The kids' farewell parties!

The kids weren't about to let a half empty house and a week's notice prevent them from throwing together a going away party before we headed out of town! I felt bad because months ago when we first decided we'd move during the winter break I had assured them I'd put together going away parties but with the craziness of trying to build a house and prepare for a move, the time had flown by and before I knew it we were a week away from packers arriving! Thankfully when you live in a time of texting and group messaging, within a half hour of putting our thoughts together, the boys had invited around twenty kids. Knowing we were in the midst of the holiday party season, I reminded them that with such short notice, most would probably not be able to attend. Well, I was sure wrong! Kids kept dripping in and by the end, they had thirty friends stop in to wish them well. I worried about what they would do but between foosball and shuffle board in the basement, games upstairs, and even a hilarious stand up comedy show by some of the kids in the dining room, they all seemed to have a great time. We never got a photo of everyone together but here are a few that hopefully captured most of them!



There was one important friend that was unable to make the boys' party and that was Mia! She was their first friend and turned out to be the last friend they spent time with before we left town. They have spent countless days together and we have been so grateful for how much the Thatcher family took in our boys and introduced them to all that Mason had to offer. Really it's because of them the boys even got involved in swimming. As a going away gift she drew this picture of the three of them together from Homecoming. So sweet!



On the Friday night before the boys' party, the Simon's threw Sage a going away party at their house with all Sage's church friends. It was so sweet of them and really made Sage feel special, not to mention she had a great time and always enjoys being with Taylor! We will sure miss the Simon family but will plan on seeing them here in Florida sometime soon!



After a busy Saturday night hosting the boys party, it was again time for Sage to celebrate only this time it was with her "school friends". Sage definitely has no shortage of friends but like most girls, she has a couple special friends she meets in her class each year that she becomes extra close to. This party was meant to gather all those friends together. They are so sweet and I can't lie that I am sad to have to see her say goodbye to them.



It there is one friend that Sage will miss the most though, it's Tanna. Tanna moved to Ohio from Southern California just last summer. Her dad was transferring from Oakley out to Lux and on a house hunting trip we met up with them for dinner. At that time we learned that not only would they go to our same church but they had a daughter Sage's age. A week or so later she had sent Sage a postcard sharing with Sage how excited she was to move to Ohio and meet Sage and what she liked to do. It was so cute. They became instant best friends. They both love to do crafts, cook, sing and dance and spent any free day together. The Dean family really reached out to Sage and made her feel apart of their family. Here are a couple photos from the last week of them with their BFF necklaces and playing on the frozen lake behind Tanna's house! They haven't let distance affect their friendship though as I regularly can hear Sage face timing Tannah and we know they'll see each other again!

Trying to get into the spirit...

Decorating the house for Christmas when movers would be arriving on Dec. 22nd wasn't going to happen. I had debated it in my mind but finally made the call that with all we had going on, it just didn't make sense, especially during a time when we were trying to declutter and get rid of stuff rather than clutter up the house and unpack stuff. We had already discussed with the kids that we wouldn't be doing Christmas shopping since we'd have no room in the car for gifts and really just no time to worry about that. They were so good about it and thankfully with Sage learning about Santa last year there was no issue. We knew we'd be giving them money and in the end that is probably what they would have gotten regardless since none of them had items they were really wanting for Christmas anyway. It was really weird though not to spend any time shopping for even stocking stuffers or Christmas dinner. We did however manage to squeeze in time for a couple of our holiday traditions including taking our photo with Santa, decorating gingerbread houses, and the dreadful, always rushed and never prepared for Christmas card photo.





I don't imagine we'll be seeing much of this in Florida. Although none of us will miss the cold, gray winters of Ohio, we will definitely miss the beautiful snowfalls that happen every so often. Snapped this a week before we left Ohio...

Well it was a good 3 1/2 year run...

