Sunday, January 12, 2014
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Tampa Bay Classic
Today was Faith's first meet. We had to be up at 5:30 to be on the road by 6:30. The meet was held at St. Leo University. It was about an hour drive. You could feel the girls excitement when she walked through the door... lots of smiles and hugs. The first event was bars. Faith hit her toes on the fly away during warm-up, a few tears were shed. When she actually competed, the first half was awesome, as she held that handstand- I held my breath. The last part, she smacked her toes again. Lots more tears. If you watch the bar as she dismounts it vibrates. Ouch!!! Faith is tough, she doesn't cry easily, so you know it had to hurt. She still scored an 8.425 despite the fall. Next time, she will see that high score. Her goal was 9.2.
Next up was beam. I think every parent that has a child competing in gymnastics holds their breath during this event. For those who don't realize, these girls are throwing tricks on a 4 inch wide beam. Her beam was amazing- a few wobbles. She scored a 9.225. Her goal was 9.0.
Then came my favorite- floor. She has always been a strong tumbler. The first time walking out they had trouble with her music. She sat in her pose for 24 seconds before her coach pulled her off the floor. It took a few minutes before all the kinks were worked out. I was hoping she wasn't going to have to perform with no music. She had a great routine scoring a 9.35. Her goal on floor 9.3.
Last event was vault. I can never capture video because it is always tucked away in a back corner. Faith weighs a whoopin' 68 lbs- so she needs to hit that spring board hard. She looked good. She took a few extra steps. She scored- 8.425. Her goal was 9.0- next time she'll have it.
Her final score was 35.45 which qualified her for State. She placed well for her group. She competed against 14 other girls in her session. Vault- she didn't place, Bars- 5th place, Beam-2nd place, and Floor-2nd place. She placed 3rd place AA- (all-around). It was a good meet to start the season. The next meet will be in Orlando ESPN at Disney.
I am so impressed with LeFleur's. She came in with some trouble on her bars. Her giant has been a struggle, but within a week, Steve had her confidence up. The first time I saw it in a practice, I was almost in tears. No more froggy moves. The other coaches- Alicia, Amanda, Lisa, Billy, and Jeff have also been such a strong support since we came to them. They made her transition easy. Thanks LeFleur's!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Gator Camp
Faith had a fantastic time at Gator camp this last week at UF. Once we registered, we spent the next couple hours helping the girls decorate their dorm room in a Hawaiian theme. She gained many new skills and accomplished many personal goals she set for herself. She developed new friendships with gymnasts and coaches. She was chosen as 'Camper of the Day'- Tuesday, and 'Camper of the Week' today. They are chosen by the hard work they put in as gymnast, how they treat their fellow teammates. Basically, going above and beyond. Her team, "The Fancy Flamingo's" won 1st place for the spirit award.
The video I made is pictures for the first 1:15, then has the dance they performed. As I watched the girls you could tell those who were comfortable in front of crowds. It was fun watching Faith- she really had a good time with the song.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Simple Woman
Hosted by Peggy@http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com*****************************
Outside my window~It's sunny, but with a chill in the air. The bay is calm and smooth.
I am thinking~About all I want to accomplish in this coming week. How hard it's going to be to give up soda.
I am thankful for~Wonderful friends.
From the learning room~It's quiet right now. Monday will get back on task from the Thanksgiving break.
I am wearing~ Capri sweat pants, and a yellow tank.
I am creating~ A new blog page and post.
I am going~ I am going to kick back today and watch a movie, maybe some football.
I am reading~A Midwife's Story- the friend that gave it to me was a midwife to the Amish.
I am hoping~For this month to pass by quickly. Well, until the 23rd when the kids arrive. Then I hope time stops.
I am hearing~Multiple sounds. Music from my son's room. The Sykping ring from my daughter's room and football in the living room.
Around the house~ We pulled out all the Christmas decorations. We will start decorating slowly. We decided on a fake tree. It's just not the same.
One my favorite things~Holiday dinner's when friends and family crowd my house. The sound of children's laughter.
Plans for the week~ School, decorate the house, write goals for the coming weeks.
. Faithy and Dominic from Christmas 2008. I am so looking forward to this coming Christmas!!Monday, September 20, 2010
Faith's birthday
We had a really good time on Faith's birthday. It was her golden birthday, she turned 11 on the 11th, so I set the party for 11:00. We started her day at Let Them Eat Cake. The girls started off getting their aprons and munching on veggie's. Which was good considering all the sugar that was available later in the party. Then they all got to make their own pizza's. They rolled out the dough and put whatever toppings they wanted on. Most the girls chose pepperoni. While the pizza was cooking they set out to decorate their own cakes.
