Wordless Wednesday

"A Dedicated Soccer Mom"

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A nice calm day

We had a quiet day today; not too much fighting, no major meltdowns. Seems like that's the best I can ask for these days.

I got a couple of loads of laundry done. The boys and I played some Blokus. E got upset that R always wins. But on the other hand I lost too, so he wasn't alone. Then they actually convinced me to put on my snow pants and sled down our hill a few times.

We ran out to the post office. I "found a place" that will take back a toy that Santa left which R didn't feel was well made. He is looking forward to getting the cash for it. That is if they give us cash and not a store credit. Since it came from Santa and not this online store, we are not sure what we will get in return ;-) We'll have to wait and see.

I let myself be talked into going down to the next town to get clothes for Fred. They even had free gift wrapping. So when we got home E sang Happy Birthday and let Fred open his gift. Then he immediately went online to use his code for a shirt for his cyberspace Fred too. He left all his Webkinz watching TV. Here's a screen shot (click on it to enlarge it) so you can see how cute they all look. He has Pip the penguin, Belle the reindeer, Fred the frog, and Pepe the chihuahua. The boys are both getting carried away with these things, but it is their money after all. And there are worse things they could be doing online. For Christmas we got Aunt Debbie a Webkinz too, and they spend lots of time playing online with her. It's been really great for them to spend that time together.

I managed to make dinner early today before heading out for R's soccer which was from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. After that I pretty much dumped them off at home and headed out for an organizational meeting for our homeschool support group, which is growing in leaps and bounds. Here's a photo of playgroup last week. Yowza! there were about 15 families there, which translates into at least 30 kids. R is really psyched that there are two new boys his age.

Anyhow there was an "organizational" meeting to check in on what people want to see happen with the group. Lots of people are envisioning classes and field trips; the typical stuff. I had asked R and E if they had any interest in me setting something up and they both agreed that they don't. They did ask me though, to request that events not be planned for during playgroup, and that that time be sacred for playing only. Not surprisingly people can't resist using an indoor space for "more" than just free play, so we're probably looking at a choice between a craft or some other project and free play. There was even some talk about using the space for some instructional sports (ack!). Hopefully the boys will be happy with how it turns out. We have another playgroup tomorrow, in our new indoor gym location, so we should find out soon enough.

The longest cold in the history of the universe

Okay, so that's what it feels like, anyway. I tried to get on with things...
Wednesday we went to The Children's Museum (formerly the Science Center) with some friends. E enjoyed making a giant bubble around him and his friends and R and I enjoyed controlling light intensity while looking through a window to combine our faces. They had an enjoyable couple of hours being out with friends in a place they like to go. And it was pretty easy going for me.

Afterwards we came home and had some dinner before heading off to soccer. That was fine too, since E was busy using up some energy and R also has friends from his team who he plays with to keep busy during E's practices. So I got to sit and quietly read. The building wasn't even as cold as it usually is, which was great since the Dunkin' Donuts I usually go to on the way is closed for renovations.

Yesterday (Thursday) we did some grocery shopping and the rest of the day was spent at home. We had plans to go to a gym day in Hartford, which we have not yet managed to attend, and I'm really disappointed to keep missing, but I pooped out. I did manage to make dinner again though, and afterwards went to my monthly womyn's circle. I'm glad I managed to go to that since next month I will be missing it; it lands on R's birthday.

When I came home my mom was here. She was passing through on her way down to Florida for her two months there. She has a 3.5 hour drive to here from Maine, then 6.5 hours down to Virgina where she picks up a train which can also take her car down to mid-Florida. It was nice to have another visit with her and hear about the Christmas dinner she had with all my siblings and their families in Maine. Sounds like it was very pleasant.

So anyhow, Mom and I visited last night and I apologized in advance for not seeing her off this morning. She had to be out the door by 7:30; she understood.

Today I threw up my arms and totally gave up getting on with things. We bummed around and I stayed in my pajamas all day. I watched some Waltons and did some reading and took a nap. It's so frustrating to wake up every day and still not have this cold over and done with. I probably have a sinus infection - my ears are so clogged I still can't taste anything and hear very poorly. But I feel like I'm so far along now that going to the doctor wouldn't speed it along, so there's no point. It's so exhausting though, and demoralizing!

Soccer Has Started

It's going to be pretty easy-going this season. E has practices on Friday evenings from 5:30 till 7 and games on Saturday at 1:30. R has practice on Mondays and Fridays from 6: 30 till 8 and one game at various times (and locations) per weekend.

