Hello June!

Track season. Check.

Boys soccer. Check.

Select tryouts. Check.

Chaperoning prom. Check.

As the school year is winding down, we are rapidly checking things off our list.  Maggie wrapped up her first track season. She ran varsity this year and qualified for the pre-conference meet as a 7th grader in the 200M. She also did the 100M and the long jump but the 200M proved to be her race. It was just long enough for her to shift into high speed but short enough for her to maintain speed. She literally does this thing where mid-stride her shoulders go back and her body gets lower to the ground and that's how you know she's turned it on. She is a natural runner and that is obvious as she bolts down the track. She never quite figured out the blocks but her coaches say once she does, she'll just get faster. Should be fun to see. In the meantime, we are happy that it kept her busy and active and in shape for soccer!

Hubs couldn't get through the boys season soon enough. Lots of games. Lots of running. Lots to do with three teams. Unfortunately, teenage boys also come with lots of attitude. You'd think teenage girls would be the tough ones but turns out boys are just as bad...sometimes worse. So even though he had his best JV team ever, we were all glad when the season came to an end.

Molly enjoyed the plentiful "wish flowers" at the soccer field/track. She's such a trooper and her sister and daddy's biggest fan!

Mags had tryouts for her select soccer team. These are always nerve-wracking. You just don't know who is going to turn out. Will there be enough to make a team? Will they be better than our kid? Worse? And as usual, it all turned out fine. Maggie showed really well. The team only lost one player and picked up a couple of good ones to fill the gaps. Coach Hubby made his head coaching debut for this team and was very impressive. Best of all, we were all back together again. I think the parents love it as much as the girls do! So now we start our 11-month soccer season! Gotta love being part of a soccer family!

We took in some Women's Sounders soccer too. And, more importantly got to meet our favorite player from the Women's National team - Megan Rapinoe! Both Maggie and I were giddy! Mags wore her Rapinoe shirt, which Megan signed and got her signature on a ball too. Look at that smile... that is one happy girl!

The hubs and I also hit the prom again. It is both enjoyable (night out with the hubby, soccer girls trading in shinguards and ponytails for princess dresses and tiaras, soccer boys in tuxes) and disturbing (bumping and grinding, poorly chosen dresses, manners) but we come back every year so either we like it or we are gluttons for punishment.

Now we just have to wrap up the school year, make it through finals and graduation and then we hit summer break.

Weee Weee Weeeeeeeeee!

Well here we are again...three months after my last post. In case you haven't already figured this out, our life is a complete roller coaster. We vary between busy and crazy busy. There is no such thing as "not busy" but that's okay. So I'm back after a crazy three months and along the way I felt like I was about to loose my mind. Some people in my family would say that's not possible...that happened years ago! But seriously, I did think more than once my head might literally explode. I'm doing my best to recognize this chaos for what it is and shift from letting it cause me stress to enjoying the ride. It really is like a roller coaster...I can either hold on for dear life and be tense every minute of it or I can let the wind whip through my hair and enjoy every twist, turn and loopty loop. So here's to another whirl on the roller coaster!

To catch you up on all the twists and turns from this latest ride...

My big girl made the school team, junior varsity and was one of the best players out there. She was a crossing machine and she worked hard every game. At one point, she got tired of setting people up and them not scoring so she started taking the ball to the goal herself. She had several goals and set up more than half of the team's other goals. But most of all, she got to play against her teammates which she loved! 

She's off to track now where she's on the varsity squad, running the 100M, 200M and 4x200M relay and doing the long jump. She explained to me that running in track is not like running for soccer. It's harder because there is no goal, nothing to run for. I asked her if being the first to the finish was the goal and she said "yeeesss but it would be more motivation if there was someone with a box of donuts at the finish line." I can't argue with that logic.

Of course, her true love is soccer and she can't get enough of that. She just finished her indoor season and is prepping for her team's tryouts in two weeks. She went scoring crazy there too and was reunited with her teammates. The game is so fast and so fun to watch. All of the parents were exhausted even though we never touched the field!

Hubs has been coaching like crazy. He coached the Special Olympics basketball team for our district, working with the junior high and elementary school kids. I can not begin to tell you how much we both love this gig. The kids remind us that simple things like hugs and celebrating small victories are really what life is all about. One of the girls on his team was struggling with her free throws and he wanted her to use her "super strength." He asked who her favorite superhero was and she said "you coach"...all together now...Awwwww. She is adorable! His team took silver at state and they were thrilled with second place!

His boys high school season started shortly after and they had so many guys turn out that he had three teams instead of the usual two. That's been fun. No it hasn't. He continued to coach our daughter's team during the indoor season and just a few weeks ago he was asked to be their head coach! This is a real answer to prayer for us. There have been some challenges during our last two years, some directly with the other coach, some not but I think this will help with much of that. Maybe I should have my head checked but we are very excited.

My little girl has not been forgotten. She started swim lessons in March and that's been...interesting. She was very excited the first night and really did great. Then as the week progressed, she started hesitating until she wasn't doing much of what they asked. She confessed she was scared but it didn't take long for her to form trust in her teacher Trevor. However, she only trusted Trevor so she wouldn't do anything for any of his helpers. We signed up for another session but her teacher had to cover a different class and she got someone new. She traded trust in Trevor for confidence in herself with this new guy. I'll admit, I didn't think it would work but she's floating like a pro. I'm having to talk to her during class about staying above water instead of coaxing her to go below.

