JFL: Bears

This last weekend we also finished our football season.  John (jersey #1) plays for the Bears in the Junior Football League.

I remember prior to him starting this I was very anti-JFL.  I have no idea why.  I guess just some pre-conceived notion that was leaving me narrow minded.  When it became apparent that John was living & breathing anything football I knew I had to at least let him try the league.  I'm so glad we did.  Our local JFL league has been one of the best things we have experienced here in town.

We were blessed to have John drafted & picked to play for the Bears. (Once you are picked for a team you stay on there all 3 years)  The team has a good group of boys, many of whom we are friends with.  The coaches I must say are WONDERFUL!  They are all about the sport, trust me they REALLY get into it, but I think they do a phenomenal job of teaching the boys about the sport/game as well.  It sounds kind of oxymoron-ish that they can be all caught up in the game, screaming & yelling....yet so loving tell them boys what to do, or what they did wrong or how they need to change what they did.  It's something you have to see to understand.  Bottom line, they are great.

We had a great season.  We won 6 games & lost 1.  That put is in good standing for the play offs.  We made it to the semi-finals and lost.  We played good & fought hard.  Even when they lost, not much bad can be said.  They always played fair and played hard.  Sometimes that's just not enough and that is ok.

We look forward to next year.  I included some pictures of John.  The first one I can't take credit for.  Galesburg Sports did an exceptional job at being out there & taking pictures.  I am going to go through and buy several pictures they took of John.  He (the photographer) was AWESOME!!!!  I could sit & look through his pictures all day, not just of the Bears either.  I was able to get the first picture through a loop hole, but I will be buying it & many others he took.

The other pictures I did take. I'll admit though, once I knew Galesburg Sports was taking pictures I quit trying to get shots. I knew someone was on the job & getting much better shots than I would.

I love to hear their little chant & huddle they do before & after games.

Marching Streaks

Marching Season is officially over for this year.  It always ends with the big competition at the University of Illinois.  We seem to be experiencing the band on a different level this year as we are much more involved.  Jim is the CEO of the band.  I know, that sounds so....IMPORTANT.  And it is.  But it doesn't mean that he is head over the entire band, he is the Chief Equipment Officer.  It is a very important role, that Jim did very good at.  He was in charge of getting the band equipment to the football games & marching competitions.  He had to load the official trailer and truck it wherever it needed to go.  He was even given this big truck to use and he would feel all manly and grunt & do other things of that sort.  Ha-ha.  He also was in charge of other volunteer parents who helped get the equipment on the field for the band to perform.  It was a very big job and Jim was the perfect man to get it done!

This meant that Jim had to go to every single football game & marching competition.  We mixed things up a little bit through out the season.  Sometimes he would go alone, one time I went with him & we left the other kids at home (ahhhh, how romantic).  One time he took 2 of the older kids & they got to help.  For this last big competition I drove separately with all the other kids.  It's been fun.  I also have a lot of roles & responsibilities, just more behind the scene ones or ones that are yet to come.  For marching season, CEO was the place to be : )

We hopefully have many more years to look forward to as band parents.  This is Angel's second year.  I am encouraging her to complete all four.  Mandy comes in next year and Nina not too far after that.  The rest is yet to tell.  It will be a dream come true if all 6 of our animals participate in band for all of the academic years.
It's a lot of time & effort, but it's so worth it!

Here is the video I shot of their competition.  It's not the greatest shot, but it's what I had from where I was sitting.  Enjoy!

Smarty Pants

Carmen is constantly amazing me with how smart she is.  Sure, I'm pretty biased.  I'm sure the other kids learned, said & did amazing things when they were little too.  What makes Carmen different (from what I can remember....I do have a lot of years & a lot of kid things to remember) is that all this stuff she learns, she tends to do on her own.  When she was 2 she wanted to learn her colors.  So she would ask me NON STOP "what color is this?"  It didn't take too long and she knew all of her colors.  She initiates all of this learning on her own.

I have no idea who even told her how to spell her name.  I didn't.  I didn't hear anyone else do it.  Obviously someone did.  She just out of the blue spells her name for me.  I had to capture it on video.  So she's smart AND really cute : )

XC

If you are not familiar with the term or abbreviation, XC stands for cross country.  We have finished up another season of jr. high cross country.  It is hard to believe that we have been through 3 seasons so far.  Even harder to believe this is Mandy's last season in jr. high.  If she continues on, next year she will be on the high school team. Wow!

Joining Mandy this year was Brianna.  I have said for many many years that Nina was born to be a xc runner.  When she was little, like 3 or 4, I saw her run across a field and her form, her posture, her everything said "I AM A RUNNER".  It could be my runner's instinct or just wishful mommy thinking, but either way I was hoping she'd pursue running when she got old enough.  Regardless of what we think or want we try not to push our thoughts & ideals onto our kids too much. 

