12 Days - Day 5: Josh's Water Polo Season

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

I may repeat myself a little in this post because I already posted about Josh playing water polo. That was before the season was over though. 

Josh did not really want to play a new sport, or any sport, in high school. Thankfully he didn't put up too much of a fight and joined the water polo team. 

After the first day of practice, which was a week before school started, he came home and was adamant that he absolutely did not want to play. Thankfully, again, he decided to stick with it for the whole season. 

Josh played goal keeper, probably because he was the tallest boy on the JV team, and he picked it up quick. And he became friends with his teammates and really grew into a proud player. 

Of course, he has this memory block thing that happens when he blocks goals... he actually doesn't remember many, if any, of his blocks. He remembers every goal he let through though! All in all, I think he did really good. His coach said he did really good. And his teammates said he did good. 

 At the end of the season, his coach threw him into the field for a quarter of one game. Josh made two goals!  He said he doesn't want to play field ever again. I think he enjoys the comfort of being in the cage. At the end-of-season potluck, his coach awarded him the defensive MVP for the team and said a whole bunch of great things about him. I couldn't be more proud! 

Coach Pierce and Josh - This was her first year coaching boys. She coached all four teams!

Playing phone games between water polo games at their tournament. 

With two different fund raisers, the coach pitted boys teams against girls teams to see who could raise the most money. In one competition, the losers had to perform a synchronized swim routine at between their Breast Cancer Awareness games in October. As you can see, the boys lost.

 Josh is the farthest right, back row. 

The routine was surprisingly well thought out for being a punishment. They would only practice the routine if the coach was locked up in her office and none of the girl teammates were practicing with them that day; they wanted to keep the routine a secret. It's much more fun when everyone is a good sport!

If you would like to see the actual routine check out the video here or below. 




Josh is continuing to play water polo and is currently playing in a winter polo club. I really look forward to watching him grow as a player over the next few years.

12 Days - Day 4: Carley's 11th Birthday

All of the posts so far have been catch-up posts. Four posts so far. That's a great start!

Carley turned 11 in November! She loves getting older and celebrating any occasion, especially her birthday. This year we kept it simple. We celebrated with her requested dinner, chicken pot pie, and cupcakes on her actual birthday. 

For her birthday party, she invited three friends to our house. We all went to a local bowling alley where the girls played games in the arcade and played a couple rounds of laser tag, all purchased with a Groupon to help reduce costs. We then went home so the girls could hang out and eat Carley's requested cake, cheesecake. 

I personally did not have to do much for this party. While the girls played at the bowling alley, Walt and I sat and chatted or played on our phones. While the girls hung out at our house, I laid on the couch or hid in the bedroom. To me, it felt like a completely boring party. When I asked Carley how she felt about the party, I believe the response was "the best party ever!" And that's all that counts.