Thanksgiving 2023

My luck is that our oven went out RIGHT before Thanksgiving! Like 3 days before! I don't know why but I decided to clean it using the automatic cleaner on the oven. Well, it totally broke the thermostat and locked the door to where we couldn't even open it. Replacing the parts on it would have cost more than just getting a new one because it was so old. So off to Nebraska Furniture Mart we went to pick out a new oven! I love it!

Lonestar Volleyball 7th Grade

Charlotte faced her first heartbreak in middle school by not making the 7th grade volleyball team. It was a huge shock because she had been playing volleyball since she was in 2nd grade! And she is good! We found out that there were some girls who made the team who had never even played before! How does that happen?!? It was horrible, but Charlotte handled it as well as she could. We signed her up to play volleball with her friend Willow in another league and she did enjoy it. She spent all of 7th grade and the summer before 8th grade playing on different competitive teams and getting extra coaching and practice. Wayne and Nathan helped her practice and perfect her overhand serve. She's ready for 8th grade tryouts!

 

Charlotte's Basketball Season: 7th Grade

Charlotte decided she wanted to try out for the basketball team. She had never played basketball before in her life! But we all went to my school to practice every night before tryouts. Wayne and Nathan taught her to dribble and shoot. It was crazy that she was actually pretty good at it even though she had never played before. When it was time for tryouts, we prepared her to be ready for anything and not to be too upset if she didn't make it. She was always totally good with the idea of not making the team. But when she made it though the first round of cuts, we were all so happy for her, and she was too! I remember the final announcement of the team was going to be right after one of her cross country races at 5:00 pm. She finished the race and it was 4:45. I remember her wanting to go ahead and leave and not stay to talk to her friends...she wanted to find out the news by herself. We were driving home, and charlotte said "The coach sent the email!" We were on pins and needles as she checked her email and was looking for her ID number. It was there! She made the team! We were all laughing and so uncontrollably happy for her! Nathan was so proud :) She was on C team which made sense...we were just happy she made any team considering she had never played before. Well the season was crazy fun to watch. Charlotte was a maniac on the court! She had no fear and was so good!!! We did have one incident where she was knocked down and we thought she broke her arm or wrist. I was scared to death for her. She got an xray and it was just a sprain thank goodness. 

 

Charlotte's Cross Country Track Season: 7th Grade

 We were so proud of Charlotte and her athletic ability! She competed in all of the middle school sports and was actually so good cross country! Her races were always 1.5 miles, and Charlotte always finished in the top 10. She did so well! And I was impressed with how she practiced running outside of school practice. She'd go running at home and loved competing in the meets. One funny story is that at her very first meet, I was at the finish line filming her. When I saw her come around the last corner, she had to finish on the girl's side...the finish line was divided into a boys' lane and a girls' lane. She got a little confused about which lane to run through and had to switch which side she was going to...she got tripped up and fell right at the end, but got right back up and finished without anyone passing her. Afterwards, she was like "Oh my gosh, that was so embarrassing!" I was happy she could laugh about it and not get upset :)