Soccer

Garrett, Dylan, Sami and Macy are all playing soccer this year. Garrett and Sami are on the same team and Dylan and Macy are on the same team. The games are played at the same time on side by side fields. It's a little crazy to watch everyone play, but the kids love it and we sit in the middle and try to catch all the major plays.

Garrett is doing really well. He has been playing soccer for 4 years now. He loves to be the goalie and make sure no one scores on his team.
Sami has been playing soccer for 2 years and seems to like it a lot too. She is becoming a great team player.
Dylan was a reluctant soccer player last year, but this year he is really getting into it. Daddy does warm ups with him and then he is ready to go and he is loving it.
Macy.......now Macy loves to run and will run and run and run, however, she's not so sure about soccer yet. She is hesitant and a little stinker at times. This Saturday she decided she'd like to play tag with the kids, or even better, she'd like to run past the goal out into the field behind where the team was playing...hoping someone might chase her. Hopefully she will calm down some and maybe she'll like soccer, we'll see.
Sydney is on the sidelines this year, and is quite sad about it. She geared up for the first game, with soccer socks and shin guards. She wanted to be right there playing with them. Next year she'll get to, but that is hard for her to understand.

Weekend in Columbus

We went to Columbus, Ohio for the weekend to spend time with Grandma Linda and Gramps. Packing 7 people up for a weekend away is very overwhelming, not to mention we took the dog and the gerbils. Our kids aren't the best travelers either, though they are getting better. We got a late start, but made it to Columbus before dinner time. The kids were excited, the grandparents were excited.

Friday night the kids got treasure maps, and each child took a turn wondering around the yard with their map to find the X that revealed a present. Garrett got a dinosaur kit, Dylan got a magic kit, Sami got a build a bear kit, Macy got a purse with puppies, and Sydney got a purple lion.

Saturday morning Nathan and the boys took Gramps to Lowe's for their Kids Grow Clinic. They built helicopter's together. While they were gone, the girls sat down and had a tea party with Grandma Linda. They dressed up with fancy hats and jewelry, had sandwiches and tea and painted fingernails and toenails. Then we went to see UP in the theater.

We went to the Columbus Zoo on Sunday and the kids had so much fun. We got to see manatee's and Elephants (Dylan's all time favorite!) and gorilla's, things we don't see at our local zoo.

It was a great weekend, full of wonderful memories. The kids were sad to leave.

200 BOOKS

Garrett just reached his goal, 200 BOOKS this summer. He began reading the first Monday of June and reads for atleast 20 minutes every day, but I often find him reading more than that. We signed up for the library reading program and the kids were sharing books with a goal of 42 books to be read to them. Well we couldn't keep up with Garrett, so I put him on his own and he met his goal at the library as well.
Wow!
The other kids have done great too, Sami read her 16 chapter books and Sydney, Dylan and Macy listened to us read 42 books during the Summer Reading Program at the Library. They received nice prizes and got to go to the Library Carnival which was so much fun for them. I'm so glad they love to read and be read to. I hope that never changes.

My kids, Right Now

I thought I'd share a little about our kids, and who they are right now. It changes so frequently that I don't want to forget any of the things they're interested. I don't want to forget a moment of this time, because it all goes by so quickly. Too quickly!

GARRETT
Loves to read
He loves math
Has read 130 books so far this summer!!!
Likes to ride his bike, skateboard and rollerblading.
He is a saver, not a spender....unless it is on someone else....he is always buying things for his brother and sister.
He loves to help around the house, loves to do dishes - I know that won't last ;)
He eats nonstop, he is always hungry and tells me it's because he's a growing boy
He collects joke books
He loves to do magic
His favorite animal is a panda bear
He is a sweet, generous, tenderhearted, funny little boy with so much love and joy to share.
He wants to grow up to be a children's minister/builder/chef


DYLAN
Dylan is 4 now, almost 5.
He is a whiz at games, new or old, wii or gameboy
He loves batman, indiana jones, jimmy newtron,
He drinks chocolate milk all the time
He'd eat peanut butter and jelly or pancakes with syrup for every meal if we let him
He's learning to read this summer and already can read words
He loves to run, jump, cannonball off the couch and kick.
He loves to throw balls and do karate spins
He likes to swing on the swings really high
He is a risk taker and a little bit of a daredevil
He is a night owl, he could stay up all night with me
He is not a morning person
He loves to be at home most of all
His favorite animal is an elephant
His favorite type of books are ISPY books
He is a funny, sensitive, sweet, honest and cuddly little guy
He wants to be a daddy when he grows up

SYDNEY
Sydney is 3 right now
She likes to bop her brothers on the head
She loves animals, especially dogs and cats.
If we are out and about and we see a dog, we have to ask to pet it, she can't see a dog and not pet it :)
She likes to play dress up
She loves Dora the Explorer
She loves milk and will rarely drink anything else
Her favorite animal is a giraffe
She is a sweet loving girl, who has a very stubborn streak and can melt your heart with the tiniest little smile and look
She loves to do everything her brothers do, no matter what that might be, if they can do it, she's sure that she can too
She wants to be a puppy when she grows up, and a princess, but mostly a puppy

Responsiblity and Job Jars

We have tried picture charts, chore charts and sticker charts and a small version of a job jar with little popsicle sticks in a cup. The job cup seemed to work the best, when the kids needed something to do. This weekend I got some old jars and some colored popsicle sticks and made each child their own responsibility jar. In the responsibility jar are all the things that the kids should be responsible for (mainly personal hygiene or taking care of their things).

Here are the things in the responsiblity jars

• Brush your teeth


• Brush your hair


• Wash your face


• Get dressed


• Put your clothes in the Hamper


• Make your bed


• Clean your room


• Pick up your toys

In the job jar, we put chores the kids can be paid for, and the amount they would get for doing that job.

• Take out the trash


• Take out the recycling


• Load the dishwasher


• Pick up the yard


• Put your laundry away


• Feed and water the cats


• Feed and water the dog


• Feed the fish

The kids are very excited about it. I'll let you know how it goes ;)