on quads and flag football and low country boils.
Tuesday. September.16.20`4
It's fall, ya'll!! As I'm sure you know from FB or from my last post here, I <3 Fall. I got the fall stuff out this weekend and I've slowly been putting some things here and there. I also bought the gold spray paint, so as soon as I have the chance, there will be some gold spraying happening to some old stuff (and a million acorns we've collected) to bring it new life! I am obsessed with gold right now. Totally obsessed! I was also given this gorgeous window from Joel's grandma's house. It it gigantic and so beautiful. Snail asked me if I'm going to paint it. Heck no! I love it the way it is...now just to figure out how to decorate it. The possibilities really are endless!
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Fall is especially fun this year because we are for the first time involved in the youth football program. Let me tell you, it has been great! The Big Dog is helping to coach and Snip is just loving it. OK. Honesty here for one second. When Snip was tiny, he was SO MUCH like me, that we just kind of assumed that he'd never be an athlete. #1, he never showed an interest in balls. Ever. It was always trucks, trains, cars, tractors, etc. Never once a ball or a bat or anything. #2, he is really, really musical. He loves music, and he's a natural. #3, his first year of soccer was, um, difficult. He LIKED it, but really, really, struggled. This year in soccer, he surprised us all when he actually did quite well! So when he said he wanted to sign up for football, we were a little hesitant, but excited. And our rule is that once you sign up, you follow through for the whole season and if you don't like it, you never have to play again. We really didn't think he'd like it. Well, turns out he likes it quite a bit! And while he only gets a few plays, he's doing so well!!! He's a running back, and we just couldn't be more proud of him how hard he's trying! This year he's in first grade, so he's doing flag on the first and second grade team. He plays a few plays in the second half, usually, even a few defensive plays. He's SO tiny, but he's fast! It's so fun to watch him play as well as all of his friends that we've been with since his first days at preschool. I just love our community and the families we've met through all of these activities.
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| warming up for the second half |
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| after he ran the ball, putting his flag back on |
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| talking with coach Big Dog after the play |
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| celebrating a Conemaugh Township touchdown! |
It's just been so nice to go to the games and watch and celebrate these kiddos! And I got to work the concession stand this past game, so that was really fun! No, really, I had fun! I like working the concession stand! More than one person was so kind to remind me that one day I will have kids in flag, minors, and majors. We just live over the hill from the field, and we were all home by halftime of the second game, but we still heard cheers and the announcer at 6:30. We were there at noon. Ah, so what I have to look forward to is hours and hours watching my boys play football? I'll take it!
After the game we had our families over for a low country boil. The Big Dog's been wanting to do this for a while now, ever since friends of ours invited us to one at their house. So he bought all the food that morning and we invited our families over.
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| The shrimp was a big hit with the boys! |
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| One of four....potatoes, shrimp, scallops, corn on the cob, green beans, and asparagus. So yummy! |
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| Puppy couldn't decide what he wanted first he just started grabbing! |
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| The Big Dog and his brother, the master chefs...and a happy Snail! |
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| Yum!
Seafood is not my favorite, but this was fantastic! We'll definitely be doing that again!
With the boys getting more involved in sports and activities (hockey starts Saturday!), it's getting harder and harder to make our weekly trek to Gramma and Pappy's house. We snuck in a quick trip this week and after our traditional spaghetti and meatballs, it was off to the quads!
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I remember when Snip was little, how much he loved quads and tractors. I thought it was just crazy how obsessed he was. If I thought he was bad, Puppy is a gazillion times worse. He doesn't watch cartoons like normal 2-year-olds, he watches videos of quads on YouTube. He makes "mud" out of blankets and pillows and plays with his toy quads for hours. Any and every time he talks to one of my parents on the phone, he asks about the quads. When we sing songs, we have to insert the word "quads" for other words. "Twinkle Twinkle, little quad..."
So we only had a little bit of time for our visit this time. Snip has his own quad there, so he took off riding around the yard doing loops, and I took Puppy, and Pappy took Snail and off we headed for a ride in the woods. I remembered to bring my boots this time so I could take him through mud since that's what he likes the best! And boy did we go through the mud! Straight through the middle of 10-ft-wide puddles, mud to the tops of the tires, splashing everywhere! Let me tell you, there's not much more fun!
