8th Grade Volleyball

William tried a new sport this year:  volleyball!  His school offers volleyball starting in 5th grade but he wasn't interested until this year.  My 8th grade a lot of the boys who played volleyball in the earlier years have started specializing in other non-school sports, so the team was actually down to only 6 other boys.   William plus a new-to-the-school boy helped round out the roster.   We had a lot of fun getting to know the boys and the parents on the team, and they dramatically improved as they played together from August through the league championships in October.  They were in the finals and lost in the final game to crosstown rivals, St. Raphael's, the only team they had not beat during the year.  I was really glad William had this team sport experience in his last year at the school.

I also got a look at some of the parish schools and school gyms around the league.  We are one of the only schools that is a standalone building (and we're a bigger school due to having the support of 5 parishes), so our gym and its tall ceiling for those bumps really stood out!  It's hard to get photos of volleyball but I tried!

At the home games, the two girls teams were good about being present to (loudly) cheer on the boys.  The boys were not as gracious with their time.  But I enjoyed staying to watch the girls play.  They've played together longer and many play club so their skill level is much higher.  At the end of the season when the boys got better, the girls scrimmaged against them to give the boys additional practice.  William really enjoyed that because the girls' coach had good tips, too.

My best photos were the night I was in charge of concessions and sat behind the court!

Also, I have never seen this marshmallow candy bar before, but it was very popular!

Rosie helping William show off his uniform on one of her stays this fall!   The boys playing league weekend in the semi-finals to advance to the finals

Finals was held at St. Francis High School which is a school that a lot of ASCA kids will go to for high school, and many siblings attend.   The Girls 8B team won the league championship!  I'm glad we all got there in time to cheer them on!

Our boys played hard and had some tough calls, but improved so much over the season!  We never would have guessed they'd be in the championship game looking at how they started the season in August just trying to figure out one another.

Kind of a photo dump, so it was fun!  We also enjoyed having the boys over for a pool party.   Which is one of the reasons you have a pool when you're a teen!   As a parent of a teen hosting a pool party, you only get to hover as you refill snacks and watch from the house.  And then once their parents pick them up you can finally get in the pool and relax!

Fall's Finest

After we got home from France, it was FALL!  I was worried we were missing the last two weeks of pool season, because we swam into October last year.   But our heater broke - or some long story about something along the heater system especially in the hot tub jets did - and so we couldn't get back into the water after we got home.   The repairs were made in the hot tub before closing it for the season and the new heater is ordered for spring install.    Thankfully we had a bowl of delicious Normandy caramels and the trees were putting on a beautiful show to help me forget it would be more than six months before I would be swimming a lap....

We also enjoyed a visit from our friend, Rosie, at the end of the month.   She has stayed with us quite a bit as her parents have had to rush off to be with family for health emergencies.   We're glad she can drop in when they need to be away to deal with aging parents and other such issues.  She and William and I took advantage of a beautiful afternoon to play in the front yard.   Basketball, frisbee and a makeshift pickleball court were all on tap.  Sunshine makes all of us happy!

I had a work event at a paint and sip place.  I thought my pumpkins turned out nicely.  I gifted my creation to a neighbor who does a Teal Pumpkin project.    In return, she traded me real pumpkins that I sat out for my squirrels to eat.   Endless entertainment for John and me during the day!

William and some Brookdale buddies continue to enjoy nerf battles on nice days.  Good to see them doing their gaming outdoors once in awhile instead of just on the PlayStation!

Blessing For the 8th Graders

Since All Saints is a Preschool through 8th grade school, being an 8th grader is a Big Deal!  I hadn't really considered what a big deal it was going to be until the year started.  And then there were all the feels about the last lap of everything that we were going to be doing. 

One tradition is for each 8th grade class to have a class sweatshirt that they are allowed to wear as part of their uniform for the year.  The design changes each year and the back has the the names of each kid in the graduating class.  It's really fun to be able to spot the 8th graders from across the room / across the crowd.  And I know the little kids look up to them. At one of the all school masses in October, there was a blessing for the 8th graders and they received their sweatshirts.

Also in October was the "Blue Out" night - the last home game night of the season - the 8th graders were recognized along with their parents.   Unfortunately we missed this while we were in France, so William didn't get to hear his name called, but his banners for Cross Country and Volleyball had both been hung in the gym by the time I was there for the Blessing of the 8th Graders and I was able to get photos.   It's really cool the way they line the gym walls.

 

Some really fun traditions are coming up second semester as well like their Ferris Bueller Day where they spend the day playing hooky in Chicago.