Corona Virus Quarantine Day #176: Traditions: September 12, 2020:

Our day started in a gym. Not the gym we expected…but a gym nonetheless.

Fiona had an 8am volleyball game. Her first ever in a Sacred heart uniform. She was so very excited. I was so excited to be able to be there. Typically in the fall, we are both non existent from their sporting events. Granted, we know that we are at 90% of all that they do and we coach all the other seasons we can…but it was nice for a change to see them do their thing in the fall.

Fiona loves volleyball. She was excited for her turn to wear the Cardinal uniform. She looked pretty cute too if I do say so myself. She also played like a boss. 3rd grade volleyball is a lot of missed serves and aces. Our team did a great job of returning the balls that made it over the net and we didn’t make a ton of serving errors so they won their first ever match 3-0.

They were pretty excited.

From there we headed back home to get Fletcher ready for his soccer game. He was beyond excited, which was new. Last year when he played we had to basically beg him to go, so this was a nice change of pace. He put on his shin guards and soccer socks that were solidly three sizes too large and he danced around the kitchen talking about being “a tough guy.” He wanted assurances that his coach was the same from last year and he was pretty sure that if he scored a goal that meant he’d get Gatorade (something he never gets).

Well, I’m happy to report that rather than running around the field chasing his own teammates or standing in one place not really moving Fletcher was a much more active player today. He even scored his first goal. Something he was quite proud of! Finley, Cooper and Fiona were there and were so excited when he scored. He has the very best fan club. This kid is going to be the most self assured human alive. His siblings make him feel like an absolute rock star!

From there we went to Ellen’s volleyball games. Ellen was a hot mess. She was so excited and wanted so badly to win. She is 1000% my clone. She is intense, anxious and soooooo competitive. Holy moly. I think she said 10,000 words in that 90 minute period. She was such a good teammate, cheering on and encouraging her teammates. I was very proud of that. We talk ALL. THE. TIME. about being a leader and she showed that today. She did a great job keeping her serves in play and passed quite a few balls. We need to work on the crazy competitive in her (sorry for that Ellen) and get her to not cry when they are losing. She’s not full on meltdown tears, just tears well up in her eyes because it means so much to her. It’s hard as her mom and a semi-coach of her team to balance that. I love that she cares so much, but she also needs to get that in check. Then I remember she’s only 10 and related to me. So I am more forgiving. I know that down the road this will be much more of an asset than a hindrance…we just need to harness it. If we can harness that competitive spirit and it will be dangerous…in a good way. I can’t wait to see how that unfolds. Her team went 1-1 against a great team with some powerful servers.

The biggest thing for me, coaching young girls is to teach them at a very young age that there is NOTHING to be afraid of, nothing to be nervous about…just play hard, learn and have fun. Nothing bad can ever come from that.

I’m a big fan of traditions. Some of my family members can attest….I’m a little crazy about it.

Today we did a little something on a whim that is an important tradition to me.

As a kid we went apple picking every year with family friends, the Shireman’s. We dubbed ourselves the Shirebell’s and it was something I looked forward to every single year.

We picked apples, bought cheese and crackers and shopped in the local stores. We always ate in the same restaurant and fed the ducks outside. We always bought a rock in the rock store. Some things are sacred. This was a sacred event.

If I still lived in Illinois we would still be trying to make this happen every single fall.

For me, now, the fall is a challenging time to schedule things like this. As a volleyball coach we play almost every weekend in the fall. However, this fall, with Covid, we can’t play tournaments, which means few, if any weekend events. It’s weird, very weird. We were supposed to play in Omaha this weekend in a great tournament. I was sad that we couldn’t make that happen. With all that is going on…I get it, but it doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed.

Nevertheless, every year we find a few hours to sneak away to the apple orchard. Today was not planned, it was impromptu. We just decided it would be fun to go and we got in the car after Ellen’s game and headed that direction. This year was my favorite because not only did we uphold old traditions, we made new ones.

The kids loved climbing the trees looking for apples. The apples were a challenge to find this year as the trees had very much been picked over. But I loved how the kids took that challenge in stride. They were determined to find apples! They climbed trees and worked as a team. It was awesome.

Fletcher kept saying “I’m good at this mom.”

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Trees are fun!

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Obligatory pumpkin picture! If we knew we were coming we would have been better dressed!

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My jackasses! Fletcher loved “meeting the donkey”

After going apple picking we started a new tradition and we went into Weston to go through some of the stores and to get some treats. It was the most beautiful afternoon and we had a great time. My favorite humans and me. I’m so grateful.

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I’m so grateful for such a beautiful day. While I certainly missed being a part of a competitive tournament with my team, I am aware that this year is unlike any other. I will continue to work to get my team as many games as I can, and in the meantime, I will coach volleyball 5 times a day if I get the chance. I really go believe GOD put me on this earth to teach and coach and I am the most at home when I am doing those two things. GOD is good.

The Dorsey high’s for the day:

Finley: The best part of my day was Fletchy scoring his goal (can’t love this enough) and apple picking with my family!

Ellen: The best part of my day was winning one of my games and climbing the trees to find the best apples (like I said, competitive, she was hell bent on finding the best ones).

Cooper: The best part of my day was climbing the trees, getting an apple slushie and going to see new things in the town.

Fiona: The best part of my day was having and winning my first ever CYO game and climbing the trees to pick apples.

Fletcher: The best part of my day was scoring my first goal in soccer, eating treats at the apple barn and climbing the trees to pick apples. Can we go back tomorrow?

#celebr8awesome

#dorseyshenanigans