the in-between

This past week, in between tv appearances,

and the Boo! Parade,

and missed sleep,

and sickness,

and marching in parades,

there was other stuff that made it onto my camera as well!

The day we had to get up at 4am, also happened to be Picture Day for the girls at school.

I had M&M's clothes all picked out and ready, and I entrusted Nana with the task of doing their hair (which she does for them every day, but usually on Picture Day, I like to do it special myself).

We just had to rush home to get the glitter & makeup off Arissa. I wanted to wash her hair to get the curls out so we could do something besides a pony tail, but she wanted it to stay:

Awwww, Daddyyyy!

Arissa got a late-slip to allow her to go to class. We thought maybe the Howard Household should issue them to Jesse now and then:

Happiness really is being on time (as the late slip says), for Arissa:

And after we dropped Arissa off, we noticed they were taking the School Pictures in the cafeteria. So we stopped by and look who we saw in the spotlight:

Mariah-BoBiah! (Jesse's nickname for her).

She was so happy to have an audience for her photoshoot!

Later that day we went to get our Swine Flu shots. None of the girls were too happy about that. Me either, since I had to hold them down for it. And they didn't even get the shots, they got the nasal mist spray thing! But still, they fought it and made a bit of a scene. But the nurse and & worked well together....we sat 'em down, I held them still, she did her thang, and voila. Swine Flu checked off my to-worry-about list. Well maybe just moved down the list...they still have to get boosters in a month to be fully protected.

We waited TWO HOURS for those shots. Mariah & Arissa brought things to comfort them...Mallory didn't feel the need. She was pretty much fearless till she was in the chair.

And lastly, we went to Mt. Soledad recently, just for something to do. We expected to show the girls all the things you can see from way up there. But I didn't expect to be able to show them this:

I don't know if the photo really captures how amazing it looked, but a huge thick bank of fog had rolled in from the coast. The day had been warm and clear, then we got on top of the mountain and the coast was covered in fog. It was really a sight to see.

And as we made our way down the mountain, the sky was clear and then by the time we stopped at the next block, it was foggy and clowdy and misty. It was an experience.

Day Two

NBC was supposed to be our only tv appearance, but Tuesday I got a call at work that channel 6 had called spur-of-the-moment and wanted to have the drill team on their morning show as well.

So on Wednesday, we took more time off work & school and headed down to the studio:

Look at Arissa's sweet little face: "Oh wow, it's Mr. TV man! He's actually talking to me!!!"

And look who we met up with again: Captain Jack!

Channel 6 was a little better than NBC, in my opinion, cause it showed more of the girls actually dancing, and there were close-ups on nearly every sweet little face. Unfortunately, some of the girls couldn't make it because of school, but they were there in spirit, I'm sure.

Group shot!

'Nesa & 'Rissa:

The third and last tv promo was on KUSI, and that was done at the parade on Saturday. I wanted so much to be there and capture every single second of it on camera/video, but instead I was laid up on the couch w/ a box of tissues. I don't know if it was because of the sleep I missed Monday (that's what I'm blaming it on....I am a girl who needs her sleep!), but I came down with a terrible sore throat which persisted for days. Saturday my throat felt better but my head was stuffed and aching and I felt exhausted. I did manage to make it to the parade w/ M&M & Nana later, but I just couldn't do the 7am call time.

Nonetheless, the girls & I watched Arissa & the team on tv from home. It was kind of cooler to be at home watching it happen...we clapped and cheered for her, it was so exciting!

And it worked out so great the way each of the tv appearance went: the first one they only had a little air time, and it was scary, they weren't sure what to do really. The second one showed more of what they do best: dancing, but half of the team was missing. Then Saturday they were on tv 4 seperate times, they were interviewed, and they got to really show off their dancing skills. An adult dance team performed right after them and they couldn't even compare to these little girls. All that hard work pays off I guess! It was so so cool to watch.

So I wonder what's in store for these talented girls.

Perhaps.....?

Could Arissa end up dancing alongside the president some day?

