January 21st

It has been a cold, nasty week here in San Antonio. We didn't really do much of anything. I read a book that I got from the 50 cent box at work called Etiquette and Espionage. Turns out it was a teen fiction book about a finishing school that trains assassins and intelligencers in a steam punk version of the early 1900's. It wasn't bad for a kid's book. If the library has the sequel, I will probable read it, but I wouldn't run out and buy a copy. This one will be re-donated back to the 50 cent box.

Friday I finally got in to see the oral surgeon about the lump in my face. They informed me that it appears to correlate to the tooth where the root canal was done and bumped me back to the endodontist that did the root canal. Take good care of your teeth kiddies. They also notice something odd in my sinus cavity that is unrelated to the other problem, so I will be visiting my PCM for a referral to an ENT. Did you know that an ENT's official title is an Otorhinolaryngologist? I actually learned that in ROTC during my freshman year at SWT. It came up on a list of potential careers in the military and I had to look it up. For some reason that little nugget of information seems to have stuck with me.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a much milder day and the government shut down. Since Dennis and I both work for the government, that was a bit of bad news to start the day, as now neither of us are being paid. I have every faith that Congress will get their heads out of their rears and pass something before payday rolls around, so I am trying not to jump on the freaking out bandwagon just yet. FYI to members of Congress... I will be voting for whomever runs against you in the next election.

Summer had a friend over to spend the night and they decided to take advantage of the warmer day and take some pictures at the Pavilion next door. They are quite literally the only pictures we took this week.

Next week should be infinitely more exciting. What will most likely be Paige's last ever high school swim meet will take place on Saturday, Summer starts cheering for basketball, and there are several other fun and exciting things on the calendar. Until then....

Texas UIL State Cheerleading Championships

As a freshman, Summer was selected to be an alternate for Steele's competition cheer team. She was a little bummed to find out that the budget would not allow the team to take any alternates with them to the competition. She learned several girls' positions, though,  just in case. At the first practice back after the Christmas break, the coaches called her into their office and asked her if she would be willing to fill in as Knightro, the Steele mascot. She was unsure, but ultimately, it provided her an opportunity to go to the competition with the team, so she decided to take it on. 

It was definitely more of a challenge than she realized, as there was no choreography written for Knightro and the costume was DEFINITELY not made for a 5'3" girl. She overcame the costume issue by leaving off the boots that she couldn't walk in and added some clandestine lifting of the helmet into the routine so that she could see where she was going. Since she had already learned the cheer routine, she incorporated some of it and came up with a routine for Knightro. Oh, and she had it competition-ready in 3 days. 

Sadly, this is the ONLY pic I got of her as Knightro. She was hot and sweaty and NOT having it.

***UPDATE***

She found another pic of herself in the Knightro suit!

The team left for Ft. Worth on Thursday morning. They had a nice team dinner and some quality team bonding time on Thursday night and then got up Friday morning ready to hit the mat. The team had never cracked the Top 20 at competition, so they were really motivated to hit their routines. Their motivation and hard work paid off! For the first time in school history, the Knights placed in the Top 20 at Prelims and moved on to finals. They ended up placing 18th overall, an improvement of 16 places from last year! We are so proud of these kiddos!

Ready for a night on the town!

Summer and Abel at PF Changs

And of course... she had to buy herself a shirt!

Here is their performance at finals. Summer is in the Knight suit in the back

Cedar Fever Has Arrived in the Hill Country

Fresh from a bout with the flu, I give you....

CEDAR FEVER!!!

Chessie Smile

Our Shelby has recently discovered her "smile". This is in no way a face of aggression. She is simply trying to convince Paige to share her sandwich with her. It is so funny.