STILL GOING...

Soccer may never end this season...

 

With all the rain and cancelled practices/games, where we're usually done with spring soccer in mid-April, we're now looking at May 9th as our last game. The kids don't mind a bit though and the weather has held out nicely (it hasn't been hot at all yet!), so we're just kicking right along...

 Cora was on FIRE at tonight's practice! She kept control of the ball throughout most of the scrimmages and was super aggressive. The only downer was when she threw a fit over Caden grabbing the ball out from between her feet to make a goal. They were on the same team, but SHE wanted to get that goal and was furious with him for "ruining" her shot. Also, since she and Emily ended up on different teams during the scrimmages, they occasionaly got confused and tried to help each other, rather than duke it out. There were big hugs when Cora sobbed over that lost goal...

 James had a great practice too and was thrilled to score some goals of his own! His team has been doing so well this season and all the boys are so into at every game and practice - makes Jay very proud to be their coach!

"I LIKE TO STUDY ANIMALS"

It's late spring and the time of year to start being EXTRA careful in the great outdoors here in the Deep South. There is now a plethora of ticks and mosquitoes and fire ants. And SNAKES! (Remember the video of the king snake I posted here recently? - that one is harmless, and actually wonderful to have in the yard because they eat the poisonous snakes!)

 

Pictures of snakes meeting their demise have been all over Facebook lately, posted by local friends. In recent weeks we have been reminding the kids more and more to watch where they step in the yard, especially when out walking Buster together in the morning, just the two of them...

 

Jay came home from school with the kids yesterday to find a scary specimen back by our little pond:

Apparently James ID'ed it before Jay even had a chance to tell him. In explanation, he said "I love all the animals and I like to study the animals that I don't get to see!" (It's a copperhead, in case you don't study snakes as thoroughly as James does.)

(After some observation and a reminder lesson about watching where they step, the copperhead was transferred to an Action Packer via snake stick, sealed in the trunk, then relocated about 10 miles away from our house.)

 

I suppose it's time to buy a new jug of snake repellent. It doesn't work perfectly, but it helps. While we don't mind the king snake or banded water snakes or corn snakes (some of which might be the ones that used to live INSIDE our house) or rat snakes that frequent our yard, we also have quite the history of copperheads and cottonmouths and rattlesnakes making appearances. For the time being, we've decided not to let the kids walk the dog solo in the morning...

ONE OF THE GOOD ONES

Jay headed up to CRREL this week for an IPR. Enough acronyms for ya?

His third flight was a tiny tin can.

The landing was rough enough that the pilot finally buckled his safety belt...

 

While Jay was gone, I received multiple offers of help from friends (and even spin class acquaintances!) Of course, my initial reaction was to decline the offers, while expressing my thanks. We may be far from family, but we are definitely surrounded by good people here, and it's nice to know I could call on them if I really did have a need! But as I thought about it more, I worried that maybe they truly thought I DID need the help... Neither Jay or I go TDY (another accronym for ya!) very often, and our friends know that. But it's not like either of us aren't fully capable of holding things together on our own with the kids when needed... So then I reasoned that they were offering their help based on the simple fact that they know what a huge part Jay plays in everything the kids and I do, every single day. They didn't think I necessarily NEEDED the help, but just that I would appreciate it. I am constantly hearing positive comments to describe Jay (from friends, coworkers, running and spin class buddies, other parents on the soccer field, our school admins and teachers, you name it!) He's often (OFTEN!) called "one of the good ones". He is called "patient", "involved", and "a fun dad". He's even been called an "overachiever" (in response to someone finding out that he was coaching both our U5 and U6 soccer teams). He is missed when he can't attend an event that the kids and I are at (seriously, if he's not there, folks want to know why, because they know there will be a good, valid reason, and they usually wonder if he's home sick or something because it's so rare that he misses out). His personality always proceeds him (in a good way, obviously) and I can't help but beam with pride when I hear compliments about him, because, obviously, I chose wisely ;-)

Anyway, I know that was a bit mushy, and it's not our anniversary or Valentine's Day or Father's Day, but even though I tell him often, if never hurts to hear it again (and in writing!) You know it feels good when someone brags about you - James recently discovered this feeling when he ASKED me to share his good behavior and A+ report card with "everyone that you know in the whole wide world" on Facebook, rather than just text it to his grandparents like I usually would.

