Westland Park Opening

The City of Peoria opened up a park nearby and adjacent to the school Nicole attends. I made numerous attempts at getting a volleyball net installed, but the response I received "was there wasn't enough room". When we moved into this neighborhood, the park was suppose to back up to some residential homes at the end of our street. Instead the school and the park were flipped and now the school backs up to these homes. Lots of politics and shame on Shea homes for not delivering what they promised. Nicole's school, Lake Pleasant, combined with her former school, Vistancia, for the 7th/8th grade bands and performed at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Volleyball/Football Banquet

Had a great time organizing the combined volleyball and football banquet with Coach Greg Bushaw this year. The football team was undefeated and they lost the final game by only 1 point, so they were District Runners Up. Way to go Coach Bushaw on such a tremendous season! All the players walked away with awesome gifts. Nicole received a "Most Dedicated" award that was voted on by her teammates. I gave all the volleyball and football players their own DVD copies. Jamie and Todd Wills purchased District Runners Up tshirts with all the players' names on the back for each player and for Coach Bushaw. A football banner was presented to the team and school.

Lake Pleasant Volleyball 2011

Nicole was the setter for her school team this year. She did an awesome job, as well as all the other players. Now it's on to Club Arrowhead volleyball. We just can't get enough!

Click here for the volleyball footage.

Lake Pleasant Cross Country

It's been some time since I've last posted. I've been very involved in the three sports teams at Nicole's school, collecting photos, taking videos, and creating DVDs for football, volleyball, and cross country. All the players were given DVDs as gifts at their sports banquets. I even created the handout program for the banquets and spent many evenings up until 1:00 am in the morning. Enjoy!

Click Here for the Cross Country footage.

APE Index Rock Wall Climbing

Had a 50% off Living Social discount for Ape Index Rock Wall Climbing. Thankfully, I was just a spectator while Nicole and her friend, Emma, enjoyed challenging themselves.

Nicole's Birthday Sleepover

I took Nicole and her friends to see the movie, Glee 3D. Then we came home and ate pizza and made homemade cake pops and Tie Dye t-shirts. Then they had fun playing Just Dance 2 and Guitar Hero.

Happy 13th Birthday Nicole!

13 years and 39 weeks ago today, I was sick as a dog, throwing up for 36 of my 39 week pregnancy. 3 days before delivery, I was going through pitocin induced contractions for all those 3 days. 3 months after, I dealt with a colicky crying baby who wouldn't let anyone else hold her and whose tummy finally settled down after discovering "magic gold" Nutramagen. Four years later, I had a little toddler who was unable to fall asleep by herself and would cry to the point of throwing up. At 6:15 p.m. today, Nicole will be turning 13 years old. Was all of this worth it! ABSOLUTELY!

Nicole, I am so proud and honored to be your Mom. You have grown up into such a responsible, respectful and compassionate young lady. Your work ethic and intelligence amazes me and I cannot even imagine what plans God has for you in this lifetime. You are beautiful on the inside and out. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. You are my breath of life and seeing you grow everyday is such a blessing.

Happy 13th Birthday and First day of School! We Love You! Mom & Dad

Speed Camp 2011 After Pool Party

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After the three week Speed Camp, Deb Martin hosted an After Pool/Pizza Party on the last evening. Campers contributed a small fee of $15 to cover the cost of pizza and a "Survivor" T-shirt. As you can see, the campers had a BLAST swimming, playing volleyball, and entering the contests. There was a watermelon eating contest, a burping contest, a cracker/whistle blowing contest and a water balloon toss. Prizes were also awarded to those campers that attended all the sessions, the youngest, and the oldest.

We can't wait until next year!

Speed Camp Summer 2011

Click Here for Video.

Every year, for the past 7 years, Deb Martin (Co-founder of Club Arrowhead and Freshman Coach for Liberty HS) hosts a speed and conditioning camp for 3 straight weeks. It started off as a camp to get volleyball players ready for school tryouts. Other family members and friends became interested in attending and has grown to well over 100 campers during the session. Deb and her son, Jake, volunteered their own time as there was no fee for the camp. Campers could come any of the 4 days each week. Sessions ran 1 1/2 hours. Nicole had many of her club volleyball player friends attend and her friend, Emma, and her brother, Jake, also went. There were children as young as 8 years old and adults over 50. There were a variety of athletes (volleyball, football, dance, cheer, basketball) that attended the camp as well as us non-athletes that just wanted to get in shape. Everyone enjoyed it and felt proud to make it through.

