Mikayla Archive

Last night was the annual Fun Night at St. Francis. As always there were a ton of games to play with neat prizes and a ton of candy. All the kids had a really great time. This year Mikayla is dressed as Cruella DeVil, Kennedi is the Wicked Witch of the East and Julian is a little devil. Take a peek at some photos.

Mikayla is part of a really exciting online Art Gallery in her art class at school this year. Her art teacher (with permission of each child’s parents of course) can have their artwork uploaded to a website for others to view and comment on. As of this weekend she has one master piece in her gallery.

Check out Mikayla’s Art Gallery and make sure to sign her guest book and comment on her exhibit “If Picasso Drew Witches”.

We have finally returned from the double elimination soccer tournament in Hutch this weekend (and have finally settled down with most chores around the house done). Mikayla’s first game was on Saturday afternoon at 2pm. On the way to Hutch, I presented a pretty decent idea to Mikayla to encourage her to score some goals and win some games. It went like this. For each goal she scored, she received $1. For each win the team accomplished, she received one milkshake.

We arrived at the fields around 1:30 for a little warm up before the game. The first game was against a local Wichita team, The Arsenal. We crushed them. Although I can’t remember the score exactly, I believe it was 1-0. One milkshake for Mikayla. In addition to the game, we also ran into my brother and his family on the fields (my niece was playing in the tournament also…on an upper division team).
The second game on Saturday was at 6pm against another local team, the Cheetahs. So for a few hours between games we hung out under an umbrella of trees, ate snacks and played around. As the second game rolled up, the girls began to become restless. The second game was not so kind to the Strikers, as they were continuously out-run by the Cheetahs. After the game, we headed to the local Sonic for food and milkshakes (while the milkshakes were good, I highly suggest not eating at the Sonic in Hutchinson on Avenue A. Although the “food” was hot, it was ill prepared).

We arrived home sometime around 8:30 on Saturday night and hit the sheets immediately. All the kids were exhausted and ready for a recharge. This morning (Sunday), 5:30am came very early for all of us. After a short stop at Scooter’s Coffee House for a recharging Latte and Cappuccino, we headed to Hutch for another day of games. Mikayla’s first game was at 8am. The Strikers played hard in the brisk morning air and defeated the opposing team. This allowed the Strikers to continue at least one more game into the tournament.

The final game was this after noon at 12pm. Since we had some time to kill between the first game and second game, Juli whipped out her new Blackberry and we found ourselves a close Catholic church to attend 10am mass at. After a spiritual recharging, we headed back for the fourth game in two days. The first half of the game was pretty promising for the Strikers to take home another victory. However, the second half took a turn for the worse and the Strikers quickly showed a lack of energy. The Strikers lost this final game, giving them 2-2 for the tournament.

We left Hutch around 1:30 making it home in time for some much needed food and naps. After a handful of chores around the house and grocery shopping, we’ve successfully completed an extremely busy weekend (and managed to get sunburned through it all).

Yesterday was Mikayla’s second soccer game of the season (Saturday’s game was rained out…rescheduled for Saturday, November 1st, 9am). And what a game it turned out to be. At some point within the first 4 minutes of the game, the Strikers (Mikayla’s team) managed to score a goal against the opposing team. This quick goal would set the tone for the rest of the game.

Now, to bring a little background into the “Milkshake” portion of this story, Mikayla was promised by myself and Juli that if her team won, she would be treated to a milkshake of her choosing at Sonic. So with a peanut butter and fudge milkshake vivid in her mind, she stepped onto the field with a mission.

At some point in the first half, Mikayla (on the field as a left forward) took the ball down the left sideline with at least two attacking defenders from the opposing team hot on her trail. With a swift kick off her left foot, Mikayla fired the ball directly into the goal, whizzing right past the goalie. It truly was an amazing shot that will be talked about for days to come (Mikayla would like everyone to know that she made that goal with her left foot, not her stronger right foot).

By the end of the first half, the Strikers were up 5-1 and by the end of the game, the Strikers pummeled their opponent in an astounding 9-1 victory. We celebrated with milkshakes for the whole family. Way to go Mikayla, you did an awesome job!

