Wordless Wednesday- Game Day

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship:  sports•man•ship  noun

~conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) 

becoming to one participating in a sport

Both of my oldest children have played sports since they were five.

Both started out with teeball and have grown and progressed into many other sports.

Ty now is a high school football player

and Ladybug continues to play soccer, softball, and ride horses.

Brian and I decided to put them in sports for many reasons,

one being to teach them sportsmanship.

Equipment check

To me, I would rather my child be an average player

with outstanding sportsmanship

than an amazing player with a poor attitude.

Sadly, in today's world, I don't see very many parents that feel the same.

A little coaching before the game

The small community where we live is good about teaching the kids to be gracious.

This past summer, Ladybug's soccer team,

who have been playing together for YEARS

(there is only one girls team in her age group because our surrounding area

is so rural) lost one of their best players when she died in a horrific accident.

This year the team has dedicated the season in her memory

and they all have pink hearts with their friend and former teammate's initials on their sleeve.

Right before the start of the game,

instead of yelling out the team name,

they yelled, "This is for H!"

"This is for H!"

And the girls played their hearts out for her.

Our team was at a severe disadvantage...

they only had just enough players to play due to injuries on the team.

There were NO SUBS which means every girl had to play 

the entire game without the benefit of a break.

Let the game begin!

In addition to that,

the game was being held on a turf field.

Our girls practice and play 95% of their games on grass fields and so

they are not used to the speed and behavior of the soccer ball

on a turf field.  

The ball moves much faster and much farther without the resistance 

of long grass that they typically play in.

Ladybug is learning to use her body to an advantage by blocking out other players.

Getting ready to intercept a throw in from the opposite team.

Mastering the skill of controlling the ball and dribbling around opponents.

Our girls knew the challenges that faced them for this season opening game

but didn't let it scare or deter them from their goal (pun intended).

They went after the win with the fierceness of a lion chasing down its prey.

Shoot (This is not Ladybug, but her teammate shooting)

They played their hearts out,

worked as a team,

and stayed determined and focused.

SCORE!

Ladybug congratulating her teammates on a job well done.

They used their honed skills to maneuver and control the ball.

(The girls have been practicing twice a week for an hour

and then scrimmaging a boys' team two years older than them

twice a week to learn aggression and fine tune their skills.)

Throw in!

Good game, girls!

In the end, Ladybug's team came out victorious.

I believe the score was 5-1.

I was so proud of our team for doing a great job,

not only with their skills, teamwork, and determination,

but with their sportsmanship.

They did not complain one bit even though they had

to play an entire game on a full size field without one break.

They were excited with the win but did not brag or boast.

And that, my friends, is what sports is all about.

Say Cheese(y)!

 Saturday night Brian and I had the chance to go to a wedding

and they had a photo booth there.

People, I love photo booths.

I went in so many times the attendant finally 

was going to kick me out...

and so was the bride's brother.

I only went in 4 times, but who's counting.

Wait, apparently the other guests were...

Here are two of the four strips...

The one on the right I am with 

A and M, women who work with Brian

and who I have become friendly with over the years.

The one on the right is of Brian and me.

The photo booth was a cool idea because

one of the strips the wedding guests got to take home with them.

The other strip was pasted into a scrapbook for the bride and groom.

We got to write next to the strips in the scrapbook,

so I had this idea as a joke...

Brian and I agreed to take really serious pictures

and then next to the

strip in the scrapbook I would write

"Have fun while you can...this is what 16 years of marriage looks like."

Of course I wrote a smiley next to it

so as not to disillusion them too much ;)

When we finished,

the photo booth attendant told us that this guy was 

watching us and told her to tell us 

that we shouldn't be so serious...that it was supposed to be fun!

LOL!

He thought we were really mad at each other.

My weekend was a great one...

the North Harford Hawks varsity won their game on Friday night

and

the Ravens won yesterday.

Hope you had a great weekend as well :)

Wordless Wednesday- Frog Visitor

It has been so damp lately that I began to think we live in a rainforest.

And then I discovered this frog taking a rest on our porch railing.

Now it not only feels like a rainforest

but it looks like one too ;)

Happy Wednesday, y'all.

