1st Soccer Tournament

Elia plays competitive soccer for the Arlington Soccer Academy.  This is a new soccer league so everything is new to the whole team.  There are some girls on the team who have played competitive before, but for the most part, it is a whole new ballgame (no pun intended, ha!)

This weekend the entire team traveled up to Murfressboro to compete in our 1st soccer tournament.  Kevin and I decided to travel up a night early since we had a game early on Saturday.  We are glad we did because we could sleep in a little on Saturday morning before Elia's game.  Here is a recap of our weekend:

Friday- drove to Nashville, got Subway, checked in out hotel, and went to bed early.

Saturday- game Saturday morning, shopped at Orpymills mall, ate dinner at Cracker Barrel and went swimming in the hotel pool.

Sunday- game Sunday morning, ate lunch with some teammates at McAllisters, game in the afternoon, ate dinner at Rainforest with some more teammates and families.

Monday- game Monday morning and drove back home.

To be honest, the games were pretty brutal.  It was obvious we were the new kids on the block.  I will spare all the gory details and we will just leave it at the fact that we are new and our girls are learning a lot!  Every girl on the team did show tremendous improvement over the weekend!  While they did get frustrated, it was so fun to watch them form bonds with one another and have fun together!  Elia is really fortunate to play with such a great group of girls who have a great group of parents!  

One of the most exciting things that happened this weekend is that Elia scored a goal!!!  We were VERY excited for her!!!!! 

Here are some pictures from the weekend of the games:

You may wonder what Ava did while Elia played soccer all weekend.  No need to worry about that social butterfly!

Ava also got to buy some of these hideous looking shoes she has been wanting forever.  She found them at the Oprymills mall and they were on clearance so I caved and bought them for her.

She loved them so much that she wanted to sleep in them!

I tried to get a picture of the girls at the Rainforest Cafe but it was pretty dark in there.

Of course, we had to order a VOLCANO!  

The bad news is that one of the bootcamp instructors, Amy McDaniel, was with us that night at dinner.  LOL!  The good news is that we did share it with half the people there!

Ava had to dress up in the gift shop before we left.  She is such a nut!

Even though the games were a bit disappointing for everyone, I am SO glad we had the opportunity to go and make the memories we made this weekend!  I am looking forward to many more memories this soccer season!!

Is it September Yet?

We have finally made it to September!  As much as I love my job, I have to say that I do not like the month of August.  Teachers pretty much fall off the planet when August hits!  So what have we been up to since my last post in July?

Of course, the first day of school came!  Ava started 2nd grade this year, and Elia is in fourth!  Hard to believe my babies are growing up!  I always take their picture by the stop sign on the corner on the 1st day of school.  This way I can see how much they have grown from year to year.  

Ava's teacher is Mrs. Gallimore this year.  We LOVE her!  She is like Mary Poppins with a "spoon full of sugar."

Elia had the luxury of being in Mrs. Henrikson's class again this year.  Elia started in a different 4th grade class, but they had to move Mrs. Henrikson from 3rd grade to 4th during the 2nd week of school.  Elia had a special relationship with Mrs. Henrikson last year so we were thrilled when she was able to be in her class again this year.  I still need to get a 4th grade picture of Elia with Mrs. Henrikson.  I did get this picture of Elia on her 1st day.  As you can see, mom is already an embarrassment to her!

The month of August also brought many weekends and nights playing in the cove.  Of course, the nights have to end a lot sooner than they did in June and July.  It always stinks when we have to go inside to do homework, eat dinner, and get showers so everyone can get to bed early for school.  These two refuse to let summer end!  What goobers!

August also brought the start of Elia's 1st year of competitive soccer!  It is a LOT different than rec soccer, but she is learning a lot and having a lot of fun doing it!

Of course, Ava is always there to support her sister at every practice and every game!

A very special event happened in August and that was my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary!  Kevin and I are both very lucky to have parents who are still married and have been married for so long!

Due to all the craziness of back to school and soccer, I had to find a way to keep up with everyone's homework and schedules.  I bought these dry erase boards at Target and I LOVE them!  I spend about 10 minutes every Sunday night filling them out with homework, soccer practices/games, LAMPS schedules, money due, and if the girls are bringing or buying lunch each day!  These are on my fridge, and they have been a lifesaver!

As you can, August has worn us out, but we are so glad it is over, and we are finally in the swing of things for the new school year!