Hannah - soccer

Hannah played soccer again for the high school. She played on the JV team. The first half of the season she was forward then played sweeper (last defender) for most of the rest of the season, rotating into forward sometimes. A friend has a daughter on JV for another school...who beat us all the time...our teams may not be very good but the positive side is that my kids are generally good enough to get a lot of playing time. When we played this friend, she got about 15 minutes of play time where as Hannah never rotated out. So...in the long run, I think it will have more impact on the kids to be on the field with a loosing team than on the bench with a winning team. Hannah was thrilled when it rained the day before their last game...she got to play in the mud!

Christmas

Somehow I have lost all my pictures from Christmas. So, a quick run down...spent Christmas Eve day at Steve's mom's house with his family. It was a great afternoon/evening. This was her first holiday season since Steve's dad passed away. Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Gentry's for the night. It was a little crowded with all nine of us (Robert and Raechel came home for Christmas) but we had a great time. Adam and Uncle Dean joined us on Christmas day. Very bummed I can't find my pictures. My computer was on the verge of dying a little bit ago so I may have lost them when we restored it.

Sports

Hannah and Rebecca both played volleyball for the high school. I coached the freshman team so didn't get a lot of pictures. Rebecca played on the JV team...usually played outside hitter the first game and setter in the second game. They had a rough season but she enjoyed playing, especially when she got to hit. Hannah started on JV and after the first game, several varsity players were sick so the coach pulled her up to fill in for a tournament and the next game. She had a great game and he asked her stay up. It was a tough decision because she knew she would get more playing time on JV but Varsity was definately more challenging and would provide more growth. She decided to stay up...played just a litte the next couple of games but eventually earned her spot as a starter as outside hitter. (Her pictures are courtesy of another parent). The same time that they were playing and I was coaching, Emily was playing soccer. Her team had an amazing season...94 goals for and only 8 against. They won a tournament they entered and won the league playoffs. Emily generally played a defensive mid position, sometimes offensive mid. Thankfully Mark took the year off from soccer or I would have really gone insane!

Sam's Birthday

Lucky boy gets a huge party every birthday. We did a little trick or treating on Halloween and celebrated Sam's birthday on Sunday. Instead of a cake, we did sugar cookies that we cut out, baked and decorated. Sam got a big boy toilet for his birthday but is a long way away from figuring it out. In case you can't figure it out, Mark is a pirate, Em a 50's girl, Sam is Diego (from the cartoon...friend to Dora who is actually his favorite but didn't think Dora was an appropriate costume for a little boy) and Hannah...though not in full costume here was a mime. I tried to find a shirt with a big M on it for Super Mom but had no luck!

Luau

The YW did a "luau" evening a little bit ago. We have a family with Tongan heritage and one of the YW leaders studied at BYU Hawaii so they learned dances from several islands. They had tables set up for each of the islands with some food to sample at the end. They did a great job. The pictures aren't the best because they turned down the lights but you get an idea.

Tired little man

Happily, Sam has not outgrown his afternoon naps. If I don't get to him in time...he does it on his own...sometimes right in the middle of something. Yesterday, it was with a bag of cheetos in one hand...a cheetoh in the other trying desperately to get to his mouth. When I had put him in the car to pick up kids, he slightly woke up trying to get the cheetoh into his mouth but I had taken it after he fell asleep so he just kept putting his hand to his mouth and trying to bite but there was nothing there. I think today he was trying to get the back door open to ride his little motorcycle in the backyard. Anyway, need to take advantage of him asleep and get something done...just wanted to share.

Kristy for School Board

Well...it is official...I am running for school board. I am finishing my website today...visit it at kristynielsen.com. I opened my bank account last week and have my sign designed. I was even offered use of one of those programs that automatically calls and plays a recording. So I just have to create a brief message and it will call all the voters in Antioch telling them who I am and that they should vote for me. I will be ordering signs next week and have window signs for cars that I have to print up next week. Had my first interview by the teacher's union last week and a meeting with Dr Simms, superindendent. They have a round-table set up for Oct 1st that will be taped and broadcast throughout the month on the contra costa tv channel. They did a write up in the Antioch Press about all the candidates and quoted me in it. Not sure what my chances of winning are but it will definately be an interesting experience just running. Hannah took several pictures of me for me to use on my website. This is one I really liked although didn't use it for my website. I rarely have descent photos of myself because I am usually behind the camera. Many of you will be getting emails next week with all my info to forward on to others that you know that live in Antioch. It is all about name recognition...how many people have heard your name mentioned...kind of crazy that it is not so much about what you will do for the school board.