Our Little Cheerleader

During District Tournament, Hadley was just dying to wear her cheerleading uniform to a ballgame one night and have her picture made with the "real" cheerleaders.  So before the game began, we managed to snap a picture with the real things themselves.  I thought that would be the end of it, but then all of Hadley's cheerleading dreams came true.  One of the cheerleaders, Ellie, asked Hadley if she wanted to cheer with them while the players were being announced, just before the game started.  A huge smile covered her face as she nodded yes.

I sat on the front row, just a little proud, as she shook her pom poms and cheered for the girls as their names were announced.  She didn't jump up and down with excitement, as that's not really Hadley's style anyway.  She was pretty serious, and maybe a wee bit intimidated.

Again, I thought this would be the end of Hadley's cheerleading debut.  However, then Ellie asked Hadley if she wanted to stand on the sidelines throughout the entire game and cheer with the girls.  Uh....yes!  And you can imagine my utter shock when, during a timeout, I look over to see my wee five year old being hoisted into the air.  I wish I had taken a picture of her being lifted all the way up, but I didn't get one of those.  I was just a little bit nervous myself.  At some point after the game, Hadley said, "Mama, did you see me lift one leg up when they held me up in the air?"  Um, no, I didn't see that.  Thankfully ;)

She drew just a little bit of attention this night, as you can imagine.  People were telling me, right and left, that any hopes of her playing basketball were totally shot now that she had gotten a taste of cheerleading with the big girls.  The game went in to overtime and was super exciting.  But it was the littlest cheerleader of all that held my attention on this night.

Although our girls were defeated in overtime by the eventual state runners-up, we were so proud of  each and every one of them.  What a special night and fun memory for Hadley (and her fans).

Snowpocalypse 2015

In my lifetime, I've never seen anything like it.  There was the big hype over this snow we "could" get that had the potential to be the mother of all snows.  In the days leading up to the big event, the snowfall totals the meteorologists relayed to us continued to rise and we were hearing numbers like 8-12 inches.  We think it's a big snow if we get just a few inches.  That pretty much shuts us down for days.  So this was unlike anything we were accustomed to.   And, let me tell you, it lived up to all the hype!  It was magical to watch it fall ALL day long, but a little scary to be honest.  When you aren't used to that much snow, it can make you a little bit nervous.

Well we were so excited that we didn't even wait for the snow to stop falling.  We actually played in the snow on Monday, the day it snowed all day long.  Of course, it takes 30 minutes to actually get dressed in enough layers to go out and play.  It's exhausting just rounding up the clothes and getting everybody dressed.  This was Canaan's first time playing in the snow and his curiosity was so sweet to watch.  We had so much snow that it was difficult for little ones to walk in.  He got a little discouraged trying to figure out how to maneuver his way around.

Hadley laughed and squealed as she tried making her way through the snow.  She couldn't believe that it actually reached her knees.  The kids would fall down and struggle to get back up again.

Talk about being able to make some pretty awesome snow angels.  Now that was fun.

We were the first people, in our neighborhood, to venture out into the snow; so our tracks were very fresh. We are such the trailblazers.  We had to make it the street next to ours to get a good hill for sledding.

At first, Justin just pulled the kids up and down the street in front of our house.  This being their first time on a sled, he wanted to get them used to it first.  

After they got used to sledding a little bit, we tackled the big hill and the kids had an absolute ball.  The snow hitting their faces as they flew down the hill was such a fun experience for all of us.  Oh how I love these sweet times with my family.  

We laughingly said that our dairy intake came from all the snow cream we ate the week we were out of school.  We could just open up our back door, scoop up what we needed, and have dessert every night.  We didn't get crazy with flavors at our house, it was just snow, milk, sugar, and vanilla flavoring at our house.

I really can't tell you how wonderful it was to get this surprise break from school.  Although we were completely holed up in our house for about 5 days, the rest and relaxation was just incredible.  The kids enjoyed cookies and milk most nights before bed.  We love the $2.50 holiday themed cookies from Wal-Mart.  We finished up our Valentine's Day cookies during this week.

Who could resist making this cutie cookies?  So thankful for the unexpected surprise of being all cooped up in my house with nowhere to go....especially with the ones I love so very much.  It made Snowpocalypse 2015 a very memorable one, that's for sure!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Every year, Barren County's Relay for Life hosts a Daddy-Daughter Dance fundraiser. They strategically hold the dance very close to Valentine's Day, which makes the event all the more festive.  Justin was more than happy to be Hadley's escort for the evening.  I mean, you can't start early enough teaching little girls about the kind of man they should look for as dating material. 

It seems like an eternity to think about my five year starting to date, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it.  Well, enough of that talk.  Doesn't she look like an angel in these pictures?  And that is one proud papa right there folks.  Thankfully, we had an unseasonably warm evening for the dance, which was great considering Hadley wore a sleeveless dress.  We even got outdoor pictures without chattering teeth or anything.

Obviously I couldn't wait to hear about the dance and how it went.  When I asked Hadley to tell me about it, she said, "Mama, I ate four pieces of pizza and a chicken tender."  Well, she is definitely my daughter and totally concerned about the food.

Justin said it really was a great event and was so glad they had gone.  Both of them are excited about going back next year, even.  Makes this mama happy, happy, happy.