Little Things

Our hotel has a sports court in it. The kids have had a great time playing basketball, soccer, and softball.

This reminded me of a quote I saw recently.

Speaking of big things, Ethan beat Esteban in a pick up game of basketball. That is a huge moment for anyone to beat big brother. Way to go Ethan!

AJ's Adventures

AJ decided to follow in his older brothers' footsteps and to play football this year. He spent a lot of time out in the backyard with his brothers in preparation. It was his first year ever playing football. In middle school here they have two teams per grade.There is an A team and a B team. This way, more boys get the experience of getting out on the field. It is also quite apparent that there is major differences in the size of boys his age.

AJ played on the B team. He didn't get a lot of playing time but he didn't seem to mind. He played hard every time he set foot on the field. He did great in practice as well. He even scored a few touchdowns at practice. I asked him what his coaches said about it. He said they just yelled at the defense for letting him through.

Here are a few photos of the AJ's adventure playing football. I love my #19.

Of course they have cheerleaders for middle school B team football. This is Texas after all.

The football season ended on high note with his team finally winning their last game. He loved it and can't wait for next season to start.

The same week that football ended, cross country started. AJ is a natural  runner. He is fast and he can run forever. We were really interested in how he would do in competition.

His first meet he wasn't familiar with the route and it kind of threw him off. He placed 39th out of 200+ runners.

The second meet he was better prepared and was astonished when he jumped up to 29th and placed 1st in his school. I think he will to improve as he continues to train and gain experience.

The problem is that in high school next year, football and cross country are at the same time. He will have to choose between the two. I asked him what he was going to do. He said he wanted to play football because cross country hurts. I said, "And football doesn't?" He replied that football hurts on the outside and cross country hurts on the inside. Being a runner myself, I know exactly what he is talking about.

He has a few more cross country meets to go. We'll see how he does. In the meantime, we'll just enjoy the run (pun intended).

Life Lessons

Esteban made the high school soccer team this year. It proved to be an interesting experience for him.

Here are some comparisons between competitive soccer and high school (JV) soccer.

Competitive soccer: Teams play according to age and only play other teams in the same age bracket.
JV soccer: They played with older players and against older players.

Competitive soccer: The best players play the majority of the time.
JV soccer: Equal playing time. Each player played 20 minutes  per half whether they did good or bad.

Competitive soccer: Este's team dominated.
JV soccer: They were the freshman. Need I say more?

It took Este some time and frustration to learn a new coaching system with different style of plays. He overcame injury, a scoring slump, and lots of disappointment. It was good for him. It is hard to see your kid struggle but, in the end life isn't always easy and you don't always get what you want or what you think you may deserve. Life is a lesson to be learned and some of those lessons are best learned on the field.

What do you do when life doesn't go as you had planned?

You keep your eye on the goal and continue to push in the right direction.

By the end of the season he was doing great. His high school team barely made the playoffs. Nobody gave them a chance to win a single game. They went into every playoff game as the underdogs and came out of every the game victors. Their perfect playoff record sent them to the state championship game at Rio Tinto (MLS) Stadium in Salt Lake City. 

I don't have picture of that game. In fact, Aaron and I didn't even go. You see, as a freshman Este wasn't going to play. He didn't even dress in uniform for the game. He was with the team but only as support. That night Ethan was playing in his first football scrimmage. Instead of sitting with a big crowd in a huge stadium cheering for the state championship, we sat alone in a small crowd that didn't even cheer watching Ethan play football for the first time.

We weren't at the soccer game to watch our team place the winning header into the goal during overtime. We weren't there as the crowd went wild for our underdogs who were crowned state champions. We weren't there as they hoisted the trophy over their heads. We were where we needed to be. 

Sports is an interesting things. It builds self esteem. It teaches kids that they can do hard things. It teaches them to work together as a team. It teaches them to pick yourself up and keep on going. It teaches that anything is possible.

Superstar!

