the paquettes

Yesterday was Rilyn’s Central Texas Pop Warner Cheer Championship!  This was a way bigger deal than I imagined!  Their team got to perform where the Austin rodeo is and took center stage as thousands of people watched!  There were about 12 cities represented there from around central Texas.  Since Rilyn is in the youngest division, she only ‘performs’ and is not competing for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.  They do get judged though, and out of the 5 judges, most of them gave them 7’s or 8’s (out of 10’s) on their overall performance!  We watched about 38 performances yesterday and it was a lot of fun to watch!  I brought the wrong lens and the lighting in there was horrible, so excuse my bad pictures! I put Rilyn’s name above where she is standing.

The Manor Falcon Tiny Mite team marching in to perform!

Ready!  (Yes, there were CRAZIES there like this lady in front who wore a pom pom  on her head.  Her husband painted his whole bald head yellow and purple!)

This was their ‘lift’ they did in the routine.  Rilyn had to hold the girl’s back to make sure  she didn’t fall!

I dropped off Rilyn at 7:45 in the morning and I picked her up at 5:00 p.m.! When I saw her she was crying because the Manor Falcon Jr. PeeWee team got 4th place and therefore couldn’t go on to San Antonio. So sweet being empathetic. (Our Pee Wee team got first place, so they are going to San Antonio, and if they win that-Disney World!)  So that is why she isn’t looking thrilled in this picture. She is holding up a necklace charm that says “Love 2 Cheer” that each girl got at the end of the competition.

I’ve been told Rilyn is a mini-me.  She doesn’t look like me, but thinks and acts like me in many ways.  One glaring example that I’ve noticed lately is how she is obsessed with scheduling/calendars.  Innocently, I put a calendar in the girls room to show them important events that are coming up and incorporate math skills.  I ‘X’ off every day to show them how many days til a holiday, etc.  I will ‘X’ the calendar day off without fail.  I have actually gotten out of bed because I’ll remember that I forgot to ‘X’ out the day, all the while telling myself how stupid it is, but I just need to do it.  Crazy, yes.

my calendar that I keep up ‘for the girls’ 😉

Now, I see all these calendars and schedules popping up in Rilyn’s room that she has created where she, too, is ‘Xing’ out the dates or keeping a schedule. Here are a few examples I’ve found hanging up in her room.  She doesn’t even tell me she does this people.  Seriously, this girl is hardcore type ‘A’ personality!

this looks like another October calendar

this looks like a schedule of what her days should look like.

she got her hands on a free calendar from a realtor, even  though I told her one calendar in her room was enough.

This is her ‘specials calendar’ from school in which she insists on ‘xing’ out the days here too.

Also, Rilyn has figured out a way to manipulate her little sister! She has created a ‘sticker chart’ for Ella. If Ella does something nice for Rilyn, Rilyn gives her a sticker and when Ella fills it up, (gets to the butterfly), I guess she gets a prize of some kind. Ella loves this, and I’m wondering how long it will take before she understands that she is being ‘played’ by her big sister. Rilyn will say things like, “Ella, can you run in our room and get me that pencil? I’ll give you a sticker on your chart!”  Me, being the oldest sibling in my family too, thinks this is pretty genius of Rilyn and allow it to carry on.  😉

Notice how long her chart is?  It goes in a swirl and looks like Ella has to get 50  stickers before she gets to the butterfly!