Fall Sports 2014

Kaylee's Volleyball Team

Kaylee

Kianna's team

Hulk Pack

The kids all played soccer and the girls also played volleyball this Fall, which made for a crazy schedule for these parents. Trevor coached both Kianna and Trace's soccer teams and I coached Kaylee's volleyball team.

Here is a glimpse of our Fall craziness: 

• Monday: Kaylee- Elite workout 4-5:00 PM and volleyball 6:30-7:30 PM. Kianna- Soccer practice 6:30-7:30 PM. 
• Tuesday: Kaylee- Drama Club 3:30-5:30. Soccer 5:30-7:00 PM. Kianna- Volleyball 5:30-6:30 PM. Trace- Soccer 6:30-7:30 PM. 
• Wednesday: Kaylee- Elite workout 4-5:00 PM then NOTHING.
• Thursday: Kaylee- Soccer 6:00-7:30 PM. 
• Friday: Nothing
• Saturday: Kaylee- volleyball and soccer games. Trace and Kianna- soccer games. 
• Sunday: Bible Quizzing and church then NOTHING.

Trace LOVED playing soccer. He is so athletic that we moved him up to the U8 Impact Boys league despite him only being 5. His team was made up of other Kindergarten boys that are super athletes and one 1st grader. Despite Trace's team being the youngest, they won the majority of their games. They were fondly renamed The Hulk Pack due to their green jerseys and LOVE of super heroes.

Kianna played in the U8 Impact Girls league. She entered the season motivated to play soccer after taking the Spring season off. She showed amazing improvement in her soccer skills and ended up being her team's MVP. She scored five goals during each of her last two games. She was disappointed the season ended and is now eager to begin indoor soccer. I think she may have her heart set on trying out for the FCA club soccer league next summer. 

Kaylee played in the FCA Club soccer U11 league. It is a step-up from the Impact leagues. The kids have two 1.5 hour practices each week, a game on Saturday and are encouraged to participate in the Elite workout two additional days. Kaylee started out the season very timid and not aggressive, but finished the season being a go to defensive player. She played sweeper and did a great job. It was fun watching her improve throughout the season and becoming a more aggressive athlete. Kaylee is excited to have a break from soccer and is excited to start basketball this winter.

Kianna had her first experience with volleyball this Fall. She didn't play any games, but had a one hour practice each week where she learned volleyball skills and fundamentals. She isn't real excited about volleyball at this point, but hopefully will give it another try next year when she is old enough to play games. 

Kaylee began the volleyball season as my MVP. She has pretty good ball control and is my most aggressive player. She is beginning to learn how to do an overhand serve and got three in during one of our last games. Her season ended in a volleyball tournament this weekend where her team got 2nd place. She played the best volleyball I have seen her play. Proud Mom and coach!

I'm excited to say that all the Fall sports are officially over. It was fun while it lasted, but it is nice having our evenings and weekends back to ourselves again. That is until basketball season begins. I guess this is what life with three athletes looks like...

Kaylee is 10 years old!

All the loot- clothes, scarves, boots, and knitting looms and yarn.

They don't fit. She told me she couldn't get them on, so I forced them up and then they were stuck. Ugh!

All the loot

Hermit Crabs

Karaoke night

Birthday Girl

It is hard to believe we have a 10 year old! Kaylee is a very sweet little lady, who loves Jesus and has a desire to follow Him. We are very proud of her and excited to see what God has in store for her in her future. She has been such a blessing to us over the first 10 years of her life. 

To celebrate her big day, we took the kids to the new movie, "Big Hero Six" and out to eat at Olive Garden over the weekend. Then on her actual birthday, she got to open her gifts before school and then after school went and picked out two hermit crabs. She had been wanting hermit crabs since she saw them while we were on vacation in June. She named them Mini and Speedy. They have been fun to watch, as they are pretty active. She is taking great care of them so far, making sure they have food and both fresh water and salt water. The birthday celebration continued with her favorite pasta dish and chocolate chip banana cake with peanut butter frosting for dessert. Kaylee wanted us to have a karaoke family night. We had some good laughs, pictures and videos. Fun times!

Here are some facts about Kaylee:

• School: Kaylee LOVES school! She is a model child in regards to homework. She comes home and gets it done. Her favorite subjects are music, art, and history. She gets straight A's.
• Sports: Kaylee's favorite sports are volleyball, basketball, and swimming. She plays soccer too, but would not put it in her favorite category at the moment. She got really burnt out on soccer at the club level. She played from April through October with about a 7-8 week break in there. She has decided not to play indoor soccer, but will play with her club team again in the Spring. She is just finishing up volleyball and is looking forward to the start of basketball season.
• Drama: Kaylee tried out for the school play, Chronicles of Narnia, but unfortunately didn't get cast. Instead, she joined the Drama Club, which she has really enjoyed. She is working on her acting and performing skills. She just found out that she was cast in one of the lead roles for our church's Christmas play. She even has a solo. 
• Crafts: She still enjoys crafts very much. This Fall she has begun learning how to sew and how to finger knit. She is currently hooked on the latter. She also enjoys drawing and pretty much any other craft you give her.
• Reading: Kaylee has begun to get excited about reading. She has read books 1-4 in the Harry Potter Series. She really enjoys them. Unfortunately, they get a bit dark, so we had her stop for awhile. She has also begun reading the Left Behind Series for Kids. She likes historical fiction books, especially about World War II.
• Bible Quizzing: This year we are studying the book of Exodus. She got a gold medal at her first quiz meet with a score of 59/60. Like I said she is a smartie!
• Friends: Last year was a rough year with friends and this year has been the complete opposite. Her closet friend is Amelia Grupp. Her and Kaylee are very much alike. It happens that Amelia's younger sister, Chloe, and Kianna are really good friends too. Kaylee's other good friends are Emily Willet and Hannah Spohn. Kaylee has been getting invited over for playdates and sleepovers more this year, which has been fun.
• Baptized- Kaylee chose to be baptized on Easter this past year. That was a big decision for her and we couldn't be prouder.
• Games- Kaylee still enjoys playing games. Her favorite game on her iPad is Minecraft. Favorite boardgames include Clue, Life, and Ticket to Ride.
• Adventures in Odyssey- She still LOVES listening to these CDs. She goes to sleep listening to it each night. One of the highlights of our summer vacation for Kaylee was visiting the studio where Adventures in Odyssey is recorded. 
• Favorite Foods- Kaylee is still our pasta girl. She LOVES it. Whether it be a pasta salad, fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, tortellini, penne pasta or mac and cheese she LOVES it. The only pasta she isn't crazy about is spaghetti. She also loves dessert like her Mom. She especially likes ice cream and anything with peanut butter and chocolate. 
• Favorite Shows- Daddy recently subscribed to Netflix, which opened up a whole new world of shows to the kids. Kaylee's current favorite is Star Wars Rebels.

