Soccer - to do? Or not to do?

That IS the question. This year I have been in turmoil about how much extracurricular our family can handle. A couple of years ago we only let Abe and Elsa choose one thing they wanted to do - that was soccer. For some reason it was okay last year. This year, soccer has sent me to the brink of bitterness and gall as I try to keep things running smoothly while running kids to soccer. I know every mom on the planet seems to do this. But more and more I am questioning if I should have them doing ANYTHING execpt school and piano and their church activities! That in and of itself is too much sometimes. I don't like not having choices. We do soccer 4 nights a week and most and for about 3 hours every Saturday. Anyhow, sorry Abe and Elsa, I digress. So I hauled the camera to Abe's soccer game last week. Abe kind of gets left out of pictures these days. The kids are so ready to be in a picture at all times. But Abe hides. He has been doing this longer than the rest of the kids, I guess.




Abe has two coaches - the assistant coach is Coach Pete. He is a pretty intimidating guy (read the shirt!) But he is good for the kids - he pushes them and doesn't let them get away with stuff.



When it comes to sports, Abe is a funny kid. Pretty much his whole life he has seemed more interested in the direction the wind is blowing than he is about the game that is taking place. When he was five, he played t-ball and would often be found picking dandylions in the outfield! Notice how interested he is in his game in the picture below! :)


One of the things I love about Abe is that he is who he is! He did get into the game when he was on the field, but when he is on the sidelines - it's touch and go! We may be experiencing our last season of soccer.....

But soccer or not - Abe kicks!

Old House, New House

This is really old news. But, in June of this year we moved. It all started unexpectedly back in January when a friend from church called me. She said she felt kind of stupid asking, but that she kept having this prompting to call the Jensen's and ask if we would be interested in buying their house! We had considered getting into a bigger house on occasion, but everytime we looked, we never felt compelled to do it - even though our current residence was getting a bit tight. We had done so much to the house in 8 years that it was functioning at a pretty high level, even if we were a little crowded! Well, to make a long story short - we loved the house and the location was right (just around the corner from our old abode). So we thought we'd just casually put our house up for sale and see what happened. Needless to say, we have never sold a house before and now realize that you don't just casually put your house up for sale to see what happens! There is NOTHING casual about trying to sell a house you are living in! It sold in May after 3 months of an emotional rollercoaster I never expected - and feeling like I was in my first trimester of pregnancy (crazy mood swing irrational girl!) and we moved in June. We LOVE the new house. It feels just right for our family. It only has three finished bedrooms, but they are huge. Our three girls fit into one, which is what I have always wanted while they are little. We have a basement that we can finish eventually that will add two more bedrooms, a bathroom and family room. We had a lot of work to do to get the yard Sophia-proofed (i.e. a fence). We have done a lot of landscaping and painted the house on the outside (it was white when we bought it). Below is one of my favorite aspects of the house - an entryway! You actually have quite a large space in the entry, so you are not immediately in the house.

To the left of the entry is a living room. Straight ahead and back is the kitchen and dining.

We will miss our old house. We had Kate, Sophia and Ben while we lived in that house. Our family has changed so much and it is the only place our kids remember living.

Here are a few pics I took for the realtor of our old house, just so we don't forget!

Next Year, Please Take Note!

Why is it that I can never remember how absolutely RIDICULES the first week of school is? It is all consuming. But every year, I make the same mistakes. It sneaks up on me. I don't have my ducks in a row. And I find myself in the middle of absolute chaos! This year, I had a couple of obligations that came out of nowhere, last minute, that had nothing to do with my family or my children, two days before school started. I had a couple of deadlines to meet, and I committed to them. So once again I found myself consumed with something I should have said "no" to. The day school started we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off! This was old news to Abe and Elsa - but Kate was just starting Kindergarten, so I was hoping to be able to embrace the moment with her!

I thought that for once in my life I am going to be on time - get Kate to the gradeschool where she will be catching the bus to the kindergarten Center with plenty of time to spare! So we walked up to the school and were actually about 20 minutes early. On the way, Ben created quite the scent in his pants (of course, I hadn't thought to throw a diaper into the stroller), and Sophia lost her shoes, somehow. So we arrived at the school with a stinky diaper and a barefoot Sophia, which would have been fine, except. The buses were late. And not just a little. (this is how Murphy's Law operates in my life - even when I have it together, I don't have it together!) So we are 20 minutes early and the bus is a half an hour late! Ben is stinky and crying, Sophia is twirling all over the place, and I am wanting to scream! But Kate, Kate is as calm as a summer's morning and unaffected by the chaos. I finally had to just leave her there with Jessica Albrecht to get screaming Ben home to a diaper change!

Kate, Eden Albrecht, Jane Romney, Elise Daines, Kat Johnson and Jaylee Lake are just a few of the friends that are in afternoon kindergarten with Kate. Kate's teacher's name is Mr. McCaslin. However, before the first day of school, she was having a hard time pronouncing it, so she was opting to just use his first name - BOB. I was worried that might cause a problem. But by the time she got home from school - she had "Mr. McCaslin" mastered. Phew! Elsa has Mrs. Swenson and came home happy as a clam. Luckily Mrs. Swenson, who is our neighbor, is the biggest warm-fuzzy ever! Abe was pretty stressed the night before the start of school. Rumor had it that the 5th grade was a taste of the big time responsibility. He came from school a little less stressed, but then asked Mark for a blessing that night to just calm the nerves. Mark normally gives the kids a father's blessing at the beginning of the school year, but hadn't gotten to it yet. That was all a good experience for Abe to ask for it and Mark to give

it. Mark had some insight I thought was quite profound about what a blessing it is for him as a father to use the power of the Lord's priesthood to give a blessing to one of your children and that as that blessing comes into your mind through the power of the spirit, you recieve insight into who your child is in Heavenly Father's eyes and his or her potential, strengths and weaknesses.

Some of our school friends - Savannah and Sarah Pratt. We love the Pratts!

And Jenna and Jaylee Lake - we love them too!

10 and 8 and 1

Lately I have been getting some updated portraits of the kids for my walls going up the stairs. Everything came down in the old house when we moved (of course, that is obvious). But the kids just grow so fast and I can't bring myself to put the old pics back up. Plus, Ben wasn't even represented at the old house. So here are a couple of shots as of late.

The Oviatts at the Lake

After about eight months of trying to work around our two schedules, I finally met up with the cute Oviatt family to take some family pics down at the lake. Barb is my friend from church and from the athletic club here and is a GREAT Yoga instructor. Actually, she is an amazing instructor of all the fitness arts (is that even a term?) The eight month lead time is one of the biggest reasons I am not starting a photography business anytime soon. (Unfortunately)
I had fun and these people are athletes! We got some great pics.








Ahh, the sweet life.



I think we need a boat.