Scripps Ranch All-star Tournament

After just a few weeks of practice, the All-star team was ready for their first tournament of the season...the Scripps Ranch All-star Tournament.These two best buds are so excited to finally be on the same team!!
Marley, Carly, Erin, Ashleigh, Cambria, Olivia, Allison, Reanna, Madison and Sydney were fired up and ready for our first game at 9:00.
Allison and Carly were chosen to be Captains for the first game against La Costa.
Allison helped teach them some of the All-star cheers she remembered from when Taylor played. She is quite the team leader both in warm up and during the game.
Allison seemed a little nervous at the start of the first game...even complaining that she had butterflies! She was a little timid about screaming for the ball and some of her punts were off in Game #1, but we won 2-0!

In Game #2 against Poway, she was a lot more poised and controlled. One goal got by her, but luckily our team scored 3 for the victory!

Sunday morning, we were back bright and early for an 8:00am game against Encinitas. We needed a win or tie to advance to the Semifinal. Our girls came out strong and took a 3-0 lead at half. Allison had some of her best punts yet and a few good saves and Coach Mike rewarded her by letting her play the field 2nd half.

She even got to take a penalty kick and scored, but the referee called it "no goal" for reasons we still don't understand. Unfortunately, this shifted momentum and before we knew it, we were all tied up 3-3. Luckily the whistle blew at 3-3 and the tie was enough to advance.

We faced Escondido in the Semifinal and Allison played keeper the whole game. The girls battled hard, but in the end, lost 2-1 to a pretty tough team. Although we hoped for a championship, it was a good showing by our All-stars and great preparation for our Yucaipa tournament in a few weeks.

I just love seeing these girls making great memories that they will cherish much more than the wins and losses...

Coronado Holiday Cup

It was a double duty soccer weekend with Allison playing in Scripps Ranch and Taylor down in Coronado. Although, I hate missing any of the Hawks games, I felt it was important to see as much of Allison this weekend since she is just getting started. Unfortunately that meant missing Taylor's first morning game at Sunset Park, but from the sounds of it, their 3-1 victory over Chula Vista was quite impressive!After Allison's first two games on Saturday, Matt and I met up with some of Taylor's team at the Hotel Del Coronado in between her two games. It was a gorgeous day to walk around and see all of the festive decorations and outdoor ice skating rink.
Jenna, Madison, Maylie and Taylor in the hotel lobby.
More girls in on the fun!

We walked the grounds and beautiful beach until we stumbled on the Sandcastle Man and this gorgeous sculpture. He allowed the girls to try to take credit for the masterpiece.

Game # 2 was 4:30 game at Coronado High School against SDSC...a team we have seen before. It was another tough, physical battle, but the girls played great and ended with a 2-0 victory to end the day.

I missed the beginning of Sunday's game since I stayed for Allison's Semifinal, but made it to the Coronado Cays before halftime. When I arrived, we were down 3-1 to a very tough and BIG Encinitas team. I got to see Kenzie put one in to make it 3-2 and saw some of the best soccer I have ever seen these girls play. Although it ended 3-2 and we were sent home, we left with our heads held high. Encinitas played league 2 brackets higher than us and hadn't been scored on all tournament, so that was a victory in itself and a huge confidence boost as we prepare for State Cup.

Last Day

After flag salute, the kids were back in class to read their "3 Gifts" paper to the parents and enjoy a waffle breakfast to celebrate the end of the semester. Allison said she would like to spend 1 hour baking cookies with me, spend 1 hour visiting the police station with Matt and 1 hour playing soccer with Taylor in the front yard. It was a really sweet story!
Mrs. Atkinson had a very cute pacesetting for each student and they enjoyed delicious waffles and OJ and took turns visiting me in the Blazer Buck store. In the afternoon, they finished the day watching Polar Express. Now 3 weeks of much deserved and needed vacation!!

Goal Achieved!!

At the beginning of the school year, Allison's classroom goal was to make Honor Roll. She has worked very hard in all subjects, been very responsible with homework and studies hard for all of her tests. Math, Science and Social Studies have been pretty easy for her, but reading and writing have required more work. Well, that hard work paid off because today...Allison made HONOR ROLL!! Mr. McTasney called her up at Flag Salute and Mrs. Atkinson presented her with her certificate.
I just love that smile and sense of accomplishment!!
Today was Pajama Day at school too, so all of her classmates looked quite festive as they received their awards!
She received 5's (A's) in Math, Science, Social Studies and Writing and a 4 (B) in Reading. So proud and even more determined to improve her reading grade next semester! Way to go!

**Middle school doesn't do anything to recognize Honor Roll, but Taylor has a lot to be proud of too...another semester of straight A's. She is such an independent, strong student and takes her school work very seriously. Way to go!

