Cheer Banquet 2018

Hi y'all!

I'm a bit behind due to spring break and other stuff . . .

but didn't want to forget the

end of the year Cheer Banquet!

Yes, it's true, cheer is over for the 2017-2018 school year!

Missing sweet JV cheerleader Christine who was ill

The banquet is a fun evening and dinner for the girls

and parents and it's not a potluck!!

It's catered and seriously YUMMY!

Plus, I didn't have to cook a single thing!

We watched a video of the entire cheer year and the 

graduating seniors all spoke on their future plans.

The first thing that each senior said was,

 "Thank you to my Mom and Dad for supporting me in cheer, 

sending me to Pius and paying for all the cheer uniforms and activities."

The banquet was held on the night of some of NCAA final 16 bball games.

There may or may not have been a few dads watching games

on their cell phones!  Mr. Tennis didn't watch, but he did manage

to check in with one of the other dads who was watching! :)

And the girls got to dress up a bit.

I worried for weeks about what I would wear -- silly  me  --

no one is really looking at me anyway!

But somehow, you'll be happy to know, I managed to get my 

hair looking good!  I think by now you all know how focused 

I can be on my hair!

Anyway, it was loads of fun!

The girls are adorable!

Maddie won the JV Squad Spirit Award!!!

The Spirit Award is voted on by her fellow JV squad members and 

represents the cheerleader with a great attitude and spirit 

 throughout the season!

She was so surprised and pleased.

JV cheer squad has been incredibly busy and demanding.

We are all enjoying a break from the twice weekly

6 AM practices and multiple games three times a week!

It's been an adventure and

she's made some life-long friends and memories!

GO BOLTS!!!

A Cheer Report

My apologies - I have been derelict in my duties!

I have not been updating/overwhelming you all

with photos of my JV cheerleader!

BAAAAD Cheer Mom!

It's time to remedy that and post a bit about JV cheer!

This year is way busier than last and I thought last year was hectic!

The JV squad cheers at JV and Reserve games

 (football, volleyball, etc., whatever sport is going on)

and some Varsity games too! 

The JV squad also makes posters "GO TEAM WIN,"

hosts fundraisers and has a 6 AM practice weekly.

I kind of hate that 6 AM practice!

Aren't they so adorable!

Volleyball is my and Maddy's favorite sport!

It's so much fun to watch the girls (both the volleyball and the cheerleaders) -

 they are all so awesome.

And volleyball only takes about an hour -- very important

when there is homework to be done, and . . . 

there is always homework.

The JV squad is really the cutest and best of all 3 squads.

I am not kidding and am not in the least bit biased!

These girls and their adorable smiles and ponytails

get me every time I see them together! 

GOOOO BOLTS!

Cheer News!

Yay !

My freshie cheerleader made the JV squad!

We had such a busy week last week with cheer practices, tryouts 

plus homework plus tests!

Seriously -- she had practices and tryouts - couldn't we 

suspend homework

and tests for one week??? :)

Tryouts were last Friday and Maddy and I had tickets to the 

Midtown Men concert after tryouts!

If you have the chance - go see them - especially if you are

fans of the oldies!  They were in Jersey Boys on Broadway

and are fabulous!  She even enjoyed the performance.

Instead of home, we headed to Pius to see who

made the team as the list was to be posted on the door at 10 PM!

Kind of a scary way to find out!

But some of the other JV contenders were also there. 

Happy to report, all these girls made JV!

Congrats girls!

Yes, it was a little chilly out at 10 PM that night!

On Sunday, it was time for the cheer potluck dinner to

meet all the squads, new girls and families.

It was so much fun!

JV Squad 2017-18!

Uniform ordering is tonight (take the checkbook!!!)

and practices start up in May.

Looks like another fun year with cheer!

High School!

Oh gosh, Maddy's in her second week of high school

and I haven't even talked about her first day or first week yet!

So, sit back, get your coffee and here goes!

The freshman!!!

Oh my word -- they are just adorable.

School started an hour late on the first day - that was nice!

But, Maddy and I had to be there early to sell planners for

a cheer fundraiser.  Great little planners -- I even bought myself one!

It was so fun to see the students all coming in for the first day

 in their uniforms and Birks (Birkenstocks seem to be the

shoes for high school -- with socks, of course) and 

giving friends big hugs and high fives!  

Even though there is only 5 minutes between classes, Maddy was on time 

to her classes and did not get lost!  

One of her friends went into two wrong classes and 

then was late to her real classes plus the poor girl couldn't get her locker open!

We went in a day early and walked her schedule so I'm sure that helped.

Maddy was so happy to see familiar faces from her grade school

and friends from the cheer squads -- just seeing friendly faces

helped with the nervousness that comes with a new experience.

Every day improved a bit!  

The best thing about uniforms is 

the only clothing decision to be made is what color polo and

 what color shorts to wear!

Easy peasy -- love that!

Cheer practices continue and the big Fall Kickoff occurred last Friday!

Sadly, stormy weather meant it had to be at the inside gym instead of the

football field, so the big performance the cheerleaders had

planned and worked on ALL summer was cut back to a

short performance.  Homecoming is coming up fast

and fingers crossed that the big performance will be then.

