Shout it from the rooftops!!!!!

This thing of competition soccer is an emotional roller coaster!  Some days we are on a high, other days we are down in the dumps.  But tonight, wahoo!!!  Loving life.  Caleb, first and foremost got the starting keeper position.  No small task right there.  He was excited!  Second, he made some terrific saves. One got by him, but his team was on fire in the shots on goal job and they were holding their own.  Third, Caleb's defense is awesome!!!  Love those strong, fast boys!  But before I get to the AMAZING part, look at that other team.  The size of that one boy, sheesh!  That is no exaggeration.  Some of those Murray Max boys are really tall.  Anyway, fourth......Caleb was a rockstar!  Awesome, Amazing, make me proud!  A penalty happened, in his box...which led to Caleb facing a penalty kick.  Deep breaths....worry....nervous....trust in him.....  He pulled it off beautifully!  He made himself big, jumping around (just like Manuel Neuer), set himself a little off the center of the goal and when it came time for the kick....HE STOPPED THAT BALL!!!!!  Yes, that is right.  He stopped the PK and gained momentum for his team and they went on to win, 3-1!!!!  Such a great game, for the whole team.  They really did well.  Next up, Saturday.  But until then, oh I love to see him do his best.

Happy 6!

 Haley's birthday came a week early when she was able to start ballet classes.  She was so excited and loved her first class.  It will be fun to watch her doing something new and different from the rest of us (aka soccer).

 Haley was beyond thrilled to get the golden ticket in class today.  She was able to take something for show and tell.  In the back ground you can see her cherry pie.  She was very happy to eat that.

 Another golden ticket picture with her birthday flowers.  She loves things that make her feel pretty.

This was our after school birthday activity.  It was a stained glass princess.  The kit came with the lines already drawn and stickers to place in the right spots.  It turned out perfect for the birthday girl.
This girl is filled with singing and dancing, princesses and pink, liking all the foods that her brothers dislike (heck she had asparagus and beans and meat for her dinner with cherry pie), she really likes watching soccer, and loves any soft stuffed animal that comes her way.  She can also hang with the boys and play their games too, for a while.  She can be a beautiful addition to the day or a confusing wonder, but what matters most is that we love her.  Happy Birthday, Haley!

In Other News...

To sum up the day,

• Soccer Saturday was a major blow!  Not just the loss, but other sideline sadness
• The elementary kids' reflection projects are complete, wahoo!
• My kids have instantly become Piano Guys fans!
• Oldest child pulled out the good attitude and did some homework without a struggle.

Give it your best, because life does not wait

We need a new picture to look at on this blog.  That one of William's nose just hurts everytime I look at it.  So, here is one of a major awesome kid, giving life his best efforts!

This kid, I am telling you, he is great!  Thursday of last week he came home DEFLATED after practice.  Coach chose the other keeper on the team to be the starter.  Caleb would be sitting the bench on Saturday and all he wanted to do was play.  We talked, a lot.  About always doing your best and trying even harder.  But in the end the thing that mattered most was that no one could take the soccer player out of him, except him.  No criticizing, no negativity, nothing could make him quit if  he really wanted it.  So, Saturday came and he dressed as a keeper, and sat on the bench.  But at second half coach told him to change into his field jersey.  So Freaking Happy.  This is big for Caleb to play on the field.  Last 10 minutes of the game coach put him in as mid and he did great!  Had a fabulous header, cleared the ball hard, drove it up the line and did everything a midfielder should do.  And he had FUN!  So awesome!  So, now begins the hard work.  Giving it his best as a keeper and practicing here at home for 2 positions on the team.  Because, life does not wait, it just keeps going.  We have to try and keep up.

And here is a picture of a little girl experiencing one of life's firsts, loosing her first tooth.  She did it all on her own.  Eating lunch after soccer and she just started twisting that tooth and out it popped.  It was already loose, that is why there were no tears.  Life with not slow down.  We just have to appreciate each day for what good and happiness it brings.

