Castles n Coasters Fun

As a reward for earning the highest AZAC test grade in the 7th grade, Nicole wanted to go to Castles n Coasters. Her two friends, Madison and Emma joined us. There were absolutely no lines the day after Thanksgiving and they had a BLAST!

The Beauty and the Geek

Nicole's school hosted a Beauty and the Geek dance for the 7th and 8th graders. The girls WERE suppose to be the beauties as Nicole and Emma are in the cover photo, but as you can tell, some of them chose to be Geeks (glasses with band-aids). There was a DJ, dancing, and photo opportunity. She had lots of fun. Many THANKS to those teachers that helped out and volunteered their time on a Friday evening.

Nicole's 7th Grade School Photo, Age 12

Horseback Riding

Today was a picture-perfect Fall Day to go horseback riding. Weather was a crisp low 70s in the late afternoon. Nicole and I used our Groupon Special and was anxiously awaiting for this 2 hour trail ride. We caught the end of the sunset as we were returning to the coral. I hate to admit it, but my ankles and knees were sore towards the end of the ride. I thought about my Dad the entire time on how this is the life he wished he would've lived, out in the country amongst horses, just being a cowboy. Got choked up and knew he was with me in my heart.

Volleyball Banquet

Nicole's school, Lake Pleasant, held an Awards Banquet Ceremony to acknowledge the football and volleyball players. The two coaches, two football Moms and I, helped put it together. I created the program handout. The food was catered by Rosati's. It was a spectacular evening.

Sarah Parsons, a Senior from Mountain Ridge High School,who played volleyball, delivered a speech about high school expectations and college. Her background, education, and college interests, really hit home with Nicole and Sarah is an excellent role model for Nicole. I received flowers and a gift from Coach Orr and tons of thank yous from the players and parents. Nicole received 1 of 4 special awards that the team players voted on. Nicole's was "Up and Above" Award for going above and beyond her city training, school training, attending various high school playoff games and being the first to further her skills in club. She was THRILLED and was extremely surprised!

Congratulations to the entire volleyball team for stepping it up this year. They really worked hard under Coach Orr's guidance and Coach Orr made it fun for them while they strengthened their skills. She gave each player a Team Photo and DVD that I made of their games. To be added later in a link.

Club Volleyball

Nicole is going on her 4th year of playing volleyball. She is now ready for a "club" volleyball league. I'm still going through withdrawals not coaching this Fall season while she was on the school league. I toyed with the idea of coaching a team without Nicole, but there were too many conflicts with practice dates. Nicole and 5 of her friends got divided out. Three went on one team, three on another. This is going to be a crazy ride, but after the first practice session, I knew we made the right decision. Her coaches are highly qualified and have won state championships coaching High School teams. I also learned more for myself, for the next time I DO coach. Here is a video clip of her at tryouts with 4 of her friends from our City league. She is wearing the neon yellow t-shirt and makes the last set on the video.

A Week full of Surprises!

I love Surprises. I ESPECIALLY like to be the giver of the surprises. My stomach gets all fluttery as the event approaches in anticipation. On Oct. 20th, my Mom flew in to AZ from Michigan. I knew she was coming, but Nicole didn't.

We arranged it so my Mom could see Nicole's last volleyball game and just be there on the bench when she walked in. When Nicole walked into the gym with her team, she glanced over and saw me, but it didn't register that my Mom was sitting next to me. So me and my Mom walked over (me with camera in hand) to Nicole as she was practicing her serves. I apologize for the shaky camera as I had tears in my eyes as I was filming. You can see the shocked look on Nicole's face when she turns around and sees my Mom. Unfortunately, Nicole damaged her knee earlier in the week from an unrelated event and didn't play that game. My Mom did get to see her in a tournament that Saturday and Nicole did great serving some Ace serves.

The next day, the school had another surprise for Nicole. The school emailed me earlier in the week that Nicole was going to be one of their Silver Star Quarterly Award Winners. It was a surprise for all the kids that earned the award. Nicole thought she was just going to an honor roll assembly. But when she walked into the gym and saw me, she knew something was up. You can see her giggling in the video, but not because of the award. Bruno Mars was on the loudspeaker and her friend, Emma, was thrilled, thinking the school played the song especially for her LOL. Nicole's school does an excellent job recognizing their students. I brought Nicole flower and cookies to share with her class.

It was so nice to have my Mom here in Arizona helping me celebrate my Birthday. She helped me out so much while she was here, even painting my patio furniture to spruce it up. THANKS MOM! LOVE YOU!