Welcome to the family

Back in March William received a gold fish from his primary teachers.  It was given the name of Twilight and we have taken very good care of it.  Twilight survived the many trips back and forth from the cabin this summer.  He has even grown.

Well, now we have two more.

 Last night our neighbor, Larry, came over with a bucket; a gift for the boys.  Upon inspection we saw the above two little fish inside the bucket.  Larry has a pond in his backyard and his fish had babies.  Larry thoughtfully fished two of them out for Caleb and Peter and now, they are part of the family.  Oh boy, can you feel the stress I am now under to keep three gold fish alive?  It is pretty intense.

 Anyway, Caleb named his Brownie and Peter named his Harry Potter.  Very cool.  This morning William, Haley and I went out in search for new homes for them.  We found a good deal on the tanks, had to get a bunch more gallons of water for changing the water when it comes time, and now they are in their places of honor in the kitchen.  Do you like the tank decorations?  Twilight also got a bigger tank because he needed it.

After school we had a snack of chocolate frogs (to welcome Harry Potter) and brownies (to welcome Brownie).  It was messy and fun and good.  And boy do I hope these fish live long, healthy lives.  These boys are counting on it.

An exhaustingly good day

Yesterday was great!  We had a lot planned and knew it would be fun but tiring.  There was soccer to be played, soccer pictures were scheduled for after the games and then we had planned to go to the state fair with Steve and Jorge that evening.

 Peter's team had their very best game of the season yesterday.  Peter played goalie for the second half of the game and did a wonderful job!  With some coaching from Caleb, Peter got in there and made a lot of great saves.

 Caleb's team did terrific also.  Caleb played goalie for the entire game and did great!  You cannot see Caleb too much in this picture but I posted it anyway to show you how he made most of the saves for the game.  He took charge and went into the crowd of greens to pick up the ball, time and again.  He really did a great job and his team won.  Good thing too.  It is always nice to have a good game on picture day, to be able to look back on the day and know you gave it your all.

Finally and after all that time in the sun we went to the state fair.  The kid enjoyed a lot of different things from the fair.  Haley loved seeing all the animals and had fun petting the bunnies.  William and Peter had fun watching a small portion of the rodeo with me.  William had his dream come true and was able to go on the high jump.

 

Caleb's favorite part of the fair was playing the games to win a little prize.  Oh, and I think he also really liked his fried scone with honey butter. :)  Each of the boys were able to win a cute little stuffed animal and they were so happy to crawl into bed that night and not have to walk any more.  They were tuckered!  What a fun way to spend a Saturday.
One other thing that I do not want to forget about last night was Peter losing another tooth.  Peter seems to always be ready to lose them right when he is so tired that he cannot deal with the pain or drama of it all.  We were at the fair, getting ready to leave and Peter wanted some cotton candy.  He loves the stuff so I obliged and the boys were happily eating it when he started to cry about his tooth hurting him.  He did not want us to pull it but it just hurt him so bad.  There he was in tears and he said, "Mom, I can't even eat my cotton candy."  Broke my heart.  Here it was all he wanted all night and now he could not even enjoy it.  So, we get home and everyone is sooo tired.  But my awesome Peter went upstairs to brush his teeth because he knows that is just what you do before bed.  All of a sudden I hear him exclaim, "Mom, my tooth fell out!"  I ran upstairs to see the evidence and he said that while he was brushing the tooth just popped out.  Yeah!  

Uno, Dos, Tres... Back to School we go

First day of school.  Ready and excited.

        

Caleb's teacher, Miss Medina.

Peter had to wait an extra day but it finally came.  He was so excited and ready to see what his Spanish class would really be like.

This is such a cute picture of Peter being sweet to William, I could not take it out. 

Peter's teachers.  Mrs. Gruer for English, and Senor Boud for Spanish.

William also got his own back-to-school shirt because he is excited to have school time each day with mom.  He is such sweet little kid, everyday he asks me when we will have school.
There is SO VERY MUCH that these boys have to learn during this school year!  I get slightly overwhelmed just thinking about it.  Their goals for academics, church and just keeping them kids; here's to hoping we can find a balance in it all.

