Football, Here We Come...July, 2008

Here we go, straight into Caleb's first season of tackle football. And boy is Dad is excited! We entered into a league where they go by grade, not weight...so our BIG GUY finally gets to play :) He's playing for CRUSH this year...

And boy does my 9 year old look big in those pads. I sure don't want to be the little guy on the other side, staring into Caleb's eyes. He's bigger and taller than the 5th and 6th graders, and pretty much towers over his team.

Coach Ike, who is also the PowerHouse U17 Bball coach is excited to have Caleb on his team. He's got big plans for Caleb...hopefully Caleb steps up to the plate and takes care of business. This is his first year, so we are looking at it as a "learning year," but we still hope for much success.

What I've seen so far...KILL OR BE KILLED! Caleb seems to be doing well. His passion is totally there, and he's learning the skills of blocking. He absolutely loves it, and we love watching him.

Some of the other Medina family members seem to love it as well....

Slumber Party Weekend - July '08

Madelyn has immediately warmed up to her new Arsenal girlfriends. They are such sweet girls and are so welcoming and friendly, which is so important to Maddy. Hannah, Abriana, and Madelyn seemed to click the most and the quickest. I think Hannah called Maddy at least twice per day through the summer. Madelyn even looks forward to going to soccer practice to see her new friends. (She didn't like practice too much before because of the running...she loves the game, but hates the running...go figure :)

We decided to brave the slumber party with a few squeeling girls...and it actually went wonderfully. They are such respectful girls, I didn't have any problems at all...except for assistance on building their "fort" if you call it that...

They kept busy all night, dancing to Camp Rock, listening to song videos from You-tube, or playing Webkinz on the computer. Isn't that what all 8 year old girls do?!?!?!? Their dance video of the Camp Rock songs was priceless...I had to get it on video.

We look forward to many more slumber parties and other fiestas with these girls. And look forward to a great soccer season :)

Tucson Sporting Chance U9 Champs - July '08

What an exciting weekend in Tucson.....
The boys went on the road for their final tourney of the season. They had a 3 day tourney at the UofA and played their hearts out. Everyone showed up with their game day face on and ready to play!
Our first game was against Team Magic. What a way to start off a tourney...to play the team we just can't shake! But we finally got the monkey off our back and beat them with ease. The score was close, but the game really was not. We carried the lead and the upperhand the whole game and finished with a victory. Our boys were not totally "ON" and possibly could have shut them out. It was a good warm up game to a great weekend.Saturday morning we played Team AZ Bryant, played tough, put another victory under our belt...and one WIN closer to the playoffs. Our boys are getting better and better and gaining more and more confidence with each game.

We came back Saturday afternoon to play Tucson Magic and totally shut them out by 36 points. They were a tough little team that played their hearts out, but we were definitely the better team. It's good to play some of these game too...to keep building their confidence and work on their skills!

Our final pool game Sunday morning for a place into the championship game was against Team AZ Amp...our rivals! We are always head to head with Amp's team, and it's always a tough game. But we came out on top, winning by 2 points. We actually carried the upperhand most of the game and were up by 6 in the last few minutes. With both teams in freethrow territory, going to the line with each foul, we played it safe those last few seconds, which brought them up 2 baskets in the last 30 seconds of the game. Yet another victory under our belt, and a place in the championship game...with of course Amp again.

The final game started slow, with our whole team dragging their feet. We were very sluggish, but kept the spread to only 5 (4-9) after the first half. However, we showed up to play in the second half, taking the lead with an 8 point start...now up 12-9 within minutes. The rest of the game was very intense with a very close score. Up, tie game, down, tie game, back up again...

The last 10 minutes of the game was crazy intense! It was absolutely phenominal how tough they played, and how great our fans were. It felt like a High School State Championship game. Other teams and fans started lingering over to watch us...THE U9 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. So much intensity in the air.

The last 20 seconds we go up by 1. Amp comes down, stalls a few, then sinks a 3 with 8 seconds left to go. Powerhouse takes it back down, and with 2 seconds left, sinks a 3 from the NBA 3 point line. The crowd goes wild! I wish I had a picture of our fans coming off the bench and onto the floor. Other teams and fans from other teams were even jumping in the air with excitement from the game! We finish the game 37-36, with another 1st place trophy!

