Rugby, Lights, and Surprises

The boys now spend Saturday mornings playing rugby with a bunch of other youth and dads. Brother Romero introduced this fun sport to the youth when he and his family moved into our ward. It has been a great motivator for me to get them to do their chores before meeting at the high school football field.

David and I had previously (pre-Loni) talked about keeping the holidays low key. With a newborn in the house we agreed that less stres will make for a happier Christmas season. So, when I looked out the window to find David hanging Christmas lights, I was surprised. Happily surprised. Some traditions are hard to do without. I'm sure the colorful lights will add cheer.

Loni only woke up once last night! After laying her down for the night at 10:30pm, she slept until almost 3:30am. She surprised us yet again this afternoon. Loni gave Dave-o the biggest smile as he was saying hi to her between the slats in the crib. It seems only natural that Dave-o receive the first smile.

The Gladiators

Professional hockey season may be on hold this year because of a lock-out, but we still get to enjoy the sport through Steven, who is back from his hiatus. This season, his team is called the Gladiators and the uniform bares the San Jose Shark's colors.  Dave-o loved watching Steven play, but couldn't understand why Steven couldn't hear him calling to him.

 

I am thankful for the self confidence, good sportsmanship, and teamwork skills that playing a sport teaches. Winning doesn't come easy (as Steven's team learned in their first game that they lost 1-15). You have to work for it. There are setbacks, defeats, and even injuries. How you handle it says a lot about your character.

Breaking out our Brooms for a Thorough Sweep

I never thought the World Series would end this way.

But it did.

The Giants swept the Tigers!

Hundreds of miles didn't stop my siblings, Douglas and Deborah, and I from sharing in the excitement of the entire Playoff Series through texting. It was as close to watching it together in the same room as we could get.

Congratulations San Francisco Giants!

The Bay area will welcome you back home with open arms.

Have you been Running?

Our education specialist (ES) comes once a month to record what each of the kids have been working on for school. While meeting with Kirsten, Mrs. Doty asked her what she's been doing for PE. Kirsten was having a hard time remembering (nothing new there), so Mrs. Doty began to prompt her. "Have you been running?"
Kirsten: "Yes! The other day I ran all around the house looking for my shoes."

After hearing this respose, I knew that I needed to work a bit harder on physical fitness with my daughter. The boys go to the gym, but Kirsten is too young and I tend to forget about her fitness needs.

While Steven was attending his Science "Mythbusters" class, the rest of us went to Walmart and bought a four dollar soccer ball. Once home, the boys (who have played the sport when they were younger) began teaching their sister the rules for soccer. Kirsten has had a lot of fun practicing dribbling the ball. And her brothers rediscovered the joy of this game.

Of course, Dave-o thinks this soccer ball is his and as a result throws a tantrum when he doesn't have sole custody of it.

This and That

Today officially marks the last day of school for my homeschoolers. We met our ES at a local park this morning to sign some paperwork and say goodbye for the summer. As we were leaving, Wendy handed James a huge box containing his laptop that we ordered. He couldn't wait to return home to set it up. James is planning on using the laptop for his Robotics/Computer Programming class along with some online classes that he will take in high school this next school year.

After lunch we drove to a nearby Goodwill store in search of a tea kettle that James needs to finish building his steam engine. We struck out with that task, but didn't walk away from the store empty handed. I bought a couple of dresses for Kirsten, pants for Steven, a toy  garbage truck for Dave-o's upcoming birthday (that looks brand new), purple Nike shoes for K-girl, and a football that Dave-o would not let go of. The total cost was twenty-five dollars.
Kirsten is so in love with her shoes! She says they are her favorite shoes of all time. Having lived for almost ten years, "all time" is quite significant. And Dave-o insisted on taking his nap with his new ball. James and I will have to take a trip to a different Goodwill tomorrow. Or, hit a few garage sales. 

This evening, James went to a Sunday School class party, Steven was invited to his friend, Ben's birthday party, David took Justin to see the movie, Tron, K-girl had Activity Day Girls, and Dave-o ran up and down the upstairs hallway acting crazy. He loves to fake us out by falling. Then he'll roll around on the carpet until the walls prevent him from continuing. 

I am happy to say that the Sharks won their game tonight. Now they are 1-2 in the series against the Canucks. Right now, the Giants and the A's are tied up 1-1 in the 9th inning. I hope the Giants win so that I don't have to hear David gloat about his team being better. 

Don't Stop Believing

Baseball season has ended; and for once San Francisco has something to cheer about. The Giants won the World Series in game 5 beating the Texas Rangers 3-1. The team has been described as "castoffs and misfits". Manager Bruce Bochy even calls his Giants a "ragtag bunch". Names like, Renteria, Cody Ross, Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Buster Posey, Juan Uribe, Lincecum, and Brian Wilson (their bearded closer) will be on everyone's lips and minds for a long time. My kids will be telling their kids about the year that the Giants brought the first World Series title to San Francisco.

With November being the "I am So Thankful" month I thought I would dedicate it to giving thanks and counting my blessings daily.

I am thankful for dreams that come true. And for little boys in blue jeans. Aren't they the cutest?

Ashkon remade a locally grown anthem ("Don't Stop Believing" by Journey) with Giants specific lyrics. It's pretty clever.

Pre-Game Show

Here's what our pre-game show looked like today:

Kirsten and Fiona love playing with their stuffed animals.

Mason came by to show Steven a new paper airplane design.

You'll probably read (or hear) that the first pitch of the World Series was thrown by Barry Bonds; however we know differently. Look at Dave-o's form. He's a born pitcher.
You didn't have to be sitting in AT&T Park to feel the excitement and energy from the Giants. What a game! They easily won 11-7. Dave-o sat on my lap for parts of the game and repeatedly said "baseball". After noticing many of the players spitting, Dave-o proceeded to show off his own loogeys.

David spent most of the game fixing our dishwasher (thank goodness). On several occasions, I heard him calling the washer names. We always laugh when David gets frustrated. I know that's bad, but he sounds so funny talking trash to inanimate objects.

I'm ready for game 2. Are you?

Orange October

Have you heard that this month is "Orange October"?
This evening the San Francisco Giants beat the Phillies to win the National League pennant All of the sports analysts (including my husband who is an A's fan) said that the Giants didn't have the offense to beat Philadelphia. I'm glad my team proved them all wrong. Now it's off to battle the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

Go Giants!

Go Giants!

James and Steven were unexpectedly given the opportunity to tag along with their cousins, Mitchell and Matthew, to a San Francisco Giants game.
The four of them had a great time watching the Giants win 6-0.

Thank you Mitchell and Matthew for including my boys.
I know they look up to you and love hanging out.
Our family is dreading the end of summer when we will have to say good-bye to you.