Last year when R was on the Pool team he also had to be on the regular Recreational team. This year the kids can only choose one: Recreational or Competitive. So since he is only on one team, he only has one game per weekend, instead of the two and sometimes three he had last year. So this year, all together the B family will have two games per weekend, instead of three and sometimes four. Excuse me while I break for a moment to do a little happy dance...

We'll see how it goes with practices, however. The coach also coaches at University of New Haven, and is taking graduate classes, so he is pretty insistent that this is the only time he can fit us in. So despite practice being scheduled for 6: 30 till 8, it only went till 7:35 since by then it was pitch black. And of course, within a couple of weeks it will be black out at 7:00. One hour of practice a week, when the kids are supposed to be getting three, is not going to cut it. I do have to say though, that he seems like he's going to be a pretty good coach.

Father's Day x2

I figured B wouldn't want to share his Father's Day, so we did it twice.

R had two soccer games on Saturday. One at 9:30 am and one at 1:00 pm. It was the Cheshire Invitational Tournament. They got slaughtered both games. Nagy Papa joined us for both games and then for dinner later on that evening. I made him Chicken Paprikash (his grandmother's recipe from Hungary) and we had strawberry pie for dessert. We gave him a copy of a computer animation video he had caught on PBS fundraisers a couple of times and raved about. I was happy to grab it up when I spotted it at BJ's one day. I think he enjoyed his Father's Day as much as we enjoyed his Father's Day.

Sunday R had two more games. One at 9:30 am and one at 1:00 pm. He agreed though that he should miss the first one so we could carry on with our Father's Day tradition. So Sunday morning brought orange juice, eggs, bacon, tater tots and crappy Pillsbury biscuits out of a can. Now that's living! B seemed really pleased with his breakfast.

He also seemed to enjoy the gifts we made him. We did these window cling paint things for him to stick on his car window. They came out very cool. R made the word DAD, E made him a fish, and I did a shamrock since he has always loved the fact that I am Irish.

We all spent some time in bed together watching TV and were ready for R's game at 1:00. Here is R's cheering section: B and E at the playground for 2/3 of the game, and me and Nagy Papa (my dad) watching and cheering and this week, sweating.
They lost this game too, and we heard, the game that morning as well, for a total of 0-4. Oh well. Since Cheshire was the hosting team and four other towns signed up, that left an uneven amount of teams to play, so they divided the Cheshire team into two. Which meant that we didn't have our regular full contingent. After the game they all got medals though and we enjoyed some ices from the ice-cream truck before heading out.

We drove to Shaws then, because B specifically wanted a banana creme pie from there.

Once home B didn't really know what to do with himself. He's not really one to sit around doing nothing, but did want to take the day off from his "honey do" list. So we actually sat on the couch and talked for half an hour while the boys went their separate ways. Finally B and R went to do some fishing while I cooked the lasagna and E played a computer game.

Yes, lasagna was dinner (food is way too important to this family). It was a HOT day though, so I ran the a/c to balance out the temperature on the first floor. We also had more of the crappy biscuits and surprise! no vegetables. R actually commented on it :-) Then of course, banana creme pie.

B commented more than once that he had a super Father's Day. I'm glad.

Soccer and Gardening

Yesterday R had a soccer game at 12:00. Then E had one at 1:30. Then R had another one at 3:30. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and I never get tired of watching the boys play. Practices are not so thrilling, but games are always fun.

R's second game was interesting. It was with his traveling team, and the opposing team had some serious parenting issues. I'll definitely be blogging about that on my commentary blog real soon.

Today we got quite a bit done around the outside of our house. We are covering over my giant garden in the back. It's just gotten way too large for me to keep weeded, and by mid July I get too demoralized to even try to keep up. So I moved the flowers I care about to the side of the garage, and will keep that area for strictly a utility garden. Maybe I'll even plant a couple of tomato plants. Mostly though, it's flowers for cutting, which I'm planting really close together to hopefully choke out the weeds.

Home ownership gets to be such a chore. I totally understand my mom's contemplating condo living. Sometimes it sounds really good to me too.

A busy October

I've decided not to put out my Halloween decorations this year. Things are just too busy and it is one less thing to do. I'm missing the festive feeling in the house, but am secretly relishing the absence of that extra work. October is flying by in a whirlwind. October is my favorite month, so I'm not overly thrilled about how quickly it is going this year, but on the other hand we are experiencing lots of fun things. I'm missing having time to even record them here. Blogging is my way of pointing out to myself how much learning actually goes on here.

