You're a Natural

Last night, Number One had a private lesson at gymnastics.  He's a level 5 gymnast, but he dislocated his shoulder at the beginning of the year. He's preparing for his first meet of the season this weekend. His coach looked at me last night and said, "You know, all he needs is the confidence. He has such a natural ability, but he doubts it."

And it got me thinking about, because I have a natural ability to write or at least an inclination to do so, but I doubt how good I am ALL THE TIME. I doubt people will want to read my stuff.  I read a great blog with lots of colorful language over at Terrible Minds yesterday, and it really made me think about how we all seem to beat ourselves up and put ourselves down and be our worst critic. And it's stupid. Chuck is right, we do it so we don't have to succeed or push ourselves, or work HARD for something that's supposed to be natural. But guess what folks? It takes working hard to be good and to achieve your goals, even if you are a natural.

My son, at the age of ten, knows that he has to work the high bars over and over again to get his kip. He knows he needs to swing his legs around the mushroom a million times to perfect his spindle and his flares. But, even he, has doubt. Doubt is natural too.  Work hard for what you want, even if you are a natural. And if you're not a natural, then work harder and you'll get there. It's determination and hard work that helps you succeed.

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Gymnastics and Smurfs = Great Weekend!

I haven't written in four days, because this weekend was busy and I just had more important things to do, like enjoy my life!  Seriously, what a glorious weekend!  I couldn't ask for a better one.  I love 'Bama in the Spring time...except the allergies of course. 

Most of you who connect with me on Facebook know that Number One came in 2nd at the Alabama State Men's Gymnastics' Meet!  I was super proud.  He had a goal, and he achieved it.  All week long he said, "I'm going to place in the top three, in at least one event, and he did!  That's my boy!  So SO proud of him.

On Sunday, we went to my Mom and Dad's house to enjoy the 70 degree weather.  We had a bonfire with all of the fallen branches on my parent's land, and the boys roasted their hot dogs over the fire, as well as s'mores.  Before we left to go over there, Number Two kept saying, "I can't wait to eat Smurfs!"  Hubby and I laughed about that all day, and we've now decided to call S'mores Smurfs instead...on a permanent basis.  Who doesn't love to eat little blue men? 

 

 

Here Number Two is running from the fire.  He actually was not scared, believe it or not.  He was running to go get a plate for his hot dog!

 

Darling Daughter was not too fond of the fire.  She would have run like this, but she walked away from me so fast saying, "I want to go home," that I didn't get a photo of her!  My sweet niece cajoled her back, and we stood far enough away that she was not scared.  Here she and I are, feeling a little bit better about the situation!

 

 

 

What a fun, beautiful weekend.  I wish every weekend could be as good, filled with joy, fun and family!

 

 





Winter on the Beach

This weekend, we all hopped in the car and went down to Panama City Beach for the Winter on the Beach gymnastics' meet.  Originally, only Number One and I were going to go, but I convinced Hubby it would be a fun family trip, and we all went. 

So what did we do there?  We ate A LOT.  We spent A LOT of money.  We had a FANTASTIC time. 

We arrived around noon on Saturday, and we ate at Back Porch at Pier Park.  Panama City has grown up a lot since I last visited.  The last time I went was in college, so you know I wasn't so interested in the touristy aspect of the city.  In fact, I don't remember much of that trip and that parts I do remember are too wild to be shared! 

After lunch, the kids wanted to go down to the beach.  We took a detour and paid $9 to walk down a pier first.  Everything cost in Panama City Beach.  Everything is some what of a rip-off.  Once you realize that, you just pay and don't worry about it (until you get home and realize how much money you've spent!). 

Then we went down to the beach, and the kids just could not help themselves.  They ran right into the water, even though the outside temperature was 60 degrees, and the water was freezing!

 

 

 

 

 

After our romp on the beach, the kids were frozen solid.  We stripped them at the car, and we put them in their bathing suits (yes, would have been a good idea to have in our bag to begin with!), and then checked into the hotel. 

 

We all wanted to take a nap, and I did not feel well from eating fried pickles at lunch!  (That will teach me to eat fried food!).  The kids were slap happy though and too excited to sleep, so Hubby took them to the playground and let me sleep.  So nice of him! 

 

That night, we went to dinner at Reggae J's.  I had a great grilled shrimp salad, and the service was impeccable.  Actually, the service at every restaurant we went to was great.  Montgomery waiters/waitresses could learn a few things from their peers in PCB, Florida.

 

 

 

After dinner, we stopped by Kilwin's, a wonderful chocolate shop at Pier Park.  We ran into Cara, who used to work at the kid's daycare!  She works and lives in Panama City now, and it was a wonderful surprise to see her.  We all had homemade ice cream, and I marveled at the chocolate high heels that Cara's boss makes:

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we all hit the hay.  We're such night owls!  The lights were out in the hotel by 8:30!!!

