Fall Sports Season Wrap-Up

Would you believe that I just wrote up detailed season wrap ups for all the kids on The Sports Page and then...  I must have hit some wrong key and all of what I wrote plus a bit of what was on the sports page already was deleted?  So I decided to write it up here, since it is the end of season wrap up and I guess that warrants it's own little piece of the home page...   

  

 Kate finished up her soccer season with the last game on Halloween.  Spooky.  Her team ended strong.  They scored goals their last few games, and they won one game!  So that was finishing strong...  Anyway, Kate enjoyed playing defense, and had a great time overall.  She likes to play defense because she "doesn't have to dribble the ball" and she can just "boot it upfield".  Here is a picture of her team in their finally on a very warm Halloween day, and a picture of Kate in action:

I think her team did well, considering they moved up to a much more competitive league.  Most of the kids on her team play for their high school teams.  Kate doesn't play for her school team, and she's not sure that she wants that level of commitment to soccer (it would definitely impact her ability to keep up with swimming), but she was able to keep up with everyone.  So maybe this is enough soccer for her! She's come a long way from the girl who spent her entire first season glaring at me for "forcing her to play", even though she is the one who wanted to play...  Oh well.  

Isabel had an exciting year learning how to play Volleyball.  She came a long way in her skills!  During the first game, she wasn't even close to being able to serve the ball over the net.  By the last game, she was able to string together 3 serves in a row!   She enjoyed volleyball, but she was surprised that it was a lot harder than she expected.  In this picture she was looking at the score. She tended to focus a lot on the score.  Her team did win their last match of the season, and so that was great!  They ended on a high note.  They were especially excited to win- it was their first win of the season!

Steven also enjoyed playing Volleyball this fall.  Steven's team dominated the league.  They were an all-boy team, the only all-boy team in their league.  They competed against Isabel's team, in fact...  Most of the matches were very uneven, and the boys won quite easily.  All of the girls' teams were so excited when they scored against the boys. Most of the boys were fifth graders and had played volleyball before.  Steven was definitely one of the most inexperienced players on his team,  but he picked it up quickly.  He had lots of fun and always looked forward to practices and games!

I enjoyed the Volleyball games, if only for the fact that they were indoors!  It's so nice to not have to worry about the weather!   It was hard to watch volleyball though.  I did cringe often, I'll admit.  After playing the sport for so many years, and then being a referee for a year, it was hard to sit back and just watch the kids play!  I got the hang of it eventually.

Ahhhhhhh How SWEET!

Here are a couple of pictures from when Mac first got back.  He just confessed to me that Josie cried when she saw him!  Not tears of joy...  More like tears of confusion!  She was surprised when he got her up in the morning while I was taking Steven in for an early-morning allergy shot.  I guess that would be a shock!

These pictures are from later on in the day.  She clearly got over her surprise! 

She told me all about Daddy getting her ready for the day.  He lets her wear WHATEVER she wants...  Actually, he pretty much lets her DO whatever she wants, and she is a savvy enough 2 year old to have figured that one out within hours of him being home!

This was almost 2 weeks ago, and now it's like he's never left, sort of...

Mac is Back

And I haven't updated my blog since then!  There are some fun updates to come.  Halloween, for one!

Mac drove back from Houston last week.  He left Wednesday after work, then drove about 5 hours, stopped at a hotel, then pushed on driving on Thursday.  He arrived home at 11:30 pm!  It was a long drive!   But he was happy to be home, and I was happy to see him.

The kids had to wait until the next morning, though!  Josie was suspicious as to what he was doing home, in person.  Why wasn't he still in the computer?  Or in my cell phone?  Why was he actually standing there?  She talked him through the process of getting ready for the day, though.  She told him her diaper was wet, she pointed out what she wanted to wear, she told him she needed milk in her cereal...  She is a *big girl* and she knows it.  It didn't take her long to figure out that Daddy does whatever she says...  So, she also tells him that she wants to watch Dora whenever she feels like it.  She asks Daddy, not me!  Wonder why...

On Saturday, we stayed home mostly (except for Kate, who went to her Homecoming dance with a group of friends.)  Luke was feeling sick and running a temperature, so the other kids got to spend a lot of time with Daddy.  Mac and I left the kids with Kate for a while to go to the gym.  I hadn't gone in a LONG time, so it was good, but painful...  We'll see if I pencil in time to go to the gym on a more regular basis.  Anyway, Saturday was a good day.  The kids enjoyed having Mac back, and I tolerated his stuff being spread out over the entire main floor of the house for the most part.

On Sunday, we had several games to attend.  Kate had her last game of the season for soccer, and the twins each had volleyball games.  Sunday was also Halloween!   Fun times! 

Then it was Monday, and Mac went back to work.  Nothing much has changed on that front.  The kids were out of school on Monday and Tuesday.  We didn't accomplish much those days, but I finally got Mac to stow his junk somewhere else.  Storage is an issue in our house, but at least most of the stuff has been transferred from the living room floor to the overflowing closet.  I guess it's an improvement...

Anyway, it's been great to have him back, and since he arrived here a week ago, I thought it was time for an update!