Football

You know how parents try to make up for things they feel they missed out on in their own childhoods?  This may be happening here currently.  Taylor's parents always told him he couldn't play football because he'd be too small.  Yea, not so much.  So Taylor is determined that if Ethan wants to try playing a sport, he will never say no.  So when 2 of his primary friends signed up to play football (3rd grade is the first year) and Taylor asked him if he wanted to, always-enthusiastic Ethan said yes.  

He does make a cute footballer- missing teeth and all.

So even though I'm pretty sure Ethan will have more of my brother's physical build and will struggle to ever break 150 pounds as an adult, here we go.  Since there's so much to learn about playing the sport, practice started the first day of August and continued every weeknight Monday to Friday 5-6:30 at our local elementary school.  We made the best of it by turning it into a playground trip and picnic dinner every night.

And very quickly it was time for school to start and for their first game.  Ethan is #54.

It took us about a half hour and a few youtube videos to figure out where his pads fit on his pants and how to put all his gear on.  Safety first though :) right.

In truth I was very skeptical about trying football.  Ethan is a whopping 51 pounds as an 8 1/2 year old while 2/3 of his team is 75 pounds on up to 115.  So of course he wasn't going to be a lineman and thankfully the game is pretty slow when it's just peewee and he hasn't had any hard tackles.

And football has been the opposite experience from soccer.  Where soccer was all about just letting the stellar kids play, in football it's all about the team.  Ethan knows every single kids name and the coaches work hard to teach each kid to do their best and be a part of the team.  Ethan is loving it and so am I as a mother who thinks this is what kids sports should be about- less competition, more learning to work together and be a team.

They're actually really cute to watch.  Poor things are pretty lost still since there's so much to learn but they all seem to be having fun- 90+ degree heat and full pads and all.

We're not loving the heat so much when we end up on a field with no shade in sight.  Thank goodness for umbrellas and blankets that hang on fences.

And thank goodness for the ipad- says Isaac.

It's also been really fun to have Ethan on the same team with 2 of his primary classmates.  Their moms and siblings come hang out at practice too so we've gotten to have our own little hang out group.  #5 is Ethan's friend Will who is also a whole 51 pounds.

And in truth what's better on a sunny, hot September Saturday than hanging out watching little kid sports.  It's nice Taylor's parents and siblings live so close and come support.

Isla's pretty supportive too.  She's always concerned that she can't find him once he puts his helmet on.  He has to come over and show her he's still out there.

And then of course she wants to go join the team too and I have to race and grab her before she gets flattened on the field.

Ethan's team is black and white.

He's on the special teams as well as being a safety on the offense.  He's that little squatty one on the right of the ball.  It's pretty funny every time they go to kick off.  He lines up at the ball, takes 2 giant steps to the right and 2 giant steps back.  It's cute how precise he tries to be when finding the right position.

Isaac and Miles could care less about watching- they've off to play with all the other kids who are team siblings.

Isla's a good spectator though.  And she may be in it for the snacks as well.

And when we have home games, we play at our local park with the perfect hill for rolling down.

Isaac and Miles take full advantage of this free entertainment.

And we enjoy the better view from up above- also there's good shade.

And of course every game must end with hand shakes and treats.

Ethan is a happy boy and though I'm not sure he'll choose football next fall over soccer or something else, he's had a great time and I'm happy there's been no concussions or broken bones, but especially that he's enjoyed learning to be part of a team.

It's That Time of Year!!!

YAY!  YAY!  YAY!  They're going back to school!!!  And they're just as excited as I am!!!

Seriously I love my kids so much and I am excited for summer every year when it rolls around.  It's nice to not be up early and following a schedule.  It's nice to have my kids around me and around each other more.  And it's fun to get to do more fun than learning.  But really, school is great too.  They love their friends.  They love learning.  They love a schedule.  And I love having a bit of a break to actually get things done.  Don't get me wrong, this summer has actually been amazing.  I really thought through jobs for the summer and in truth, my house was cleaner that it is during the school year.  And it's because my boys did so much and were so responsible.  And I'm proud of them for that and I think that'a a valuable skill that they know how to clean a house and help out but in truth I think what they learn at school is more important.

