Weekend fun - soccer, garden, kites, and playground

Stephen is getting so good at soccer and tries really hard. I was proud of him today. He took a few blows to the body and head trying to get the ball.

Here are some photos of the soccer game, kite flying, playground, and gardening fun we did this weekend.

Finding time....

Here are some photos of the dinosaur trail:

I am finding it harder and harder to remember to take pictures, upload them, and write blog posts to share and archive family events. Time slips by so fast with work and family activities. I am afraid I will wake up and be 50, not knowing where the time went..... Nothing wrong with being 50. It is just that "fun" with people your own age seems harder and harder to fit into all the work and family responsibility.

But, this week I took advantage of some alone time with my kids.

My 5 year old went out to dinner and then church choir with me last week. As we ate, she hugged me and told me how special it was to go out just the two of us...

I took my 7 year old to the museum of life and science. It snowed the previous night, so he got a kick out of the dinosaurs with snow on them. We also spent an hour building contraptions in the museum. I love watching him try and figure out how to build something, he is very much a visual person.

Picture of the kids

I love their faces in this photo.

Prep and Landing

We watch Prep and Landing the other night. It was a cute little special with great imagaes. I took the liberty of adding in my kids to a poster :) Happy Holidays!!!

Stephen The Magician

Stephen signed up to perform at a school assembly in December. He wants to do a few magic tricks. I am a little surprised he wants to do this, since he can be so shy. Some reason doing magic in front of 150 people is no big deal.

He has asked me to help him with the outfit and a sign. Below is one of the pictures I may use for a sign to put in front of a small table for his magic show. He plans to practice over the next few weekends and invited a friend to be his assistant. I will keep you posted.

Wow he is small for his size...

As a kid, I was average size and could hold my own and then some. So to keep hearing people tell me how small my son is for his age drives me insane. Specially when they do it in front of him. Here is a typical conversation:

Stupid adult: "Oh, how old are you Stephen"
Stephen: Saying it proudly, "I am 7 years old"
Stupid adult: "Wow you are small for your age, I thought you were 5"

For me to say anything at that point would embarrass my son, so we just move on and I explain to him that people come in all sizes and it does not matter. In my heart what I want to say is:

"He is small, but he still can grow. You can't get any smarter and your gonna keep getting ugly to match your ignorance in saying that to my kid...Dumb ass....

I am gonna have Stephen bulk up and take self defense classes, so when one of these ignorant parents children start some crap with him, he can take care of business. As a last resort of course.....

Hosptials, art work, around town with the kids

We have been busy this month. Trips to the hospital for Caitlyn, soccer and baseball games, getting the garden and yard back into shape, and simply keeping up with the kids. It is raining now and I decided to take some time to post an update to the blog.

More pictures from May are in the family album.

Stephens self portrait was on display at the mall art show this weekend. He was one of only a few from his grade selected. We enjoyed looking at all the art and Stephen came home with more ideas. He ran to his room and started working.He designed his own shirt later in the day and has worn it for 2 days now...


Here is a picture from my cell phone. Chloe was ready for church early and wanted to go for a bike ride. I thought it was cute. But, when we got home and took her bike helmet off, her hair was a mess. But, we had fun!

This is a great picture of Caitlyn. She was not wearing black or her big ass high tops that she does not know how to tie. She even acted like she was happy :) I love this photo....

More pictures from May are in the family album.

Stephen's Birthday - Rock Climbing

Stephen decided for his birthday, he wanted Jazmin to come over for the night and go rock climbing. I was amazed how fearless the young kids were and proud of the older one's who gain courage and decided to try. I was unable to take a lot of pictures because I had to help the kids, but as you can see my butt is not up there.... I am afraid of heights! Maybe next time?

Check out some of the pictures.

Stephen's 1st Grade Play

Below are 2 short videos. I also took a few pictures. I got there early and we still could not find good seats. It was a mad house! The kids did a great job!

The clouds blocking the sun




Chloe sings along with the kids

My kids are my Emmy!

When I hear people say they are blessed, it reminds me of someone winning an Emmy and saying "I want to thank God and my family". It all seems superficial.

But, then there are days like today when I realize how lucky I am to have a job, able to take online classes for my masters, and have a wonderful family.

Tonight I was online for my class and could not tuck the kids in. After I logged off from class, my routine usually consists of going into their rooms, covering them up, kissing them, and taking a minute to appreciate how lucky we are to have them in our lives. Yes, even though the house is like a circus and I feel my time with them is all about saying no and yelling...

But tonight I did not see Chloe in her room. She snuck into Stephens room to cuddle and they fell asleep. I took this picture to capture the moment. It's not as cute as the real thing, but will help me remember no matter how much they fight, they love each other.

