We officially entered the world of little kid sports last year when Caleb played soccer and basketball as a four year old. This year we've got two participants - Caleb and Isaac are playing together in the 4-Kindergarten soccer league - AND Nolan is the coach.
Yesterday was our first practice. We have 8 players - 4, 4 year-olds and 4, 5 year-olds. For those of you who either haven't experienced this phenomena or it's been a long time - you must decide quickly to be either really relaxed or really upset about your kid who alternates between spinning in circles in the grass or running to mommy for a drink. I've chosen relaxed - but not every parent does.
Last night's practice was pretty good - we have 3 strong players - one of whom is Caleb - the other two are also 5 years-old. The 4 year-olds really have a hard time getting it. Of the 8 players, 2 sat with their moms the entire practice, 1 didn't show up, and 1 just wanted to carry the ball. Isaac actually did pretty good - except for the occasional lay down in the grass moment.
Nolan did really well with the kids - as I expected. But the best moment was when I passed out bubble gum at the end of practice.
My brother and I didn't play sports growing up - so this is a whole new world for me. Caleb is definitely a sports nut - from birth he's been fascinated with any ball he could get his hands on - and it continues to this day. Isaac - well we'll see. He's got a lot of natural ability - but the desire doesn't seem as strong. Benjamin is of course to young to make much comment - but I will say he is just as fascinated with balls as Caleb was - so we'll see.
Go "Grey Grizzly Bears"! (That's our team.)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sidetracked Home Executives
I'm not quite ready to say, "this is the best thing since sliced bread," but I'm close. Give me a couple of months to implement "the system", and I'll let you know for sure. A friend of mine and I were visiting recently about juggling all the responsibilities of keeping a home, raising a family, being a good wife, working outside the home and doing our part in our community and church. I for one have felt like a failure in just about everything I've done for the past several years. I don't say that to elicit sympathy - it's just a fact. I've longed for those long gone days when I felt successful, businesslike and purposeful. Well, I've got my fingers crossed (and all my toes for good measure) and am hoping this new "system" will work for me!
The same friend I referenced earlier recommended this book - Sidetracked Home Executives. I went to the library and checked it out - now I'll be buying my own copy. I'm not naturally a "BO" - born organizer - if you are, you would probably not benefit much from this system - but for people like me - who get sidetracked easily - it's the solution I've been waiting for for a long time.
So far, I've bought my 3x5 index cards in four different colors, my 3x5 card-holder box and my dividers. Working from the provided job list, I've put EVERY job that I can think of regarding our home (daily thru yearly). Now I will put them behind their proper divider (jan-dec, 1-31). Then, by using a rotating system, I'll have my "to do" list "automatically" generated every day. The second part of the system is going through every closet, cabinet, drawer and "stack" in my house - sorting, purging and organizing. Fortunately, I'm not a "keeper of things" so it shouldn't be to hard - but still a lot of work.
My goal is to have everything on track by the holidays. We'll see....oh, and another of my favorite parts of this system - it gives recommendations on delegating certain tasks to family members - including how to get kids involved in family chores and what is age appropriate.
So if you're looking for something like this in your life - get a copy of the book "Sidetracked Home Executives." I think they have another book that's newer - but I've heard it gets away from the original plan and people don't like it as much. And, one more plus - the book is stinking hilarious!! Even if you are a BO I recommend reading it just for the laughs.
The same friend I referenced earlier recommended this book - Sidetracked Home Executives. I went to the library and checked it out - now I'll be buying my own copy. I'm not naturally a "BO" - born organizer - if you are, you would probably not benefit much from this system - but for people like me - who get sidetracked easily - it's the solution I've been waiting for for a long time.
So far, I've bought my 3x5 index cards in four different colors, my 3x5 card-holder box and my dividers. Working from the provided job list, I've put EVERY job that I can think of regarding our home (daily thru yearly). Now I will put them behind their proper divider (jan-dec, 1-31). Then, by using a rotating system, I'll have my "to do" list "automatically" generated every day. The second part of the system is going through every closet, cabinet, drawer and "stack" in my house - sorting, purging and organizing. Fortunately, I'm not a "keeper of things" so it shouldn't be to hard - but still a lot of work.
