It's on the list.... soccer tournament

So - I find I'm really spurty at this whole blogging thing - why is that I wonder? I'll have all these ideas for blog posts all on one day and I'll be able to keep them in my mind for a day or two - cuz I try to do no more than 1 in a day. But then - it's gone. And I know, you can schedule posts to happen in the future, but I'd have to spend time to figure that out and well... it's on the list. (other blog things on the list - I signed up months and months ago to be able to use this site to make cool slide shows of pictures, but the first time I tried it it was taking too much time to figure out how to choose a song to go with the pictures and how to determine the order of them.... so.. forget it, I just posted some pictures that day and haven't been back - but.. I swear it's on the list.)

So there's been nothing crazy going on here like crazy animals in the back yard so nothing so obviously blogworthy has cropped up - so I'm going to try to just throw up some stuff about what's going on in the boring normal life we live.

A couple of weeks ago was the comic book convention again and we had the boys take pictures of all the people in the costume contest - It's on the list (really high, I swear) to download the pictures and maybe I'll even learn how to do the slide show thingy for it, we'll see.

Right now both boys are in a soccer tournament which is fun, but it's a lot of time added to the already swamped schedule. This past week, both of the boys soccer games and Jackson's football game were all canceled due to cold and rainy weather - phew, cuz then the week started. Monday Jack had a game at 6 and Teddy had one a 7. Tuesday Teddy had basketball evaluations (Jackson's had been on this past Saturday). Wednesday Jackson had a soccer game and tonight (Thursday) Teddy had a soccer game. This weekend both boys have soccer games on Saturday. On Sunday Jack has flag football and Ted has a soccer game and on Monday the tourney continues and they both have soccer games.... geez.

In Jackson's first game a quarter of his team was down with a fever so not there, they were able to get two 6 year old younger brothers to play with Jackson's under 9 team.... they lost 3 - 0. In his second game they didn't need the 6 year olds but didn't have many subs if any. They played a good game and were tied at 3-3 about 3/4 of the way through the game, but then they just ran out of gas and the other team scored at least 2 more goals on them so they lost again.

Teddy was in the most exciting kid soccer game I've seen yet in his first game. His team is a rec level team - they're good players, but none of them are going to be the next Pele. In the tourney you can play against any level team and in their first game they played against a travel team (this is where the future Pele's are playing in this age group). From the beginning all the parents from our team were just hoping and praying that the loss wouldn't be too devastating for them. The other team's players were bigger and stronger and at a whole different level then Ted's team, if they hadn't been playing against Teddy they would have been really fun to watch. Extremely good ball handling skills, routinely passing the ball to where they knew their team mate would be, which is just not something Teddy's team does regularly if at all. And boy did they kick it hard; every pass, every kick, every shot on goal was hard and intense and extremely purposeful. I'd say 90% of the entire game was spent right in front of our goal, but somehow we managed to limit them to only 2 goals (our defense has always been the strongest part of the team) - and miraculously we somehow managed to score 2 goals on them as well - so the game ended in a tie - which I tell you was better than any win they've ever had.

At the end of the game Teddy got a little teary - the whole team was extremely emotional at their hard fought tie. They all knew they'd played one of their best defensive games ever and that it was a real feat that they hadn't been totally destroyed by that team. Ted said - "I feel all emotional" - it was so cute - I was very proud of the whole team.

OH and... early in the second half one of the other team's players took an incredibly hard shot on goal and it landed.... right on Teddy's face - the shot heard 'round the field.

The sidelines reaction (both sides) a collective - "Gasp" Oh. My. God.
My reaction - Holy shit. Oh man, he's going to be so embarrassed by that to begin with and then he can't not cry over that kind of hit and that's going to make it worse, poor kid.
The Ref's reaction - stopped the game immediately and ran towards Teddy.
Teddy's reaction - Bent at the waist holding his face. Slowly stood up shaking his head (I can only assume trying to gather his wits which most certainly were thrown a few yards away). Crouched into a good ready position scanning for the ball (after all he was playing defense and that had been a shot on goal - the ball had to be somewhere nearby).

It wasn't until the ref got to him and physically had to stop him from moving as he continued to look for the ball (I think he was a bit dazed) did Teddy understand the game had been stopped. The ref examined him and called "blood" and sent him to the sidelines. The hit ripped his lip and I think he bit his tongue too cuz it was bleeding as well. I jogged over to him expecting him to need a little love, but when I got to him, he had napkins on his lips and was completely fine. The bleeding was just about stopped and after a very amusing time spent getting the napkin that got stuck to his lips and tongue off he was back in the game.

His second game tonight was against another rec team - very well matched with his team. It was a great game, they continued to play better then they've played throughout the rest of the season and they won 1-0.

We'll see if I can continue this .... this is our life posts.

Camela

Things that frighten me

Teddy: Last year I liked Robin, but this year there are just so many more choices. This year I like Beth - she's just SO cute!

