Extracurricular

With school back in full swing, we started up our extracurricular activities.  Mr. E finally got to start taking tap dancing lessons.  There are few things in life that he wanted to learn more than to tap dance.  

Miss A continued with gymnastics and dance but discovered a new activity that I have a feeling will eventually become a part of her life.  She joined a good friend of hers in doing a cheerleading clinic, or as she called it "pom pom class".  She was in heaven hanging out with the high school girls during the Saturday morning camp.  

 She was even more excited to hang out with her big friends again on the sidelines of a real high school football game. 

  

Everybody knows what the number 1 extracurricular activity is in the Melton pot-- CAKE!!!!

The entire month of September was filled with sugar, fondant, icing, and sprinkles as we prepared for the annual sugar competition in Tulsa.  This year Miss A was finally old enough to make an entry.  In her true independent style, she did it almost 100% unsupervised. 

 

She decorated it in pink and purple butterflies.  Some of them were upside-down. Her typical response "I like it like that".  I guess the decorator gets to have a little artistic license.  

 

Mr. E decided he wanted to make a minion.  He too did all the work all by himself but did accept some supervision/suggestions. 

 

(Meet "David the greatest minion in the world")

I, of course, spent the entire year daydreaming of all my entries for the year.  I had a solid plan for at least 5 different pieces.  In the end, I barely ended up with one.  I decided upon Dorothy's house in Munchkinland.  I worked day and night for weeks.  I pulled everything together through the night.  The following is what I ended up posting on Facebook about what happened once I headed to the competition:

"Husband is out of town so I had to drive to OK with the kids alone. Left two days later then I planned which meant most of the fun things I wanted to do didn't happen. Have only slept 8 hrs in the past 3ish days none of which happened in the last 24 hrs. I left the hotel with just enough time to drop the kids off and make it to Tulsa by the 10 o'clock entry deadline. "Just enough time" was maybe not enough when I walked outside to find a monsoon. Dropped kids off in jammies with mismatched clothes to change into later. Turns out I did a horrible job packing. Just enough time became less and less hopeful as the monsoon continued the entire drive. It became an impossibility when I looked at the gas gauge and realized the tank would soon be empty. On the plus side, my personal tank was full and the constant downpour made me have the urge to relieve it so the pit stop gave me that opportunity. Pulled up to the competition 15 minutes past the entry deadline. Downpour still in full force. I unload the kid's cakes first because I didn't want them to miss judging. I went to unload my entry. I had to have a stranger close my trunk. Got held up for a second while I tried to figure out why stranger couldn't figure out how to close a hatch. In the process, I lost a component of my entry which shattered and then rolled in the rain. I decided to just hope stranger eventually figured out my trunk (really not complicated). Leave the entry casualty on the sidewalk. Almost tripped over a small kid who was wandering aimlessly in my path. I made it to the table to find the judges were finishing up. They were blocking my way to the table. Arms starting to tremble. Asking if one of the judges would please lower the crowd control bar so I could get to the table. Got a blank stare. Hello judges...I'm holding a 2 ft square entry---wanna offer me some help? Judge finally lowered separator just in time for my arms to completely give out and for all of us to watch it slam down on the table. Anything fragile (pretty much everything I spent my last 24 hrs working on) shatters. The loose "ground cover" on the gingerbread display spreads all over all of the things that weren't supposed. to be covered. Unfortunately all that stuff is wet because of the rain so its now impossible to brush off the mess. Judge says "sorry" and then they all walk away. I guess I missed my opportunity to actually be judged. Find out later that I also missed my opportunity for the prize raffle that every competitor wins. The raffle consolation prize WAS going to be my silver lining. Try to salvage what I can all while I'm a blubbering mess as the spectators begin to gather. When I reach into my bag to get my paperwork out i find that a pen has exploded. I guess I will have blue hands all day. Really wish I would have taken at least one picture before I dropped my entry. Fortunately when I come back out to my car it is still there and surprisingly the hatch is closed. Finally get back to the show and sit down for the demo of the cake artist I was really excited to see only to to hear her says she only has 6 more minutes left. Why did I even come? I should have just stayed in bed. Oh wait...I was never in bed this morning. I have a feeling I'll be napping in the back of my car in the middle of the state fair parking lot a little bit later today. Everyone please say a prayer/send good vibes that the monsoon doesn't prevent the hubby's flight from arriving here this afternoon. I really need him back. Maybe I will wander the fair and later and drown my sorrows in something deep fried. Woe is me rant over."

"Day gets better. Neighbor called saying our dog was out. She is supposed to be with another neighbor. A little while later I get another call saying my alarm is going off. Police and neighbor going through my house. I guess I somehow missed that the back door was unlocked and the dog pushed the door open. The worst part is that I left my house TRASHED. I even thought, "I hope nobody breaks into my house while I'm gone because I would be mortified if someone saw my house in this disarray." Please tell me that I'm not the only one out there that has had that thought."

 "This year's entry....or I guess what is left of it."

"I found clarity after a very long ugly cry on my way back to my family this evening. Positives of the day--the rain washed all of the bird poop off the car. The sun was out and bright the whole drive home which brought a little sunshine back to my day. The weather was perfectly crisp tonight and almost felt like fall. Br's flight got here safe and sound. He brought me a box of chocolate. We had an amazing date with great food, even better company at a table overlooking the lake at sunset. I'm about to crawl into a really comfy bed and finally get so sleep free of stress of a looming deadline. It's a good end to a long day!"

 

In the end I did end up getting some nice consolation raffle prizes, we had a nice visit with some of our OK friends, and after a little time has past, I'm pretty sure I won't be forever scarred by the experience. I'm already thinking about my entries for the next competition.