The Moldy Girls Got It Done!

AYSO Region 117 Champions...The Moldy Girls! Both teams were phenomenal. They played their hearts out. The final score was 1-0. Jenna played goalie for three quarters. She hates the pressure, but she got the job done. We are so proud of her!

Soccer Playoff - 1st or 2nd?

Jenna's soccer team has gone undefeated in the playoffs. They have been playing so well that it is really fun to watch them compete. We are down to the championship round where the last two teams compete for 1st or 2nd place. The game was supposed to take place over the break, but due to rain, it was postponed until this week. The field the girls play on is saturated on a regular basis, but the rain makes it down right unplayable. The rain is good for some plant life as you can see here in this photo.

The teams lined up on Monday night prior to the game for a special photo opportunity. The girls were so excited and confident.

Unfortunately, a week off did not do our girls any good, nor did their over-confidence. Jenna's team is undefeated which would give them another chance if they lost this game since they can not be eliminated until they have two losses. Our opponents had already had one loss, and they played like girls who knew they needed to play hard or go home. They wanted the game, and it showed in their excellent play. It was a well matched game with some of our players making up for the sluggishness of their teammates, but in the end a squirrley ball got past our goalie resulting in the other team scoring and winning 1-0. We will meet them again on Wednesday night, and that will be the final game. I think our girls are awake now...we'll see. They have really shown what they are capable of, and hopefully they will bring it. Stay tuned...

Beach With The Blairs

We took a stroll on the pier today with Shane, Michelle and Gavin. It was a really beautiful day, no jackets needed. We grabbed a bite at Ruby's and watched Kelly play a little volleyball.

Thanksgiving 2011

Michelle, Shane, Gavin and Grandpa joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. The Blairs arrived around noon today, and we are so, so happy to have them with us. The turkey was prepared and cooked to perfection by chef Kelly, and the meal was superb. As I tucked Jenna in tonight, she started to tell me all the things she was thankful for. She must have mentioned about 30 things. Coming from a girl who often focuses on what's not going right, I loved knowing that she could generate such a list. Nothing beats an attitude of gratitude.

Heather

With a about a week left to go in the grading period of the first trimester of 7th grade, Heather's report card is still sparkly. She is thriving at her new school, and her countenance remains joyful even after a long day at school. She is able to do homework on her own, take tests with little stress, and I can tell from the work in her binder that her teachers are on-the-ball. As if things weren't going well enough, I got this email response from Heather's Social Studies teacher after I emailed to tell her an assignment was going to be late due to a glitch in Heather's preparation for her presentation that day.

"Dear Ms. Peterson, Oh my gosh, I can't begin to tell you how bowled over I am by Heather's presentation. There were some really excellent presentations, but Heather's was in a class by itself. It was off the charts in every respect. I have always known that she's an excellent student, and a pleasure to have in class, but she was clearly in her element on this project. I feel so lucky to have such great and fun students.

I am not the least bit concerned about her homework questions being turned in after the break.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving."

More to life than...

The past few weeks seemed to have been consumed by my desire to speak for change in our school district. Conversations, emails, research, note taking, typing, presenting, meeting with Board members, more research, conversations and typing...It has taken a toll. There is more to life than this school closure issue. For example,

Winston likes to fall asleep on his back, or mimic his cow toy. We're glad Judy told us or we would have thought he'd keeled over.

There were some really cute decorations still up when I was canvassing the neighborhood with fliers for the School Board meetings. Here is one I really liked...

Cost Plus World Market had a sale, and I gained a new foyer table that fits perfectly by our piano.

Also in the "more to life than" category are birthdays, soccer games, friends and other joy-inducing events recently blogged below. Blogging is joy-inducing, and I've had little energy for it until now. Please scroll down to find the latest from the Pickle Jar.

Playoff Game, School Board, Breaking Dawn

From 5:00 p.m. on, Thursday night was a whirlwind. It went something like this...

5:00 - Heather to OCMCO carpool for rehearsal; Jenna to soccer game

5:30 - Soccer playoff game #4 WIN!; Heather got to see David Archuletta at rehearsal WIN!

