Soccer Season finales--May 2016

The end of soccer has arrived. (WOOOHOOO!) It was a Cuh-Razy two months, but we survived and now we're done with Sports Saturdays! Austin is already saying that he wants to play baseball next year, so next year Sports Saturdays may last for longer (baseball season follows soccer season). (Though at the beginning of the season he was saying he wanted to play football next year, so we'll see what he decides. He's already been told he can choose The 1 Sport he plays next year when it rolls around.)

Unfortunately, Graham's final game was inside the gym due to weather and Carson was FUSSING the whole time, so I didn't get any pictures of it. The ball goes SUPER fast inside though, and the game was crazy and not very enjoyable. (Sorry I didn't get any pictures, Graham!)

These pictures are from Austin's second-to-last game. This was one of two that got rescheduled (due to weather) for past the end of the season. Coach Regina was amazing with the kids all season long, very positive and running up and down the field with them, sometimes holding her younger son! (Serious Super Mom) She got all the kids a medal and Austin was beaming! He smiled ear to ear all evening! (The medal, of course caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth for Graham, which was hard because we were actually the "coaches" for that team. --Seth coached and I was the Team Manager. So it was our fault that he didn't get one. wah wah...) Because of the rescheduled-ness, Coach Regina couldn't make the actual final game, so she gave out the medals at the second-to-last game.

 1, 2, 3, Red Sharks!

I got some awesome videos of Austin at his very final game. This kid has definitely improved over the course of the three years he's played and even fairly dramatically over the course of this season. He was killing it out there! (When watching the videos, you'll want to look for number 95 or maybe his bright green cleats. They help you see what his footwork actually is which is nice.) Sorry the videos are so dark. And sorry there are two options for each one. I found that Blogger was letting me insert them again which I was thrilled about, but the quality seemed so poor, I had a hard time seeing what was happening and I took the videos! So I put both there, watch on YouTube for better clarity.

Same video, but on YouTube.

Same video, but on YouTube.

Same video, but on YouTube.

Same video, but on YouTube.

Last tunnel of the season.

Perfect end to a great season!

Soccer Season 2016, post 1

Well, Spring is upon us and that means that Soccer Season is upon us. The first game was actually the last Saturday in February which feels like it should still be winter to me, but the weather was great and I actually paid the price for having forgotten to put sunscreen on us. I had a major Farmer's Tan sunburn on my right arm. Just my right arm.

We decided to start Graham in soccer this year just like we did Austin at that age not because we expect them to be professional or something someday, but we think it's a good chance to work with your team, learn how to cooperate, listen and obey authority and plus it burns tons of energy (well, it does it they actually run the field). This year, Austin's team from last year was going to stay a Rookie team which meant Austin was too old and most of the last year's team just handed down their spots (read: shirts) to younger siblings and Seth is the coach and I'm the Team Manager. lol (How has it been 2 years since Austin was Graham's age playing his first season?) Austin had briefly expressed interest in t-ball instead of soccer, but we preferred (for at least this year) to have 2adays every Saturday instead of Game Saturday for 20 weeks instead of just 8-10 weeks. Remind me to write down how we feel about that once the season is over.

Before the first set of games, I tried really hard to get some good pictures of the boys sitting on the porch. Austin seems to have lost his On Command Smile, so I had a hard time with him, but I did get a few decent ones.

Graham, the Spark

Austin, the Red Shark

And then a brothers shot, of course. 

(Austin looks so old! gah.)

The first game the first week was a Sparks game. It involved A Lot of tears throughout the game from pretty much every player on the team. It's hard for them to want to run the field without their parent and the parents are not allowed on the field during the game. This meant that kids would wander off the field or come crying to the sideline because they didn't want to be out there. I was so excited we got the best ref for the first game because she's super good with kiddos so young (plus it was like seeing a friend, we used to go to The Village with her).

I kept putting that foot out of the sun,
but he moved it right back.

Graham loved running the field and wasn't bothered by the fact that I was waiting for him on the sidelines and was only a little bothered that Seth was paying attention to everyone on the team, not just him, but was extremely bothered that people would kick his ball and not let him have a chance. 

I know this is a sad picture, but the lighting was too good not to share.

She lured him back out but it didn't last long. 

This kid wears his emotions on his entire shirt, not just the sleeve!

Coach Seth hard at work, and then Graham saw a chance and sprinted out toward the ball from the sideline.

Reed, Jay, and Graham headed toward the goal!

Go Graham! I love Austin's face watching his brother's game.

Little Brother chilling the whole time at back to back games.

We grabbed our snack and hopped in the car to go to the next game. Having games that only start an hour a part (like 10 and then 11) makes for a really tight situation and we were late to Austin's game. The coach had to hold his younger son the entire time and I just kept thinking he was chanting "I need a drink" in his head. I have no idea how he actually felt, but if I was running the field while holding 30 pounds because he wouldn't be put down, I would be doing some daydrinking later.

I love how they're both in this picture.
Austin waiting to go in and Graham eating his snack.

love my boy(s)

Go Austin!

The next week, Austin had team pictures followed by his game and then two hours later was Graham's. We were excited about having this big break between to eat lunch back at home, but between games I ended up running a friend home who's husband had left for a family emergency and she needed a way to get home. I drove her home and her husband and thankfully left the front door unlocked so she was good once I got her and the three kids home. It worked out so well since we each have three kids and the ages are basically exactly the same.

This has now prompted my NEED to have access to the house if I'm dropped off sans keys. Seth's going to research getting the garage code thing to work. Anyways, I'm sharing that story in case y'all don't have access like that, please consider figuring out a way just in case. If there's an emergency and you can get home, can you get inside?

