GREAT GAMES!

Great games today! Cora scored a goal and was so thrilled that she left the field to give me high fives and hugs and kisses. James' team played against a really cool team that was perfectly matched to them skill-wise and they played overtime because nobody wanted it to end.

Goal kick - go Baby Doll!

It's still quite hot here...

Pre-game pep talk

She's like her Gramma - she makes friends everywhere she goes!

Taking his games so seriously this season!

DECK CRASHERS

Our friends the Gattles graciously invited us over to test out their new deck (ok, we kinda invited ourselves over, but Amy is so sweet she would never admit that!), treating the kids to pizza and cookies and a couple hours of pint-sized exercise by making probably hundreds of loops around their large yard and beautiful multi-level deck. Hopefully we can crash again once our fall weather truly arrives, and sticks around. Beautiful evening with good friends, and the kids were so happy to see Grant and Evie and Will and Lauren outside of the gym daycare!

Evie, Cora, and Lauren

Will, James, and Grant

Getting into the Gattle's costume closet, of course

SHERBET SUCKS

Someone was highly offended when the end of the week treat she chose was not up to snuff and daddy refused to go back and buy her a skewer of chocolate covered marshmallows like James picked.

SUPER GIRLS

Cora received a religious brochure from a woman at Walmart. As soon as we got to the car she asked me for a pen so she could draw me a picture. The result was she and I wearing capes (because those are obviously not 3rd legs) and flying over an ocean where fallen hearts were floating. (And she's been practicing writing her full name lately, hence the attempts at "Mae" at the bottom.)

SCHOOL PICTURE DAY: FALL 2014



ELSA SHOES

I came across an ETSY seller recently that makes beautiful hand-crafted "Elsa inspired" shoes. But they cost a small fortune (for children's shoes, anyway) and I figured I could come up with a way to make them for her myself. Then I remembered that one of my coworkers is very artistic and paints shoes for herself and her friends all the time... so I sent her a photo of what I was thinking about and she told me she'd love to try making them. I took Cora to Hobby Lobby (my first time visiting our new store, that's been here almost a year, I think - it's a dangerous money-sucking place!) and the girl was even happier than she gets in candy stores! She ran around touching all the beads and other items that are all open and at her level and squealing and making grand plans to take Gramma there next time she visits ("Because Gramma likes to do art with me and she loves it when I make her beautiful necklaces!") We found some cheap Toms-like flats, some fabric snowflakes and some sparkly snowflakes, and dropped our purchases off with Natalie on Friday. This week Natalie brought me the cutest little Elsa-blue ombre, glitter covered, snowflake adorned shoes. (There are snowflakes on the sides and back too.) When I presented them to Cora, she was literally speechless (and you know how much she talks, so she obviously was instantly in love). She plopped down and put them on, finally took a breath, then jumped up and ran off to find her Elsa nightgown. She is smitten. And now when she wears her Elsa nightgown (or dress, if it arrives in time and fits) to school on Halloween, she won't be tempted to wear her "click clack shoes" (AKA plastic heels with no traction that are too big for her feet and we can't understand how she can wear them without constantly tripping and falling down).

HAPPY DANCE

This sequence would have been more entertaining as a video, but even in still-frames there is no doubt this girl of ours is happy with the state of her life. After soccer practice, last night at bedtime, she told me how much fun she had and how great coach daddy is, and asked me when she can play again. I'm so glad we let her give soccer a second chance because she seems to be loving it this year. And then there's dance. Dance! She was so excited for dance class yesterday that she snuck into the studio early and did a little giggling happy dance for me. Her smile is contagious!

 We're halfway through the week and I just have to say that it's awfully nice when things fall into place! Our morning routine is locked and loaded (we're never late to school anymore and the kids are so helpful in the mornings now - James has even started taking Buster out to go potty and feels like a very big kid indeed with that responsibility), the kids are enjoying their weekly one-on-one time with us (both in and out of soccer practice), I got a night out at Barley's Angels that was just what I needed (I've been missing Christina a lot lately, as she's out with a running injury), Jay and I have been taking turns running with the 5:00am group and rotating weeks for who takes Cora to dance (which is nice because we get to see different running friends and each get to experience Cora's cuteness at RiverPointe), the kids are generally getting two afternoons at the gym (they love it there, especially the day we take them swimming before we run, so we often get complaints on the days that we don't go, probably because they also have friends that they only see there at their daycare), and Jay and I found one day/week to run TOGETHER and we've been enjoying that so much. We're ready for the change in seasons and our favorite (and most busy) month of the year - bring on fall!

