Happy 17th Birthday, Lydia!

Lydia had a messy fall.  She had the unfortunate luck of contracting hand, foot, and mouth disease, which was going around the athletes using the weight room.  It put her out of school and volleyball for a week. Then she had the worst migraine she had ever experienced.  It took her to urgent care, the ER, through an MRI, and to a neurologist.  It extended 10 days. Anyone who says a migraine is "just a headache" is very wrong.  Thankfully, now she has some tools that are helping her keep migraines more manageable.

Despite the setbacks, Lydia pulled through in her classes and most of her extracurriculars.  She had an exciting season of volleyball.  To reveal the anticipated, it was probably her last. I need some time to put together her last volleyball video, and it will probably be this summer.

So when she had one well-thought-out birthday wish - two tickets to the Josiah Queen concert - which was in April - it was most certainly granted.

Lydia is very dedicated to school and committed to her plan.  She balances her hard work with friends, church, and employment.  There are mishaps and learning opportunities, but she takes it all with a steady and persistent nature.  We are so proud of who she is and who she is becoming.

Lydia's flag football highlights

Flag football was so much fun!

Flag football is just starting to catch on as a spring girls' high school (and college) sport.  It is getting a lot of promotion from the NFL and the Vikings sponsored the 51 high school teams last spring. (Which means we paid $0 and did zero fundraising!) Lydia joined the Royals' inaugural season!  Usually, it's tough to be competitive in a sport that you're new at - but in this case, everyone was basically new! So that really leveled the playing field!

But that doesn't mean it wasn't competitive.  I'm sure most of these girls had brothers, dads, or cousins throwing footballs around with them since they were little, and all of them played other sports.  Lydia had experience playing flag football as a unified partner with Special Olympics.

Here is her highlight video:

Lydia's club volleyball highlights

I need to get through these highlight videos faster than I am.  This video features highlights from Lydia's club volleyball season, which took place from January to April.  We are now in full swing of her high school season! 

SOMN flag football

SOMN Flag Football is so much fun and the team went undefeated this season!  Brett is an amazing quarterback, and Lydia does a great job of uplifting all the athletes on the team.  They keep it exciting and competitive!

 

Here is the link to the highlight video.

Interested in supporting the work of Special Olympics?  Make a donation to my Frozen 5K fundraiser!

Happy 16th Birthday, Lydia

 Lydia's birthday landed on Thanksgiving for the 3rd time in her 16 years!

We decided to get a Cold Stone cake.  It was so delicious!

Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, so Grandpa made Lydia a special pancake!

Bonnie also stopped by to wish Lydia a Happy Birthday!  

Lydia received a Packer's ticket, a new gym bag, and some treats for her birthday.  We are still working on getting a day on the calendar to celebrate with her friends.

Lydia's Highschool Volleyball Highlights

It was so exciting to watch Lydia play libero for the B-squad this year!  The libero is easy to find because she wears a different colored jersey and she doesn't do the rotations or sub out very much.  Her primary job is to usually get the first hit when the ball goes over the net.  She is usually the shortest one on the team and agility and speed are important. She's hitting the balls that are coming down to the ground veryfast and the goal is to keep the ball in play. With that kind of quick response, getting the ball to also go in the right direction doesn't always happen!

There were are fair share of both wins and losses, which is better than last year.  At the end of the season, Lydia received the "Best Defensive Player" award, voted on by her team.

Here is a link to the highlight video.

Back to school

We have everyone at the same school for the first time since Reggie was in first grade! 

(Brett started homeschool when he was in 4th grade.)

This probably wouldn't seem so exeptional if our kids weren't so close in age.  It's pretty normal to have 3 kids, but not as normal to have three in high school all at once.

 

Reggie transitioned into high school with ease.  He knew his way around since he's been a high school wrestler for two years already.  He knew plenty of staff and had his friends from middle school and football, and advice from his brother and sister.  But even with all those advantages, the work load caught him a bit off guard.  Despite our warning, he is taking Honors English (both teachers show no mercy and it is not weighted).  He is also taking Spanish, AP Human Geography, Band, Honors Earth and Space Science, and Algebra 2.  With lifts, workouts, and practice, he is usually at school from 6am to 5:30pm.  Between sports and homework, he has no time for any clubs.  But he works hard at all of it and rarely needs any support from us to keep up with the demands.

I still can't believe Brett is already a Junior!  He likes school, is involved in many activities, and has a good group of friends.  He takes a mix of special education and general education classes with supports and accommodations.  Even though the graduation requirement is one trimester of physical education, he has taken gym all eight trimesters so far, and the gym teachers all know him well!  We are starting to prepare him for the possibility that he might not be able to fit gym into his schedule senior year!  He is also taking woodworking and a baking class.  Chemistry turned out to be more math than he was prepared for, but he pushed through one trimester and passed.  Now he is registered in more practical science course.  For extracurriculars, he plays on the district's adapted sports team, and attends activities through the Black Student Union, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Royal Connections.

I can never remember how many "O's" are in sophomore, and get it right about half of the time!  The big news that Lydia got before school even started was that she made the B-squad for the volleyball team.  A lot of sophomores got cut, so we were very happy she got to continue her high school volleyball life!  Building on success from her freshman year, she chose the most rigorous courseload she could.  She had two math classes for the first tri: AP Pre-Calc and Trigonometry.  She is also taking AP Biology, AP World History, Honors English, and American Sign Language.  For the second trimester, she is happy to be done with trig and taking online gym.  This has made a noticable difference in the homework load.  We realized last spring she would need some more clubs on her application for National Honor Society, so she diligently added a couple this year.  She was already in Key Club, but not very consistent, so she is making sure she logs her volunteer hours this year!  She also joined HOSA and the Red Cross club - which was a surprise to me.  Maybe it has to do with her friend group or maybe she's interested in a healthcare career.  Time will tell!

