month I can be found at various skating rinks, Chuck E Cheeses, and inflatable bounce houses!

Vannah and Me at Birthday #1 Monkey Joes!

As adults my husband and I usually go out to eat for our birthdays as a family, but don’t really do the “party” thing. This is just natural for us; however this was such a foreign idea to poor Petite Fille. Being all of 5 years old she came home from school Friday telling me all the people she wanted to come to her daddy’s birthday which was on Sunday February 13. She was so excited and having to burst her birthday bubble did not go over well, but in the end we settled for agreeing to make him a cake. Well when special daddy birthday day came, with it also came a major house catastrophe! I will spare you the details. There is nothing better than being woken up by hubby….while still sick with the flu….bright and early to face hours of fixing this house catastrophe! Well I guess it could have been worse, it could have been my birthday! I felt so bad that he was spending his birthday doing this! We literally would have been there much longer, but lucky for him he is married to a woman who doesn’t mind asking for help in the form of reinforcements! With the house catastrophe behind us, Petite Fille and I set off to buy my hubby a birthday cake, cause there was no way I was cooking after all that! She picked him out a nice white cake with sprinkles all over it! We put 4 candles on it (he was turning 34) and sung him happy birthday. Petite Fille (and hubby) were both happy, especially Petite Fille who now thinks she is one year older than her daddy!

Birthday #2 Chuck E Cheese

We had three birthday parties this weekend. One at Monkey Joes, and one at Chuck E Cheese. Oh what parental fun! Thank the lord they were not on the same day and an hour apart! Friday (February 18) was the Monkey Joes party for Landon, and Saturday (February 19) was Gabby’s birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Both were a sure win for the lottery of wearing Petite Fille out. I am a fan anything that keeps her moving, I think that too many kids are cooped up in the house too often. Monkey Joes has inflatables (like Kangarooz) but they have a parent spot, that Kangarooz doesn’t. I prefer Mokey Joes because of the parent spot, I think they have the right idea in regards to this, and what makes their parent spot ok with me is that there staff are really involved with playing and assisting the kids. Which helps me break the inflatable danger umbilical cord. The third party was a double party for both my mom (54) and brother (30.) We just had some cake and ice cream at my mom's house on Sunday (February 20.)

I am always on the search to find cost efficient, age appropriate, gift that the recipient will like. I have found a good way to do this at the dollar spot for Target. I have two different birthday budgets, family/close friends, and others….you know, those children that are in your child’s class, but you have no idea who they are. If it is a girl’s party then at the dollar spot they usually have Hello Kitty bags (not gift bags) that you can fill with other Hello Kitty stuff from the same dollar spot. They have socks, stickers, dry erase boards, lip gloss, stamps, pens, note pads, etc… all in the same theme. Sometimes it is Disney Princess or Strawberry Shortcake, but they run out quick so when I see that they have enough to make a “birthday bag” I usually by a few “sets”. I also supplement from the Dollar Tree or other Dollar Items. I purchase the amount that I want to spend (including bag) and have Petite Fille make a card at home (which also helps her practice writing.) This keeps me from overspending, but the recipient also gets a great present with lots of goodies and a special card made by my little darling.

I am a big bag person in general; I love anything that makes my crazy life easier. We seem to always be on the go go go, so bags, to me, make life easier. I have a going to grandma’s bag, dance bag, cheer bag, lunch bag, work bag, car bag, Petite Fille’s book bag, and those are just to name a few. The key it to always have them packed and ready to go, no dirty clothes, summer clothes when its winter, or expired snacks allowed! Another tip is to always have cash in the bags! I doesn’t have to be a lot, a couple of dollars in the cheer bag for concession stands at the football field, or quarters for the vending machine that gets mobbed after dance class, etc. I also have a small first aid kit from the dollar store in each bag, which has come in handy for more kids than just Petite Fille! At night before going to bed… when I am getting everything ready for the next day and packing lunches… is when I check the bags. I have a bar of hooks by my front door and this is the resting place for a few of the bags. When Petite Fille decides she wants to stay the night at grandma’s it saves me from having to stop and pack a bag, and I have assurance that she will have everything she needs. If I am going on a car trip (like the zoo in New Orleans) then I just have to grab the car bag which is filled with snacks, headphones, DS (and car charger,) colors and coloring books, DVD’s, something to drink, there is plenty to keep her busy. Because she doesn’t play with the items in the bags on a daily basis I find that the contents are more appealing. Someone asked me once why I don’t just keep this stuff in the car, and the answer is simply, we do not always take my car, we take my mom’s car, my sisters, sometimes mine but we usually decide right before jumping in the car.

Vannah girl putting on her make up!

If I had to describe myself in a 3 words I would say I’m organized, detail oriented, and dedicated to my family. I am defiantly not a put off till tomorrow kind of person. I try very hard to get as much done each day, and try hard to make tomorrow easier than today. I am hard on myself and push myself to improve each day…..but enough about me….I will however from time to time try to post about some ways I stay organized, tips that make my life easier so hopefully they can make other lives easier. I don’t believe all families are the same… so what works for us honey… may not work for you; maybe you could add to or change it up to work for your family! Heck I could be doing all wrong, so feel free to share your tips as well!

