Austen Makes His Confirmation

Getting Austen to Confirmation certainly came with a lot of work and probably only 3/4 of the work that really we/he would have had to do if it didn't happen during COVID.

Austen with Papa as his Sponsor

First, we had to switch parishes for the last two years as our parish had Confirmation happening in the 10th grade. We wanted it to happen in the 8th grade like most parishes so we had to switch to a neighboring parish. That meant that we had to switch Peyton the last two years for religious ed too, and Hailey began religious ed there this year as well. 

Even before COVID we had made a decision to keep Confirmation low key meaning just our immediate family and the sponsor. We didn't want to have a big party or invite lots of people to the church. With COVID, we were limited to Austen, the sponsor and us as his parents anyway. Austen chose Papa as his sponsor and Sebastian as his Confirmation name because he was the Patron Saint of Athletes.

After community service, church service, a large review packet, a big test and corrections to that test, papers, a sponsor review packet and lots of extra Zoom meetings in addition to his regular monthly religious ed class, he was finally Confirmed! Honestly, I know it's a big deal to be Confirmed but I don't remember doing half of what was required of Austen (and luckily they were a little more lenient because of COVID) when I made my Confirmation. It's a wonder so many families stop their children from pursuing religious education after First Communion these days. That's up next for Hailey and I'm not sure if we'll switch back to our original parish for that unless they switch to 8th grade Confirmation as Peyton will only have one year there before we have to switch back and she is a candidate for Confirmation (it's a two-year commitment at our current parish). At any rate, one down and two to go! 

Hailey's Many Boyfriends

I didn't think my first grader would be this boy crazy but she does not care what her age is or how old these boys are as she includes boys Austen's age as her latest crushes. Each week she has a different crush. She usually picks the bad boys. Austen's soccer teammates who swear and get yellow cards (much to Austen's dismay). She likes 6th graders because last year when she was a kindergartner (and they were in 5th grade) she may have seen them or been in their gym class or maybe it's because she studies them in the yearbook which she sleeps with under her pillow each night. Who knows how long she stares at that thing after we put her to bed and she's supposed to be sleeping. 

One of her latest crushes is a 2nd grader who is a known troublemaker says one of her friends in her class who lives right by him. The other one is a first grader (phew!) in the other class. I'd say that's more her speed even though his brother is in Peyton's grade and she says that he is a troublemaker. 

Hailey has written notes to these boys and had me drop them in the mail (wink, wink), we've walked by and driven by their houses as well as spent hours perusing the yearbook with her asking me and Peyton for our opinions on who is cute and who is not! I didn't think first graders even liked boys this much but I clearly was wrong! I don't think it's just her either. Her whole class is boy crazy! 

I thought it was Peyton we had to watch out for but clearly I was wrong. Hailey is going to give us (or maybe the boys) a run for the money!

National League in NC

Thursday night, Austen and I flew out to North Carolina for the beginning of his National League play. It was our first flight in over a year. I was expecting it to be a little weird but it wasn't that bad. We doubled masked at the suggestion of a few physician friends. The flight was crowded but we didn't mind since half of our flight was filled with the Notre Dame boys soccer team. They were headed to play Duke the next night (no spectators so we couldn't watch). Austen was beyond thrilled and thought that it was so cool to be part of a college soccer program. (This was not helpful in dissuading Austen from playing soccer in college by the way!). 

We arrived into Raleigh-Durham airport late and drove an hour to our hotel in Greensboro. The boys had a team breakfast/meeting the next morning while I hit the grocery store early for some refueling eats. Then we headed out to play their first game vs. a Jacksonville (FL) team. They demolished them 5-1. It wasn't much of a game, with Austen contributing a goal and another member of his team scoring 4 goals! It was certainly a nice way to start and a huge confidence booster for them. 

One of Austen's old teammates from his very first AYSO team as well as his travel team was also there playing on the field just behind us so it was nice to get a picture of them together and send it to their very first travel coach. We ended up meeting them in Winston-Salem (where they were staying) for dinner. 

Saturday had us playing a supposedly good Louisiana Fire Juniors team. We went up early with a goal (assist by Austen). Because our coach promised all players would play 50%, Austen and other players had to be subbed out leaving us a bit vulnerable. Pretty soon they tied the score 1-1. The starting line up went back in and pretty soon they were up again with a goal by Austen followed by a breakaway goal by his teammate. Final score 3-1. 

