Soccer

Busy Guy's time has finally come to play soccer. You have to be four years old. He has been waiting for 3 long years. Every year he asks if it's his turn to play yet. Finally this is the year. He is doing great. What a super go-getter. No fear, no nerves, just fun and excitement.
Cam signed up to coach both Busy Guy's team and Mr. P's team. Nobody at soccer league headquarters told him that the boys' games would end up being played at the same time some weeks. Ooooops! Luckily Cam's Dad Keith stepped up to co-coach. The big guys are having as much fun as the little boys. :) Grandpa Keith coached Busy Guy's team the first two games while Cam did Mr. P's games....which were in a different part of town. Grandma Sue and I switched off so we could see one game one week and the switch. So glad for the help!!
I do have some pics of Mr. P's team too and I'll share those soon.
As for me. I LOVE to watch my kids play sports!!! I am not a sports fan and do not EVER watch or follow ANY sporting events. But, I sure love to watch my kids and root for and whoop it up for their team. Go Soccer!!!

Babies No More

My babies are really not babies any more. Happy and Sad! Sis is potty trained...almost completely. She is wearing big girl undies all day and does great. That #2 thing...we are working on it. She potty trained so quickly compared to my boys. Of course she refused to even try it until just two weeks ago. My boys were all willing to try the potty seat at around age 2....not Sis (she is turning 3 at the end of the year)! But, in the end I'm glad she waited until she was ready. It was quick and she is very proud of herself. Baby George is trying too. He tries to go each time Sis goes. He has has a couple successful potty times...Yeah!! But, each time we are in a public restroom and he wants to go too I cringe. I know I can't tell him no but it is a real pain to take his diaper off and manage the two of them in a small stall. Blech!! I can't believe that soon we will not have any diapers in the house!! Amazing. We have been changing diapers for 4 years straight...and then many years before that too (5 years for Tuba and 2.5 years for Mr. P). I'm thinking the savings of money will be super duper!! I say we go to Hawaii to celebrate. ;)

My babies are also ready to leave the crib. Sis has been able to climb out for a LONG time. She has a zippered mesh tent over her crib. I HIGHLY recommend it for early climbers!! ;) It was $80 but works like a charm. Safe and secure. We used it first for Busy Guy. We had two brand new babies who were waking up like new babies do and then we had Busy Guy climbing out and into our room a zillions times a night. The tent could have been $500.00 and I would have bought it! But, now Baby George is climbing out too. While on vacation at the ocean the two slept in a double bed together and loved it. They stayed in bed all night. When we got home they were very sad to go back to the cribs. I think the rails will be coming off the cribs soon. Two toddler beds...maybe pushed next to each other so they can hold hands.

And, my babies are not napping any more! WHY?????? UGH! Sis needs very little sleep and if she naps then bedtime is a major problem....ie: yelling at the top of her lungs for hours on end. Not fun! She can take a quick 15 min. cat nap and then she is fine. Baby brother still needs a nap but won't nap without his Sis in the room with him. Sweet but frustrating. By late afternoon he is a tired cranky tantrum throwing wreck...and so am I. I'm going to keep trying to get him to nap but he has been just falling asleep in the car on the way to pick up Mr. P from school. Today I left early and then parked and cleaned out my purse while he rested. :)

My babies, I love my babies!! But, I'm very excited for the big kid times ahead too.

Book Time

This one's for Fr. David. :)

It makes a Mama proud to come into her bedroom and find my sweet baby reading...especially such a special book. Baby George is really into books right now. I love it! He brings me books and gets up into my lap to snuggle and read....all while his Sis runs circles around us. She does stop briefly to look at the book and then off she runs. At bedtime I'm now doing book time with the wee ones and then book time with the big kids.

More?

We are always asked if we are done or if we are going to have more kids. Hmmmmm. I ask myself this question a lot too. We talk about it and pray about it. Two years ago when we had two new babies we planned to adopt one more baby girl...around this time. Now that we have two two-year olds we have changed our mind. I've always said that newborns are WAY easier than toddlers...any age is easier than toddlers...except maybe teenagers but I haven't had to go there yet (since Tuba is a toddler in his mind and actions it's really as if we have 3 toddlers!). Okay, 3 toddlers...one who is as tall as I am....I think that is enough to make anyone be DONE!

I feel very content with our family. I feel very busy and very stretched and very tired at the end of the day. I am at my limit. I don't want to pull myself so thin that I cannot be the mom I want to be (some days I'm not doing it now). I want my kids to have what they deserve from me.

I thought I would want two girls...who would play together. But, I feel very happy and very content with one girl. She does have me after all. :) At this point our van is full, our house is more than full and most of all our hearts and hands are FULL!!

But, you knew there had to be a but coming. Only God knows what's in store for us. Only God knows how many children we will have. And...it's not something that has to be decided now or tomorrow. Back when we only had Tuba we could never have imagined the family we now have. We do not know what next year or 5 years from now will bring us. We may be done and we may not be. For today we are content and not making plans for any more kids. That is today and only God knows what the future will hold.

