More Cheer!

As you may or may not have guessed, cheer is winding down.

The last JV basketball game was a couple weeks ago and 

now the schedule is silent except for the cheer banquet

to be held later this month.
Truth be told -- we don't miss the 6 am practices!

So, here's to the JV cheer squad -- they were fabulous!  

Love this sweet group of girls!

They did an amazing job under sometimes difficult

and exhausting circumstances and loads of cheer commitments!

These four girls (above) all went to elementary/middle school together

so have been together since kindergarten!

Don't they all have the best smiles!

Maddie and Caitlin

Emily and Maddie

Skylar and Maddie

Maddie and Rachel

Maddie and Christine

Maddie and Annie

Maddie and Maia

I've been so blessed with watching these girls cheer and
getting to know their families!
GO BOLTS!!

The Unsung Heroes of High School

There are really so many unsung athletes and heroes in

high school, don't you agree?

The coaches, the trainers, the school  managers

and the ones closest to my heart -- 

the cheerleaders!

Last Friday night, the Pius cheerleaders

traveled 2-1/2 hours away each way to cheer on the

football team!

These sweet girls were totally soaked to the skin, 

but cheered through torrential downpours and dropping temps!
Soaking Wet + Cold = Misery

Still smiling - but soaking wet!

Luckily, they all had packed an extra change of 

clothes so they could get out of the wet uniforms

for the 2-1/2 hour bus ride home!

So, home around midnight then quickly launder the cheer uniforms 

before bed, hang to dry and be up, in uniform and

back at the gym at 8:15 AM to cheer at 

volleyball until noon!

Oh my word!  Bless those girls hearts!

Cheerleaders don't get much credit for all they do.

They're not considered athletes by schoolmates [but they are]

as they put in long hours of training and practice just like the other

athletes and teams.
Yes, they have 6 AM practices at least once a week before classes!
So, I say . . . 

Great job Pius Cheerleaders!
You are all amazing!

While we're chatting about unsung heroes,

let's not the forget the parents who support and pay for 

everything, drive  their student athletes everywhere and often sit on freezing

bleachers to support the cheerleaders and the teams!

Thank you Parents! :)
You're pretty amazing too!

.

The Super Fair - JV Squad Takes On the Fair!

Do you have a state or county fair where you live?

In Nebraska, our state fair moved out of Lincoln

and on to Grand Island a few years ago.

However, we are still lucky enough (is lucky really the right word?)

 to have

the Lancaster County Super Fair!!!

Maddy and I made a quick trip there on one of the opening nights.

There was one ride (besides the Ferris wheel) I was willing to go on.

It was called The Tornado! 

I hated it!

  My favorite thing about the fair . . .

the funnel cake!!!!

Love!!!!!
 

This cliff hanger ride looked kind of fun, but you lie down so I was
afraid it might be too much for me and I'd lose my lunch
along with my shoes!
 

But, wouldn't a trip to the fair and all those fun [dreadful] fair rides

be just the thing for the JV cheer squad for some

cheerleader bonding time!!

Oh yes!  

The girls were ready to take on the Fair!

So happy these girls were able to go together
and go on those scary rides!
My bff cheer mom, Kay and I, hung out [we were the chauffeurs, you know]
and tried not to
follow the girls around and spy on whether
they were talking to any boys!
Actually, we attempted not to be seen by the girls
when we were checking on them!
They shooed us off once when they caught sight of us!
Teenagers!!! :)

Cheer Season is Winding Down

How did it go by so quickly?

Cheer season is winding down.

The freshie girls had their last cheering gig at school last night!

It was a freshman boys basketball game. 

 No doubt due to the

great cheering by the freshie girls, the boys

have had a very successful season!

Freshman squad - 2 girls weren't able to be there

The girls have the state cheer tournament coming up

in a couple weeks, so practices continue

a little longer.

One of the perks that a parent doesn't even

realize until it happens is that by going to the

freshman sporting events to see the girls cheer, we 

were also able to watch and see freshman 

teams in action!

Football season was a blast - even on those chilly days!

Freshman Girls volleyball and softball was so fun!  

Tennis - always a favorite of mine. 

 Love that the girls cheer at more than the main football and 

basketball sporting events. 

Freshman Girls basketball was pretty amazing to watch

and the Freshman Boys Basketball have been on

fire - winning every game!

Their coach brought them each a cookie!

Really going to miss seeing these adorable

cheerleaders and chatting with the other

freshie moms!

Go BOLTS!

Winter Formal - A Fun Cheer Fundraiser!

Winter Formal 2017 - Hollywood Glam!
Every winter the cheerleaders organize,

decorate and put on a fundraiser, known as the Winter Formal!

Every cheerleader and cheer parent is required to "volunteer" and

attend the fundraiser!

When you attend Catholic school, you get your picture taken with the Pope!

It took place last Saturday and was loads of fun!

The freshie cheerleaders had two morning basketball games

to cheer at and then help with decorating in the afternoon with the dance

starting at 8:30 that evening.

Did high school dances start that late in your day??