Now, if only her backpack wasn't quite so full or heavy 

[not enough time to get to her locker between classes],

everything would be near-perfect.

Welcome to high school!

Did You say Scotcheroo?

Have you ever made Scotcheroos??
I'm calling them Yumaroos!

I hope that whoever thought up the recipe for these little

bars of incredible chocolate yumminess won a great prize!

Oh my word!  Delicious doesn't even begin to

describe Scotcheroos!

Peanut butter + chocolate + butterscotch + Rice Krispies = Heaven!

We've only just been introduced to the tasty delights

when a Shark Tank group at Maddy's school

started to sell them!  

They sold on Fridays after school and sold out every week . . . 

even during Lent!
And even after they raised the price!

Evidently, no one could give up Scotcheroos!

Maddy and I made a batch last Sunday to 

take to the cheerleader potluck dinner.

The new freshman cheerleaders were assigned

dessert and we thought they might be perfect!

Yummy plus easy to transport!

We made a large 9 x 13 pan . . . 

empty within minutes!

Varsity cheer and parents went thru the

food line first -- all the Scotcheroos

disappeared.

We know what we're taking next time -- 

2 pans of Scotcheroos!

Tryouts and Cheer News!!

Hello Friends!

If you follow me on FB or IG, you already know the news, but I wanted

to recap the busy cheer week and tryouts so I don't forget

all the fun, practices and tryouts!

It was a crazy busy week!
[Photos from years of cheer follow]

Cheering 2008

It started out last Monday with a cheer meeting detailing the week of practices and tryouts.

Tuesday through Thursday were practice nights learning chants and
cheers and a dance routine

from the senior cheerleaders; and on  Friday  - the tryouts!

Sooooo, after Tuesday's 5:30 - 7:30 practice,

I attempted to video Maddy doing the chants, cheer and dance so that she 

could remember and practice at home. 

Videotaping is harder than it looks -- at least for me!

Cheering 2013

On Wednesday and Thursday nights after the practices, we raced over to the
 place where she takes recreational cheer classes to practice with a few other

girls and her coach.  That was the most helpful move ever!

The girls were able to help each other remember all the words and actions to the chants,

the cheer and the dance.
They also worked on their kicks and tumbling!

The dance was really cool - but incredibly fast!  

Maddy practiced there until almost 10 PM on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

After we got home on Wednesday night, she had more homework to finish 

(she had already done a boatload of homework immediately after school).

Plus, we had to make dipped pretzel sticks Wednesday night for

a school shark tank project !

Thursday night was a repeat of Wednesday.
 She really worked hard on fine-tuning the cheer, chants

and dance.  She thought the cheer was the hardest due to remembering

the words and the actions.  That tricky dance was no prob for her!

Mad jumping skills from 2009!

Friday night -- cheer tryouts!! 

 She and her partner (the girls tried out in pairs, but 

were judged individually) had their tryouts at 6:55 PM.

No one was allowed to watch any of the practices or tryouts 

the entire week.

At 7:02 PM, she came running out with a big happy smile on

her face - feeling confident and upbeat!

Then the waiting began!!!

Results were supposed to be posted on the school door and website

at 10 PM!  How many times can you refresh a website???  Lots!

Results weren't actually posted on the website until 10:20 PM!

Maddy and I had already jumped in the car and were headed

to school to check results on the door when she saw the

results on my cellphone and Mr. Tennis called to say results were

posted!

She made it!

Doing the happy dance, but she also felt a bit sad and disappointed

that her partner and another friend didn't make it.

She has a really tender heart for the feelings of others.

What a week!

We spent the weekend resting a little and celebrating!

Congrats to Maddy Mei!

A Little Bit of Cheer

Hello all -- I didn't fall off the face of the earth,

I'm just in a slow blogging mode.

But, I wanted to share a little cheer with you all.

Last Friday night, my granddaughter, Janie Boo (kindergarten)

got to cheer at a high school football game!

She was so excited!  

Janie cheered the entire 1st Quarter and

while some of the kindergartners stood around

wondering when to cheer, not Janie.  

She cheered the entire time and even harder when a touchdown occurred.

Sadly, most of the touchdowns were made by the opposing team!  

Maddy participated in a Thunderette dance routine

at halftime that was pretty cool and was over very fast!

Dancers really have to move and get off the field in a hurry.

Even though Janie kind of wanted a ring-pop, popcorn, cotton candy or Gatorade --

 I suggested she wait ( I hate sticky messes), 

so promised 

 ice cream after the game.  

I also may have reminded Janie that 

ring-pops cause cavities and are sticky, messy and icky.

Janie agreed and then informed a 

couple of 9 or 10 year old girls

 who did have ring-pops that those things were really bad for them 

and maybe they should throw them away.

The girls looked a little puzzled by such a wise-beyond-her-years

5 year old and smiled at her!

The real cheerleaders

And yes, we did stop and get ice cream and french fries

after the game -- gotta have a few treats, right!

Friday Night Lights 2015  -- we are there!