RIKKI RIKKI'S

There was a time when Mimi did not like any candy. Now that she is older and meeting more kids her age, there is more influence. Thankfully she eats it in moderation. Her ultimate favorite sweet thing is ice cream still. Before practice and competitions the kids are not allowed any sweets because of the effects it has on them. Therefore I did not pack any in Mimi's bag yesterday however I saw the little stinker eating candy hearts that another team member gave her. I'm assuming it was Elsie as they always share their food/snacks. Plus also I saw Elsie eating the candy too but it was when they were done with their part of the competition. By the time they were all done, it was 6:00 and we were quite famished! So on to Rikki, Rikki's Japanese restaurant in Kirkland we went. I still cannot believe how much Mimi eats. Everytime we see the doctor for her physical, the doc says there is nothing wrong and she is very healthy. I guess that she just has a high metabolism. Yesterday she ate breakfast at Testy's, a fish sandwich on the way to the meet. Then came her chicken nugget lunchable and carrot sticks for snacks at the meet. At dinner she had 3 bowls of miso soup, 3 shrimp tempura and of course her tuna sashimi. Man can she pack it away. When we got home I heard those immortal words of "Mom, I'm hungry again." So she ate a bowl of cereal and oh we cannot forget the ice cream for desert. On top of all this, Mimi and Elsie are like two peas in a pod. Just crazy, energetic little things. Emma just shakes her head.

YESTERDAY'S MEET

All the girls did great including Mimi. However when it came time for her to receive her first medal for the double mini in which she won 3rd place, Mimi was nowhere to be found. It was sort of like a Where's Waldo thing going on. The announcer kept saying "Naomi Putney" over and over but there was no Naomi to be seen. So on with the show it went. I was not allowed to take pictures with my camera so Rhonda says that she will send the picture of "Phantom" Naomi to me later. Mimi says that Jaelyn took her to the bathroom at that time. None the less I saw Debbie (Summit's gym owner) talking with her later. I do like the fact that the older kids come to the meets even when they are not competing to support and help out with the younger athletes. Mimi, Elsie and Emma all just adore the big girls too.

MAKING PLANS

Yesterday morning started off with Mimi and dad going out to breakfast by themselves for some father/daughter time. Mimi says that it is "T vs B. Mom, you what vs is? It stands for verses, so it's Testy Chef vs Black Diamond." Testy Chef won out. Then it was time to come home and get ready for the meet. Mimi was calm, cool and collected about the meet, I on the other hand was a nervous wreck. Is her hair ok? I was told that points would be taken off if the hair is not done right. Can't use any bobby pins either. What if she forgets her routine? Heaven forbid the girl hurts herself? So many thoughts ran through my head. Since we have never been to this gym and it is an hour's drive, I did not want to get lost so we left early and got there one hour early. Therefore we decided to kill time at the local Costco. Not much else interesting in Woodinville. That's when Teri called to talk about kids clothing and what they wear up here. Completely different from California. Yesterday was rainy with a temperature of 56. There are times though when the weather has been so clear and beautiful with the gorgeous blue skies and even though the thermometer says 60, but if there is no wind, it is quite pleasant outside. When Mimi saw that I was talking with Teri, she saw it as her opportunity to snatch the phone away and make plans with Samantha.

VALENTINE BINGO

During the party I saw Ms Greenfield lay out some cards so I asked if I could help her with anything and she said I could help her out with leading the kids in playing Valentine Bingo. "OK" I said and things were going fine until the boys found out that there were no prizes to give out and started to eat the stale candy hearts that were supposed to be the markers. Grant's mom (the one who got upset that I did not remember her daughter) thought that Grant was being such a good boy by not eating any of the stale candy. However truth be told, along with Dixon, Grant DID eat the old stale candy. I just let sleeping dogs lie. Next thing I knew Mimi had a Bingo game going on for herself even though there still no prizes to give out. The girls did not care one bit.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

This afternoon there was a party goin' on in Rm.306! Tried to upload all of the commotion but it's not working out for me. It was a lot of candy eating and chattering and laughing going on everywhere. There was a "thank you Dixon, thank you Chloe, thank you Hayden" so on and so forth. Besides me there was a couple of other moms there too. One of them (Grant's mom) I think was upset with me because I did not remember that Grant has a baby sister "well (with a slight huff), you saw her at the Open House!" The Open House was way back in the beginning of the school year and I'm supposed to remember that far back? I'm doing darn good to remember my name, address and phone number let alone what kid has a sibling or not. Oh well que sera sera as I always say.

FIRST OFFICIAL COMPETITION

The last time Mimi had a gymnastic competition it was a in-house competition and did not really count as it was only a "practice" one. Tomorrow however will be different. It will be a "real" one with the judges and everything. We are excited and nervous at the same time. Mimi and I practiced her routine last night and it was more than anything like a comedy act. "Mom, you're the judge and you're supposed to go like this (hand raised) and I go like this (Mimi's hands raised to look somewhat like a Y). " Then the girl proceeds with her routine only to forget what comes next and she is asking me "what's next???" "I dunno" I say. It went on and on that way. I'm sure she will be fine. I may be a wreck though. We'll see.

The competition will be up in Woodinville which is about a little over an hour's drive from our house tomorrow afternoon. Elsie and Emma will be competing tomorrow too. Rhonda says that usually after the meet everyone goes out to dinner together. However since the girls meet times will be staggered throughout the day we may not do the dinner. Dad says that we could go to the Japanese restaurant out in Kirkland. I forgot the name of it but I think that it is Rikki's which is the same name as their salad dressing.

Any hoo, stayed tuned for the results.

SPRING IS ALMOST HERE

We have been here a little over two years and my backyard is still a bit bare but it is slowly coming together. Since going from two paychecks to one, I have only been able to buy plants that are real small or plant the bulbs myself. This year I had purchased a cherry tree (top left pic) from Costco and had dad plant it in the ground for me. It is already starting to show their buds. Maybe we will get some cherries this summer/fall. The rest of the plants are as follows: tulips/daffodils (top right pic), apple buds from our apple tree (bottom left), buds from the Japanese cherry tree. Last year we planted the apple tree and by fall apples started to show up. However the tree was rather small and just the right height for Butch to pull them off the tree and eat them. Which is what the boy did.