End of a Blog

It is with great happiness to report the Sage Rayne Days has out grown its space. With the birth of the new boy, the blog needs to evolve as well. Catch all the excitement here at the Journey of Sage Rayne and Tighe.

Sage's 11th Birthday Celebration

Hollywood came to Sudbury on Saturday night as Sage and her seven best friends celebrated her birthday. It was a Grand Premier Movie Watching event. The party was complete with a red carpet, bouncer, host, super-fan and paparazzi. The all-night party had a fancy dinner and a sleep-over. With party guests dressed fabulously, the entertainment had to match. Rumor was the night finally wound down at 1 am.

All the shots from the paparazzi are online at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mcclure.christopher/Sage11thBirthday#

Sage's real birthday is not until January 21st, but that pesky little brother made that date a potential challenge. Happy Birthday Sage!

Blizzard FC

What happens when you bring players from six different outdoor teams together for a single day indoor soccer tournament? You get a Blizzard FC. Sage joined forces and entered into the Fore Kick Christmas Soccer Tournament. The team practiced for thirty minutes before the first game. Almost everyone knew their teammates' name by the first whistle. In the first game, Sage played goalie and posted a shutout against Medfield. She made several excellent saves, but the best was on a shot from ten yards out. The Medfield player drilled a shot towards the top right corner. Sage got her fists out in time to deflect the ball over the goal. The 2-0 win pushed the Blizzard to the top of the group table after the first game. The second match was more challenging. Sage played every position as the Blizzard tried to get some offense going. Some very good shots were blocked and the Blizzard suffered their first loss 2-nil. Now the team had to beat Foundation FC to make the finals. This was a club team that had traveled from CT to play. Sage returned to net and anchored a solid defense. The Blizzard blanketed the other team and won going away in a 5-0 rout. Two games in goal for Sage and she did not let in a single goal. In the finals, the Blizzard were facing the Douglas team that had beat them earlier. Trying to ride the hot hand, Sage returned to goalie. The Blizzard got off to a quick start, taking a 1-0 lead after just five minutes. However, Douglas kept coming. Wave after wave of offensive attacked were repelled by Sage and her defense. Finally Douglas cracked the goal and tied it 1-1 going into halftime. The second half brought more Douglas ball control, but the Blizzard refuse to melt. Late in the second half, a Douglas throw-in lead to a header just outside Sage's grasp. The goal was all that Douglas would need. Even pulling the goalie for extra firepower could not net the equalizer. As the runner-up, Sage received a trophy and knew that she had given it her all.

Christmas at Grammy and Gramp

Christmas Day continued at Grammy and Grampa's house. Santa made a special delivery for Sage, Rayne, CC and Zoe. Stockings were filled and presents were scattered under the tree. Rayne's new doll was a big hit for all the girls. Carols were sung and then it was time for Santa. Who would have thought that Santa had one more gift to drop off? He lit a tree on the edge of the woods and left a present for each of the kids. The kids watched him from the deck and he took off as new snow was falling.

Allison's complete collection of photos can be see here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Allison.M.Horn/200912Christmas?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7Zr_XkvOerPg&feat=email#

Sudbury Christmas

Santa must have been happy to leave Sudbury. Besides getting some excellent cookies, he was able to unload a good portion of his sleigh under the tree.

Yaya, Papi and Wally came up from PA for the big holiday. Besides Christmas activities there was much new baby planning going on. The little guy's room is ready to welcome him home.

Firecrackers explode when it counts

Playoffs! The results of the regular season really do not matter as long as you make the playoffs. And since every team makes the playoffs, all is good.

Sage's Firecrackers have had a tough season. The saying goes 'you win some, you lose some'. For the Firecrackers, it goes 'you lose some, you lose some more, you tie one, and then you lose some'. The 0-7-1 record does not reflect the effort or heart, just that the girls were playing some tough competition in the u12 league.

The playoffs were a win or go home elimination tournament and the Firecrackers decided it was their time. They shocked an Acton team 3-1 in the opener. Sage played some stout goalie shutting every attack down the first 10 minutes. She then ran the entire pitch as middie, helping to set-up the offensive attack. Sage returned to goal to close down the match. Acton never got into rhythm.

Next up, top seed Delta FC. Unfortunately, the Cinderella story ends here. Two early own goals buried the Firecrackers in a hole they could not climb out of. Age, strength, speed and talent won out in the end. At least the Firecrackers made Delta work very hard for their win.

Christmas Tree Trimming

The snow finally melted off the Christmas tree and it came inside. The evergreen is displayed in the living room this year and it fills the front right corner. The traditional tree-trimming with Mark, Haya, Abby and Lily took place this past Sunday. Hot chocolate and warm stew keep everyone toasty and energized. Lily had to stretch atop of Mark's shoulder to put the star on the tree. The tree was taller than normal because the stand is boosted by an old desktop PC. (yet a new benefit to old technology!) The Concolor Fir has many full branches at the bottom and needed the extra lift. Now we are just waiting for Santa to visit.

Pictures of the tree are coming

Christmas Tree Lumber Jacks

There is nothing that says Christmas like new fallen snow. Mother Nature decorated the Christmas tree farm in a way that only she could. This made for a very different tree cutting.

Good news was that we not only found a sweet 7' Concolor Fir tree, we also did not lose Rayne in the process. She was wearing her new one piece snow suit. Fortunately, it was just bright enough. Sage helped to dig out an access to the evergreen's stump. She even crawled under and took some good cuts with the saw. Timber...

After the harvest, we enjoyed the Christmas cookies and warm cider. Trimming will have to wait for some warmer temperatures because there is still significant snow and ice on the branches.