This is the kind of line I would expect from Jackson when he gets to middle school - not at all from Teddy. I'm pretty sure I'm not happy about this, though it was very funny when he said it.

A possible alien abduction

Teddy just got a new alarm clock and we haven't yet fully figured it out - we need to be able to let him go to sleep to music but wake up to the beeping alarm - I'm sure the instructions will shed light on our issues, but anyway I am still going in there to wake him up and then a few minutes later to act as his snooze alarm. I walked in there as the snooze alarm that I am and said Sweetie it's time to get up now and he rolled over and said. I can do this, trust me to get up. Okay baby, I'll let you getup. I left fully intending he'd be zoncksville again in no time. I went back in there several minutes later and he was just putting his shirt on.

When I reminded him to brush his teeth there was no eye rolling. Then he picked up a tennis ball and started playing with the dog, perfectly happily. Teddy is as far from a morning person as say... uh... cough.. uh Brad and that's saying something. I just shook my head and accepted the unexpected gift of his mood. I finished getting ready and headed downstairs to find him... not the zombie boy sitting in front of the TV I expected but sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal that he fixed. (I know - you're saying it's just a bowl of cereal let's not alert the media - but no, this is Teddy we're talking about. It's quite possible that this is the very first time in his 11 years that he's fixed his own bowl of cereal without Brad or me standing over him pointing to first where the bowls are, then the spoons, then the cereal, then suggesting he open the box and actually pour some out - all while his eyes are rolling so far back in his head I'm afraid he'll make himself blind).

But okay, I can go with this extremely startling event this morning, no problem. Until.... he stands up, puts his bowl in the sink and annouces he wants to head down to the bus stop early again so he can read some more. Well, how lovely of him I think but come on, this is Teddy. I'm sure it hasn't occured to him to put his homework in his back pack and I'm thinking - should I let him go off to school without a lunch in hopes that it will help him remember things like that in the future - but no, I decide to remind him - smuggly. Don't you want some lunch? (I've got that I know better than you do look on my face). Now I get the eye roll. I already made it, he says, it's in my back pack. uh. uh. uh. Do you want some snack money? Na, I've got $0.50 and I just want to get a cookie. uh uh uh uh.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SON????? He gave me the biggest grin he has, the one that will melt women's hearts (I'm fairly sure he won't know he has this power until at least college and probably later - thank God). Gave me a big hug, kissed me and left..... I'm still confused. Who do you call for such a body snatching?

Camela

Mom of the year moment

I started off in a bad mood to begin with. Brad's away. I'm working with both boys trying to get their homework done. I'm walking from the foyer so I can call up to Teddy in his room to answer questions and then back to the kitchen to encourage Jackson to finish his writing homework. And what, do you ask, is Bandit doing? Well I'm glad you asked because this is surprising. He was barking. At me. Just barking his friggin' head off for no earthly reason until I finally just couldn't take it any more and I snapped.

And yelled.

At the top of my lungs.

I mean really, really loudly.

GOD DAMN IT! WOULD YOU SHUT THE F#@K UP AND STOP BARKING!!!!!

oops.

Then I looked over at Jackson who was staring at me with the most priceless face ever. The face that said - we-ell now, wasn't that interesting, I think we'd better move right along from here. But then he deadpanned as only Jackson can deadpan - "uh mom, I'm not sure Bandit understands all those words"... and just like that, all the tension was gone. Sometimes Jackson is just the most perfect little guy.

Camela

Finally - my long parental nightmare is over

My two very active, fairly athletic boys, ages 11 and 8 1/2 really didn't know how to ride their bikes till this week. To be fair I taught my very cautious son Teddy (over his very strident protests) a couple of years ago when he was 8ish so he's been capable of it for a while - but every single time I've convinced him to actually get on the bike it has taken every bit of his concentration to stay upright and make it from here to there and back so it's never been remotely fun for him. It's just hard and stupid - end of story.

And then there's Jackson who is so much more physically self aware - for whom biking should be second nature - but sadly believes in his heart of hearts that he is not capable of doing anything until 2 years after his brother does it, since he's 2 years younger. It's like a law of nature or physics or something - it's just true. So I couldn't get Jack to even sit on a bike - not even one with training wheels (which we took off a few years ago). Brad still says I'm more stubborn than Jackson, but I find that hard to believe.

It's been in the back of my mind that this fall was not going to pass without Jackson learning how at least as well as Ted. It's been two years and frankly it's embarrassing that my kids don't have this skill. I always figured they'd want to ride with their friends and that would push them on, but .. eh Ted's too lazy to be spurred on by a potentially physically taxing version of peer pressure and Jack's just not familiar with the concept (bonus for him). Our neighborhood is really not good for learning - it's all hills. The only place remotely flat is from our house to the end of the cul-de-sac but even that is a slight hill and not a huge distance - on every other inch of street in our neighborhood you are either going up or down at a fairly steep grade. So again to be fair to them - I've not pushed it as hard as I should have and not taken them up to the school or whatever to help them out and Brad's not been at all interested in getting involved with this project over the years - I was the only one horrified by their lack of ability here.

