Soccer!!

As I've already mentioned, Trevor decided to change things up for soccer this season.  After playing on the Rams since 2008, he switched to the Stars.  He wanted the opportunity to play with several of his friends who were on that team.  By the time soccer sign up was done, Robert was the coach of the new team too.

Trev's #49

The had a very good season.  One of the moms shared these pics of Trev.

 Bounced it off of his head

One way to get the other guy to back off

What we see.

What everyone else sees.

 

Looks are deceiving.  We ended up playing the Titans on Friday night, beat them 3 - 1, and took third place in the league.  We're pretty happy with that.

Soccer Banquet!

Another season ending!

We had a great night at Bellacino's, our long time, go-to soccer banquet place.

What a great group of kids we had this year, not just our 13+ team, but the 6-8 and 9-12 kids are so wonderful and sweet, and their coaches are such a wonderful group of Godly men.  The league definitely has its issues, but our team is special, and I'm grateful.

The restaurant blocks off half of their space for us. Each family orders off of the regular menu, we push tables together into big groups and eat.  Every family brings a dessert to share, and we snack before and during the giving out of awards.  (How nice is the restaurant to let us do that too?)

Customary photo of Robert with Trevor during awards.

And one of the coolest things was a dessert one of our moms brought.  Occasionally over the years, someone will do something really fancy, but it's always for the younger teams. This is the first time anyone has done anything spectacular for the big kids!

It was a great night, fun way to end the fall season.  This is Trevor's 13th season of soccer, just three more to go.

Second game of the season

Trevor reffed two earlier games.  He enjoys it (and gets paid), and Robert and I appreciate having a reason to get to the games early and therefore scoring great parking spots.  Parking gets ugly and far as the night moves on.

It was drizzly at first, and we weren't sure if we'd even play.  I stayed holed up in the car for awhile. 

Love seeing new bumper stickers that amuse me.  I had to look at this for a minute to get it, as I kept thinking that I didn't know any homeschoolers who were such body piercing proponents.

 Body Piercing by GLOCK

Even when I was watching the game, I wasn't watching too closely.

Robert and assistant coach Tim watching.

Very late night, ending with a run to Chipotle for desperately hungry guys on the way home.

Two first; no pictures

First FIRST:

On Sunday, I decided there was no point in Trevor getting used to a post-Holly routine, and then have to readjust in a few weeks to a school routine.

I haven't done much planning, but I pretty much know what Trevor will be doing this school year. We started with math only for this week, and I'll add things in as the weeks pass.  I'm not sure if we've ever begun school before Labor Day, so there's plenty of time.

Algebra II.  This is the same book that Holly used and the same series that both used for Algebra I.  It's written as a remedial textbook for college students, so while it's a "college" book, it's not college level math.  What I like, no, what I *love,* about Lial's is that the entire book is written to the student and intended to be self-teaching.  This also means that if they get stuck, I have a chance of helping them wade through it (surely much easier in Alg I).  When I bought this book, the seller unexpectedly threw in the solutions manual and accompanying never-used CD lecture set. The solutions manual is great--while the textbook includes answers to odd problems in back, the solutions manual explains the answers step by step.


Science/The Human Body.  Apologia, the go-to, trusted science curriculum.  Trevor had an excellent but entirely scattered biology course two years ago (the beloved but absent-minded Dr. Abraham) and online Apology Chemistry last year.  It will be different for him to self pace through this course, but the format makes it easy to do.

United States History.  Trevor has really enjoyed MFW's history, but the texts change for 11th and 12th grade.  Holly used a few other CLP packs for history, and while they are not my absolute favorite, they are both thorough and to the point.  Trevor may be a little disappointed, but it will be super easy to add more fun reading in, if he has time. 

Biblical Worldview. The Holy Spirit must have prompted me for this one!  I have no idea what I was looking for or why I chose it.  Worldview, check.  Summit Ministries, check.  I've heard only great reviews. I recently saw this as a free course offered through VHSG, but I quickly decided that this is a subject I would prefer to teach myself and not trust to a random, virtual stranger.


English/Comp.  We'll be using Windows to the World, and Trevor is going to try an online class through VHSG to guide him through The Elegant Essay.

Logic.  This is an outside course which will be taught by a religion/philosophy instructor from the local community college.  Twelve students are signed up, including Kurt and Samuel, two additional  boys from our soccer team, two other girls we know from soccer, and a boy from CAP.  We are all pretty exciting about this one.

Music Appreciation. Because it's good stuff to know, because I paid under $5 for a once-used set at the library book sale, and because this is something I can do with Trevor (and I don't have to teach it!).  

So we had our FIRST day of school, one subject, no pictures.  But it's begun, and that's a very good thing.


Second FIRST:

(Yes, I was headed here.) FIRST night of soccer practice!!  Another first, no photos. That's what I get for being social and talking to another mom.  I could have happily sat in my chair all alone and taken a few pics, but that's not how it happened. 

More soccer!

A local church is doing some sort of outreach and hosting a large group of children from Nepal this summer.  Our homeschool rec league was asked if some of our kids would like to get together and play against the Nepal kids.

