Halloween

For this Halloween, we had grand plans of the kids (well, the big kids at least) to dress up in theme with Michael & Morgan. We had a lot of funny conversations about who they could be, but reality set in and we ran out of time to do anything. So we literally were trying to figure out what to wear on Saturday afternoon.

I like what they did - Julianna was a ballerina (thanks to Aunt Cassie & the cousin's real ballet outfit), Christian was a Georgia Tech football player and Rebecca wore the Raggedy Anne costume that I wore when I was a kid. They all turned out very cute.

See? Not so bad for last minute, huh?

Christian

Julianna

This was the pose she kept doing but I at least made her do one pose that looked like a ballerine, not a jazz dancer

So pretty!

Rebecca looked darling in this outfit

I love this picture of her - I think she looks beautiful!

I posed the girls for this picture - below you will see a picture of me dressed up as Raggedy Anne and my little sister, Rachel in a ballet outfit many years ago. I thought it was neat!

Same Raggedy Anne outfit with a few upgrades over the years - don't know what year this is - probably 1982ish! (And that's Cassie as the Chinese girl - not to leave her out!)

We did our tradtion of going to a large neighborhood in Hendersonville with the Locke's and started by going to Brandi's sister's, Sheryl's. Had to get the group picture

Rebecca & Morgan

Christian & Michael

This was the 2nd year that Michael wore a mask so I made him take it off for at least one picture. Those are his glow in the dark eyes under the mask!

Brandi & Julianna

Brandi & Sheryl

My silly friend, Doreen

Julianna and Angela took a little longer to get started so we were behind the big kids all night. This is Doreen's Mom who was here from Florida. We had fun together and the girls did great!

Worn out at the end of a lot of walking but a great time!

Trying something new

Much to my (Katie's) surprise, Christian has been showing an interest in playing goalie a little at practice recently. Our awesome goalie, Logan was out during Fall Break so they decided to give some of these other guys a chance to play. Christian played an full half of the first game and did well. Then he got the chance to play more than a half in the second game and did real well. It's a bit nerve-wrecking for Mom but it's also very fun and exciting. He got a chance this past weekend again, so as he continues to get a chance to play, the more likely he may be the back up goalie. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

The first minute of Christian's goalie career! :-)

These next three pictures are a sequence of a great stop he made. So proud!

Yeah!

Punting the ball

This is so funny - look at his hair!

Sadly, this one got by him but I Love this picture. Look at him fully laid out to get that ball. Way to go!

Another great shot of him jumping up and stretching to get to the ball

This is funny of Christian because it focused on the tree, but I love this picture because of the beautiful fall leaves

Christian's tennis

Okay, I know my family thinks we're crazy but oh well. Christian has shown a slight interest in tennis on and offer over the last few years. He even did a week long tennis camp in Chattanooga about 3 summers ago. Matthew has attempted to get out and play with him occassionally but that never seems to go well.

Lately, he's brought it up and we've encouraged him that it would be good for him to play an individal sport and encouraged him to give it a try. Well, he decides he wants to play, then spends a few hours hitting a bucket of balls with Matthew and decides it's not fun and doesn't want to do it.

So after that, Matthew and I decided that to get him to try something new, we'd have to MAKE him. For those of you who need the reminder, remember he was the soccer kid that cried and ran off the field when he first started???? And we made him complete that season and look where we are now!!! So we decided to MAKE him attend the local tennis clinic which is for 1 hour on Monday nights. He wasn't thrilled about it but we felt he wasn't truly giving tennis a fair shot. We are not pushing him to play, but this child would never try something new if we didn't make him so we did.

Of course, he did great at the first one, met a friend right away and had fun and wanted to return. He didn't have a choice so at least the next time he'd be going with a different attitude. By the 2nd clinic, he was asked to be on the Middle School Team Tennis program. We decided not but he was asked very specifically again to be on the Ridgetop team so we agreed.

He had 6 weeks of matches on Wednesdays and he played either singles and/or doubles. The season is over now and as of this past Wednesday, his team came in 3rd place in our division which qualifies them for the tournament in a couple of weeks. We're not 100% if we're going to let him go (another story) but either way, we are proud of him and how well he did and how he learned that he can do something and be successful but he just has to try! Here are some pictures of him....

Christian's first match - he didn't have his shirt that first week. Great form on our serve!

Christian waiting on his doubles partner to serve


Ben was his doubles partner - Ben is a great player

Love this picture!!!

Another great serve

Christian's last match was Wednesday and it started late so Matthew was not able to stay for it. They were both disappointed but I really like this picture of them before Matthew left.

He finally got comfortable using his backhand

Intense playing

Following through on his serve

White House Soccer Fall Tournament 2009

This year, our own club hosted its Fall Tournament later than usual. Our first game was on Saturday morning and sure enough, it had rained many days prior to that morning and the fields were a bit soft. Fortunately, the rain had quit (however it was quite chilly) and we were able to play. We won our first game soundly. We played that afternoon and lost a tough one and went into Sunday's game in 3rd place. We were able to hold this team and beat them by enough scores to move ourselves into 2nd place in the entire tournament. And we only were behind the first place team by one point. And I won't mention how bad the ref's were that may have called some bad calls that may have caused a different outcome in the game...... :-)

Anyway, we were so proud of our team and it was great to win our first tournament at our own club's tournament.