Another project

Finished Pajama Pants

Sewing is harder than I thought. The skirt I made Kianna is the only other clothing I have ever made. These are my first pajama pants and my first time making an elastic waistband.  Making things the correct size is extremely hard for me. I'm anxious to see if these actually fit Kaylee. This project may be an epic failure.

My first mistake was sewing the legs together, as pictured above. We actually have two legs? Then at one point, the waist was so narrow I wasn't sure she would be able to get into these pajama pants. I tried to fix that problem. Now, I'm not sure they will cover her rear. They look pretty low cut to me. Time will tell. She will open them tomorrow. Until then, I will continue to fester about the hours it took me to make these. They better fit!

Kaylee's Friend Party

Silly Girls

Craft time

Sleepover

Kaylee, Emily, Hannah and Amelia

Kaylee with her creations

Kaylee's birthday celebration began on Friday night when she had her friend party. This year she invited Amelia Grupp, Emily Willet and Hannah Spohn. The girls came home with us after school and stayed until the following morning. They were a bundle of giggles. They played hide and go seek, jumped on the trampoline, played Monopoly, watched a movie and made several crafts.

For one craft, they decorated toilet paper rolls into whatever they wanted. Several of the girls made indians, Trace made Batman (with a lot of help), and Kaylee made a ladybug princess. The other planned activity was teaching the girls how to finger knit, which is SUPER easy. The girls knitted scarves and head bands while watching a movie. It was a fun party. You might be noticing that we are missing one little girl. Kianna got invited to her own sleepover. She had a great time with her friend, Chloe. One party down, a few more celebrations to go until this birthday girl is officially 10...

School Pictures 2014-15

Trace-Kindergarten, Kianna- 2nd grade, and Kaylee- 4th grade

Chicago

Ericka and I

Danielle and I

I was given the opportunity to attend a physical therapy conference called Chain Reaction in Rosemont, IL. I attended the conference with one of my coworkers, Danielle. I learned so much! It was fun having various patient's problems pop into my head while the instructor was talking. I have enjoyed coming back to work and implementing some of the new strategies I learned. Some of my patients are already noticing a difference. 

The conference was all day Thursday and Friday and until noon on Saturday. On Thursday evening, Danielle and I took the train into downtown Chicago. Danielle had never been downtown before, so I had fun showing her the sites. We walked to Millennium Park, to the Buckingham Fountain, and along Michigan Avenue. She had never had Chicago-style pizza, so we ate pizza at Gino's East. We then went to The Cheesecake Factory where we got cheesecake, which we saved for lunch the next day. It was a fun night.

On Friday evening, my dear friend, Ericka Howard came and had dinner with us. I really appreciated her driving a little over an hour to see me. I hadn't seen Ericka in five years, so it was wonderful catching up with her. 

On Saturday, we headed back home. I was greeted by a family eager to see me, a clean house, and chili ready to eat. They aren't used to me being gone and I was gone two weekends in a row. It was a nice welcome home! 

Halloween 2014

Our Cuties

Halloween Play

All the loot

Halloween for our family is usually a week long celebration and this year was no different. Kaylee was the fairy from Malificent, Kianna was an indian girl and Trace was Wolverine. I have to mention that at one point, Kianna was set on being Cleopatra, because she loves the Egyptian culture. However, after some discussion about Cleopatra not having the the best reputation Kianna decided to be an Egyptian princess instead, but with the same costume. Details I know. In fact, she had it all planned that she was going to be Pharoah's daughter who found Baby Moses in the Nile River. I thought that was a super fun and unique costume. I have never heard of another Pharoah's daughter costume and it went perfect with the girls studying Exodus in Bible Quizzing this year. We had it all planned, that is, until she saw the indian costume. Then she had to be that so she could match her American Girl Doll, Kaya. Oh well, it was a fun idea.

The Halloween festivities began with the Fall Fest at The Centre. The kids got all dressed up, played games, made crafts, and played at The Corner Park one last time.

The fun continued when the kids carved pumpkins. This year we had super hero symbols on our pumpkins. Kaylee's was Wonder Woman, Kianna's was Batgirl, and Trace's was Flash. Kaylee carved hers all by herself and Daddy helped the other two. Mommy was busy in the kitchen roasting pumpkin seeds, which has become a fun tradition. The kids like them roasted with cinnamon and sugar.

The Halloween festivities ended with trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and then going over to The Johnson's house for pizza and more trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, Mommy missed out on the fun as she was in Chicago at her physical therapy conference. Daddy did an excellent job of holding up the fort while Mommy was gone. He even had chili on the stove when she arrived home. What a guy!