Rainy Days

It has been really warm and sunny lately, and then we had a real rainy storm blow through. But the kids were so used to good weather and in denial about poor weather, they decided to go out and play basketball anyway. 

Walking to her "spot" to play "horse."

"Ready, Aim..."

"...Shoot."

Until it started hailing, and then they hustled back to the cover of the porch where Congo and I were watching and taking pictures.

Syd and Tennis and Fun

When Sydney didn't make the high school volleyball team, she didn't quit and throw in the towel.

No way.

This beautiful girl decided to take up a new sport.

Tennis. And she did a great job and had a lot of fun. 

And another word about Sydney, she sure knows how to have fun. 

She went to the high school football game with some friends. When they were a little late coming home, I contacted the mother of Sydney's ride. She said they should be home. So I looked out my front window and saw this. Sydney and her friends, congregated outside our house having a great time. 

I'm so glad she has good friends, even if they are a little late sometimes.

Also, Sydney really wants to be a cowgirl. She makes a pretty cute one, if I do say so myself. (Pic taken at the Soldier Hollow sheepdog festival)

Volleyball tourney

At the beginning of the year we signed Sydney up for a training volleyball team. They meet for 1 1/2 hours twice a week. It was one of the best things we done. She loves it so much. And she has improved as a volleyball player a lot! And she gets to do it with a good friend. It's just win, win, win.

Last Saturday Sydney had a volleyball tournament. We got there a little early so Syd and her friend could warm up.

 

 

Parker also had a basketball game that morning, so I took the girls and Sterling took the boys. Camille and Rachel were good sports.

They didn't watch much of any of the games, but they had a lot of fun playing card games and eating free sno-cones.

 

After 3 qualifying games, Sydney's team ended up in the Silver bracket, competing for second place overall. The bracket consisted of 2 rounds, semi-final and final.

The first period they played all three sets and each set was won by 2 points. They just leap-frogged each other all the way up the score board. But Sydney's team won and they were excited. On to the final round.

 

The final period they played against a boys' team. Again, leapfrogging all the way. Goodness it was exciting!!!

 

And then they won!

THEY WON!!!

And even though good friend, Xandy, wasn't on the same team for the tournament, she stayed the whole time! That's the best part!

Parker and Pinewood Derby V.3

Parker had a very special visitor to 5th grade.

Congressman Jim Matheson.

 

When I found out he was coming, I wanted to come and listen to what he had to say. Only Democrat I've ever voted for. The kids asked some pretty intelligent questions about the government shutdown, gun control, Obamacare. Most likely the questions were from their parents or teachers but Matheson did a great job at answering the questions on the kids' level of understanding. They also asked if Matheson had ever met President Obama or how often he sees the President. Matheson said President Bush did a much better job of meeting with people and he wished that President Obama was better at it. The kids asked about how to get more baseball parks in the city and how to get a bigger city library. That opened the discussion for the different levels of government (city, state, federal). He promised he would send some of the surplus books from the Library of Congress. That was nice.

I was really impressed with Mr. Matheson and think he is a really nice person. I might even vote for him again if he was running again.

 

After he finished and the kids went back to class, I grabbed Parker and introduced ourselves to Congressman Matheson. I mentioned that my husband is a lobbyist with Farm Bureau and we appreciate what he does for Utah farmers and ranchers. He recognized Ster's name and his aide that was with him immediately recognized him as well. Yep, that Sterling of mine. He is pretty amazing.
 (Some might say, a stallion)

 

More on Parker:

He is enjoying scouts. He is in the Webelos troupe. We recently had the pinewood derby. In the past his car raced super fast. This year, let's just say he did not come in last. He was usually right in the middle of the pack. This was his last pinewood derby race. I can't believe it.

Derby V.1

Derby V.2

 

Here he is with his best friend and next door neighbor, Caleb.

Bryce has a few years before he builds his first derby car. He sure enjoyed watching Parker's car race down the track!