Let it be known, I expect much

This picture is proof that Caleb, and some of his other team mates, did their duty tonight.  See those storm clouds in the distance?  You can bet it rained on us.  See that mud, you can bet it made for a better second half than the first.
The first half was poor.  There was more jogging and standing than I have ever seen!  These kids were not trying.  Midway through first half coach put Caleb in as goalie.  I ran up to help him with the jersey and gloves and I strictly told him, "I expect to see grass stains, mud stains and even a few wounds."  I then took hold of his cheeks and said, "do it!"  He did it.  He made some great saves and by the end of the first half his knee was green with grass.
Second half it started to rain and the shorts and both knees got muddy.  He told me at half-time that he was making those saves for me.  He is an awesome soccer player.  Then in the shower tonight he informed me that he even had a scrape on his knee.  That is how a goalie takes it.
Plus my other three studs, children, were pretty darn tough.  It is hard having me as a mom at a soccer game.  They pretty much have to fend for themselves while I holler it up.  Peter was awesome and played his own soccer game on the sidelines.  Willy toughed it out through the rain.  And Haley sat there through it all, rain and cheering, and cheered right alongside me.  Soccer is awesome, especially when you give it your all.

The last of the best before school

We went Thanksgiving Point Gardens with Grandma Betty and saw a lot of cool, beautiful stuff.

And then there is Scofield.  The pictures speak of the awesomeness that we experienced!

 Kids being silly together.

 Kids actually getting along and loving each other.

 Jumping into the lake, swim races, being brave and William learning to swim.

 

 Mystery bird #1

Mystery bird #2, resting on our dock several times a week.  

         

Exploring the wetland area near our cabin.  Sinking in the mud, finding a beaver dam, and being cool.

And then there is the beginning of soccer!  OH, how I love watching these boys play soccer!  Their first games were fabulous!  I have not cheered that loudly since last season.  It is so much fun!  Peter's game was fun even though they lost.  Caleb's game was awesome!  They tied at 2 goals each.  Caleb started at goalie first half, made some good saves, then the second half he was in as fullback and did a terrific job!  And William is obsessed with wearing his own soccer uniform (one of Caleb's old ones) and is upset with me if they are not clean.

 A super, yummy back-to-school snowie!

Our back-to-school, motivational dinner.  There was also bacon involved so Caleb was super happy.

We also took them swimming after dinner and then came home for their blessings.  I hope they are ready for this school year to begin.  Peter is excited and Caleb has mixed feelings.  I also have mixed emotions.  I am excited for the extra time I have with William and Haley to teach them.  But I am bummed that Caleb and Peter will not be such a presence in my day.  Ready or not, it is here and we will make the most of it.

The Olympics inspire everyone

Rob pulled out the tv for the olympics and the boys love watching all of the competition.  Caleb loves cheering on the USA, he is really into it.  Peter and William have their own way of getting into it.  From origami birds soaring through the air and competing for medals.  Or two different cars (one China one USA) playing beach volleyball.  Or lego bears being awarded a medal.  Then there is always the boys setting up the couch and jumping off, doing tricks in their own gymnastics competition.  Tv is normally a waste of time but for these two weeks, it has inspired greatness is all of us.

We all agree, Scofield is the best!

Oh how happy we were to return to Scofield!  To find our cabin safe and smoke free.  To have our lake to play in and rocks to skip, and sand to dig in.  Here are just some of the things we have enjoyed the last two weeks at Scofield.

 Our first picture after the evacuation.  WE ARE BACK!

 Looking for wildlife!  We saw deer, hawks, falcons, turkey vultures, a beaver swimming right past our dock and seeing it up-close, fish jumping, and a large, brown mystery bird that still has to be identified.  

 Beautiful sunsets on the lake.

 

Being silly together.

 Caleb's rescues from the lake.  Whether it is Peter's hat, Haley's shorts that blow off the dock, toys that are floating out too far - Caleb is our go-to guy.

Finding a whole clan of goslings camped out on our dock.

Having fun, and being together - every day!  Scofield really is the best place to go for the summer, in our humble opinion.