Are You Ready For Some Football???

Warming up - if that is necessary the first week of August.

The Second Grade Bears football team is gearing up and preparing for another fun season. The Bears went undefeated in the regular season last year and ended up losing in the Super Bowl to the Lions which they had beat twice earlier in the year.  The majority of the team is back and ready to play, and it looks like we picked up some talented players in the draft. This will be the first year of tackle for these boys and after the first night of full pads they are starting to get a little more aggressive.

Hitting the Dummy's - no pun intended!

We have had four practices cancelled by the league because of the Heat, when the Heat Index is over 105 degrees at 7:30 pm the league bans any practices for the safety of the players.  Since this has happened for two straight weeks, the league has decided to back the season up by one week to hopefully get in a couple more practices.

Finding some running room in the open field.

It is amazing how this team has matured this year, the boys seem much more focused and they all seem to get along very well together.  I think they look very balanced this year and it is starting to all come together as a complete team.  It's a good thing since we only have 12 players - there won't be much time to rest. 

Showing off the tackling skills to Coach Will.

Kendall will split the load of running back and slot back with two other boys this year and with his size I think that is a great idea.  The other two boys are slightly bigger and will take the brunt of the power running and Kendall will mix it up with some speed to keep their defense off guard. 

Showing a move or two - catch me if you can.

On defense Kendall will be mostly playing corner back and handling the plays to the outside and an occasional rush of the quarterback on passing plays.

The annual Parmerlee Tournament, which is a short scrimmage against three other teams will be August 21st and then the regular season gets underway on the 28th when we kick off the season against the Lions. 

GO BEARS!!!

Go Tigers!

Kendall just started his first year of Machine Pitch Baseball as part of the Blue Springs Little League Program. He was drafted by the Tigers and truly loves playing the game! Unfortunately the last two games have been rained out so he is looking forward to getting back out there and showing off his talents. I know it may just sound like a proud Dad talking about his son - but he is a natural at this sport. He was so ready to move up from T-Ball and has made the transition to machine pitch without a hitch. He is a star at the plate as well as in the field.

Let's Go Tigers!

Our All-Star

Lizzy spends all year working out and practicing at the Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) with her All-Star Cheerleading Team. She was a leader on the Sizzle Team this year and again made us so proud with her leadership and talents. Although they had somewhat of a disappointing Competition season, she is very dedicated to being the best.

Not only does she practice 6 hours a week at the gym for Cheerleading, she is on Student Council at Brittany Hill Middle School, Second Chair Flute in the 7th Grade Band, BHMS Volleyball Manager, and very active with BHMS Forensics Team. We are so proud of her in everything she does.

The Little One...

Well, I haven't posted in a very long time but I thought I would post a few updates to keep you up on what the kids have been doing.

During the winter Kendall played Basketball at BVAC with a few of his friends from his football team. You could tell that they moved up a level and were the younger kids of this age division as they were the smaller and less experienced players in this years league. They still had a great time and learned some valuable lessons about the game and Team Sports.

Kendall always makes me so proud no matter what he is involved in as he gives it 110%. He may be one of the smallest guys on any team but gives it everything he has at all times.

WOW!!!

Well, we made it through another crazy weekend with everything possible going on - 1st Grade SuperBowl, Wedding, LSAM State Volleyball Tournament and a Cheerleading Competition....

To start the weekend off, I had to photograph about 20 Jr. High Volleyball Team Pictures for the start of the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament and then I rushed back to Blue Springs where Kendall was playing in the BSAA 1st Grade SuperBowl. It had just started when I got there but we were already down by one touchdown and a missed extra point 6-0. It wasn't too long before the Bears came back to tie it though. The Lions had us figured out though and they were getting through the line to stop us in the backfield on numerous occasions. In the second half each team scored another touchdown but the Lions were successful on their extra point and the Bears were not; so the Lions beat us 13-12 in the SuperBowl. We had defeated the Lions twice during the regular season and it is very tough to beat a team three times in one season. We had a great year going 6-0 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs for a 7-1 record overall.

