a BIG gym win

Tuesday night was the volleyball regional final.  We fell short to Hanover in three very close sets.  Looking back, we lost to them last year in the regional final but came back to beat them in the championship.  Hopefully this year will be a repeat. 

Emmy and I had the best time on Friday night.  She wanted to twin with me, and she bought my hot chocolate.  So sweet!

Jason took Bryce and his buddies striper fishing on Friday night. 

Bryce caught two.  From what I heard, this was not the biggest one he caught. 

The state quarterfinal was on Saturday.  We won, but we looked a little rough.  We'll have to get our act together for the semifinals on Tuesday. 

Saturday night was the annual Turkey Tumble meet that our gym hosts. 

Emmy placed 1st all around for the first time in her career!  She also placed 1st on bars and 2nd on beam.  It was a great night!

Her team placed 1st for level seven. 

Emmy wouldn't be where she is today without coach Katie.  Katie was her coach when she was younger and has been her coach for a few years now.  Emmy had to fill out a profile sheet for her California meet and she said Katie is her role model.

Friends and teammates back together now that Emmy came back down to level 7.

 

puppy love and volleyball

Emmy and Callie are two peas in a pod.  Emmy loves her puppy. 

Emmy didn't have school on Tuesday, so we went sweater shopping for Callie.  Isn't she so cute. 

Another day, another sweater. 

She's just too cute. 

Atlee played in their first regional game on Wednesday.  We were excited that Bryce got to start libero and they won in three sets to advance to the region quarterfinals.  

We were only missing Emmy and Paul on Thursday night for the big win over Patrick Henry.    Bryce started libero again!  Patrick Henry had won the state title for 8 years in a row until we dethroned them last year.  We beat them in 3 sets in this regional quarterfinal but may see them again in the state playoff.  

Bryce went to a Commanders game with Avery's family on Sunday.  They didn't win, but it was a fun time. 

Air Force One flew over and President Trump was in attendance at the game.  Bryce said they had to go through lots of extra security for this game. 

 

Halloween and a BIG meet

I never saw either kid in their Halloween costume.  I dropped Emmy off to get ready with friends and then they trick or treated and had a sleepover, so I didn't see her until after Halloween. They looked cute in their minions/Despicable Me theme.  

Bryce's costume theme changed so many times, I'm not sure what he wore on which day.  He celebrated on Friday and Saturday and I eventually got this mismatched picture of Top Gun and fire fighter theme.  Who knows!

Emmy had an exciting meet on Saturday.  This particular meet is only for level 7's and they can qualify to represent Virginia at a meet in California.  Emmy did this meet last year but was a ball of nerves with the high stakes. This year, however, she had a great meet and placed 3rd all around in her age group/division.  

The top six gymnasts qualified for the meet.  It was a very even split of qualifiers with 3 girls from our gym and 3 girls from another gym.  One of our gym's qualifiers went last year but wasn't going to be able to make the trip this year so the next highest gymnast from the other gym qualified.  Emmy is so excited to go to California to represent team Virginia in January.  

Emmy has been competing the same vault for four seasons now.  It has been a struggle for her to flip it consistently well.  This weekend though, she flipped it when it counted.  Her vault score typically keeps her out of medal contention at meets, but today it was strong and what put her over the edge to qualify.  We were all so excited.  

It's always fun to leave a meet with hardware.  4 medals this time!

Emmy has had a bit of transition to start off this meet season.  She was promoted to level 8 at the end of last competition season.  She trained with that team all summer but as this season started, she didn't feel like she was jiving with her team and was anxious about the work that needed to be done to be competitive at this new level.  Last weekend's season opener meet helped her see the road ahead of her and she ultimately decided to drop back down to level 7.  I think that was all the confidence she needed to jump back on the familiar saddle of her comfort zone and perform well at this meet.  I was glad she was able to articulate her struggles and make a decision that was best for her.  We're looking forward to an exciting season!

a busy weekend

We had a low-key week and a fun weekend.  Emmy had a birthday party for a friend on Friday night.  They dressed up, went out to dinner and had a sleepover.    

It was a chilly night, but they looked cute!

Bryce went to Blacksburg on Friday night for the game.  Jason ended up having to drive him to meet up with everyone, so he stayed for the game.  

I got lots of one-on-one time with Callie this weekend while everyone was living their best life.  

Emmy went to another friend's house on Saturday night for a bon fire.  They had festive food, made pumpkin bouquets and enjoyed s'mores around the fire. 

Practicing for homecoming bouquets next year.  

Emmy has made such a sweet group of friends at her school.

Meet season kicked off today.  Low quality pictures.  High quality gymnast.  

Emmy placed 2nd on beam. 

 

We realized tonight was our only night left to carve pumpkins before Halloween.

Callie was a big helper.

She almost went with 6,7 but went with the next most popular thing, a bow!!

Bryce asked, "why is carving a pumpkin even a thing".  Made me wonder if he was just doing this to humor me or if he really wanted to know, ha!

Never too old for a tradition. 

Happy Halloween!

homecoming week

This week was homecoming at both kids' schools.  They had fun spirit days each day.  One day at Emmy's school the teachers were Cruella, and the students were dalmatians.  Emmy will get to go to the dance next year.   

Bryce decided to participate in moms and dads day where the boys and girls switch roles.  

The homecoming theme was welcome to the jungle, so they wore themed clothes to the football game on Friday night. 

I cracked up when I saw this picture.

I had trouble finding a matching tie, but we got the right color at the last minute!

Homecoming through the years. 

The gang's all here!

Bryce's best buds.  

Baseball buddies

They had a huge group.  Luckily, they split up a little for dinner. 

Emmy had pictures for gymnastics instead of practice this afternoon, so the girls went out to lunch and Target afterwards. 

We hosted youth group tonight and got into the Halloween spirit with some pumpkin painting.  

Callie is still just as sweet as ever.  She's getting longer, but she's still so small.