And It's Only Tuesday

February 18, 2014

It's been an eventful few days.

--Traveled to San Diego for the CATE conference with my friend Julie
--Met a vibrant and energetic new friend at CATE
--Met several authors and got signed copies of several novels
--Met an author/artist who designed some of the computer graphics on blockbuster movies who is interested in coming to talk to our robotics team
--Got to visit with Bree twice while I was down in San Diego
--Got pulled over by the police who let me know that unbeknownst to me, I was driving around with both taillights out. (He was kind and didn't give me a ticket, thank goodness.)
--Went to my fourth Rick Springfield concert with my friend Francine
--Had a beautiful belated Valentine's dinner at Capo's with Doug
--Woke up this morning to discover that my debit card had been hacked and frozen
--Got a letter from the school acknowledging Nicholas' Honor Roll from 1st semester
--Found out that as a freshman, Danielle beat out several upperclassmen to fall in the top five discus throwers who qualify to throw at the upcoming track meet
--Got a little bit of a family bombshell revealed this evening

All that and it's only Tuesday.

Reyburn Track Meet

April 4, 2013

Today Danielle competed at the Central Valley Jr. Classic Track Meet, held at Reyburn Junior High.  All five Clovis middle schools were represented, as well as Firebaugh and Madera, with each team sending their three strongest girls in each of the throwing events.  Danielle has been working very hard at trying to improve her distance in discus by working out with Jim (who was a thrower himself during high school).  He's given her some great coaching, and it showed today in her event.  Up until now, her personal best distance was a 68, but her throw today hit 78.6--a very impressive improvement!  That distance earned her second place out of all the girls, and she got to come home with a medal.  In fact, her distance was the best score of all of the Clovis schools, since the first place winner was a student from Madera.  I am so happy for her and proud of her accomplishment!

Track Meet

February 28, 2013

My girl is doing very well in track this year, especially in discus.  She consistently lands in the top three or four out of about sixteen girls at each meet.

Track Pictures

 May 23, 2012

Track Awards

 May 20, 2012

This year was Danielle's second year as a member of the shot put team, and her first year doing discus.  Both the boys and girls teams ended their season as Valley Champions.  Just like soccer, this is a sport she hopes to continue next year and all through high school.  Here she is holding her Championship plaque.

Danielle at Discus

March 9, 2012

Last week I got pictures of Danielle doing shot put; this week we got some shots of the discus. (These are the two I got before she turned around and said, "Don't take pictures while I'm throwing, Mom!") I'm so proud of her for being so willing and eager to get out and try new things. At this meet, she hit a personal record and ended up placing third overall.

First Track Meet of the Year

February 27, 2012

My super-strong girl is back out on the track field! She loves shot put and discus, and is ready to beat her personal records this season.

Like Brother, Like Sister

May 15, 2011

Earlier this year when Nicholas started track for the first time, Danielle expressed an interest, too. Since Brother did shot put, and since she's a very strong little girl, she figured that would suit her, too. This is her first track meet ever. She made a very good showing and got to hang out with a few of her good friends who were also competing in the event. I just love how willing she is to try new things. She wants to be involved in everything!

Shot Put

March 20, 2011

Meet The Newest Member of the Alta Sierra Track Team

February, 24, 2011

Today was Nicholas' first track meet ever. I think we were all a little bit like fish out of water out at the track, not really knowing the whole process. Neither Doug nor I had ever been in track in school, and Nicholas wasn't completely clear where he was supposed to be. There are a lot of events going on simultaneously, and lots of movement and activity happening all at once. If you don't know what you're looking for, there's a real sense of visual overload going on.

Nicholas had opted out of throwing the shot put in this first meet, since he didn't feel he had enough practice in. Unfortunately, that meant he wasn't hanging out with most of the 'throwers' while they were competing the shot put event. That meant he didn't really realize that when they were done, the whole group of them had moved to the other side of the field for the discus event. Eventually, I told Nicholas he needed to find his coach and figure out how close we were to his event. By the time he found his coach, he was sent to make a bee-line for the opposite side of the field, because his event was already in progress. We saw where he was heading, and walked ourselves to the other side of the field to watch him. Normally, I guess they get three throws, and the farthest one is counted. Since Nicholas got to event check-in a little late, he was skipped for his first round throw. He got there just in time to toss in the second round. It was a bit shaky. While he was waiting for the other contestants to go through their second and third rounds, he warmed up some, and his second and final throw was pretty impressive. Out of ten or eleven contestants from Alta Sierra and Clark, Nicholas' final throw landed him in fourth place over all. Not bad at all for his first time out of the gate! (On a side note, we've decided not to let him opt out of shot put for future meets. If he stays with the other 'throwers' perhaps he won't miss his first throw when his event is called!)

We're Putting on a lot of Mileage This Week

February 21, 2011

This is going to be quite a busy week, but in a really good sort of way. That being said, this is something like what my driving map will look like:Brianna's got auditions for "Hairspray," on Wednesday, possibly with callbacks on Friday. Nicholas has track practice every day after school, plus his first track meet on Thursday. Danielle has softball practice every day after school except for Wednesday. She'll find out this week whether she'll be on A, B, or C team, so it's a big week for her. She also has an indoor soccer game on Friday evening and on Saturday afternoon.

This week is also my brother-in-law's birthday, so there's a pizza party gathering tomorrow night in his honor. My sister-in-law Julie is making a trip out from Washington with her new baby Nathan this week, so on Friday night we are having a reunion pizza party for all family and friends to gather together to visit with her. (And I finally get to meet my new nephew!)

In addition, this week we've got to work on Danielle's biography project and Nicholas' History Day project, both of which still need a lot of revision and supervision. Bree also has an orthodontist appointment, at which time hopefully they'll give us a definitive answer on when she will finally get those things off--we've got senior pictures to schedule. Finally, we've got to figure out how to find the time to make the house clean and sparkly before our annual Red Carpet Oscar Party this coming Sunday.

Busy, busy, busy, but I'm totally looking forward to the week!