So now I understand what feeling blessed is like. Now if only I could win an Emmy!

Ringling Brothers Circus

Stephen and I went with the Cub Scouts to the circus. It's been 12 years since I visited the circus. Last time, an elephant slipped on poop and fell to the floor. Kathi and Caitlyn were not to excited I took them and that made it even worse.....

When I was growing up, I wanted to go to clown college and join the circus, I remember being in middle school and wishing I could run away to th circus. As an adult, I could not recall where that passion came from. But, after tonight I know why. It was a great experience.

Stephen yelled, danced, and clapped. I have never seen such a huge smile on his face. When I asked him what he liked best he said "I don't know, it is all awesome". Stephen does not get excited or show pure joy often. I don't know what was better the show or turning to see Stephen about to burst open with excitement. I think that was why I wanted to join the circus as a kid. The power and gift to bring joy to someone for a few hours no matter what their situation is....

The show has change a lot and every bit of it was pure entertainment. I am trying to figure out a way to tell Kathi, I want to change careers :)

On another note, Stephen saved $17 over the past 2 months and took it to the circus. As he shopped for a toy, he realized how expensive it was and told me, he wanted to go to Walmart and buy something because everything was so expensive. I was proud to see at such a young age he is starting to understand the value of money.

Santa talks to our kids

We got emails from Santa today. He had us gather the kids around the computer and spoke to each of them. As you can tell they were so excited and amazed that Santa not only knew their names, but had pictures of them and knew what they wanted. Check them out, each is a little different. Pay attention to Caitlyn's. I think Santa was not paying attention.....

• Click here for Stephen
• Click here for Chloe
• Click here for Caitlyn

After they watch the videos, they began to see elf's peeking in the window checking in on them. The energy got so bad, I had to take them on a elf hunt around the block. At dinner Chloe explained that "Joeself" and Mary had baby Jesus. Baby Jesus grew up, died on the cross, went to heaven to be with God and became Santa.

Stephen was struggling to listen today and recorded Santa an apology. I hope he gets it in time...

November Activities

More photos from November can be found here.

Lots of playing in the leaves and in the backyard, A perfect kids paradise.
Drew and Sharon came for Thanksgiving and we had a good time. But, somehow I forgot to take pictures.....

Stephen and I rode our bikes 4 miles round trip today. We went to his school and then hiked to the river. Below is a cool panoramic shot I took of the river. I darkened it up to make it spooky.

Click on image for larger view

Here is a picture of the car I purchased after I totaled my truck. It reminds me of a college kids first car. Small, not a smooth ride, no power anything. But gets 35 MPG and a low car payment.

Big Bad Squirrels

Stephen has been practicing for a school play. He comes home and sings a few notes from the songs. I can't wait to see them perform "Big Bad Squirrels".

When they perform I will post a few clips to share with you. For now have a sneak peek at the video clip below.

Soccer season ends in two weeks

A few posts back I talked about the kids soccer teams. Time flew by because the season is almost over.

Here is a picture of Stephen's soccer team (Red Tigers). I think they won every game this season. The kids don't care too much about winning and really seem to have fun.

Here are some more pictures of The Red Tigers in action.



Chloe had a slow start to the soccer season. She wanted to pick weeds and hug everyone. We also lost a coach. The parents stepped up and took over. It has turned out better then I thought. Kudos to two key parents in making it a great season.

I have a few videos of the team in action. At this age it is funny to watch them.

Check out pictures from the game.
Check the videos out here.

Below is a video of Chloe in action. This was the most I have seen her touch the ball. At the end of the video one of her friends scores a goal and hits his head on the goal post. OUCH!!!

Cub Scouts

Stephen is really enjoying cub scouts. I love watching him feel apart of something positive and bigger them himself. He is getting his "Bobcat" badge in a ceremony end of this month. He has to know the Cub Scout motto, salute, handshake, and complete some other activities.

We purchased his outfit a week ago and he enjoyed helping me put the patches on. We used some special adhesive, but I think we are gonna have to use needle and thread soon....

Thursday we received the dreaded fund raising kit to sell popcorn. The money allows the group to go camping and buy supplies for this years activities. Stephen was so excited to go sell popcorn I was really surprised. Today he dressed up in his Scout uniform and we walked 3 blocks selling popcorn. As we walked home, I told him how much we raised. He jumped up and down excited. He wanted to go buy the $80 transformer remote control car...... After some explaining, he was OK with the money going to Scouts. He asked that next time we raise money could he make a lemon aid stand to sell and keep the money for himself.

Next summer, lemon aid stand her we come!