On Sunday, the boys played a Columbus (OH) team and beat them with a pretty solid 5-0 score. Austen contributed two more assists and a goal for his team. He tells me that he doesn't love his new position but I think he look more like his old self in this role. I reminded him what two coaches said about him too (one didn't think he was a center mid and another said he couldn't believe he wasn't a forward with his scoring abilities) and said maybe we don't even know what your position really is yet. Positions change all the time. You play where you are needed and contribute the most. He's learning - to watch his runs so he's not called off sides, not be in his head on breakaways (he's had more than a few but hits the post or keeper makes a fantastic save) and just how to play this new position in a different formation for the team. I think he looks strong and is utilizing all of his skill set from speed, to shooting and also his passing. It's definitely exciting to see him so much stronger and more comfortable with his team than he was in the fall. He's definitely coming into his own. Can't wait for the rest of the season!

Austen and Grant. Teammates from 1st-4th Grade.

Visiting Duke's Baseball Field

Duke's Soccer Stadium

Kansas City Soccer

Last weekend, we ventured to Kansas City to watch Austen play soccer for the first time in months. We haven't been allowed to watch many of his games for almost a year now given the pandemic. We've been relegated to our cars to watch and then trying to view some games from a video live stream so this was a treat to be able to watch him play three whole games in 36 hours! 

First, Kansas City is not close. It's a good 7.5 hour drive. The kids didn't have school on Friday so we made a road trip out of it. My car is officially totaled (go figure) so we had a nice big rental (GMC Yukon) for the ride. Austen monopolized the whole back row - typical oldest child - but they all enjoyed the space. except for me. That car is huge and I don't think I'll be getting one of those as my new car! (We have an order in for a new one and hopefully it will be here in a week or two. No investigation into what caused the fire in my car. I guess they don't do that unless they've had similar cars catch on fire or the car was serviced within the last two weeks). Anyway, we arrived Friday early evening. Had dinner went to bed and watched the boys play two games on Saturday.

Austen with the ball

They split the games and really should have won both. All the players got playing time for development purposes. (The coach is very up front during most game play that some players will not play at all but this tournament was for fun, bonding and experimentation.) Austen even played a different position in these games as the coach mixed up the formations and the line up. He played a more offensive role than he did in the fall and looked more like the player I know. He contributed right away in the first game, first half with a powerful, one touch shot from a cross. He also had a breakaway but it hit the post instead of going in the net. Second game, they won. He didn't score but he had several key passes that his teammates should have put in the back of the net. 

Sunday was their toughest game. None of the parents wanted to win as the championship game was at 4:30pm having most of us arriving home at 2am. If they won this game, we would have to stay and play. It was a very physical and tough team but the boys held their own. Down 1-0 and it's almost halftime, Austen steals the ball at midfield and breaks through a couple of defenders dishing it off to his right and running to the center of the goal to tap in the beautiful cross from his teammate. He had a few other chances as well including a power shot at point blank range that stunned the goalie but no one was there to tap it in. Another beautiful fake and cross on a short corner across the goal but again no one touches it to go in. Lots of chances to win but the parents were all happy it ended 2-1 so we could leave earlier. We were also happy that the boys looked good despite the losses. Sometimes the score doesn't tell the whole story but to win they do need to convert when they have opportunities. Still I'm happy they found some offense already this season. It was painful to watch them try to generate offense last season and after 4 games score only 1 goal. At least we have 3 goals in 3 games so far. A better percentage! Off to NC this week for league play. Austen's new team is going to keep us busy but his soccer is definitely getting better and he's growing stronger. 

Check out Austen's vertical off a header

Team photo

The girls had some fun at too

We even got to visit Uncle Mickey's school

Sadie Makes it to Age 5!

I wasn't sure Sadie would even see age 5 given the many problems she's had since about 6 months of age

which started with her having to have exploratory surgery to extract two huge toys she ate out of her stomach. That should have been a little foreshadowing for us. The next 4.5 years were a series of issues when she was first diagnosed with Wobbler's at 14 months then misdiagnosed with osteoarthritis until finally we discovered the real culprit over a year later - two bi-lateral knee tears. She's definitely been on the mend since her stem cell surgery/therapy almost two months ago. The right knee (which we suspect was torn earlier) has almost completely healed while the left is taking a little longer (newer injury the vet thinks). Still she is doing so much better than she has in a long while so we're hoping she has at least five more years in her! Tom said we've paid for her about five times over now (it's probably more like 10) so she should live at least that much longer! 

Since we were in Kansas City for a soccer tournament on her actual birthday, we spoiled her rotten when we got her home yesterday. First, she had a bath after being at her boarding facility (much needed!).  Not sure she thought that was her birthday present but after school, the kids and I took her to Happy Dog Barkery to pick out some sweet treats as well as a peanut butter birthday cake for her. She got lots of attention and some of their special banana bread. 

Later that night, when everyone was back home, we celebrated her and her 5 years in style. She absolutely loved her cake and all of the attention. I think she had a good day punctuated by long naps (which she needed as she never sleeps that well away from home - who does?!).

Happy 5th Birthday to our Sadie girl. We love you to the moon and back - even with all of your issues. You are ours. And we're yours. Forever.