Falcons Football

Based on the title of this post, perhaps you were thinking that we'd finally given up on our beloved Houston Texans in search of a more successful NFL team??

Of course not! But the fall of 2016 did bring some major changes for us with football...just not the NFL kind. After 3 wonderful years of playing for the Texans in the Katy Youth Football league, we ended up parting ways with our former team in 2016 to join a brand new KYF team. We were now the KYF Falcons!

I wrote previously about the difficult transition away from our former KYF Texans team, and starting the new season as a Falcon was definitely tough for us. However, it wasn't long before the weekly grind of football activities kicked in, and we were soon all feeling at home with our new football family.

Here's a collection of my favorite photos from our varsity season of Falcons football.

Connor, #90, in the offensive huddle.

Our #90 goes low to tackle the runner.

Coach Jeff really enjoyed coaching the Falcons team.

The game against our former team was tough, but the Falcons pulled out an easy win.

The little siblings have a tough time keeping cool on game days. Snow cone and umbrellas help!

The Falcons lining up against our long-time foe, the mighty Dolphins. Connor is right there on the end.

Love this pic of Connor running through the post-game tunnel.

Connor makes another great tackle of a Broncos running back.

Falcon Strong!

The boys and dads enjoyed a game of kickball during practice one night. Love the smiles.

You know your team is serious about football when the coaches bring portable lights to keep practicing after dark!

Connor and Jayden played against their buddy, Jack, and enjoyed catching up after the game.

Courtright family photo at one of the games.

Connor was SO excited that his best buddy Jayden joined the team this year.

Half-time Gatorade break.

My little Falcon before the first game.

 

Kevin joined us for a couple of the games to see Connor play and get in some cuddles with Kaitlynn.

Coach Janna rounded up a few of her former cheerleaders for a reunion photo. Love these girls!

Kaitlynn's favorite part of every sport is snacktime!

Coach Jeff gives Connor a few pointers during a game.

Official photo of the 2016 KYF Varsity Falcons

2016 KYF Varsity Falcon photo

I loved this shot we took of the team for our end of season photo book. What a great group!

Although we didn't make it to the playoff game as hoped, the team had an incredible first year together and can't wait to come together again next year in hopes of taking home the trophy. We have one final year of recreation football left before the boys will go their separate ways with teams in junior high school. Sniff sniff!

SnapChat

After hearing and seeing so much about this new craze called SnapChat with chatting and photo filters, I couldn't resist creating an account to see what all the fun was about.

Fun indeed! It didn't take long before the kids and I were having so much fun with all the photo and voice filters. Easy entertainment!

I guess the word craze to describe SnapChat isn't really the best way to describe it, considering that most teens these days solely communicate using this app. But I think I can speak for many parents when I say that it requires a bit of a learning curve for us grown-ups. It took me a couple of years to adjust to sending my communications via text message instead of email, so who knows, maybe I'll be snapchatting away in no time. In the meantime, the kids and I enjoy trying out all the latest photo and voice filters when we're bored.

My favorite snap of Kaitlynn.

 

Creepy face swap with Connor and Kaitlynn!

 

Even my mom joined in on the fun.

 

But my favorite snap of all so far has got to be this one below. The voice filters are just TOO MUCH FUN!

 

Girls Weekend

In 2016, I had the privilege of celebrating my 40th birthday together with my best friends from high school. We decided to take a girls trip together in honor of our milestone year, so we met up in San Antonio for an amazing weekend of shopping and girl time!

The area of northern San Antonio near La Canterra is one of my favorite places to spend time away. It's not too far from home, but it feels far enough away for a nice getaway. The shopping, restaurants, hotel, and beautiful landscape all make for such a fun time. We didn't make any plans other than just spending quality time together, and it was such a rejuvenating trip for us to reconnect and catch up.

My besties from high school. 25+ years of friendship!!

Morning hike near our hotel.

We couldn't fit all 4 girls in the photo so Katherine leaned down and I became a giant, ha!