Holiday Playlist

My little elf has been waking up early every Thursday for the past few months to rehearse for this year's Holiday Chorus Program. This year's theme was helping Santa modernize and transition from his old records to playlists on an iPod. The elves, snowflakes and reindeers shared some of the songs from their playlists to help.
Cooper, Allison and Faith were all elves and stood next to each other.
Allison, Faith and Abby are all classmates too!
Mrs. McBride and Miss Upshur do such a great job with this show each year and the parent helpers all worked to make a very cute set.
Allison spent many hours on these risers with four performances over the last two days. She really has a blast in chorus and is excited to start preparing for the Spring show when she returns from Christmas break...

3rd Annual White Elephant Party

Between work schedules, holiday parties and soccer tournaments, we luckily were able to find one night that worked for everyone to get together for the 3rd Annual White Elephant Party. This year, the Schreck's hosted with a yummy dinner catered by Rosa's.

All of the kids wild and ready to get the present opening started!
The best of friends...Lauren, Emily, Maylie and TaylorWe drew numbers from 1-17 and reminded everyone of the "2 steals, then frozen rule" before getting started.Maylie was unlucky #1 and loved (not really) this photo of Hank. He took this photo on my camera during the soccer team party and I thought I would pay him back by using it against him. He was kind enough to steal it from May so she didn't actually have to keep it. She ended it up with a plastic spinning Christmas tree that lights up!
Matt was thrilled with his penguin sleep mask and pink slipper socks until Felicia stole them. Instead he went home with a plastic sheep that poops butterscotch Jelly Beans!
Allison picked a fun brain teaser game, but at the end, traded Matt for his pooping sheep.Taylor with her Monster popsicle molds.Lisa posing with her Takeout for Two game box.
Leslie with her funny face stress ball.
Dominic couldn't have been more excited to steal the Marshmallow Shooter from Lauren.
So Lauren opened the Fart Machine.But Mary stole the Fart Machine from Lauren.Which led to Lauren stealing Emily's "Boss" mug.Emily then got to open this handy dandy fork/pizza cutter...just what she always wanted!Charlie first opened this Yoda beanie, but Michael quickly stole that away.
So Charlie got these lovely holiday boxers!

I think my girls will fight over my glitter baton

and Tyan will enjoy his festive rubber ducks!

Reanna ended the night with this amazing inflatable tongue!

We had some very creative gifts this year and another successful White Elephant party with wonderful friends!

Visit with Santa

Allison worked hard on her list last night and was eager to get it to the "Old Town Santa" with plenty of time for him to get it to the "Real Santa" by Christmas.
This year, she is asking for all things American Girl or Our Generation (Target's brand of American Girl accessories).
Santa made sure she is getting good grades and seemed to know about all of the items she is asking for. He said he would do his best to at least cross a few items off of her list.
Taylor is officially too old for the Santa thing, but did agree to at least one photo with her friend Jenna to appease me! Look at the grin on Allison's face though...a believer through and through! Now she just can't wait until the Real Santa calls to say he got the list!

White House Ornaments

Since 1992, Matt's mom (Gigi) has been sending us the Annual White House Ornament for Christmas. As we put up the tree each year, one of our favorite things to do is take each beautifully unique ornament out of its special box and admire the workmanship. We all seem to have our favorite and think we may soon have enough to create a special tree just for them!

AA-B Presidio League Champions!!

Last season, we won the AA-C Presidio League title and advanced to play this season in AA-B. We expected tougher competition, but still anticipated a finish near the top. We started the 12 game run with a 1-1 tie against Poway back in September, won 9 other games and tied our second battle against Poway.

We knew the title would likely come down to one little mistake from either of our teams or would eventually have to be decided by goal differential. Lucky for us, in their final game, Poway tied Westfield 1-1!

This left us in control of our own destiny today as we played our rescheduled (due to rain) game against Encinitas. A win would give us sole possession of 1st place...

Our girls started off a little flat, allowing Encinitas to score fairly early. It may have just been the wake up call we needed because Ashley and Kenzie put two quick goals in for us to regain the lead going into halftime.

In the 2nd half, Taylor started at right forward and nailed a shot into the net off of a beautiful cross and Ashley and Kenzie answered with two more. The team played very strong as a whole, keeping possession of the ball and outplaying Encinitas.

We finished with a very well-deserved 5-1 win and the AA-B Presidio League title with an overall season record of 10-0-2. This team has such skill, heart and love for the game and Coach Charlie sure brings out the best in them. I love being part of it all and am so proud of all this team has accomplished. Can't wait to see what they will do in AA-A next year!!