Some fun
What a difference a week (or two) can make! A few weeks ago things were crazy here at our house. I guess I should be more clear about that though. They were crazy for me and only crazy for Mike because he had to deal with a crazy wife who struggled to deal with her crazy life. I'm not sure the craziness even phased the boys. But, thankfully, last week and now this week, have been so much more relaxed. I took a week off of volunteering at the boy's school and didn't have to teach preschool so that helped things a bit. I still felt pretty busy but was able to juggle things so much better. Phew! This weeks looks like it might be another busy one for me but isn't that what life is about? It seems that when you are able to clear one thing up, something else comes to fill your time? Being busy is good.
Though, to be honest, I did appreciate President Eyring's talk last week at Women's Conference. I loved his balanced approach to service and taking care of yourself and making sure you are not running faster than you can. It is a good reminder to me. I am truly inspired by so many people in my life that serve and give of themselves freely and often feel motivated to serve like them and sometimes I have to remind myself that there is a time and a season and I can give where I can give, and let others give where they can give.
So, with all that, it's been a good week in our household. I took pictures of some of our activities this week but unfortunately, they are pretty much all blurry. We can't all be great photographers...
Will had the Greek Olympics at his school this year because they just finished learning about ancient Greece. They had fun activities like chariot races and shot put. They had a lot of fun until the teachers and gym teacher decided it was much too cold to continue the events outside and cancelled the last half. Eli and I were able to go to the school to cheer Will on though. It was fun to see him with his new friends at his new school.
Mike doesn't get to come home very early. His schedule isn't bad really, but even during the summer he never had a chance to come home early, which we heard he would be able to do. He generally leaves here around 6:45 AM and gets home around 5:30 or 6:00 PM. So it's a long day but thankfully, he doesn't have to worry about late nights or extra hours past that. He really has such a great job that he loves so it's nice. But, anyway, Friday was a training day and they all got off early. Some of his co-workers went shooting and he usually goes with them but this time decided to come home early and help around the house. It was so nice to have him home! Since it was Friday, the boys had early release so they were home early too. We decided that since Mike will not be off during their fall break next week, we'd go play as a family. Luckily, some friends gave us these tickets to Itz (a little like Chuck E Cheese but nicer) where you had to read ten books for a free $10 ticket! We decided to use our coupons and spend the afternoon/early evening playing at Itz.
Will is on this ride somewhere...
It was such a great night and the boys had a great time and got to redeem all their tickets for silly prizes and stuffed themselves full with the buffet food (mostly pizza) and soda (a rare treat for them). Normally, I would not pay the money to take them to a place like this so the coupons were awesome and allowed us to have a great time.
And finally, these are really bad pictures but we signed the boys up for soccer back in September. Their session is a 12 week session so it will last until December. We decided to sign them up for Soccer Buddies rather than the typical YMCA team because the YMCA could not get the boys all on the same time and their practices and games would all be at different times. When I added up the amount of time I'd spend during the week taking them to and from practices as well as watching games, we decided it was not a good choice for us. Soccer Buddies is great, in my opinion. One of my other concerns with the YMCA is that every one I talk to describes the games as being one big chaotic mess of children running around not knowing what they are doing. The purpose for me putting them in soccer was because Will expressed some concerns playing with some of his friends at school because they would all play soccer and he didn't know how. So, I really wanted to sign him up for something that allowed him to really learn the skills so he would feel comfortable playing with is friends. Initially they placed him in the 9-12 year old class (they didn't have a 7-8 year old class going at that time for some reason) . It was obvious that he was not able to play with the 9-12 year olds. I had told them that he had never played before so I was concerned the 9-12 year old class would be way too hard for him but they said it would be fine. It wasn't. When the coach head-butted the ball he said, "Hey, you aren't supposed to do that," I could see that I was right and he was not in the right group. He was not having fun because he just didn't know what he was doing so I called and got him changed to the younger class at an earlier time. He is doing MUCH better. He had never even played before so I knew he needed to be in a class that actually taught him the skills. He seems to really enjoy it now that is more age appropriate. The other two boys love it! I really like to see how they teach skills and then scrimmage for the last half and all of the boys, while in different classes, all play at the same time in the same building, where I can watch them all and so we spend a total of one hour a week for 12 weeks. It's a much better fit for our family! Well, that sounds like a sales pitch for Soccer Buddies doesn't it?
Rounding out our week is General Conference, one of my favorite weekends of the year. Already, we have been uplifted and inspired to be better. I'm ready for another day of truth and guidance from the Lord's apostles and prophet.
Though, to be honest, I did appreciate President Eyring's talk last week at Women's Conference. I loved his balanced approach to service and taking care of yourself and making sure you are not running faster than you can. It is a good reminder to me. I am truly inspired by so many people in my life that serve and give of themselves freely and often feel motivated to serve like them and sometimes I have to remind myself that there is a time and a season and I can give where I can give, and let others give where they can give.
So, with all that, it's been a good week in our household. I took pictures of some of our activities this week but unfortunately, they are pretty much all blurry. We can't all be great photographers...
Will had the Greek Olympics at his school this year because they just finished learning about ancient Greece. They had fun activities like chariot races and shot put. They had a lot of fun until the teachers and gym teacher decided it was much too cold to continue the events outside and cancelled the last half. Eli and I were able to go to the school to cheer Will on though. It was fun to see him with his new friends at his new school.
And finally, these are really bad pictures but we signed the boys up for soccer back in September. Their session is a 12 week session so it will last until December. We decided to sign them up for Soccer Buddies rather than the typical YMCA team because the YMCA could not get the boys all on the same time and their practices and games would all be at different times. When I added up the amount of time I'd spend during the week taking them to and from practices as well as watching games, we decided it was not a good choice for us. Soccer Buddies is great, in my opinion. One of my other concerns with the YMCA is that every one I talk to describes the games as being one big chaotic mess of children running around not knowing what they are doing. The purpose for me putting them in soccer was because Will expressed some concerns playing with some of his friends at school because they would all play soccer and he didn't know how. So, I really wanted to sign him up for something that allowed him to really learn the skills so he would feel comfortable playing with is friends. Initially they placed him in the 9-12 year old class (they didn't have a 7-8 year old class going at that time for some reason) . It was obvious that he was not able to play with the 9-12 year olds. I had told them that he had never played before so I was concerned the 9-12 year old class would be way too hard for him but they said it would be fine. It wasn't. When the coach head-butted the ball he said, "Hey, you aren't supposed to do that," I could see that I was right and he was not in the right group. He was not having fun because he just didn't know what he was doing so I called and got him changed to the younger class at an earlier time. He is doing MUCH better. He had never even played before so I knew he needed to be in a class that actually taught him the skills. He seems to really enjoy it now that is more age appropriate. The other two boys love it! I really like to see how they teach skills and then scrimmage for the last half and all of the boys, while in different classes, all play at the same time in the same building, where I can watch them all and so we spend a total of one hour a week for 12 weeks. It's a much better fit for our family! Well, that sounds like a sales pitch for Soccer Buddies doesn't it?
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