She's also getting ready for kindergarten. Ugh. I'm glad she's ready because I'm not. I remember when my big girl went and how fast the years that followed have gone. I know it's time and that she needs to go but I don't want the time to pass anymore quickly than it already has. We've also had some challenges finding the right fit for kindergarten. The school she should go to doesn't have full-day, the one that does, we don't want her to go to and childcare has been an issue at all. We are hoping she'll get the okay to go to a different school in another district and stay at her current daycare but there are no guarantees. Please Lord be at work there!

I have had a crazy work schedule and pulled off a stellar, superhero themed event for 500 people. I was really proud of this one but it was not without a lot of work. My new boss is fabulous but also noticed we had a lot of holes to fill. I'm absolutely spinning trying to get caught up but all of it is good stuff so I can't complain.  I also turned 40 during this time. Because life was chaotic we kept it low key. I didn't get anymore of my list done which bummed me out but I can keep working on it.

Phew! On to the next round!

Next Phase

Well as if we don't have enough soccer in our life...my big girl is trying out for the school team this week. I'm super nervous. She's a great player with a lot of skill but I don't know how all this school tryouts stuff works. I want her to do well at tryouts. I want her to get a good coach. I want her to get to play with her friends. I don't want her to get left behind. What is this cut, no cut thing? Does she have to play on the 7th grade team? What is the competition going to be like? Ug. It's got my tummy in knots. Which is all kind of crazy because I'm not even the one trying out! Both her dad and I tried to give her a few pointers. We encouraged her and told her as long as she does her best, we'll be proud. We watched the Women's National team play the day before tryouts started. Hopefully, seeing her favorite atheletes play will inspire her. I know she'll do well. She's an amazing player who is very versatile and can play anywhere on the field. She'll be great at tryouts. I just hope I can survive them!

Snowpocalypse 2012

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the weather is mild.  Most of the time here the forecast is either rain or no rain.  The temperatures linger between 40 and 60 for most of the year and may shoot up to the 70s in the summer. We get the occasional snow and the whole place shuts down. It is a little strange for a Colorado girl like me but knowing I don't have to go out in the snow except to play with my snow bunnies is fabulous.

2012 has been different. We've had beautiful clear days with very little rain. And the temperatures have been brisk...40 during the day and getting down to the 20s at night. When the radar showed big precipitation coming our way with no change in temperature, we prepared for a good snow storm. We got that snow - 8" for us (which is significant here). And then the snow turned to freezing rain. Add an inch of ice to everything. Our heavy snow with the ice on top sent trees and branches crashing. Our power - along with 250,000 other people's - went out...for days.  In the country where we live, no power also means no water. Our well won't pump without water. Fortunately, my hubby filled the tub before the power went down so we could still flush the toilet. But even a tub full of water doesn't last when you are without power for three days. 

At first, our powerless adventure was fun. We played games and did crafts. We used our electronics until the batteries died. The girls played in their rooms while I thumbed through a magazine. We went outside for a little bit but once the freezing rain hit, that made it miserable to be in. After the freezing rain stopped, the snow was so hard you couldn't play in it if you wanted to. And then the cabin fever started to set in. The roads stunk so we couldn't go anywhere the first couple of days. Once they cleared, our unshowered appearance made us not want to go anywhere!

Thankfully, on day 2 we borrowed a friend's generator for a couple of hours. We set it up to power our big freezer so we didn't loose any meat. And then we added the TV and the DVD player so we could watch a movie. It was odd how good that small comfort made us feel. While we were setting up the generator, we found out hub's uncle had power and a generator he wasn't using. We snatched that sucker up as fast as we could and settled in for the night. We had a lamp and movies but still no water or shower.

On day 3, we finally said ENOUGH and went out to breakfast with all the other unshowered people. It was nice to see I wasn't the only one with bad hair. We strolled leisurely through Home Depot, pricing generators (which of course were sold out) and picking up a few things for our emergency kit. We read stories of friends without power and heat via Facebook on our cell phones. And we realized just how spoiled we all have been with our mild weather.

When we got home, I went full redneck on the family. I had hubs heat some water on the BBQ and we washed our hair in a bucket in the front yard. I couldn't stand it anymore. I'm sure the neighbors got a good chuckle and we all got clean hair so I don't care. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

As we were tucking the girls into bed that night, I saw the neighbors porch light out my big girl's window. We have never been so excited. And even though we were going to bed and wouldn't be using any power for the rest of the evening, it was comforting just to know it was back.

We had survived Snowpocalypse 2012. By mid-week, everyone had power again and the storm clean up began. We lost several branches off our 50-foot pine tree...it looks like a giant Charlie Brown Christmas tree but that was it. Winter may only last a week or two around here but when it comes, it's a doozy!

Pinterest...Where Have You Been All My Life

I've heard mention of this thing called Pinterest on a number of occasions. But I'm not one to run out and do or buy the current trend. I'm too practical for that. But I confess, I peeked at Pinterest over the MLK holiday and... I'm hooked.  I neglected my family and the massive piles of laundry that I needed to do and scrolled through endless pins. Decorating, recipes, outfits, craft projects, cute babies and puppies and photography ideas. Oh my.

I discovered the cutest hair styles, places I never knew I wanted to visit and quotes, scriptures and sayings for every mood. I have at least 10 new blogs I need to follow. And there is even the periodic eye candy post...Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Mark Wahlberg AND crafts - SHUT UP!

Here are a few of my favs...

Dr. Pepper cupcakes...I've died and gone to heaven.

I'd love to post more but I must get back to Pinterest.