California

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It was great to cool down in California. Temperatures were 40 degrees cooler than in Phoenix. In fact, I was all bundled up when we were at the ocean. Nicole got stung by a bee on the beach one day and I had to scrap out the stinger. She survived. Girls loved body surfing at Huntington. They felt Laguna had too much seaweed. Emma and Nicole enjoyed all the roller coasters and thrill rides at Knotts and, especially at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Had some outstanding meals and ate well. Now to get back in a routine as school starts in one week.

4th of July Fireworks

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Spent a wonderful evening watching the City of Peoria's fireworks with our friends, The Bares. We decided to watch them across the highway to avoid the traffic congestion at the Sports Complex.

Phoenix Volleyball Festival 2011

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Saw some outstanding volleyball teams play today at the Phoenix Volleyball festival. I'm a bit biased, but our favorites were Club Arrowhead's 18-1s team and AZ Sparks 14-1s team which are on this videoclip. #99 on AZ Sparks (second clip in white jerseys) is Sara Orr, our friend Jodi Orr's daughter.

Vegas Fun

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Nicole went up early with the Robinsons to Vegas and went indoor skydiving (around the 1 1/2 minute mark on video). I don't like heights, but it does look alot of fun. Hmmmm, maybe I WILL try it next time. Dan and I drove up for a long weekend to celebrate our 22nd year anniversary. Had fun at the pools, and shopping. Spent more time hiking than "I" would've liked, but the kids had a blast. Never spent a penny gambling. Ate at some great restaurants. Our newest favorite is "Ricardos", a family owned mexican restaurant on Northwest corner of Flamingo and Decatur about 1/4 mile west of The Palms. FANTASTIC food, great prices and Service.

Team Ohana Season

Please Click Here for Video Link.......Over the past 7 months, our lives have revolved around Nicole's Club Arrowhead, Team Ohana. Imagine taking over 500+ photos and videos and trying to condense it into one video. The original version that was passed on to the players was 37 minutes long. Fortunately, this version is only 7 minutes long.

It was a worthwhile experience to see these 12 athletes transform over the months and improve their volleyball skills. I can't say enough about our Coaches. They were patient and knowledgeable and educated the players step by step. Many thanks to all for an outstanding season. This Saturday is our final tournament and it is all day from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Good Luck Team OHANA!

Team Ohana Professional Photo

This is Nicole's Club Arrowhead "Team Ohana". For the past seven months, these young ladies have been practicing at least 4 hours each week, with 1-2 tournaments per month and now on May 14th, it will all come to an end at the Regional Championships. Nicole has been fortunate to be on this team of athletes that have worked diligently on and off the court. These girls bonded and got along so well, they were always very respectful of each other and their coaches. This was the first time that all (but one) had played on a Club team.

Back Row: Brianna, Nicole R., Coach Leaven, Coach Andy, Bella
Middle Row: Ally, Emily, Mekaela, Delaney, Shayla
Front Row: Morgan, Nicole, Holley, and Devon

Vistancia's HOA hosted an Easter Eggstravaganza. The entertainment for the day was seeing me with the smashed egg on my face. I felt like a celebrity with all the people taking photos of me.

Fun at the Pool

Had fun Friday at the Pool with the Robinsons and Rileys.

Fun with Emma

Nicole's friend, Emma, is in town for a few days. Nicole has always wanted to try this spinning thing at the Mall, so she waited until Emma came in.

Lake Pleasant Showcase Concert

As always, we enjoyed being entertained by Mrs. Julie Carlson's OUTSTANDING Advanced Band at Lake Pleasant's Showcase event.

Vistancia Talent Show

Tonight our community, Vistancia, held a Talent Show amongst the residents. It was great to catch up with friends, sit outside in the evening and be entertained by so many talented young men and women. Julie Carlson's Steel Drum Band from Vistancia Elementary kicked off the event. Gotta love that! And Journey Church's "Garage Band" closed up the evening. Did I mention I LOVE living here?

Dog Show - I want one of each!

Today, I took Nicole and her friend, Kayleigh, to the Dog Show. All the dogs were so calm and attentive. It brought back many memories when I use to compete with my first Lab, Brenna, in Agility and Flyball. Obviously, that was before Nicole was born. Glad I could share part of my history with Nicole.

Today I dropped by Nicole's Field Day at Lake Pleasant as an April Fool's Surprise. I don't think she was too pleased about her Mom being there taking photos. Most of Nicole's events took place earlier in the day, so I didn't get as many photos as I would've liked. Click here to see the video.

Club Arrowhead - Team Ohana

Yesterday was Nicole's Team Photo shoot for her Club Arrowhead volleyball team. What a bunch of fun group of girls!!! This is barely a sampling of the numerous photos I took.

Emma's 13th Birthday

Nicole's friend, Emma, was in town visiting so we helped her celebrate her 13th Birthday. Happy Birthday Emma!

