I need some advice

(almost! real life Wii Sword-Fighting)

Lauren (number 2 in the picture above) had her 7th soccer game today. We are seven weeks into the season and every game Lauren pleads with me to let her quit. Today she did this pleading with angry histrionics on the soccer field. She impressed the coach and other parents today with her loud vocals because she is normally very passive and shy on the field. I'm not going to make her play soccer again but I am going to make her finish the season out of respect to her team and as a lesson about Not Quitting.

Every soccer game makes me really miss my Dad. He knew everything about sports (in my mind.) Every waking minute he either thought about, watched, coached or participated in a sport or physical activity of some kind. Heck, a couple of days before his fatal heart attack he did a 14-mile bike ride. He would know exactly what I should do with Lauren. When he died he left a huge void in my life regarding SPORTS. So now, I'm asking all 4 or so of you who read this blog to give me your advice. (j/k! I think it's more like 8 people)

I grew up playing sports: soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball, track, tennis (what else Mom?) This is how I see childhood and I really want to give the same opportunities to my children. Tyler loves soccer but Lauren despises it. More specifically, she despises the competition as she is fine with the drills during practice time.

I think I need to let go of my expectation that Lauren will be a competitive athlete. I just don't know how.

She loves Art Club and she's okay with dance class. I am left handed but surprisingly I'm not very artistic (I do like to write though.) However, her father and her father's mother (hey Grandma Jan!) are very (VERY) artistic so maybe this is the way she naturally needs to go. How do I nurture her artistic side? And should I insist on some sort of physical activity in the hope she will find a sport she enjoys?

here she is displaying her clay creation
(artistically gifted, no?!)

Please give me your advice!




Disclaimer:
Although I publicly voiced my frustrations over soccer today I need to tell y'all that Lauren had a great game (for her.) I've long since given into bribery during the soccer season and today she had three expectations. If met, we would all go bowling as a family tomorrow. (and yes, we are going bowling tomorrow!)

the expectations:
1. Only cry if she is hurt. If she gets hurt then Let It Wail but if she's not hurt than Do Not Cry.
(She didn't exactly meet this expectation but I decided to forgive and forget because she met the other two wonderfully.)
2. Always RUN after the ball. She did this! She waited until everyone else ran after the ball and then she followed the crowd. But she RAN when she did this.
3. Kick the ball at least 2 times (this does not include a "kick-off") I almost cried tears of joy when my baby girl's foot connected with the ball. She connected solidly twice and the 1/2 was an attempt. (which counted, of course)

Loving Spring

The weather has been fantastic the past week and check out our weather.com forecast for the next week. (I know you won't so just take my word.) It's all the same. Sunny and 70/80 degree temps. Loving It!

Well Tyler's not exactly "Loving It" at the moment
because the girls just told him he couldn't play with them.

We moved the fun to the trampoline next door and talked about including Tyler so now everyone is Loving It.

While watching the kids play on the trampoline I learned a new game. Maybe I'll try it out after dark one day....or maybe not.

new game: Dead Girl
how to play: one girl (the "dead" one) lays in the middle of the trampoline while the other girls run around her singing...

"dead girl, dead girl

come alive,
when I count to
number five.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five"

At that point said "dead girl" jumps up and chases the other "alive" girls. (tons of fun!)

then it was time for acrobatics

and circus tricks

All good things come to an end so we had to say goodbye to our sunshine and our friends and come inside for the night.

Tyler and Lauren display their wonderful sibling relationship
by posing together for a picture in their new PJs.
--Big thanks to Grammy!--
(although a bit blurry this was the only picture where Lauren didn't look like she was about to punch Tyler.)

As I was finishing up this post Matt came home from his Doctor's appointment so I thought I'd conclude with an always anticipated and hopefully, soon to cease "Matt Update."

Wednesday, Matt had an overnight business trip to San Francisco. No big deal for a normal person but for a gentleman who needs to infuse himself with IV antibiotics, this took some preparation. He got a note from his Dr. saying it was okay to carry the bags of fluid on the plane. I wasn't really worried about him getting the medicine on the plane but more so the reaction of the passengers when he infused himself (connected the bags to his IV/PICC line.) I suggested he do it in the bathroom but he said he just talked to the guy sitting next to him who told him, "ya gotta do what ya gotta do." And it was done. Matt got home yesterday safe and sound.

And today, to conclude the Matt update, he had his PICC line taken out as scheduled. No more IV antibiotics. 10 more days of oral and then we'll be DONE. Yay!!

Tonight the kids have a baby-sitter and Matt and I are going on a date (sort of.) Details to come.

Spring Break and Beyond

(by beyond, I mean today)

I loved Spring Break. I got to sleep in until 8:30am every single morning. Matt woke me up for a minute or two while he got ready for work but I was thankfully able to go back to sleep.

(quick wink at Matt)

Lauren and Tyler are old enough now to quietly entertain themselves while I enjoy an extra hour or so of sleep in the morning. I even showed Lauren how to change the input on the TV and turn on the Wii. If I let them, they would play the Wii quietly for at least 4-8 hours.

The weather was beautiful this Spring Break so once I was up I outlawed the Wii and the crew and I searched for entertainment outdoors.

