The Crazy Stallions

Soccer season has officially started! This is Eli's 3rd year playing soccer. His first two years were on the Little Kicks soccer teams, which are really more of a "camp" setting for 11 weeks every saturday. They taught the basics... ball dribbling, scoring a goal, all the soccer terms, and then some fun thrown in there to keep the little ones interested, such as a game of tag. He has really enjoyed soccer so far. We've also had this feeling that he'd be a great goalie someday. He prefers to be in the backlight of the game, defending the goal. With his height, his super high pain tollerence, and his crazy personality...we always thought those were great assets and that he would be the first to sacrifice his body to safe a goal for his team. This year we had the option, we could leave him in one more year with the Little Kicks or we could move him up to an actual soccer league of 5 and 6 year olds. The difference, is in the league teams he'd actually be playing in real games. So we chose that route this year, step up his game and continue his soccer education a little more. He has practice twice a week and then one game every weekend. So far we've had two games. The first game we got totally smashed, the team we played against Im pretty sure came straight from boot camp, and our boys straight from the zoo. hehe By the end of the game though, I think they really began to figure out how this game thing worked, but we still got beat 6-0. ouch. Our next game last week was much better though. Partly from our team finally focusing and figuring out the steps a game actually takes, but also because the team we played against was from a bigger zoo than we are from...hehe. Mid play they would forget all about the game and start attacking eachother growling like monsters! (which gave us an open door to making a goal on them!!) They even had one boy on the team who could not keep his hands off the ball. I cant tell you how many times the ball was turned to us because they would do a throw in and this boys would CATCH the ball and start running with it in his hands! The score of the game this time made our boys very proud. 5-2, our win. But the two points they scored, they really scored into our goal...but we let them have the points anyways because they were so excited they made a goal...and well, we hope that other teams will do the same for us this season in our weak moments, because after all..we are only kindergartners.
Our little goalie, so far our predictions are coming true. He's always the first to the goal to protect it. Giving high fives after the game to the other team.

And Zach has officially started his first year of soccer season with the Little Kicks this last weekend. So very soon, I will get a posting up of him (having yet again, camera issues) and his soccer experience as well. He seems to be really enjoying it so far, has great coordination, and seems to be very proud to be doing big boy things like brother. Posting to come on him..

State Fair

Our trip to the State fair this year was a lot of fun. We met up with some friends who's children are very close in age to ours. Eli had a great time riding the big rides with Hannah, and I think she got a kick out of watching him be crazy and scream. She just giggled and laughed at him alot. Most of the pictures I got are of Eli, Hannah, Hayden and Evan. Zach wasnt too into the rides. He's not very good with noise, so they all scared him. We did get him to ride on the silly boats a couple times and he liked those. Finally towards the end of the rides he decided he wanted to give a motorcycle a try. About half way into his ride it started raining pretty hard. Well anyone who knows Zach knows that unless its HIS idea, he hates to get water on him. So he quickly decided he was done, darn that rain. Luckily he was the only one on the ride and it was already slowing to a stop, but he was out of his buckle and climbing off before it came to a complete stop. So because of the rain, and only having enough tickets for one more ride..we sent Eli on a pirate haunted house ride that he'd been begging all afternoon to go on, all on his own. The ride literally took 60 seconds. He went in with a smile, and came out pale as a ghost with big eyes and shaking like a leaf! It was so stinking cute and funny we had to laugh. He walked off shaking, TRYING to smile. But I could see his eyes watering up and he was still shaking so hard he couldnt control himself. We asked if it was fun and what was in there. He only replied with "really really scary stuff". We gave him big hugs and told him he was brave and we were proud of him and that it was all fake stuff and not worry. He still to this day hasnt told us exactly what all he saw in there. Just "really really scary stuff". Occasionally Ive heard him tell cousins and friends about a witch and a skeleton. Such a brave little soul.

Zach on his motorcycle getting rained on.
Here is Eli screaming on the roller coaster and Hannah laughing at him.
Zach on his quiet boat ride.

I thought this picture was adorable! All the kids went in with Kris to the fun house. Zach got lost in the window maze and Kris came to rescue him. The way he's looking up at him is too cute, like "oh please help me".

.Anyone who's seen some certain photos of this stroller in Seaside with a baby Eli will know why I posted this picture. Jake tends to drive the boys in the stroller on things that are not meant to drive on. We have this picture of Eli very young, being driven up the outside wall of a store in downtown seaside...and now of Zach driving up the car at the State Fair. Somebody turn that dangerous father in. haha

Kindergarten here he comes!

