Last Day of Soccer Games

Saturday wrapped up the spring season of Soccer and Flag Football. Hayley had an awesome game, running all over the field, dribbling the ball, juking the opponents and having a couple shots on goal. The whole crowd was cheering her on, led by her own personal cheerleader Jake, who kept the chants of "Go Hayley Go!" going through the whole game. I asked her later how she had so much energy to keep going, and she just smiled and said, "I just kept thinking about going to the Rodeo this afternoon!" We will post more on that adventure next!

"GO HAYLEY GO!"


"Mmmn, funnel cakes here I come!"


"TROPHY TIME!"

Trevor ended out his season with a great game. He was hot and sweaty when it was all done, enjoying having his cold water bottle being dumped on his head. It was in the high 80's here on Saturday, so it was good to chill out! Also worth mentioning are the 7 headers Trevor had on Saturday. No wonder his head hurt!



"PEACE OUT"

Trevor, SmackaBug, and SmashedBro

Trevor had a fun project due last Monday at school. He had to create an imaginary litterbug using recycled materials and creatively write a report on this bug. Trevor created flying insect called SmackaBug and wrote his report about it on the back of Smackabug's best friend, SmashedBro (who had the unfortunate experience of messing around with Smackabug's back flap one day...thus his name "SmashedBro"). It was a funny story with a "wicked" ending! Good job Trev!

Going to State!

Michael is on an Odyssey of the Mind creative problem solving team from school (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com). This is our first experience with Odyssey of the Mind, so I am sure I am missing some details when I try to describe it. Each team is assigned 1 of 5 different problems and they have to present a skit showing a creative solution to the problem. There are all sorts of rules about the technical & creative aspects they have to follow, including no adult help at all, including with building sets, sewing props, etc. The problem Michael's team was assigned was DinoStories - "What might have happened to the dinosaurs that existed so many years ago? In a humorous performance, teams will present their original theory of what caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. The performance will include a dinosaur, a replica of the same dinosaur, an animal that is not a dinosaur, and a technical simulation of the team's "extinction theory." At least part of the performance will take place in a setting from the Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous periods."



So last Saturday Michael's team took their solution they had created to the regional competition and place 4th overall, sending them to the State competition in April. His team lost 3 of its 7 members just 2 days before regionals, and they had to do a lot of rewriting to make it happen but their hard work paid off at the competition. Way to go Mr. Gangster/Mad Scientist/Time Traveler!

Being Three

How fun is it to be 3?

Besides going to the Children's Muesuem for playgroup, helping at Hayley's school, having a party at Sam's Club with 5 other kids & moms, & playing at the YMCA everyday, below are a few of Jake's other adventures this week...



TURNING THE TOLIET WATER BLUE!!! Jake was so excited to turn the toliet water blue. He couldn't wait until the others got home from school so he could run and tell them. He didn't want to use the bathroom at first, because he thought once you flushed it, the blue would disappear & the normal water would come back. He was pumped to find out it came back blue...for 2000 flushes!




PAINTING PIG NOSES AT PRESCHOOL FOR THE LETTER P. We also had fun with Playdoh, a Parachute, pictures of Policemen, and had a Picnic lunch with Pizza and Pretzels while watching the Pirate movie, Peter Pan!




CHILLING OUT AT SOCCER GAMES. Jake is a good sport on Saturdays, going from soccer game to soccer game, to football game each week. This week he and his friend Catherine made themselves a spaceship with the chairs and coolers, while kicking back and playing Star Wars.

Good Times

The last week has been a busy one...see our week in review!


Trevor celebrating GO TEXAN DAY at school. It's Rodeo time in Houston! More to follow on this later!



Hayley's first field trip! Hayley and her kitty friends had a lot of fun with the face painting at the Children's Museum.


Grandparents and a goal! We were so excited to have both sets of Grandparents at Trevor's soccer game this week-end. Everyone arrived just in time to see his awesome goal!


Michael enjoying a Chocolate Fudge scoop of ice cream after a hot, well played football game.


Trevor celebrating a soccer goal ice cream scoop with Grandpa.



Jake and his friend Emmy having fun at the Library on Dr. Seuss's Birthday.

Jobs

Last fall Hayley's teacher invited the dads of the class to come in and talk to the class about their jobs. Don went, armed with big posters of drill rigs and exciting stories of far off places he travels to like Germany and China. He scored big time with the kids when he pulled out the 2008 Chinese Olympic Mascots he got our kids on his last visit...seriously, there was just about a riot in the classroom. Our kids go to a language magnet school here and the class had just finished a semester learning Chinese & all about the culture and the upcoming Olympics. I think it was an exciting day for everyone involved.



