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The Green team remains undefeated!!! WOW! And they simply keep getting better and better…

We were back at the YMCA playing a team that beat us last year. But this time around, we were clearly much better. Our team really played as team; we controlled most of the possession; and we did a fantastic job passing the ball around and finding the open spaces. (The days where everyone just followed the ball and played what I call “amoeba soccer” seem a very distant past now). We were very much in control of the game.

As usual, we started well, and we were up 3 x 0 by the end of the first quarter — Hunter scored a beautiful goal from just inside the goal area, followed by a nice goal from Fear, and a boomer of a shot from Lorenzo from a really tight angle. Unfortunately I was once again watching and cheering the kids, and I failed to capture Fear and Lorenzo goals. (Sorry!)

We kept the same pressure on the second quarter, and we finish the half ahead, Green 5 x 1 YMCA. Ben scored both of our goals: once with a very well taken penalty kick, and another with a very well placed cross shot. Way to go, Ben!!

The Y team did pull one back, but in the end, it wasn’t even close. The final score…

Green 9 x 1 YMCA.

Here is the LINK for the Game #5 Photos

[Since Lorenzo wanted to participate in the Twilight Criterium Kid's Bike event, we had to leave at half-time.]

We had an extremely busy and FUN weekend. It started Thursday night and didn’t slow down until late Sunday afternoon.

Let’s see…The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship was help here in Athens; there was the 2008 Twilight Criterium; Lorenzo’s soccer match and Kid’s Bike event; and to top it all off, Chloe’s First Communion Mass.

Last year Chloe mentioned that she would like to go to the UGA gymnastics meetings. Why not? So we jumped in with both feet and got season tickets for all the local Gym Dogs meetings. We were hooked! In fact, we all had such a good time, we were full supporters again year. In case you don’t know, the UGA Women’s Gymnastic team has been ranked #1 for the past three consecutive years. And when we found out the NCAA championship was being held here in Athens, we were more than glad to extend our support.

All day Thursday, teams competed to qualify for the Team Championship event. That evening we watched UGA’s Gym Dogs win their qualifying heat with ease and solidify everyone’s expectation of a fourth consecutive NCAA Title.

Friday night, Chloe had to attend her First Communion rehearsal. So, while she practiced, Lorenzo and I went downtown to register him into a Kid’s Bike event being held next morning. We hung around downtown; we took some pictures; and we listened to some live Jazz. As soon as the rehearsal was over, we picked up Ashley and Chloe and rushed to the Coliseum. Unfortunately, the Team Championship event was pretty much over by the time we got there. The kids were crushed. But at least they were happy the UGA did indeed win the NCAA Championship.

Saturday was just as busy. First we brought Lorenzo to his soccer match. The Green team was firing on all cylinders, and the score was Green 5 x 1 YMCA-1 at half-time. However, because Lorenzo wanted to participate in the Twilight Criterium’s Kids Bike Event, we had to leave at the half and head downtown. (All the details on the match on a later post)

The Athens Twilight Criterium and Musical festival is an annual weekend event filled with Sports activities and Musical shows, culminating with a professional cycling race. I must say I was a bit surprised when Lorenzo mentioned that he wanted to participate on the kids event, but we, of course, were all for it, and we gave him full support. He didn’t finish in the front group, but he did truly enjoy it. After the race and some lunch, we all went home and took a much needed nap. That evening we were back at the Coliseum for the individual NCAA titles. Again, the Gym Dogs shined! They won two of the four individual NCAA titles: Grace Taylor won the Beam exercise title, while Courtney McCool won the Floor exercise title. Given they are both Sophomores, and the caliber of the team, a consecutive PENTA is very much in sight.

Sunday morning we all got ready for Chloe’s First Communion Mass and headed to St. Joseph’s School for pictures. Chloe was so excited and radiant! She looked absolutely stunning on her white dress and rose tiara. We got there pretty early and had plenty of time to see the kids interacting, and it was very nice to see how well she is doing, and how well-liked she is. Then it was time for Mass. As a way to support his sister, Lorenzo volunteered to be the Alter Boy. He also made sure to join Huguette, Ashley, and I, as we presented Chloe to Father David for her first communion.

With not much time left before “B-day”, we have been spending a lot of our free time getting everything ready. Last weekend the kids and I primed the baby room. This weekend we painted the walls with the base color — an off-white, linen color. After we were done, Ashley put some “Do not Enter” signs up, told us not to peek, and, armed with loads of stencils, different paint colors, and lots of creativity, she barricaded herself in it to paint the Baby Room design details.

