Soccer

Josh and Connor had their first day of soccer yesterday and they loved it! They both did really, really well. I had no idea they were so good. Brad played with them a lot last year but hasn't played much with them this year, but they really remembered how to play, and practice paid off. Josh scored 4 times! I think the score was actually 4 to 3. Maybe 5 to 3. The coaches kept giving him 5 and people would cheer, and on the last goal, one coach put Josh on his shoulders and ran around. I think Josh loved it, because he isn't usually the center of attention. Connor fell down a lot, but that's to be expected. Gosh, I hope they don't kick him out or anything, because he would fall, and then kids would all trip over him and fall. He's a real liability! But he was so good at staying on that ball and kicking it. If it wasn't Josh kicking it, it was usually Connor. The coaches had to take the ball away from them so the other kids had a chance to kick it. I wonder if we practiced with them on everything if they would be good at everything, or if they just have a real talent for soccer?

Here's Connor, though. We were getting in the car and the kids were running around the car. The passenger front door was wide open--very easy to see--and Connor ran smack into it and bumped his head. Then we got to where they were playing soccer. I let him out of the car and two steps into the run to the soccer practice, he tripped and fell and scraped his knees a little. I do not even know how many times he fell during practice. Probably 20. The coaches had to tie his shoes twice. He fell on the way to the drinking fountain. But it was not his shoes--this is normal. Earlier in the day he ran straight into a kid. The kid was just standing there, and here comes Connor--smack! I guess the kid was bigger than Connor and it didn't seem to bother him, but geez kid! He used to run straight into the walls a lot, but seems to have gotten past that now.

Augh!

So you know how just when you think you're catching up on money, something just has to happen to make that not true? Yesterday morning I pulled up in our driveway and the engine was steaming and coolant drained out of the Jeep. There was coolant everywhere, like a little coolant explosion. I got Brad out of bed and I was taking care of the kids while he checked it out. We seem to have car trouble happen with both of our cars at the same time, so I'm just hoping that's not always true. The check engine light has been going on and off in the Jeep too. Brads job just moved to Bluffdale, a 40 minute drive away, so we need both cars. Brad finally got the leaking tire changed on the van. We just don't have any time to get these things done, because we're working so hard trying to catch up with money. There is no climax to this story. Brad, yay Brad!, figured out that a hose had come off and hit the fan, cutting it up, so he was able to fix the hose and we think it's fine.

Last night I was going to put breadsticks in the oven, so I turned it on and almost immediately there was smoke coming out and a really awful electrical burning smell. I don't even want to bother trying to figure out if we can fix it or not. I think this is the original oven to the house, from 1992, and I won't be sad to see it go. I want a flat cooktop that is easy to clean! I just don't want to spend $500+ to get it. And can you believe they sell the electric cords seperate? What?

If anybody has an opinion on a great stove, send it my way! I figure the van is due to break in October because that's when the warranty is up and soon we will have another car payment. And it's time to renew the passports.....Man, we are never gonna get our boat!

"That's what you're sposed to do"

I was delivering mail today while all the fun Spanish Fork happenings were happening. So Brad told me about this. He took the kids down to the park where they had some activities going on. There was a booth where you hit the target with a softball and the guy falls in the water. I don't know what it's called. So Brad paid the dollar and Josh got 5 balls. He didn't hit the target hard enough to get the guy to fall. So after Josh missed with the last ball, he ran up and pushed the target with both hands and made the guy fall in the water. Then it was Connors turn. He got the balls, put them all down, and ran and pushed the target, too, and made the guy fall in the water! What kind of boys am I raising? So Brad told me about that and I asked Josh if he did that and he said "That's what you're sposed to do." That guy deserves a tip!

My kids a friggin' genius!

I took Connor to his 4 year check-up on Monday. He weighs 30 lbs, 6 oz., and is 38 inches long. The doctor asked him some questions that he didn't answer very well, so the doctor was concerned and sent his assistant in to do a little test. There were 4 pictures on each page and the assistant would say the word of one of those pictures and Connor would have to pick the right one. Well, Connor kept going and going. I think they stop after the kid has gotten a certain amount wrong. One example is the word "construction". One picture was a guy hammering in a nail, one was a sander sanding a piece of wood, one was a guy putting together a box, and I can't remember the last one. So they could all kind of be interpreted as construction, but it was obviously the guy hammering in the nail on a house that they were looking for. Another one was "greeting". It had some people coming into a house waving, some people leaving a house waving, and I can't remember what else. So you can see that these could be hard, especially for a just turned 4 year old. Well, Connor got up to age 14-15 words. These are what kids are expected to know at 14-15 years old! When the assistant left and the doctor came back in, he was just like "Well, Connor did very well on that test. We don't have to worry." I know he's not a genius, but I sure was impressed. He knew words that I had no idea he knew. Those minds are little sponges!!

"I want to ride the cows."

We were at my grandparents ranch in Colorado for the 4th of July. The kids kind of herded the cows off and they walked away somewhere. I told Kaytlynn to come back to the house and she just walked away from me toward the cows and said "No. I want to ride the cows."