Well, fast forward a few months and yep, it's now time for the moms to come and talk to the class about their jobs. And believe me, there are some really exciting jobs some of these moms have - doctors, scientists that do things with rats (the kids love that kind of stuff!), preschool teachers, middle school soccer coaches, etc., so the competition is pretty tough. The day I was assigned to come in, a parent had visited that morning & did magic tricks for the kids, sending them all home with their own trick. Very cool stuff! (That parent was an attorney, but as we all know, lawyers can play all sorts of fun tricks on us, right?! Haha - love ya Don!).

Most of you know I worked for years in accounting before I became a stay-at home mom. Now as fascinating as calculators are, I don't think I would have scored real high on the excitment factor back then. But as a stay-at-home mom, well, what could be better, right?



So I thought real hard, held intensive polling sessions with key informants, various ages and genders of course, reheld intensive polling sessions when the answers didn't come out right the first time ("Really, what is Mom's job? No, not cleaning your room!), and came up with a bag full of jobs I do to wow a class of 23 5-6 year olds. I had enough items for each child & the teacher to stand and hold one, so by the time we emptied the bag, they were in a standing circle around me. Some of the fun jobs I have are a chauffer (school bus), a Private Detective (magnifying glass to help me find things), hairdresser (clippers), cook (apron), gardener (flower), dishwasher (dish), laundry attendant (tide & towel), preschool teacher (Jake's preschool stuff), classroom helper (Hayley's Tuesday Folder), librarian (books), accountant/pay bills (calculator), grocery shopper (store bag), fitness trainer (weight), Dr. Mom (stethoscope), Dental Assistant (floss and Jake's toothpaste), cheerleader (pom pom)...you get the drift. Then I ended by putting on one of Hayley's tierra's and said at the end of the day, my job and my kids make me the queen of our house. Awww...the girls loved it!



And of course, we had to make a treat for extra bribery in case there were any doubts that a stay-at-home mom is the best job there is! White Chocolate Covered Popcorn with Orange Sprinkles (they are talking about the letter O this week).



The teacher just chuckled the whole way through and laughed out loud when the extendable feather duster for my "housekeeping" job came out. "You are just like Mary Poppins!", she exclaimed.



Yep, that's me...practically perfect in every way! Just make sure you call before you come visit so I can stuff all the junk in the closet, have the kids vacuum and make the quick call for take-out!

Swimming in February

Yesterday we took advantage of the fabulous weather and I took the younger three kids swimming afterschool at the Y. Michael had a group project and couldn't come, but the others had a blast. It was windy, so it seemed a little cooler than 80 degrees, but it sure was fun to go swimming in February! I am glad we went because overnight a "cold" front came into town & the temperatures have dropped 20 degrees, so the high today is just 60....perfect park weather!

Trevor's Big Question?????

WHY DO SUPERHEROES WEAR TIGHTS?

Feeling Yucky

Trevor has been sick all week with a high fever & croup. We thought Hayley maybe coming down with it too when she started running a high fever Monday night. Lucky us, we already had a doctor appointment for Michael's sprained ankle Tuesday afternoon, so the whole crew invaded the doc's office. After the doctor checked out Michael's hurt ankle, confirming it was just a sprain, he took a quick look and swabbed Trev. The test results came back and sure enough, Trev had been bitten by the nasty Flu Bug. Because it is so highly contagious, he went ahead & prescribed Tamiflu for both T&H. He talked to all the kids about the importance of washing their hands, and looked at me & said, just call if (most likely when) Jake and Michael start with the fever and he would call in the script for them. I had never heard of this med before but apparently, if caught soon enough, it can knock a few days off the longevity of the flu. We'll take it!

The good news is Hayley has been fever free for 24 hours now & unless she relapses, she is headed back to school. Poor Trev is down for the count it looks like, so I have called the school & arranged to pick up his homework for the week. Lucky kid!

For those of you wondering about Michael's ankle...he first hurt it a few months ago probably playing basketball & has occasional pain when walking, running, etc. Saturday after he got home from his Scout camp-out, he stood up & it cracked & gave way, tumbling him to the ground. It swelled up pretty fast & was really painful to walk on, so we had it checked out. He's sporting a styling ACE bandage today at school.

