It's Wild Here

2 goal weekend for the scott boys

Both boys won their games this weekend, and they each scored a very exciting goal toward the end of the game.  Awesome! (thanks to sister for the awesome photos)

soccer season

On Friday, J had his first game. They moved it to a new location with a much longer field, so they are going to be IN shape by June!  J played the whole game - it was very exciting, as always.  I enjoyed chatting with Toni on the sidelines, while K slept in the sling most of the time.

At the same time, Je was having his first practice on the other side of the building, and he, E and R came over just as Ja's game was ending.  He had his first game yesterday morning. The weather was dreadfully cold and K was not impressed. He tried to be happy but we ended up in the van a couple of times to warm up.  Je played fabulously - he's quite good at stealing the ball and isn't at all reluctant to get right in a tangle.   After the game he told me he had figured out how to defend against a particular kid who plays really agressively, by holding his arm straight out (looked like pushing actually, but I guess not) to keep him from coming in close.

Littlest but not least, R played soccer for the first time. The weather did not seem to affect the level of fun to be had, for him. He was the smallest and youngest one there, and we were prepared to take off if he couldn't stay with the program, but he had no problems! The coach is a very sweet, engaging guy, and R was instantly thrilled. He lined up, he kicked goals, he wore his yellow "soccer suit," he followed his little swarm-team around the field with total joy. We cheered "Get the ball, Ryan!" and at one point he looked over his shoulder and squeaked "I'm twying!"  He really was trying, and he did get some touches on the ball. He was also plowed over completely a few times. He jumped up like it was nothing and kept running.  ((squeeze))

many things

1. Some Ryan talk first - anyone care to guess?

"poovie"

"chushie"

2. Our new friend Jane is offering us a family yoga opportunity with one other family. The other family has one toddler son who is a friend to R.  I really hope this works out and that the big boys can also enjoy it. I know she teaches a very relaxing and spiritual style class.

3. Ja started work at a nearby intergenerational garden, which is also a CSA in which anyone can buy shares of local, organic (I'm assuming) produce.  As they are quick to remind all the middle school gardeners, this is a Real Job, to which they are expected to arrive on time and commit to the end of summer.  He has gone to his first work day and seemed to enjoy it. Hard work, but satisfying, he says. I was particularly impressed because he was feeling pretty bad that day with sinus pain and congestion, but got himself up and went anyway. Each kid is assigned two beds, and there will be some ongoing training in engaging with the elders as well. The garden is literally just around the corner from our house.

4. Gold Cup soccer has started for Ja, and Silver Cup begins this Saturday for Je. I hope his coach calls to tell us when the first game is! I'm not sure whether R will  play copper cup. I think he's technically too young, so we'll have to see what they say.

5. Je has a new snare drum, a book and CD curriculum, and no drumsticks! We have to get those today so we can begin. He's also hoping to run with the track team this year, although the coach hasn't returned my call. I'm not sure if it's still too early for track or if he is possibly gone on spring break?  We;re also considering some sculpture lessons for Je - our friend Jade has her art degree in sculpture and hopes to teach in the future, so this would be a good match for both of them.

6. R is really stretching himself these days.  Leaving behind the diapers is a happy transition but still definitely not mastered. The first week was a bit more successful than the last two. He's also been having some scary dreams and fears at night about spiders in the bed. Poor  sweetie. Yesterday, we attended a library program in a couple towns over - I'd heard they have a very active, musical program. They did, indeed. It was crowded but fun.

R really loves the organized group activities like that. I've considered Kindermusik for that reason, but it's very expensive and this library program is pretty similar, at least for this young age.

I still struggle with being out with R when there are other small children around. He tends to want to love on them a little TOO closely, in their face, and occasionally in the form of tackling them. It gets old, protecting other kids, the disapproval of certain other parents, apologizing. And apologizing. Every time I show up at a playgroup and leave feeling bummed, I say we are not going back for a few months, but then we really want to get out and DO things... I've always felt that we should stick with the younger age group activities because he IS so active and a bit immature for his age, but then I had another thought - maybe it is the older kids (4+) we should be getting to know. They're all a lot less likely to be hurt by him - he's less likely to get in their face (he tends to go for the delicate one-year-olds) - and maybe he'd follow their lead a bit.

Napping seems to be over. I'm sure he'll still have a nap here and there, but he seems to be able to get through the day without one, and we're having very early bedtimes. This week we started "quiet time," during which he hangs in the bed with books. He's doing surprisingly well. He's stayed in there about 20 minutes, and I'm hoping to gradually increase it over the next few months so that we're getting an hour if possible. He has been enjoying books a lot these days. Also singing... the alphabet song is on Repeat in that child's mind, with a sprinkling of Row Row Row Your Boat and Twinkle Twinkle.

Throughout the day, out of nowhere, R will often stop what he's doing, turn to the parent or brother nearest him and say "I really yike you."  If we respond with definite understanding, that will do. If we simply "mm-hmm" or smile, he will have to repeat:  "I really, really yike you."  It's pretty adorable.

7.  Small-child K. What can I say? He's busted out - in the past 2 weeks he's gone from immobile, toothless infant to crawling, standing, cruising, babbling, toothy, toy-playing pre-toddler.  I don't think I've ever seen such a sudden developmental leap in a baby. Go baby!

Above, he appreciates the grass at ML playground with his Grammy. He prefers mulch, though. Less ticklish, and apparently also tastier.

friday update

yea yea, it's not friday. I haven't been doing this on Fridays, and I don't think I'm even going to do it weekly anymore.  This blog just isn't what it used to be - primarily for homeschooling record-keeping. Occasionally, though, a little post about studies.