When the boys entered 6th grade they were required to take some sort of music class. It was a choice between orchestra, band, and choir. They refused to sing in the choir but after attending a weekend workshop to check out instruments, they settled on orchestra with Ty wanting to learn the viola and Connor the violin. They ended up sticking with it in through 8th grade because they were able to get a bit of High School credit if they did so. Because Connor was anxious to get his high school arts requirements out of the way he decided to continue on through his freshman year while Ty jumped ship and decided to tackle something else. So here our handsome boy is performing at his Freshman winter concert. This would also be his last concert we'd ever watch him perform in since we'd be moving at the end of the first semester. I can say there were no tears shed when Connor learned that Florida wasn't going to require him to continue for the second half of the year in order to get his credit like Mason would have but he's assured me that in his spare time he'd still like to take up teaching himself how to play the acoustic guitar which I'd be thrilled with. Now if I could just get Sage to play the harp...

Introducing water polo players #12 and #18!

Without doubt, had we not moved to Ohio and possibly even Mason, the boys never would have found themselves playing water polo in high school! It wasn't until meeting their friend Mia that swimming even began to be of interest to them. Then a friend of mine from church encouraged me to look into water polo as her daughters played at the high school and she felt pretty confident water polo would be something the boys would probably find more fun than swimming. She was right! The middle school had a program that allowed interested 8th graders to practice with the high school JV team as a way to get them acquainted with the sport and teach them the basics. Sure enough the boys really enjoyed it and now after playing their first high school season will agree that they much prefer polo to swim. Having said that they will swim through high school because the coaches encourage it as a way to keep them in shape. So here are players #12 and #18!




This year the high school had a brand new water polo coach. What was good about that was she had no preconceived notions about any of the kids. We all know politics exists in sports but having her come in from the outside diminished any of that. She also was thinking about the development of the team over the course of the next few years and so had indicated she'd be selecting a couple freshman to attend the first big two day varsity meet at Napoleon as a way to develop and prepare future players. Ty and Connor were thrilled to learn they were the two freshman she had selected. She couldn't guarantee how much playtime they'd get but wanted them to come to gain a better understanding of how tournaments work and hopefully give them opportunities to play as relief players. How exciting it was when one of the moms text me to tell me Ty had scored his first goal! Although I didn't get to attend, I heard all about the fun they had. It was the first time they had traveled with a sports team overnight which I know they also enjoyed! Here is the varsity team plus two cute freshmen!



After the Napoleon tournament Coach added the boys to the varsity roster. Although they'll primarily play on JV, they were thrilled at the opportunity to play in varsity games and I think it was great for their confidence that out of all the freshmen, they were the only two selected. She mentioned to me a couple times how she'd never seen such eager kids who desired so much to get better so I was happy to see them rewarded with the opportunity to push themselves even further. It was clear she hadn't yet learned we were moving and the boys would not be around next season and I hoped when that time came she'd continue her investment in them. Thankfully she did.

We never have to worry about the boys trimming their nails during polo season...For football we had weigh ins, and for water polo they have nail checks...



Here are a few shots I managed to capture of Ty during the season:



And here are a few shots of Connor. By far a highlight was seeing Connor score his first goal in a varsity game:



The beauty of team sports is watching the camaraderie that is so evident from the stands. Compound that with getting to watch your two boys play at the same time handing off the ball to each other warms my heart. So glad they found a sport in high school that they love and I enjoy watching. No more freezing on the stands or roasting in the sun. It may be a big muggy but with tournaments lasting just under an hour, I feel like it's the best of all worlds in sports! :)



Proud supporters...




The award ceremony: It's no secret that when raising twins you worry about the competitiveness that can exist between them. Although Connor has had an edge on Ty in school, Ty has had an edge on Connor in sports. The good news is each of them have had bragging rights for something. Unfortunately it's not like you get publicly praised when you get good grades in school..at least not until graduation. But Ty has frequently been awarded special awards and leadership roles in football and swim. Once again I found myself bracing and keeping an eye on Connor as Ty got the boys Rookie of the year award. Of course I was happy for him but you have no idea how thrilled I was to hear Connor also recognized with the boys most improved player award. To see the look on Connor when he got the award was priceless. A great way to kick off high school sports! Had to laugh though when I said to the boys how cool it was that they got a "letter" and their response was "what are we supposed to do with it". Clearly it doesn't symbolize to them what it did to people back in the olden days when I was in high school...haha!




Now off to Florida where the boys will get to participate in water polo for a second time this school year since there it is a spring sport!!!