I cant believe Im blogging about Kindergarten already. Seriously, it feels like it was just yesterday that Eli was a baby in my tummy. Im amazed at how fast the boys are growing up before our eyes. Ive been very blessed to be a stay at home mommy all these years. Being a stay at home mom has so many positive rewards from it, but I have learned it does have its negatives as well. Neither of the boys had ever been left with adults they dont know. If we ever left them it was with a friend or family that they knew very well. So I gave in to the preschool idea because I worried about how Eli would react to me leaving him somewhere unfamiliar. If you remember, last year it took a good month to get Eli comfortable with me leaving him with his preschool class and teacher. He clung to my leg screaming! I would peal him off finger by finger, his teacher would take him, and Id run like the wind out the door and then wait to hear his cries stop before I left the building for the couple of hours of class time. It broke my heart, leaving my first child like that. This also was hard on Zach..."Eli's crying and sad mommy, lets go get him!". But within time, Eli learned that preschool was fun. It was fun having his own place that only he got to go, time away from his brother and the fights, to learn so much educationally, and to meet new friends outside of mommy and daddy's help. He grew up so much in that year, its amazing to look back on it now. Its also taught myself that I can trust other adults, and that school is a very safe place for me to let go of some of my paranoid overprotective mommy control. And its also taught Zach, that school is fun..so when his time comes I hope its easier for him than it was for ELi. And becuase of that experience, Kindergarten has been a TOTAL success! Beyond what I ever imagined it would have been. We had his school supplies purchase, backpack tagged with his name, and clothes layed out for the first day of school! He was pretty excited, to say the least. His teacher had given the kids goodie bags with fun meaningful things in it (a sticker to remind them they all stick together in class, a cotton ball to remind them that they only use soft words and hands with their friends, a candle to celebrate a year of learning, etc) So on his first morning, I made him pancakes eggs and sausage. I covered the pancakes with whip cream and sprinkles and put the candle in it. He covered his eyes as I brought it to the table and I had him open his eyes and told him to make a kindergarten wish. His eyes got all huge with excitement and I could tell he felt really special. His wish was "to be friends forever and ever and ever". (which I found out that night at dinner that he wasnt talking about his friends or school, he was talking about Mommy Daddy Zach and him. How special is that!?) I think the candle wish with breakfast is going to be our first day of school tradition forever with the boys. So his first day I drove him to school so that I could walk him into his class and take pictures and such, just like most of the other parents did as well. He was very happy to see that two of his friends, Brionna (who he was very good friends with) and Carla, from his preschool class, were now in his kindergarten class as well! He was very brave walking in to class, hung up his backpack, and found his seat with his name. When it was time for parents to leave I think he would have been fine had I just waved and left the room, but mommy went over and kissed him anyways. Zach and I went home and played and waited for brother to come home on the bus. I had gotten so many mixed reactions to school bus riding from friends who have kids in school, so I thought Id give the afternoon ride a chance since I knew that his teacher walked them to the bus from class and it was ONLY kindergarten kids on the bus. Not to mention that it is only 10 minutes from the time school lets out until he gets to our house (they drop him at our house and only if Im there to get him) which is almost faster than if I went to pick him up and had to wait in the pickup line. Felt pretty secure and safe of a plan to this protective mommy! So when the bus driver pulled up and waved and opened the door for Eli, as he walked passed me to go in the house says in this very big boy mature matter of factly way "mommy, you know how you drove me to school today in the morning? well I dont want you to do that anymore, I want to ride the bus to school AND home". Well then! I guess maybe he's ready for college, or his own place too? Look at that handsome little boy! Here he is standing outside of his new classroom.
Sitting at his big boy desk, very proudly.