Now cut to this weekend

Ted comes in and says: "hey I'm really good at riding my bike"
Me: ... duh.. what.. uh... wow honey that's great! Can I see?
T: yeah come on out and see - he was really excited
And there he is - on the bike he learned on, his old bike, the one that's too small for Jackson, but sure enough he's riding up and down the street just like he knows what he's doing. He's actually enjoying himself, not to mention thinking he's the bomb (he didn't notice he looked like one of those clowns riding on a tiny little bike.) I'm thinking - BRILLIANT!!! If he will just keep playing around on that little bike we can easily translate that onto his bigger bike.

AND THEN..... I am outside doing something else and Jackson hops on the little bike and starts gliding down the little hill to the cul-de-sac. He's got the balance thing down with no problem. I sneak up behind him and give him some pointers and push while he gets peddling and pretty soon he's doing it on his own. And on the next day he wants to go out again and Brad actually went out with him. He said he did better with Brad - whatever! He spent 10-15 minutes each day and then on day three he just went out and practiced on his own. All Brad could say was... "he is SO not his brother".

But now, Ted's riding Ted's bike and Jack's riding Jack's bike and we can't get either of them off of them which is just exactly how it's supposed to be.

phew!
Camela

A mini Brad's away story

Picture this... It's two days before vacation. It's packing day. Tomorrow is pack the car day. It's a long story, but both kids are at home this week with Brad who is trying to also work. There's intermittent help, but mostly he's dealing with them and well... you can just imagine how sweet and loving his mood is.

So I come home from work where I've been running around like a lunatic trying to get ready to be gone for a week and Brad's being all sweet and loving as I described above, but luckily he's on his way out to take the kids over to a friend's house where they're going to spend some time while we pack. They leave, I go upstairs to change my clothes and no sooner than I get my shorts on do I hear Bandit going absolutely ballistic in the back yard. This is not the ordinary ballistic state the Bandit is almost always in, this is serious I'm going to rip you limb from limb ballistic. I'm assuming there's either some deer in the field behind the house or much more likely a turtle in the yard. I grab a shirt and run down the stairs and outside so I can bring Bandit in.

I make it down to the landing of the deck stairs before I find out what Bandit's barking at. Deer? nope. Turtle? not so much. It's a badger. A badger who's the same size as Bandit. The poor badger, I'll call Fred, is backed into the corner of the fence and Bandit is about 8 inches from him barking his head off and periodically lunging for him. Shit! Of course Brad just left. Of course I just saw my neighbor who might have been alerted by Bandit's barking just driving away. I'm screaming my head off at Bandit who has no idea anything in the world except poor old Fred exists.

At every opportunity he can find Fred tries to duck under the fence to freedom but Bandit's not having any of that and takes that same opportunity to pounce on poor old Fred. Fred turns back and hisses and bears his huge teeth but mostly he's just sitting there with the fence to his back and ballistic Bandit to his front.

There's no way I'm going down there getting near a wild animal.... let alone the badger... ba dum bum... I decide to get the hose and spray water on Bandit hoping to distract him long enough to let Fred escape. I get the hose and start spraying and it doesn't exactly distract him, but it does bring an extra layer of chaos to the scene until they are literally rolling around in the mud I've just created - one big pile of paws and claws and teeth and barking (because let's not kid ourselves, Bandit never once stopped barking - even while he was biting Fred he managed to keep the barking up).

They look like a small fury version of a street fight where two people are rolling around trying to get the upper hand. Holy Shit what have I just done. Now they're both going to end up some awful bloody mess and there's still no way I'm going near them. Maybe Fred will kill Bandit:) What will I tell the kids? When will Brad be back? What should I do now? But then Fred makes a break for it; diving under the fence (a side note here - if Fred can fit under the fence so can Bandit, but luckily he doesn't know that).

Fred gets about half way to freedom before Bandit clamps onto his ... uh.. shall we say.. posterior.. and is not planning on letting go any time soon. So now the tug of war is on. Fred gains a few inches. Bandit pulls him back. Back and forth, back and forth. I'm still screaming and so pissed off I can't begin to tell you. I'm trying to get the water in Bandit's eyes. The seconds tick by, oh how I wish it was caught on film. Finally Fred breaks free and darts into the forest. I saw no blood on his retreating butt or anywhere on Bandit. Bandit is a nice shade of brown instead of his normal white, but luckily he's heading to the country club for pets tomorrow where they can deal with him.

Okay, now I'm really going to go pack now.
Camela

2 cute pictures of the boys

Our friend Kevin turns 11 on Thursday; 8 days after Teddy turned 11. Teddy and Kevin met for the first time the day Kevin was born. The hospital where Kevin was born assumed Teddy was just on his way home and didn't bat an eye at us walking around with such a little infant. Kevin had a Lego themed party and here are pictures of my boys showing off their creations - and they are so cute I just had to show them off.

Teddy and his fire truck

Jackson and his space police hovercraft