And Then She Was Nine

16 Dec 11 by | No Comments | 91 view(s)
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Oakley’s 9th birthday party plan: Decorate houses. Eat cookies. Play soccer.

Oakley’s 10th birthday party plan: Repeat.

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Isabella, Evy, Oakley, Olivia, Josie, and Parker – soccer pals you may have seen before

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8 Soccer Games in 29 Hours

4 Dec 11 by | No Comments | 34 view(s)
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Here’s how we ended the fall soccer season in Atlanta the first weekend of December:

  • 8 games in 29 hours!
  • 2 medalists (both Aspen and Oakley)
  • 1 semifinal of the NCAA Women’s College World Cup (Stanford v. Florida State)

Was it worth it? Just look at their faces below:

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BWSC ’03 Elite Team: U-9 Girls White Division Finalists – GSA Adidas Invitational, Atlanta, GA
back row (l-r): Sydney, Georgia (Uga!), Rachel, Lauren
front row (l-r): Sophia, Isabella, Evy, Oakley

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BWSC ’01 Select Team: U-11 Girls Black Division Finalists - GSA Adidas Invitational, Atlanta, GA
back row (l-r): Coach Idris, Nisi, Aspen, Liv, Marisa, Lexi, Sarah Beth (BG), Macie, Coach Kyle
front row (l-r): Isabel, Cristina, Kendal, Molly, Sam

“Orange Leaf” by Oakley Martin

9 Nov 11 by | No Comments | 58 view(s)
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Oakley’s entry into a poetry contest

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Oakley Lets Her Hair Down

7 Nov 11 by | 2 Comments | 100 view(s)
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It’s rare these days to see Oakley with her hair down. It’s normally slicked back into a low ponytail. With that she also sports a headband made out of soccer prewrap – in purple, of course. After a long day of school and soccer practice, it usually looks something like this.

Last Tuesday was picture day at school. Oakley came down for breakfast with her hair done as usual. I thought about saying something. But then thought better of it. I like her hair like that. More importantly, she likes it – and does it herself. And, besides, I already had these pictures that Tim took in late September. No ponytail. No prewrap. What’s the special occasion? Uncle Doug and Torey’s rehearsal dinner.

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3 Witches 3 Years in a Row

31 Oct 11 by | No Comments | 7 view(s)
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2011

Soccer Stills

30 Oct 11 by | No Comments | 18 view(s)
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“Kick or Treat” in Bowling Green, KY

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Knoxville, TN

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The Near Miss

2 Oct 11 by | No Comments | 14 view(s)
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Another weekend, another pile of soccer.

Oakley’s BWSC 03 Elite team qualified for the finals of their local tournament, and gave it a go against a superior TNFC Black squad.  I think this near-goal sequence was telling of the match (although I missed it to be at Aspen’s games).

Check out the goalie crushing Oakley’s ankle in picture three and the look of pain and anguish on Oakley’s face in picture four.

I have awarded a retroactive penalty shot to Oakley.  And she made it.  Along with the two missed offsides calls, and some other missed foul calls, I’ve managed to make a 5-0 loss into a 1-0 victory.  Call it the power of a dad.

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All of the other pictures from this tournament are available here.

 

Coach Brandon’s Coaching Resume

13 Sep 11 by | No Comments | 70 view(s)
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We had another great weekend of travel soccer this past weekend… (Our second of the year, incidentally.  We had a great time in Asheville, too.)  The highlight was that we had a couple occasions where the team listened to the coach.  And even better, the lovely Jenn caught them in pictures…

Brandon… you’re welcome to put this on your resume.

These pictures are from the last game the BWSC 03 Girls Elite team played on the weekend.  They were facing the much bigger, and one year older, team from Signal Mountain.  Down 1:0 early, the Signal Mountain goalie picked up the ball on a pass from her teammate.  This results in an indirect kick from very close to goal.

Brandon called over Parker and our little Miss Oakley (who was playing D at the time).  And get this, they listend to what he said!

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Ready

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Oakley’s 1st Tattoo,Tournament, & Trophy

21 Aug 11 by | No Comments | 69 view(s)
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This is Oakley’s first year playing club soccer. To be quite honest, we weren’t sure how it would go. Going in, we knew she liked soccer, due to Daddy and Aspen’s influence. Now she loves it, due to Coach Brandon’s influence. Our conversation one night on the way home from practice:

Oakley: I want to get a tattoo.

Me: Really?

Oakley: Yeah. Coach Brandon has a tattoo.

Me: Where?

Oakley, pointing to the bottom section of her middle finger: Right here. It’s the Roman numeral 8 (VIII).

Me: What’s it mean?

Oakley: It’s ’cause he has 8 people in his family. I want to get one, too, but can’t decide if I should get the Roman numeral 5 (V) or tally marks for our family of 5!

Thankfully, she plenty of time to decide! And thankfully, she has an awesome coach to push her this year. Oakley needs someone to push her. I’ve learned that it’s best for all of us if that someone isn’t always me. Two years ago we had Miss Megan Drury, and now we have Coach Brandon Moses. It’s gonna be a good year.

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Who’s the guy sporting the upside down visor and bare feet on the sideline? None other than Coach Brandon

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Beginner’s Luck? 1st Tournament, 1st Trophy

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Our Chicks

19 Aug 11 by | No Comments | 62 view(s)
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Our chicks (the 3 human ones and the 26 poultry ones) before heading out to catch the bus. A few things to note:

  • the colors of the shirts: yellow=Kindergarten, blue=3nd grade, tie-dye=5th grade
  • the hair of the Oak: Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love video
  • the names of the chicks: soccer players from the US Women’s National Team (Lou’s kissing A-Rod, Oakley’s holding Sauerbrunn, and Aspen’s cradling Morgan)

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