The best part of quad riding, for me, is sharing something that I loved doing with my dad when I was little, with my kids now....AND with HIM! I grew up riding three-wheelers, and my dad would take me all over the mountain. Now that I ride with him and the kids, I wonder where my bravery went! There are places I know I flew through as a 12-year-old, by MYSELF, that I hesitate going through now at 36 with him in front of me. I clearly remember like it was yesterday riding behind him, getting slightly nervous on a slanted trail, or coming up to a mud puddle with an unknown depth...I remember thinking to myself, "he'd never take you somewhere you can't handle" and just following. And of course I was fine! The only time I ever flipped was when I was in front of him and didn't have him to guide me. I sometimes forget how much I LOVE that mountain, until I'm on it and I just breathe it all in and capture the beauty in my brain. On our way back, we switched and Snail road with me. He and I just kept talking about how beautiful everything was...how very green and pretty...and he asked why I wasn't stopping to take pictures. I said I didn't have to...those "pictures" are in my brain and have been since I was 10 years old. And they always will be. I wish I could ride up there every single day. I love it so much. On this ride, our destination was the dam. We stopped and got off and threw stones into the water, smelled the pine-trees, gathered some pine cones, and played in the mud. And just listened to the quiet.
Here we go!
deep in the woods...so green...and on a fairly easy, flat part of the trail
Puppy looking out at the dam
Can't wait to come back when the leaves have changed!
Pappy, Snail, and Puppy throwing stones in the water
Switched riders for the ride back home!
Remember the smell I was talking about in my last post? That smell of kicked up leaves deep in the woods? I got to smell it for an hour on this ride...ahhh, so blessed!
School has been going really well for both of the older boys. Shockingly, I haven't forgotten anything yet and we've been staying on track with homework each day. Our routine is that when Snip gets home, he gets himself a snack while I get the other two boys set up with a show on TV or outside playing. He and I take his backpack to the dining room and go through it, then we begin his homework. In first grade at our school, they are given a week's worth of reading/language arts homework on Monday, due on Friday, in a plastic "Ziplock" bag. They also have 2 weeks worth of math homework given on a Monday in a math folder, due two Fridays from then. I had to find a way to stay organized with this and have it in a place accessible to Snip, so this was my solution. I started this last year.
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I have this three-slot wire basket hanging on the wall under our white board calendar. Right now, Snip has the most stuff coming home, so his slot is in the front. This is where his baggie and folder stay throughout the time that it's home. Snail is in the middle, though he only ever has one or two things there. And Puppy is in the back with nothing right now. So, this is working for NOW. When all three of them are in school, I will def. need one basket for each of them. My good friend just showed me her solution to this, and has a small crate on the wall for each of her three boys and I love it. I don't have the wall space for that, so I need to find a solution, probably starting next year. Snip also has a pencil box that we keep in the dining room for homework. In it, we have pencils, sharpeners, pump pencils, erasers, glue stick, and scissors. He also has a highlighter that stays in his reading bag. This way we don't have to leave the room once we've started homework. Homework is done before anything else. With getting off the bus at 4:00 and football practice at 5:15, this doesn't leave a lot of time, but so far, we are making it work, and we are making it our routine and a habit.
Another tip I have for staying organized and keeping up with it all, and this is common sense, but just something I used to be really bad with. When stuff comes home, if I need to fill out and send back, I do it right then and there. If it's garbage, it goes straight to the can. I display papers from that week on a ribbon with clothespins in the kitchen.
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At the beginning of the next week, I take everything off of the ribbon and either put it in a 3-ring-binder, or throw it away. I keep things they make from scratch and big or important tests. Everything else goes in the garbage. C'mon....no matter how much you want to keep every little thing, you just can't! So, this system is working for us now, but I know that in a few years, again, I will have to come up with something else.
I'd love to hear others' organization/homework systems! Again, this is what works for US....not going to work for everyone!
Still no word from our contractor on doing our back splash....still patiently waiting for a finished kitchen!
Enjoy this gorgeous fall weather...I know I am!
Bye for now!
~jenn
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