I didn't bring the camera that day, so I got basically no pictures. I'll be taking it again later in the year to try to catch some more fun action shots of my soccer players.

I'm excited to see how this turns out from the professional.

I asked on Facebook what people store/transport all the soccer gear in and I loved this option Cyndi suggested. First, I love that it's mesh and I can hose it off if I need to and also so that everything can air out. Secondly, it was $7 at Target, so I loved the price. It has a little exterior pocket I keep my phone in and it's large enough to store both pairs of cleats and shin guards plus the ball and sunscreen, a box of tissue (seems like we always need a tissue!), etc. I wanted to include it here in case anyone else has a need for something like this.

Are y'all doing any Spring Sports?

Cute Pic Post -- January 2016

December flew by with Christmas Activities, some sickness, and ending with my surgery. We had a good New Years despite my surgery that morning and then hit the ground running in January. We spent time with family on the 1st like we normally do, purged toys and books, finally found a home for Gran's piano, moved Graham into a big boy bed (from the toddler bed he had been in for the last few years), had some house renovations done in the family room, spent most of the month trading around colds and fevers, and then ended on a high note with lice. GAH!

Thankfully, I never got sick (post surgery would have been really bad), but all the boys had asymptomatic fevers followed by weeks of cough. Graham had two more ear infections (following the one he had in December), so I spent a lot of time at doctor offices or home with sick kids. And then when we spotted the nits, we had to go through days of using up all the hot water and nit picking (forever the term will mean something else!) and shampooing with special stuff. Graham still has some PTSD from the special stuff. Enjoy the month in pictures. lol

That Georgia.

In the middle of sorting and purging books, we had to read the most recent one gifted by Aunty Anne.

I'm trying to be better about Outfit Pictures.

The Daddle. I swear one year I'll actually keep it.

One of Carson's new tricks.

After over two years, we finally found a family that was extremely serious about taking Gran's piano. We chose what had to have been the coldest, windiest day to go to storage and hand it off to Paul's moving crew, but I'm glad that is off our shoulders. Seth sat down to play a few things and it still sounded great even after having sat in storage all that time. We pray that kiddos get to learn on it and that the love of music is continued for another generation.

We went to "Toys For Us" (as Graham calls it) to use the gift cards that Aunt Rory gave us and the boys had a blast picking out what they wanted. With the whole store at their fingertips, it became a serious case of ADD, but we tried to help steer them in the right directions. I think they're both happy with what they chose. Thanks Aunt Rory!

I find it is so difficult to get all three in one picture so when I saw the
bigs sitting on the couch, I plopped Carson in the middle and snapped away!

Milk Drunk

I'm so excited to host this next month!

By now this is old hat, but he crawls over and stands up!

Playing Patty Cake with a cute baby.

You can't see his face well,
but he thought this was hilarious!

We got Graham in a new, big boy bed from Costco.
We strapped it to the roof of my car and
drove home with the flashers on in the pouring rain.
What a memory!

Such a big boy.

Fever #1

All bundled up in his big bed.

During the home renovation stuff, we had no internet, so Cars it was!

Graham loves putting this plane together.

Thankful we have two living areas.
The Front Room became a giant mess.

Did you know that Noah took Cars and Planes too?

Go Jackets!

Carson loves playing with the "dangerous things."

Chapters read these; I'd never read TKAM. I disliked GSAW.

Our church service streams live online which was good because we had yet another ear infection. He hadn't been on meds long enough for us to go to church, so we watched from home. The boys joined us for the singing and then went to play while Seth and I listened to the sermon.

I was also working on planning for IF.

I recently found two of my books on record that I thought had gotten lost over the years--Rainbow Brite and Popples! I paid a guy to transfer the record onto a cd so that we could listen to them, and the boys loved it. I was practically crying I was so excited! The boys have a handful of their books on cd, from movies they are into, but I like doing Bambi and these to keep their horizons broad. I believe that's Austin on my lap, Fever #2.

We love watching AFV together.
Although, I'm starting to get worried about the ideas
it's planting into the minds of these sons of mine!

This is the boys doing some of their books on cd. I think Carson has the fever now, so that's Fever #3.

A quote I liked from the book I finally finished on Essentialism.

We went to the doctor (again) to check for anything more serious since they had all had fevers, Graham had an ear infection, and then all three had this nasty cough that lasted for weeks. Everything tested fine, so it was just a cold lingering on, but we had to start doing breathing treatments. Carson HATES a breathing treatment. Austin's a champ at this point!

The next day I tried doing it this way and got better results.
I just aimed the vapor up his nose while he played with stuff.

As a part of the home renovation of the family room, we got a bigger rug. These two pictures show exactly why I wanted a new rug. More floor space that people can enjoy. We also took the time to purge/sort some of our AV equipment. We got rid of surround sound stuff we never used and hooked up the Nintendo systems. The boys weren't very good at this one, but I'd much rather them play this over and over than the Mario games we have for Wii. It feels safer and less likely to affect behavior. (Sometimes Austin gets all over-dramatic and bounces around like Mario from playing it.)

Doesn't need a nap every day,
but I guess needed one this day.

Houston, we have nits. I called in the supplies to stores and had Seth stop on his way home. GAH!

We used up all the hot water for days washing everything. An awesome friend brought me some margarita, though, and I'll be forever grateful for that.

We decided to try on big brothers uniform and it fit great!
This is Graham's mad face.
I couldn't get a smile so I suggested a mad face.

Gorgeous January day calls for Nicos!