Men in Black, saving goals and souls

Today, Holy Cross Academy had the great privilege of hosting the first ever Men In Black soccer Game.
The Men in Black---posing with the Bishop of Syracuse, Bishop Cunningham.
If you notice the goalie in red---that's my boy, Daniel. He is one of the newest seminiarians for the diocese. (Keep him in your prayers, please)
We are all soooo happy that Grandpa and Grandma could make it to the game--they had great seats too---right next to the sideline. (It pays to know the home teams athletic director.)
Pre-game preparations....

Holy Cross discussing their game plan.

Danny and his "former" teammates.

The Holy Cross Crusaders

Father Joe O'Connor introduces the Men in Black.

Danny, being announced for the first time for the "Men in Black."

Bishop Cunningham led us in an opening prayer.

Holy Cross Academy's select choir sang the National Anthem.

This was fun!!

Between quarters, Deacon Shultz rode his bike past 5 of the Holy Cross soccer players---the challenge was to kick the soccerball through the hoop on the back of the bike.

By golly, Mark V did it!!! What a great shot!!

With all the pointing on the side of the Men In Black, I wasn't sure they knew where to go.

Thanks Dan Miller for being an awesome sound guy!

In honor of the World Cup, we even had a few vuvuzelas.

It was HOT!!!

We were all "well done" by the time the game ended.

During half-time some of the kids tried their luck at scoring on a Men In Black goalie.

Luke SCORES!!

Luke with his favorite goalie---along with the patch he won by scoring his goal.

It was a wonderful, uplifting event.

It was so great to see so many young men eager to give their lives to God and God's people.

It's easy to become a discouraged when we think about the future of the church, but after today, I realize that there are still holy young men eager to answer God's call.

And as a sidenote, the Men in Black won the game in a 3-2 shootout---but that wasn't really what the day was all about, was it?!!

Credit for the very cute blog post title goes to Amy Collins!!

Holy Cross Boys' soccer team wins the championship!!

Congratulations to the Holy Cross boys' 2009 soccer team in their win against Messiah Academy to win the North Country Athletic Assoc. championship!

They finished the season with a remarkable 7-0-2 record.

Check out the local papers article about the boys great season.

Here is my own goalie, Danny, as he douses Coach V. after the game.

Dan was named to the league all-star team and defender the goal in this championship win perfectly!!

The Soccer Season Starts off BIG!!

The soccer season got off to a big start today--with a tournament with 5 teams from around the state.

The picture above may puzzle you, but if you have a 3 year old at home that has helped you go through bags of clothes and goodies from a friend--you will understand that these were her treasures in a bag of hand-me-downs---she looked like this the rest of the day--although after a while I did manage to get the Santa hat off of her (the wings remained on until bedtime)
All children between the ages of 6-10 payed NO attention to soccer. They played on the "dirt pile" the perfect spot to keep kids busy!
Amy doing some fancy foot work.

Our concession stand workers

Beautiful Holy Cross players and fans

Luke's highlight of the day was watching the popcorn machine do its thing!

The boys line up for their second game of the day.

The pre-game prayer and cheer.

You had better get that, Dan!!

Some of our loyal fans

Here we go!!

Running full steam ahead into another exciting season!

Good luck, everyone!!

Holy Cross Academy's Spring Concert--and a "pub" song from Danny

We all spent an enjoyable evening at the spring concert at Holy Cross Academy. It is amazing the great progress everyone has made this year under a new director.

The kids were all great. This Saturday they are heading to a choral competition, so keep them all in your prayers for a safe and fun trip.
After the concert, I had my concert participants, Laura, Amy, and Danny pose for a few pictures.
What a bunch of hams!!

Lookin' good kids!

And last but not least, Danny singing a little bit of a "drinking song" straight from good Old Jolly England.

This year, it wasn't meant to be....

Following last year's exciting shoot-out victory over their arch enemy, New Life Christian School, Holy Cross suffered the agony of defeat tonight at the hands of the same team.

Even with tons of school spirit, including the coach's painted

fingernails, a victory wasn't in the cards today.

Fans filled the sidelines with spirit showing on their faces.

The boy's soccer teamed helped to encourage the girls.

The score was tied 0-0 at halftime, and the "silly string" was flowing,

but as the sun began to fade, a ball slipped past our players, and a goal was scored against us.

Some of us took it worse than others.

The game ended with a 1-0 score, and alas, this year, we finished #2, but there is always next year!

On a wonderful bright note though, my dear Amy was honored by being named to the conference all-star team! Her coach Dad, was honored to pose with her for this celebration photo~
Way to Go, AMY!!

Seussical The Musical

Tonight was the second performance of Seussical the Musical, and what a night it was!

Gracie Who and her friend wait for the doors to open.
Amy Who
Laura WhoDanny, looking good!
Amy and Laura during the final scene.

Gracie and friends stretch their legs at intermission.
A little hamming it up after the show.
Mark tries out his future in the theater.
Danny, and his assistant director, Becky.