My goal is to have everything on track by the holidays. We'll see....oh, and another of my favorite parts of this system - it gives recommendations on delegating certain tasks to family members - including how to get kids involved in family chores and what is age appropriate.
So if you're looking for something like this in your life - get a copy of the book "Sidetracked Home Executives." I think they have another book that's newer - but I've heard it gets away from the original plan and people don't like it as much. And, one more plus - the book is stinking hilarious!! Even if you are a BO I recommend reading it just for the laughs.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Grateful?
A friend and I were talking the other day about trying to teach our kids the virtue of being grateful. It's much harder than I anticipated. But I'm keeping at it - after all, endurance is also a virtue.
It does seem when I'm trying to teach my kids a specific something, I start noticing shortcoming in the same area. For example, recently I've really been trying to get Nolan to see my point of view when it comes to our "need" of a bigger house. After all, we are expecting baby #4. We currently live in a 3 bedroom house. I have NO problem with kids sharing rooms - but my issue is our living room - it's tiny and there is no other "bonus" space except for the yard - which is great when the Panhandle weather cooperates. But, when you get that much energy in such a small space the result is nothing short of chaos and tears. Unfortunately several years ago I made an innocent comment about how my aunt and uncle raised 9 kids in a 3 bedroom house and all their kids turned out just fine....Nolan has never let me forget that - or the fact that anyone living in any foreign country raises their families in half the space that we have. I keep reminding him that we do not live in a foreign country. Of course all my friends agree with me - we have to have more space - if it seems a little tight now - we're gonna bust out the seems in a couple of years when the youngest of our little brood really gets going. So we've started looking - but I've been given some ground rules in advance - (1) it is going to have to be an amazing/once in lifetime kind of deal before he's interested; (2) we will not take out more than a 15 year mortgage - and that mortgage will fit easily in our budget; (3) it's probably not going to happen.
I took those "rules" in stride, all the while thinking I can convince Nolan of our need in due time. Now here's where God hit me with the virtue of gratefulness. Am I grateful for the adorable home that we have? Am I grateful that I have a husband that believes in living within our means? Am I grateful for the love and joy that come from family - even if it also comes with chaos and tears? Am I grateful for LIFE?
So I've continued to happily drive by homes for sale - occasionally looking in one. I've also researched the possibility of adding on to our current home. But in the meantime, I've been working on changing my attitude to one of being grateful for where we are, what we have, who we are and WHOSE we are - instead of constantly thinking "if only." So have I achieved "gratefulness"? Well like I said in the beginning - it's much harder than I anticipated, but I'll keep on trying. And, for now, I believe my attitude is much better - now we'll see if I can teach my kids that same lesson - after all one of the Christmas toy catalogs came in the mail yesterday - and for not being able to read yet, they sure have lots of things circled that they have "wanted my whole life mommy!".
It does seem when I'm trying to teach my kids a specific something, I start noticing shortcoming in the same area. For example, recently I've really been trying to get Nolan to see my point of view when it comes to our "need" of a bigger house. After all, we are expecting baby #4. We currently live in a 3 bedroom house. I have NO problem with kids sharing rooms - but my issue is our living room - it's tiny and there is no other "bonus" space except for the yard - which is great when the Panhandle weather cooperates. But, when you get that much energy in such a small space the result is nothing short of chaos and tears. Unfortunately several years ago I made an innocent comment about how my aunt and uncle raised 9 kids in a 3 bedroom house and all their kids turned out just fine....Nolan has never let me forget that - or the fact that anyone living in any foreign country raises their families in half the space that we have. I keep reminding him that we do not live in a foreign country. Of course all my friends agree with me - we have to have more space - if it seems a little tight now - we're gonna bust out the seems in a couple of years when the youngest of our little brood really gets going. So we've started looking - but I've been given some ground rules in advance - (1) it is going to have to be an amazing/once in lifetime kind of deal before he's interested; (2) we will not take out more than a 15 year mortgage - and that mortgage will fit easily in our budget; (3) it's probably not going to happen.
I took those "rules" in stride, all the while thinking I can convince Nolan of our need in due time. Now here's where God hit me with the virtue of gratefulness. Am I grateful for the adorable home that we have? Am I grateful that I have a husband that believes in living within our means? Am I grateful for the love and joy that come from family - even if it also comes with chaos and tears? Am I grateful for LIFE?
