This past weekend we went up to Minneapolis, MN, for the Region 4 Gymnastics Championships (region 4 consists of 6 states: IA, MN, NE, ND, SD, and WI) . They were held at the University of Minnesota. The NCAA Men's Championships were also that weekend (same venue, in the evenings), so on Saturday night, Calvin and I went to see the individual event finals. WOW. Some amazing stuff!
Calvin competed on Sunday morning. There were 123 level 5 gymnasts of all ages, and about 30 or so in his age division (age 9). The meet style was Capital Cup, which means the gymnasts warm up on an event, then compete on that event, etc, etc. Since there were so many gymnasts, they were divided into two "flights", and while flight A was competing on their events, flight B was in the other gym warming up.
On to the videos! Calvin was in flight A, and started on rings. He scored 13.9, good for 16th place:
Next was vault, where he scored 14.4, and 6th place:
On p-bars, he scored 13.5 and 15th place:
He scored 14.5 on high bar, which was good for 5th place:
Calvin changed into his sport glasses for floor (he broke his regular glasses on Easter, and was wearing his backups). He got a 15.1 and 7th place:
He had some difficulty on pommel. He got a score of 13.1:
With an all-around score of 84.5, he got 11th place. (He's the 3rd gymnast on the right):
Practice is year-round, but it'll be nice to have the break from meets. Now it's on to Caleb's soccer games, which start this Saturday!
I've been dreaming and planning my gardening projects for this summer. One of those projects is ripping out some grass and building 3 raised beds for our veggies and strawberries. The grass was torn out 3 weeks ago, the lumber has yet to be purchased.
I live in Zone 5, and stuff usually doesn't get put out in the garden until Memorial Day. This year I am ahead of the game and have started my seeds: Don't they look cute? We've got roma tomatoes there in the front, broccoli on the left in the back, red sunflowers there on the right in the back (yes, I know sunflowers can get sown directly in the ground. Every time I do that, the squirrels dig up the seeds), and watermelons there in the front, in the paper egg carton. I'll be thinning these out and putting them in bigger pots probably next week. I bought some heirloom tomato seeds today, and I hope to find tomatillo seeds soon. Barring that, I hope to find tomatillo plants come late May.
BTW -- anyone know anything about urban beekeeping?
This past weekend was the Wisconsin State Men's Gymnastics Championships. Calvin competed yesterday afternoon. He had been nervous about this meet for almost 2 weeks (unusual for him). Mama? What if I do bad? What if I mess up my floor like I did in Iowa? You'll be fine, Calvin. But what if I do bad?
He did fine.
He started on floor and got a score of 15.1, good for 7th place (level 5 ages 8-9):
Next was pommel, where he felt confident enough to try his flares on the mushroom, and got a personal best score of 13.8:
Then it was on to rings, where he got a score of 13.9 and 16th place:
Vault was next, with a score of 14.5, and 7th place:
His p-bars routine got a score of 14.3, which was a tie for 9th place. He took 10th place (event ties are broken by the all around score):
Last was high bar, where he got a score of 13.6, another tie for 9th place (he took 10th):
His all around score was another personal best of 85.2. Not only that, he got named to the all-state level 5 team (the top 20 boys ages 7-9, by all around score)! This means he gets a t-shirt and gets to go to a Brewer's game with his coaches. He was pretty excited about that (I know it doesn't look like it, but he always gets kinda serious when he sees me taking his picture).
I'm really proud of Calvin. I think he's done very well this season. He started learning 4 of these 6 events last June or July, and I remember tears and frustration from him last summer complaining that he'll never figure out how to do a circle on the mushroom, or he'll never remember his floor routine, or he just can't do a kip. He's come so far and has been so determined and dedicated to improving. We are all so happy and very proud of him.
Today Calvin had another gymnastics meet (I know! A whole month without a meet! He was supposed to have one 2 weeks ago, but it got cancelled). The meet was at M&M Gymnastics, home of Olympian Chellsie Memmel. Calvin did well (level 5 ages 8-9).
