Sam, Soccer & 100!

At Daniel and Sam's school, they are both given the chance to play and learn about soccer.  For Daniel, he had a huge learning curve last year playing soccer for the first time.  This year, it has been fun to see him grow mentally and physically and watch him play.  For Sam, it has been very interesting watching him maneuver around soccer.  He had two practices before the actual game.  He did everything his coaches told him to do during the first practices.  He ran when they said run, he kicked when they said kick, and he dribbled around cones when it was time to dribble.  So I was a little surprised when the morning of his first game, I asked him if he was ready for his soccer game.  And he replied, "Mommy, how do you play soccer?"  None of his coaches had taught him how to play.  So I told him the basics and he seemed to feel alright about this.  That afternoon, watching him play for the first time, I made sure he knew which goal to kick towards.  And he caught on quickly.  In fact, he almost made a goal that first day.  It was great watching him learn something new.  And he had a lot of fun.

defense

half time

the jersey was a bit of a distraction

On a lighter note, this is my 100th post!  Yeah! 

Pints to Pasta 2013

On Sunday, Sept. 8, I ran in my 5th race of the year.  It's called Pints to Pasta, and it's a 10K.  It has a route that I really like.  It's basically all downhill.  It starts in NE Portland, runs across the Broadway Bridge, through town, along the waterfront and ends up at the Spaghetti Factory along the river.  It was a great day for a race, sunny and warm.  I was trying to beat my time from 2 years ago (I wasn't able to run it last year), and I was pleased that I took about 4 minutes off my time from before.  Here are my commemorative pics.

at the start

with my boys

all done!

with Jeff

Simon and Me

Now that school has started, and both Daniel and Sam are in school, the days at home are filled with just Simon and I.  This is a bit of an adjustment for me.  I really enjoy my time alone with Simon at home or out and about (although I do miss the older boys, too.)  The house is much quieter now that it's just Simon.  He usually goes into his room and plays by himself.  In some ways, this is nice because it does allow me time to get things done that I need to get done.  But it's also fun to run errands in town or go places with just Simon.  After being with 3 kids all day, I find it's much easier to do things with just 1 child.  (Funny how perspective teaches me this because back in the day when I had just Daniel, I thought that was hard.)  I know soon enough Simon will be joining his brothers at school, and I will be all alone.  But for the time being, I will just enjoy and relish each moment as it comes.

1st Days of School

On Monday, it was Daniel's first day back to school after summer vacation.  He's in 2nd grade this year.  He was very excited about going back and seeing all of his friends.  His first day back was only a 1/2 day, and when it was over, he told me, "I wish today had been a full day!"  He had a great first day back at school.  He has the same teacher as last year.  He's in a 1 & 2 grade combo, and I think he likes being one of the older kids this year who can help the younger students adjust.

On Wednesday, it was Sam's turn to start his first day of school.  He's at the same school as Daniel.  This is Sam's first time going to school, and I've been wondering for a long time how he would feel about it.  But he has been very excited.  He's in Kindergarten this year.  He told me this morning, "I'm so excited to go to school!"  He was tired when I picked him up from school today but also seemed glad to have gone to school, too.  I think he's going to be fine. 

As for Simon and I, we had a quiet day at home.  I think having Sam start school is going to be more of an adjustment for me than Sam.  Simon was happy to play here at home by himself, but I think he missed his brothers.  And he did tell me last night, "I go school, too."  So I'm sure he wishes he could go with his brothers.  But for this year at least, it will be just him and I.  I'm looking forward to some time alone with Simon.  I can't imagine what I'll do when all 3 are in school!

Simon is 3!

Last Tuesday, August 20, Simon turned 3.  I have such mixed feelings about my kids getting older.  And with my baby, it's probably even a little more mixed up.  I love watching him grow, learn new things, understand new things, say new things.  But I quickly realized my baby is growing up so fast.  I love watching the boys play, engaging in new activities, learning to solve problems.  Sometimes I just sit and watch them, and they simply amaze me.  I love my boys!  Here's a look back at 3 short years ago when Simon entered our lives.

Sunriver 2013

This last week, our family took a vacation to Sunriver, OR.  It had been many years since I had been there, and it was a lot of fun to be able to take our kids there and share in the fun.  We went with Jeff's parents. 

