Small bit of randomness

Besides volleyball, cheer, singing, COVID, school, and surviving life, I have a few other random pictures to put on…

In no particular order….

The girls captured at school

    

Ellie and Ellie 2 (our neighbor) having a spa day

Pepper in his favorite spot

Ellie’s Volleyball League

Ellie has been passing a volleyball against the front door for a number of years now. Probably since she was about 4 or 5. I had coached the 7^th grade volleyball team that year at Dalton, and she tagged along to every single practice. She has a nice, tiny, controlled pass. She has also been growing like a weed, so her body, while pretty coordinated, is still getting itself together.

Last year, we considered the Boys and Girls Club for their volleyball season. Lilli (my niece) had done the program and enjoyed it. It is pretty low-key. You have a few practices, then play games two nights a week. No high stakes things – although there is a tournament at the end. Anyway, Ellie wasn’t interested. We let it go.

This year, we encouraged her to go ahead and try it. She was considering soccer, which would be fine, too, but you can play soccer in the fall or spring. Volleyball is only the fall. We told her to give this a shot and see what she thought. It lasts about 6-7 weeks, and it is done. She agreed to try it… especially if she could have some knee pads!

I check marked the box that I was willing to be a coach. I figured I would be there every night anyway. I didn’t hear anything, so I assumed they had enough coaches. Wrong. On the night of Madison’s parent meeting the man in charge (while I was out there shocked by my coaching position for Madison’s team) asked if I was still good with coaching the 3^rd and 4^th graders as well. What?? I told him I would talk to him afterwards. They needed a coach. They had one person minorly interested, but he didn’t really have volleyball skills. Well, I would rather have her learn from someone who knows something (me) than someone who doesn’t. So, here I am coaching her team on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Another mom offered to help as much as she could, which was helpful.

There were 9 girls on Ellie’s team. It was a mixed team – 5 from Dalton, 3 from Apple Creek, and 1 from Orrville. It was fun to get to know some kids from other schools as well. We had a couple practices, worked on underhand serving, and trying to pass the ball. Then, the games began.

And Ellie and I were quarantined for game 1 due to Madison being positive for COVID.

The team won though! Then, we played the next 5 games. We lost 3 and won 4. Most of all I saw so much improvement in them. I saw girls who went home and practiced on their own and were improving their serve. One of them who had no chance of getting it over on their serve, got it over by the last games of the season. Others started to move toward the ball to pass it. And the best thing…

They started high fiving each other, saying nice things to encourage each other, and got excited for each other’s successes. It was so cool to watch!

    

We played one game against the other team that had Dalton players.  It was the “all Dalton” team, and both sides of kids were uneasy about playing their friends.  We ended up losing that one, but we took a picture together afterwards.

Saturday, Ellie’s team played in the tournament. They were the second seed and had to play the #3 seed to advance to the championship game. Ellie was sidelined with a positive COVID test (and I was too); one other player from her team was also quarantined. But her team did a great job! They won and advanced to the finals. They played a team they had lost to twice during the season…. And they WON! They were first place. I was so proud of them. Ellie was so excited. She may not be in this picture, but she was there in heart.

    

Back row (left to right): Harper, Rylan, Emmersyn, Jase; Front row (left to right): Ava, Cami, Heather (missing: Alaina, Ellie)

Madison’s Many Activities

Madison has been involved with a number of different things over the past month. We convinced her to try the Boys and Girls Club volleyball league. She was hesitant because she thought the ball would hurt her arms. I said she wouldn’t know unless she tried. Plus, I told her this would help her know how she felt about it before she had a chance to play as a 7^th grader! (7^th grade – are you serious???) She agreed.

I filled out the form and marked the box that said I could coach. I do enjoy coaching, and I thought it might be kinda fun to be involved with it at this level. I didn’t hear anything back, so I assumed they had plenty of other volunteers. When we went to the parent/team night, I made a joke that I would just be called out to coach.

Well, it wasn’t a joke. When I picked up the paper with the teams on it, there was my name listed as a coach for Madison’s team! Uh, okay. I guess I said I would. So, when my team was called, I went out on the court, met them, and gave a little pep talk. It was fine.

We had a few practices to practice some skills. There were all levels, but all learning. All 10 of them were from Dalton. I had about half fifth and half sixth graders. They all had great attitudes and worked hard to do their best.

Then, the games started every Monday and Wednesday. We won 4 and lost 2 by the end. Madison got stronger with her underhand serve; she was also consistent. Others worked on their overhand during the season. All of them improved on their passing. We tried to improve getting our bodies behind the ball and our feet pointing the direction we wanted the ball to go. I thought it would be helpful to have another mid-season practice with the girls, but it wasn’t offered (and that was okay too).

