Cool sequence of shots where Kiersten outran two opponents into the corner for the ball, then turned it around and took it out to open up the defence and then crossed it to her teammate for a goal.

It's soccer time!

Today was our first game for Kees' team, which is a select team created from the core of last year's rec. team which went undefeated for two years straight!

Every single kid did an incredible job, and I was truly amazed to see them do everything I had taught them and do it well in the very first game of the year!

We won 5-0, with Kees shooting in three of the five goals, and having two others called back because a teammate was called offsides.

Good way to start out the season, and extend our unbeaten streak into it's third year!

Cross Country time!

This was the first middle-school XC meet of the year.

Cute story: the night before she came to me and said she was nervous and I asked her why. She said "no one else is nervous from my school because they don't think they'll do well, but I want to win!". I told her what I always tell my kids before starting events: "Just have fun and do your best."

It's hard to see in the top picture because I can only get the middle of the line, but there were over 300 7th-grade runners... with Kiersten's school fielding almost 50!

The race director lead the runners in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and the course was marked perfectly... it was a very well-run race!

If you notice in the last picture about 100 meters from the start Kiersten is smiling and talking to her teammates, so it was clear she was having fun!

Being as this was her first-ever cross country race she took it conservatively and started out easy. She said she was never passed and from about 1/2 mile in started to pass people and on the uphills passed people in droves.

In the second mile is when she started to do the most damage and the top group really separated themselves from the rest.

Coming into the finishing chute a couple of girls tried to pick up their pace and hang on but she has a good finishing kick so she looked back to see where they were and turned it on!

12th out of 300+ runners... not bad!

Cooling off in the misters at the finish line and being congratulated by her classmates/teammates for being the fastest from her school.

Funny story:

The last picture is with Jamie, the fastest boy from her school. At about 3/4 mile into the 2-mile race he was starting to hurt but kept looking back and every time he saw Kiersten he sped up again... this happend about four times until she got by him. They talked afterwards and he said "I didn't want you to beat me so every time you got closer I tried to go faster, but you just kept getting even faster and I finally said 'screw it' and let you go by!"

She LOVES beating the boys!

Cross Country

Kiersten's first cross country race... she placed 12th out of 300 or so 7th graders and first in her school (boys and girls)... more pictures and scoop later...

New iPods released today!

The new iPods...

The "touch" is an iPhone without the phone... with Wifi, touch interface, 3.5" widescreen display,flash drives and all.

The "classic" has up to 160g drives and 40 hours of continuous music.

The new "nano" now has a screen for video playback.

Wow!

http://www.apple.com/itunes/

XC "Brick"

Feeding the ducks after a cross country "brick".

Our newest musical find!

The kids and I have been listening to this all weekend! It's called

"Chaiyya Chaiyya" (Hindi: छैया छैया, Urdu: چیّا چیّا) is the first song in the famous Hindi film Dil Se directed by Mani Ratnam. The song was composed by film composer A. R. Rahman. It became popular quickly upon release and its music video gained the same status, partly because it was filmed on a moving train. The song was called Thaiyya Thaiyya in the Tamil version of the film.


Dil Se is famous for its visually stunning music videos. Because of this, "Chaiyya Chaiyya" characterizes this genre. The video itself was filmed on top of the Ooty train in mountainous southern India while actor Shah Rukh Khan dances with Malaika Arora and other dancers. Along with the thrill of dancing atop a moving train, the scenery around the train is equally stunning and beautiful. This music video also started a popular dance called the "Bombay Clap". The cinematography of the film was handled by Santosh Sivan.

• The choreography by Farah Khan is considered among the most difficult ever done; two of its dancers died in the process of performing atop the train.

Weather