This time around he started on vault, and got a score of 14.2:
Next was p-bars, where he got a score of 13.0. There is a deduction each time his coach touches him to prevent him from going over. However, it's good that Calvin being aggressive in going for the handstands, instead of hesitating because he is afraid to fall over. His coaches want to see him going for it:
Then it was on to high bar, where he nailed his routine! His clear hip circle was fantastic, and he got a score of 15.5, and first place:
After high bar, it was on to floor. Again, he did very well, and got a score of 15.4 and 2nd place:
Ah, his most difficult event, pommel horse. He didn't fall off the mushroom! He got a score of 13.5, which I'm pretty sure is a personal best:
He finished on rings, where he got a score of 14.7 and 8th place:
His all-around score was 86.3 (another personal best, I believe), which was good for 10th place. In two weeks he has the State meet, then on to Regionals in April, and then our meet season is DONE. :)
A friend of mine emailed last week that she was starting her "get my body back after baby" program, and was anyone interested in joining her. So, I started running with her last Saturday. One of my goals this year is to get stronger and in better shape. The last time I lost some weight, running is what melted it off. Unfortunately, my knee started really hurting, so I stopped. Some friends suggested that the cause was that I didn't have proper running shoes, so on Friday I went and got fitted for some: I love them, and I've put 6.4 miles on them so far (3 separate runs), and NO knee pain! While I'm still not crazy about the actual running part, I do love the endorphin rush afterwards, and I'm feeling better overall.
My ultimate goal is to do the Danskin this year. It's my last chance if I want to do it before I'm 40. My other goal is that I want to look good in my bikini when we go on our annual camping trip in June. :)
This past weekend was spent in Iowa, for another gymnastics meet. As there was no school on Friday or Monday, we made it a little family vacation, visiting with relatives, who were able to come and watch Calvin compete (even his great-grandmother -- how special is that!). We drove into Des Moines on Friday night (running into a bad snowstorm just at the end of our drive). Saturday afternoon we drove up to Iowa City for the meet, watching a NCAA mens meet that night. Very cool! Sunday morning was Calvin's session, and afterwards we drove back to Des Moines to visit some more. We came home yesterday. Phew! Ok, on to the videos!
This time, Calvin started on rings. He got a score of 14.6, and 4th place (level 5 age 9):
Next was vault, and he stuck his landing! With a score of 14.9, he got first place:
Then it was on to p-bars, where he got a score of 13.2. I can see he is still sometimes hesitant to go all the way up into the handstand. I think he doesn't want to fall over again:
On high bar, he got a score of 13.9 and 4th place:
Then it was floor, where he had a brain fart and botched up his first pass. He did a dive roll instead of a front handspring and realized it while he was doing it! He finished off his routine and was laughing about his mistake afterwards. He got a score of 13.5:
His last event was his nemesis, the pommel horse (actually, it's the mushroom he has trouble on). He got a 12.0:
His all around score was 82.1, which got him on the podium in 6th place. Overall, we had a wonderful time at this meet. There were teams from 8 different states (NE, IA, IL, KS, SD, WI, MN, and ND) and everyone had a good time. I'll definitely sign him up for this meet again next year.
I've been getting a lot of knitting done while sitting at practices. A few weeks ago I finished a Baby Thorpe for my friend Jennifer, who had a little baby girl on January 8. I used Malabrigo worsted for the body, and some other wool for the edge. Isn't it cute? It was done on size 6 needles. I increased to 80 sts, and started the garter stitch when the hat measured 5" from the tip. I also did an extra decrease row on the flaps.
Last Friday I finally got to give it to her in person. Miss Ilsa will now have a toasty warm head for the rest of this winter. It's a wee bit big, but we all know how fast new babies grow, so it should fit her well in no time.
Calvin had another meet today. This time, the format was different. Instead of warming up on all six events and then competing in rotation, the gymnasts warmed up on one event, then competed on it, then rotated to the next event, warmed up on it, competed, etc. He didn't care for this, as he said they didn't get as many turns to warm up. Also, it wasn't just a Level 5 competition, it was Level 5-10 (our particular team only had levels 5 and 6). This meant we got to watch some really cool upper level routines. (Gwen? you asked if I get nervous watching him? Yes, I do! My heart beats faster, and sometimes I'm even a little shaky, though I try to keep the camera steady)
Ok, on to the videos! Today, they started on pommel horse, and Calvin just does not have a good relationship with this apparatus yet. He got a score of 12.1 (level 5 age 9+):
Next was rings, with a score of 13.6, which got him 2nd place:
From rings, they moved over to vault, where he got a score of 14.6, good for first place!
Then it was on to p-bars. I don't know if you can see, but his hand touched the floor on his landing. That's a big deduction, and he still got a score of 14.0:
Next was his high bar routine (and between you and me, this judge scored our team pretty low in my opinion). He got a score of 11.5:
He finished on floor this time around, and just nailed his routine! His score was 15.2 and that meant first place:
With an all around score of 81, he got 2nd place. We have another meet next weekend; this one is out of state. It should be a lot of fun, and we'll also get to watch a NCAA college meet. How cool is that???
