Ethos 2015- MLK Kickoff Tournament

The 2015 Club Volleyball season is once again upon us for Courtney. If you aren't familiar with club ball, it basically is where you play in the off season with the thought that hard work and preparation will get you ready for your next year in high school. It's pretty much a "must" at a high school level in order to remain competitive with your teammates and competition.

Courtney is playing with Ethos Volleyball, North branch, for the 2nd year. She has grown tremendously and we are looking forward to another great year. She has been practicing since December and last weekend, we had our first weekend tournament.

 Meet the 16 North Travel Team. L-R Bottom row: Courtney, Zoe, Kathryn

Top: Lauren, Ona, Lia, Sydney, Sophia, and Emma.

 This is the girls inside joke they developed when we hosted a sleepover for the girls a few weeks ago. I don't remember how it came about, but its provides a great comic relief during practice and games I've been told.

 Courtney is taking on a new role this season as the team's setter. We had another player/setter on our team that suffered an injury in December that required shoulder surgery :( Coach then called on Courtney to step up and play this position. She is doing a fantastic job so far!

 Coach Niblock talking to the girls before our day of competition started.

 All smiles and ready to play!

 The girls doing what I think of as  the "Stare Down". The other team was getting their warm up time on the court and its customary to stand on the line and watch the team and mentally get ready.

 Game time!

 Kathryn serving.

 Back row ready to serve receive.

 Our animated Courtney serving.

 Courtney also serves as team Captain. She is the only person on the court for our team that can address the ref.

Lauren

Get that set!

Court can also block pretty well ;) Get some air, girl!

Action at the net!

Horrible photo, but you can see a successful block as the ball is coming down on the opponents side of the net.

Zoe in action.

Tip!

Sophia in action.

Ethos 16 North for the WIN!

Taking on another Ethos team.

Being up on the 2nd level gives a great view of the play developing.

Zoe

Ona

Another W for Ethos!

This was a two day tournament, but I failed to empty my SD card for the camera before returning Sunday. I got the dreaded "card full" notification about 5 shots into the match, so this is my best shot of the day. I'm loving seeing how these young ladies are growing together and as a team. More Ethos news to come in the near future.

SNOW 2015

Tennessee FINALLY had our first measurable snowfall of the winter season this weekend. Much to the chagrin to our high school girls and I'm sure many teachers in the area, since the mere threat of snow likely results in school being cancelled. Nevertheless, our Apedaile crew enjoyed the beauty of a brief winter white morning this weekend.

A simple dusting of snow makes everything look so beautiful!

Gorgeous!

Our old oak tree looks majestic with the coat of winter on its branches.

 As soon as JT woke up and saw the snow, he couldn't wait to get outside.

 He immediately flopped down to make some snow angels.

 and throw snow and his Momma.

 Then he discovered some tracks in the snow. You can see them to the left of his body. They looked like deer tracks to my untrained eye and JT walked alongside the tracks all over the yard.

 Such a happy face!

 Sibling snowball fight!

 Courtney coming to join the fun.

 The snow was powdery and we were able to capture Courtney blowing it off of her hands.

 JT had fun doing the same.

 More snow angels!

 Clearly we didn't get that much snow since you can see the grass in the snow angel.

 Mischievous look on a little boy planning a snowball attack.

 JT also seemed to think since he couldn't see much of the grass, that meant that he could perform huge running leaps in the air to land on a fluffy snowy ground. Not so much. It didn't stop him from trying though.

We gave our best effort at making a snowman.

 Little, but successful.

 Lindsay's large snowball

 JT was a quick study.

 Courtney was ready to attack.

The not so fun part of playing in the snow- the dreaded hit where snow gets into your jacket or under your layers of clothes. When I showed JT this photo he said, "Don't post that photo Mommy! People will laugh at me." While I'm not posting it to social media, I just had to post it here. We aren't laughing at you JT, we are laughing with you ;)

So I don't end on a mean Mommy photo, here are my three cuties once again on our beautiful snowy day. It was fully melted by the afternoon, much like any Tennessee snow. Looking forward to our next snowfall.

New year, Hopeful Renewed Start

I'm sure that my blog readership has dwindled down to near nothing. I take total blame for pushing my limited free time to other duties and interests.

Now that we are almost one month into a new year, I'm making a rare resolution to make some dedicated time to posting on the blog once again. Not only am I sure that some of my family and a few friends like to catch up, but personally I really love looking back here and seeing how the kids have grown, relive past experiences, and just remember.

Just as a forewarning, there are going to be several volleyball posts in the next few months. Courtney's club season started recently, and I'm going to post some photos from the tournament so we can share with her teammates easily.

Much love to my Apedaile6 people and looking forward to sharing our 2015 with you!