Obviously the kids were thrilled when he pulled into the driveway tonight - dropping their dinner in a heartbeat to run outside and smother him in hugs and squeals of "We missed you! We're so glad you're home safe!" We are SO GLAD to have our "good one" home!!

FULL OF IT

James has been complaining off and on over the past two weeks about his belly hurting. Last Monday he complained enough that his teacher called us to come get him at lunch time, so he and Cora spent the afternoon at home with daddy, where the only thing out of the ordinary behavior (or health) wise for James was three big trips to the bathroom. When she called again this Monday (yesterday), we decided to just watch him closely and see how the day progressed, since he hadn't made mention of it all weekend long. And the day was normal, other than a few complaints about that belly. This morning he woke up complaining (in an extremely happy mood, but complaining nonetheless), kept complaining after a trip to the bathroom, and showed me where it hurt (not where I expected it to hurt if it was a bathroom issue) when I inquired. But he also quickly started asking me about not going to school and instead going to the doctor and getting his Kindle for the LONG wait in the waiting room... and thus I thought he might be milking the situation... but because he was pointing to pain right at his ribs (and not the lower belly, where I expected, if it was just a potty issue) and cringed when I pressed on it, my mama paranoia crept in and we went to see the doc.

 Hooray for enough time in the waiting room to play those Kindles!

 Showing me where it hurts...

Happy to be getting an x-ray, AKA a picture of his guts...

So, not totally unexpectedly, we found out that he's full of poo. 

"Severely Compacted" was the official diagnosis.

Our homeopathic doc recommended prune/apple juice cocktails (to cut the nasty taste) and a daily dose of milk of magnesia. And he said this could take a month or two to clear... it's that bad. Poor bud. Why is it always a poop issue at our house?... Better that than something else though, of course. The doc says it's pretty common at this age because kids are so busy and they don't take enough time when they're in the bathroom. My two cents? I think him converting to mostly standing to do his business is an equal culprit, so I've asked him to just sit for now and give his body a chance... Hopefully we can get rid of the belly ache sooner than later!

JUST THE USUAL

Since yesterday was so productive, today we got to kick back (mostly - we did have the regular weekend cleaning chores) and hang with the kids.

GYM-STAR!

Since we didn't do anything interesting today (productive, yes, but not interesting), I'll post some cute photos of our niece Addy at her gymnastics recital. We hear she did great and really enjoyed herself (and we sure wish we lived closer so we could attend these types of things - Eli is playing ball again this spring, so I'll have to post a photo of him in his gear one of these weekends!)

 Congratulations Addy!

And as far as our productivity, we FINALLY tackled the office, after literally years of neglect... Jay cleared out the closet, tossing some things and designating others to sell. We dug through piles and piles and PILES of papers on our desks - mine being half covered in bill stubs and the other half in kiddo schoolwork/artwork, and I don't even want to know what Jay found, since most of it went into the trash or shredder. I can now type AT MY DESK instead of the kitchen counter... We vacuumed. We dusted. We found the floor. We can breathe in here again! And on top of all that, we made time to re-evaluate our budget once again... We spent all of Thursday and Friday at a "Workplace Financial Wellness" course where we learned shocking things such as needing to live WITHIN OUR MEANS (and what that percentage actually is, which was the shocking part) and how much we'll need to save for retirement (without depending on our pensions or social security - neither of which are guaranteed). Breaking down all the different numbers with professionals/financial coaches was both enlightening and helpful, and we feel like we now have the tools needed to truly get out of debt (in the near future, rather than just "someday... hopefully soon"), so that we can start saving (something we're very, very behind on). And though the class ended on a bit of a womp-womp with warnings and instructions for protecting assets, and setting up wills and trusts, one of the final numbers we crunched was how much can be saved in 30 years by investing (not just saving, but investing) as little as $5000 per year (that's just a little over $400/month). I felt at least partially redeemed seeing that number and knowing that while we're not doing much, we're doing SOMETHING by contributing automatically to our TSP every paycheck. It's going to take a lot of work, but we'll get there, and we can't let past mistakes (or growing pains, since much of our debt is due to living on volunteer and grad school stipends for years, and having two children so close together, requiring a hefty 'investment' in daycare/private school) get us down. Sure, we've made some bad financial decisions (ahem, buying two NEW cars in quick succession), and it seriously SUCKS to add up the line items and find out exactly how much you spend on groceries and restaurants and clothes/shoes (our biggest offenders, in that order), but those are things we can change. So let the changes keep on rollin'... we're on our way out of the hole!

