Big news -- she's TOPS!!

For those that don't know what TOPS stands for -- join the club, neither do I! However, this I DO know....

One year ago, Katherine was taking gymnastics at Urbandale Dance and Gymnastics, and had a coach she loved, but unfortunately the club wasn't able to give her all she wanted. She needed a program that could fully support her dream, would push her to her limits, and was really focused on competitive gymnastics. Her coaches at Urbandale told me to take her to Chow's, and between August and November, Katherine was in gymnastics classes three nights a week (two nights at Urbandale and one night at Chow's in their kindergarten class because they make you start on the recreational side). Remember this post where Li took Katherine into the gym and "tried her out" for TAG (Talented and Gifted)???

Since that night, we've pulled Katherine out of Urbandale, and she has continually gotten stronger and more confident and is finally at the point again where she's begging for more... By "more" I mean ... learning more skills and getting more gym time. She wants to move up. Her TAG class is nothing more than a stepping stone in her mind. She's not satisfied just making TAG; she'd be in that gym every night if it was possible.

So with that being said, I've been trying to get her into private lessons for the past 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it was at Urbandale. At Chow's, only certain coaches are allowed to give private lessons to girls on TAG and higher, and most of them are either full, running the gymnastics camps, or simply not doing them this summer. Talk about FRUSTRATING!!

Well -- the waiting game is over! Late this afternoon I got a call from Chow's. Coach Nicole (who was her coach this fall) is going to take her Saturday at 2:00. WONDERFUL! Talk about music to my ears!! Katherine can't wait, and is soooo looking forward to getting some extra time in the gym working on new skills. After we got done talking about the private lessons, she went on to tell me that Li would like to invite Katherine to join TOPS! OMG! Talk about making a little girl's week!! She is elated!! This is a BIG DEAL and a tremendous honor!! At Chow's, before you make Level 5 and officially start competing against other clubs, you have to make it through TAG, TOPS and then finally pre-team. It's all pretty hush-hush. No one knows exactly what you have to do to be asked to move up or how long you "should" be at each level, it's more just Li's gut feeling. She decides when you're ready, and ultimately IF you're ever ready. From what I know, most kids are in TAG some where between 12 and 18 months. Katherine joined TAG in November. She starts TOPS on Monday night, and her new class is 1.5 hours twice a week. She's loving the fact that she'll be able to spend more time on each event.

When I got off the phone and went to tell Katherine, she broke into tears. She was so happy, so relieved to be moving up, so absolutely overwhelmed and giddy... She was on cloud 9 and didn't stop doing handstands for at least an hour.... literally. One full hour of handstands. Oh, and I got the honor of timing her -- 13 seconds was the longest of the night! LOL.

Matt showed up a few hours later from work with a little celebration of his own -- steaks which are her fave food and flowers. Oh man - if there's one thing this little girl loves it's flowers!! We're going to get her a new leotard as well, but will wait until the new Chow's ones are ordered. After all -- why get just a plain leotard when you can wear the Chow's one "loud and proud"?? LOL!!

AAAAHHHHH, I'm so proud of her..... so happy to watch her live her dream, so thrilled that her hard work is paying off, and so in awe of her relentless determination. She doesn't quit. She refuses to give up. She pursues her dreams with a single mindedness that most 6 year olds don't possess. I know I've said it before, but as a mom there is nothing better than watching your child live their dream. It gives me great satisfaction that she has found something she loves and is finding success along the way. Today -- she is absolutely glowing. She is radiant. She has a smile on her face that nothing can erase. AAAHHH....