Madison’s first game had a highlight I want to put down so I don’t forget it. She was in the front middle. There was a volley that started, and it went back and forth between her and various players on the other team for at least 5 balls in a row! When it finally dropped on the opponent’s side for our point, she looked over with the biggest grin. I think she almost started crying she was just so happy and proud of herself. It was pretty cool to watch the focus and determination!

On Saturday, they played in the tournament. They were the #2 seed and played the #3 seed. They won! Then, they played the #4 seed who had defeated the #1 seed earlier that day. (Ellie and I were home positive with COVID, but Jeremy streamed the final game on Facebook live for us.) It was so cool to watch the girls play – move to the ball, volley, serve over, play the opposing serve! They won the championship!

         

Back row (left to right): Cali, Jennifer, Arabella, Anna, Gretta, Izzy; Front Row (left to right): Aubrey, Gracie, Madison, Anna    

My substitute coach told me that at one point Madison smiled great big at her and said, “I am having so much fun!” That made me so happy. Winning isn’t everything – it sweetens the deal, but to just love playing, that’s what matters.

Madison also decided to do the cheer clinic for her last year. It made for a very busy week for her – cheering and volleyball – but she said she wanted to do it. She did a great job. She said it was kinda tricky to remember all the moves and words, but she got better each of the 3 days she went. Friday night was a beautiful night for them.

         

Madison also FINALLY got to sing at the football game. She was supposed to do this in 5^th grade, but it was cancelled due to COVID. This year, it was postponed once and rescheduled. Then, the night of the game, the weather was dicey, and it almost didn’t happen. But the rain held off, and she (along with the 5^th and 6^th grade choir members) sang. Ellie and I walked up and listened from outside the fence at a safe distance.

    

Last, but not least, Madison got to go roller skating of Jacqui’s 40^th birthday party. It was an 80s/90s themed skate night. She had fun in her flannel and faded pants accessorized with a scrunchie (all back in style). Ellie and I were still stuck at home, but Jeremy was able to go with her. She had fun with the other kids that were there.

    

Oh, and she plays the flute…

COVID, COVID, COVID, no COVID

Wednesday, September 8 Madison woke up around 10:30pm with a low-grade fever (100.5). I kept her home from school on Thursday and Friday because it hadn’t quite been 24 hours fever free. By Saturday, the fever had been gone for at least 24 hours and besides a little tiredness and not being hungry, she seemed fine. We did the fair and life while wearing masks. We exercised caution only because I had had a cold the week prior and didn’t want to spread colds to anyone. On Tuesday, we decided to test her for COVID only because it had been 5 days, and we wanted to confirmation all was well.

It was not well. She was positive for COVID-19. I called the school; she would be out 10 days from the start of her symptoms, as would Ellie. I could continue teaching with a mask on since I was vaccinated. However, since Jeremy was heading out of town, I ended up staying home with her most of that time.

It never got too bad. Fatigue and loss of appetite were her two biggest things.

Saturday, October 9 Ellie came back from the Ediger fall party and said she was sooo tired. I assumed it was because she was running around playing in the woods. Sunday morning she and I both wake up a bit stuffy, but again, we had been out at a bonfire. I wasn’t concerned. Monday, my cold feels a bit worse. Tuesday, I started to feel much worse as the school day progressed. I had kinda lost my voice, my skin was sensitive, and I had some aches. I came home – 99.8F fever. Hardly a fever, but I felt pretty crappy. I tested for COVID… positive.

Then, we decided to test Ellie since she had some symptoms… positive.

Ellie and I were out of 10 days. Madison and Jeremy could continue life as long as they were wearing a mask. Madison because she had had it in the past 3 months; Jeremy because he was vaccinated.

Downsides for me: Jeremy and I had a four day trip to California for our 15^th anniversary. We had had it planned for at least a month – an Eagles concert, traveling along Big Sur, staying in Carmel. The weather looked fantastic. No go.

Downsides for Ellie: Missed out on her volleyball tournament. Missed out staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. Missed out on the roller skating party.

Upsides for me: Some downtime. It had been super busy between volleyball games four nights a week, IEPs coming up, parent-teacher conferences, etc. My symptoms weren’t horrible. Still some lingering cough/cold, but overall not too bad.

Upsides for Ellie: She gets to watch more TV.

Jeremy had some work out in California (which was both a perk and a downfall for our trip). He tested prior to leaving… negative. He’s somehow avoided it twice now. Lucky guy. He went out on a super fast trip to do a couple site visits, stay at a nice hotel on the beach (where we were going to stay), and enjoy a little bike ride. I try (and usually succeed) to not be jealous of his trips that are mostly work. I encourage him to see things and make time to do things. It is still hard to be the one left behind… especially when I was going to supposed to be left behind on this one.