While Chef Jason was laying out the candy and frosting he was singing the song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...who could make a rainbow. After sampling candy they set out decorating their cakes, many of the girls got very creative. Some were simplistic, while others went for how much candy can they fit on the cake. After they were done they boxed them up and got ready for lunch. It smelled so delicious. He also sent out a large salad and chicken fingers. They finished up the party by singing Happy Birthday to Faith and eating cake.
Once we got home she opened all the presents. She received many gift cards, so shopping was next on the agenda. We ended up valet parking because the weather looked nasty and there were no close parking spots. The International Mall is amazing. She was on a mission so we hit Sephora first. This make-up store had everything, she had a blast shopping. Then it was on to Aeropostle, Abercrombie and Justice. She knew what she wanted and the cards were spent quickly. I kicked $10 to $20 extra at each store. We stopped at Starbucks on the way out.
That evening she chose Crabby Bills in Clearwater. She chowed down on king crab and clam chowder. The restaurant brought her out a piece of cheesecake for dessert. It was a fun day with friends and part of the family.
While Chef Jason was laying out the candy and frosting he was singing the song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...who could make a rainbow. After sampling candy they set out decorating their cakes, many of the girls got very creative. Some were simplistic, while others went for how much candy can they fit on the cake. After they were done they boxed them up and got ready for lunch. It smelled so delicious. He also sent out a large salad and chicken fingers. They finished up the party by singing Happy Birthday to Faith and eating cake.
Once we got home she opened all the presents. She received many gift cards, so shopping was next on the agenda. We ended up valet parking because the weather looked nasty and there were no close parking spots. The International Mall is amazing. She was on a mission so we hit Sephora first. This make-up store had everything, she had a blast shopping. Then it was on to Aeropostle, Abercrombie and Justice. She knew what she wanted and the cards were spent quickly. I kicked $10 to $20 extra at each store. We stopped at Starbucks on the way out.
That evening she chose Crabby Bills in Clearwater. She chowed down on king crab and clam chowder. The restaurant brought her out a piece of cheesecake for dessert. It was a fun day with friends and part of the family.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Back to School
Living in Florida is wonderful, but I do miss the changes in the trees that I would be seeing soon in Oregon. Waking up to the crisp mornings and sitting by the fireplace with a cup of something warm to start your day.
We are back in the swing of school. Faith is starting the fifth grade. You can check out her blog to see the curriculum we chose this year at weeziesblogspot.blogspot.com
She is going to try to keep her blog updated with how her school year is going, and what is new with gymnastics.
Elliott is a senior this year. He will be completing his senior year online. The public schools were not willing to give us the time of day, and wanted to have him repeat his Junior year because they would not accept his Oregon credits. We felt this was ludicrous! He can work as fast or slow as he wants to complete. He would like to be done by January. He is working on getting his license and just landed a job as lifeguard at the base. He also just finished working on a music video in Orlando, it was a great experience for him.
Gregg has been home awhile now which has been nice. With his career you never know when he will be gone again. We have about three more years in the military before he can retire.
We are back in the swing of school. Faith is starting the fifth grade. You can check out her blog to see the curriculum we chose this year at weeziesblogspot.blogspot.com
She is going to try to keep her blog updated with how her school year is going, and what is new with gymnastics.
Elliott is a senior this year. He will be completing his senior year online. The public schools were not willing to give us the time of day, and wanted to have him repeat his Junior year because they would not accept his Oregon credits. We felt this was ludicrous! He can work as fast or slow as he wants to complete. He would like to be done by January. He is working on getting his license and just landed a job as lifeguard at the base. He also just finished working on a music video in Orlando, it was a great experience for him.
Gregg has been home awhile now which has been nice. With his career you never know when he will be gone again. We have about three more years in the military before he can retire.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
It's Been Awhile
Things have been crazy at the Ramsdell house. So much has changed since I last wrote. Gregg was gone for almost six months overseas. Again, it is tough every time he leaves since he isn't the run of the mill solider. Not that any man or woman that serves isn't a blessing to our country. I made it through with the help of friends and my strong willed spirit. Those days I felt weak, I dug deep because I knew I had a job to keep the households running and Faith on schedule with school.
We had a chance to visit some good friends in Oklahoma, so we got our snow fix we miss being home in Oregon. Misty and Shannon are great people and it's always hard to say goodbye.
As of May 1st, Elliott has come to join us in Florida. It has been so much fun! We have an amazing relationship and have a great time hanging together. He said the sweetest thing to me today. A few friends asked him if he was making any friends,(which he has) but he told them I don't need friends... I have my mom. I wanted to record that moment, that's rare to hear from a seventeen year old's mouth. He will be a senior next year and will complete it online. We tried hard to get him in a public school, but the public school system here was very unaccommodating. Gee, what a shock! The virtual school will still have teachers that instruct him via the web.