FEELING HOT HOT HOT

It certainly wasn't the hottest day this summer, but considering that fall technically starts tomorrow, and after last weekends beautiful game weather, today was rough. On the kids and spectators alike. I caved and bought the kids popsicles between games because I felt so bad for them. I should have bought them for Jay and I too. And we should have remembered sunscreen. And bought a shade tent. Luckily everyone stayed hydrated and the kids played well (James scored an awesome goal after driving the ball all the way across the field!) with far more energy than I could have mustered. Lots of complaints about the sun and the heat, but I sure didn't blame them. Fingers crossed next weekend is easier on all of us!

Doing his best to do nothing in between the two 8-minute quarters he got to play

 We followed up the game by eating a huge lunch at Billy's (running 18 miles makes me HUNGRY, especially when I go from running, to home, to jumping in and out of the shower and into the van to soccer within 10 minutes, and having to share the measly breakfast I packed myself with hungry kids), then going back to Hobby Lobby to get the items needed to make Jay's Halloween costume. After some quiet time at home, Jay harvested the rest of the sweet potatoes from our summer garden and turned it over to plant snap peas and snow peas for our fall garden while I cleaned house. Happily, my legs felt surprisingly good after the miles (even though I went REALLY slow the last few) and the kids' behavior has continued to be in the 90th percentile of good, so we simply can't ask for better than that. Hopefully tomorrow we can get to work on our costumes, since we set the date for our annual Halloween Bash - on my birthday!

UNEVENTFUL AND THANKFUL FOR IT!

Our week was uneventful, and that's sometimes a good thing. James got better and stayed that way. Nobody else caught his sickness. Jay is adjusting to his new meds and got back to running. My ongoing behind-the-knee issue seems to have finally resolved itself (I stopped icing completely, stopped taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen completely, and started taking nightly HOT Epsom salt baths with Cora and following them up with 30-45 minutes of massaging and rolling). Cora had a 100% green light week (finally), and since James did too, we celebrated with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory chocolate-coated marshmallow sticks and a trip to Playland (where the kids bounced for 2 hours with their buddies Will and Lauren, and we had the place completely to ourselves). We skipped our usual "pizza and a movie" (with beer) Friday night in favor of BBQ chicken and sweet potatoes from the garden, lots of water (I needed to hydrate for an 18-miler), and a few new episodes of the kids' favorite TV shows (pre-recorded via DVR, of coruse). I also discovered Hobby Lobby this week... which is good and bad. Too many fun things in that store... but also some highly useful ones! We picked up these trays and the kids have already used them as TV trays, craft storage containers, and coloring tables. Win!

JINXED

Aw James, I'm so sorry buddy. I totally jinxed you.

The Harry Potter sorting hat will go on the mantel as decoration this year. James was just happily modeling it for me because we're currently reading the first book of the series (our second ever chapter book and he loves it).

 

Poor kid hadn't been eating well all last week and we'd given him such a bad time about it (because it really chafes us when lunches come home barely touched and dinner is a "take a bite on the count of three or else" battle). On Friday night we had pizza as usual and set out to watch the new Spiderman movie. James had been asking to see it for months, so we figured for once this week he'd eat a good meal (we pause movies when pizza sits untouched, which is an excellent form of bribery/consequences). That's not what happened though. After the first hour of the movie passed and maybe three bites had made it into his belly, we told him he either had to start eating or go to bed (it was 7:45pm, so just slightly before his school night bedtime). He chose to go to bed. Hmmm... Worrisome, but he wasn't feverish and didn't complain about any aches, and he woke up seemingly fine Saturday, so?... He ate a good breakfast Saturday and played soccer happily, trying his best during the game, but then refused lunch afterward even though it was well past lunch time when we got home. Instead he ASKED to take a nap. What?! Guess soccer really wore him out?... Well, he slept for 2.5 hours that afternoon. He woke up happy and picked fish for dinner (our kids love fish, especially James: snapper, tuna steak, salmon, mahi - all of it), hooray! Cured by sleep! But then once dinner was cooked he picked and whined and barely ate two bites without us prodding him. We finally told him he could eat half his dinner and then we'd finish watching Spiderman, or he could go to bed. He chose bed. Again. And it was only 7:20pm. We'd been checking his temperature nonstop (for the past week, not just over the weekend). Suddenly he was warm (99, and he usually runs cool down at 97) and complaining about his belly hurting. Oh man... Gave him some ibuprofen for his head (because he said it hurt - probably the little fever) and a Pepto chewable for his belly, and sent him to bed with a big bowl just in case... He slept fine all night and seemed OK again Sunday morning, but by the time I got home from my long run he was sluggish and warm again and refused to eat lunch. That's when the nastiness hit (and not from his mouth). His temp went up to 100, but we refrained from giving him meds because he had an empty belly and we didn't want to make anything worse. So he and I sat on the couch the rest of the day doing nothing (Jay was busy in the yard with his adorable little blonde assistant - I voted myself as sick kid babysitter since my long run did me in). Poor kiddo was in the bathroom every 10-15 minutes all afternoon. By bedtime it had slowed and his fever was gone, but he once again went to bed early without dinner. We stayed home from school/work today (because obviously he cannot go to school for at least 24 hours after having fever or potty issues) and he was 90% better all day long (he ate well, drank plenty of Pedialyte, and had no fever or potty issues - just a little sluggish, though plenty happy to be home alone with mommy). It was a rough 24 hours for him, but we're extremely thankful he didn't get the 4-6 day bug that's going around town and sending kids to the ER for IV fluids (and with kids at his school, including one in his classroom - too bad we didn't get a heads-up on that). Then again, maybe he did have the bug all week (hence his poor appetite) - just a much milder form than the other kids have gotten? Anyway, fingers crossed nobody else in the family gets it!