Progress Report Card

When you were in 7th grade, do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? My Mom was a beautician as I was growing up. Back then, curling irons and blow dryers hadn't even come out. I remember watching and learning how my Mom would cut hair and always wanted to go to beauty school. In high school, I would cut friends' hair and it always came out nice. Who would've ever thought that I would earn a Finance Degree and be employed by Comerica Bank for 33 years!

Now that Nicole is in 7th grade, I am so curious as to what she will choose as her career path in life. She loves Social Studies and Science, doesn't care for Math even though she excels in it. Hmmmmmm, I should make a prediction and hide it away until she is 30 years old and see if I was correct.

Today, Nicole came home with her Progress Report. Even with the extraordinary amount of hours she spends on volleyball and school projects, she had two classes with 99% and the remaining six classes with 100%. I, honestly, don't know how she does it. One of the 100% grades is 8th Grade Pre-Algebra, even though she is a 7th grader. I'm bursting with pride of her accomplishment and am still wondering what she is going to grow up to be.

So let me ask you, What did YOU want to be when you grew up? And what do you do now?

Club Arrowhead Volleyball

Since November, Nicole has been playing on a Club Arrowhead volleyball team for 13 year olds named, Primo Ohana. Don't ask me where the name came from, I wasn't asked about my choice (ha ha). At least 8 hours per week are dedicated to practices which includes drive time. Then if there is a scrimmage or tournament, it could be another 4-10 hours on top of that. Needless, to say, we've been very busy. It's amazing seeing the progress of Nicole and her teammates. In three short months, the improvement in their playing skills is very noticeable.

Their first tournament was in Buckeye two weeks ago, which is about one hour drive. This is close. We've been told we could travel as far as Flagstaff or Tucson which are 2-3 hours away, respectively. For their first tournament, they played four matches and won the last two of the four which were against the top two seeded teams. Not bad, for starting out. You could tell how nervous they were at first. As you all know, I coached Nicole's City team for one year. When I watch her play in the club tournaments, I can't hold back my enthusiasm. I think some of the opposing team parents think I'm a lunatic. Must be the Italian in me. Oh how I miss coaching!!

The season will last through May with 1-2 all day tournaments each month. Good Luck Primo Ohana Team with this upcoming season.

I'm still here.......

Can you tell I've been overwhelmed with work, holidays, and volleyball in the past two months? And now Max has valley fever, so we are dealing with that. Heartfelt thanks to my friends/neighbors on both sides of me who nursed Max while we were gone for the holidays. There are 7 new posts below from the beginning of December. Hope you enjoy watching the videos as much as we did creating the memories.

Christmas Day with The Serras

We spent Christmas Day with my side of the family. My nephews are now 22 and 27 years old and have inherited their sense of humour from my sister, Rose. Nicole is the youngest on my side and the eldest on Dan's side. I'm so grateful that we were all able to be together and continue with our annual family tradition.

Christmas Eve with The Donnellys

We were fortunate that Dan's Mom and Aunt were able to travel down from Up-north Michigan to join us for Christmas Eve. It was great to see everyone and the kids have grown so much in one year.

Michigan Visit over the Holidays

This year on our visit to Michigan for the holidays, we were fortunate enough to spend 10 days there visiting friends and family. We really missed everyone and are truly blessed. Nicole has felt the seasonal impact of living in Arizona and misses the four seasons. She went ice skating her her cousins, sledding and roller skating with friends, played walleyball,visited and partied at New Years Eve. When we went sledding, the temperature was in the mid 20s. I was freezing and you can even hear the wind on the video. I wish we could pick everyone up in Michigan and transplant them here in Arizona and then I would have the best of both worlds!

Gingerbread Houses

I so miss my friend, Kristin, who moved to Mandeville, Louisiana this summer. Kristin and I moved into the neighborhood four years ago, within months of each other. Kristin was THE person to bring many of us neighbors together and always coordinated get togethers. One of Kristin's annual traditions was to invite all the kids with a parent and decorate Gingerbread houses. So to keep up with that tradition, Nicole had two of her friends, Madison and Emma, come over to decorate their own houses and sleepover. This is what memories are made of.

Vistancia Snow Day

It's become an annual tradition that our community trucks in tons of "snow" and the kids go sledding. This is how the Arizonians get their snow fix. It's so cute, when the little ones touch the snow and think it's "too cold", they obviously never lived in Michigan. Nicole got her short-term fix for a few weeks until we headed to Michigan for the holidays.

Journey Musical - "Leon"

Our friend, Jennifer, directed this children's musical for Journey church. Some of Nicole's friends were in it. What a great job Jennifer and all the kids did.

Lake Pleasant Winter Band Concert 2010

Nicole continues to play the clarinet for her school band. This is from her Winter Band Concert at Lake Pleasant.