Life in Florida has been wonderful. We have met and made friends with many people from all over the world. People from France, Greece, Albania, Switzerland, Holland, Italy. It is good for the kids to grow up being exposed to so many cultures. It is also nice to hop on a plane and be in New York or D.C. in a couple hours.
I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog. It just seems that everyday life keeps you so busy and time flys by.
We had a chance to visit some good friends in Oklahoma, so we got our snow fix we miss being home in Oregon. Misty and Shannon are great people and it's always hard to say goodbye.
As of May 1st, Elliott has come to join us in Florida. It has been so much fun! We have an amazing relationship and have a great time hanging together. He said the sweetest thing to me today. A few friends asked him if he was making any friends,(which he has) but he told them I don't need friends... I have my mom. I wanted to record that moment, that's rare to hear from a seventeen year old's mouth. He will be a senior next year and will complete it online. We tried hard to get him in a public school, but the public school system here was very unaccommodating. Gee, what a shock! The virtual school will still have teachers that instruct him via the web.
Life in Florida has been wonderful. We have met and made friends with many people from all over the world. People from France, Greece, Albania, Switzerland, Holland, Italy. It is good for the kids to grow up being exposed to so many cultures. It is also nice to hop on a plane and be in New York or D.C. in a couple hours.
I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog. It just seems that everyday life keeps you so busy and time flys by.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Faith's First Mock Meet Level 7
Faithy had her first mock meet today. She has been on pins and needles because her coach had final say if she could compete today. She had an x-ray on her knee this week. She has tendinitis and water is starting to gather at the knee. Lately, she has been the Motrin queen along with ice and heat. She did compete but quite wasn't on her game. She had to scratch vault, but when they did awards they gave her an honary mention ribbon. We are taking some time off until after the first and give her knee some time to heal. The Optional season is starting and she needs time to heal. The first one will be Jan 19 and she will finish in April. She is starting culinary classes Monday, at Let Them Eat Cake. Chef Jason has some great classes and she went to his school for a week a few years back. This next week should be fun and she'll bring home lots of goodies. Monday we are going together for the mother/daughter class.
Today was the first time ever she fell on beam, but being the little trooper got right back up.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Ramblings of an Exhausted Wife
It all started a few days ago. My daughter was losing her voice, but I chalked it up to her competition and sleepover. By that evening, she was having a hard time swallowing. By midnight, she is in tears. She is very tough, so when the tears flow I know she is hurting. Gregg had to get up really early, so I decided to take her to emergency. The closest one is about thirty minutes away. I assured Gregg I would be fine and would call him when I got there. I knew that there was a children’s hospital past the Buccaneers Stadium. Walking from the parking lot to the hospital were some interesting characters. I kept my key in between my fingers just in case. She was treated for the onset of strep. I got about an hour sleep that night. I know Mom’s can relate when you’re worried about your kid.
She got a new puppy recently. Harley is a West Highland Terrier. He is an early Christmas present. He loves my daughter to pieces. They are attached at the hip. I had to kennel him because he would leave her alone. I decided to bathe him when I noticed these little black things on him. They were ticks! Not just one, like twenty. Poor baby, he was good as I used finger nail clippers to get them out. These were in the louse stage, so they weren’t burrowing as fast. Then I did what every person does, I start going on a cleaning spree.
I had to stop long enough to bring my hubby dinner. Of course, having an hour sleep from the night before, I had a hard time keeping my attention and it was pouring rain. Those who live in Florida know when I say rain… it’s like the gates of hell opened up!
Back home to more cleaning, ugh! When I get to my daughters room, what was coming from the baseboard and windows-ticks! She is lying on her bed and I spot one, I yell at her to get up. I give her the once over and have to move her to the couch. I went down to the maintenance guys place and had him come over. I think he even got the heebie geebies. We killed what we could see and then shut her room up.
Yesterday, I think someone really hated me. Have you ever had one of those days when nothing goes right? We talked with the general manager; she came and took a look. I showed her where they were coming from. She looked at us and said, “I don’t think you have an infestation.” At that moment, one was crawling on her pant leg. Really! We made a plan of action. At first, I wanted to move to a whole new place; because reading these things can hatch every 3 to 7 days, but agreed to try some things before packing up. So we have been moved to a corporate apartment. It’s nice we have a view of the Tampa Bay. Ours is just as nice, I usually view a beautiful courtyard.
As we are waiting to be moved, I decided to call my girlfriend Misty. I look at on our terrace and the pup is on the other side on the ledge! My daughter and I go out, trying to talk him back. I would have leaned over myself except I was working on 4 hours sleep in two days. I probably would have gone head first over. He gets almost back and then falls. My daughter screams running for the door. We are on the second story. Luckily, his fall was broken by the bushes below. When he hit, he barked then ran off…like what the heck? My daughter scooped him up. He was okay, thank God.