Saturday morning, Fonda and Lizzy headed to Topeka, Kansas for the first Cheerleading Competition of the season and it started incredible. The "Sizzle" got 1st place in their category and Lizzy was on cloud nine to say the least. They work so hard throughout the year and it is so exciting to see the reward. I wish that I could have been there!

Fonda then rushed back from Topeka to help me photograph a friends wedding. The Bride had told me several years ago "if, and when she ever got married that I had to photograph the wedding!" She was beautiful and it was so much fun - like we knew it would be.

Well, after a late night at the wedding we got up early on Sunday and headed back to the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament to photograph the final 16 Volleyball Games to complete the tournament with all the action images and to sell the Team Photos. Finally we packed up from there to get home about 7:30 and unload the van and post about 1400 images to our website so the players could start ordering their pictures.

Wow - What a weekend....!!!

Competition Time....

It's what they've been practicing for all year...

It's Competition Time!

Lizzy's Cheerleading team will start their Competition season this weekend in Topeka, Kansas at the Twister Jam Competition on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, Fonda and I will not be able to attend this one as we have prior commitments to photograph the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament on Friday and Sunday and a friends Wedding on Saturday.

She has moved up at the gym to the next level team called the Sizzle and they have been challenged with lots of illness throughout the team as well as many injuries. We were able to see their routine at the annual GAGE Cheerleading Pep Rally a couple of weeks ago and it looks like they are on their way to another great season. Good luck to all the GAGE Cheerleading Teams that will be performing this weekend in Topeka!!!

Super-Bowl Bound!!!

First Grade BEARS are Super-Bowl Bound!!! Well, I haven't kept up blogging about the happenings with the Williams Family lately, but I thought I would share the latest news. Kendall's Football Team is undefeated and will be playing in the Blue Springs Athletic Association Flag Football SuperBowl on Friday Night. They started the season very well and just kept building on their experience as the season progressed. There were a few weeks that they scared us by playing pretty bad, but as all good teams do - they found a way to win. The Bears will match up with the Lions in the Championship Game this weekend which we played in the opening week and week four of the regular season.

Kendall has had a great season and is contributing on both sides of the ball. He has scored several touchdowns and pulled lots of flags. He has played almost every play of the entire season and has played all over the field from Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver, Cornerback to Safety. We are very proud of him and his dedication.
We have also been challenged with lots of cold, wet weather but the boys have handled it very well throughout the season. This weekend is supposed to be one of the warmest games we've had all year, so the weather should not be an issue. We want to wish the Bears the Best of Luck on becoming the First Grade Super Bowl Champions!

Blue Springs Cardinals

Take me out to the Ballgame!!!

Kendall had his first T-Ball game of the season last night and made Mom, Dad and Lizzy very proud. He started off playing at second base and only had one ball come to him but made the play and recorded the out. During the Third and Fourth inning, Coach Rick moved Kendall over to play First Base and he had the first ball come right to him as a line drive and he knocked it down with his glove but was unable to make the catch in the air as I think it startled him. After that, he caught a few throws from other fielders to make the three outs that were needed each inning. The next inning Kendall played Pitcher and did a wonderful job, fielded almost everything that came his way and made some great throws to first base. The last inning, Kendall played catcher so he didn't get much action but he sure looked cute in that catchers mask. He had four great hits and made it on base every time he batted.
After the game, coach huddled them up and told them all how proud he was and decided to give the Game Ball to Kendall as the MVP of game one. He wants to write the date on it and put it on his dresser with the rest of his trophies and medals.
Go Cardinals!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

They made it to the finale -we've decided
that we are not going to let them get any older.

Kendall hit the Big 6 and Lizzy turned 12 last week.
We had a small bowling party for Kendall last weekend
with some of his friends and Lizzy is going to have a
slumber party and roller skating party next weekend.

Lizzy's Cheeseburger Cake

Kendall's Lego Cake

Saturday, after Kendall's last Basketball game of
the season we had family over for cake and ice cream.
Grandma Marge and Papa Jim were able to bring
Aunt Lois. Grandma Betty brought Taylor, Jordan,
Kennedy and Chezney to the game and then Aunt
Cheryl and Susan joined us at the house for a while.

Finally....

