Soccer Season

Chase is trying out a new sport this year...soccer.  As with most everything he touches, he's pretty good at it!  If only he didn't act like he was so good...

Mary Frances tests for Yellow Belt

Mary Frances and Chase both started Tae Kwon Do this summer, but Chase had to stop once football started.  So, Mary Frances is ahead of both boys and was able to test for her yellow belt a week or so ago.  She's the third one from the right on the back.

 And she's pretty good, too!

 The first test was lower key with only Mary Frances and Chase testing, but this test was a big deal.  There were about 15 students testing for either their orange or yellow belt!

 Check out that kick!  Don't mess with her!

 I love these action shots with her hair swinging behind her!

 Counting to 10 in Korean while doing push ups...

She did a great job and earned her belt! Yay, Mary Frances!

Wanna Spar?

Mary Frances has started sparring in Tae Kwon Do.  She was so excited to get her equipment a few weeks ago! Now we need to get it for Thomas, too!

Thomas Tests for Orange Belt

Thomas just started Tae Kwon Do (TKD) in September.  He tested for his orange belt a few weeks ago!  We were so proud to watch him test and accomplish his goal!

 He did a great job under pressure!

 White Belt pattern.

 Slide and diagonal kick

 Step behind side kick

 10 push-ups -- counting in Korean

He did it!!!  

He even broke the board!!  Yay, Thomas!!!

Viking Fooball

We are playing our first year of tackle football.  Well, Chase is actually the one playing.  It's been a little difficult on the moms, but we're hanging in there! :)

Go #27!!!

The boys are doing great!  It must be difficult to try and learn all these different rules!  I'm not sure I'll ever get it!  I have realized that you have to know numbers (like be good at math) in order to understand the plays.  Otherwise, they make NO sense!  Ray C. and Chase were having fun explaining their plays to me last week!  I'm just glad I don't have to figure out what they mean!

"Wing Left, 33 Lead"

"Go Vikings" 

Chase loves "his" cheerleaders!

 Mommy's not so sure that she loves them, though!  They are super cute, but I don't like the way the 7 year olds watch them!  Aren't they too young to be acting that way?  I mean, I'm glad he likes girls, but it makes me uncomfortable to watch him watching them cheer!

 "Yes Sir"

Break it down...Huh!

 We may not be the Superbowl Champs this year, but we have a lot of heart!  

Big and Bad...

Go Texans!

I experience my very first NFL game last night!  Some friends of ours gave us four tickets to the Houston Texans game against the Vikings.  So, we invited Pam and Gary to go along with us.  They are die-hard Packers fans.  So, they were thrilled to root against the Vikings for the home team!  It was a lot of fun, but I still have a hard time keeping up with that ball!

I love the thrill of the crowd and the excitement, but I think I prefer watching the game on TV where the cameraman does the hard work for me -- keeping my eye on the man who actually has the ball!  And, I love that yellow line!  They should really figure out how to have that on the field!  Those yard marker guys just don't cut it for me!

Oh...another cool fact...we got to see the 1st female ref in NFL who just made her debut last week!  It's always fun to be a part of history...no matter how small!

SuperBowl Champions...

Chase's flag football team has been playing hard all season...

so hard that we made it to the SuperBowl!!! The boys got to play in the Berry Center which is one of the two football stadiums that our school system's high schools use to play their games each week.

It was a great experience. How many 5 and 6 year olds can say they've played on terf? They got to go in the locker room, have their names announced on the loud speaker, and even got to see themselves on the jumbotron!
The game was a perfect SuperBowl! It was obvious why the two teams made it! We played the other flag team at our own school, and it came down to the very last play! I am proud to say that Chase was one of two boys who pulled the last flag!
They got new trophies (to add to our ever expanding collection)!
And, Ray C., had a blast coaching, too!

We are VIKINGS!!

Hope Fun Run

Mary Frances and Thomas ran their first race last week! I was so proud of them.

Thomas ran a half mile...
and did great! I was crossing my fingers the whole time hoping he would just keep running! I guess I was worried that he might not stay motivated without me encouraging him along -- I guess he proved me wrong! He finished running! YAY!! I had tears in my eyes because I was so proud of him!


Mary Frances ran a quarter mile! I felt the same about her race! I was so excited that they were getting into something I've recently been enjoying! She finished - running, too!

YAY!!! I'm a proud mommy!

Field Day

So....I'm way behind on my posts. It has been a very busy month for weddings!! The first week in May was just plain busy. I had 2 field days and a mother's day "munch" all in 24 hours!

Here are some fun pictures from Mary Frances and Thomas' field days at school. They had so much fun, and I just walked around with each of them and watched as they played!100 meter dash?

Tricycle races

a few of the mudcats from Mrs. Poff's class

jumping hurdles

Mary Frances racing her friend

Cup stacking...apparently this is a BIG deal

more tricycle racing

just happy to be outside!

What a fun and HOT day!!

Baseball, Softball, and Baseball....

This is why I haven't posted! I've managed to take pictures, though! Our lives are completely controlled by this sport! While it is loads of fun to cheer the kids on, we are EXHAUSTED!! Little league ball is not just about having fun! It is all about learning and winning!! Whew!! Enjoy the pics!! By the way...Ray C. coaches both of the boys' teams. Both teams are Mudcats (and both of our boys are #34), but they are two different age divisions - 5U and 7U.

1st up...#34, Thomas Hughes playing for the 7U Mudcats...

Our 7U team is "un-undefeated" as Thomas says! We haven't won a game yet, but they have improved so much over the season! We're still waiting on that first win. The fun part is that they don't have any clue whether or not they've won until someone tells them at the end of the game. It's actually part of the huddle afterwards!!

Thomas is really enjoying playing baseball and has improved a lot. He hit a homerun in batting practice last week!

Ray C. has created a non-profit for our team (along with the other parents) so that we can have sponsors to help cover the cost of all our cool equipment and uniforms!!

Check them out! Don't they look good?!!

2nd up to bat...#1, Mary Frances Hughes playing for the 6U Panthers

Mary Frances' team gets three coach pitches and then two tries on the tee if they don't hit off the coach. She does really well off the coach, but she has to use the tee sometimes, too!

Although she really does love baseball, she can't help but be a girl and want things to look pretty! She cleans the plate and picks the flowers in the outfield IF the coach is brave enough to put her out there!! Really, though, most of the girls pick the flowers and play in the dirt!!

Mary Frances is a good player. She's made some good hits for her team and just got the MVP trophy for her game last weekend!

Can't help but be cute!!

She finally got to practice with daddy before a game! We usually have to divide and conquer with three different teams that each play or practice 2-3 nights a week!!! But, when he can, daddy comes to her games and helps out! It's a lot different than coaching the boys! The rules are completely different, and it's like hanging out at cheerleading camp with all the girls screaming on all the fields!

And last up to bat... #34, Chase Hughes playing for the 5U Mudcats

The 5U team is undefeated!! They amaze us all and keep us going nuts in the stands! They are actually ranked NUMBER SEVEN in the STATE in their division! Do you realize we live in the 2nd largest state in the country! WOW!

Chase LOVES to slide into home, but we've been having to work on him a little! This is going to get him seriously injured, but it sure makes for a fun game! He jumps before hits the dirt and then slides in sideways when he lands! He certainly has some great style, but it isn't very smart!

Chase is very serious about baseball! He has even been known to growl at the opponents as they come up to bat! He knows the plays and pays attention (most of the time) to where he is supposed to be. He got an amazing hit this weekend and made a homerun. He was grinning from ear to ear!

I'm sure there will be more pictures to come, but right now, all I've got is baseball pics!!