February Frenzy

All JPII basketball games participated in the February Frenzy at Corpus Christi school over the long weekend.  The scheduled lined up such that the JV girls, JV boys and Varsity girls played one right after the other on Saturday, followed an hour later by the Varsity boys.  It was great to have so many fans stay through game after game and fun for the kids to watch their classmates and school mates.
The Varsity girls were absolutely smoked in their game on Saturday (Elizabeth couldn't make the Monday morning game) and the JV girls lost Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.  Their coach saw some fire in them on Saturday and was able to stoke it for Sunday's game.  They played their best game of the season, even though they lost, and it was just a 2 point game at halftime.  It was so much fun to watch!

JV girls

See number 14 in the green?  If she hadn't played, JPII would have won the game 7-6.

Varsity girls

Big defense.

JV girls final game. 

Emily with the steal!  She started the last game - her first start of the year and well deserved.  She is a very good defender and really played hard.

First 5K

Emily and her CFC soccer team ran a 5K together on Super Bowl Sunday.  The girls raised money for refugee families in the New Haven area and it was a great bonding experience.  They were not supposed to actually run - they were supposed to walk it together.  But when the gun went off, they got caught up in the crowd and just started running. So Emily, with no training - and being absolutely furious at me because she thought I tricked her about the running - completed her first 5K in just over 30 minutes.  It was an out and back course, and Emily spent a lot of time yelling at me and trying not to cry, so I think that she could have run a lot faster.  But now she has a 5K under her belt - which is shorter than any race she will run for cross country next fall!  More importantly, she raised more than $250 and her team raised more than $2,000!

Kid and parent runners. 

Rylan and Emily 

The start. 

Catholic Invitational Tournament

Last weekend, the Varsity girls played in the Catholic School Invitational.  They lost all three games, but were only three points away from going 2-1 and being in the championship game.  It was an exciting day of basketball and Elizabeth played the best she's played all season.

A selfie with Coach Mike. 

#milkshake game for both of these girls!

Catholic Schools Week

Catholic Schools Week was tons of fun again this year.  It kicked off with the Father Daughter Dance and followed up the next day with the largest Open House we've ever had.  There was literary character day, the pasta dinner (which raised money for a family in our school) and then school spirit day.  It was an exhausting week, but a fun one!!

Hermione 

Time Turner necklace and all. 

Bellatrix 

The Dark Mark 

Neck tattoo  

 Craziness after the pasta dinner.

School spirit/Patriots Day.

January Odds and Ends

January photos that didn't make a post:

Our number 11 wears the other number 11.  She loves football and is happy that she found someone other than TB12 to root for.

All State tryouts, with two different instruments, deserve a treat!

A basketball game, two soccer games and the Father Daughter Dance, all over an 8 hour period.  She's a busy kid. #cantstopwontstop

We didn't have much snow in January, but the girls did get in some fun one afternoon. 

Winter Soccer

Emily's Magic team won the first indoor session, which was very exciting for the girls.  Their coach moved them to the top division, so I don't think that they will come out on top for Session 2 (currently 3-2), but now that they've adjusted to the speed of play, they have high hopes for Session 3.

T-shirts for the champs!

Magic!!

Emily's CFC team has been playing well too.  The coach is pushing them very hard, so that even when they win, he is focusing on what they didn't do well, rather than simply praising.  It's fun to watch this team improve, week after week.

The team had a great come from behind tie a few weeks ago.  They were down 5-1 at the half and they ended up tying the game 5-5, helped very much by the hat trick from Emily. 

The next day, Emily and Abby each scored two goals in a 4-0 win.

Father Daughter Dance

Catholic Schools Week was the last week of January and it kicked off, as it always does, with the annual Father Daughter Dance.  The girls looked beautiful and they had a great time with Lee at the dance.