Basketball Season

Basketball season was another success.

Hunter decided he didnt want to play.  I didnt give Bennett the option because U6 basketball is perhaps the most painful thing to watch- EVER.

Ashton played U10 and Shepherd U8 for our church league.

Ashton was, well, amazing.  The kid can play.  For example, one game, his team won 44- 36.  He scored all 44 points.  He does have moments of holding on to the ball too long, however, he does also pass a good bit. 

Ashton getting some instruction from his coach. 

Ashton (in white) going after the ball.  

And he steals it

And, an easy lay-up

Not my actual kid, but love him... Connor drives to the lane

Shepherd and another player on his team were the top scorers, if one scored then normally the other one assisted and vice versa.  He towered over all these kids but he did a great job.

Shepherd reaches up for the ball

He saves it from going out

Soccer overlapped with the back end of basketball for A and S.  I love their soccer teams.  I help coach both teams and it is really a good bunch of kids.  Hunter is playing soccer this spring.  He has said over and over again how happy he is to be playing soccer again.  He hadnt played since fall 2016.  Bennett is also playing on his first organized sports team this spring.  He is on a little rec team.  His first game is this week.

So, we did not have even a week off but it is fun!

Fall Sports Round-Up

So, working full-time plus having 3 of the 4 kids participating in sports = very little time at home!

This past fall was a whirlwind- seriously, like the first 9 weeks of school was over in a blink and we are already at the 1/2 way point for the second 9 weeks.

Football was a bust... both with Chad's team and with Hunter's 1st season of playing football.   Chad and I agreed that our boys could play football, if they wanted, in 7th grade/ middle school.  Somehow, Hunter was signed up for 6th grade/ rec ball and I was left thinking, "oh whatever."   For the record, he hated it.

Hunter's team was, well, imagine awful and then multiply it.  haha.  They did win 1 game but it was a long season.  Thankfully, my father-in- law, enjoyed taking Hunter to practice so I didn't have to endure the practices as well.  Hunt was pretty discouraged by the end of the season and has not yet decided if he will try again.  I stress to him often that it is his choice!

Hunter's team playing at the stadium- no idea which one he is.

Some blurry, camera phone action shots.  I think he is the skinny kid on the left side

I need to figure out why my phone is taking such blurry pictures... I think Hunter is right in the middle (skinny kid, blue pants, blocking)

Soccer, on the hand, went much better.  Ashton and Shepherd were apart of an inaugural Pickens United travel team.  Ashton did a great job and was a huge contributor to the team.  Shepherd improved drastically!  Everything just started clicking for him.  He doesnt have speed but he is starting to understand the game.
***Pictures are awful, as mentioned, when you coach you forget to take pictures until the last game and then still get distracted.  :(

Heading up the field

Fighting for position of the ball.

Ashton was on the U11 team and Shepherd was U9.  I don't know their records but they finished somewhere in the middle of the pack.  At the tournament a few weeks ago, Ashton's team finished 3rd and Shepherd's finished 1st. 

Shepherd running up the field (not with ball.)

Dribbling up the field

And Bennett, well he loved practices and games and ran wild.  He has requested, without ANY prompting from me as I am busy enough, that he wants to play soccer this spring.

I mean, of course he loves going to practices, Madi (on Shepherd's team) "fixes" his hair after every event!  And he Loves it and her.

We are now in basketball season with only Ashton and Shepherd playing.  Hunter has decided basketball is not his thing and is enjoying an off season.

Basketball Season is in the Books

With the move, new jobs, and 3 kids playing bball in 3 different locations, this winter has been a blur.

The older 3 all played basketball again this winter.  For the first time, they were all some of the oldest in each of their age groups.  I am glad I kept Hunter and Ashton in their respective age group.  Looking back, I might should have moved big ol' Sheppy up.  I guess it was a good confidence boost, but he dominated his little league.

Unfortunately, our move prohibited the boys from finishing their seasons.  I really hated it especially for Ashton's team as he is their clutch player. The little dude can play.  Some of the black parents call him Silk because of his hair and his moves.  He and his buddy DeAngelo were quite an effective pair on the court. Shepherd's team doesnt have playoffs so he only missed the last game.  Hunter, well, Hunter is not what you would call a basketball Jones.  haha.  He has fun out there and is a pretty good defender, just dont ask him to take a shot.

Here some pics to sum up the season.

Shepherd - I think he had 90% of the rebounds, 90% of the points, and 90% of the steals for his team.  His team was not overly good, I think they won 3 of 8 games.

Receiving the ball from his friend.

Getting ready to play defense

Ashton- He had a great year.  Scored the majority of the points.  The games he didnt score a lot, he was the highest with assists.  Even though he is small, he also is a good rebounder and is quick!  Ashton's team finished the regular season in 2nd place.

Free throw (he made it)

Break away

Long shot (Ash is on the right, the ball is in the top middle of the picture)  I think he missed it though.

All of his pics are blurry.

 Hunter-  As I said, at this point, basketball is not Hunt's best sport.  I can probably take the blame for that because though I look like I would be a great basketball player, I was pretty bad.  haha.  However, his height is definitely his advantage out there.  Now, if we could just get him to jump!  He is not sure if he is going to play again next year or not.  It is definitely not his passion.  His team finished somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Nice block (he is black)

#8 getting ready to rebound

 Bennett-  He told me today, "I dont like basketball or football."  haha- I think he is has seen too much of both recently.  So, what does Bennett do during the games... plays with my phone.

After Ashton's game... waiting on Hunter's to start

Love this series of pics he took of himself.  haha.  And I seriously do not remember even talking during this game much less yelling. hmmmm.

