Month: November 2009

In their new competition dresses…

De has gotten serious about gymnasics recently, and is practicing six days a week these days. Her christmas list is mostly gymastics gear — she really just wants a full scale gymnastics gym in the basement, I think.

Ana just made the Little Blades synchronized skating team, becoming the second member of the family to do so. She had her very first team practice today, and was ecstatic.

The team will be performing in the RMU christmas show on December 6th, and then in various local / regional shows and competitions throughout the spring.

Jenya is second from the right, Ana is fourth from the right.

So the girls learned the hard way that other kids can be manipulative — one of the older neighborhood kids rather successfully played "divide and conquer" on the girls in order to get things to happen her way.

They came home upset and had a chat about it. Once they pooled their info and figured out they'd been had, they all got angry — but De took it to a whole new level. She climbed up on a chair in the kitchen, thumping her fists and declaring, in a speech worthy of a politician or a preacher, *we will STICK TOGETHER* and *we will WIN*. She had her sisters chanting and cheering. I wish I'd been able to get a video of the speech. If she can keep that knack she'll be a helluva rabble rouser one day.

Jenya the mad scientist, De the vampire witch, and Ana the flying black cat, getting ready to storm the neighborhood.