Mish Mash Post - Labor Day Weekend, Chinese Dance and Other Stuff

Since I am behind on blogging, I am doing one catch up post - writing about everything that I haven't gotten to yet in one place. :D

Briana went to back to Chinese Dance last weekend after summer break. She was really happy to get back. The girls started twirling as soon as they got there...

Then we made a quick stop for frozen yogurt after class...

The Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I had lunch plans with my friend Carole. That left Bri and Doug for a daddy/daughter morning/afternoon. They did their Starbucks morning...

Then Doug took Bri to Home Dep@t for the kids workshop. The kids made goal posts to start off the football season...

 

Then he took Bri to Waffle House for lunch. Which actually ended up being like a second breakfast because Briana ordered hot chocolate and a waffle...

That evening, Uncle Jimmie came over. We took him to dinner because his birthday was the day before.

Look how awesome these guys are. They played Candyland with Briana...

Briana has been drawing a LOT lately. Pictures that have intricate stories behind them. And she has been drawing a lot of fashion. She has a whole notebook of clothes that she draws. A fashion designer in the making. 

Here is one of her intricate drawings with a story...

Almost every evening after Briana goes to sleep, I lie in my bed (watching TV, reading or looking at my iPad) and this is my cuddle buddy. Asia sits with me every evening just like this and purrs. She is 14 years old and though she seems very healthy right now, I always wonder how much time I have left with her. I soak in as much love as I can...

 And the other day, I took Bri to the playground. She still loves to swing.

She has the best smile, doesn't she?

So that is my catch up post!

I did get my blood results back and everything is normal. My B12 and Vitamin D are a bit low, so I need to take supplements. There is no doubt that I had some sort of nasty virus last week, but nothing showed up in the blood work. It took a lot out of me. I have been recuperating this week. I am still pretty tired, but I feel so much better. 

One week until fall break! I want to be back to 100% (I'll even take 90%) so Bri and I can have an awesome week!

Soccer Time

It is that time of the year again - soccer season! Briana is on a U6 team - Team Argentina!

There are a couple of girls from her old team on this team and a number of new girls have joined as well. Bri's coach (Coach Kari) has played soccer before and one of her daughter's is on the team. Briana really likes her, and I like her so much better than the two young girls we had a coaching last spring.

The format is a bit different this season. It is 3 again 3 instead of the whole team playing against another whole team with goalies. There are no goalies this time. We play for the Y - and they feel the girls get more ball time and can get more goals and can learn more with this format. Briana is going to have to get used to this type of play.

 She was all smiles the Tuesday before last before practice...

Briana getting to know her teammates...

Briana absolutely loved practice. I, on the other hand, was very sick that evening. But I wanted to see her first practice so I sucked it up and went. I am glad I was able to make it.

Miss B's jersey number is #6!

Then game day rolled around on Saturday at noon. The sun was in and out the whole morning. There was a big threat of rain and it was SO muggy. Briana couldn't stop gulping her water.

They did a few drills before the games and Bri was quite happy...

They played two games - each a half an hour. The first game Briana played - she did pretty well. She didn't seem like herself though. My girl that dominated the ball last season seemed to be letting the other girls just have the ball. She did get two goals, but I know she was capable of more. 

She did make a few great passes. The coach is teaching the girls to concentrate on teamwork and work on passing the ball to each other rather than all the girls just going after the ball on their own and trying to make a goal. Doug actually thinks Briana would be a great mid-fielder. Bri and her teammates won the first game against the girls in the black jerseys...

 Then the second game started. Briana was getting even more tired and less enthusiastic about playing. She did pass the ball a few times and got a goal, but the orange team dominated. When all of our girls were looking tired, the orange team kept pounding. They were beasts!

I wonder if weather (hopefully it will get cooler and cooler) played a part in Bri's mood - as well as a little intimidation. There are several really good girls on the teams this season (her team and other teams). But Bri is really good too. I felt like she was stepping back a bit and letting these good players take over a bit. I don't want her to be intimidated. I want her to fight for the ball - fight like she did in the spring.

Practice occurred again on Tuesday, and Briana's enthusiasm was back. It was a cool and breezy evening and she smiled through the whole practice...

Go Team Argentina!!!!

We have another game tomorrow, and I hope the weather is nice and not too warm. Unfortunately, we have to be at the field an hour early to have individual and team pictures taken. So, the girls have to wait around for pictures for an hour before the games start. I am a bit worried Bri's enthusiasm might wain again due to all the waiting around. Only time will tell.

So, I should hopefully have some cute soccer pictures to post soon. Wish Briana luck at her game tomorrow!

Soaring On The Bungee

You all might remember Briana's first experience on a bungee about four years ago. She was two and completely fearless. 

At 6, she still is fearless. There is something about flying in the air that puts Miss B at ease. It doesn't put me at ease, but it does for her. She went on the bungee twice at the fair.

I like to head over to the bungee when there really isn't anyone waiting in line. Bri gets more attention that way. The operators always seem to sense that she is fearless, so they pull her down and spring her up so she can get more height. This operator asked her if she wanted to try to flip. She did the first time she went on, but it was really the second time that she started getting the hang of it.

Here is her first go...

And this was her second go. She flipped over and over and over again. The sun was just going behind the clouds in these shots and it made for really beautiful pictures...

Here is some video of Briana on the bungee...





The next day, Briana kept complaining her stomach hurt. I thought she was saying that she had an upset stomach, but she was hungry and eating ok. Then she said, "No mama, when I do this (stretching herself), it hurts."

I figured out her stomach muscles were sore from flipping. It takes all those muscles to get yourself to flip over and over like that.

If Briana doesn't become a fashion designer (which I really think she might end up doing one day), she might end up in a job where she can hurtle herself into the sky.