Previously I wrote about my special rose bush. Well this summer I was watching and waiting to see what the bush would tell me. It wasn't looking very good....I'm no gardener. I thought maybe it wouldn't bloom at all this year. Could it be a message from God that we are indeed done?? But, just when I had that thought I noticed that the bush began to form buds. How many would it get, one, two? I was amazed to see that the bush produced 5 perfect buds. Wow! Does this mean we will have 5 more babies?? I didn't think so. I think those 5 buds are the beautiful children we already have. If you think I'm crazy...please go read my link. You might still think I'm crazy...and you may be right...but at least this will all make sense.

So the bush bloomed with 5 beautiful roses. After the roses faded I decided to cut back the stalk and get it ready for next year's season. Low and behold there are now two more buds. So...2 more kids...or maybe roses for Cam and I?? Only God knows.

From There to Here

I love to think about what life will be like in a year. I also love to look back at what it was like a year ago. Here we are at our favorite beach house....last year and this year. Wow, have our kids grown. It's such a fun time of year and I have so much to look forward to. Cam will be starting his new job in a month or two....he's still got the boards and paperwork he's working on. The kids are starting school too. And...Sis is doing awesome with potty training. Yeah!

So much to look forward to and so much to enjoy each day!!

Sweet Peach

My Dad has a winery and made this special peach wine and used Sis for the label. So cute...and the wine...very good!

New Gym

We joined a new gym. Our old gym closed. I arrived one day to work out there were signs up to say they would close in 7 days. This is the same number of days they gave the employees to find new jobs. How rude is that!? In case you're wondering...Bally's was the old gym.

Now, the new gym is the YMCA. It is so wonderful. I'm actually super excited to work out and get buff!! I know....crazy! I met with the trainer so I could learn the machines. I get kind of scared to try something new if I don't know how to do it. Now I have a plan and know how to use lots of equipment. Plus!!!! They have the most amazing thing...all the cardio equipment and some of the weight machines are hooked up to a computer system. I enter my code and then the screen on each machine tells me what weight, what seat position, etc. PLUS it records everything I do and sends me a monthly report of things like how many calories burned, miles ran etc. Wowwy, I love it. I am however SUPER sore! I would think that carrying kids around non-stop for years would keep me sort of muscular...but apparently NOT! I feel like a huge wimpy noodle. Soon I shall be toned and buff though. I'm trying to pretend like I care about my heart and my lungs but really I just want a smaller hiney and toned arms. :)

More on the gym. It is awesome and the kids are really excited because there is so much to do for the whole family. I've been bringing the 4 youngest ones to the Play Zone while I work out. I was nervous about taking the wee ones. I was sure they would cry. Hmmmm....I found out I do not know my own children! They were thrilled and love to go. In fact they ask every day to go play at the gym. My plan is to go 4-5 times a week and once school starts it will be really easy to get into the routine. Take kids to school, go to gym, go get Busy Guy from pre-school, go home. Perfect!

The Y also has a pool and the kids are thrilled to swim as a family. Plus there is a basketball court and lots of other kid programs to do. Yeah!!! Cam loves it too. It makes his triathlon training much easier to have the pool and gym all in one building. Yeah!!

Vacation

Have you ever had so much vacation that you needed a break from vacation? Well, I have...and it's great!! I'm exhausted to the bone.

We spent 5 nights at our favorite beach house in Rockaway Beach, OR. Bliss. Great weather....REALLY great weather. Like....sunny no wind wear your swimsuit and try not to complain that it's too hot while sitting on the beach weather...and did I say no wind!! Loved it.

On the way to the beach we stayed overnight in Portland, OR. Cam did a triathlon (it was a sprint length...swim, bike, run) with a friend. Cam was awesome!! He is such a great athlete. He finished 7th in his age group (out of 30 some men).

Back to the beach. We love it there. Ohhhhh....I miss the ocean. Okay, it wasn't Hawaii...but it was nice. Sitting on the beach drinking wine with my hubby. Bliss. I took a zillion pictures of my favorite subject. I bought myself a new camera before we left. It's my graduation gift to myself. :)

We ate lots of yummy food. We went out to a fabulous dinner at Pelican Pub and Brewery. Yummy! The kids got to pick all kinds of junk food....vacation food....junk cereal. We played in the ocean....well, not me...brrrr. We flew our kite...the one day there was enough wind. We walked on the beach....for miles...my favorite thing to do. We played games and lounged around...not as much as when we had fewer kids but still more than at home. The wee ones got all grown up and shared a big kid bed. The slept together in a double bed. They were SO good and stayed in bed and snuggled....except the one night Sis was crying because brother bit her. We met a nice family and shared a bonfire on the beach. Turns out they live 20 minutes from us.

Great vacation!! Now, we are gearing up for school...only a few more days!!