We had a few crazy months so I am a little behind but October and November brought us more soccer, the start of basketball, a 14th birthday, Halloween and Thanksgiving fun!
We celebrated Hudson turning FOURTEEN! Not sure how that happened but here we are! She took a few sweet friends to an Escape room and out to dinner!
We had a great Halloween! The kids lasted way longer than I could have but thankfully it was a school night so I had an excuse to get them back home! The big girls disappeared with friends but at least I got a picture of both!
Tinsley played in another soccer tournament bringing home 2nd place! They played a year up and narrowly missed finishing first! They are so much fun to watch!
November we continued on with soccer and added basketball to the mix for the boys, Tinsley and Sullivan (at school). Games start next week so we are excited to get back out there!
We took a little trip for Thanksgiving to the Lake. The kids have never seen the lake when they drain the water so they were very excited! They had a blast exploring all around the shoreline that is usually under water. Tinsley even did the Polar Plunge (for a $20 prize).
We also adventured to Athens for the kids very first college football game...UGA v GA Tech! They had a blast and were so mad I made them leave in the fourth quarter! Little did I know it was going to go to EIGHT overtimes! Needless to say they are hooked and loved calling the Dawgs!
We made it back home in time to get our decorations up for Christmas!!
The kids are SOOOO excited for the big day and are counting down every second!
Here are the rest of our adventures from October and November:
I don't know how we got here but here we are...it's FALL! Also not sure how I missed posting the whole month of August but oh well!
Let's see if I can get you all caught up on all the things! Kid by Kid!
Hudson wrapped up her summer with the start of Middle School Volleyball! She has officially made the jump to volleyball full time and said goodbye to soccer and she is THRIVING! She loves volleyball and is passionate about it! Its so fun to watch!
She started 8th grade and is doing great!
She wrapped up the past two months with her volleyball banquet and Volleyball try-outs for her travel team! Of course she crushed both! She won the Thunder Award for school which is the player who personifies everything their school and team stands for! I could not be more proud. We did not have the season we were hoping or expecting BUT she stuck with it and learned some life lessons along the way! She also made the top team at her volleyball club as well! Excited to see what their team can do this year!!
Sullivan kicked off 7th grade and is doing great as well. She decided to try out for volleyball this year (for the first time ever) and made the JV team. She did well (even though she had no clue what she was doing). And she somehow managed to kick and head a ball over the net.....you can take the soccer player of the field but....
Her soccer season is off to a busy busy start. She was out of town every weekend in September - Birmingham, Knoxville, St. Louis and Cleveland, OH - but they are off to a great start. This is her team's first year playing ECNL and they are handling it well. They even went 3-0 in their first ever ECNL showcase!
Thomas ended his summer with the start of his first ever kid pitch baseball season! It was quite the adjustment but he and his teammates get a little better each game!
Due to some issues with the TN Standardized tests, Thomas is giving 3rd grade another try and is doing well! He has some good friends in that grade and he didn't seem to miss a beat! He is working hard in school and I think this will be the best thing for him!
He pitched in two games so far this year and is starting to get the hang of it. In his last game he managed 3 strike outs and even had one inning where he went 3 up, 3 down!
Tinsley has kicked off her first official real season playing soccer with TSC and is doing well! She also started 1st grade and is thriving! She loves her teacher and is doing a great job listening, helping and being a leader.
Her soccer team played in and WON their first ever tournament this past month! They are a fun group! Fiesty, competitive and fierce for sure! They also know how to score goals.....getting 28 for in their tourney and giving up ZERO!
She also turned SEVEN years old! Don't worry we are still celebrating with her birthday party coming up next week! She knows how to get her money's worth!
And last but not least, Conner! Conner kicked off 1st grade as well and is doing great. He is so smart and loves to learn. He likes to read and loves science facts!
Conner took a break from baseball and soccer this fall to try his hand at flag football. He is one of the youngest out there but loving every minute! In his last game he made an interception and pulled 2 flags! He was pumped!
He also celebrated the big SEVEN last month and is counting down the days until his party! They demanded separate parties this year for the first time so we are tackling that the best we can with out limited free time!
That is about all for now! October brings us more soccer, travel volleyball, the end of baseball and the start of basketball! Never a dull moment around here!
Here are the rest of the pictures from our busy August and September:
With sports finally over, we enjoyed a week at the Lake with cousins!
It's so fun seeing the kids get older and more willing to try all the activities.
Conner loves to kayak, kneeboard, swim and "drive" the boat with Reed!
Tinsley is a bit crazy! She is all about jumping off the top, kneeboarding, tubing, almost got up on two skis and even tried to wakeboard!
Thomas is willing to try anything these days. He kneeboards, two skis, tubes, tried the wakeboard and even went off the rope swing with the big boys!
Sullivan loves to tube and wakeboard. She has gotten pretty good at two skis and tried to slalom but couldn't quite get it! I think next year may be the year!
Hudson is also a little crazy and willing to do it all. She got up on the slalom again this year and also discovered the rope swing!
The best part of the lake is time with cousins of course!
The big girls and I snuck in the Rabun Ramble 5K with the big Halter boys and Aunt Eileen (and of course Weller and Gurley).
Now that Charlie is back from his knee surgery we also brought back the Quad Shred. We lost Reed to Knee surgery but luckily PJ's girlfriend LC stepped up to the plate! Shredders this year included PJ, Me, Charlie and LC!
The dogs lived their best life for a week! Hasil did not want to leave but we promised we would take her back next summer!
Thankfully we had awesome weather and we got to see three fireworks shows, make smore's and do sparklers!
When we got back from the lake it was time for Camp Widjiwagan for the little three and the kick off of Middle school volleyball for the big girls!
While we didn't get much of a summer because of sports, we made the most of it!
Now its back to school and soccer, baseball and flag football!
June was all about finally wrapping up our sports, starting our camps and getting ready for a much needed July Vacation!
We kicked off June with another trip to Atlanta for a volleyball tourney! This time Hudson's team got some revenge on the A5 team that knocked them out of a Nationals bid and beat them in an exciting 3 sets in the finals!
In between all of our sports we managed to celebrate Sullivan turning the big TWELVE years old! I can't believe she is almost a teenager!
The boys kicked off their summer with baseball camps and basketball camp! Conner won two shooting competitions at basketball camp and they both had a lot of fun learning from the Indy Varsity players!
Tinsley got to spend a week at Lipscomb soccer camp with some of her TSC teammates and they had a great time! Lots of soccer and lots of giant slip and slide fun!
Hudson and I hit the road to Orlando (again) for AAU Nationals for volleyball. Her team played in the Club Division (4th out of 8) and ended up winning the Ruby B bracket. So basically they finished about 27th out of 131 teams! Not too shabby!
I hurried home for two days just in time for Sullivan and I to fly back to Florida, this time to Tampa for USYSA Southern Regionals! Sullivan's team was playing up an a age group and had a great week! They lost their first game but were able to bounce back and win out the week to advance to the Championship game where they lost a tough one! So proud of them for battling all week in 100+ degree heat! This team is special and I can't wait to see what next holds for them in their first year of ECNL!
While we were gone, Hudson spent a week at one of her favorite places - Camp Widjiwagan!
With sports ending we finally get to take an actual vacation and head to the Lake for a week! Can't wait to relax for a week before we get right back into Middle school volleyball which starts early July and a week of Camp Widji for the little three!