DRESS-UP BABY DOLL

 Two of many crazy outfits this morning

(but these were the only two she asked for pictures of)

ICE CREAM PARTY!

James' kindergarten class apparently did so well on their standardized testing (back in March) that their teacher threw them an ice cream party today. James told us that he picked "one hundred and a thousand!" toppings for his ice cream (which means, he took some of everything - and it looked like every other kid in class did the same!) To say he was hopped up on sugar when daddy got him home is an understatement... and he was still spinning when I got home 2 hours later!

 We're going to (somewhat) miss this small class size next year when we move to public school. It's so nice to have the 8:1 teacher to student ratio, as James has learned so much and loves Ms. Tina to pieces, but at the same time, it's hard for her not to notice every tiny imperfection when her attention is focused on so few kids... We're honestly starting to think that some of his "bad behavior" reports are just a bit too harsh, especially considering her free admission (on Facebook) to being burned out (she's taking the summer off). Seems our decision to cut James some slack was justified...

BRUSHING LESSONS

This is how we brush our teeth so early in the morning...

MORNING SNUGGLES

MOVIE NIGHT

 Would you, could you, in a box?

How many mammals can fit on the loveseat?...

SOCCER STARS

 GOAL!!

 High-five from coach daddy!

 This child was bruised and bloody from her head to her knees today...

RHYTHM RUN AT RIVERFEST

We made it to Riverfest bright and early this morning for their first ever Rhythm Run!

 Denise and Jay ran the 5K (25:15 and 27:25, though the course was a tenth of a mile short - regardless, I had a nice PR based on my average pace, while Jay ran the event to gauge his base as he starts a 12-week training program called "Run Less Run Faster"), and Cora ran the 1-mile Fun Run with daddy at her side (9:51 - her fastest yet!) Michelle and her mom and kiddos graciously came out (in the drizzling rain!) to cheer us on and watch James and Cora while we raced - thank you again for that Michelle, we truly appreciated the opportunity to both run today!

ChickFilA was one of the sponsors, and the cow ran the Fun Run (and Cora was pleased to beat him)

 Adler and Hazel did the 5K with their parents, Eric and Ashley, and ran so well!
(I have no idea what I captured Jay doing in that photo up there...)

The award ceremony was downtown on the south stage, and it took the officials a while to talley up the times, so the kids spent a good 20-30 minutes dancing in the streets. Cora monopolized James for a long time, until Evie almost cried that Cora wouldn't let him dance with her. Eventually Cora gave her brother some space (he told us he was teaching all the girls to dance...) and went to dance with Hazel, then sweetly approached Adler on the sidelines and asked him to dance. It was the cutest thing ever (they totally danced like a couple of 6th grade Valentine's dance kids!)

We found the Robotics Club table and will be signing the kids up for the Kindergarten through 3rd grade team, since they were so enthralled with the Lego robotic contraptions. Cora also wanted a hug from the robot mascot, and they each guessed the number of Legos in his belly for the contest.

Cora won 2nd in her age group (there were two girls in her age group)

Girls Rule! Lori and her daughter Madeline each placed first in their age groups, and I placed first in mine. Hazel and Adler both won their age groups too! And JP and Mack also walked away with awards, as did Kristi (of course! she was over a minute ahead of the second place person!), so our friends really cleaned up at the awards today!

 I'm hoping that Cora stays interested in running. She did so well today and seemed to really love the whole event. She ran hard and smiled through it all. I'd love to be able to do longer races with her someday! I couldn't be more proud of my little "Pink Flash"!