Twenty four hours later, working between Lorenzo’s soccer matches and Chloe’s First Communion’s preparations, our Ashley emerges from the baby room covered in paint, but as radiant as any proud mother-to-be. PRONTO! The Baby Room is ready. And, as with anything Ashley touches, it is quite beautiful.

Here, check it for yourself…What do you think?

– Since this set is not public, you will have to login to be able to see the photos. Let me know if you need help getting to them.

It was a tough match, but the Green Team won another match, and remains undefeated.

Green 4 x 2 YMCA-2 (Blue)

It is always hard playing at the “Y”. They usually have very competitive teams, and their fields are larger then the ones used by the AUSA league; which means the team has to play a different formation then they are used to, and work extra hard to cover a bigger field.

As usual, we started well, and Daniel scored our first goal on a penalty kick. I must say that I was very impressed with how well the kids were connecting , passing the ball from side to side and creating opportunities at goal. The Y team also had thier chances, but we did play better, and we were able to finish the first half ahead: Green 1 x 0 YMCA-2.

The second half was no different. Both teams played well, and both teams had great changes at goal. Nonetheles, Luke and Hunter were able to give us a 3 x 1 lead by the end of the 3rd quarter. The Y team got right back into the game on the beginning of 4th, cutting down our lead to 3 x 2, and making for a pretty tense final 15 minutes. We didn’t really breath a sigh of relieve until the last couple of minutes when Daniel scored our 4th and final goal of the match.

Go Green!!

(Here is the LINK for the Game #4 Photos)

Another great game!

Lorenzo scored the first two goals — two beautiful shots from just outside the goalkeeper’s box. Daniel extended our lead with another goal, and the Green finished the first quarter up 3 x 0.

The second quarter was a bit more even, the score remained the same at half.

Luke had some excellent chances in the 3rd quarter, but Julia, the Blue Team’s goalkeeper, stopped all but one shot. Green 4 x 0 Blue.

Same story on the 4th. The Green team had several other shots at goal, but Julia stopped them all but one from Rylan.

Final score: Green 5 x 0 Blue.

(Here is the LINK for the Game #3 Photos)

Another Fantastic Match! Everyone has improved in just a week (2 practices), and it showed.

Unfortunately, I left my second batteries at home, and I ran out of “juice” before half time.

We started extremely well and finished the first quarter 4 x 0. They came back on the second quarter, but we managed to finished the first half ahead: 4 x 3.

We pulled away on the 3rd quarter scoring 4 goals. And I’m proud to say, Lorenzo played one of his best matches yet. He scored 3 awesome goals, and ran harder and was more aggressive then ever before. Yep! I was very proud of him!

The final quarter was a bit more even — although we certainly created more opportunities.

In the end: Green 9 x 4 White

Awesome!

(Here is the LINK for the Game #2 Photos)

As Spring returns so does Soccer.

Lorenzo has been playing for the Athens United Soccer Association (AUSA) for the past 4 years. And being the self-proclaimed soccer-nut that I am, I’ve been quite involved either as the Coach or Assistant Coach. However, last Fall season was so chaotic, I was planning to simply be the volunteered “photographer” for the team this year. But of course, I ended being as involved as ever — now wearing both the photographer and assistant coach hats.

Bias aside, I must say that Lorenzo is one of the best players in the league. He has the strongest shot of the team; he can strike with both right or left foot; and more importantly, he has great awareness of everyone’s positions in the field. As such, he loves to play mid-field and orchestrate the team’s attack — but quite frankly he can play any position including goal keeping. Now, he is not perfect, and sometimes he doesn’t come back to a defense stance as fast as he should; but I would still pick him to be on my team, even on a “off-day”.

Every season is a little bit different, and you never know who is going to end up on the team. However, this year we have a great group of players. They have won the first 4 games, and since I have been posting photos on Flickr for all the parents to enjoy, I thought I might as well link them to posts here…

With just a few practices, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I knew we had a good players, but what a way to start the Season.

Green (our team) 6 x 1Gold.

You can check the photos for Game #1 HERE.

Forza Verde!!

Spring is without a doubt my favorite season. I love to watch our yard come to life, watch everything bloom, and I truly enjoy the return of all the birds. In the past few years, we have created a tradition of celebrating the return of Spring by building a bird-house with the kids. This year we followed Chloe’s design and direction and created an “Apartment with a terrace”.