 

The next day we woke up early and had breakfast in the hotel, then Number One and I headed out to his meet.  Hubby took the other two to the playground to enjoy some time with them (there's no way they would sit through the meet!).  Number One did okay.  He came in 8th All Around.

 

 

 

His scores of the day were as follows:

 

Floor: 6.6 (usually his best or second best event, but he went out of bounds) -- No Place

Pommel: 6.7 (messed up on mushroom) - No Place

Rings: 9.9 -- Best Event of the Day.  Came in 4th.

Vault: 8.0 -- We'll take this after last meet. His form looked great.  7th Place.

P-Bars: 8.9 -- 7th Place

H-Bars: 8.7 -- 7th Place -- Coach Ken said something about him not being as polished on H-Bars this time.

 

I told Number One he needs to really work on pommel and H-Bars, and he said, "No, I need to work on Rings.  It's my favorite!"  So funny! The boy knows what he likes, and he excels at what he likes!

 

 

 

After the meet, we met up with Hubby again and enjoyed lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Yum!  Then the kids and I went walking around (because they were restless), and we stopped in a t-shirt shop where I spent a fortune on crappy t-shirts, because the guy talked me into it.  Hubby says I am a sucker, and he is right!!! 

 

Then we said goodbye to the beach, and by this time all the kids were exhausted, especially Darling Daughter, who hitched a ride on Hubby's shoulders, and I took these priceless photos of her!

 



 

 





 

Goodbye Panama City Beach!  We had a great time!!!



Meet Season is Upon Us!

We are smack in the middle of Gymnastics's Meet Season for Number One.  The traveling is killing me.  I never knew how much sitting in a car and driving places could tire you out.  Plus, eating yucky food on the road.

This weekend, Number One and I stayed with my friend Stacy.  She and I've been friends since we were four!  We used to both take piano lessons at Mrs. Nichols' house.  Friends for a lifetime, literally.  It's wonderful to have friends like that, who you can leave and come back to and it's like no time has ever past.  You're so comfortable with them, they're almost part of your family.   I really need to thank Stacy's husband Amir for making sure we had healthy food at their house. And by the way: Number One LOVED the smoothie you made. He talked about it three times on the ride home!

Number One attended the GAA's Men's Invitational in Kennesaw, Georgia.  We had to be there at 8 AM on Saturday morning (which is 7 AM our time).

We woke up, and I was just chatting with Stacy in the kitchen, and she says, "When are you going to get Number One up?"

I said, "Oh, I'll give him a little bit longer to sleep." 

Then I glanced at the clock and it said 7:15!  "Stacy, is that the right time?"

She nodded, and we went into full motion, waking up Number One, throwing on gymnastics's clothes, scarfing down part of a waffle, and then eating mint chocolate chip cookies in the car!  My iPhone had not changed over to Eastern time, so when I woke up I thought it was only 6:15!

We made it to the meet at 8:01, and my child who is punctual like I am said, "Mom, I'm late!" 

Of course, he wasn't.  They were just warming up on the floor.  The gym was well lit, and I went upstairs to join the other parents, grab a cup of coffee from the concession stand, and watch Number One compete.

Number One and the United Boy's Team before the competition at the GAA Men's Invitational

He did well, but the competition was fierce, and I think he was still weak from strep the week before and from going to Nashville and missing a few days in the gym.  Coach Ken was super proud of him though, and so was I. 

Here are his scores for the day:

Floor: 9.3 -- 4th overall (and I don't really have a video for this, because I didn't know he had started!  This was his best place of the day).

Pommel: 8.2 -- 8th overall (proud of this, as pommel horse is usually his weakest!)



Vault: 8.2 -- did not place.  He did a flip on vault, and then started crying.  It was heartbreaking for me, but he sat up, stuck his arm in the air, looked at the judge, and sucked it up until he joined his group.  Ken said it was his proudest moment of the meet, because Number One showed integrity and sportsmanship, even though he was upset with himself, and he scored better than we thought he would.

Rings: 8.3 -- tied for 6th with another child on his team. 

P Bars: 8.6 -- did not place

H-Bars: 9.7 -- did not place.  I looked at the list, and he came in 10th with that high of a score.  Like I said, fierce competition.  A child on his team took 1st in this event though!



He came in 8th all around, and I was so proud of him.  Afterwards, we went out to eat Chinese with Stacy and her son, and then saw Frankenweenie at the $1 theater.  Then Number One fell into bed around 6 PM and slept until 7 the next morning.  He was worn out!