And P.S., for those who have been concerned, Jay's echo came back clear as well. So they have no idea what could have caused the "off" feeling after Ashland. The prednisone is wearing off and he is feeling better, but just in case, he asked about going back on his beta blocker (the doc had taken him off it at his last yearly check-up because his MVP was virtually cured due to running strengthening his heart). The doc decided not to do that, but to put him on an ace inhibitor instead (since he's so active now). Only time will tell how he does with the new meds.

SUPER START TO FALL SOCCER!

The kiddos started soccer this week, with Cora's first practice on Tuesday and James' first practice on Thursday. Jay is coaching both teams this season, which I'd worried would be too much for him, but the week went much better than I expected (especially considering all the extra doctor-related activities he had...) Cora's U5 team is a great mix of kids and Jay was thrilled that they all showed up to the first practice, nobody cried, and everyone seemed interested and engaged the entire hour. Cora was thrilled because her best boy friends Will and Jameson are on her team! James' team has one returning member from last season (Davon), and for the first time since his very first season, he doesn't have an all-boy team (there are two girls). James was a little bummed that he didn't have any buddies playing with him this season (Grant is not playing this fall and Coltin is on a different team - and of course he still misses Manu), but he's a very social kid and has no problem making new friends, so we're not worried about it. Besides, maybe it will help him stay more focused during practice and games?... Another change for him this season is that his practices are run academy-style, where there is a head coach who plans out the activities and runs the U6 kids from ALL the teams through them together. Jay still attends practice as team coach and is tasked with keeping his kids focused, encouraging them, and providing one-on-one assistance/guidance as needed.

Jay reported that both kids did great with practice this week. Cora was interested and aggressive, and behaved very well for "Coach Daddy". James stayed focused and learned 4 new footwork moves, and scored 2 goals during the scrimmage at the end of practice. He was SO VERY PROUD when he got home, showing me his fancy footwork (we had a short demonstration even though dinner was waiting on the table) and telling me about his goals - it was adorable and I couldn't stop smiling.

U5 team practice on Tuesday

U6 academy-style practice on Thursday

 My fingers are crossed that both kids really enjoy playing this season! 

(And I have a feeling that I'm actually going to be learning a lot more about soccer this season - the rules, the language, the moves - than I have previously, due to the increased skill level of the kids. I won't be attending practices this season though... Since we have that 3rd carseat, we're making use of it to spare the non-practicing kid an hour of sitting around the field on a school night, and to reduce the number of nights we need to eat dinner out due to practices ending at our usual dinner time - meaning I can be at home and have dinner on the table when Jay walks in with our soccer player.)

 Today they played their first games (Cora plays at 11:00am and James at 12:00pm). Cora's team played our friends the Lilleyman's team (and we play them again for our last game, which is good, since they weren't actually there and had a substitute coach). There was definitely some field dancing done by Cora, but overall she seemed far more into it today than she did last fall, so we'll see how things go from here. James played an awesome game and was very proud of himself. He played hard and definitely gave it his best, and even scored a couple of goals at the end! His team seems really well rounded, with a couple of ringers, so I expect them to have a fun season together.

I took lots of photos today, since it was the first game of the season...

Warm up time

Cora and her best friend from school, Jameson (whom she calls Jamie)

Will is #5, and he also played an awesome game today! I never saw the smile leave his face! Except when he had to sit out a quarter to give the other kids a chance to play and he continually asked when he could go back in ;-)

 

This one cracks me up! Jay looks totally confused by whatever the kids are doing!

Practicing kicking goals after the game

Temps were in the upper 60s during Cora's game - it was AMAZING!

It takes a lot of gear to coach two soccer teams...

James' team warming up before their game

Scoring goal #1

Taking it down the field...

...and scoring goal #2!