The boys are both reading about US government, the three branches, Constitution, elections etc. Jamie plans to compare the checks and balances in our government to something in the Matrix, which I haven't watched (except maybe once a long time ago?), so that should be interesting. I found a set of books that are very straightforward, probably written for 3-5th grade in mind, but for Jamie they are zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  They're working well for Jeremiah but we're open to suggestions if any of you readers have suggestions.

We're all doing Rosetta Stone spanish. At some point, I really want to find an opportunity to study with an actual human so we can practice conversation. I'd like to use it in daily life enough that the babies pick up some. I knew it so well in college, many years of study, and now of course... well, 15 years of not practicing a language pretty much kills it.

Jeremiah wants to drum. I need to call the school band director because they have a drum to lend and the percussion "curriculum?" they use with the kids. I forget if they start in 5th or 6th grade in the school, but if Jeremiah chooses, in the future he could participate in school band. Right now he just wants to drum. He's also planning to run on the track team in the spring. He's a speedy kid.

Jamie is continuing his art lessons and adding a little art history. His spelling and grammar are developed enough now that he fakes out Katie on instant messenger, pretending to be me, saying absurd things.  He gets a little too absurd and she busts him. He's reading the Narnia books and has found on online forum for discussing all-things-Narnia.

Yesterday the boys played soccer out in 6" of powdery snow. It was great to see them out there with the soccer ball again - it's been so cold.

Ryan: still very much into Oz, has the scarecrow's song  (AND dance) practically memorized. Is fond of telling us:  I have a birsday coming up.

couple of updates

ryan is outside looking for a calapayder.

kellen might be officially a binky baby.

Jamie and Jeremiah saved enough to buy themselves Nintendo DSs, and they are both thrilled.

Jeremiah's had two games this weekend. Yesterday, he scored a goal! The team won 9-0.  Today's game was against the #1 team in the league, and they tied. Awesome!   

photo-heavy update post

We've been attending a toddler playgroup, where Ryan gets a chance to socialize and climb, two of his favorite things. Here he is flying his plane, complete with sound effects

A drawing of "a boy" that R did on the MagnaDoodle.

Ryan thinks the Buddha might like this Bionicle mask on his head.

In this picture, you can see the injury to his upper lip - his Cozy Coupe rolled over last week. ouch.

ok, can you believe the face on this child? These are my nieces, Grace and Clover. Do you think Clover is enjoying her birthday? (I can assure you, Grace was also having a ball)

Sometimes, his smiles are so huge that his eyes totally disappear. ::swoon::

First game of the season! I love this smile.

And a little more of the sweetness:

We borrowed this little playmat from Katie to use with Kellen, and before he had a chance, the other baby decided to take it for a spin.

this happens every summer

The kids are so funny. The big boys don't really want to play outside a lot, all spring and summer, much to my frustration. When late summer and fall come, suddenly they're out there all the time. They've been out back in the sandbox, trampoline, hitting rocks with sticks, kicking soccer, etc, every day, several times a day. I'll take what I can get!

finger soccer

Jamie and Jeremiah enjoyed this cute video  sent by Evan, and decided to do the same thing for themselves. They spent about a day finding the best way to gain these skillz without the special effects used in the video.

Scroll down for late-added pictures of soccer, jeremiah's way-back pictures

soccer camp and the warming-up belly

Big boys have completed their first two days of soccer camp. Because of World Cup soccer, it's an exciting time to be involved in 3 hours/day of soccer. The camp is "British Challenger Camp" and each instructor is a young adult from England, here for the summer. They did it last year and found the coaches to be fun and funny, very engaging; the games and drills were new and interesting and they learned a lot.

This year, we signed them up again (it meets in the next town over) and then heard a week later that some local people were bringing in one of these camps to OUR town.  The boys really wanted to do both, for various reasons. So, this week is the local camp. The coach for this year, in this town, is, welll... a bit different than last year. She is, to begin with, a she. They were all guys last year. Secondly, she is harsh. Just rough stuff, not soft, not sweet. She's not really all about fun, although they are *having* fun with friends and learning new things. The biggest problem, I think, is that Jamie goes in the morning for three hours, and then we go back with Jeremiah for his group in the evening 5:30-8:30.  It's a lot of soccer hours.

Jamie has come home thrilled every day. His soccer just improves so much all the time. I can see how just watching all this TV World Cup has energized him! Unfortunately, right before bed (why is it always just before bed?) he told me that he'd been very anxious for the first half of camp yesterday, and wanted to touch base with me. The coach, however, told him he couldn't call me. It always amazes me when I specifically ask coaches/instructors to allow my children to call at any time, and still they say no. It keeps happening. It drives me crazy.  We've brainstormed some ways for him to feel more comfortable today, primarily involving me staying there for longer. It's not an easy thing to do right now - hot sun, running Ryan, big belly.  I decided it was worth a chance to ask for a last-minute help from Dorothy, who has generously agreed to hang around with Ryan so I can take him over and stay a while.

Jeremiah also found the style of the camp to be very challenging. I don't think this is the type of "Challenger" camp any of us had in mind. He is mixed in with a group of 11-14yo girls plus 3 other young boys. It's an odd mix, and these girls are very talky, which brings out the not-nice in the coach. Jeremiah is just not loving that.  Last night, Evan stayed with him for the duration (he goes in the evening) and he seemed to have a good time.

I wish this weren't all happening right now, to be honest. Getting out the door by 8:45 am for camp, and arriving home at night at 9pm at the end of the other boy's camp... it's a long day for my slow-paced self.

Plenty of contractions the past 24 hours. They aren't painful or close together, but definitely more abundant than before.