Today B's parents visited. I was so glad to have an excuse to drop everything and clean! The boys even washed many of our dirty walls, after having it pointed out that they were in fact caused by them. They were very helpful the last couple of days, and not complaining about my lack of attention. And I got a clean house for a day at least.

Our visit with Grandma and Grandpa was very enjoyable. We did some apple picking at Lyman Orchards and dinner at Young Young's, an all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet, which everyone who ever seems to visit us absolutely loves. It's a nice treat for me too, since I don't have to add preparing dinner to the list of things to do when people visit. Anyway, it was a very relaxed afternoon.

What else have we been up to?

Lots and lots of soccer. R is on the all-star team this year, so he has practice Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and two games (sometimes three) per weekend. Add this to E's soccer games on Sunday afternoons.

R is also enjoying his Lego Robotics class at ImagineNation on Friday evenings. The first of two sessions just ended. He and his partner finished creating their robot and learned how to program it on a computer. R was waaay into this. I'll be looking into getting a set for his birthday.

Craft and Swim is going well on Thursdays. It is an hour and a half for me to be alone without hiding.

Monday evenings is R's drawing class. School holidays the past two weeks have pre-empted that though. That actually worked out fine, since this past Monday, Columbus Day, we went to the Renaissance Fair, and didn't have to worry about being home for anything. We were supposed to have gone over the weekend but B wasn't into it, so we saved it for Monday when he was at work. Boy did we have a blast.

E dressed up in his knight costume, and was glad he did, although his cool headdress didn't make it through the 80 degree heat.. His favorite thing was the jousting. R's favorite thing was the human chess game, and mine was the sword swallower, who also removed himself from a straight-jacket and a bunch of huge chains. We also really enjoyed the puppet show; I'm so grateful my children are still young enough to enjoy that stuff too. We had a fabulous day, and returned home with two large wooden swords, which are already showing lots of battle wear. We've decided to go more than once next year, and are thinking about getting season passes.

We are having fun getting to know the Greater New Haven Homeschooolers Group. They already have some classes planned for the Eli Whitney. Unfortunately the 5-8 age group is on a different day than the 9-12 age group, so we'll be passing until next time around, when we will probably be the organizers. We also had a really enjoyable day with them at Lyman Orchards last week, when we got to experience the corn maze, which by the way, is only worth it when you are paying the group rate. It was fun though. The boys are really happy to making new friends. Here are some of them feeding the ducks and geese.
The Tuesday before last we also had fun at our first Science Club meeting, which is a co-op we are participating in with two other families with children E's age. It will be a challenge to keep R interested, but I'm looking forward to trying. The next meeting is at our house this week, so I'll be planning the lesson. We will be meeting on bi-weekly Tuesdays.

The other Tuesdays of each month we'll go to Flippin' Families at the YMCA. They open the doors to their gymnastics center from 12:30 to 2:00 on Tuesday afternoons for kids to play. Full members like us get in free! This was the first week and we were the only ones there. The friends we invited are not members anymore. But I spoke to two of the moms of kids in the Craft and Swim class and hopefully they will come next time. We'll try to talk other friends into joining us too, since non-members only pay $7 for their entire family for the 1.5 hours.

E has been liking his karate class, but I think I'm pulling him out. They are just not teaching any of the non-violent philosophy that I had expected. He didn't seem too upset that he might not be going any more since he "knows enough moves now to fight R". In fact, the two of them were karate fighting yesterday out in the backyard. Now I've learned to be somewhat okay with weapons, since the swords only clash against eachother, but I don't see the value in kicking someone's face in. So I'm leaning toward dropping that.

This week? Tomorrow (Sunday) two soccer games for two children, from 1:30 pm till 5:00 pm. Then in the evening the new CHN website gets uploaded, and I finish up the monthly newsletter to send out. Monday is a birthday party in the afternoon and R's drawing class at night. Then I will be filling an order for 10 fundraising t-shirts which was placed to LuminociTees.com (woo hoo!) Tuesday is Science Club here at our house, and then up to Oakville to Green Planet to pick up our raw milk, then soccer practice from 5:30 to 7. Karate would also be here from 5:45 to 6:45. Wednesday we are going to the Bronx Zoo. Our membership is expiring this month and I want to use up all my free parking passes. R will have to miss soccer practice that day. Thursday is a dentist appointment then Craft and Swim, and Friday is Lego Robotics. Saturday we have one of R's soccer games, a Halloween party, then another soccer game.

I love October...I love October...I love October...I can't wait till it's done!