Playing Soccer in the Shower

"It's like playing soccer in the shower" were the words that I heard exclaimed at the start of Little Man's soccer game.  It poured down rain for the entire 55 minute game and that didn't stop the boys from playing or having fun.  They were drenched, muddy and happy as can be at the 4-4 tie game they played.  The parents were soaked and not quite as happy but no one could really muster up too much grumpiness in the face the happy muddy children.  It was a much needed reminder that even in this more helicopter parenting world, a little rain won't hurt and sometimes mud just makes it more fun.  I loved watching Little Man prance and dance his way down the field and even have a few break aways and saves in goal.  There are these moments when I get to watch my kids just be kids and it is always brilliant and breathtaking. 

The Beginning of Pumpkin Madness

This weekend marked the start of pumpkin patch season in this area which also marks the start of Peanut's Pumpkin Patch Madness Season.  So we attended the preview weekend at one of the bigger (and more expensive) pumpkin patches in the area.  It had everything that Peanut looks for in the perfect pumpkin patch.  First, there were tractors that he could sit on and pretend to ride (for hours), there were massive and not so massive slides, free and plentiful apples, pretend horses, trains, and pirate ships to play on, more tractors and his favorite, a million pumpkins to choose from.

The weather was a little overcast and fall-like and our cast of characters were off.  It is is always interesting to be able to compare and contrast events over the years and while it is always hard to keep track of 3 kids in a massive amusement area with a ton of other people, this year marked another "easier" than before event.  At one point all 3 kids were running up a hill, going down the huge slide and running back up and Papa Bear and I actually sat next to each other (did you see that verb? sat!!) and chatted while we watched the kids play.  We didn't have to have anyone on our laps for the slides nor did we have to help anyone climb the massive hills to get back up. 

This is what 3 1/2 hours at the first pumpkin patch of the season looked like:

And this is what it looked like about 3 minutes after we drove off of the property:

My Little Ballerina

Sweet Pea started Tap and Ballet class this week.  She was so excited for ballet and spent all morning spinning and spinning in her tutu, showing her brothers her "twirls".  She was so impatient for her class to start that I had to answer the "is it now?' question every few minutes through bus stop for Little Man, through pre-school drop off for Peanut and finally we arrived.  She stood outside the classroom doing her spins and twirls and bends.  But then the other girls arrived with all of their parents and it began to be too much for my little Sweet Pea.  She turned shy and didn't want to move.  There were just too many big people in the room and some pushy little people as well.  She watched and when the teacher took her hand, she was ok to follow until a little girl pushed her and she dissolved into tears.  She rallied at sticker time and was smiles and joy continuing her twirls and spins all the way home.  She says she is excited to go back next week, and since next week's class will be without all of the big people and hopefully the pushy little person will leave her be, I am hopeful that the next class goes a little better.  But on the bright side, she looked adorable!

First days of Preschool

We had a lot of firsts going on this week and I feel a little whip lashed by all of them. 

Peanut started Pre-K, going 4 days a week in the mornings, Sweet Pea started in the 3 year old classroom and I started having two mornings a week with any kids in tow. 

Peanut was a bit skeptical at first until he saw his friends from last year, there were hugs for the girls and fist-bumps for the boys and off he went.  What can I say, I think he is going to make an awesome frat boy some day.  The reports from his teacher say that he is doing well and always very happy but that I about all I know about his day.  True to form he tells us every day that he plays with trains, blocks and in the kitchen and that is about all we know.

Sweet Pea had her orientation on Thursday and while we were there she said "I want to go home".  I repeated it and said, "You want to go home?" and she said, "No, I want you to go home."  So this morning, we got to the door of her classroom and she turns back to me and says "Don't cry Mama.  You'll come back."  Her tiny reassurance just about did me in but I was able to wait until I got around the corner to start crying.  Her teacher said that she did a lot of observing and not a ton of participating but she was never upset.  I got so much information from her after school.  She sang the songs for me that they sang in school, recounted the book that was read to them, told me which friends cried and which friends didn't, which playground she got to play on and what she had for snack.  Little Man still can't tell me the names of the kids that sit at the table with him but after 3 hours, Sweet Pea can list off half her class.  At least I have one child that informs me about her day!