Oh, how I love this kid!

 AJ took swimming lessons a few months ago. His goal was to pass the scout swim test. He stopped swimming lessons as soon as me met his goal. I think he had fun and I know he is a good swimmer but, he decided not to pursue a career as an Olympic swimmer. That' s just fine. It's his choice.

He also spent some of the winter months playing basketball. He is obviously not the tallest player on the court but, he hustled and played hard. He won't be in the NBA. That's just fine. It's life.

He is currently ripping up the soccer field. He is fun to watch. Again, he works hard and has a good time. He may never play for MLS. That's just fine. It's all just for fun.

AJ may never choose to be a superstar in sports but, he is a superstar in our family. He is the peacemaker. He is the comic relief. He hangs out with his older brothers and his younger sisters. He comes home everyday from school and asks me if I need help with anything. He is a blessing to all of us.  I want him to do whatever in the world he wants to do. I hope he never changes. I love him just the way he is.

Sports Court

Our hotel had a sports court that we took full advantage of. We may not be professional tennis or basketball players but, we had fun trying to be.

It was great being outside playing in the sunshine.

Our Superbowl

Last Saturday was the big Texas vs. Oklahoma football game. Since we choose not to watch sports on Sunday, this is our Superbowl. My sister Laurann joined us in the festivities. It was fun watching the game all together. I must admit, we all weren't as tranquil as this photo may lead you to believe. Aaron thinks he knows the coaches on a first name basis as he yells at them. Laurann told me it's a good thing Aaron doesn't use curse words or she would have had an ear full. The Longhorns eventually won and we were all a little happier.
Let's face it, the football game isn't the only thing. There is also the food. Here are the ingredients as Aaron started cooking the night before.

On Saturday, he fired up the grill. Thanks to some good fall weather for the weekend and the frozen HEB seasoned fajita meat we have been saving for months just for this occasion. Laurann even made a football cake for dessert. She used Reese's Pieces on the border so that it would go with our color scheme of the day (burnt orange). It was so good especially all the frosting globbed on top. (Have a ever mentioned I have a sweet tooth?)

Laurann bought an orange shirt so she would fit in with the rest of us. Savanah and Vanessa had on their Texas shirts we bought last May when we were in Austin. Vanessa doesn't really like her shirt so I was surprised she wore it. It says Texas Angel and I think she's worried it will ruin her reputation.

Anyway, back to the food. By the time we were ready to eat we had fajitas, tortillas, sausage, rice, beans, chicken, raspberry-jalapeno dipping sauce, guacamole, fresh salsa, chili-cheese dip, and mineral-water lemonade.
AJ requested I take a photo of him eating a chip. After all the football and food we headed for the soccer fields. Esteban's team, currently tied for 1st place played the 3rd ranked team. Esteban's team won 10-0.

This week, they play their final game against the other undefeated team. It should be a great game. All in all a great sports-filled, sunny & warm, fall day.

Are You Serious?

I have never professed to be an athlete and I'm okay with that. It still seems strange to me that having said that, I gave birth to Esteban. He LOVES sports. He is VERY competitive in every sport he participates in. He is a natural athlete.

This year he played another season of indoor soccer, which is a mix of hockey and soccer. Pictures are hard to take in the arena but, like I've said before, "A bad picture is better than no picture."He also played church basketball. His team wasn't the best team out there but he still enjoyed playing.This year, the young men at church started a dodgeball tournament (as if church basketball wasn't dangerous enough). Dodgeball is lots of fun to watch. Esteban has a knack for being the last player left on his team.At one point in the game he was hit in the face (which is against the rules but, hey this is dodgeball.) Did that slow him down? Of course not, he took some paper towel, shoved it up his nose to stop the bleeding, and went right back in the game.Are you serious? Esteban is when it comes to sports.

Ooops!