Being interviewed on primtime tv?

I'd say it's all quite possible!

But no matter what wonderful things are in store for my first born, or her dance team, I'm not giving up hope that someday, someday, this might be a reality!....

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BOO!

So as the previous posts eluded to, Saturday was the Boulevard 'Boo!' Parade.

Though I was still sick, M&M & Nana & I headed down to watch Arissa & the drill team do their thang.

M&M passed the hour we had to wait for the thing to start by doing this:

Nana, of course, had foreseen the boredom that would ensue while we waited for the parade to start, so she brought her " bag of tricks ". Toys, snacks, etc.

We waited about an hour for the parade to start, and once it did, there was so much for the girls to look at and enjoy.

(This one kind of freaked me out):

And finally, the wait was over!:

Those girls, that whole group, is so awesome. You see other groups in these parades, or at other shows, and you think they're really great, and they are. But then these girls come out, sometimes half the ages of the kids in other groups, and they just sparkle & shine and amaze.

Speaking of sparkling & shining....

Jesse was also in the parade! A month ago, he'd had a few drinks and had volunteered to carry the banner for the Sherry's Gotta Dance Drill Team Alumni group. He tried to back out, but Sherry held him to it!

:o)

End of day:

Day one

Monday was the first of 3 tv appearances for Arissa & her Drill Team!

Everyone was SO excited. Except for the fact we had to be at the studio at 5am, none of us cared for that too much.

But somehow we managed to get out of bed, in the car...

...hair/makeup done, outfits on....

...and made it to the NBC building downtown:

Inside, waiting around, trying to get hyped up for the performance even though everyone wanted to crawl back into bed:

Hanging out "on set": :o)

No, the NBC anchormen/women don't dress as pirates. The reason the girls were to be on tv was because they were going to be marching in the annual "Boo!" Parade the following weekend. So several of the news stations were doing promos to get the word out about the parade and get people interested in coming down. That's also why Captain Jack Sparrow was at NBC at the un-godly hour of 5am. He was so nice, and so authentic-looking...the girls loved him. And little did we know we'd see him a lot more!

"And we're live!"....the girls watched the action as the camera-woman taped Jack Sparrow tell what the "Boo!" parade is all about:

Scared...it's almost our turn!:

Phew! It's not so bad. Being on tv is fun!:

The news anchorman, doing his thing:

The girls performed in the background all the while:

The same day we had to be up at 4am, happened to be one special girl's birthday! Someone mentioned it to Jack Sparrow and so he gave her some extra attention:

Even got down on one knee (right after this shot) and kissed her hand...so gentlemanly!

Jesse & I had the day off...I knew I'd need a good nap (or 2 or 3) to recover from being up so early. We immediately came home and watched the newscast (we had DVR'd it). It was so fun to see Arissa's face, and the rest of the team. Needless to say, we watched it over and over and over!

Last weekend me & Jesse went.....

out to eat?

no.

to a movie?

no.

shopping?

i wish.

We went golfing!

It was our second time, but my first time on a super nice, full 18-hole course and my first time getting to drive the golf cart (last time we went to La Mesa where you have to walk it). It was lots of fun. And for as long as I live, I'll never forgive myself for not being fast enough at whipping out the camera to capture the moment when Jesse got attacked by bees in the middle of the game. :o) It was a sight to see.

We also did a lot of this:

....staring into space trying to figure out either 1) where the hole was so we could figure out what direction we shoud aim for, or 2) where the hell the ball went after we hit it. :o)

~~~~

It's been cloudy lately, even a little rainy, and usually when it rains for the first time each fall/winter, I make cinnamon rolls. But even with the help of my super cool bread-maker, those things are labor-intensive and take a long time.

So I'm saving those for the first real "storm" of the season instead. So when it was drizzling & cloudy a few days ago, I did blueberry muffins (from scratch):

(the ones in the back have streusel topping on them)

Et voila:

Yummy yum. The girls love them. I love them. They didn't last very long!