After well over 200,000 miles and about every light in the dash coming on over the past few months - we finally traded the old silver Oldsmobile Intrigue in for a Oldsmobile Aurora with less than half the mileage and hopefully many less worries. It is a very clean 2001 vehicle that is a cross between sage green and gold with immaculate tan leather interior. We had been looking for about a month when we stumbled across this one on a small used car lot after hours one Friday night. We went back on Saturday afternoon to check it out and test drive it - it was nice, but the dealer said he didn't even have clearance to sell it yet. We looked at a few more cars over the weekend and then went back on Monday for Fonda to work her Crooks bargaining powers. Well, she did her magic and we came away spending two dollars more than we had planned on being our limit. There are a few minor maintenance things we want to get done with it, but nothing too pressing I hope.

Watch out Lebron James - We've got Kendall Williams!

Kendall has switched from Football to Basketball in December, and is having a good time. His team is very young and the majority of them are very short, but what they lack in size is made up in hustle. He's handling the ball much better this year and has made at least one basket in every game so far - with a game high of three (I think). They have three more games left in January and then we just signed him up for the next session as well, which I believe is another 7 weeks which should lead him right up to Baseball Season.

He makes a great point guard, and spends lots of time trying to get it inside to the bigger boys! If he can't find one of them open he's not scared to drive inside and shoot.
As you can see they play some very aggressive man to man defense...

Keep playing tough Kendall - you are a real Superstar and you make Mommy and Daddy very proud when we watch you play!

Flying High

Well another Competition Cheerleading Season is upon us and Lizzy picked up right where she left off last year... looking awesome! We can't help it but to be so proud of her when she is on that competition floor - that smile, those expressions and mostly her jumps! Her jumps are incredible and it makes it worth every penny that is spent to see her perform like she does. Her team has competed twice so far this season, they started the season off with a third place finish at Twister Jam in Topeka, Kansas on November 8th and then they had the CTC Nationals at Bartle Hall in Kansas City on December 6-7th where they won First Place and each team member received a beautiful National Champion Jacket. This weekend they head back to Topeka, Kansas for a two day Nations Best competition. Good Luck Lady Dragons!

Dog Gone.....

OK, how does an 11 year old with the
"Puppy Dog" eyes talk you into getting a Cat?

I can't say that - I was just as much in love with her as Lizzy was. We had all been absorbed by a cat the other night at Petsmart, (by the way - is it PetsMart or PetSmart?) but we decided to take a night to sleep on the idea instead of making that impulse decision. Well, when we decided that we would try to go back to adopt her - she had just been adopted by another family within the past couple of hours. We've been looking online for the past couple of days for another cat that would compare.... but nothing touched us via the internet.
The kids and I headed out to grab some lunch today and then drove to Lee's Summit to check out the animal shelter and it had just closed within the last fifteen minutes. We decided to check out PetCo while we were over there and they just happened to be having a Pet Adoption Day. As soon as we walked in the door they had kennels with about 25-30 dogs and then about 30-40 cats available for adoption. Well, to say the least we headed right over to see what cats they had and immediately fell in love with a few. We narrowed it down to three, and soon decided which one was the one we were looking for. She was playful but not aggressive, loving and beautiful. It didn't take too much convincing to make me decide that she was coming home with us.

Paige 2 is her real name but we just call her Paige,
she is a 4 year old Showshoe Balinese
and she already fits in around here very well......
she talks all the time.

Pumpkin Patch

To top off a very busy weekend, we spent a little time on Sunday at Carolyn's Cousins Pumpkin Patch in Liberty with Papa Bob and Grandma Cindy before they head back to New Mexico on Tuesday. We had a great time feeding the animals in the petting zoo area, riding trikes on a tricycle race track, climbing and riding several different slides, riding the train, taking a hayride trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and watching the pig races. They were also having a car show on the grounds so we looked at lots of beautiful old cars and completed the trip by purchasing a few pumpkins to take home.

Grandma and Lizzy feed the Goats in the Petting Zoo area.

Kendall and Kaiya Race Tricycles on the Race Track.

We decided to go ahead and sell the kids -
so we took a picture for the ad too.
We had a great time and a very nice family outing!