Round 2...

It has been a busy weekend in my neck of the woods. I have been under the weather, and you know what that means....absolutely nothing! The show must go on, therefore I do not have time to be sick. Mama's don't get days off....

I got up bright and early and got all my house cleaning done. Next, I went to a birthday party for my friend Kim's son Andrew. Kim had 3, no... not 1 or 2, but 3 jumpy things! Now that's what I'm talking about! I took one look at that backyard and thought...YES, my Petite Fille bug will be asleep before I even get out of the neighborhood! She was plumb tuckered out! Thanks Kim☺

Afterwards, I came home and my good fried Leia come over so we could book our camping trip to Jellystone. Petite Fille, Bless her little heart, keeps referring to this trip as "The Bear Hunt." I don't know about her, but I better not even see a Bear and I sure wont be hunting any! If everything happens for a reason, then it was not meant for us to book our camping trip last night. No matter what we did we could not get it to booked! Ya know what they say..If at 1st you don't succeed....try, try again! And wePetite Fille was born, which means this will be her 1st camping trip, and as a family our 1st Terrell Family camping trip! I have heard great thing about Jellystone parks, so I am including a link below for anyone who may be interested!

http://www.campjellystone.com/

Ya'll, I have found this chap stick (I call it my crack-stick) that is out of this world. Now, I used to sit across from this guy that had a chap stick phase, and he would just slather the stuff on and I thought...no way would I ever be that addicted to a product like that! Wrong...I totally love the Sugar Plum Tinted Lip Treatment. It is on my fav list! Thanks Heather ♥ for introducing me to this product while on our girls trip to Vegas!

Last weekend I brought Petite Fille to the Aududon Zoo in New Orleans, below if my favorite picture from that trip!

Run Petite Fille!!! The Gators are coming!

Ready or Not Here I Come….

Well here I go new to the blogging world. So hang on to your seats honey, and enjoy the ride cause it may get a little bumpy… but eventually it will get better cause southern women learn from our mistakes!

I chose the name Southern Belle and Petite Fille because I live in the South, Mississippi which is as far south as you can go before running into the Gulf of Mexico. “Petite Fille” means “Little Girl” in Cajun French was chosen for my little darling. She is the thing in my life that I am most proud of. I could… and probably will…go on forever about her! Petite Fille is my only child, and keeps me running in circles! People ask me all the time “When are ya’ll going to have another baby.” I don’t know the answer to that question. Petite Fille is good enough for me. I always thought growing up that I would have more children. I guess time will tell, but for right now I am perfectly content.

My husband and I have been married for 6 years! He is very precious to me, and I thank the lord that we found each other! There is no one I would rather grow old with! I am so proud that after 6 years of marriage we still kiss each other when we get home from work and before we leave to go anywhere. I love that even when I am in a hurry he will come to the car or chase me down in the driveway! We grow and learn so much from each other every sing day and I am grateful for him.

Petite Fille is 5, and loves to dress up (think Fancy Nancy meets Eloise) but can get rough and tough with her cousins, who are all boys. She loves, loves, loves to sing and makes up the crazies songs, she loves to dance, play Barbie’s, and since she is an only child she loves it when friends come over to play! I love teaching her family traditions, and starting what will hopefully become new family traditions.

Petite Fille just started Kindergarten this year at St. Martin North Elementary. We love SMNE! The teachers there are all fabulous! When I got her school handbook one of the 1st things I checked was to see if she could wear her heels. She has these black heels that, bless her heart, she wore EVERYWHERE, even though they were a size too big! I went back and bought the next size up. She would literally wear them to sleep in if I would let her! Below is a picture of her old heels and the new pair the next size up! I have defiantly gotten my monies worth!

Right now it is soooo cold outside! Every time it is this cold the snow psychics come out of the woodworks! I love the weather here, minus the humidity! I can only recall it snowing (if you can call it that) twice in my 31 years! But right now honey, I would take the humidity and smile… sweat glistening on my face and all! Back to the snow….it snowed in 1996, I only know this because of a picture I have with my little sis Hope. We are in the yard of the house I grew up on (Pearl St.) and there is a light dust on the ground. Mind you, snow around here either melts when it hits the ground, or so little accumulates that you can’t do anything with it! It is always accompanied by slush and rain. In 1996 it looked like a mud pie with a whole bag of mama’s sugah on it! J We were able to have a snow ball fight (nothing like slinging mud.) The last time it snowed was actually last year, I know… global warming, yeah right! By the time I had enough layers on Petite Fille it stopped. Then before I could peel the layers of clothes back off her it had started snowing again! I guess it is like some towns around here….if ya blink you will miss em! She ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, tongue out and all (Ewww, you know you’ve done it though.) She really had a blast and I got in some much needed exercise running after her with the camera.