Had to get a picture of our goalie Logan and the beautiful trees

You can see the dark sky behind Christian (notice our matching coaches - how cute!)

Christian winning the ball


Coach John presenting Christian with our Finalist trophies

Way to go, White House Revolution!!!

A new sport added to the family

This summer, Rebecca attended a volleyball camp that was put on by Greenbrier High School Lady Cats volleyball team. They've had back to back state championships and have an awesome team and coach. Rebecca really loved the camp and we even talked to the coach about some leagues for her age. We looked into it and everything seemed to be for older kids.

I was driving around in Goodlettsville and a small sign caught my eye and said they had a volleyball league through their Parks & Recreation for 10-13 year old girls!! We called right away and got put first on the waiting list. We got a call a few days later that she could join a team if she wanted to. We went right away and signed her up.

The main advantage of this working for our already busy schedule was that they would practice for one hour on Tuesday nights until the season started and then once the season started, they would only have weekly games on Tuesday nights. Since the guys are gone to soccer each Tuesday night, it worked fine for us girls to do volleyball.

Her season was (games) was about 7 weeks long. This past Tuesday, they had a tournament with the four teams and our season is now over. She loved it. It was so fun watching her do something new and seeing her improve. I have a feeling, we'll be doing this again this spring.

Here are some pictures. Remember that we're in a gym and the lighting is pretty bad, so there are a few blurry shots, but I tried to pick out some good ones!

Rebecca on her way to her first volleyball match

Getting subbed into the game for the first time

Rebecca's first serve (This did not go over, however she began practicing at home and even lifting some 3 pound weights and by the end of the season, most of hers were going over!)

Trying to set the ball

Focus

I love this picture. Matthew says she's not supposed to jump but I think it's cool!

Concentrating on her serve

About to bump the ball (by the way, can you tell she'd been at Aunt Cassie's that day? Nice french braid!)

Looking good

Dad and Christian were able to make a couple of games. There were a couple of nights that he would call me after soccer practice and they were in the 3rd game so the guys jumped on the interstate and rushed down and saw the last game or two. They also got to see a full match during Fall Break!

Coach Derek presenting Rebecca with her trophy

Rebecca's team

We certainly got better over the season. We came in 3rd in the tournament!

Rebecca at home with her trophy. Way to go Rebecca!

Auburn vs UT game

This past Saturday, we went to the Auburn / UT game in Knoxville. We were able to get tickets from Matthew's Dad and we took Christian & Rebecca with us. Julianna had her first official "sleep over" at a friends - they had a blast, too.

The game was at 7:45 pm EST so it was late for us. We headed out of Nashville around noon and made it to Knoxville in decent time, although there was some Dukes of Hazzards car show or something because there were major slow downs on I-40 because we passed Rosco's Sheriff's car, Cooter's Tow Truck, Daisy's jeep and about 15 different General Lee cars!!!

We parked about 2 miles away from the stadium and got there in time to see the Vol Walk from a distance. I believe that's what they call it when the coaches and players walk down the road and into the stadium. Then we got to see the band "The Pride of the South Lands" come down the road and perform Rocky Top. There's a video of that at the bottom. I must say they are impressive.

We got into the stadium pretty early but enjoyed just looking around and talking. It was fun to see the stadium fill up. There were quite a few Auburn fans there and they were pretty close to us, so that was fun. The kids had a great time and enjoyed it.

It was about 3:30am our time when we got home and man, we were tired, but it was worth it. Here are some pictures. They are from a phone since we didn't want to lug our big camera in the stadium, but I think they turned out pretty well.

When we first arrived at the stadium. Rebecca said, "There sure aren't many people here!" :-)

The band before the game

Auburn running out on the field

Christian, Rebecca and me

The boys

The Girls..... Oh, by the way, notice Rebecca - she's wearing her contacts. Doesn't she look pretty!!!!

The kids watching the UT band

Autumn in the Brier

About this time last year, I wrote a blog with the same title. Here it is if you need a refresher: 2008 Autumn in the Brier. Rebecca was one of the few 5th grade students aked this year to participate in our local Historical Library's day.

This was a day that was VERY busy in our family. We had many big events that were overlapping and so Rebecca was able to go with a friend and we were able to get there toward the end to see her and get a few pictures. One of my friends said she got some good pictures of Rebecca so if I get those, I'll post some more. But I wanted you to see these.

Rebecca getting the clean wash ready to hang out to dry

Hanging the wash


Some of the kids from Rebecca's classes

Washing the clothes

Ironing

Julianna helping out

Now why don't the girls do this at home?? It's much easier than this!

Julianna washing

** A Payne Trivia Question - does anyone recognize what Rebecca is wearing? That's my square dance outfit from my middle school years (minus the hat!) :-)