Worldly Hugs

The kids and I have gotten quite a few postcards lately that we

wanted to share with you.

Two of the postcards were sent privately,

one from dear friends of ours vacationing in Punta Cana

and the other one from 

a friend of a friend who is stationed in Afghanistan right now.

The rest of the postcards came via Postcrossing.

We are now up to 34 postcards
representing many countries around the globe!

From  dear friends vacationing in Punta Cana

From military personnel in Afghanistan

From Kenting, Taiwan

From Kenting, Taiwan

From San Diego, California

From Connecticut

If you happen to be out and about and find a cool postcard 

you would like to send the kids and I,

we would love to get more!

We keep adding pins to our map at home

and I add them to the online map here so I can

share with you all how many cards we have gotten!
The blue pin represent privately sent cards
and the orange envelopes represent
postcards received through Postcrossing.

View Postcards Received in a larger map 
 If you would like to get your city on the map,we would love to add you! Just send a postcard to These Nine AcresP.O. Box 133Stewartstown, PA 17363

Catching Up

Oh my gosh...what a week!  

I know I am normally busy, but this past week was just something else!

We had 3 football games,

4 football practices,

2 Back to School Nights, 

2 soccer practices,

1 soccer game

thrown in with the normal hectic schedule.

I didn't have time to breathe much less blog,

so today I am just throwing out some randomness

that I have captured from my cell phone!

If you all know me personally, 

you know I have absolutely no sense of direction.

NONE.

So the other day I wen to pick up the twins from daycare

and I found myself going the wrong way.

(At the time I was thinking of all the things I had to do

and was thinking of heading to the high school later that evening

and made a turn onto the road for the school instead 

of heading to the daycare.)

So, when I realized I was headed in the wrong direction,

I thought I would take the "back way" to daycare 

instead of turning around.

When I got to the intersection where I needed to cross the bridge,

this is what I found...

the damage from the back to back

Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee

was devastating on the small creeks and streams around these parts.

I was shocked that how the rushing water and the 

floating debris in the water
could buckle the asphalt like that.
Water can be a powerful force, for sure!

The weather here has changed to be more autumn like

the past few days.  

High temperatures in only the 60's required me to pull out some

long pants for the kids a little earlier than I wanted.

I was shocked when I was unable to find one stinkin' pair of pants

that would fit either of them.

They have grown like weeds this summer!

Check out T2's new look for fall...capri pants for boys! LOL!

Needless to say, I need to go shopping very quickly!

Speaking of the twins, 

they started preschool!

Here they are ready for their very first day ever!

(Excuse the messy clothing...they were more tucked in and presentable

when I took them in the classroom ;)

Last night we had a visitor.

Ty came running upstairs last night around 11PM

telling me I had to come downstairs as he heard scratching on the window.

He was absolutely correct...

we found this fella sitting trapped in our window well.

He was quite cute to watch

although we did not attempt to save him. 

He could certainly make his way out of the window well,

but he was confused so he kept going in circles.  

I didn't want to risk another family member in need of rabies shots,

so I decided to leave him right where he was and figured he 

would eventually realize that he needed to climb out!

I was correct and he is gone this morning,

so he is now a free raccoon again. 

Sorry for the reflection in the window from the laundry room...

I had to turn on the lights for the video to work, otherwise it was too dark.

I hope all is well is your part of the world...

Hugs,

Goats Staying Dry

After all this rain and moisture,

the goats are not liking getting their hooves wet.

It is funny to see them tiptoe around the mud

and stay on top of anything they can jump on...

including the trampoline :)

Irene and Lee Double Whammy

The following images were taken of the damage to our property

from Hurricane Irene and from the 

leftovers of Tropical Storm Lee.

Seven trees down in all...the ones pictured here are only three.

Anyone need firewood?  

Barn Damage...

This stall was under three inches of water.
Ty, Ladybug and Brian used plastic cups and buckets to bail it out.

Our teeny tiny stream overflowed the banks...
You can see where I am squatting was all smashed down from the huge amount of flooding.

I so wish we could bottle all this water

and send it to Texas.

Hope Mother Nature gets it all figured out soon.

Hoping y'all are safe, dry, and out of the weather ;)