So I've continued to happily drive by homes for sale - occasionally looking in one. I've also researched the possibility of adding on to our current home. But in the meantime, I've been working on changing my attitude to one of being grateful for where we are, what we have, who we are and WHOSE we are - instead of constantly thinking "if only." So have I achieved "gratefulness"? Well like I said in the beginning - it's much harder than I anticipated, but I'll keep on trying. And, for now, I believe my attitude is much better - now we'll see if I can teach my kids that same lesson - after all one of the Christmas toy catalogs came in the mail yesterday - and for not being able to read yet, they sure have lots of things circled that they have "wanted my whole life mommy!".
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
First Day of School
Today was Caleb and Isaac's first day of school. Caleb is going to kindergarten, and Isaac is in Pre-K. Caleb reminded me that this is his 3rd year of school - it's true and kind of sad - although he loves school. Also, he'll be in kindergarten this year at a private school and then we'll do kindergarten again next year at public school - because he's so young for his class. So when my kid finishes kindergarten he'll have been in school 5 years. There is definitely something wrong with that. But, my options were a babysitter where he would sit in front of the tv all morning, or Pre-K/Kindergarten. Did I choose right? I hope so - yet another of many parenting decisions where there is no clear cut answer.
When I dropped the boys off for school this morning, I was reminded again of how different each of my children are. Both were excited and so big carrying their backpacks and other school supplies - each equally excited about the new year. We took Caleb to his class first. He went in and didn't even make it to his seat before he was talking up a storm with anyone who would listen. One mom wanted to take a picture of her son's table (including Caleb) but he was to busy talking to pause and smile. The mom looked at me and said, he'll stop talking eventually. I replied - probably not.
Isaac was a different story. He was fine until we got in the middle of the crowd of parents and kids. His entire face changed - he "blanked out" on us. He did not want to go in his class. When we went in, he didn't want to sit in his chair or play with his puzzle (which is one of his favorite things to do). I've got to hand it to him though. He worriedly asked when we would pick him up - we assured him we'd pick him up before lunch - and he went to work on his puzzle.
I'll find out this afternoon how the day went. It's amazing how many more prayers you fit into your day when you're seeking the Lord on your kids behalf. :)
When I dropped the boys off for school this morning, I was reminded again of how different each of my children are. Both were excited and so big carrying their backpacks and other school supplies - each equally excited about the new year. We took Caleb to his class first. He went in and didn't even make it to his seat before he was talking up a storm with anyone who would listen. One mom wanted to take a picture of her son's table (including Caleb) but he was to busy talking to pause and smile. The mom looked at me and said, he'll stop talking eventually. I replied - probably not.
Isaac was a different story. He was fine until we got in the middle of the crowd of parents and kids. His entire face changed - he "blanked out" on us. He did not want to go in his class. When we went in, he didn't want to sit in his chair or play with his puzzle (which is one of his favorite things to do). I've got to hand it to him though. He worriedly asked when we would pick him up - we assured him we'd pick him up before lunch - and he went to work on his puzzle.
I'll find out this afternoon how the day went. It's amazing how many more prayers you fit into your day when you're seeking the Lord on your kids behalf. :)
Isaac's Birthday
Isaac (son #2) turned 4 years old on Saturday. What fun! We started with cinammon roll birthday cake - which is really cinammon rolls on a platter with candles and a superman action figure. Yummy! (Especially since Betty Smith made the rolls.) Afterwards, we went to Amarillo - saw our midwife - heard baby Silvey's heartbeat - ran a couple of errands - and went to WONDERLAND. My goodness - we planned for 2 hours and stayed for 4 hours. The weather was perfect - the boys had a blast! I love birthdays - especially at this age - they are so much fun! I'll try to remember to post pictures later when I'm at my home computer.
By the way - I rode two rides - the Scrambler and The Sky Walk. Somewhere since becoming a mom roller coasters have lost their appeal. I hope that the desire will come back when I'm not so responsible for so many lives - we'll see.
By the way - I rode two rides - the Scrambler and The Sky Walk. Somewhere since becoming a mom roller coasters have lost their appeal. I hope that the desire will come back when I'm not so responsible for so many lives - we'll see.
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