Games

We've discovered a great new company that makes family games. The company is called Simply Fun and if you are ever invited to a party, I strongly encourage you to attend. (One of my good friends just signed up as an consultant so if you want anything, let me know and I'll hook you up.)


This game has become one of Elise's new favorites. Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon with no friends able to come play.


This game is called Walk the Dogs and involves setting up and collecting various breeds of doggies.


And Elise takes the game very seriously.

After many rounds of Walk the Dogs, we moved onto Picky Sticks (or the porcupine game as Elise calls it).

Be warned, if you come to my house, my girlie might just rope you into a round of Walk the Dogs!

A special day for my boys.

They made the decision to be baptised yesterday. Not only did they make the decision to be baptised, they decided to do it together. I didn't even think of pulling out my camera at church, but this was taken as soon as we got home (yes, we attend a very casual church). I thought they'd go one after each other, but a 2nd pastor got into the baptismal and they went under together. What a special day for our family.

And I would have posted this yesterday but I discovered what happens when you play basketball with longish nails. You risk attempting to rip them off your fingers. This is how I spent my night...nursing my poor fingers. Did you know it hurts like the dickens? And I just about passed out when I saw my nails sticking up a 90 degree angle. I'm really hoping I don't lose the nails.
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And my engagement ring always falls towards my palm. What's up with that? It looks like I'm wearing 2 wedding bands. Really, I'm only married to one man.

It's that time of year again...

And I don't have much time to think, let alone sit down at the computer for anything other than work related. Sigh...busy busy days but every mom I talk with this time of year is feeling the same way. Here's a quick recap of what's consuming our lives right now (other than the BIGGIE of school and homework).

It's SOCCER time again! My kids play both fall and spring soccer and love it. At this point, they've been on the same time with the same kids for several years now. Elise used to hang back and only kick the ball if it came towards her. She'd run towards the ball, but only following the other kids. This year, she looks like a different kid out there! She's going after the ball, staying in the pack, kicking the ball. Several moms have commented on it as well, so it's not just my momma pride seeing these changes. She did get kicked pretty hard last week and I had to carry her off the field in tears. I wasn't sure if that would ding her confidence, but she was right in there again this week. And, for the 3rd straight year, she's on the PINK team.

Carson is playing on a co-ed team this year. For some odd reason, his team is 5-7 grade boys and 8th grade girls. Guess they didn't have enough girls sign up to have enough teams. The girls are really good and they are serving as good mentors for the boys. Carson wasn't too sure he liked having girls on his team, but it's not so bad when they help the team win. :)

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Carson is also doing a swim team this year for the first time. He hates it, except when he's in the water swimming. Sheeshh, bitter complaining before and after practice. We're struggling with "forcing" him to do another sport versus letting him decide. Swim team will go on through the winter until early spring (when soccer will start up again). He's getting to the age that he needs to be involved with something all year. He gets too lazy without the routine and discipline of a sport. So, we'll see how this works out. But, needless to say, I wasn't sure I'd live to post any pictures I might have taken at his practices. :)

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Perry's football team continues to do well. They are ranked #1 in Missouri right now with high hopes for another state championship. Exciting for the kids, but I'm already dreading the long post season.

Games

Elise loves to play games.


She'll give you this cute and innocent look while asking if you want to play a game with her. Who could resist?

Yeah, don't let that cute look fool you...she plays to win! And she has mancala figured out so much better than I do that she easily beats me. Every.single.time.


Even when she "helps" me out by telling what to move, she still always beats me.

And thens he gloats in the win. Watch out for this one! :)

Teeth

Dental Appointments

Those 2 words sum up a good chunk of last week. Carson could go weeks without brushing his teeth and have no cavities. Elise just needs to look at candy and she gets ones. Bummer.
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Last week she had to have 2 cavaties filled and 2 new molars sealed (in the hopes of keeping them cavity free). She's now had so much dental work done, including root canal and crown on a baby tooth (who knew they did that?), she doesn't even flinch. In fact, after the last appointment, I made a comment about the shot and she was surprised to learn she had gotten a shot in the mouth. The dentist does a great job with kids...so good that he gave her 2 shots in her mouth last visit and she didn't even realize it. :)
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And, sadly, as her adult teeth start coming in, it's pretty clear the dental work is going to continue in the form of braces. We'd better start saving our pennies.

Two weeks in...

Wow, I'm getting really bad about posting.

We're two weeks into school and all is going well. Both kids love their teachers.

Elise had her first "real" test last week in Social Studies and she was quite proud of the 100% she brought home. Her class is apparently a bit rowdy and having difficulty following the rules. One day last week, she announced that she'd had a horrible rotten day! It turns out the entire class lost a recess period. That was the first time EVER she'd lost a recess period and she was ticked.

Carson had a little relapse of the bus drama that followed him all last year and really trashed a friendship (both at the kid and adult levels). I'm really proud of the way he handled it this year. We made some changes to our morning and afternoon routines and thanks to the help of a wonderful neighbor, the problem seems to have been solved. Thank you to a great neighbor!!!

Carson also really likes his teacher this year. She has done some fun things and he's really motivated to do well. He's playing the trumpet this year in band. I pray I still have ear drums at the end of the school year.

The kids are both back into fall soccer and looking forward to a fun season. Carson is doing a swim team this year for the first time as well. He's not so thrilled with the 4 practices a week, but I think he'll enjoy being in the pool and meeting new friends.

Perry's football (last year's state champs!) are already 2-0. I love seeing the kids do well, but I hate the thought of the lengthy post-season play.

I hope everyone else is having a smooth "getting back into the school routine" season as well!