Soccer

I have a confession to make.  I HATE soccer.  I consider myself to be a fairly sporty person, so it's not that I'm some chick who doesn't like sports in general.  It's just that I find it so incredibly boring. Given the choice between watching paint dry and watching a soccer game, well, it would be a hard decision.  When the World Cup came on a few months ago, apparently I was the only one who couldn't give two fig newtons about the end result.  I watched it for about 10 seconds one time, by accident, and the only thing I got out of it was that whoever invented it must not be too bright...I mean, who counts up instead of down when keeping track of the time?  To figure out how much time is left in the game, you have to take 80 (or is it 90?) minutes and subtract out how much has been played.  But wait!  Nobody actually knows how much time is left because the referee (?) may decide to add on additional playing time because someone stepped on his foot or one of the goalies is ugly.  I don't know.  All I know is that we had to play it a few times when I was in seventh grade and one of my classmates went after the ball wrong and the sound of the bone in his leg breaking is a sound that will stay in my brain forever.  I think that was a sign that soccer and I don't like each other.

I tell you all this because, believe it or not, I am now a soccer mom!  That's right, my kids are now playing the sport that I detest.  Somehow it's not quite so bad when it's your own kids running to the ball like dogs to a bone.  We found out that the Apopka SDA church was having a fall soccer "league" for seven weeks for the age groups of 3 - 6 and 7 - 10 on Sunday mornings.  Every time we've asked Calleigh if she wants to play the piano or the violin, she always responds that she wants to play soccer, as if the two were mutually exclusive, so her wish was finally coming true.  Not only that, but Brady would get to play too and all I could think about was how cute he'd look in his jersey.

It started this past Sunday and it all went very well.  It starts at 9:00 for Calleigh's age group so Duncan took her and I would follow with the other two a little later.  We had a short moment of panic when we couldn't find Calleigh sneakers...I didn't want to buy cleats or anything until we assessed the situation.  Duncan wasn't too happy about the thought of showing up at the game with his daughter wearing Crocs!  Fortunately Calleigh finally found them in her backpack at the last second.  Whew! There ended up being about seven or eight other kids in Calleigh's age group including her good friend Lindsey.  They have several guys that are coaching all the kids and they seem like really nice guys.  For the first half hour, they work on various drills and such and then the second half they play a game.  It worked the same way for Aubree and Brady.  However, there were about 20 kids in their group.  My heart melted into a big puddle when I watched Brady run around the field in his jersey for the first warm up activity.  He looked so little!

Brady did all the drills with Aubree but then when they took a water break before the game, he came over to us and said, matter-of-factly, "I'm done" and plopped down on the blanket.  It was pretty warm out and I couldn't blame him.  There were really too many kids playing in the game and I think Aubree only touched the ball a handful of times but it didn't squash her enthusiasm at all.  A little later in the day she remarked "I love soccer.  I really wish we could play more now."  Next time they will separate out the 3-year olds which I think will be much better.  At any rate, a good time was had by all, including me!

Brady practicing kicking it on goal.

Duncan got them a new soccer ball and he's doing great practicing in the back yard.

I am trying to limit the amount of things that we do during the day during the school week so as not to interfere with our school schedule but last we had a few things to take care of.  On Tuesday I had a cleaning at the dentist so I took all the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about Colby anymore.  Of course, though, as soon as I returned and walked in the door, he started fussing for me.  On Wednesday it was another dentist day...this time for Calleigh and Aubree. Aubree had her cleaning which she had missed when "sick" a few weeks ago.  No cavities so we were happy. Calleigh was there to get her two baby incisors pulled on the top.  She's had teeth pulled before so it wasn't that big of a deal.  I confirmed with the dentist, again, that getting these teeth pulled should help with her crooked teeth and he said that yes, but it will take time.  A year from now, her teeth will look a lot different.  No doubt she will most likely still need braces but at least things will look better. On the way home, we went through the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A to get milkshakes since Calleigh could only have liquids.  Boy, what an ordeal that was...going through the drive thru during lunchtime. The line wraps all around the building.  Mercy!

Colby killing time at the dentist.

In Colby news, he's now walking full time and I'm loving watching him walking around with that "new walker" gait.  As far as nursing, he appears to be done with nursing during the day so we are now just nursing first thing in the morning and before bed.  Those are my favorite times with him...he's not distracted or crying.  There aren't too many of those moments to go around.

In Brady news, naps are becoming few and far between.  I thought he was completely done but he did nap on Sabbath and Sunday because Duncan went and laid down in the room with him.  Oh, to have the binky back but we can't go back now!  He's had a few grumpy afternoons while we've been trying to do school because of those missing naps.  Unfortunately the lack of naps hasn't made him sleep later in the morning, at least not yet.  I've still been putting him in his crib every afternoon though and making him stay in there for about 30 - 40 minutes which means it's been about 3:30 when he gets out. He's now catching on to it and today he very seriously told me as he pointed to the 6 on the clock on the wall, "Now, when it gets to that letter, and I yell 'Get me out' you have to come get me."  

Sabbath afternoon nap with Daddy.

In the interest of my getting to bed at a respectable hour, I will end here and just post pictures for the rest of this entry.

Daddy won this belt at work for winning in some games they had one day at a budget planning session.

One science experiment this week.

...and another.  

Duncan made his own iPhone 6 Plus to see how big it would be.  Thinks he's going for it.  I'm on the fence.

I've been trying to find some old fashioned toys at a yard sale to decorate the playroom.  Finally found some!

Working on a puzzle on Sabbath afternoon.

It was 48 inches tall so we had to verify that it was indeed taller than Aubree and Brady.

One of their favorite things to do at gymnastics and it's not even part of their class.  This is on the swing set there.

Playing the Money Bags game.  My mom had gotten Calleigh this years ago before she even knew about coins and I just found it again.  Great game for learning to make change!

Any time another kid is outside, Colby goes to the door and cries to get out there.  

Have a great week!