 

Parker is also playing basketball this year. He is so talented. He is fast and can layup on both right and left sides. But the best part is seeing him smile as he runs up and down the court. He can't help it. Just a big grin running all over that court.

 

 

Most of his games this year are at 8:00 in the morning. Somehow we get the whole family there to watch the games. Except Syd, who usually stays home. The deal is, if she stays home she has to make cookies. Pretty good deal if you ask me...

Volleyball

Look at this darling!

Bright eyes, engaging smile.

She really is something else.

(and those nails...aren't they cute?)

 

Sydney has decided that volleyball might just be her sport. She loves it. This year she played on a city league and loved it. I can't believe how much she improved over the course of the season. She's pretty determined and works really hard.

 

When Sterling came home from work, Sydney would often drag him outside and practice hitting the volleyball around the backyard. Mostly working on her overhand serve. I loved listening to them play together in the backyard while I finished preparing dinner. Laughter, encouraging and instructive words, the setting sun hitting the mountains just right, the crisp fall air and freshly fallen leaves on the grass. Perfection in a glance. 

 

Syd was really hoping to be able to play on her friend's team but the stars weren't in alignment on draft day and they had to play their last game against each other. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more volleyball in the future for both of these girls! Best friends are...well...the best!

ball related sports

I've never been very good at sports. I can pretty much say that anything involving a ball is intimidating. I'd rather close my eyes and shrink into a hole than connect any part of my body with a ball. So when I see a softball or volley or soccer or basketball, hurling through space in my direction, I cringe.

Although I think I have mentally blocked out most of my experiences in sports, a few memories are still vivid.



Elementary soccer - During P.E. class, we were outside on the soccer field. The air was crisp, the grass still damp from the morning dew. I felt wild and free as the light breeze whipped my hair around my pink cheeks and the field stretched out, wide and expanisve, around me. I loved running up and down the field. Midfield, forward, fullback. It was all the same to me. I just wanted to run.

Then the ball came to me and I was close to the goal. With all the confidence in the world, I pulled my leg back and kicked as hard as I could. I watched the ball arc through the air and pass right through the goalie's fingers. Score! I made a goal! I couldn't believe it. This must be my calling in life. To run wild and free and score goal after goal. It felt good. It felt right. I turned to brag to my teammate and promptly tripped over my own feet. I lay spread eagle on the damp field and could taste the earthy grass on my tongue. I didn't have to look up to know people were laughing at me, so I stayed down for a few more minutes, until the ball and players were at the other end of the field again. Maybe soccer wasn't my sport. The next day, I tried again and made a goal for the other team. My mind was made up. Soccer wasn't for me.


Young Women's basketball - I didn't like playing basketball. There was too much pressure. If someone threw the ball to me, I never knew what to do. My inner dialogue sounded something like this. "Should I dribble? Should I pass? Should I shoot? Should I dribble to get closer to the basket and then shoot? Don't double dribble, don't travel, don't double dribble." Waaaay to much pressure. But this was church ball and I was kind of required to be there or my good standing as a fully active member might be in danger. So I donned my tennis shoes, put on a brave face and hoped we had enough girls so that I could just sit on the bench and cheer on the rest of the team.

And boy, did the team need cheering. If I was horrid at basketball, the rest of the team almost made me look good. We couldn't win a game if the refreshments afterwards depended on it. As I approached the bench, I could see that someone had decided that tonight, that was all going to change. Sitting at the end of the bench was a taller player, wearing baggy sweat pants and a loose tshirt. Her hair was a disheveled mess that covered most of her eyes. As I passed, we shared a subtle nod of recognition and conspiracy and the game was on.

She started the game and immediately made a basket. It didn't take long before our team was passing her the ball every chance we got and sure enough, every chance we took turned into a basket, thanks to our new team player. At every time-out, we gave each other high 5's and shared a wink or two. We had all agreed before the game started to keep our new friend a secret. If she was ever found out, we'd be done for. As our score continued to climb, whispers began to circulate about our star player. At halftime, the referee came over to talk to our teammate.

