Livin' the Dream

My boys had the day of all days today. It was packed with the best kind of boyish fun. First it was off to soccer. We are lucky to have a friend who volunteered to coach and organize the whole thing, we just get to go and enjoy! As an added bonus it coordinates with our scout night. Drew and Parker so far have gotten to play on the same team which they love, and tonight they won! Afterwards it was off to pack meeting for bottle rockets. Here is Parker with his finished rocket. Don't judge any design flaws, it was my first ever bottle rocket, and more importantly, his. We had fun making it.

 It was his idea to paint it white and plaster it with Halloween stickers. It was then christened the "Boo Blaster."

 The Boo Blaster worked just fine, in spite of Parker's worries that it wouldn't. The kids had a great time. Andrew was even lucky enough to participate as the boys' scout leader had made a few extra rockets just in case. Here is Parker holding it steady for Drew while he pumped it.

 And the Boo Blaster in action.

I think the funnest part for the boys was running to retrieve the rockets and crashing in a pack around the boy who managed to get it first. The girls were also excited to get to go. They hate the weeks when only Parker gets to go! Emma was so funny. Because soccer was at the church, we didn't even have to go anywhere for the rocket launch, so all during the pack meeting she kept asking when we were going to go to scouts. We kept trying to convince her that we were there, but she wasn't sure. Finally when the rockets were done, they announced treats at the pavilion. She took off running yelling, "Yay! We're going to scouts!" Except it was ''Lay!" because she still doesn't make the 'y' sound. ;) 

I have really been enjoying all of these little moments with the kids lately and feeling so grateful for them all. With a new school year starting and life just in general being so busy with 6 kids, I've got to admit I've felt overwhelmed. It's hard to see past the to-do list and the fact that it never gets done. But over the last week, every time I get feeling bogged down, one of them does something adorable that reminds me why it's all worth it, and that even if all the to-do's never get crossed off, there is joy to be had in trying.

Boys' Night

As much as I hate to see my boys grow up, it has been so much fun to hang out with them lately. Every once in a while we give them the opportunity to stay up late with Mom and Dad. Sometimes it's to watch a big kid movie; the new Karate Kid was a big hit, (and I personally can't wait to have a Back to the Future night). Other times it's to play games that the sisters just aren't big enough for yet. Their absolute favorite is Monopoly. It is a miracle that this game has made a reappearance in our house; Brandon and I played it once as newlyweds and I vowed never again! My husband is a bit cutthroat about his games. But for these two....well that's a different story. 

Yes, that is a tupperware of raw cookie dough to snack on! 

These two are hilarious!! They're sure to call out, "Chancellors!" when a chance space is landed on, to tell you that, "Things are getting hairy in here!" when the game is getting serious, to remind you that you own the "Body Odor railroad" if you have the B&O, and they each have their favorite spaces that they will always hold out for. Parker loves Boardwalk and Park Place to a fault. He'll get most of the way through a game with only a few properties holding out for the big ones. If those can't be had he loves Tennessee Ave, (pronounced tuh-KNEE-tsee, don't ya know?) and Marvin Gardens, (MAH-ven GAH-dens).  Drew loves S-T Charles place and S-T James place. He also loves to be a railroad man.

They can also be persuaded to play Apples to Apples Jr. but this game is the clear fave. They're so much fun to play with that I don't mind it too much anymore. I love that they're learning to win and lose nicely, (for the most part) and to handle tasks like being the banker. I've been thinking it would be awesome to come across the old version of the game PayDay to teach them some money management skills as well. Life skills aside, just having a good time is great too!

Baseball

The boys have been playing baseball this summer with Daddy as their coach.  It has been a hoot to say the least.  Drew is technically not old enough to play, but because Daddy's coaching, and because the t-ball team and the machine pitch team game schedules would have made it a near impossibility to do both, we put him on the older team.  He has done so great to keep up with those bigger boys!  I've been so proud.

 The first game both boys got hits and got on base.  It was so fun to see!  Ever since Parker has been a consistent hitter and is also fast to boot, and gets on base the most often.  He's the lead-off hitter for the team most games.

 Drew struggled a little more with the machine pitch, but was a great fielder, and has gotten a few great hits here and there.  The best was last night.  Final inning, we're down 4-0.  One runner on base, but 2 outs, and Drew at the bottom of the order is up to bat.  He gave it all he had and got a base hit!  Then Parker got up and hit a triple to drive in two runs!  I was so excited and so proud!!  Sadly, the next hit was an out, so we didn't get a chance to come back for the win, but I was so excited to see our boys play that way.

Isn't Drew adorable in that giant batting helmet?  I'll need to update the post with a few more pictures of him before the season is over.  It's a little crazy when I'm left to manage the other four alone.  A ring pop from the concession stand only keeps them occupied for so long. ;)

Needless to say, I never thought I'd be such a big baseball fan before I had boys of my own to watch.  I'm looking forward to many more summers of it!

