8th grade cheer competition

So I finally have a reason to post another blog. I started this blog about a year ago as a way to share with friends and family all the wonderful and crazy things that my "bugs" were up to. So much for that idea. :-) Since its conception i've posted a whopping 4 blogs!! Woo hoo! And that's not to say that we had some wonderful and/or crazy moments either. So for those of you who actually care and wish I would keep you up to date more, I am sorry.

But now, on to the reason why I finally decided to sit down and create this post!

Isabelle just had her 8th grade cheer competition. Again, just like in 7th grade, it was the one and only for the year. But unlike last year . . . NO PERM RODS in the hair! (Thank you Jesus!) Not that there still wasn't the brushing and pulling and spraying. Heck, you could get high off the hairspray fumes radiating from the house where the girls all got together to do their hair this year. And I think it took a solid two or three shampooings before that smell came out of Isabelle's hair.

Anyway, enough about hair. This year the girls took FIRST PLACE!! It was incredible! They had been practicing for months, including Saturdays. And then, the week prior to the competition Isabelle had to be at practice at 6 in the morning before school. As well as practice again after school, some nights as late as 8:00! It was miserable. I felt so bad for her. Especially considering I honostly believed it was too little too late. I had, had an opportunity to watch them perform about a week prior to competition when I went to pick her up from practice. It was NOT good. And I wasn't the only parent who thought so. There was lots of "chatter" among the moms that were there watching. (Dang cheer moms, notorious gossipers.) :-) The consensus though was that there was no way the girls were gonna place this year.

So competition day came and I showed up just hoping that Isabelle would at least have fun. (Well, that and not get hurt.) As I sat in the stands watching the other teams give incredible performances my heart began to sink. If there performance looked anything like it did the week before . . . UGH! Finally our girls took to the mats and for lack of a better term, they BROUGHT IT!! It was amazing! I was so proud of them. Those long hours of practice actually paid off. (A fun side note about their victory; the only team to beat them last year is the team that got second place this year. And apparently this was the first year that team didn't win! They were NOT happy. Heehee.) :-)

This year Isabelle also competed in an individual stunt group. Something Heritage hadn't done before. I was so nervous for her. She was originally only a base but 4 days prior to the competition one of the girls from the group got suspended so they had to bring in someone else to replace her and now Isabelle had to base as well as fly. The routine had to be completely reworked. And even though she was so excited to finally have the opportunity to fly she was incredibly nervous because practices hadn't gone well. I had yet to see this routinue so I had no idea what to expect. I just knew that my baby was nervous. My baby, who thrives under the pressure and loves to get out there and perform. But again . . . they brought it! Their stunt team got 2nd out of around 15 squads. Some schools even had 3 different teams. They were incredible!!

So now, i'll stop telling you how great it was and let you see for yourself , ENJOY!!

Love Bugs cheer competition!

Today Isabelle had her one and only cheer competition. But trust me, it was a VERY big deal. The squad has been practicing since November. And these past two months they added extra practices both before school and on Saturdays. It was insane. Then last night they had their banquet which was followed by 2 hours of "hair fixing." The squad and a few moms (me included) all went to one girls house where we pulled and brushed and sprayed and geled and curled and geled some more. The girls then all went home to sleep with high, tight pony tails that had been rolled in perm rods. Poor Isabelle, her hair definately took the most curlers. I don't know how she slept, but she did.
All their hard work paid off though. The girls did an amazing job. . . and their hair looked fabulous too! And as I sat in the stands watching my little love bug perform I started to tear up. I couldn't have been prouder. Heritage (Isabelle's school) took second place, and they were so excited. So Isaac put together a video of her performance. We unfortunately had to shoot through a glass pane but it's still pretty good. Go HMS!!!!!