While the littles were all at school I did a little crying and a lot of running and laundry and drank in the silence while it lasted. 

(pictures to come, but the computer still isn't working.)

No Idea

Sweet Pea and I were playing a Cinderella game that came out of my Mommom’s magical closet of never ending presents.  It is a board with a lot of little Cinderella figures on it and on the bottom of each piece is a picture of something related to a princess story. Sweet Pea doesn’t know all of the stories but can still recognize the figures and match it up to the cards.  Today she was looking specifically for the slippers and instead of playing memory was turning over each piece, naming the pictures and then putting it back if it wasn’t what she was looking for.  I hear her naming them off “birdie, frog, fish, shell, no idea, deer, …”  Wait? What?  “Um, Sweet Pea, what is the one that you said “no idea” to.”  She picks it back up, shows me and says, “See, it is a no idea.”  I look closely and to be honest I have no idea what it is.  Then it hits me.  At some point she has probably asked me what that particular picture was, I responded with the answer of “no idea” and she now thinks that it is in fact a “no idea”.  I love all of the ways kids are so literal and that I can accidentally make a funny contribution. I looked closer and still having no idea what it was supposed to be, we decided together that we would call it grass or a weed instead of a “no idea”.  Even if we are wrong, that is still a better option.  I think?

I am having to post this from my phone because I can't get it to work on my computer...so I apologize for errors 

1st Grade

Little Man reported that he loves 1st grade even more than he loved Kindergarten because he knows everyone in his class and he has recess before lunch instead of after lunch.  He had music and PE today and was disappointed that he didn't have any homework.  He said that his teacher was very complementary of him because he always had good behavior and then commented that it was weird that he always has such good behavior at school but not at home.  Yeah, weird, right?  That was about all I could get out of him today but it is a work in progress.  I am just happy he had a wonderful day.  We sure missed him, but he didn't miss us and that is the way that I want it. 

Oh, Those Summer Nights

We spent labor day weekend soaking up the last summer days at the pool.  The End of Summer Picnic was a perfect night for us all.  Good friends, good times, good music and exhausted kids. 

Little Man played with his buddies in the water and on the hill running free Lord of the Flies style, bare chested, his goggles always around his neck, fighting with sticks, digging in the sand pit and fighting "The Boredom". 

Peanut found a fan club and has been searching for his "girls" every since.  These sweet girls who must have been 8 or 9 decided he was the cutest thing and spent the evening playing with him, telling him how cute he is and trying to pick up all 56 of his pounds.

Sweet Pea, ever the Papa's girl, spent her evening close to Papa Bear and drinking every cup of water or lemonade she could get her hands on. 

We had a wonderful summer, but the evenings spent at the pool with our good friends were some of my favorite summer nights.

Peanut and his "girls"

Summer Time Bucket List

The kids and I sat down two weeks ago and we made an end of summer bucket list together.  I explained to them that we might not get to everything on the list, but we would certainly give it a try.  At first the bucket list read more like an adventure from a curious george book...ride in a rocket, join the circus... but then once they caught the hang of it it went something more like this.

• Bowling 
• Water Park
• Spray park
• Picnic at a playground
• Frying Pan Farm wagon ride
• Slumber party
• Mini-golf

Most of the ideas came from the coupon book that Little Man earned by completing his summer library reading program - although we couldn't actually use any of the coupons so thanks for a lot of nothing... but Little Man thinks we used his coupons and that is what really matters.  We have actually completed everything on the list except for the mini-golf, but we might try to fit that in tomorrow.

Here are a few pictures that I managed to capture since most of these events took place while Papa Bear was at work, I was short a few hands to help take pictures.  The water park was the most stressful because the kids loved the wave pool but I couldn't keep eyes on all of the kids at one time and there were a few kids pulled out by the lifeguards in the time we were there.

Wagon Ride at the farm

Tractor play is a must

Family Picture - we don't get enough of these

Check out Peanut's little modeling career

He held that 8 pound ball for 2 hours

She looks way too grown up here

At the farm

Flying the plane

Playground with good friends

Merry-Go-Round at the playground

picnic at the splash park