As most of you know, we are die hard University of Texas Longhorn fans. Last Monday was the final game of the season for our beloved Longhorns. They were playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. Aaron was in his Master's class that night so we recorded the game at home. He ususally gets home around midnight when he has class. A lot of times he stays down at his brother's house in Woods Cross. Not this week, Aaron drove home on icy roads so he could watch the game.

Esteban and I didn't want to stay up that late so we watched the recording earlier (we don't watch live TV so we can fast forward through time-outs). The game ended in spectacular fashion! We watched to the end of the recording when it asked if we wanted to delete the recording........ you guessed it. Esteban accidentally deleted the game that Aaron was driving home to watch. He was devastated as I called Aaron to let him know he was battling the bad road conditions for nothing. Aaron determined that he loves Esteban more than the Longhorns so he was fine about missing the game. Ooooops! It's just a casualty of modern technology that we come to rely on. Remember when we had to actually watch commercials..........

I'm not an Olympian

Savanah recently learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Once she had the confidence to do it, she was starting, stopping, turning tight circles, and even riding on grass within a day of learning. She wants to ride her bike all the time now.

Yesterday, I needed to deliver letters from the Primary leaders at church to all the families with children in our neighborhood. (Yes, we live in Utah so our entire congregation lives within a short bike ride of our house.) I decided I could ride Esteban's bike and Savanah could ride her bike so together, we could deliver the letters. It sounded like such a great idea...........

Problem #1-Esteban's bike is way too big for me.

Problem #2-His bike is a boy's bike so it has that nasty cross bar. I had to hike my leg up and over in order to get on. Not an easy task these day.

Problem#3-Just because they say you never forget how to ride a bike does not mean that it is easy. I was pretty unsteady since I haven't ridden a bike for 150 years.

Problem #4-I was riding around our neighborhood where I know everyone. I hope nobody was looking out their window because I promise I did not look like this.So, I decided I could never be an Olympic cyclist, gymnast, runner, swimmer, or anything else. I guess I'll just have to be content watching the Olympics on TV.

Isn't She Lovely?

For years, I have been a typical SUV (now mini-van) driving soccer mom going from field to field running up and down the sidelines cheering on the troops. It's different now, I have to fix hair up into ponytails before we walk out the door.

Yes, we have entered a new era in our family: girl's soccer. Savanah's first game was yesterday.For those of you who are not familiar with first year little league soccer, there's no goalie, there are only 5 players on the field for each team, they don't pass or play position. Everyone runs around in a big pack kicking the ball if they can get close enough to it. When our boys started playing soccer, they loved the pushing and shoving as much as kicking the ball. Savanah did not. She ran around the perimeter of the pack staying involved yet, away from the action. Every once in while, she would sneak a kick in here and there. She is number 8 on the blue team.When the game started the temperature was 41 degrees and falling. At half time we put her jacket on under her uniform. That is another thing I'm still adjusting to: playing soccer in the cold.



It was fun to watch and it will be interesting to see how the season goes for her.

Allstar AJ

AJ just finished playing his first year of basketball. He is number 10 (in honor of Vince Young who was the quarterback when the Texas Longhorns won the National Championship). Aaron was his assistant coach and he had several of his close friends on his team. The only game they won was the last game. AJ made the final basket (the first one he scored all season). The crowd cheered so loud for him knowing what that basket meant to him. He had a lot of fun and made some huge improvements. It was a blast to watch!

Kickball Queen

The city has a kickball league for 3-4 year olds. We signed Savanah up. We decided it was finally her turn to play a sport after years of watching her brothers.
It has been a lot of fun to watch. Of course, all of the kids have ran the wrong way at one point or another. The concept of tagging a runner out is just starting to sink in. Leaving base if you get out has not sunk in. The innings consist of every player kicking the ball no matter how many outs a team has acquired.We were pleasantly surprised that she is quite athletic. We have only seen the "princess" side of Savanah so, it is nice to see another side of her. I enjoy watching her broaden her horizons and have a lot of fun doing it.
I guess that makes her our kickball queen!