We went to the park to feed the ducks. Unfortunately, 300 or so children before us also fed the ducks and they were no longer hungry. That didn't stop us from getting rid of the end slices of a dozen loaves of bread I had saved in the freezer. Perhaps the ducks will be hungry sometime soon. (we left enough floating bread pieces to keep them fed throughout next winter.)


We also enjoyed the (you'd have to see it to really appreciate it) yellowish haze that quickly descended on anything and everything. Pollen season hit us hard. Normal pollen count for our area this time of year is in the low 100s...Spring Break blessed us with a pollen count in the 4200s. I don't react to pollen so despite the yellowish haze, I made the poor choice to open my windows one morning to let the cool morning air in. I had them open for only 2 hours before I noticed the yellow coating on EVERYTHING in my house. Apparently pollen can come through the screens on windows. It's going to take me weeks to wipe down every single surface in my house. Lesson Learned!

I blame these trees!

They covered Everything.

On a more comfortable note, Spring means new life so we were happy to have our caterpillars...turned into chrysalises/chrysalides?...turn into Butterflies. 5 out of 5 caterpillars made it to butterflies and I hope they are enjoying their 2-4 week life span. We released the butterflies the day after they emerged and we haven't seen them since. I hope none of them have allergies.

T and L proudly hold the butterfly habitat.

Matt is still infusing himself with the IV antibiotics three times per day. This has become such a part of normal life that it might seem odd when his PICC line comes out (if all goes as planned!) this coming Friday.
Other Spring Break adventures included a trip to the local Fire Station:

Lauren and a real Fire Man!

L and T got to put out a pretend fire

And also a double birthday party at the local Academy of Gymnastics. This was so much fun. Lauren is begging to do gymnastic now.

in line for the obstacle course

balance beam

foam pit

one of two birthday cakes they got to enjoy

Today (the beyond) Lauren went back to school. Tyler, in his Punch Guy outfit, tagged along with me to some Mom's Club functions.
Once Lauren was home from school the fun really began.
She brought home a bunch of prizes from her Jump for Heart fundraiser.

most importantly:

a rocket which launches up to 100 feet

and of course, a Jump Rope.

It's time for me to get to bed. After sleeping in for a week it's a little hard to get up again at 6am in the morning.

laughable

We received our first bill from the hospital today. This was actually from Matt's second admittance. Why we haven't yet received the bill for the first one both intrigues me and scares me at the same time.

pocket change

Next is a snapshot of our family life.

back end of the table:
my 1000 piece puzzle in the works

middle of the table:
Tyler and Lauren keeping their hands clean while they "pig out" on their milk chocolate Easter Bunnies

front of the table:
Matt's medicine (or as we like to call it, "the juice")

yummers to the last bite!

right after "the last bite"

These tulips definitely deserved a spot in the blog. They are a Thank You gift from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Michael for taking care of Matt during his big ordeal.
Thank you so much. I may have shed a tear or two when I received them.

And finally, to keep the laughs coming. Please enjoy the video of L and T (and friend, Troy) playing the Wii.

Happy Easter!

We started off our Easter weekend with a lot of friends and a lot of fun.

After school on Friday (the last day of school before Spring Break) Tera and Lea came over to play. They played with sidewalk chalk...

and then moved inside to play Barbies. This is the latest favorite game of all the kiddos.
Thank you Grammy and GG for the Barbie Townhouse and thanks to the rest of y'all for all the Barbies.

Tera also enjoyed the Zsu Zsu pets. We really have a collection now.

On Saturday we colored Easter eggs.

Tyler says, "Happy Easter."

Saturday night we went to Easter services at our church. It had been awhile since we've been and we were happy to be back.

Easter Sunday we woke up to a wonderfully beautiful day to be alive. Thank you God for your sacrifice.

We enjoyed an Easter Brunch with Mr. Mike, Tera and Tyler and then we took advantage of the mid-70 (almost 80) degree weather by walking around Lake Peachtree to the playground.

I wish I took a picture but while at the park Lauren and Tyler made friends with a dog (Skylar) who liked to fetch Frisbees from the lake. Her owners were so kind they let L and T take turns throwing the Frisbee. (I think Skylar's owners were happy for the Frisbee-throwing break.)

Back at home we all took a nap!
(Did I mention already what a glorious day this was?! ahhh...to take a nap.)

After nap the children tried to make a dent into their 1lb Milk Chocolate Bunnies they got in their Easter Baskets. Tyler declared he was going to eat the whole thing right there...he only got past the ears (which is no easy feat!)

Later we all went outside to enjoy the (by this time) well into the 80 degree weather.
L and T colored with their new Easter Basket sidewalk chalk.

Daddy went to battle on the weeds in the front yard

and I took a picture of the Spring blossoms

and also of Chloe chewing on a plant she will later throw up on our bedroom carpet.

More Outdoor Fun:
family Frisbee

Moon Sand
(new colors from the Easter Bunny)

Easter Dinner Outside

I asked for a Normal Picture (??)

and now a Goofy Picture

by the end of dinner Tyler was looking quite tired

Lauren was goofy as ever

They each had separate baths tonight because I was afraid if they were together the water would turn to mud....Yes, they were that dirty.

After bath we had some time for the Wii.
Tyler loves to play and Lauren loves to watch Tyler play.

Today was an amazing day. Everyone was healthy, the weather was beautiful and we fully enjoyed the meaning of Easter Sunday.