So then since he "requested" I not drive him to school anymore, we attempted the bus the next morning. I was a little nervous because there are all ages on the bus in the morning and I wasnt sure he had the focus skills just yet to pay attention and get off and go right into the elementry gym like he's supposed to..especially since his first day the kindergarten went to their class instead of the gym. So being my protective self, I quized him to death all morning about where to go and stranger danger. We talked about different scenerios with stranger danger, and Im so thankful for the safety camp lessons he got this summer. When I told him that if a stranger grabbed him and wouldnt let go, than he was to yell and that he was also to KICK and HIT them as hard as he could until they did let go. He looked at me and said "mommy its not nice to hit"...I assured him that it was VERY OK to hit a stranger trying to steal you and he got an evil little grin on his face about that. So watch out strangers, my son is ready to fight! haha Luckily there are 2 kids in our neighborhood that get on at his bus stop as well, so that made me feel a little more comfortable that he knew friends on the bus. I told him that this one day I would drive and meet him at school just to make sure he knew exactly where to go off of the bus, and I would take pictures but to NOT come to mommy, just go to the gym. So after he boarded the bus, Zach and I drove to school and waited for their bus to show up. As he got off of the bus he looked so proud of himself, smiling and waving to me. I took pictures of him walking in line to the gym from the bus. The cute little neighbor boy (who is in 2nd grade) looks at me and says "its ok Candy, Im taking care of him. I'll make sure he gets to the gym safe and knows what to do". How cute is that!? He felt my worry, and took over for me as Eli's little helper. That little boy doesnt realize it, but I later told his Dad that it made all the world of difference to me and has really made me feel more comfortable about sending Eli to school on the bus. So now Eli is a full time bus rider, morning and afternoon. He's doing so great. Hasnt shed one tear or shown any fear. He's making friends and learning so much already. We had an open house the other night, and I was amazed at how many friends came up to him to say hi already. Its so fun and so amazing watching him become his own person at this age. You could say Im a proud mommy! My only worry is his Daddy's genes. Its almost become a ritual, when he gets off the bus I have to tell him "do not kiss the window anymore on the bus!" Apparently all the kindergarten kids on his bus in the afternoon think that its hillarious when he kisses the window and smashes his face all over it. So when I tell him not to do it again and threaten about all the germs he's touching doing that, he responds with "but mommy, my friends think its funny!". One girl even came up to ME at the open house the other night and told me "I like Eli, he's funny on the bus". Great, my son is the bus clown...thanks to Daddys genes, because I was NEVER that outgoing and crazy as a kid.

Bye Bye Tree.

Mom and Les have been having some tree issues, some of the bigger trees just not taking to the rain and wind as they get larger each year. So we headed over to their house this weekend to take out yet another splitting tree threatning their house. Eli was in awe as Daddy climbed the big ladder with a chainsaw and tried to convince us that he could climb up too and help. Zach, well Zach held his ears alot and ran in the house. Some of the big branches slammed into moms house, fense, and flowers as they fell. Him and Les did all the could with a rope to try to talk the limbs into going in other directions but it wasnt always possible with how tall the tree was and how big some of the limbs were. At one point a huge one slammed into my moms shed and knocked off the siding under the gutter and Jake in his crazy self yelled "I CAN FIX THAT!"..and within seconds the neighbors were in their yard "protecting" their house. haha It supprisingly only took a couple hours to cut the entire thing down and the only damage was that little board siding which "jake can fix" and a few leaves in the neighbors pond that Jake cleaned out after everyone cleared out the few branches that went in their yard. After filling up the truck once, there was still so many branches covering their entire backyard, so it looked like a jungle. Thats when the kids decided it was safe to come out and play, in the Jungle. As you can see by moms reaction in the one picture, some of Jakes work was a little scary. Not to anything of his fault, he did amazing. It was just that big branches were constantly falling and Jake was constantly swaying back and forth on tiny little broken branches way up there in the tree and worrying mom and I. At one point when a huge branch broke off, he flung back and hung on tight..we thought for sure he was going to catapolt backwards to the other side of the house! So my wonderful hubby got in some manly chore time and did a fantastic job. Now moms house wont get smashed this winter.

And no I had NO part in allowing my child to use these tools..infact I had no idea he was even doing this until I saw the pictures today. Thank goodness he didnt chop off a foot. ;)

Zachs "birth" day.

Zachs birthday party was on Saturday but his actual "birth" day was on sunday the 17th. So since we had no plans for the day (which hasnt happened much all summer long!), we decided to have a family day out. We started the day with a special birthday breakfast of Pop Tarts thanks to Leslie, and then followed with a few errands and then went to the park in Wilsonville. We'd never been there but had heard it was pretty cool. We definately liked the park and had a great time. The park area wasnt anything compared to our new favorite park in Sherwood, but the water area at this park definately won us over. The boys had such a great time, and we even got a little into the play as well.





Its in my nose daddy!!
All soaked and tuckered out, time for lunch!

So then we headed over to Red Robin where we had some yummy lunch and celebrated birthdays again. They sang to both Zach and I, and then gave us some ice cream. YUM! "Cheese" for our birthdays!
Feeding eachother our ice cream!

Happy 3rd Birthday Zach!

