Busy Boy

And he wonders why I don't believe him when he says he took a good nap... 

But I do believe that's our entire collection of Berenstain Bear books right there.

Lessons Learned From Soccer

1. You'll never know if you like something unless you try.  So when Leah and Adam both expressed interested in soccer, we signed them up and gave it a try!

2. A good coach makes all the difference.  I'm not sure either of my kids had one this year.  Adam's coach had a bunch of tasmanian devils on his hands, but did a great job of controlling them and definitely knew his stuff.  Adam even scored a few goals this season!

Leah's coach used to coach a varsity or college team, and he seemed to struggled to know what to do with the three or four girls on the team that had never played before.  Despite promising himself that he wasn't going to get involved this time around, Jason soon started attending every one of the twice-weekly practices in addition to all of the games.  It did my heart good to know that Leah had a loving advocate on the sidelines!

3.  I am not a soccer mom.  You will never hear me screaming at my kids the way that some parents did during the games.  

4. You've only failed if you give up.  Bless my sweet girl's heart, Leah was so eager to be part of the team.  She volunteered to be goalie in her first game (the first soccer game she had ever seen!) and was completely unprepared for the yelling and speed and confusion of the whole game.  She didn't understand the details of the goalie's rules, but she didn't give up.  Even with two goals scored on her and many tears of frustration after the game was over, she never gave up.  She did not love her soccer experience, but she always pulled on her adorable cleats and went back for more.  And she always had a look of pride on her face after she gave it her all.

5.  You can miss the window of opportunity in sports after all.  We've been hearing it for years- if you want them to succeed, you have to start them early.  Well, it turns out they might have been right.  Adam was at least two years behind some of his teammates.  Leah was one of the youngest players on her team, and one of the least experienced.  So she spent a lot of time on the sidelines, learning about the game and trying to show the coach she wanted to play.  But I think we learned that neither of them loves the sport so much that they want to put in the effort to make up for lost time.  And that's okay too.

6.  Sports are not so important that they will interfere with greater good things.  We don't play sports on Sundays- the Sabbath day is an entire day long, not just the length of the church meeting.  We won't sacrifice time as a family- we had a family trip to Nauvoo scheduled long before we knew the soccer schedule, and the kids ended up missing their first games because of it.  That made for several lively conversations in our house, but at the end of it all, the kids decided that they wanted to go to Nauvoo.

Jason and I had a long talk and walk one night in which we laughed about the fact that the apples have not fallen far from the tree.  In our family and in our genes, academics come first, music comes second, and athletics... a distant third.  Of course we'll support our kids in any efforts they want to make in sports, but only after the more important school work and music has been fulfilled. And, we're so sorry children, but athletic prowess doesn't exactly run in our family... 

7. A good team could make a great season.  Neither of the kids really had that this time around, but I could see how a tight-knit group of players could really become your best friends as the years go by.  

8.  Soccer starts at a horrible time of year.  We simultaneously started juggling soccer, back to school schedules and homework, band and orchestra, piano lessons, scouting for Adam and boy, was I glad to see the soccer season come to an end!  And it was a very chilly one, at that.  We started out with beautiful 70 degree days and ended with cancelled games and rainstorms and layers of clothes and leaves on the fields.  

9. And lest it all seem negative, I also have to say that while it wasn't exactly fun, it was a delight to see these two use their bodies so well.  To run and to kick and to focus and try so hard to do their best.  They're healthy, they're dedicated, and although soccer may not have been the biggest hit yet, they're both definitely headed toward great things!

Perks

That day when you start sharing clothes and shoes with your daughters... 

I'm not sure how long it will last, but it sure is fun for now!

Halloween Means

First we decorate the house.

 Then we pick out pumpkins, enjoying the traditional apple cider and donuts along the way. 

I think we made record time with our pumpkin selections this year. 

Next up, decorating some Halloweel cookies. Blobby, Dumbledore, a witch and Ariel were some of the favorites.

The annual ward trunk or treat is always a fun night.

And Jason and I like to dress up too!  We went as the ultimate pair this year- salt and pepper!

Next up, carving our beloved pumpkins.  

One of these years we'll remember that no one really likes doing the hard work of scooping out the pumpkins, although Daddy does like the challenge of carving them per requests!

This year we had a classic jack-o-lantern ("with no nose!"), Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, and a ninja.  First prize goes to Leah, who scooped, carved and decorated nearly all by herself.

Then it's on to the big night, which was a horribly windy, freezing cold 26 degree night.  There were costume changes- Adam went from Harry Potter to a Jedi, and Emma went from Elena of Avalor to a Super Girl!

It was so, so, so so sooooo windy and cold, but everyone still managed to knock on plenty of houses and collect plenty of loot!

And then we all warmed up by the fire and sorted and traded and ate all of the yummy things.

Noah did swap out his Buzz Lightyear costume for an explorer on preschool day.  

He sensibly observed that he couldn't use the bathroom in his space suit, so this was a more logical choice.

 Adam informed me that no Halloween is complete without a donut-on-a-string contest.  

And he was the champion!

 And now, just about as quickly as it snuck up on us, the Halloween season is over.  We'll remember this year as the one that someone took the Lion Guard cup out of our treat bucket (it was holding pencils for the non-candy eaters, but someone must have thought it was a treat!).

It was the year that Leah first vacillated over whether her costume might be too young, and I told her that if she ever wanted to dress up like a Disney princess again, this was probably the year to do it.  

And this was the year that I couldn't figure out how to do "fair", which Leah reminded me- as I often do all of the kids- that the fair only comes around once a year.  Adam wanted to be Harry Potter, but it didn't seem right to buy just him a new costume when everyone else was making do with what they already had.  But rather than throw a fit or whine or complain, he just made do with what he found in the dress up box and had just as a delightful time as if he had a brand new set of robes on.  He decided he would just ask Santa Claus to bring him the robes so that we could get them for free!  I was so impressed with Adam's understanding of not getting a new costume, even though I really wanted him to have one!  

This year my kids restored my faith in the fun of Halloween, and not just the gimme-gimme attitude that can creep in this time of year.  

So!  That was our month in a pumpkin shell.  Happy Halloween to all, and to all a fright night!

A Wedding

As the bishop of our ward, one of Jason's great privileges is to conduct weddings and marry people.  

Our sweet friends were married a few weekends back, and Jason was just a little bit nervous about performing his first wedding.  He gave great words of counsel and advice based on this talk, which I then created a wedding gift out of.

If you want something to last forever

you treat it differently. 

You shield it and protect it. 

You never abuse it. 

You don't expose it to the elements.

You don't make it common or ordinary.

If it every becomes tarnished, 

you lovingly polish it

until it gleams like new.

It becomes special

Because you made it so

and it grows more beautiful and precious 

as time goes by.

That quote used to sit on my desk at work when we were newlyweds, and after 14 years together I can testify that it's more true than ever.  If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently, indeed.

An Evening Out

 A few weekends ago my girls and I enjoyed an evening of Swan Lake with the Des Moines Symphony.  Leah's orchestra conductor Mr. Myers is in the orchestra, so we went right down to the stage to wave at him before finding our seats.  The music was incredibly well done, and we talked about it for days afterward.  It had been a long, very full weekend, and sweet Emma curled up in my lap and fell asleep toward the end, despite the horns and cymbals and strings playing their hearts out.

It was raining when we got there, and it was really raining when we left, but it was worth getting a little wet and coming home a little tired for a night of culture and girl time!

It's So Hard

To not always get what you want... 

 I've seen that pouty lip before... 

So sweet and so sad all at once!