Post Edit: The very next game Drew got his own triple hit!  Sadly, I didn't get any more pictures but it was a great season.  We're now on to swimming lessons but once in a while Drew will stop me and say, "Mom, you remember that time I hit a triple in baseball?!"  I sure do Drewbie!!

Brothers

Have you ever lost a tooth on the very same day as your brother?  Pretty cool, huh?!

We Are Soccer Monsters!

Anyone else as big a fan of the Backyardigans as me?  No?  Well let me treat you to one of our my favorite songs.  "We are soccer monsters, we have a soccer ball!  We'd rather play soccer than do anything at all!"  That's been our theme song for the last several weeks.  Two to three soccer practices a week between two different teams and games alllll day on Saturday.  One of the joys of being in such a small town is that there are only enough kids to form one to two teams per age group.  So that means we have to meet up with the other small towns for games, driving up to an hour away.  Might as well make a day of it, hmm?  The nice part is, to entice the kids to play there was no fee to join the team.  We'll take it!  The boys were so excited for soccer this year.  It was their first season of it.  Here they are trying on their new shorts, shin guards, socks and shoes.  By the way, normally I think Parker looks more like his Mama, but in this shot, he is SO his Daddy's boy.

 Both of our boys surprised us a bit.  After one game day Brandon and I came home laughing that we should never label our kids because they will always surprise us. Our usual mama's boy/daddy's boy ideals were reversed.  We usually think Parker acts SO much like his Dad, and that Andrew acts SO much like his Mom.  But this threw that completely out the window.  Andrew was upset when the coaches asked him to take a turn rotating out so everyone could play.  And he came off the field in tears after one game, "We LOST!" he sobbed.  Andrew was aggressive and not at all intimidated by the other team.  He got right into the scrum and handled the ball right down to the goal over and over and over.

 His little team was adorable and the coaches did a fantastic job.  They taught them good sportmanship and that the most important part was to have fun. Something we're still trying to reinforce with Drew.

 The team shot.

 Parker did a fantastic job.  But, he surprised us by being much less aggressive and more unsure than we've ever seen him.  To be fair, this was his first year playing, and the other kids had all had one or two under their belts.  I think he was a bit intimidated.  It was also his first time playing with a group of kids who have grown up playing every sport together.  He's shy like his Mama.  The coach was great though and played to everyone's strengths. Parker played defender in the backfield and did a great job.  He understood his role really well, and not having to be attacking all the time really boosted his confidence.  By the last few games he was ready to take a turn on the front end and almost scored a goal or two.  Next year Drew and Parker will be on the same team and I think we'll have a fantastic duo in them.

Team shot.

I have to say......all those years I whined and complained about watching my brothers teams, I had no idea how much I'd relish the role of soccer mom.  I absolutely loved every minute of watching my boys play.  My heart hurt when they had overlapping games and I had to choose to watch one or the other.  For now, I'll gladly take the role of their biggest fan and cheerleader.  They are some fantastic boys and I am so proud of them!

Transformers

Parker recently discovered the old Transformers on Netflix. Needless to say the boys are hooked. They can even sing the entire opening theme song. ;)  They've also for some reason been getting really excited about Halloween for over a month now.  So when we saw some Transformers costumes on sale online?  Forget about it.  You all know I can't resist my online shopping!  Parker insisted that his Bumblebee costume be from "Transformers Prime."  He wasn't even willing to look and see what the others were like after he saw that line.  So if you need help fighting decepticons, give us a call!  Optimus and Bumblebee would be glad to help out!  I know I feel safer already.

Swimming Lessons

Parker and Andrew have been waiting and WAITING and waiting for their very first swim lesson.  Let's be honest, so have I.  It's almost not even fun to take 5 non-swimmers to the pool.  We were so excited that we took a trip to Target to get new goggles and towels to match their swimsuits.  On the way home, before I even knew the packages were open, I looked up in the rearview to find this:

Here they are all ready to go!

As you can tell.....someone was  a bit nervous not quite knowing what to expect that first lesson.

Someone else dove right in. ;)

Parker was taken over to a smaller pool to get more comfortable with the water for a few minutes.  But it wasn't long before he was ready to come back and get wet!

They practiced floating.

And kicking.....

And jumping right in.

After all their hard work they were rewarded with a trip down the big blue slide.

This boy wasn't quite sure it was a reward at first, but I'm so proud of him for doing it anyway without fussing!  He did make a long trip of it but I think he's ready to do it again.

This boy loved every second of it.

They're excited to come back again!!

Side note: these goggles are also great fun in the tub.  Sister was way jealous that she didn't get a pink pair all to herself, but Andrew was gracious enough to share his for a few minutes.  ;)