Both of our boys have gone through the "dog" phase at about 2-3 years old. Zach is by far more into it though than Eli ever was. Zach will bust out into dog mode at the most random times...for example, in the middle of the store while shopping. And its not just a little innocent act that he does, he goes full on dog. He gets down on all fours, licks, puts everything in his mouth, and even barks..but its no nice cute little bark, its a really loud high pitched bark that you can hear for miles. We've learned that its not something that he should really get in trouble for, being creative and all. So instead we've gone with the "playing along" route. Say like when he wont brush his teeth at night as "Zach" we turn the tables on him and say "come on doggy time to brush your teeth now" and he plops down on all fours and happily crawls to the bathroom barking to brush his teeth. So where the dog mode has its downfalls, we've definately learned how to take advantage of it also. So when the planning for Zachs party came about and we asked him what kind of party he wanted and he said a doggy one...it was just perfect. I want my boys to always remember how fun their birthdays were growing up, so I try to go all out. I make their cake myself every year to go along with the theme, and we try to do everything we can to make the theme just perfect. We had a "hot dog" bbq and had many varieties and toppings, all served in dog dishes. We even had some "dog food" on the tables as guests arrived (cocoa puffs). I was really suprised at how quick all the kids started eating it, it really did look like dog food! But as Jenna quickly corrected me when I asked why she was eating dog food, she said "no, its chocolate silly!". Kids are so smart.

We set up the pool and water table to keep all the kids as cool as we could in the heat.

Zach opening his gift from big brother Eli. He was truly so excited! Eli picked out a dog grow head, like those chia pets kind of, for him all on his own and wrapped it and everything. That night when I tucked Zach into bed I asked him if he loved his doggy party and he said "yeah, and I love my doggy grow head so much!" How sweet is that? Its things like that when Im reminded that just because they fight like mad all the time, doesnt mean they dont love eachother still.

I just love this picture of him blowing out his candles! He looks so stinkin' cute. I cant believe my baby is 3 years old already. I think this officially takes us out of the baby phase? He's become such a fun little boy. He's our calm, caring, cuddly, funny little guy..I mean doggy. Happy Birthday Zach, we love you so much.

Safety Town Camp

We are always checking out the local Park and Rec activities and camps for the boys. Park and Rec is who we've put Eli in Soccer and Tball through so far, and this year Zach will get to join a soccer camp too, he's finally old enough! Zach starts his soccer camp at the end of the month, its the same camp that Eli's done since he was three. This year Eli is old enough to join a real team and leave those silly "soccer camps" behind, he starts the beginning of Sept. :) I will be sure to post his game schedules for everyone to come cheer him on!

Anyways, with Eli going into kindergarten this fall there has definatley been a little more panic happening on my end of things. Its a whole new ball game of safety issues that arrise in my controling mind. So when I came across "Safety Town", a camp put on by the Park and Rec and the Newberg/Dundee police department for $40..I had to sign him up. We went down to the Park and Rec office to sign him up, they were accepting 50 children...we were 51. I was so upset! So I begged to have them make a note that if someone cancelled to PLEASE let us know...this was a wednesday and the camp was starting the following monday, but on Friday I got a call! They told me that no one had cancelled but that since Eli was the only other child "begging" to be in camp, that they could take on just one more kid and make it a camp of 51 instead of 50...boy was I one grateful Mommy and thanked her over and over again. It was a week long camp, I dropped him off every morning at 9am and picked him back up at noon. His first day he was a little worried on our way but when we got there he said "you can leave now mommy, I thought it wasnt going to be fun but it is now". They learned every safety topic you can name! Everything from fire to electrical, walking, biking, strangers, and so on and so on. But by far my favorite experience he had of the week was the bus safety. He had been so excited all summer to ride a school bus to kindergarten, but this last few weeks he's been refusing saying he's not going to. Im not sure why or where it came from, other than he's been a cranky little boy. So the day that they learned about bus safety a bus came to camp, they rode around town on it and learned the safe way to ride one. He was so excited and told me all about everything he learned each day when I picked him up, but the day he rode the school bus was his most exciting. He's decided that the school bus IS cool, and he will ride it to school now that he knows how to do it safe. So he learned a ton all week long, had a great time making some new friends, has been teaching his brother some safety tips, and even came home with a few paranoid moments (one night thought all the kids were going to get shocked at my moms house playing by the plug in, another night he was playing Wii and started making a furball noise and said he had poison in his mouth but he really didnt). So $40 on Safety town definatley helped mommy feel more comfortable about shipping him off on a big school bus all alone without me shadowing behind to make sure he's ok. My big boy is growing up so fast.