Lauren's First Gymnastics Meet

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Here in Las Vegas (or at least the gym Lauren belongs to), they allow Level 3 advanced to compete in a couple of meets. It gives them practice for the "real thing" and lets them get their feet wet as far as if they want to even be in competitions. Historically, Lauren is not that competitive. Shane thinks she gets it from me, but really I am pretty competitive (at least with myself). I don't like to lose, I am just okay if I do. Lauren is okay if she wins, loses, or whatever. So, Shane and I were both a little concerned competition might not be for her. Well, we fixed the hair and added the glitter (a necessary part of competition, as we have come to find out)! We have done the hair back and tight two other times and there were a lot of tears. This time there were less. I have hopes we may be able to do it someday without any tears! The meet went great! She loved it and really stepped it up from her practices. She was in a group with 12 other girls and she consistently stayed in the higher scores. Her best score was on her worst event - vault. This poor child cannot run and when she does it is flat footed. For a tiny petite little thing, she sounds like an elephant. BUT, she managed to get off the springboard into a handstand forward roll. It wasn't too shabby and got her an 8.70. A very admirable score. Her floor routine was also decent. She can do the motions, but she doesn't always make her movements deliberate. I think this is where her deductions came from. She got an 8.35 on her floor routine. All the girls at this level do all the same routines. She doesn't get to make up her own until she is at least a level 7, I think. Until then, there are compulsory routines and premade ones. On bars, which is her strongest event, she overrotated her hip circle and ended up having to remount. Her mill circle was great and her dismount was beautiful! She arched and landed. She still pulled out a 7.0 on this event. Her beam routine was the best, though. She rocked it. She did fall doing a split jump, but her jump was higher than the other girls'. She pulled out an 8.1 with the fall. It was an awesome score. She ended up taking 3rd place in her age group. If she hadn't fallen on either event, she would have taken first. It was that close. She is very excited for the next meet in two weeks. This one will be at another gym, so the competition will be different. We can't wait to see what she does there.

Name that Tune...

Okay, my friend, Loni, has posted and challenged...now I can show what a nerd I am with my songs. (BTW, I knew none of hers!)

How to Play...
Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing (and believe me, mine are!)
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or ANY other search engine is CHEATING!
*** NOTE: Cheaters Never Prosper *** Don't do it!!!!
Step 5: If you like the game, post your own.

I may have made it too easy on some lines and too hard on others...Have fun! Please play...

1. It's always more fun to share with everyone

2. This town ain't big, this town ain't small...it's a little of both, they say.

3. You're not alone, together we stand.

4. This one'll never sell

5. Evening's upon us my little one

6. Someday I'm gonna be famous

7. Tonight it's very clear as we're both lying here - "Glory of Love" - Peter Cetera

8. Mister Morton is the subject of my sentence and what the predicate says he does

9. Yeah...I been so lost lately

10. Everytime our eyes meet this feeling inside me is almost more than I can take

11. Here we stand, worlds apart hearts broken in two

12. Am I really here in your arms

13. Where is the moment we needed the most?

14. Here we go...There once was a time...

15. Suntanned toes ticklin' the sand

16. It's hard to remember how it felt before

17. I got my sights set on you

18. One day when I came home at lunchtime

19. Maybe it's intuition, but some things you don't question

20. Baby we can talk all night...but that ain't gettin us no where - "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad" - Meatloaf - Yes, I have a monster crush on him!!!

21. Christopher Robin and I walked along - It's actually "Return to Pooh Corner" - Kenny Loggins (I used to sing it to Lauren as we danced around the living room - I still make her sit on my lap sometimes when it plays...)

22. She's going out to forget they were together

23. Well, I remember every little thing - "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" - Meatloaf - yep, again. I am surprised two came up in the mix, though.

24. Dark in the city, night is a wire - "Hungry Like the Wolf" - Duran Duran

25. I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

Yes, these are all truly on my iPod and I also have some on there that didn't even come up in the first 25 - Mamma Mia Soundtrack songs (the play, not the movie), Chess (Broadway show - US Version), Joshua Kadison, Bobby McFerrin, Bob Marley, and many, many others.

Visit from the Fisher's

Keith and Amy Fisher and their two girls, Samantha and Madeline, were our next door neighbors in Tucson. Actually, when we first moved to Tucson a little over 12 years ago, they lived about 6 houses down the street from us. They were some of our first babysitters. We moved to the next street over when Lauren was 3. When our other neighbors moved, I told Keith and Amy and they bought the house. We all went to the same church and really enjoyed each other's company. They would drop by all the time, especially after Samantha and Maddy were born. (We are the house with all the candy, you know!)