Update 10/4/2008 - Stephen and I went door to door and sold over $300. We also went and sold popcorn at the local grocery store. I was surprised how much fun he had. He was the smallest scout and sold the most. Little old ladies could not say no to him. He sold 15 packs of $1 popcorn in 15 minutes. He was on fire.... I was very proud because he took the job serious and worked harder then the other kids (age range from 8-13). Sometimes when people turned him down, he would say "Thank you anyway, have a nice day." They were surprised how nice he was and would change their minds and buy some popcorn or donate a couple of dollars.

He sold enough to win tickets to a NC State Basketball game where he will eat with the coach and players. He also won a rocket.

First time for everything

Remember when you were young and discovering how to tie your shoe, ride a bike, or the first time you got to go around the block by yourself..... Ahh, the simple times!

Here are a few firsts for our kids, click play on the videos and prepare to be amazed :)

Stephen's first bike ramp
We made it together a week after he learned how to ride a bike.

Chloe's first day at preschool




Stephen's first day in adult church
When the children enter first grade our church introduces them to the congregation. They are now of age to sit with their parents (to test our patience...) He was so proud and excited to be presented with a new bible. When they introduced him, he told them he liked to "work" with his hammer and enjoys salad...... I hope the faith thing comes easier for him then it did for me. Below is the outfit he picked to wear.

Friends

I don't remember being 3 or 6 years old. I guess me and my brothers played a lot together and I know as we got older we fought a lot. But, one thing was for sure, if anyone messed with us, they had the other brothers to deal with.

Chloe & Stephen fight too. Stephen does not realize that when he plays tricks on her she learns and eventually will get him back. A few days ago Chloe hid for 3-5 minutes waiting for Stephen to come up the stairs and when he did she scared him. Stephen screamed and came running with tears in his eyes. Chloe was so proud yelling with an evil laugh from the stairs "I scared him". As soon as she realized he was crying, she came running to hug and comfort him. It was so sweet. Payback is tough....

Anyway these pictures remind me of the joy of friendship and the simple days when the only thing you cared about was when the ice cream truck came and what tree to pee on.

This is a picture of Stephen and his friend on a hike. They are starting to act so independent. I was chop liver on this hike and could hear them a few feet in front of me talking about half truths and the adventure that lay ahead of them on the hike. It was fun listening to them.

I pray Stephen and Chloe have close friends and keep in touch with them for their whole lives. I missed out on that. I always felt like a nomad. As a kid moving to 3 high schools and as an adult moving for jobs. I never kept in touch with the friends I made. I think I also took/take life to serious and do not stop to enjoy it. If I can teach my kids anything, enjoy the moment, stay in touch with friends, and touch other people's life in a positive way.

Here is a picture of Chloe on the same hike. She found a walnut shell and showing me that it looked like a pigs nose...

Kids Choir @ Watts

Stephen has been going to choir this past year and really enjoys it. He moves up to the older kids class next year and they seem to learn a lot about musical theory.

"This tried and proven program will be used with grades 3-5 and comes from the English school the same name. The concept is simple. Singers have a brochure in their choir folder that has a series of goals and lessons to be checked off that include Good Team Work, Theory/Sight Singing, Rehearsal Techniques, Christian Training, and Vocal Production. At the end of rehearsal, each child asks for two of the items that they feel that they have learned to be checked off and continue to do so each week until all items are checked off. When that happens, they receive a medallion with their name engraved and white ribbon that they wear over their choir robe. They then proceed to the Light Blue level, which has harder material. Light Blue is followed by Dark Blue and Red. In addition to the goals and lessons listed above, the program by its design also encourages good attendance."

Stephen's class - This Little Light of Mine (at the end you hear Chloe next to me singing)



Older class showing us how they practice pitch



Click here for some more short videos of them in action. The first 4 videos are of the older group Stephen joins next year. The last 3 video is of Stephen and his class.

The program is called "The Royal School of Church Music".

A kid and his tools

Last Christmas grandpa gave out tool boxes to the grand kids. Inside of the tool boxes were random items like a screw driver, hammer, golf balls, file, and tubing.

One day my 6 year old wanted to fix some things while I was at work. I hid the tool box in the garage and explained he could only play with it when I was around. A few days later I came home to find tools everywhere. He was building some contraption. He had his Home Depot apron and a baseball hat on. I freak out when I could see his butt crack while he bent over and demanded I hand him a screw driver. Maybe he will be a plumber...Ironically, later in the day I was putting a wagon together and had to borrow his tools to get the job done...

I think he will be better off then I am when it comes to repairing things. When he was 3 years old he unscrewed child safety locks and even took hinges off the bottom of a door. On the other hand around the same time, he stuck a fork in the outlet and got shocked :)