Lisa was right -- that patch certainly did look like something James T. Kirk would have. Tomorrow is the annual Music for Munchkins concert that is given by the high school. This year the theme is Outer Space, and the orchestra teacher requested something "star trek-ish". :) Her students wanted something cyborg or Borg (because of her name), but we decided to go classic Star Trek, a la Captain Kirk: Not too bad?? It's not authentic (no raglan sleeves), but you certainly get the feel, no? By the way, did you know how much info there is out there on Star Trek uniforms? A lot.
Are you wondering why I used hotpatterns as one of my tags? That's because I used the HP Cosmo Dress top as my base. It was handy and already had a bust dart. I eyeballed the v-neck, added length, and slimmed the sleeve. I like how the neckline turned out, and boy was this sucker fast to make.
Unfortunately, my family and I are not able to go to the concert because Calvin has another gymnastics meet. :( We are kinda sad (the meet will still be fun). It's going to be really neat, with E.T., Mr. Spock, Luke Skywalker, and even some space zombies making appearances.
Calvin had another meet yesterday, and did quite well. His grandmother came all the way from Arizona to watch him compete, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He also had a surprise in store for us that he would not tell us about (and then slipped up and told us anyway. We decided we can scratch CIA operative off his list of possible careers. ^_^).
This time around, they started on high bar. His surprise was that he has finally gotten his kip! He scored 13.9 and got 4th place in the 9 year old age division:
Next was floor, which I think he did very well on. His score was 14.9 and that was good for 2nd place:
Pommel seems to be his weakest event. He got a 12.4 this time around:
On rings he scored a 14.2, good for 4th place:
His vault got a score of 14.6 and 2nd place:
On p-bars he got a 13.8 and 5th place. More importantly, he didn't fall:
His all around score was 83.8, good for 5th place overall in his age division. He was quite pleased with his routines and his six medals!
I finshed a hat for Calvin yesterday at practice. This was such a fast hat to make! This was also my first experience with Malabrigo, and Yarndude? you were totally right, this stuff is great. The pattern is Thorpe, a top-down hat with flaps. I made a medium, and it's a bit big. Rav project page is here. Look at the cute baby variation she has too! I'll be trying that one next, for a friend who had a little girl last Thursday. Calvin also wants me to put a pom pom on top. As I said, I finished this at practice last night, and one of the coaches saw it and practically begged me to make one for him. :) So, Calvin and I will go back to Loop and he'll pick out some yarn for Dave's hat.
Now, about those bones.... On Friday, Caleb slipped on the ice on his way to school. He hopped home (he had only made it to the next door neighbor), and said, "Mama? I fell down." I took one look at his now very swollen ankle and paged the doc. She said to take him to the ER or the clinic, so I took him over to the Urgent Care clinic. Two hours and four x-rays later, we were sent home with crutches and a boot, with instructions to call later on in the day for the final radiologist report. That came back as a possible distal fibula fracture (and it is) and instructions to see an orthopaedic doctor. We did so on Monday morning, and Caleb now has a cool black cast for the next six weeks. He also now is out for soccer, out for the snowboarding/ski club at school, and out for the next few scout campouts. :( The cast is a chick magnet, though. :)
Calvin had another meet this weekend. It was at our gym, which meant I had to help set up, tear down, and work a concessions shift. We both worked Saturday night (Calvin was a runner -- he would bring the scores over to the computer), which meant we got to also watch Levels 7-10 compete. Pretty cool!
He competed yesterday afternoon. He told me he was a little nervous, since they were the host team. Like last time, they started on floor. He got a 13.7, and 5th place in his age division (8-9):
Next was pommel horse. He got a 13.2, and 10th place:
Then he did rings, earning a score of 13.7 and 12th place:
Next was vault. He was pretty happy with it, as you'll see. He got a score of 14.3, which was part of a 4 or 5 way tie for 6th, but he got 9th place (to break a tie, they go to the all around score):
On p-bars he had some trouble. He got a score of 11.4:
Last was high bar. He is just so close to getting his kip! I watched him do one in practice on Friday. He got a score of 14.1 and 4th place:
His all around score was 80.4, and that got him 10th place. He was pretty happy, and it was so cute to see all the boys shaking hands and congratulating each other during the awards presentation.
I'm not going to bother with a review of 2008, as I seemed to really lose my sewing mojo, i completely lost track of fabric in/out and $ spent, and my goals were lost by the wayside a long time ago. :) I think I completed a whopping 4 or 5 items. whoo hoo!
BUT -- 2009 is a new beginning, right? Here's to a great new year!
Calvin had his first gymnastics meet of the season today, and did pretty well! He placed 14th in his level (5) and age division (7-9) with his All Around score (79.6), out of 46 boys. Considering that six months ago he had never even been on 3 of the 6 apparatus (rings, pommel, and p-bars), that's great!