We have truly been blessed with wonderful neighbors over the years. Mike and Sandy, Steve and Sonia, Pete and Collyn, Jason and Nicole, and others who didn't live directly next door to us, but were close and of course, the Fisher's.

We saw Keith a couple of weekends ago when he was here going visiting a college buddy of his. They invited Shane to join them for a U of A football game here and then we went to breakfast with him the next morning. Lauren and I begged him to come back after Christmas to visit us with the girls. He agreed.

They decided to come on the 26th. They were spending Christmas with Keith's sister and her family in Phoenix, so they figured they were already mostly here. After a wrong turn turned their trip into a tri-state travel extravaganza (you will have to ask Amy about that), they arrived. Lauren and the girls (aged 6 and 4) were soooo excited to see each other!

They were only here a short time. We played Rock Band and Mario Kart Saturday morning. We went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner, visited the M&M store, I took girls home to bed, Shane, Keith, and Amy lost money at the South Point Casino on Saturday night. Sunday morning we went to the Silverton for a buffet brunch (you have to do at least one buffet while in Vegas). It was a whirlwind visit, but hopefully won't be the last one...

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Christmas in Vegas

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We were scrooges this year. The only tree we put up was a 6" tree I bought for Lauren at Urban Outfitters with some little ornaments. I didn't even get a picture taken of it...bah humbug! We have been in the house a couple of months, but still don't have everything where it should go. Mostly because stuff just doesn't go in this house... Anyway, we didn't want to drag down all the indoor Christmas stuff because that would require us looking through what we already put away to find it. We were already disappointed because we LOVE putting up outdoor lights and trim and other such stuff and this is not the house to do it. We try to stay pretty tasteful, but have creeped somewhat into tacky at times. We also loved that our street in Tucson was really into decorating as well. This house is in a little cul de sac of sorts that faces the backs of other houses. We are also in the very back of our development. AND, the house is not conducive to hanging lights (not that anyone would see them if we did!). If I sound somewhat bitter, I probably am a little. Christmas lights are really about the only tradition the Crosley's have that is somewhat in line with traditionalists. We are not really all that traditional in any holiday. We used to throw a mean Super Bowl party and we are great at Leap Year parties (ask and I can fill you in if you want to start your own tradition). But, mainstream holidays really elude us as to how to celebrate. We eat out on Thanksgiving and Christmas (and pretty much every other holiday).

In our early years, we had a two foot tree given to us by one of my friends. She actually decorated it and set it up for our first few years of marriage. Once Lauren was born, we had the Christmas ficus. I just threw some lights on our fake ficus tree and presents went under that. Then, in a burst of holiday spirit, came the Christmas garland - it had lights and ornaments, but was just a garland. We got a 6 foot tree a few years ago and Lauren is the one who puts the ornaments on it. I put it up and wrap it with ribbon. It is gold and maroon. Sometimes cookies are made, but mostly not. Lauren would love for us to be more traditional and every year I vow to try a little harder, but...

This year, the holiday spirit was just not here. We are not surrounded by family or friends and while there are some plusses to that, there are some minuses too.

I guess we just have to find our Vegas groove. Maybe next year will be more traditional...or maybe not.

Lauren's cake

Quick post on a cake Lauren wanted to make. We bought a funfetti cake and after I frosted it, Lauren wanted to put on all the sprinkles. I would have just dumped the sprinkles and let them fall where they will, but not Lauren...

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This is really incredible since she is really not a perfectionist, nor is she patient with art type activities!

Snow in Vegas...SNOW in VEGAS???

Yep, most of you have already heard - it was all over the news! We got 4-6" on the ground...and it stuck for a couple of days! It was amazing. Shane had told me before we moved here the summers were a little hotter than Tucson (which I knew), but the winters were colder (which I did not know). I didn't think he meant this much colder! Actually, it was a freak of nature apparently. This snowfall was the most Vegas has seen in 30 years. I tried to take videos of snow falling, but it is very difficult to capture flakes of snow falling on a white background, so no go on those. Lauren got another snow day (she had a freakish snow day once in Tucson after the Super Bowl snow of '06, I think). Poor baby could only play outside for a tiny bit as she does not have any snow gear other than a coat. Crocs do not do well in snow for protection from cold and wet. She wanted to make snow ice cream, but the snow wasn't as clean as it should be (especially after falling though our smog layer). We told her Colorado and Wyoming snow is much better for ice cream.

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Lauren and the Rock Wall

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Lauren is obsessed with Rock Walls. She is too afraid to go very high, but wants to try them everytiime we are near one. Dick's Sporting Goods, at the Galleria Mall here in Vegas, has a wall you can climb for $2 or $3 with their customer card. It is a great bargain. We don't make it over there too often, but when we do, she climbs.