These boys bond like nothing else. They get along so well off the court as well as on. I can see them still together in 10 years...just rocking AZ and anyone who dares enter. Caleb really enjoys hanging with them, and they are really good kids. And that is so important to have good quality friends in your life as you grow up. And I'm proud to call these families our friends.

My kids had a blast the whole weekend, swimming at the hotel every night, watching movies with the boys next door, eating out, playing with friends...it was a nice, bonding weekend. The little ones were also good cheerleaders during the games...they loved to cheer the boys on.

We even caught Jacob letting UofA know we feel about them...since we are ASU fans...

Now, back to bball...Caleb played his heart out this weekend. His defense was phenominal. Nobody could drive the lane when he was in. His offense was great too, averaging about 10 points per game. We are so proud of him and his passion towards the sports he plays. One thing I will always remember...and share with him when he gets older...is he NEVER COMPLAINS. It doesn't matter how many days per week, how many hours per day, how intense it is, how much running he has to do...he shows up to play/practice/work hard with a positive attitude and ready to go. He absolutely loves sports and always has a good attitude no matter what he's doing. This is hard to do at age 9, especially with everything else going on...school, church, scouts, piano...and I'm very proud of him. Caleb, YOU ROCK!!!! I love you!

POWERHouse Summer Sizzle

This weekend our bball team hosted a basketball tourney...POWERHouse Summer Sizzle at the Premier Bball Academy. It was nice having the tourney in our own backyard and not having to travel to Phoenix all weekend. Several parents purchased the Bashas' powerade/water deal (20 powerades for $10, plus 2 cases of Dasani water for FREE), and we were able to sell them at the tourney, helping to make a little extra $$. Hopefully what we made on the tourney will help us travel to Tucson next weekend for our final tourney of the season...the Tucson Sporting Chance. This will be our 3rd year going to this big tourney and our 1st year with POWERHouse.

I'm real excited about this team. We (coach Glenn) have slowly built a quality group of boys...great athletes...great kids, to hopefully continue to move forward, building these kids physically, athletically, mentally, and even spiritually! They are just a well-rounded group of kids, and Caleb just loves hangin' with them.

The boys played hard all weekend long. Caleb had a great day on Sunday, playing hard and averaging 8 points a game for all 3 Sunday games. He played his heart out against the Magic, scoring 12 points, with 10 rebounds.

Of course he always has room for improvement. But we told him, he needs to remember how he played and how he felt, and now set the expectation that it is a minimum of what he should do each game from here forward. We know he can do it...he just needs to believe in himself and mentally prepare himself to play like this...always! I've been waiting for him to finally wake up and realize what he can do. Hopefully this is the beginning of it! Coach wants him to be scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, and he needs to set that at his goal each game and strive to get it! He is definitely capable and just needs to believe he can!

The boys played 2 games on Saturday, beating Team AZ in the first game, then losing to Magic Saturday night by 3 points. Sunday morning they beat Las Vegas Sharks, placing them 2nd in their pool. They started the brackets strong, beating Team AZ Amp. This is the team we started always losing too. Then we went 1 and 1 with them each time we played. Now, we consistently beat them...and boy it feels good. The boys now believe they can always beat them, and they play to win!!!

The championship game was against Team Magic, again. We just can't get the monkey off our back, falling short in OT by 5 points. They had the game won, leading by 6 points with 3 minutes to go. And somehow Magic came back and tied the game up, then went ahead in OT. The boys did not give up, giving every last second their all! They finished the tournament with a 2nd Place trophy.

Overall, they had a super weekend and we are very proud of them. Mom and Dad are very proud of Caleb!!!!!!

Soccer and Basketball Camps

This was the sports camp weekend for the Medina family. Caleb attended the Advantage Basketball shooting camp and Madelyn attended the ASU Striker/Keeper camp. Dad took the little ones and headed for North Scottsdale with Caleb. And I stuck it out in the sun for 2 days straight, 6 hours a day to make sure Madelyn didn't have a mental breakdown for Mom not being there :)

Dad said Caleb did well, but was a little disappointed because there was only 1 coach to 30 players. He did learn the correct shooting techniques and over time will be benificial. The Advantage Baskeball camp is known nationwide, and families come from out of state to attend them. They are very well known to be a quality camp and money well spent!