I also went back for a second year as a support staff at the neighborhood elementary school.  I provide academic and behavior support for general education kids.  Some days are hard.  Some days are more than hard.  But I love the convenience of working in my community and being on the same schedule as my kids. So it works for now!

We love that all of our kids are so involved and active in school.  I know a lot of parents wish their kids would join a club or a sport or crack open a book outside of school.  Our days are full of trips to the high school (or across town to another high school) for this or that , and we are content with it being that way.

Lydia's JO volleyball highlights

Lydia had volleyball tryouts at the high school this week so it's about time I get a highlight video together for her club season from last winter!😊 (Spoiler alert: she made the team!)

A normal part of volleyball is helping ref the other matches.  Here Lydia is watching for ball touches and net violations.

Lydia ended up being the backup hitter.  She has a lot of fun at this position.  Even though she doesn't have the typical height for it, she has the vertical to get the job done!

Club volleyball is definitely a business and a prime example of the excessive monitary consumption of youth sports.  In a sea of competive, elite private clubs, we like our local city club because she plays with many of the same kids she plays with at the high school, the practices are held in district gyms, and the cost is manageable. 

I love watching Lydia play volleyball because she is so intense and clearly loves it. She plays with confidence and she plays to win to the very last point!

Lydia's freshman volleyball highlights

We are down to three tournaments left of Lydia's club volleyball season, so it's time to post highlights from her highschool season!  

It was so nerve-racking and exciting for Lydia to try out for the team back in the middle of August before she had even had her first day of highschool!  There are five teams at our highschool: 9B, 9A, B Squad, JV, and Varsity.  There were cuts in every grade, but Lydia made the 9A team!  

While Lydia had gotten very comfortable with her role as the setter during club season, there were FOUR setters on her team. (Not sure why they don't sort this out during try-outs?)  Lydia doesn't have the height to be a front row player if she's not setting, so she was put in the position of DS (defensive specialist).  Her job is the respond to the attack of the other team, getting the first hit and putting the ball into play on their side of the court.  There were definately some growing pains and a lot to learn, but she took on the challenge and made great progress over a short season.  I think it has made her a more well-rounded player and set her up for more success on future teams.

Note that Lydia is #5 as you watch the highlights.  She is a hustler honing in her skills!  While we see other members of her team struggle when they fall behind, Lydia competes to the very last game point. We love to watch her play!

SOMN softball and flag football highlights

Special Olympics softball is a fun but short season with only one competition - the Summer Classic Games.  We are so very spoiled that this event- and also the state flag football event- are hosted in our city!

Brett usually plays 3rd base, and Bryan is one of the coaches for his team. Brett is a good hitter, and he's looking forward to joining the high school's adapted softball team (Thunderbolt's) this spring!

Unified sports are one of my favorite things about Special Olympics.  It brings people who might not typically interact in daily life together and uses the shared enjoyment of athletics as a way to build relationships and uplift the movement of inclusion.

In unified flag football, three athletes and two non-disables "unified partners" play on the field at the same time.  There are many rules about who can do what on the field in an effort to keep the focus on building up and supporting the athletes.  The main and obvious rule is that a unified partner can't pass the ball to another unified partner.  As you watch the video, you can see how the unified partners from BOTH teams are working to create an experience where the athletes get to shine - while still enjoying the true spirit of competion.   

Brett loves being the quarterback but gets to play all the positions.  Lydia was a unified partner for a second year and we also recruited Bonnie's son, Matt.  He was a great addition to the team!   

Next weekend we will again be participating in the Frozen 5k and Polar Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota!  We have a team - the Oreo Dunkers.  It's the five of us plus Bonnie and Taylor.  We named our team the Oreo Dunkers because Brett loves oreos so much that he named his guinea pig "Oreo" and he also has aspirations to someday dunk a basketball.  Visit our page to contribute to our fundraiser!

happy 15th birthday, Lydia

On Lydia's 15th birthday, she gave me a gift!  She got out of bed a half hour early so we could go to Bruegger's and Caribou!  

She wanted million dollar mac'n'cheese and a DQ cake for her birthday dinner.  We had a few too many things on our calendar that week, but eventually I took her and two friends to a pottery painting place and they had a sleepover.

Lydia is 5 ft 2, and probably done growing.  This year she got invisalign and contacts.  She also underwent a very unpleasant procedure to repair an ingrown toenail. 

My nephew calls Lydia a high-functioning introvert and I think he's accurate.  She makes friends easily even in new situations, but gets her energy from lots of alone time.  Lydia enjoys playing the piano, reading, crocheting, painting, and listening to music.  She'll almost never turn down popcorn and movie night and loves ice cream!  In addition to lots of volleyball, she joined Key Club, Mud club (ceramics), and Royal Connections (social club supporting inclusive relationships).  She is in year two of being a unified partner with Special Olympics, on the worship team for our church's kids' ministry, and is involved in the youth group.

For the first time, Lydia spends a lot of time on homework, and I'm proud of how well she has adjusted to the rigor of high school.  She is light-hearted, whitty, and confident, and I enjoy every minute I get to spend with her!