And the other two kiddos, Peter did excellent in his soccer game.  Major awesome kid.  William, was keeper in his own game and took a ball straight on to the face.  Yeah that nose, it was fine.  He popped right back up but coach had to take him out because of the whole ball to the head thing.  My kids are tough and cool.

Normal, everyday crazy-AWESOMEness

So, you wake up....go to school and be awesome there.  Pretty normal stuff.  After school you ride home and if you are William you possible break your nose.  Yeah, that is the crazy part of our day.

We have some stupidly high driveway curbs in our neighborhood and Willam's front bike tire did not do well getting over it.  He crashed and face planted into the cement.  When he came home his nose was bleeding and he had some road rash.  We got the bleeding stopped and saw that the left side of his nose was swollen a little.  After some calls to a doctor and deciding we could not pay the ER copay, we went to the doctor and they checked the boy out.  Good news is that there was no clear fluid draining from his nose and no hematoma.  They are not sure if it is just soft tissue that is swollen or actually broken.  So, we followup on Friday and for now he seems fine.  Crazy

Awesome part of the day.....Caleb and Rob were able to go to the Real Salt Lake game last night.  SUCH A FUN GAME!  It was Glory night so the team got to go out on the field, see themselves up on the jumbo tron, and watch a crazy, awesome game.  It was hard though, the rest of us were here watching the game and Rob and I were texting back and forth when all the action was happening.

 Before the game starting, doing the dab.  I have no idea why that is so big, but they did it.  And they water the fields before the game.  Interesting.

 Caleb loved it!  He was so wired when they got home that he could not go to sleep.  And it was an awesome game!  Remand had an off night.  But the rest of the team really pulled though.  And that goal by Burrito at the end.  SO COOL!  Soccer is awesome.  Glory night was amazing!  What a cool, crazy-awesome day.

So, school started

So, Yeah I am behind.  That is ok though.  School has begun and we are trying to adjust happily.  The kids seem to like all of their teachers and there have been no major problems.  Besides a few crashes on the bike or scrambling to get assignments done.

 Haley, half-day Kindergarten

 Peter, 5th

 Caleb, 8th (look at that reflective arm band, shiny!)

 William, 3rd

Get wet, stay up late and play as hard as you can!

Well, there is no more denying it, school starts tomorrow!  Sob, sob. With heavy hearts we said goodbye to the cabin on Saturday night.  Later than we expected because well, the boys were playing in the lake - one last time.  

 The kids had a bunch of fun making their own bouncy balls with this kit I bought.  They were pretty cool.

 They loved playing with the punch balloons.

• We grew some pretty cool crystal trees.
• We also tried this exploding baggie thing, did not work out so much like the computer said.  But we got a pretty good laugh when it looked like it would blow, and all we got was a small *pop*.  Kind of like our excitement to get up for school tomorrow. 
• We spent A LOT of time getting wet.  I think the only people to not run out of clothes were Haley and I (Diedre).  
• We saw our favorite birds this week at the cabin: blue herons, pelicans, and 3 osprey.
• We saw mama deer with their fawns running across the beach.  Love seeing them in nature!
• We went star gazing. (Can you tell the camera's battery died and thus no photos?)
• And finally my most proud mom moments of the final weekend of Summer:
• Caleb getting up on the water skis and knee board!!!!!!  Such fun to watch.
• Caleb learning to drive the boat.
• Caleb pulling of his lesson for Deacon's quorum on dating.  He did a good job of preparing it the morning of. 
• Peter is pretty good at the backstroke for swimming.
• William  can be a really great brother for Haley (playing with her, drawing pictures for her.....)
• William is getting better and better at swimming.
• Haley is becoming more brave in the water and getting used to swimming.
• Finally, introducing my kids to who Shaun White is and getting them excited to watch snowboarding!

Oh Summer, why must you end?  We loved every minute of cabin time and being together.  Making up games, reading books just because we wanted to, sleeping in (Caleb and Haley especially), taking time to relax and have fun.