Five Girls, One Special Night....

We went to the first MSU gymnastics meet of the season last night..... me.... five girls... no wine.  ;-)  It all started out with an after school pick up.... making them change at school before we left. The noise that came from the girls' bathroom was deafening. Their teachers were laughing.  My cousin (a teacher at Queens) was laughing at me the hardest. What was I getting myself into?  I had no back up! It was just me and them. Five girls. One mom.  I.  Am. Brave.  :-)

We got in the car... and it was instant singing...  DS playing..... giggling.... NON STOP TALKING! Girls don't even take a moment to breathe people.  NOT ONE BREATH!!!  They played this game where one girl had to not laugh... and all the other girls tried to make her laugh... it made me laugh the entire drive north.

They were pretty pumped. Hard to keep them still. I swear to you, if they weren't belted in, they would have been bouncing all around the car.....

We went to dinner (same place we went before the Green and White meet).... the MSU Hall of Fame Cafe.  The girls shared chicken fingers and Shirley Temples.  :-)))

We ate quickly... do you know how difficult it is to keep five little girls acting restaurant appropriate through a meal? :-)  They ended up singing. LOUDLY. All the songs they have been learning in music class.  It was actually freakin' adorable... and luckily the nearby patrons thought it was too. Since it was like 4:30... and only old people were eating.  :-)))

We headed over to the meet nice and early.... mostly we needed someplace they could RUN and burn energy. This group of girls need physical activity big time!!!

So, we arrived at Jenison and they were OFF!!!!!!  Ran around... and around... and around... and then, they saw the leotards for sale and it was all over.  They ran up to them, grabbing them as quickly as they could...  they run into the bathroom to change immediately... I had to inform them they needed to wear pants over them.... good lord.... ;-)

Look at all of them... leos... skinny jeans... too bad they were tumbling by this point and shoeless, cuz you are missing out on the fact that EVERY ONE of them were also wearing Uggs.  :-)

I even got a pic with the troops... even though the lady had no idea how to use my iPhone camera so it's horridly out of focus.  

Good, good times.... the girls would watch a rotation... and then go run and tumble... watch a little more... tumble some more...  :-)  Not so much with the sitting still.

At the end of the meet, the girls can get posters of the team and have them signed.... they had to be pretty patient and wait in line for some time... but not too bad since my mother-in-law got them in line right away (during awards).

Then, I noticed a man taking a zillion pictures of them, and while questioned it at first, quickly realized he was a professional....  ;-)  I watched him for a while... and then, had to ask... "Is there any way I can buy some images off you?"  I knew he was getting far better pictures than I was with my phone!  ;-)

What a great guy... took my email address... and emailed me 9 photos this morning!!!!  FREE... :)

The following images courtesy of DelRio Images:

What a great time the girls had..... we all headed home for a sleepover.  WHEW! I am brave!!!!!  They were no where near tired when we got home. In fact, they were pretty pumped up. They played until well after 1 am.... then, sat to watch some Hannah Montana and instantly passed out!  They all slept downstairs in sleeping bags... I sat upstairs sipping a glass of wine with Scott and said "this is when you REALLY appreciate our fabulously finished basement!"  The girls loved having their own space... floor... bathroom.... kitchenette and playroom.  It works out perfect!  

Unfortunately, they were up and at 'em by about 8:30!!!!  Oh well... we had waffles and bacon and eggs for breakfast.... they did a couple more hours of playing... and we took a couple girls home... and now Ally is at one of the other girl's house to play for the day. A big thank you to Kami Webster for realizing I did my tour of duty and giving me a break!  :-)

So, Luke and I are hanging now.... and I am fighting like crazy to NOT give him a nap.  We are going to lay together and have some quiet time... but the boy has been sleeping like complete crap lately... and just seems wide awake at bedtime... so we need to do something!

I know they were staying up later over Christmas break... but Ally needs to go to bed by 8 on school nights. She requires a lot of sleep.... so when he stays up talking and negotiating until 10 or sometimes 11.... it is NOT good. She came in my room some night last week just in silent tears... "I am so tired Mommy and Luke won't let me sleep!" Enough is enough.  Ally needs her sleep... and Scott and I need our time after 8.... so we have got to get this boy to SLEEP at 8 pm.

So... bye bye nap... it's been fun while it lasted, but the nights are more important to me!!!!!!!!!!

We shall see if this goes well or helps at all.  Interestingly enough, I picked Scott's busiest time of the year to do this... so I am a single mom 24/7 for a couple weeks as he is getting home around 11 pm these days. God bless year end. ;-)  

I know one little girl who will have NO troubles falling asleep tonite though........ a certain little Spartan who has had one heck of a 24 hours.....  :-))))))  

GO GREEN!