She drew the plans, I cut all the pieces, we nailed it all together, and Chloe painted it and “decorated” it.

Today “Little Baby Junior” reached 28 weeks — 7 months. Amazing! And I’m still very glad (and thankful) to report that both Ashley and baby are doing quite well.

As you know, HE will be here before we know it. So we have been busy turning the existing play room back into a nursery. We brought the crib down from the attic; we setup the dresser and changing table; and the kids helped me prime the baby room’s walls in preparation for the next baby room design. (Ashley did a great job on both Lorenzo’s and Chloe’s.) We also brought Lorenzo and Chloe to IKEA and Babies’R'US a couple of weeks ago, and they had a blast helping us pick crib sheets, receiving blankets, bibs, stuffed animals, baby bottles, etc, etc…Fun! (I will post pictures once it is done.)

Nonetheless, we still have not decided on a name. And I must say, I’m very anxious to start calling him something other than “Little Baby Jr” and to start bonding on a more personal level. Of all the names we checked, Lorenzo and Chloe first suggested that we should call him, Leonardo Massimo Calabria. It certainly has a nice “ring” to it. But what I really like is the way they came up with the name. They both know that we chose Lorenzo’s name because of Lorenzo de Medici’s influence on Italian art; and following that same train of thought, they came up with Leonardo because Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest Masters of the Medici court. (I wonder if the minor suggestion to a pecking order is just my imagination? Impressive nonetheless!) However, I’m afraid he will probably end up being called Leo, which I’m not too crazy about, and Ashley finds Leonardo to be a bit too close to Lorenzo.

More recently, while looking for Italian names online, we came across Paolo Uccello — another Italian painter who created some pioneering work on visual perspective. Appropriately, at the age of ten (the age difference between Lorenzo and the new baby), Paolo became apprenticed to the famous sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. So, since Leonardo was getting some resistence, the kids are now pulling for Paolo Massimo Calabria.

The middle name Massimo is just a “cool” Italian name. I guess it stuck when I told them that in Brazil, when we say someone is “o massimo”, it means he/she is really cool.

Leonardo, Paolo, Massimo, Marco, Cristiano, Francesco, Rafael…we will see.

After some very long years of crawling through the immigration bureaucracy, I became a U.S. Citizen on September, 2006. I was thrilled to vote for the first time that following November and contribute to a few changes in Congress. Last week I was “summoned and commanded” to appear for jury selection for the Clarke County Superior Court and help with a Civil Case.

I must admit I was a bit concerned about the idea of spending the week in a court room. But I can also say that I was just as curious, and even excited, to be part of it.

It didn’t start too well. It took about 1 1/2 hrs for the clerks to sort about 150 potential jurors into two court rooms. And once in the court room, it took almost another hour for our group to be subdivided into 6 x 12 juror teams. Looking at the bright side, we have been told this was the best attendance they ever had. So it is obvious, The People is getting more involved. We pledge the flag; the Judge hold a moment of silence; he gave us a brief description of the jury selection process; he introduced both the Plaintiff and Defendant attorneys; he introduced the Defendant; and finally, he gave us a brief description of the case.

I knew right way, I did not want to be part of the jury. As it turned out, the case involved an Adult Male accused of child molestation and rape of a 14 year old girl. As a teenager, a good friend, a beautiful 14 year old, was raped at gun point while walking from her home to another friend’s house to attend a birthday party. It had a big impact on me, and I never had much tolerance for any king of disrespectful advances — even while growing up, at that time, with a certain acceptable level of the Brazilian “Macho” attitude.

After answering a short questionnaire and answering some generic questions the jury selection started. The college students were excused; folks with medical conditions and care givers were excused; and finally a couple of folks who already had previous business travel engagements were also excused. The Judge then asked if any one had any pre-assumed judgement on the case at hand. I was the only one to raise my hand. I approached the bench; I explained my friend’s experience and its impact on me; and I explained that even though I knew this man might not be guilt of any crime, I knew that he would have to prove his innocence to me. And it yes, it should be the other way around: assumed innocent, until proven guilt. Neither the Plaintiff or the Defendant legal teams had any objections, and I was excused.

As I came out of the court room, I was surprised to realize that I was shaking. I had not remenbered my friend’s terrible ordeal for many, many years. And now that I’m a father of a beautiful little girl of my own, I was physically startled by such terrible thoughts.

I was very glad to go to work that afternoon!