Our goal for Caleb was to help him perfect his form. He started getting a little side twitch to his shot, and we thought it was important for him to fix it now, so he doesn't create a very bad habit to break. Repetition and perfect practice is going to make perfect for him...

Madelyn's camp was at the girls ASU soccer fields, in the scorching 110 degree heat. I don't know how those kids made it 2 days...I barely made it...in the shade. The ASU assistant coach Blair Quinn and his wife were the main coaches, with a few ASU players and additional coaches, helped keep the ratio down. The ages were from 8 yrs to 18 yrs...I think Maddy was the youngest one out there.

The goal was to help build on her technical skills as well as build the confidence she needs to be a "finisher." Even coach Blair said, anyone can be a forward, but to be successful as a forward, you need to learn to be a finisher...to score that goal! The weekend was spent on finishing tactics...touches after touches...attacking the goal.

It was nice for Madelyn to get a new perspective and new coaching techniques from another coach, especially the ASU coach. And it was neat for her to play on the ASU fields also...that was exciting for her! She was also reunited with her old soccer mates from Barza...Baylin, Anisa, Sophia, and London. I was a little nervous, thinking they were going to throw balls at me or something, but they were very nice and understanding of our move to Arsenal.

A neat NOTE: Coach Blair's wife played pro ball, and her only Red Card in her career was plowing over Mia Hamm. What an exciting memory to have, even though it was a Red Card...it was Mia Hamm. Something she'll be able to share for years and years to come...

It's Picture Time Girls!

We finally got the girls 5 and 8 year pictures. I always go to Target because they produce good pics and because they are very affordable. The girls that work there are always so good with my girls. It's always so hard to decide what pictures to get...I end up getting more than my wall can hold. At least they'll enjoy looking back at them eventually...hopefully...

I love my girls...

Our 5th and 6th Children

Our children on 4 legs have really become part of the family. Jazmin is an old veteran of course...I've had her since Christmas, 1996 before we got married. Joseph gave her to me as a Christmas present, so Cyrus would have a friend (Cyrus has since passed from a brain tumor). Since then, we have tried many other puppies over the years to try and get Jazmin a friend. However, Jazmin wasn't having it! She would fight with any dog that came through the backyard. She wasn't too bad when they were puppies because the puppies would usually back down to her. But as they got bigger and started to stick up for themselves, fights broke out making it was very scary. We didn't want anything happening to the dogs, but more importantly the kids. Especially Jacob who thought he could jump in the middle of them and break them up. Jazmin has really become protective of Jacob...they're new best friends...which I think caused some of the fights over the years.Anyway, we continued to try new puppies and new puppies hoping it would eventually work out. I had almost given up...but Madelyn kept bugging and bugging me about a small puppy...she's always wanted a dog that stayed "small." We finally gave in and found what we were told was a Teacup Poodle! She was so little, but so playful and immediately took a liking to Jazmin. Jazmin, of course, had to show her who was boss...but she didn't care. She just wanted a friend to play with and continued to bug Jazmin the best way she knew how.

I am so happy to know that, for the first time in 5 years, Jazmin has finally found a new best friend. At 12 years old, Bella has really brought the child back into Jazmin. It is quite entertaining watching them play in the backyard. I think it's so important for a dog to have another 4 legged friend...especially for the times when we're not home. They get along so well now it's amazing. You can't even tell Jazmin is 12 and nearly blind. She will play and chase the ball and chase Bella all around the yard. Hopefully it has given Jazmin at least another 3-4 good years.

As you can see from the pictures, Bella is NOT the Teacup Poodle we were told. In fact, she is only 8 months old and will probably grow a little more still. The lady that sold her to me obviously lied to me. I've often thought of calling her about it, but decided I'd just leave it alone. We were told from the petstore that she could possibly be a Maltee-Poo...part Maltese, part Poodle. I guess we'll never really know... Thank goodness we still love Bella the same. In fact, it's probably worked out for the best, since she is not so "breakable" now...for the sake of her safety.

The other night the kids decided to run through the sprinklers. They were having so much fun Bella decided to join them. She looked so pathetic when she got wet, I just had to take some pictures.

Jazmin didn't care to get wet, while Bella attacked the water and played and played. She may have been having more fun than the kids. It was hilarious to watch her play...

Then into the shower she went with the kids. And came out as clean as a whistle, and as happy as can be. It's amazing this is the same dog...

We love our Bella!