Sparks Ignite!

This week we held our first ever tryout for Calgary Sparks Volleyball Club! What an amazing turnout we had too. With us being a brand new club we were a little surprised at how many girls showed up for our 16U team tryout. All said and done we figure we had 70 girls come give their 110% for 2 hrs straight both Wednesday and Thursday evening.

Coach Wildman ran the girls go through a very rigorous fitness portion of the tryout each night which really pushed the girls to earn his attention. Interesting feedback that we recieved was that most of the girls really enjoyed the high expectation and tough drills and appreciated his intensity. Go figure!

The main reason Jared and I decided to start our own club was because there simply isn't enough teams out there for all the girls that want to play. Our girls have gone through the process of trying out for multiple clubs amongst these high number of other girl athletes that are vying for one of 12 spots on a roster. Honestly most others , if not all other clubs, are only looking for a few new players and misleading these athletes and their parents to believe all spots are available which in fact they are not. Therefore taking tryout fees from athletes who never had a chance to begin with. That's deceiving in our eyes and want no part of that. Sparks volleyball is commited to holding open tryouts each and every year to have each girl earn their spot and not hold spots for favorable athletes. Our goal is to run an honest, reputable and successful club.

All said and done, the first tryout is done and two remain. We will also be running a 14U and 13U teams as well and are looking forward to seeing more of the talent and enthusiasm these girls bring to the sport of volleyball. Also can't wait to see the expressions on all our competitions and "nay-sayers" faces when we come out strong and victorious! Go Sparks!

Two for Two!

K. I know my last post was basically the same thing, but my free time is taken up these days in one form or another by volleyball. Whether it's Jared and me finishing up our coaching certification, organizing our new club, or me coaching Kennedy's Jr. volleyball team at school or taxi-ing McKinley back and forth to her school teams tournaments. We are a volleyball dominated family. (Aside from Cage, of coure, who will do ANYTHING to get out of watching yet another volleyball game). Anyway, our Centennial Coyotes Jr. girls team brought home another gold at Western High School's invitational over the weekend! Instead of medals this time they received the t-shirts worn in the photo above. That's great though because with all the t-shirts we've either bought or received over the last couple years through camps etc. we are that much closer to a fabulous new quilt! That's the plan, anyway. :O) 

Coyotes are top dogs!

Two days after the final cut, our Centennial Coyotes Jr. girls team won the gold medal at the Dinos ice breaker tournament! It took a lot of team work and determination and they had to dig deep to pull it off but they were up for the challenge and came out victorious. Way to go Yotes!  

That's it folks!

As summer comes to a bitter sweet end I am glad to get back into some form of a crazy routine again. I'll miss sleeping in, the warmth of the morning sun while I eat breakfast on our deck, the tickle of grass between my toes while me and my girls rally a volleyball in our backyard, road trips with my family, watering my flower pots even though they could have used a little more attention than I gave them. I feel a little more domestic and maybe even a little closer to my Mom when I'm tending to my summer planters. (She is Mother Nature to me. :O) There is alot I'll miss and more that I'll cherish from this summer but there's a season for everything they say and I'm ready to see what autumn will bring... 

Say, "Hello", to my little friend!

Look at this little thief! Today we celebrated McKinley's birthday, a little late, yes, but celebrated it non the less. We did so at Sikome Lake with 12 of her friends and spent our time doing what people do when you're at a public lake. Anyway, we weren't one of the fortunate groups of people to find any available picnic table so we threw down our blanket and towels and picniced on pizza, pop, chips and oreo cookies on the grass. A diet fit for most any group of teenagers, wouldn't you say? (Well, at least for their birthday party). Anyway, this little gopher didn't waste any time getting in on his piece of the party either. We had only stepped away from the blanket for a minute and he snuck up, all stealth-like of course, and snatched an oreo! At least he was gracious enough to let me get close enough for the picture above! 

This is a pic of McKinley with her friends who came to celebrate!

Sunny Side Up!

At the beginning of our holiday the kids and I headed over to Chapters to pick up a book for our summer read. I had a harder time than the kids trying to find something to peak my interest. I stumbled upon this simple little book, picking it up out of pure curiousty and struck by the bold and bright colors which lept off the cover sleeve. After a while of searching through the different tables and my wonderfully patient kids following me around the store with their own summer read in hand I found myself giving in to the first book that caught my attention. What a neat idea this author had! It's an optimistic view of the simple things in life that many of us take for granted in our day to day, busy lives. It's not so much of a spiritual journey but more specifically of the human experience. It reminds its reader through nostalgia, humor and the simple pleasures in life that we have great things happening all around us and to look at things sunny side up.  For example, when a cashier opens up another checkout lane and your called over! Awesome! Or, warm clothes right out of the dryer! Awesome! Tripping and realizing no one saw you! The Universal Fry Sharing Rule! The sounds and smell of a campfire! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! I'm glad I gave in to this easy read and I look forward to basking in lifes simple pleasures keeping my eyes open to optimism.

Abort! Abort!

Okay...so I'm pretty sure I get how this works. If  someone has a general weakness or aversion to a certain skill set, and your not one of those people that enjoys the glaring spotlight for more than the minimal and socially acceptable verbal exchange of, "Hi, insert name here! How's insert name of the previous insert names spouse/child/whomever?"  Sure enough, you'll be asked to do just what you're afraid of the most! If you are someone at all like this then you're alot like me. And if you're alot like me then you already know that standing in front of a group of  some 20-30 people and attempting to teach them about something you struggle with yourself is a tough sell. In my case I've been asked to talk about technology and our 21st century learners and how to support them at home. Maybe now you can understand my need for a panic button or better yet an ejection seat with parachute in tack and a good pair of running shoes! I'm still just learning this myself! Honestly though, I will give it my best shot and pull it off without too much concern, I'm sure. I'll learn alot myself and hopefully be able to enlighten those that attend. It's all about growth, right? And often times it's the teacher that ends up learning the most! Wish me luck :O)

Group Hug!

Summertime is a GREAT time to hang out with family or friends. My kids are very fortunate to have both all wrapped into one. Well, technically, two! RENTON and CAMDEN! What a blessing it is in our lives to live so close to each other. It gives Cage the much needed "boy time" he needs and also it gives Renton and Camden plenty of HUGS and extra attention from McKinley and Kennedy. This was a great day we spent at Lake Midnapore with Rebecca and the boys!     

A Little Bit Of Heaven On Earth

A few weeks ago my family and I were fortunate enough to visit such a place! My husbands Mom and one of his sisters and her family live near Portland, Oregon. We drove down for a FABULOUS 10 day visit and soon discovered we had been invited to a little bit of paradise. Portland and it's surrounding communities are BEAUTIFUL! Beautiful  trees, beautiful flowers, and beautifully landscaped almost everywhere you look. And virtually bug free which my husband loved. One of our favorite sites to visit though was Smugglers Cove, pictured above. Though the air temperature rose the water temperature was frigid cold! Like, I mean bone aching COLD! There were many brave enough to surf the waves. But only if they were fully, I mean fully dressed in wetsuits from head to toe. That didn't deter us Canadians thou. (As long as the water was no higher than our knees). We waded through the incoming waves in search of valuable treasure. Shells, shells, and more shells. (And one lonely little crab). We brought back a beautiful rainbow of all sorts and sizes to remind us of our beautiful day in paradise. Along with this we also enjoyed, kite flying, burying each other in the sand and making mer-people, good food and great company. My husbands sister and "the cousins" made this a day to remember...