Shopping in the La Canterra outdoor mall on a gorgeous day.

I'd say we had a successful weekend of shopping!

Champagne bellinis to celebrate our 40th birthdays.

Cheers to 40 years!

Being silly, we were dabbing in support of Connor's upcoming student council election

We loved dining out the entire weekend. Wonderful food and company!

Post-dinner selfie.

Walking with the sunrise. Beautiful!

When I think of these three special friends of mine, I feel so grateful and lucky to have made these special and lasting connections. Over the past 25+ years, we have been through so much together and these sweet girls have been by my side through thick and thin.

When I experienced success and joyful moments as both a young woman and now a more mature wife and mother, they cheered with me and praised me for my accomplishments.

When I've made poor choices with permanent consequences in my life, they were there encouraging me to do the right thing and look to the Lord.

When I've experienced sadness and disappointment, they were there to uplift me and remind me that better days were ahead.

When I was selfish and neglected my friendships with them, they always accepted me back with open arms and willingness to forgive.

When I lost my way and felt despondent about my path forward, they listened intently and then firmly instructed me to change the things that were bringing me down.

I don't claim to know what the future holds, but life teaches us that with age comes both greater joys and harder struggles. Perhaps even utmost happiness like we've never experienced or debilitating heartbreak that we can't overcome. No matter what circumstances my life may encounter, I know these friendships will remain and these girls will be by my side. Maybe not in person, but forever in my heart.

Dana and I go way back. We explored our wild sides together, became roommates at Texas A&M, and moved to Houston together to start our careers after college. She inspires me to be my best self and turn to God in both the good and bad.

Katherine and I really bonded in high school when we began mentoring young kids in school. Now our kids are best friends, too, and our families have so much in common. I lean on her often for help in navigating motherhood and family life.

Amanda and I became close in high school when I was her "big sister" in Z-Club, and we later bonded when we both left our careers to raise our children. Her faith, strong convictions, and great advice have gotten me through many trials.

Favorite photo of the trip. LOVE my besties!

School Days

I don't get up to the kids' elementary school as often as I'd like, but I do try to make special visits to see my kiddos every now and then. I am the Homeroom Parent for both kids' classrooms and I also teach Junior Achievement for their classes. Any chance to be with them and their classmates gives me a great opportunity to see my 2nd and 5th graders in action.

Kaitlynn's teacher invites parents into the classroom once in a while to read to the children. We always make sure to pick out funny books because the kids love them! Kaitlynn loves it when I visit the class to read because she sits on a stool up front next to me in the front. I think she would actually prefer it if I left so that SHE could read to the class by herself, ha!

I showed up to read to the class and found Kaitlynn sitting in her teacher's seat!

Selfie with my girl after reading to her class.

After reading to the class, Kaitlynn usually asks me to join her in the cafeteria for lunch. She loves it when I bring her something special to eat, but she also just enjoys sitting at the special tables reserved for kids and their parents.

When Kaitlynn got her new lunchbox for school, she noticed that it had a special side pocket. "The perfect spot to put special notes," she called it. So every time Kaitlynn packed her lunch this year, she requests that either Jeff or I write her a note to read while she eats. To date, she has kept all of those notes we've given her. So cute!

Time for lunch, and an ice cream treat!

Whataburger for lunch is a special treat.

Reading her lunchbox note from Mom :-)

I'm not sure what was so funny but I LOVE sharing laughs with my sweet girl!

In case you're wondering where the lunch pics with Connor are, you likely won't find any. This year marks the official time where Connor became "too cool" to sit with his family during his lunch time. I guess that's not exactly true, because he's not embarrassed to be seen with us or anything. But given the choice to sit at the visitor table with Mom or at his regular table with his friends, he will now ALWAYS choose his friends. Sniff sniff! It's funny to hear him try not to be rude about it. "I enjoy seeing you at lunch, I do, but I really like sitting by my friends...".