We got there Wednesday afternoon.  The first thing we did was take a bike ride.  They have so many wonderful bike/walking paths throughout.  We rode around the village, out to the golf course, out near the stables and marina, and then back home.  Our first night we ate in the village at Sunriver Brewing Company.  They had a play area for the kids.  It was great!

Daniel, on our first bike ride

On Thursday, we decided to take a longer bike ride and see more things.  We rode out to the Marina.  It's a great place to rent kayaks or inner-tube to float down the Deschutes River.  We didn't rent any boats this time, but thought it would be a lot of fun in the future.  Then we stopped at the stables.  Daniel and I decided to do a ride (on Friday), so we signed up.  Then we kept riding, out by the river before heading back to the village and back home again.  In the afternoon, we went to the pool.  They have a couple of water slides, a lazy river and a great swimming area.  The boys had so much fun swimming.  That night we tried another new restaurant.  This time we rode our bikes out to the Marina where they had a Mexican restaurant right on the river.  The boys enjoyed eating and watching people float by.

Sam, enjoying the pool

 On Friday we got up and went to the pool.  I took a little time by myself and went shopping in the shops at the Village.  In the afternoon, Daniel and took our horse ride.  Daniel had never ridden a horse by himself, and I wasn't sure how he would like it, but he loved it!  He wished we could have gone longer.  I'm glad he had fun.  After that, Jeff took Daniel golfing while I took Sam and Simon to go play "hard" golf.  That's what Sam calls miniature golf.  We also took a ride on a little kid-friendly train that runs through the village.  We got back home and ate dinner in.  We enjoyed the hot-tub, and then got ready for bed. 

Daniel, on our horse-back ride

Simon & Sam, after "hard" golf

On Saturday we took a bike ride to a park.  The boys got to play.  Then we rode again, out to a bridge.  We rode back home and ate lunch.  Then we went to the pool in the afternoon.  That night we drove into Bend and had dinner at Jackson's Corner, a great local pizza and pasta restaurant.  Then it was back home.

Simon, at the park

All of Us, on the bridge

On Sunday we got up and had a nice breakfast, then packed up and got ready to go home.  It was a great vacation.  I love how kid friendly everything is.  And it's so much fun to do so much bike-riding.  Sam has really just gotten the hang of it in the last month, so it was fun to see him do so well at the riding. 

Saying good-bye

Camping 2013

Last weekend we went on what has become an annual camping trip with the Anderson Family.  We drove almost 4 hours to Lake Hosmer in central Oregon for this last camping adventure.  We left early afternoon to try and get there to have time to set up our tent and get dinner ready without it being too late.  We arrived, set up camp, had dinner and had fun.  The days were warm, but the nights were cool, so Donald had a fire in the evenings and early mornings to keep us warm.  Friday night we had s'mores after our dinner.  That night got pretty chilly, and I was thankful that I had invested in a wool blanket.  The boys kept warm except for the occasional times they seem to end up outside of their sleeping bags.  Saturday morning we woke and enjoyed coffee and a warm fire.  After breakfast and cleaning up, we took Donald's canoe down to the lake.  There wasn't room for all of us, so the first group went out.  Then the second group went.  Pretty soon it was lunch time and we headed back to camp for lunch.  After lunch, Donald, Jeff and the 3 older kids decided to have another go at the canoeing.  Ruth and I stayed behind with the youngers.  They enjoyed more canoeing, and soon it was time for dinner.  Cleaning and cooking takes up so much time, that just when I feel like we are done with a meal, it's almost time to start getting ready for another meal!  After dinner, we enjoyed making s'mores again.  Then it was off to bed.  Sunday morning we woke, and had breakfast, then started taking down camp.  Soon the car was loaded.  With an extra layer of dirt on all of us, we headed towards Bend.  We stopped and had lunch with Donald and Ruth before heading home.  We had a great time.  The boys love playing with Donald and Ruth's kids.  They run around the trees, playing pretend games.  They ride bikes.  It's well worth all the work that goes into planning the trip and then the aftermath of cleaning everything when we get back home.  Here's a look back at the past 3 years of our camping trips. 

2011

2012

2013