Finally, we get moved in time to take her to gymnastics. She wasn’t going to participate, except on beam. I had to make a payment, forgetting my check book I went to the ATM next door. It was broken, gee what a shock! So these last few days for me have been crazy with lack of sleep, sick kid, and being displaced.
It will be mid-week before I go back to see how my place is. They will have a cleaning service come in, I am going to help because no ever meets my standards of clean. Hopefully, all is good to move back. I just hope the rest of this week goes without a hitch. A girlfriend called this morning concerned. She told me I looked like the whole world was on my shoulders last night. I didn’t talk with anyone simply because I would have lost it. Today has been better- thank goodness.
She got a new puppy recently. Harley is a West Highland Terrier. He is an early Christmas present. He loves my daughter to pieces. They are attached at the hip. I had to kennel him because he would leave her alone. I decided to bathe him when I noticed these little black things on him. They were ticks! Not just one, like twenty. Poor baby, he was good as I used finger nail clippers to get them out. These were in the louse stage, so they weren’t burrowing as fast. Then I did what every person does, I start going on a cleaning spree.I had to stop long enough to bring my hubby dinner. Of course, having an hour sleep from the night before, I had a hard time keeping my attention and it was pouring rain. Those who live in Florida know when I say rain… it’s like the gates of hell opened up!
Back home to more cleaning, ugh! When I get to my daughters room, what was coming from the baseboard and windows-ticks! She is lying on her bed and I spot one, I yell at her to get up. I give her the once over and have to move her to the couch. I went down to the maintenance guys place and had him come over. I think he even got the heebie geebies. We killed what we could see and then shut her room up.
Yesterday, I think someone really hated me. Have you ever had one of those days when nothing goes right? We talked with the general manager; she came and took a look. I showed her where they were coming from. She looked at us and said, “I don’t think you have an infestation.” At that moment, one was crawling on her pant leg. Really! We made a plan of action. At first, I wanted to move to a whole new place; because reading these things can hatch every 3 to 7 days, but agreed to try some things before packing up. So we have been moved to a corporate apartment. It’s nice we have a view of the Tampa Bay. Ours is just as nice, I usually view a beautiful courtyard.
As we are waiting to be moved, I decided to call my girlfriend Misty. I look at on our terrace and the pup is on the other side on the ledge! My daughter and I go out, trying to talk him back. I would have leaned over myself except I was working on 4 hours sleep in two days. I probably would have gone head first over. He gets almost back and then falls. My daughter screams running for the door. We are on the second story. Luckily, his fall was broken by the bushes below. When he hit, he barked then ran off…like what the heck? My daughter scooped him up. He was okay, thank God.
Finally, we get moved in time to take her to gymnastics. She wasn’t going to participate, except on beam. I had to make a payment, forgetting my check book I went to the ATM next door. It was broken, gee what a shock! So these last few days for me have been crazy with lack of sleep, sick kid, and being displaced.
It will be mid-week before I go back to see how my place is. They will have a cleaning service come in, I am going to help because no ever meets my standards of clean. Hopefully, all is good to move back. I just hope the rest of this week goes without a hitch. A girlfriend called this morning concerned. She told me I looked like the whole world was on my shoulders last night. I didn’t talk with anyone simply because I would have lost it. Today has been better- thank goodness.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Update
Faithy is winding down her compulsory season. Her last meet she took first all-around. She placed first on beam, second on floor, third on bars, and third on vault. They had a handstand contest with all the teams that participated,and she won! She will start prep-op Level 7 in January. Svetlana will be back to hone the routines they worked on. We are so ready.
We had a good Halloween, it was not a typical Halloween for us. It was still so hot at night that the kids were sucking on ice cubes. We carved Faithy's pumpkin two days before Halloween, and it was soupy with grey hair the day after...ick!
School has been going good this year, Faith started her own blog. We try to update every Wednesday. This last week, we got behind because my hubby celebrated his 51st birthday. We had an amazing day. I made him a really nice breakfast. We played 18 holes of golf, stopping to eat lunch. Then that evening we went to Bern's. This restaurant is an experience.
The menu was 20 pages, including a 60 oz. steak that will feed six for $230.00. They have a variety of foods. The service is amazing. The waiters have to train in the kitchen for two years before they are even allowed to wait on the floor. They cater to your every need, with knowledge of everything on the menu, and how it is prepared. When you finish dinner, they give you a tour of the kitchen and wine cellar. It was fun seeing all the action, in the individual sections. After the tour, we made reservations for upstairs to have dessert. You sat in huge tables shaped like wine barrels, with another 15 page dessert menu. The valet parking is nice, because you don't feel like walking far when you are finished. I personally, had a bad case of sunstroke, but I lived vicariously through Gregg and Faithy.
We are preparing for Gregg's trip. He will be leaving overseas again, the first week of December. There is a lot of things to squish into this month, but we will do our best to try. I will keep you updated.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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