Gymnastics Camp

Today is the last day of Gold Medal Gymnastics Camp. They always say,"make sure you sign up for camp so you can work on skills to move up a level", but all they do is "play games" most of the day! Jazzy has been at the Orange Level for quite some time because there is a specific move she is stuck on with the uneven bars. She is so much shorter than the other kids her age:(, which is good long term for skating and other sports, but not good for keeping up with the other kids. ______________________________________ The other night, we were discussing Spirit/ethereal things and Jasmine started telling me about one of her past lives:). She says she was an American Indian who helped the Pilgrims settle in America. She gave details about how she taught them to catch fish and use the fish in the soil to grow healthier crops. She learned a few English words and taught them her language. She was a female and died at a young age- around 20 or so!__________________________ This coming week we are getting ready for National American Miss. She entered the same categories as last year plus a couple more that are available since she is now in the 7-9 yr group. The required categories are the "personal interview" where they are judged on poise and confidence during their individual "job interview" with the judges, the "personal introduction" where they introduce themselves onstage. Her introduction is a bit snazzier this year, as compared to last year. It was written by Debbie Lee, our coach who helped us this year. The "formal wear modeling" is also required. We are using the same gown as last year since it still fits. We actually had to have her business suit and her gown altered since they were both falling off of her. The last required category is "volunteer activities". For her age group, all they have to do is donate a book or school item for an "underprivileged child". As she gets in the older age groups, we have to do some type of service like working in a nursing home or maybe distributing food for "Bountiful Baskets", or even working in the local animal shelter. For the "optional categories", we have entered "Talent" where she will be singing "I Love You, Arizona" by Rex Allen. All next week, we have some last minute voice coaching lessons to refine that. We also entered the "Actress" category where she will be doing a commercial for "Claire's", "photogenic" for photo evaluation, "casual wear modeling" where each girl does a little modeling routine to music. Jasmine was in the "top 5" of around 100 girls last year in that category. Another category is "Top Model" where they get a one minute photoshoot with a professional photographer. They are judged on their attitude, poses, ability to follow directions, as well as how the photos turn out for a "modeling portfolio". The photographer is one of the judges, in addition to the other seven judges. The only "problem" is that Jasmine fell on her chin a couple of days ago. She has a large scab on her chin because she will not leave it alone. It was almost healed, and now it looks like she has a cherry on her chin. Great for a competitive photo shoot. In National American Miss, no girl under the age of 15 is allowed to wear any makeup at all, so I probably will not even be able to put a little makeup on to cover it up :(( Then there's the "best resume" for the job interview category- which Jazzy won last year, and lots of other categories each person is automatically entered into such as "personality", "spirit", and others. As the age groups progress, there are more and more categories such as more advanced volunteering, "news casting" for girls who want to be some type of television reporter, academic, and on and on. I am not sure we can keep doing this year after year because of the extreme expense. The only reason we can do it this year is because we have the same formal gown and business suit as last year. We might only be able to do it every other year. It is also SO much work in preparing the talent portion, editing the song, practicing almost every day for the past six months, the expensive costume that will probably only get worn one time... We will see what happens next week to determine if we want to keep doing it!