A new season of soccer

Crash and the Test Pilot started a new soccer season this past weekend.

I don't have any pictures, because I forgot the camera in my quest to keep us from passing out from heat stroke and keep our fair skins from being burned to a crisp.

It was supposed to be a high of 103 degrees that day.  Each boy had 2 soccer games-one at 10am and one at 12pm.

The 10am game went really well for both boys.  The coaches took frequent water breaks besides quarter/half breaks.  It was a success.

The noon game not so much.  There was such a difference in all the kids playing or not playing in some cases. The temperature was drastically warmer by that point.  So many of the kids were just standing around on all the fields.  Or they would jog to get the ball instead of the sprint they would normally do.  Thankfully, they shortened the noon game so we could all get out of the heat.

Both boys moved up in age divisions this year.  Crash did really well.  I was a little apprehensive about him being in this league, but so far so good.  God blessed us with a great coach that we know personally.  We could not ask for better.  He is still pretty clueless about positions and such but he can run.  So he at least looks like he knows what he is doing.  And he has fun!

The Test Pilot moved to a league where they have goalies and he is so excited.  Remember, he likes being goalie or defender because "they don't have to run so much."  Boy, was he mistaken.  He ran a lot during both games.  Let's just say our defense lacks a little bit (or a lot but who is counting) so he found himself one on one with a striker and the ball many times.  He did really good!  He had a lot of stops and did a lot of sprinting.  It was a good first outing.

Wingman just runs around the field telling anyone he sees that he gets to play soccer when he is 4 years old.

It was a good day after we cooled off.  I will post pictures in their uniforms next game.  Hopefully, with cooler temps by then.

Nefarious criminal

Well, it turns out I am not married to a mild mannered aeronautical engineer, but rather a nefarious criminal.  It's official.  He was sent by certified mail his official court summons.  What was this dastardly crime that my once innocent husband committed?

WASTING WATER

I am soooo not kidding.  He was officially served with papers citing him for this terrible crime and ordered to appear in court this Friday.  There is a picture attached to the paperwork, but the worker has his finger in the picture so you can not even tell what it is.

Apparently, one of our evil sprinkler heads in the front yard isn't shooting at exactly 180 degrees and it is causing some droplets of water to fall to the curb instead of the grass.  And I mean droplets.  It's not like a stream of water is running from our sprinklers.

I realize that we are in the middle of one of the worst droughts in my state, that we are at Stage 3 water restrictions (which we abide by religiously), and there is no rain in sight.

But really!  We are using our tax payers dollars sending a civil servant around checking sprinkler heads at 5:41am on a Sunday.

Hopefully, they won't incarcerate my husband after the first offense.  In all seriousness, it's probably just a fine, but still.  I could think of a lot better uses of that young man's time and our court system than to prosecute water wasters.

Mother of boys

This is just a random post of oddities that I have run into lately as the mother of boys.

1.  You must watch Star Wars with them and be an expert on all things Star Wars.  You have to be prepared to answer questions like, "Why does Queen Amidala need a decoy?"

2.  Potty training with boys just stinks.  They don't care.  They don't like my plan.  They just don't care.  Enough said.

3.  Never thought I would say this one.  "Please stop standing on your head during story time."

4.  We have rules on when it's appropriate to use light sabers and when it is not.  You must be very specific.

5.  I am sure other kids do this too.  Two of my boys, who can be rather picky eaters, have started trying to bargain how much dinner they have to eat to get dessert.  It's amazing how full they can be after 2 bites of fish, but if there is dessert to be had they have plenty of room in that tummy.  We are working on this one.

6.  These boys are relatively little, and they are about to eat me out of house and home.  I keep joking that we need a dairy cow in the back yard.  They currently drink 4 gallons of milk a week.  I am soooo in trouble when they turn into teenagers.

Boys!

First Day of School #1

The Test Pilot started school yesterday.  He's a big 3rd grader now.  We are continuing homeschooling with him.  (Crash starts later.)

We are using the same Core curriculum as last year, but changed a few subjects to try a slightly different approach this year.  I am feeling more brave picking curriculum.  We added Spanish, which surprisingly he loves.

It went well yesterday.  I am sure our schedule will need a little more tweaking as the days and weeks go on, but so far so good.

I still can't believe he is a 3rd grader.  They grow so fast!

Soccer camp

The Test Pilot decided to try a soccer camp this summer.  It was a day or more like evening camp.  Due to the heat, they met late afternoon/early evening hours.  He really enjoyed himself.

It is run by this group out of the United Kingdom.  Over there, unlike the U.S., it's a big deal to be a coach.  They take classes and have internships.  These 3 young brits that ran our camp are part of this group.  This is part of their training to be a coach.

These guys were great.  They had tons of games and fun activities to teach soccer but keep the kids busy and entertained.  This is no small task with 4 year olds in the mix.  (I forgot to prepare my child that they may talk a little funny.)  He was a little puzzled at first.

Here's the Test Pilot with his coach and age group.  As usual, he 's the giant of the group.  They also gave them skills assessment which were very accurate.

His highlight was on the last day.  They had a specialty goalkeeper clinic.  He has never had any formal instruction in goalkeeping so he was excited, because he loves to play goalie.  He's pretty good at it, but in all honesty- his #1 reason that he likes to play goalie is that they don't have to run much.  He told his coach this.  Nice!  At least he is honest.

Oh well!  I do know a man who played goalie all through college and he said that is how he started.  He didn't want to run much.

Handling money God's way

The Captain and I took a money management class at our church when we were newly married.  It was offered by the Crown Financial Ministries and we were part of small discussion group at our church.

While neither one of us handled money poorly, we didn't have a game plan or even a theory about how to handle money.  That class was so informative.  I never knew that the Bible had so much to say about finances.

I remember when taking that class, the leaders mentioned that there was curriculum for children and teens.  I filed that information away.

Fast forward 9 years and this summer I have done a money management class with the boys.

It's called "The ABC's of Handling Money God's Way".  This series is geared for ages 3-7.

It's been great.  We do 1-2 lessons a week.  There's a Bible verse for each week, a short application story, and some activity sheets.  It has taught them to stay out of debt.  We have talked about saving and giving.

I plan on giving each boy 3 jars with "saving", "giving", and "spending" on them to reinforce the teaching.

They have enjoyed it and seemed to have learned a lot.  Hopefully, this will be the start of some good money habits now that will bless them in the years to come.

Boogey boarding

It's another beach post.  It was just so fun and this is my way of scrapbooking so here's some more pictures.

My favorite part of the beach trip is boogey boarding.  We had to buy additional boards this year, because the children actually wanted to try it.

It's something fun that the Captain and I like doing together.  Thank you Nana for watching our children on the beach so we can share in some fun together.

The Test Pilot was ready to go.  It was fun to do some big kid stuff with just him.  He had a good time being way out in the waves, until he will he got rocked by some big ones.  He decided he needed to stay closer to shore.

 Crash really got into it.  He stayed in the shallower surf, but did good.

Wingman never really got a good rhythm going but he was good at this "beached whale" imitation with his boogey board.

Boogey boards can also be used as water wagons and your parents can drag you around.  The kids liked it.  The parents got a workout.

Next year, the Captain wants to try kite surfing.  This not the best picture.  Several days, there was a man on what looks like a snowboard strapped to a kite to pull him around the ocean.  The Captain tells me we need to try this for the children's sake.  Ah hem.

So I might be trying kite surfing next year.