It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Mom and Dad were on the road before 9:00, which meant I had all day to decorate the house for Christmas.

We will be at home this year for Christmas Eve and day. I already look forward to potato soup, sugar cookies, and Christmas lights.

Welcome to the Jungle

Today’s date has been blocked off on the family calendar for months. It’s like Christmas morning to soccer fans, and if you ask Keagan it’s better than Christmas morning. 

It’s finally here: the USA vs England game. 

We were on pins and needles for more than 90 minutes and more than pleased to end the game with a draw. 

On another note, my house is a jungle. We had to bring the outdoor plants indoor, so it was already fairly green.

However, my dad separated my philodendrons and now we have them stacked two deep in front of all the windows. 

And Smokey has adjusted to life with the Tooles quite well. 

Gobble, Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! The Fab Four were together all week for the holiday this year. This is my favorite holiday because it is filled with food, family, and football - all of my favorites. There’s no stress in fulfilling high expectations for gift giving or for creating magic for little ones. You just have to eat and be lazy. 

We were able to spend the day with my favorite people. We started the day in our comfy clothes drinking mimosas and watching the World Cup.

We ate the traditional Thanksgiving meal with a smoked turkey and all the sides (my favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving). While some napped, the rest of us watched the Vol basketball game. 

We celebrated the Cowboys’ win while piled up on the couch in front of the tv, we did a little Black Friday shopping from home, and then we headed back to the kitchen for pie.

Best part? We get to do it again tomorrow!

Home for the Holiday

Evan is home all week for Thanksgiving break. I love to have him home, and I’m never happier to go grocery shopping than when I know my house will be full again. I always stock up on milk, apples, chips, and cuties when I know he’s headed home. I seem to have forgotten how much he eats, though.

Last night I made tonight’s dinner: homemade mac and cheese and a pan of meatloaf. I left it out to cool, and I walked into the kitchen half an hour later to find half of it gone! Monday night we had to have the only thing left in the fridge that’s not for Thursday’s meal: chicken strips.

I overheard this conversation between the brothers tonight.

Evan: These apples are fire.

Keagan: Hands off. Those go in my lunch. 

Evan: I ate three today. Good thing it's a short week.

Looks like I am going grocery shopping again tomorrow.

Purr-fect

Keagan has begged for a cat for some time. I’ve been reluctant to say yes because he also begged for a dog, and we know how that story has ended. I met him at PetSmart a few weeks ago to look at cats from the local rescue organization. He picked out a cat named Wes. Two weekends ago he texted this. 

There is no causal relationship between winning state and adopting a cat, but when we won state I couldn’t say no to my baby. Keagan grabbed the cat carrier and happily made his way back to PetSmart. Sadly, we found Wes was already adopted. He decided to adopt another cat named Gus, but another couple adopted him just minutes before our arrival. The cat rescue rep could see the despair on Keagan’s face, so she offered to bring a Russian blue the following day for Keagan. 

And today he came home with us! 

(I promise he’s happier than this picture depicts.) 

He’s purr-fect for Keagan! Maybe tomorrow we will settle on a name. 

Family Fun Day

It’s family fun day! These days are too far and between now, but with Evan in town for the weekend, the timing was perfect to catch a Vol basketball game in Nashville. I use the word game loosely; it was a highly disappointing performance. 

My thighs and knees might not survive the beating they took the last two hours sitting in a seat meant for half of me. Those rows and rows of empty seats in the nosebleed sections never looked more inviting. 

This Sunday was no fun day.

It’s Too Easy

Waking up and remembering it wasn’t a dream is the best feeling. Here are more pics from the state final.

John coached both Keagan and Evan and both won a state championship with him! He requested a photo with both boys. ❤️

State Tournament

It’s game day! State championship game day! We woke up to sleet and snowflakes, but not even the frigid temps could dampen our spirits. 

We’ve been knocking on the door of the state championship for four years. It happened today in the most exciting, best quality of  play I’ve seen in a long time. After more than two hours on the pitch, two extra time periods and a PK shoot out, NUSA was crowned the D1 Tennessee State Champions! 

And the fam drove in to see it! 

Keagan had the biggest cheering section of the team!

These boys have been playing together for years hopping from club to club and coach to coach. They had one goal, win State, and last May they agreed to move together to NUSA for the best chance to do just that. 

It paid off! 

It was one of the coldest games I have sat through, but it wasn’t until we got in the car that I even noticed my toes were cold. Two overtime periods and a PK shoot out will do that!

Winning state and holding the championship cup has been Keagan’s dream for several years. I thought for sure the dream was over when in the first overtime period, Germantown scored two goals in about five minutes, and then proceeded to run down the sideline taunting both players and parents yelling, “It’s over! It’s done! It’s too easy.”  But our boys persevered and came back to score two goals of their own in the next overtime period, and you better believe we countered with, “It’s too easy!” When Bennett scored the last pk, the sidelines went wild, and we celebrated with, “It’s done!”

We relived the entire game at the house, on the couch, while watching football. We might do it again tomorrow.

Congratulations Keagan! Now let’s win Regionals! 

State Tournament - Semi-Finals

Keagan woke up stiff and sore, but he was determined to play. He was placed in the starting lineup for today’s semi-final state tournament game, took the field in uniform for introductions,

 

and then within a minute of game time, he changed back into warm up gear and sat on the bench. Coach decided to save his knee. At half, we were up by one goal. Keagan was still in warmups.

With half an hour left in the game, our outside back earned the team’s second red card. There was no choice; Keagan had to go in now. We played down the rest of the game with 8 field players. 

It was a tough on-the-edge-of-your-seat kinda game. I was a nervous wreck! But we came away with the win! 

Because of the reds, we have two players ineligible to play in Saturday’s championship game. Keagan will have to play all of our next game and will have to be as healthy as possible to play in the toughest game yet. 

It was a noble effort on Keagan’s part. It was clear he was in pain, and yet he was running as hard as he could trying to get in the offense and trying to keep the opposing team from getting that coveted goal. His smart move in the last minute to pull the offense offsides kept PWYS from an attempt at scoring. Thankfully the line ref caught it. 

When the final whistle blew, Keagan collapsed onto the grass with relief. They did it! The team is headed to the state championship game! The fam will all be there to watch it happen next Saturday. 

State Tournament - Quarter Finals

The travel ball state tournament begins today. We have anticipated this tournament since our early and unexpected departure from the tournament last year. We can’t think about it, even today, without getting mad. Keagan has wanted to play in the state final since we arrived in Tennessee, and he’s wanted to win the title since his brother has come home with three state wins. We hope, and I’ll just say banking on, this year being Keagan’s year.

In the pouring rain, we played in the quarterfinals game against a team from Smyrna. Keagan started at right back but was quickly moved to left back. Within minutes of the move, he was fouled and launched into the air. I really thought he wasn’t getting up, but he did and continued to play. I don’t know how, but I’m guessing the adrenaline was pumping too much for him to feel anything, 

We won 5-0 and advance to tomorrow’s semi-final game. 

#32 will probably need to rest his knee tomorrow after playing a full game today, but he’s playing. That’s a another knee-miracle in my book.