playing catch-up

I was thinking about how I started this blog in 2008 when I found out I was pregnant with Sara. I thought it would be a good way to keep out-of-town friends and family involved in our lives (this was before I was on Facebook, etc.). For a long time, I updated super regularly - everything from family updates to hot sports opinions to little quips here and there about other things. Now I've gotten to the point that I come back every once in a while to give a quick overview of several events at one time. I keep it up (very occasionally) because I hope one day it'll serve as a record for my girls about the time we spent together and the highlights that bring us so much joy. More than anything, that's all I've ever wanted this medium to be - a place to record and a place that allows us to remember. With that in mind, here I am with another photo dump of the last couple of months ...

In late July and early August, Emma's team played three back-to-back weekends of SUPER hot tournaments in hopes of qualifying for Classic League - D1 this season.

And they did it! This crew has worked so hard and improved so much in such a short time with their new coach. They earned that D1 spot!

Around the same time, Sara had cheer camp to prepare for the school cheer season. After giving it lots of thought and trying a couple of gyms, she's decided not to cheer competitively this year. She misses it, but is staying busy with school cheer and outside tumbling. On the last day of cheer camp, parents got to go watch a show-off event. Each school performed several cheers.

Earlier in the week, Sara had been nominated by one of the NCA coaches for All-American, and she had gone through with the full try-out earlier in the day. At the end of the show-off, all of the girls who were nominated throughout the week were recognized. Then the NCA coaches selected three girls from among all teams to receive the All-American award, and Sara was one of them! I was SO proud of her for putting herself out there with the try-out, and it was so fun to see several years of hard work rewarded in this way!

In early August, we attended the DFW Cyclones senior send-off at our new game watch location. This year there are 40+ seniors from the area headed to Ames!

The first day of school happened! Sara wasn't thrilled that the cheerleaders had to wear their cheer shirts instead of the outfit she'd spent hours planning, but she still looked cute! 

After this, only one first day walk to Daffron remains...

My first day in a new school was successful. Earlier in the summer, I received a call from the district asking me to move to a middle school for which they were having a hard time identifying a principal candidate. I got the call while I was at a conference in Houston with a few of my mentors, and I spent a lot of time talking with them and soul-searching. I was not ready to leave my elementary - but decided in the end that the call was probably the push I needed. So I started year seven as a principal (and year twenty in public ed) back in middle school where it all started for me. It's been a crazy few weeks, and my learning curve is real, but it's going well!

Emma's team had another tournament weekend and they really showed up! We had fun bonding between the semi-finals and finals - made longer by rain delay.

In the end, they came in 2nd after a hard-fought 1-0 game. They were disappointed, but as parents we still saw so much progress!

After a super-dry summer, we've had lots of rain over the past couple of weeks. That has meant a few cancelled practices. A couple of weeks ago, we filled in one of those nights with a little girls' outing for dinner, drinks, and dessert! I love these moments with my girls.

Last weekend we left right after school and headed to Round Rock, just north of Austin, for - yep - another soccer tournament. It was Emma's first travel tournament and the girls were so excited!

It was SO hot, so when they were allowed to swim, the girls took full advantage.

They loved just hanging out and bonding in the hotel lobby. Not pictured: the parents doing the same on the other set of couches. We have such a fun soccer fam!

During the trip, we had to find this picture of baby Emma and Greyson playing soccer at 3 years old. Still teammates and friends after all these years!

One morning, the team we were supposed to play forfieted at the last minute. We were already up and ready for an 8:00 game, and so were the boys on the field next to us (whose opponent also didn't show) so we had a friendly scrimmage reffed by one of our parents. Not that it matters, but the girls won. 👍

Between the semi-final and finals, we were on the hunt for air and a little food!

After another tough game, the girls earned every bit of the championship!

Emma was out before we hit the highway, with her gold medal around her neck. We were all exhausted when we got home, but worth it for a great weekend.

This past week, Sara's first football game was cancelled due to lightening. We hung around to see if it would happen, but in the end, we headed for some dinner instead. Hoping for a game and the chance to cheer this week!

The following night, the rain came again but cleared in time for Emma's team to serve as ball girls at the SMU Women's Game.

During the game, the girls stood on the sidelines and when a ball came out, they threw the player a new one, then chased down and dried the one that had gone out. Emma was WAY over there but took her job seriously!

At half-time, the girls scrimmaged.

And autographs afterwards!

After several busy weekends and weeknights to start the school year, to say we were ready for this long weekend is an understatement. Plus it was Emma's birthday weekend!

Double Digits!

We went to the Cyclone game watch. Big win to start the season, and Emma scored free ice cream for her birthday!

Steve bought trick candles, which had us laughing for a long time!

In true birthday weekend fashion, the celebration continued to yesterday. We had a great time at Top Golf and watched as the storms, again, slowly rolled in. Emma was a trooper and kept golfing in the rain! When we got home, there were branches down and our outdoor furniture was all moved around from the wind, so although we were wet, we clearly didn't get the worst of it from our golfing bay.

I had to add this picture - these shoes were Sara's and they ended up in her Goodwill bag. In her defense, they are too small for her now ... but it made me laugh/cringe that I'm at the phase in parenting where I go back through my kid's give-away pile and find things I'm happy to wear second-hand. Ha!

Whew - all caught up for now!

A Perfect Ten

Here we are ... the baby of our family is TEN. Double digits! When I was pregnant with Emma, before I knew she was a girl, I remember so badly wanting a sister for Sara. Then when she was born, I remember thinking of how complete our family felt. Emma Grace felt like the perfect name for our tiny baby girl ... and grace is what we've needed every day since.

This ten year old is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I've always said that Emma feels every emotion to the extreme, and she's a spit-fire through and through. As much as it drives me crazy sometimes, her spirit is one of a kind and I know it's taking her places. Emma reminds me daily that "life's a dance, you learn as you go."

At ten, Emma still loves playing soccer and softball. It's been so fun to watch her develop as a player and a teammate. She's also found her voice in appropriately advocating for herself with her coaches, and she continues to show leadership on the field. She's busy with practices most nights of the week and games on weekends, but she loves it. And I love watching her play.

Emma wears basically the same outfit everyday - some version of athletic shirt and shorts. We joke that, like Steve, she has several of basically the same outfit that she just swaps out on repeat. But it's easy, comfortable, and she is always prepared for PE. Emma loves school lunch, cheeseburgers, and blue Gatorade zero. She loves to laugh super-out-loud at funny things, and enjoys spending most afternoons at the park with her friends. She doesn't like going to bed earlier than she feels ready ... and she feels the same way about waking up. I guess she's a pretty normal kid, and also a a pretty great one.

On her birthday list this year, Emma put "make the Cyclones win". So it's proof she's our kid. And we couldn't love her more. Happy Birthday, Emma (give us) Grace. You're a Perfect Ten!