We had a great season.  We love going and supporting the girls in their races.  I, of course, with my runner's heart & xc background LOVE being at the meets.  We did our best to be there as much as we could, even though we missed a few.  I have to be careful not to let my enthusiasm get the best of me.  After all, it's the jr. high level, not the Olympics.  I easily get SO EXCITED in a running/race atmosphere.

Each girl improved a lot within their season.  There were some bad races and some really good ones too.  Most importantly, they had fun and really enjoyed being on the team.  We look forward to more potential seasons of xc.  Here are some pictures taken throughout the season:

Family Night

Last Friday night we had a rare evening with not only nothing to do, but had all the kids home with nothing to do. At first this bothered me a little bit. I can be such a social butterfly that I hate sitting home when we could be out doing something. Or even if we stayed home, we could host someone and I'd still get my people fix. So earlier in the day I sent a few text to friends trying to get something figured out. Nothing seemed to fall into place so I just decided to not pursue anything else & just let it be a night home. As much as it drove me crazy I knew it wasn't going to be a completely bad thing.

When Jim got home from work he tried to formulate a plan as well. Not with other people but with us as a family. By then I was pretty much in a blah mood so I just let the issue slide. Once we had our usual friday night pizza we all started all doing our own thing. Jim worked outside in the yard. I sat watching old CSI episodes & reading my latest Runner's World. The kids played happily on their own, a few of them outside, a few on the computer. I was feeling a little guilty about not being out with the family. Before I realized it though all the kids were all getting along really well & actually playing/hanging out with each other. The boys played outside. The girls started to give each other make overs & fixing each others hair, etc.

Even though I had not purposely planned such a family night, it ended up being such a great night. You CAN'T plan this kind of stuff....it just happens in a kind of magical kind of way. And I wouldn't trade it for a million dollars. Looking ahead to my calender I don't foresee another night like this for a long time. We'll take them while we can get them.

(I wish I had taken more pics, but then again I was not trying to force or create this family night illusion, I was just letting it happen so I only snapped a shot or two.)

Homecoming

Homecoming as last weekend here at GHS.  Angel is our only high schooler, but we as a whole family enjoy the feastivities.  First there is the parade.  Here Angel is marching in her black Gadet uniform.

Later is the game. We attend all the home games anyways, this is no exception. I made a Gedet top for Carmen to wear. It doesn't look exactly like Angel's, but it's close. The girls on the squad ooooohed and awwwwwwed over Carmen's outfit.

On Saturday was the dance. Angel tends to keep things very simple. I took her & a friend out for supper & then we went around taking some pictures. The fun part was seeing her all dolled up & looking fantastic for the occasion.

Rewind: Sweet Sixteen

We had 2 milestone birthdays this year.  Angel turned 16.  Double yikes!

We spent her birthday canoeing down the Maquoketa River.  Every year on Labor Day weekend the church puts together this trip.  This was our first year to participate in the trip.  It falling on Angel's birthday didn't bother us at all.  Although originally we were suppose to do it as a family, Jim ended up having to work.  I let Angel bring a friend so it ended up being me & 7 kids.  We still had a great time.

The weather was no so cooperative.  When we left town it was sunny & cool.  As we got closer to our destination though it was overcast & eventually rainy.  There was no refund on this trip so we still went canoeing.  It didn't rain the whole time, but most of it.  Along with a little lightening & thunder, it made the trip rather interesting.  Likely one we will never forget.  Here we are getting ready to hit the river.

 On Labor Day (which is always the weekend of her birthday) we had some friends over & cooked out.  Angel had requested a pinata.  Having a pinata is not always a must, but it happens enough that I can say it's a Peterson tradition.  We went to the actual Mexican store to get a "real" pinata & not some knock of cheap-o from WalMart.

We had a great day of gathering around Angel to celebrate her 16th birthday.  I don't want to write too  many sentiments on her getting older cause I will surely cry.  I try to embrace the fun & good that goes with her getting older.  We have plenty of that to hang on to.

Rewind: Another teenager

Back in July, Mandy turned 13. That is our second teenager in the house. Yikes!

Since it was a milestone year we decided to give her an extra special birthday party. She knew we were up to something, but she didn't know exactly what. We took her & a group of girlfriends to Fun City Water Park then stayed the night in the adjoining hotel. To say the least...it was a lot of fun. The weather cooperated and it was HOT and ideal for a day in the sun & swimming.

John was away at church camp & I made arrangements for the little ones to stay back home. It made for a relaxing girl get away party. Jim did join me that evening for the stay in the hotel and swimming the next day. But we really kept the focus on Mandy & her friends. We have never done a birthday party like this, but made the exception for this milestone year. I can't believe she is already 13!!!! Seems like she was born yesterday (siiiigh).

The girls weren't the only ones to have fun. A friend joined me for the day. We both know you don't have to be 13 to have a blast at the pool.  Yep, we are cool moms or just crazy.  Or maybe both : )