I might not see much of him at lunch, but I do try to pop in every now and then and see what he's up to. :-)

Connor's 5th grade teachers at recess - love them!

Some of my favorite 5th graders dressed for their official 5th grade photo!

WoodCreek 5th grade class!

Back to Kaitlynn... these are the years where her classwork and school assignments are really fun to read. I always pull my favorites from her folder to keep in a special keepsake box. In the fall, the kids were busy studying politics with the ongoing presidential election between Trump and Clinton. And though most of us would prefer not to revisit those days during the campaign, it was a really enlightening time for both Connor and Kaitlynn to see how the election unfolded. Students participated in mock elections and many other relevant assignments as part of their schoolwork.

One of my favorite assignments by far was when Kaitlynn's 2nd grade class participated in their own campaigns. The students were asked to create their own slogans and to give voters a reason to vote for them. This is what Kaitlynn camp up with:

"I promise everything. Vote Kaitlynn for President. Love you!" LOVE THIS!

Kaitlynn's presidential campaign cracked me up!!

And here were the reasons Kaitlynn thought you should vote for her:

• I care about people
• I love people no matter what
• I promise to keep our community safe
• I promise to help you and others
• I promise to share and be responsible
• I take good speeches (hahaha!)

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly would've cast my vote for Kaitlynn!! :-)

Vote for Kaitlynn!!!

Last school update for now is the kids' fall portraits. These are taken every October and I just love seeing their growth year after year. Of course, I've mentioned before that this day always comes with resentment for Connor. It's one of the very few times I ask him to wear a collared shirt, and you can usually tell how he feels about it just by seeing the photo. Ha!

Picture Day! Can you tell Connor LOVES his collared shirt?? Ha!

My handsome 5th grader.

My sweet 2nd grader. I'm pretty sure this is my all-time favorite school photo of her!!

Safety Patrol

In Katy ISD, 5th grade is the last year of elementary school, and it's an incredible year of growth for these kids as they begin gaining newfound independence. The 5th graders at WoodCreek are given lots of extra freedom as well as responsibility to prepare them for the big jump to junior high the following year.

For YEARS, Connor has talked about how cool 5th grade seemed and how excited he was to experience all of the perks associated with being the oldest kids on campus. One such perk that is reserved for 5th graders is Safety Patrol. The Safety Patrol is a select group of 5th graders, hand-picked by the teachers, that arrive early before school and stay late after school to help all of the children out of and into their cars in the drop-off/pick-up car rider line. These "safeties" have been assisting Connor and Kaitlynn for years as we've used the car rider line, and they are always so welcoming and polite. Safety Patrol kids will safely usher children to/from their car, open the car door, make sure the child is safely in/out of the car, and always close the door with a polite greeting to the driver.

Two weeks before school started, I got a call from the elementary coach requesting that Connor join the Safety Patrol for the beginning of the school year. It brought a huge smile to my face, because I knew Connor would be SO excited to have that responsibility, but also because he had been highly recommended by his teachers for this important role. So proud of him!

So, on the 1st day of his 5th grade year, Connor arrived to school ready to take on the Safety Patrol! He was pumped for this job as well as the fact that he was now the "big man on campus" at the elementary school.

The special gym entrance for safety patrol kids.

After I had walked Kaitlynn into her classroom, I came back out to find my little "safety" in action. He was opening car doors, ushering the little children safely, and greeting the parents cheerfully. It was so fun to watch!

Connor's first day of safety patrol

LOVE my little man on safety patrol!

I learned later that Connor and his friends on Safety Patrol quickly decided that the kindergarten children were the most fun to usher to and from their cars. Connor told me that he and his buddy would playfully fight over the youngest kids because they were "just so cute and little!"

A friend texted me this pic of Connor helping Kaitlynn's friend, Dominique, into her car after school. Love seeing my "safety" in action!

My favorite member of the safety patrol!

I am so proud of my little man on Safety Patrol and how eager he was to take on new responsibilities in 5th grade. We were off to an awesome start to his last year of elementary school!