Trevor at first dismissed the idea, but he saw one of the games when he was out playing soccer with friends a few weeks ago.  He signed up for yesterday's game.

I was surprised at how large many of their players were. I was expecting smaller kids.  All of the players were 13-16 years old, and we had three girls on our team.  We had one sub; they had several.

Fun, fun game to watch!  It was a hot, hot, and I'm surprised that I don't have a sunburn from being out for a couple of hours.

We knew it'd be a tough game, but I was proud of our players.  Our group was a collection of players from eight or more different teams, not used to playing together.  We kept the ball down on their side of the field for more than half of the playing time, but we couldn't get the ball into the goal.

The goalie was our sometimes goalie from our regular Rams team.  He doesn't have much experience but volunteered to take it on. He does a great job, and Trevor told him yesterday he was the MVP of the game.  We lost something like 9-0, but Carson did a fantastic job deflecting a dozen other attempts.  :)

Trevor had a good time and is looking forward to playing again.  He had some interesting observations in the car afterwards about the game, the teams, our league.  He is so insightful and observant, and I'm proud of the remarkable man he is growing up to be.

End of soccer season

We had a super group of boys on our soccer team this spring--that's right, boys! No girls at all, at least on our team. It wasn't one of our usual winning seasons, but that's okay. We couldn't have asked for nicer kids to play together with such great spirits.

We had our banquet tonight at Shenandoah Baptist. It's not our first choice, but the younger teams appreciate it because of the playground outside, and because they have more freedom than they do in the restaurant some of us prefer. It worked out well tonight in the cafeteria. Tables were available, and the room was cool. Holly joined us tonight, which was nice.

Coaches gave their usual speeches for the players, and Robert did a spectacular job. He sometimes plans out what he's going to say, at least a little bit. Tonight, he did it on the fly and was even complimented by a couple of parents. These kids absolutely ADORE playing for him, and the parents are always so sweet too. He has a gift for bringing the kids together as a team and have FUN while doing it, whether they win or lose. A fun night.

Soccer

Another gorgeous night of soccer.

Shortly before we left home, Robert asked Trevor if he had an older, smaller Rams shirt.  I wondered who would be playing who didn't have a shirt.

A few minutes later, Kota came trotting down the hallway, our mascot in a blue Rams t-shirt.  I lamented not having taken a photo, but Holly texted me one that Trevor sent to her.  :)

I had NO interest in taking care of her at the game--she wants to run, she wants to chase the balls and see other dogs, and little kids want to hug her repeatedly, which she doesn't like.  Robert handed her off to the older sister of one of our players, who happily enjoyed the dog and was hoping to make a more permanent trade for her brother.  No such luck though!

First game of the season

First game of the season!

So conveniently, although we used to drive an hour each week to get to these fields, we now live less than five minutes away.

Tied game, but could've been worse.

Beautiful night for a game.

Soccer kicks in!

We marked the beginning of spring soccer season, quite aptly, with the first practice being rained out and practice being postponed for a week.

Robert and Tim are coaching again, and everyone had a chance to get together and meet a few new players.

Gotta love that mug he gives when he doesn't want his picture taken!

A different kind of soccer post

Trevor earned his Referee certification today through the U.S. Soccer Federation (the official governing body of U.S. soccer).  It was a pretty big deal. 

He had studying to do ahead of time and attended a one day course today.  With my crazy work week, it wasn't until last night that I remembered the class was today.

The class was at Roanoke College, a block from my office (where I no longer have an office). At lunch time, I brought him a burger and fries from a restaurant we frequent during the week.  Robert and I did some shopping in the afternoon and picked Trevor up at the end of class.

As a certified referee, he qualifies to officiate for youth and adult teams affiliated with USSF.  He'll begin as a line judge, and he'll get paid big bucks even at that level.  This is an opportunity God put before him quite a while ago (he's been paid as a line judge for our hs rec league for four seasons already).  Great job, kid!!

(Yes, pun intended.)

Found in my in box!

It's become harder for me to keep track of my pictures.  I don't use my camera much anymore; I've never been overly thrilled with the quality of pictures it takes, it's big and bulky to tote around, and it's a pain to download the pictures to my computer.

I take a lot more pictures with my phone.  Although the quality is definitely lacking, it's handy, and I always have it with me.  I text the pictures to my email, where I can download them to my computer.

My camera and my phone number the photos differently, so they are never in true order anymore.

All of that to say that I just found another photo in my email in box from two months ago.

Trevor continues to line ref at soccer.  He is placed in several games each season; it's a nice paying job, he enjoys it, and he gets great feedback from the (adult) center refs. He's one of the more popular line refs, and I'm proud of the hard work he does!

Soccer banquet

Just a few photos wrapping up our wonderfully blessed soccer season!

Our 13+ team table--a young group that came together in a way that took us all by surprise.

Our top-voted MVPs.

Yay, Trevor smiled for me!

Robert was having a good time, really--just inhaling as he prepared to say as many wonderful things as he could about Trevor in one breath!