So they're off.

Ethan's in 3rd grade at William Penn Elementary.  He has Mrs. Fackler for his morning/Enlish teacher and Mrs. Graham for his afternoon/Spanish teacher.  

He's getting way too big.  His favorite color is still red.

And he's finally lost enough teeth to focus on his cheesy grin.  I love this crazy boy.

Waiting in line for the teachers to come out and get them.  Can't wait to go back.

And a week later was Isaac.  Kindergarten kids start a week late here so that they can all come in individually and get tested.  Isaac was so excited!

Isaac is going to our local elementary where Ethan went for Kindergarten as well.  It's a tight commute for us since their schools are a 10 minute drive apart but start just 5 minutes apart, but we drop off Isaac a little early and he doesn't mind having a little time to play on the playground.  The spanish immersion program doesn't start until 1st grade and since Kindergarten is only half day I decided I'd rather not drive so far in the middle of the day too.  Plus this gives Isaac 1 year to be in the same school as all his primary friends.
Our local PTA is a little over the top (they give all the parents little kleenex packages in case you cry the first day :).  They had this cute chalkboard sign all setup so Isaac could pose in case we'd forgotten to take the historic picture at home.

And then once the bell rang, Isaac was one of the first in line.

Right next to his primary friend- Matthew.  Ethan and Matthew's older brother are on the same football team together so these little two have gotten to spend almost every evening in August playing together on the playground while we hang out at M-F practices.  They were both very excited that the PTA gave them their own boxes of crayons.

And Isaac was excited to show off his lego Chima backpack.

Isla wasn't that thrilled to be strapped in the stroller.  She wanted to play on the playground but there were just too many kids to let her roam.  Miles was off making friends with someone though.

And here they all are:  Mrs. Bitner's 2013 class.  Ethan had the same teacher and she's about the sweetest, most patient teacher on the planet.  I couldn't ask for anyone better for happy, energetic Isaac.

Wave bye!  And have a great year!

Esther's Birthday

We'll take any excuse to spend the afternoon in the pool- playing with Aunts and Uncles and waiting for a new baby cousin to arrive.  Mack and Sam came in town for the Woodbury reunion and found these fabulous lounge floats at the store.  They were nice enough to share.  Who am I kidding?  The kids took over and spent literally 4 hours in the pool swimming, splashing, knocking each other off floats, and laughing, laughing, laughing.

So much fun!  Wish everyone lived here.

Woodbury Reunion 2013

Every 3 years, Taylor's extended family gets together for a Woodbury reunion.  By extended I mean all the descendants of his great grandparents.  2 of his great uncles are still alive and then their are lots of his dad's cousins and then all Taylor's cousins and now a huge generation of my kids and their cousins.  It's pretty amazing to see many of them travel across the country and across the world even to get her.  

They do 2 nights of dinners followed by games and a hearts tournament complete with trophys and hurt feelings sometimes :).  And since there are so many kids, I bring a bunch of our toys and setup a kids play room.  I spent most of my time in there so you don't get any pictures of the other activities.  The next day people branch off into groups and golf, waterski, hike, and play.  My boys wanted to go to classic fun center so we headed off with a group of 25 others to play.

My boys are very adept at scootering and could have stayed on the rink all day- especially with the music blaring.

And Ethan put on quite a show for the moms and anyone else interested in watching.  Not only does he have ants in his pants the majority of his life, but his dance moves just can't be contained- even on a scooter- even riding in a loop.

We all had a good laugh.

Isla kept trying to join them on the rink and almost got kersplatted several times.

So we ventured on to all the other fun.  Giant climbing area complete with Tarzan swings.

And more bounce houses and slides than you can find your kids in.  This one is even a babies only one which Isla definitely appreciated since the kids just running around on the bounce houses was a little unnerving for her and really bounced her around.

Of course Ethan and Isaac were determined to conquer Bounce Everest over and over again.

And then it was back to scootering.

And for one final treat all the little cousins spent a half hour in the ball shooter game area.  No adults allowed- just lots of little cousins and lots of chaos.

Yep, they had a great time.  And the reunion was fantastic.  So glad we just had to drive a half hour to get there but grateful for all the others who had farther to come and did.