Barking Mad

We Are the Champions . . .

. . . of the world!

Searching for treasure,

Headed for the Gold!

Black, silver pink!

Pirates with bows!

OK well maybe not the entire world, but at least when it comes to Gaby's first ever competitive cheerleading meet of the season, the Scotia Pirates All-Stars Tiny's division (that's the team Gaby is on!) took FIRST PLACE!

It was a long (we were up at 4:30a.m. and out the door by 5:45a.m. and didn't get home until 9:15p.m.) long day but to see all of the effort, hard work and determination by these kids pay off, and then to see the smiles and cheers of joy . . .it was worth it.   There have been many times during the early part of this cheerleading adventure that I've questioned whether we were insane for letting Gaby join a competitive cheerleading team.    Today answered that question.  YES we are in fact insane, but it's a good kind of insanity! 

Several of the team members from the Pirate family gathered for a group photo along with the coaches and all those trophies, after the first session!  

Of course, getting up early, going out and cheering your little heart out can exhaust a girl.   It's a good thing that daddy makes a comfy place to snooze for a bit!

Here's are a couple of photos from their actual routine.  

We have some fantastic gymnasts on our Tiny team!

Here's one of our Junior teams.  

I'm so proud of all the kids on all of our teams - they all work so hard, but I am especially proud of my own little Pirate and how hard she worked to help her team bring home first place!

A bit earlier I mentioned insanity.  Well, during the breaks the cheer moms and dads get up to a bit of insanity of their own.   Please note, this is NOT NOT NOT something you will ever read about me doing.  No way.  Not ever gonna happen.    Two of the moms in this video are Pirate moms.  The lady doing the gymnastic stunts is one and the lady at the end, in pink, is another. 

 

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Today's act of giving was a fast and furious easy one.  We hit up a drive-through on our way to the competition this morning and paid for the order of the car behind us! 

What about you?  How are you creating smiles and bringing more joy into the lives of others this holiday season?

Join me in taking the 31 Days of Giving challenge and enter for a chance to win a $150 VISA gift card from Barking Mad!

Because I Was too Cheap to Send Her to Hogwarts . . .

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This has been the first post I've been able to save (fingers crossed) or image I've been able to upload to the blog in FOUR DAYS!   I keep vacillating between staying with TypePad (because the thought of migrating to another platform makes me genuinely very nervous, despite the nagging feeling that I really should move!) and going with a hosting company and rebuilding over on Wordpress.    However, after the last FOUR DAYS, I'm pretty sure I've made my decision.

At this point I'm not sure if I should go back and try to post my meals from Friday through today (It hasn't been substantial.  Not until today.  My stomach is a mess and today has been the first day in I-don't-know-how-long that I've eaten what amounts to three meals . . . two of which came back up and one is staying put.  I've been subsisting on Gatorade - which oddly tastes very good - and Powerade Zero over the weekend.) or just move forward with my meals tomorrow?   To say that I find this entire situation frustrating would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions.   It's more along the lines of wanting to pull my hair out, and then the hair of anyone and everyone around me!

Due to the fact that I don't want to tempt fate by making this post any longer, I'm going to close it for now, try and get a good nights sleep, and get back on track tomorrow, all the while getting ready to migrate the blog off of Typepad.   I think a five-year run is long enough with a platform that has been hit and miss lately - mostly miss!

Oh and hey, how was your Halloween?  

Once Upon an Autumn's Afternoon Walk

What's better than a walk with an adorable companion on a cool, crisp, autumn afternoon?  Not much!

Gaby and I walk by this house every single day on our way to and from the bus stop.   But lately there's been something that's caught her eye.  Can you see it?   She's not very fond if it, at all, and the quicker we pass this house, the happier she is!

Here's a closer shot of the spooky Halloween decoration Gaby could do without . . .

It's not long before we happen upon what we're really after - some of autumn's finest and most beautiful productions!

Not too far away from the house that Gaby doesn't like, sits another that is well atop her "love" list!   She's given all of the cats, bats,  and the witch, names!

Then it's onward toward more of these!

We can finally begin the walk back home once Gaby has enough leaves for her version of a beautiful, vibrant autumn bouquet!

Those leaves are almost as gorgeous as the little girl holding them.  Almost.

Today was a good day!  A very very good day!