6:45 - Rush from double overtime to School Board meeting

7:00 - School Board meeting and presentation; Kelly home with girls

8:00 - OCMCO rehearsal; Heather loses entire Powerpoint presentation and has to start over

11:00 - Meet TMs for Breaking Dawn premiere

Jenna's shoes after the game on the muddy field

The four speakers at the Board meeting spoke in favor of the K-8 choice

Charlotte, Barb, Sarah and me

Sarah, myself, Casey

Saying Goodbye to Friends

Heather has had an easy time making friends ever since pre-school. She has such an open personality and loving heart. She really, really loves anyone she calls friend. This month, two of her friends will be moving out of state, and in June, a third friend will move out of state. She is heartbroken. There is not much to do to console her. It's something she has to mourn, and she'll come to realize that she is still surrounded by her good friends, and that she can continue to keep in touch with those who move away.

Delaney is a friend Heather made in 3rd grade. The girls have been in and out of social groups over the years, and this school year Delaney and Heather both moved to Fulton without each other knowing. It was a joy for both girls that they knew each other from Moiola, and Heather quickly assimilated Delaney into the large friendship group at the new school. The girls wanted to spend some time at Disneyland before Delaney moves next week, so we took Monday afternoon/evening off and hit the park. They had so much fun, and it was very fun to watch them!

Soccer Playoff Game #3

Today was playoff game #3. The girls are doing so well, and they are having so much fun. It's great to win, but we are most proud of the way they play the game and the fun they have. The rain held off just long enough for us to finish this game!

Coach Joe found some gloves for Jenna, and she loved them! We have nicknamed them the "Gloves of Glory" because they seem to give her the confidence to make some very ESPN-like moves.

After the game we headed over to our end-of-season party (thank goodness for the win because our last two parties followed losses). The girls had a blast playing together while the adults mingled.

Coach Paul and Coach Joe gathered everyone for some comments. Coach Paul congratulated the girls on a great season, the parents on their great sideline behavior, and he and Coach Joe took turns highlighting the girls individually. The smiles on their faces were priceless as they listened to what their coaches thought of their growth. We had a great team and were so fortunate to have these coaches for our first soccer experience.

Demanding My Time This Week

Photo: Fountain Valley Patch

Photos: Orange County Register

Tuesday night was my second presentation to the Fountain Valley School Board. We have one more meeting on November 17 in which to articulate our concerns and ideas and attempt to persuade either no school closure until a Budget Committee can formed, or persuade the Board to consider a different school. They are making a huge mistake considering our school.

I hope to write more in the coming weeks as I gain perspective. I also hope to blog, clean my house, finish my laundry and do some fall decorating, most of which would be done if I were not scouring reports, researching and preparing speeches. For anyone who thought research and presentation were gone for good once you left college, think again my friends. You may one day have to pull out all you've got and fight like you've never fought before.

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Kelly celebrated the 24th anniversary of his 24th year today. His 24th birthday was his first birthday we celebrated as newlyweds, and it was 24 years ago that we married.

K - Kind

E - Energetic

L - Loving

L - Likeable

Y - Young at heart

I'm a lucky girl. Happy Birthday Kelly!

2nd Playoff Game for Soccer

The girls played another great game and...

they won.

Squee.

TwilightMoms Dinner

Some TwilightMom friends were here from New York to work the Twilight Convention that occurred this weekend in Los Angeles. Lee (2nd on left) covered the Grauman's Theater event on Thursday where Rob, Kristen and Taylor showed up to put their hand and foot prints forever in cement. She took the photo at the bottom and is still reeling from the fortune of being able to be that close to the action. Stephenie Meyer was also there and we all agreed that whether we love the actors and the movies or not, we are so happy for Stephenie that her dream and talent has spawned such a phenomenon.

Friday night I met up with the gals from New York and my pals from Southern CA. We had a great time visiting, telling stories and giggling. I'm sure our waitress thought we were nuts. As we've been known to say...

All because of a book.

Photo by Lee Orlando for TwilightMoms

Soccer Playoffs

Tonight was Jenna's team's first playoff game for the fall soccer season. They played a team who had beat them 3-2 in the regular season. Our girls played the game of the season tonight winning 4-3 after double overtime and the goal kickoff. Jenna had her best game to-date, passing, dribbling, blocking (with face, stomach, feet or whatever!) and defending the goal. We are proud parents this evening not only because of the win, but because of our team's ability to rise to the occasion and put all they've learned to practice.