Give me a Cheer

Last night we had a quiz night for K's new Cheer club, which she has been attending for a few weeks. The girls all had a chance to perform their Cheer routine for the guests. K had a great time, though turned into a pumpkin, understandably, when it was time to finish up, being 11pm at night. Although similar to our previous stint with acrobatics, I'm happy to say that makeup is fairly minimal (red lipstick and brown eyeshadow), and the uniform is worn for multiple events - rather than a new costume for each performance. K is finding the routine challenging to remember, though is getting better each week.

 I still think any makeup on this child, changes her look completely.

I agreed that K could buy something from the Cheer apparel lady at the quiz night - thinking she would choose a bow or sparkly back pack. Instead, she chose a zebra print crop top and shorts, which I am assuming, would be a training outfit. Today is sunny, and Miss Zebra has been playing 'zebra' in the backyard for most of the afternoon. I'm not sure if this outfit will ever make it to training - but instead, may become a part of the dress up box. Mum and Dad are not sure what to think of the outfit, though will go along with whatever K is comfortable with at this stage. I have a feeling, she will decide herself, to return to leggings and a shirt for training. We will see.

Note - the glasses in the backgound of this photo does not mean we have spent a sunny afternoon drinking wine :-) These are plastic glasses that K rescued from the 'throw away' box, that have since become a part of her games and toys outside.

Trouble

Meet the newest member of the family. He is only five weeks old, and still with his Mum and siblings for another three weeks.

Three weeks ago, we were allocated the runt of the litter, a tiny little boy who was a lot smaller than his brothers and sisters. He is now the second biggest - and huge!

The below is a photo of Natti, our previous puppy, at eight weeks old. I'm pretty sure the current boy is a lot bigger than 8 week old Natti, at 5 weeks. As for a name, we can't yet agree. At this stage, we may give up and welcome a Natti 2.

Sunday Snaps

Why would you want to live anywhere else?

A Beautiful Smile

K is still a pain to try and get a nice photo of. She usually refuses to pose and smile nicely. It's a power play over Mum, of course. Every Sunday, K and Dad have been going out for morning tea, whilst Mum goes to the gym. I tried to get a photo of our somewhat neatly dressed munchkin.

Today, K received her first merit certificate at an assembly. It was for "bringing her beautiful smile to class". Mum tried to get a photo.

I have discovered however, that if you wear a costume, it's suddenly okay to pose, and actually stand still for a photo. K decided to play dress ups last weekend - pulling out costumes she hadn't seen in a while.

Today, K's Cheer class got their uniform for their upcoming performances. K was very excited. As she was 'in costume', in her uniform, K was happy to pose for a photo.

I think I need to rethink my photo taking approach. We don't get the camera out that often, so my options as I see it are to either:
1. Take a lot more photos so K becomes more comfortable with the camera
2. Do some research on building resilience and helping kids become comfortable in their own skins and loving who they are or
3. Buy a heap more costumes and carry one with me at all times, in case I feel the need to take a photo :-)

Which one do you think will help?

xxx