They sure didn't in mine, but that starting time gave the students

time to go out to eat before the dance.

Lots of kids go to fast food joints --  not some fancy sit-down

restaurant.  Too funny!

Freshman cheer squad -- love these sweet girls! Aren't they adorable!

Most students go stag or with friends and even those

with dates appeared to ditch their dates after

coming in to hang out with their friends!

I was a ticket taker and then a chaperone! :)
In case you're wondering,
 no, I did not have to send any students to the "re-teaching" room

for inappropriate dancing!
 Probably helped that the school principal

walked through the dancers during every slowish song! :)

The cheerleaders did a great job on decorating and running

the fundraiser and now we freshie parents know what to expect and plan for
next year!

Carving Pumpkins!

Happy November!

How in the world did October zip by so fast???

I'm a wee bit behind in blogging, so please forgive

me for continuing to blog about

Halloween-related topics!

We generally don't carve our pumpkins --

there is no need -

the squirrels destroy them before

we even have a chance to get out

the carving knife!

Dads and daughters

This year, the cheerleaders (yes, more about the cheerleaders!)

had a Father/Daughter pumpkin carving get-together!

How sweet is that!

As is his usual MO, Mr. Tennis wore dress pants, 

a button-down shirt and Brooks Brothers vest!

He said the vest made it a casual ensemble!

The girls and their Dads had a great time.

Reports were that most Dads did the carving while some of the 

girls read and/or updated their social media accounts!

Maddy assisted Mr. Tennis and they

carved a two-sided pumpkin.

On one side was a normal pumpkin face with a 

Thunderbolt (Pius emblem) 

and on the other was the other

Pius emblem - Px

Mr. Tennis was the winner of the "first Dad finished

with carving" and the "two-sided" carving victor!

Truthfully, I think he named himself the winner in both categories!

What a hoot!

They had a blast

and we finally had a pumpkin we could put a 

candle in for Halloween!

Feeling Kind Of Pink

The cheerleaders' pink festivities 

continued with the

girls all cheering at

the Walk for the Cure last Sunday!

I walked along with 5,000 other walkers!

We do believe and pray a cure will be found 

during our lifetime.

Thanks to the Pius girls for supporting and cheering on the walkers!

In other cheer news, the freshman squad

finished out their football cheering season a week ago!

Goooo Bolts!

Aren't they so adorable!!

The pink pom poms will be replaced with their regular

green and gold poms in November.

I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to 

the bright pink poms!

Fall sports are just about finished and

November/December will be devoted to 

6 AM (yes, 6 AM) practices to 

learn and master the basketball and wrestling cheers

along with stunting!

Fun times ahead if I can keep my eyes open!  :)

In other Pink news, Miss Mad has discovered

a new favorite store -- PINK!

I think Target is still probably her fave, but

Pink is gaining in popularity!

Her fave clothing options from Pink

are their yoga pants/leggings and sweatshirts.

She's writing down a few items for her

birthday and Christmas lists -- most

notably -- gift cards! :)

We're looking forward to some spooky Halloween fun

this weekend!

How about you?

Dressing up?

Of course we will be and will

give the Halloween report next week!

Happy almost weekend!

Megaphone!

As you  may have guessed by now . . .

cheer has become a big part

of Maddy's freshman year in high school!

There have been and continue to be a ton of practices and games for the freshie cheerleaders!

And we don't mean just football!

They are cheering at Cross-Country, Softball, Tennis, Ping Pong . . . 

When my sons played tennis at Pius, the cheerleaders never

showed up at their matches and it made them so mad!  

We are really happy that

has changed and cheerleaders will be at tennis matches!

One of the fun traditions for the new Pius cheerleaders

is receiving a personalized Megaphone door art before the start of the season!

I don't know about you, but we love our door art around here!

We also love our school traditions!

New cheerleaders receiving their megaphone door art!  Maddy is second from right!

GO BOLTS!

Cheer Photos!

Last week in the middle of their two-a-day practices,

the freshie cheerleaders had to clean up and

look pretty (not a difficult job for any of them)

for professional photos!

Camp photo - they won the spirit stick!

We whipped out the flat iron to make sure 

Maddy's hair was super straight!  

It really didn't matter that my hair

was super frizzy - that is my normal look in the heat
and humidity of summer, fall, spring and rainy weather!  

Anywho, we went out to the photographers

and the girls had a blast!

It was so much fun watching them.

After they photographed the group of 8 cheerleaders together,

they did individual photos with girls doing jumps, 

throwing pom poms and other 

most adorable poses!

How many Pius freshies fit on a golf cart?
8 plus photographer, Sunny!

Then they went outside for the more casual look!

Since the photographers live on an acreage, they

loaded the girls up on their golf cart!

My hair had already taken a beating

from the heat and humidity, so I opted to stay in the studio and chat 

with another freshie mom!

Best afternoon of photos ever!!

Funny . . . the photographer told 

the Moms ahead of time

to NOT annoy the cheerleaders during photos!!  

Like we Moms would do that??? 

So fun! 

 Proofs available later in the week!