"What's your name, young lady?" he asked.

She cleared her throat and said, "Weston."

Eyes wide and jaw clenched tight, the ref pulled the mop-like wig off of Weston's head and sternly invited him to leave. It didn't take long after that for us to lose the lead and walk away from the court defeated.

And that brings me to today.

Today was Parker's last basketball practice for the season. As a reward for working so hard, the coach invited parents to join the end of practice for a little match-up. Parents vs. kids. Which was a great idea, except Sterling had to work late. That left me.

Me, who has a serious aversion to ball related sports. But I'm a grown-up now and, theoretically speaking, I can handle this. As game time approached, I started to get nervous. The kind of nervous where I snap at the kids and get irritated at every little thing. To counter my nervousness, I dressed myself up in a cute little pink and white sporty outfit, with matching shoes and freshened up my lipstick. Obviously, I had no idea what I was doing. I walked into the school gym and quickly realized I was the only mom, and the only person not in levi's. The walls were lined with dads. The same dads I knew probably played basketball at the church on Saturday mornings and practiced with their boys in the driveway before dinner every day. When my turn came on the court, I hurriedly informed them, "Do not throw me the ball."

Well, one of them didn't understand my desperation and passed me  the ball. My heart instantly leaped into overdrive and my vision started to blur. I started dribbling. First I dribbled to the boys basket until I noticed someone point toward the other end of the court. So I started double dribbling in between my traveling and headed toward the other basket, which I assumed was the adult team basket. I stopped, bent over the ball and looked around. Between my legs flew two feet. Parker's feet. I looked behind me and Parker was on his back.

"Mom. You hit me with your bum!" he shouted.

Take a moment to visualize, please. It was hilarious. It was all we could talk about the entire ride home. My big bum knocking him over, in front of an audience, no less.

Your welcome.

Saturday is a ...

special day...

its also a busy day,

full of laundry

basketball games

and an obsession with a new book that you just can't put down.

Basketball star

Parker played his first organized, team basketball game today. He loved it! Last he wouldn't let me sign him because he said he didn't want to play and didn't like it. Really, I think he was scared. And he was a little nervous this year but when he realized how many friends he's have on his team, he was willing to give it a try. And so far, HE LOVES IT!

Here's Park and his best bud, Caleb, watching on the side lines.

FILE: 2012-01-07

BASKET!

I love their reaction!!! First basket of the game.

First half of the game, Parker made a basket!

Second half, he almost made a basket for the other team because he forgot the baskets switch. He wasn't the only one though. It happened a lot on both teams. (That's a hard thing to remember when you're used to just shooting hoops in the cul-de-sac with one basket.)

Parker has already told me he wants to play again next year. I think we should just get through the next 7 practices and games.

GO # 10

MVP

Team Goalie

We have now joined the masses of parents who enroll their children in city sports.  Parker played t-ball when he was 5 but that is the only organized sport he’s participated in.  I’ve not been very pro-active because I know it’s a huge time commitment.  But the time has come.  He needs the opportunity to run and be loud and aggressive on the field.  I’ve come to find there’s a correlation between getting the aggression out on the field and his energy level at home.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s a win-win situation.
With that being said, here are some pictures of his first game.  His coach was impressed with his agility and placed him as goalie.  It made him feel special at practice but it sure was a lot of pressure at the game.

I have to say, my proudest moment was at the end of the game (they lost) when Parker was just as thrilled to be playing soccer as he was when he started the game.  He was excited to high-5 the other team and didn’t dwell on losing.  Hopefully, those are the kinds of lessons he will learn from  playing organized sports.

By the way, Bryce seems to have picked up a few skillz, watching Parker's games.  We may have another soccer player in the making.