Tonight Mikayla had her first scrimmage on the Strikers. They have been working hard for the past 3-4 weeks practicing twice a week for an hour and a half each night (some weeks 3 days a week).

Her first official game will be this Saturday morning at 9am at the soccer fields at 47th street south and Meridian. All games (aside from tournament games) will be played on field 11C. The Strikers are will be wearing some combination of red, white and blue (they have two different jersey styles…mostly blue…or red/white). The team will play for a total of 10 weeks (including two out of town tournaments).

Make sure to download Mikayla’s soccer schedule, print it out and slap it on the fridge. See you on the sidelines.

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With the first day of school hanging over everybody’s head, our house is getting geared up with new school supplies, backpacks, clothes, lunch bags, and shoes.

Probably the easiest part of getting prepared for this coming school year was placing a single order through Target for all of Mikayla’s school supplies (including a stylish backpack and lunch bag). No lists, no multi-store shopping, no hassles.

Mikayla is entering 4th grade this year and is looking forward to catching up with friends, making new friends, enjoying recess and learning new and exciting things.

Kennedi is starting preschool this year! She will be attending preschool at St. Francis on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She is all geared up with new shoes, clothes, a huge backpack (comparatively speaking). She is excited about showing off her new shoes to her teacher and making new friends.

Photos of each of the girls’ first days of school will be posted later this week. Check back to check them out. are available for your viewing pleasure.

This past week was Mikayla’s official last week of softball for the season. Her team, the All-Stars, took the challenge of their first year of kid-pitch and crushed it. Mikayla (as well as many others on the team) did very well hitting and fielding and they all had an amazing ability to cheer their own team on. Mikayla was pitcher for her team this year and did a very good job of getting the ball over the plate. I think she’s already looking forward to next season.

But with one sport down, we have managed to pick two sports up. One minus one = two? How can that be (and how crazy are we for signing her up for so many sports that all happen at the same time?)?

Starting in late July, Mikayla will begin practicing for soccer. This year she made the jump from AYSO to WFC (Wichita Futbol Club). WFC is a much more aggressive and competitive play than that of AYSO. Her friend Elizabeth from school (as well as some friends from her basketball team) play in the WFC and she wanted to tryout this year…and she made it! She will be on the Strikers team with her friend Elizabeth. In addition to her normal season, her team will also be playing in two tournaments (one in Hutchinson and the other in Emporia). A soccer schedule for Mikayla will be posted on the site as soon as we get it.

In addition to soccer, she also has started basketball practice. Unofficially they are practicing once a week for a few weeks, then will have two weeks off, then will be diving in to practice hard for their upcoming season at the Biddy Center starting the first part of October. She is back playing with the Storm (the team she has been on for the past two years). This year the courts are about 25% longer, 25% wider and the free throw line is back further. There’s definitely going to be more running required of her this year. In addition to her normal season, her team will potentially play in two tournaments (TBD). A basketball schedule for Mikayla will be posted on the site as soon as we get it.

Everyone is welcome and invited to come out to any/all games for either sport at anytime. I know she’ll be excited to see you cheer her on. See you on the sidelines/bleachers!

Edit: I uploaded the last days worth of photos from the trip. This final day entailed the park, the Oklahoma City Zoo, and Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater. See the photos using the links below.

Edit: Uploaded more photos - Dallas Natural History Museum, Adventure Landing and Visiting the Thompsons in OKC. See them below.

Edit: Uploaded some photos of the Dallas Zoo. See them below.

Our trip to Dallas/Oklahoma was pretty awesome. In addition to going to Jamie and John’s wedding, we also explored several cool attractions including the Dallas Zoo, the Dallas World Aquarium, the Dallas Natural History Museum, Turner Falls, the Oklahoma City Zoo, the park, Eskimo Joe’s and many excellent restaurants. We were away for a total of six days and drove a total of 957 miles. We took many photos of the trip and I am still in the process of uploading them to the site have one last set of images to upload before I’m done. Take a look at some photos of our trip (more photos to be uploaded later):

• Turner Falls
• Dallas World Aquarium
• Dallas Zoo
• Dallas Natural History Museum
  & Adventure Landing
• Visiting the Thompsons in Oklahoma City
• The Park, OKC Zoo and Eskimo Joe’s