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!
Well we survived "Maycember" and it was a doozy! Lots of sports, trips, school. parties, ceremonies, etc, etc, etc!
May started off with a volleyball tourney in Atlanta for Hudson and a soccer tournament in Nashville for both Tinsley and Sullivan.
Hudson's team battled hard in a big qualifier tournament in Atlanta and came up just one win short of qualifying for GNJC Nationals. She has grown and learned so much this season, it has been fun to watch!
Tinsley's team played in their first ever real 7v7 tournament against teams TWO years older. They won one and lost one 3-4 (their other game was rained out). But I was so proud of the way they battled and didn't bat an eye at playing girls 2 years older and three times bigger!
Sullivan's team had a great weekend. Unfortunately bc of rain they only got to play 2 games but they won both games and ended up tournament champs - also playing one year up in the top bracket!
We followed up that weekend with a Mother's day full of more sports.
Thomas' baseball team played in their second ever travel tournament and brought home first place in the silver bracket! They played so well and it was fun to watch them play against some good travel teams!
That same weekend Conner was selected to play in the FBC 6U All-Star game! He played great with a few big hits and plays in the field and his team ended up winning the all-star game!
Hudson had another volleyball tournament, this time at home and they finished second place!
Tinsley finished up her soccer season with an in-house tournament where her team went undefeated! It was hot but she played great!
The next weekend brought us the end of baseball for both boys and both of them wrapped up their season as league CHAMPIONS! But most special of all, Thomas hit his very first HOMERUN!!!
As sports started to wind down, so did school. Super proud of all the kiddos this year. Both girls were named to the A/B Honor Roll and Hudson won the Art Award for 7th grade! The twins had a great kindergartner year and grew so much. They both won citizenship awards for showing great character at school! Thomas had a tough 3rd grade year but I am proud of him for sticking with it!
The end of May brought us to the State Cup for soccer! Hudson's team had a tough draw and lost in the quarterfinals. Sullivan's team had a fantastic performance winning the Quarterfinals 7-0, the semi-finals 5-0 and brought home the State Championship (playing a year up), winning the finals 3-2 in overtime! Super proud of this team and everything they have accomplished. They work very hard and play well beyond their years! Looking forward to seeing how they do at the Southern Regional tournament in June in Tampa!
And last but not least, we celebrated Thomas turning NINE years old! We somehow managed to squeeze in a fun party with his school and baseball buddies!
Thats all for now. June brings us soccer regionals, volleyball AAU Nationals, camps, trips and finally some summer fun!
Here are the rest of the pictures from our crazy month of May:
Just a few weeks late, but in our world that is on time these days! April was full of travel, sports, school events and much more!
We kicked off April with a little Mother/Son Nerf War event. The moms dominated obviously!
We had all the sports going this month.....
The boys are fully into Baseball and doing well!
Conner's team is the #1 seed going into play offs and he recently got the game ball for his solid fielding, including catching a few pop flies and throwing someone out at second from the outfield!
Thomas' team is also the #1 seed going into the play offs. They also tried their luck in a Travel Ball tournament and did well! They won one, lost one big and lost a close one in the knock out round! It was a great experience for them to see what those teams look like! They have another tournament in May so they will be ready to go in that one!
(I never order the pictures but thought this one was too funny)
Sullivan's team is still doing well and spent most of April wrapping up Midsouth League Play, finishing in a close 2nd place! The rest of this month was spent preparing for state cup! Sullivan's team also got to participate in Premier League Live when it came to Nashville! They spent a great morning training with some cool people and even getting some TV time!
Hudson's volleyball team is still going strong. They took a trip to Kansas City for a qualifying event against some tough competition. They did not place but I am so proud of Hudson for continuing to improve and learn every day!
Hudson's soccer team is doing well and wrapped up their ECNL RL schedule with a trip to Buffalo and Pittsburgh. They picked up 2 big wins which clinched their spot in the ECNL RL Play Offs! They are starting to play some good soccer and always battle hard! We even had time to squeeze in a trip to Niagara Falls! It was very cool, although a little cold, windy and WET!
Tinsley's soccer is wrapping up next month as well. They finally get to play in their first real outdoor tourney and they are so excited!
Hudson and Sullivan took some time away from sports one night to be inducted into the National Junior Honor Society! Proud of them for keeping their grades up and putting in lots of volunteer hours!
The Twins also had their kindergarten performance and it was adorable! As you can see they had very different approaches to the evening!
That is about all for now! May brings us the end of baseball for the boys and soccer for Tinsley. We also have two more volleyball tournaments and State Cup for the big girls' soccer! I can't believe the school year will be over next month either! This year has FLOWN by!
Here are the rest of the pics from our crazy April!