Before I get to the videos, I want to let you know that there is a new scoring system. If you watched the Olympics, you saw gymnasts get scores above 10, such as 16.325. In 2006, FIG instituted a new scoring system that combines an execution score (where the 10.0 would be awarded for a perfect routine) with a degree of difficulty score (such as 6.5, this is decided by the skills that are combined in the routine). This year the new scoring system is being used not just in the elite levels but in all levels. So, the boys are now getting scores like 13.8, or 14.1. At Calvin's level, all boys do the same routines, so in order to get the higher scores, one tries for bonus points. For instance, on floor, bonus points are awarded for holding the press to handstand for 3 seconds, or for doing 2 back handsprings at the end of the routine instead of 1. (Trust me, I don't understand it all yet either)
Ok, on to the videos! Unfortunately half of his floor routine is out of focus because it was quite crowded downstairs in the actual gym, so I was trying to get pictures from upstairs. (word of advice: taking video through glass doesn't work) Here is his floor routine, with a score of 14.1:
I then moved down into the gym. Next, his pommel horse routine, with a score of 11.2. Pommel horse does not get the nickname "the beast" for nothing:
Currently, Calvin's favorite apparatus is the rings. Bonus points are given if one can do the muscle-up (a pull-up that transitions into a dip. It's the first skill he does in the routine) without help. He got a 14.2:
On vault he got a 14.0. Bonus points are scored for height:
He got a score of 12.8 on the parallel bars:
His last event was high bar. He is so close to getting his kip (he's managed to do it once or twice), and when he does, he'll get bonus points for doing it on his own. He got a score of 13.3 yesterday:
I had a really fun time watching him compete. Now he has about 3 weeks to refine his routines for the next meet.
My 20 year high school reunion was last night, and I needed a new dress. I chose to finally make HotPatterns Deco Vibe Cosmopolitan Dress, after having this pattern for ages. I traced off a size 10, but then started thinking that it might be a bit small, so I serged the whole thing together using 1/4" seams. I needn't have worried, as it's a wee big. The only other adjustment I did was to add the constrast bands, like Jalie 2449. I used the long version of the skirt, shortening it 4" before I cut it out, and then shortening it another 1" before I put in a 1" hem.
This is a quick dress to make. I think I took more time deciding which fabric to use and cutting it than actually sewing it. The fabric was from my 'collection', bought locally, and the black contrast is powerdry, since that's what I had and I started this Friday night after supper. I was finished by Saturday afternoon, and I had taken some breaks to feed people, do the housework thing, and paint my toenails (important stuff, you know!). I wore it last night to my reunion, with a black cami (since it's a bit big, it's also a bit low) and my black patent boots. It'll make a nice holiday dress too.
FYI -- HotPatterns is doing a buy one/get one free sale right now, but only through midnight Monday. I've got my eye on the Kimono Wrap dress.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a lovely day, though my brother and his family were not able to come due to sick kidlets. :( We had my mother, my friend Beth, her dad and his wife: Our yummy meal consisted of turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (I tried a new recipe which was delish), cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls (another new recipe I tried and was also a success).
After gorging ourselves, we took a game break before having dessert, and played a few games of Horse Race.
Then we had dessert: pumpkin pie, apple pie (still warm from the oven), banana cream pie and tiramisu (not pictured, sorry!). It was all soooo good!!!
Tomorrow I plan to spend most of the day sewing my dress for my HS reunion on Saturday. The pattern is traced off, but that's as far as I've gotten!
Gwen, of After the Dress, tagged me for this bookworm meme I've seen going 'round. The meme says to pick up the closest book, open to page 56, and copy the 5th sentence, plus a few more for context. We've been discussing Advent traditions/ideas on the DAR board at Ravelry, so right now the closest book I have is Celebrate Jesus! At Christmas: Family Devotions for Advent Through Epiphany.
Page 56 is in the section for the third week of Advent (the Bethlehem Candle), and is the hymn Away In A Manger.
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus Laid down His sweet Head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes. I love Thee, Lord Jesus. Look down from the sky And stay by my side until morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay Close by me forever, and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.
I stopped at Target today after Calvin's gymnastics practice for some cleaning supplies. While we were there we did a little Christmas shopping for Connor (since he had stayed home), and I finally found a wooden Advent calendar I like! I never thought I was too picky, but I guess I am: it couldn't have Santa, it couldn't be 'country' or juvenile, it couldn't cost $100, and it had to have decent sized boxes/windows. This is the one I bought (looking online I like this one too).
Advent starts next Sunday, I need to get some goodies for the calendar now!
I got my hair done today: I have a bunch of uniforms to hem, and then I need to get started on a dress for my 20 year high school reunion (on the 29th). I'm planning to do the Hot Patterns Cosmopolitan Dress.