And for those of you who know Jake, the staying outta trouble bit didn't last very long. He was on a terror at the doctor's office, totally hamming it up, being loud & trying to climb on the doctor's chair and table. The good ole' doc took it in stride and had a nice little chit chat with him on the dangers of smashing your head open. Then we go to the pharmacy last night & he was still hamming it up, but at least this time he was trapped in a shopping cart. He made a new friend, a local sheriff who was waiting for his pharmacy wife to get off so they could go to dinner. Strangely enough, he showed no fear when the sheriff was showing him the handcuffs. Jake just wanted to put them on him & me. We've gotta keep an eye on that kid alright!

Staying Outta Trouble

Jake was up early enough this morning to see his Dad off to work at 6:30 am. As Don was leaving, he asked Jake, "Are you going to stay out of trouble today?" Jake looked at me and asked, "Is today church day?" I said, "No, not today." Jake promptly turned back to Don and said happily, "Yep, I'm going to stay outta of trouble today!" We had to laugh.

Jake adds a fun element to our family, and is always full of spunk. However, as evidenced by his church comment, we have been having a lot of talks about making good choices at church the last few weeks (notably since I became his Sunbeam teacher!). I guess he wanted to make sure what he was commiting to before he told Don he was going to stay outta of trouble today! And yes, true to his word, Jake stayed outta trouble and was great today!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought it would be great to get a shot of the kids before heading off to school to post for Valentine's Day...easy, right? Now I remember why we haven't had a family picture made in years. 15 shots, lots of personality,nothing with everyone smiling normal & looking with eyes open at the camera. But at least we got some giggles. So I have posted the best. One of these days I'll figure out how to do the slide show....Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a great day with the ones you love!

What a busy week!

This week we had the 100th day of school on Monday; Marti Gras celebrations at school, preschool at our house and Scouts on Fat Tuesday; piano lessons and Church meetings on Wednesday; Spelling Bee, Chinese New Year festivities at school and soccer & football practices on Thursday; 1 kid home sick from school & a Dad flying home from California on Friday; and on Saturday, 2 soccer games, 1 flag football game, a Chinese New Year celebration performance, Odessy of the Mind practice and a church meeting. I think the partridge in a pear tree was lost in there somewhere...

Anyway, life is busy but fun. Below are a few of the great pictures of the week. Enjoy!

Hayley & Trevor after performing at the Chinese New Year Celebration
Hayley in her cute costume
Kung Fu Trevor

Hayley resting after a great 1st quarter
Jake at the game
Trevor playing football on the sidelines of Michael's game
Michael running on defense
Jake passed out sitting backwards on the couch

The Spelling Bee

Michael went to the District Spelling Bee this week, after winning his middle school spelling a couple of weeks ago. He did an AWESOME job, going 9 rounds and placing 7th place in the whole District! I was in the auditorium and writing the words as Michael received them, and let's just say I would have been eliminated on his 2nd word(...and his 7th, 8th, and 9th words - and I was an English major! So sad.)
Not to mention there were 2 words I had never even heard of that he got correct. Michael kept his cool, asking for definitions, language of origin (which actually means something to him!), and use in a sentence, just like on the real deal on ESPN. It was pretty impressive to watch.

Way to Bee, Michael! We're proud of you!

I'll be a Sunbeam...again!

2 weeks ago, I was put in as a Sunbeam teacher at church. It is so fun! I have been working with the Relief Society women the last few years and have missed the Primary kids. This is the first time I have ever actually gotten to teach a Primary class, I'd always been on the presidency side before, so it is a new experience. There is such a sweet enthusiasm in the room, and the kids say the funniest things. I get to team teach with a great lady and we have a group of fabulous 3 year olds. Of course, I might be a little biased. Below is one of those fabulous, high energy Sunbeams we get to teach!

Saturday Games and a GOAL!!

Today the new season of sports kicked off. Hayley had a great soccer game. She is one of the seasoned players on her young team. It is funny to see those new little soccer players in their first game, still not quite grasping the concept of using their feet to move the ball instead of their hands. Hayley didn't like it when the kids did that, but the parents sure laughed. She was convinced they just wanted the snacks and need to learn the rules better. But her disapproval didn't stop her determination to kick that ball, or to make sure she got her share of the snacks!

Then it was off to Michael's flag football game. He had some great plays at quarterback and almost had an awesome interception playing defense. I forgot the camera but soon we will get a picture up here of him and that mouthpiece he has to wear. He loves it...NOT!


Trevor scored the first goal of the season just minutes into the 1st quarter. He is also one of the older kids on his team but has the same coach from last season, and has really learned alot. It is fun to see how fast the kids learn, from Hayley's team to Trevor's, passing is happening and plays are really being made. Trev loves soccer and is really fun to watch. This is a picture from last season. It wasn't quite so hot today as it was in that picture, but we sure did enjoy going to get ice cream after the game to celebrate the goal!