I must say that I am glad basketball is over.

The Little Snow that Could Not plus CLEMSON

So, last Friday, all the weather forecasts said we were going to get between 3-5" of snow... turns out, we got 1/2" of snow with some funky ice underneath.

However, since it was the first snow of the year, the kids (and dogs) still managed to make the most of it... one time.  We pretty much stayed in the house for 2 days.

The one posed picture where they were stilll... which led to....

... a pile.  Love Hunt's face here.

This snow wasnt good for much but the boys did manage a small snowball fight and some icy trampoline jumping.

Watch Out

Chad warming up his hands

Pretty smile...

... and pretty eyes

It's 11:30 and the club was jumpin, jumpin

Do you want to draw a snowman? (sing it)

Nolan got to go to the the National Championship football game... GO CLEMSON!!!!!  So, we had Riggs.  Riggs Richard, as we call him, and Moses had quite the time together.  They are highly jealous of the other getting their attention, but they are really good friends.

Pups patiently waiting on their snowballs... The patience didnt last long

Riggs is done waiting

Moses jumping to get his snowball.

 We made pepperoni rolls for lunch.  Let me just take a minute to talk about pepperoni rolls.  I have learned that pepperoni rolls are a West Virginia thing.  You can seriously buy them almost anywhere in WV.  When I was in high school, the special needs classes would sell them in between classes.  I have had my share of the delicious little treats.  It hit me recently that I hadnt had a pepperoni roll in over a decade.  So, I looked up how to make them and Shepherd and I whipped some up.  You can make your own dough, which I will try sometime.   But, for a quick lunch/ snack this recipe cant be beat.  I half each dough biscuit before spreading it out as I like them a little smaller but either way works.  If you dont want to refrigerate them, just dont put the cheese in.

Such an easy, yummy lunch/ snack.

 We really had a nice few days doing absolutely nothing with my 4 favorite kids, 2 awesome dogs watching the Tigers win the National Championship.

Waiting on the game to start. 

My boys loved sharing my lap.

Go Tigers!!!

Impromptu Clemson trip

When you think you kids are going to the Championship game but they then lose the game before, and you realize you finally have a free Saturday, you head down to Clemson to watch the Tigers play!

At our favorite spot- 3 generations! 

My dad :)

I offered each child in my family the option to stay home with their dad or come with me for a day trip to Clemson.

Listening to the band before the game.

Hunter- "Yes, I am going."
Ashton- " I dont know... I will miss all the other games on TV."
Shepherd- "Are we spending the night?  If not, I dont want to watch another football game or be in the car that long."
Bennett- "I want to play with Wepwerd."

Me and my boy

It turned out to be just Hunter and me.  We literally talked for 2 1/2 hours about the CW shows, Arrow and The Flash.  We are both Big fans... haha.

Go Tigers!!!

We ran by mom and dads house.  They fed us and then the four of us went into Clemson and enjoyed the weather, the game, and downtown.  It was a spur of the moment trip, but so much fun!!

Hall of Fame Induction

Soccer has always been my passion. I started playing in 4th grade and it never got old.  I wasnt one to burn out.  I just wanted to play.

After my last high school season, I knew that I didnt want my playing career to be over.  I also knew that I wanted to go into a program and make an immediate impact- no sitting the bench or waiting my turn.  Concord University was the perfect fit.  My family lived in WV at the time so I wanted to stay at an in-state school for the cheaper tuition.

Coach Steve Barrett was brand new to Concord when we stopped in (in 1999), out of the blue, to check out the campus.  Turns out, I was his first recruit.

My Ashton loved how they called me Ashton-Smith.  Since I got married my summer before my senior year, I decided to hyphenate my last name for soccer stuff for name recognition. 

Saturday, I was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.  I feel kind of braggy saying that.  I was very surprised this past spring when I got a call from the athletic director at CU saying that I had been nominated and voted in to be a 2016 inductee.  I always knew that I was a pretty good player, but I never imagined when I walked on the Concord soccer field in 2000 that my career would end with this award.

Thank you to all the family that made the trek up to CU this weekend.  My mom and dad and grandma drove up with the boys and me Friday night.  We stayed in a quaint little lodge (thanks for paying mom and dad).  My in-laws and Chad drove up early Saturday morning for the reception.  And, Sandee and her family were able to come up as well for the game.  (Also, thanks to mom and my mother-in-law for taking over camera duty.  I am normally the one wearing the camera so thank you for documenting this event for me. And thanks to GrandmaDean for watching the boys during the very long reception.)

The reception was at 9:30.  I asked my dad to be my presenter and he gave a nice speech and even teared up at the end.  I had no idea that I had to speak until we got there... I had to wing it.  Turns out my mannerisms are very similar to my father.

 This series of pics makes me laugh.  I had no idea I talked with hands!!!

Brunch- definitely Shep's favorite part.

2016 Inductees

The plaque that will hang in the athletic center.

 Homecoming football started at 1:00.  It was so hot... too hot for an October football game in WV.

Where these kiddos got their start

waiting for my name to be called

The boys and the girls

Sandee and her family

My crew

Crazy to think that us 4 stood right here 15 years ago... Chad was playing his last year at Concord and Tommy was playing his first.  A lot has changed!

 Let me just add, WV is really one of the prettiest places on the east coast.  I had forgotten how gorgeous it is... especially this time of year.

By the lake at the lodge he stayed in

So pretty.

I am so thankful that God's sovereign hand steered me to Concord.  A lot of good came out of these mountains!