Soccer 2012

We weren't thinking straight this year and signed up 3 kids for soccer at the same time. Of course all three are different ages which means 3 practices and 3 games a week. That translates into 4 nights a week of soccer. It's been really fun, but tiring bouncing back and forth from different parks to try and make it all.

Chloe's coach took things seriously and doubled the practice time that everyone else had. They all improved quite a bit. Chloe really likes to play, but now that she is getting older the kids are more competative than they once were. She's a tender hearted little girl. After a game recently she was nearly in tears as she told me that one of her good friends was playing on the other team and she stole the ball from her. I told her that was kind of the point of the game, but she says "I know but I thought we were friends, she shouldn't be taking the ball from me."

Elsie's team improved a lot over the season too and did quite well. Elsie loves to play too. She is fast and has lots of energy which is great for soccer. She has been learning some strategy from her coach that has paid off for the team. Unfortunately i didn't know this. At one of her first games I kept telling her to follow through on the ball and drive it in closer to the goal so they could have more chances to score. She would attack, get the ball and then just kick it forward without having a team mate there to receive it. So after the game I asked her why she kept doing that. She told me she was sorry, but her coach told her to do what she was doing. I guess I need to just let them play. As it turns out, after a few games the team played better together and her efforts started converting into successful plays. I guess they just needed a few games to work on their part of the team strategy that their coach was teaching them. I think she learned a lot from this season.

Rhen surprised us this year. He has always been very timid when we have signed him up for sports. This is the first year he has played soccer and he did really well. The first game he ran out there and scored 3 goals right off. He loves soccer and wasn't timid at all. The problem we had was that he was a ball hog because he was more aggressive than his teammates. We kept having to ask him to slow down and pass it so other kids  had a chance to score too. As a result, now he's not as aggressive because he thinks he was wrong to be like that. We're trying to help him do both. Its fun to watch these little 4 year olds run around and try and take the ball from each other. Often taking the ball from their own team.

September 11th

Sept 11th is a day that we all remember as a tragic day. It's one of those days that you remember exactly where you where and what you were doing when you heard the news of the attacks on the World Trade Center. I was just up for the day headed in to work early and for some reason decided to turn on the news. I never turn on the TV in the morning so I have no idea why I decided to that day, but I did. Then, we watched in awe as they rolled the footage of the first attack and were shocked to see the live feed of the second. It was a terrible and tragic day and one we will never forget. Few things happen in life that leave such an impact on a person, and rarely do multiple major experiences happen on the exact same day.

A few years ago Sept 11th took on a whole new meaning for us. Chloe and I waited nervously in the middle of the night at the ER, trying to find out what was causing her so much pain in her arm. At first they couldn't tell us what the lump was, but deep down I knew. I just didn't want to admit that cancer still lingered in her little body. She had already been through so much. Chemo had ravaged her at 4 years old and left her frail and struggling to get healthy again. Wasn't that enough trauma for one little girl? Then everything changed in a matter of seconds. In just 4 words, the. cancer. is. back. Life changed tremendously that day and I'll never forget it.

Somewhere between Dry Creek and the top of Balls

Lucky for us, there is one great thing that happened on the 11th of September. Years before any of the tragedy, little Spencer was born. Twenty Eight years ago today Spence came a little early and gave mom and dad a scare. He was premature and fragile for several weeks. We all worried and prayed for him that he'd be able to come home. Finally he did, and he's always been just as determined and scrappy as he was as an infant, fighting to get out of that hospital incubator. It's nice to celebrate Spence's birthday on Sept 11th because as you all know, he really likes to get out and ride a dirt bike or do something fun. Today Spence, Josh and I decided to celebrate early in the AM with a little ride up in the hills. There is something special about being high in the mountains on an early fall morning with wildlife busy and the sun rising on the peaks and fall leaves. Only thing that would have made it better is if the rest of our fam could have been there. We enjoyed a couple of hours of no responsibilities, then rode back down into reality. Happy Birthday Spence.

Firewood

Back in the day Hudson and Carol used to take all of us out to some far off place in the forest to get some firewood to heat our home during the winter. Stacie and I have never had a wood stove and I guess we didn't know what we were missing. We love having a wood burning stove in the house in the winter, and we've found that Stacie is a bit of a Pyro. She just has a knack for starting a good fire in our stove without any kind of petroleum product they taught me to use in boy scouts. Lucky for us we have quite a few trees that have passed away and need to be removed and the fireplace is an excellent place to put them.

This past week grandma and grandpa were out getting their own firewood, so we decided to help. I was phsyced to take my son out to get some firewood like the good 'ol days, and do our duty to help the forest service remove the dead trees. The forest around here has taken a beating from some pesky beetles killing all the pines. Rhen was excited to go, but then immediately fell asleep in the back of the truck and slept through most of the action. Poor kid wasn't feeling well, but just didn't want to miss it. When he finally did wake up, we just couldn't load the trailer without him helping. He loves to help out with whatever I am working on, and I love his help.