Soccer team pics

Team photo . . .

followed by the traditional gag photo.

Such a blessing to be a part of this team this season!

Championship night

We ended up in the top two teams for soccer and played the (Trevor's friend Kurt's) Flames in the soccer championships!  In the rush to leave the house, I was so disappointed to realize I left my camera at home.

It was a super-exciting, evenly matched game, with everyone playing fairly.  That's not always the case, but this is a great team, and it was a privilege and truly great fun to have the chance to play them for first place!  We lost 2-0, but we were all pleased with how the game was played.

We had virtually a brand new team this year. Several of our players graduated last season, and these were kids who had never played together before. They gelled in a way that thrilled everyone, most of all themselves. Trevor said it was his favorite team that he's ever played on, quite a testimony for his tenth season of soccer!

In other super-exciting news, Trevor was named one of the MVPs of the team.  This is a special honor as it is voted by the players themselves.  It won him a spot in the coaches vs. MVPers game at the end of the evening.

We had a spectacular night, really quite a spectacular season!

More soccer practice

Trevor continues to perfect his kicking.

I chased a few balls and generally enjoyed the view.

Trevor practices kicking

Trevor's been visiting the nearby soccer fields to continue practicing and perfecting his kicking.  Sometimes I have to chase the balls, but I don't mind much.  In fact, I kind of like it; his enthusiasm is contagious!

Holly's birthday, Part 2, and Mom and Mike's visit, Part 3

I am terribly behind on blogging and am backdating posts to get photos up.

Following Trevor's soccer game on Friday, Mom and Mike took us to Cheddar's to celebrate Holly's birthday. It was a delicious dinner and a lovely time. We stopped on the way home and got her cake, but we were far too stuffed to eat it and saved it until the next night!

Mom and Mike came over on Saturday, and I guess mostly hung out. Grandma braved Walmart with me and Holly to stock up on food and other supplies for Holly to take back to school. At Holly's request, Robert made chile rellanos for dinner, and we finally got to eat birthday cake!

A wonderful visit with everyone, such perfect timing that worked out so that all of us could be here together. I know that won't always be the case in the future, and I'm grateful for these times.

Driving me crazy

Thursday. Left Kroger, opened my car door, stopped and realized that IT WASN'T MY CAR! I have a radio key, which stays in my purse but unlocks my door and starts my car.  Obviously, this person didn't lock their car!

On a positive note, I was struck by how much nicer my car looks on the inside.  I just passed 90,000 miles, and it still looks brand new inside.

Friday. The business adjacent to the soccer fields has closed off its parking this season.  Seriously?  The business is closed when we are there.  If they don't want us parking there, maybe charge us $2 to park.  We'd gladly pay it. They'd make money, and it'd be worth it to compensate for the person they have sitting in front of their lot to make sure we don't move the barriers.  The police are there too, preventing people from parking along one side of the little dead end street that leads to the park.  It's crazy, and it's pointless.

I dropped off Robert and Trevor at the end of the street and then drove off in search of a spot--which could literally be half a mile away.  But I scored!!!  There was parking along another street, and I PARALLEL PARKED!!  Momentous, really, as it's only the second--no, the third!--time I've ever done this successfully!

Yes, yes, there's a bit of space there, but that's beside the point.  I DID IT!  And I only had to walk 2/10 of a mile, much more reasonable!

SOCCER!

And right in the middle of everything else, soccer season began six weeks ago!  It started out being a very strange year.  Robert continues to coach. Holly and three other players graduated.  Several players changed teams.  We have fewer 13+ players in the league in general, and instead of the usual eight teams, we have just five for now.  There are a couple of factors which came into play (no pun intended!).  For the past few years, the 9-12 teams have been sparse; so fewer kids are moving into the 13+ teams.  After breaking for a few seasons, the competitive boys' soccer team is playing again, so some of the players are there for the fall season.  Lastly, I believe many are fed up with the league and have just left.  I certainly have my moments when I wish we were doing the same.

So we have a mostly new team, with just three returning players from last season.  A few others have played on our team in the past.  We figured it'd be a year to rebuild and gel, working together to play stronger in the next couple of years. 

Surprisingly, this team has come together very quickly.  Trevor thinks it's the best team we've had yet, quite something since this is also the youngest our team's been in awhile.  The players have synched well, and everyone's enjoying themselves.
 

No, Trevor's not the goalie; this is just practice

What I need to do is bring my real camera.  My phone photos just don't compare.

Soccer banquet

A mom from the younger division of our team volunteered to pull together this year's banquet. AWESOME! I've done the organizing for the past couple of years, and I welcomed and appreciated her offer. A typical turnout is about 70 people between the three teams.

As usual, the younger teams go first, and ours goes last.

It's very nice, with each player being called up and spoken about individually.

We had four players who graduate this year and received special recognition.

This is killin' me.  I obviously took two photos very close together, and I asked Trevor to make this .gif for me.

Robert keeps smacking Paul, Mike on the left is getting ready to fight, Dylan and (half of) Colman are dancing, and Holly's shaking her head at the madness.