One last September post...

I am holding my breath, I know that awful, miserable, cold, dark, long, long winter is fast approaching. But I am going to staunchly resist it.  We are going to be outside in our shorts soaking up the sun until the very end.

On Friday we headed out to enjoy the beautiful evening weather at Ponderosa during C's first cross-country practice.  It was a glorious evening.  C ran to practice (1.5 miles), K rode his bike down with a friend, and I put the girls in the B.O.B. and ran down.

K and I had fun with A playing soccer/volleyball, and just generally enjoying the weather and the company.  C loved his first practice, which involved a running scavenger hunt through downtown.

Here is a shot of little K looking fabulous:

I asked A to show me her pretty dress:

Take 2 was more successful:

Big K just "hanging out."

I love watching the girls interact with each other.  They are really starting to be aware of each other, and enjoy making sounds at each other.

K called, "Mama look...I am going all Spider Man on you!"

Not to be outdone...C gave it a shot.  I wish I had those abs and that flexibility...

Dance Moves!

Are you scared for K???  Being circled by her older sister whose weight class is easily several above hers.  A weighs more than twice K.

A loves to dance.  She likes her music loud and fast!  In the car she will command, "Turn it up Mama!"  Or she will ask for my phone and say, "I like mooosic!"  She knows her way around an iPhone!

P.S. I did not ask A to stop and smile at the camera for the first part of this video.  When she noticed the camera she stopped dancing in order to insure that she did not miss a photo-op.

Cross Country

We learned this week that as a sixth grader C can participate in cross country at the local junior high school.  This was exciting news for all of us, especially C.  We quickly got the necessary paperwork, physical, and fees taken care of so that he could participate in his first meet on Thursday at Moore Park.

I almost cried when I saw him in his uniform looking so handsome, and (sigh) grown-up...

He performed incredibly.  He was the first finisher for Ponderosa (the school he represents), and as the youngest member of a team made up predominantly of seventh and eighth graders this is impressive. 

The course was challenging, if you know Moore Park, you know the hills.  Here is the course map:

Here he is at about the mid-point of the race. Here he was in the top third of the racers and I was a little concerned when I saw him, I thought he was fading.

But the next time I saw him was near the finish line.  I saw the first gold uniform headed toward the finish line in the distance.  I thought it might be C, but I wasn't sure.  I couldn't believe that he would have passed so many other racers.  I turned to the mom who was next to me and said, "Who is that first Ponderosa boy?"  She replied excitedly, "That is C!!!!"

He finished in in fifth place overall.  He was the first sixth grade finisher overall, and the first finisher for Ponderosa!  Not bad for his first cross-country meet.  I was one proud mama at the finish line.  Kept my composure, but wanted to burst out into tears.  So happy for him, and proud of his heart.  He is a fierce competitor and is completely willing to put all of his effort and then some into his activities.  Oh I LOVE these boys!!!

The Shirt Purse

Ms. A is possibly a hoarder.  She loves to put lots of random small toys into any available container; laundry baskets, boxes, purses, plastic totes, whatever is handy.  Unfortunately, the smaller and more dangerous the toy the better....  The other day I caught Ms. A with her latest toy hauler:

Meet the "Shirt Purse." Need to carry bath toys, plastic donkeys, tiny teacups, and the odd Lego man?  The Shirt Purse can haul it all!  With an elastic band and easy to access collar the Shirt Purse will allow you to carry all your necessary items and not-so-necessary items.

Seriously?!?  Did you see how much stuff came out of that shirt???

Never too late...

We are finally in a really great place in our homeschool.  The boys tested this summer and many of my constant doubts as to whether or not we should continue to homeschool fell away when the results arrived in the mail.  Let's pause for a moment, can you hear that?  It is the sound of my own horn, yep it is tooting LOUD!  I expected them to do well and they did, they far exceeded my already ambitious expectations.

Anyway, in addition to our normal routine, math, spelling, reading, music, and a touch of history, this year we have discovered online classes.  We are LOVING IT!  Right now I absolutely love http://www.excellenceinwriting.com.  The boys are taking writing/grammar classes that are wonderful. The classes are rigorous, engaging, and fun.  Bonus--I am learning quite a bit myself.  When writing, I typically just throw commas in when I feel like it.  It has worked okay for years, but now I am learning the mechanics and it isn't loathsomely boring.  Apparently it really is never too late to learn new tricks.  The other big bonus is that The Institute for Excellence in Writing is teaching things in the way that I would if I had time to prepare and didn't have two little girls to entertain simultaneously.

The other big discovery for this school year is http://www.veritaspress.com.  The boys are doing live online literature classes.  This is fabulous, they get the read-aloud in class experience, they get valuable peer-to-peer discussion, and they get academic analysis of challenging original, unabridged texts.  I am totally thrilled!!!  Once again, incredible learning experience for the boys that I didn't have to assemble in the time that I unfortunately do not have.  Yay for online classes!!!

C's impressive 6th grade literature reading for this year:

K's equally impressive 4th grade literature reading for this year:

Back At It

With back to school behind us, we are settling in to our fall activities.  Home school, soccer, and of course Chess Club.  The boys went back to Matteo's last night to practice with the high school/junior high school chess players.  Johan was working late, so the girls and I went with them.

I am pretty sure A is going to be ready for her first chess tournament next year.  She loves to watch the boys play, and now she likes to set up her own games.

She was busily talking about the pieces and moving them around until she spotted the camera.

"Walking"

With a weary eye on the calendar we are doing our best to soak up the last warm days of the year.  The boys have soccer practice three nights a week at the sports complex.  The girls and I like to go with them to play at the park, visit with friends, and enjoy the evening outside.

The sports complex is just under four miles from our house.  A couple weeks ago I gave A the choice of riding to practice with Johan and the boys in the car or "walking."  I should note that for A "walking" to practice is a ride in the B.O.B. with K while I run.

As the boys run around the house gathering soccer gear for practice A now announces, "I want walk!" So the second time I obliged and the practice has evolved into an expectation.  I guess it is good for me, I have run more this week than since long before I was pregnant with K.  It won't last though, by this time next month we will be pulling out our winter jackets, and gloves...(sigh)

Here are some shots of K.  So, I am genetically wired to think she is absolutely, incredibly, wonderfully, perfectly cute, but come on!  I want to eat this little girl up!!!!

Haiku

This afternoon I introduced the boys to Haiku as part of our home school day.  They LOVED it.  My introduction of the concept was rather sloppy, I did very little prep work and merely read them an article from Wikipedia and another great article with samples and pictures.  I think I found that one on eHow.  Initially I just challenged them to each write one haiku about the hill behind our house.  They were really into it, and I was enjoying writing my own haiku so it evolved into all of us suggesting topics and writing--until A woke up from her nap.

I am pretty sure she had a nightmare because she was shaking and screaming and really upset.  I abandoned my poetry to aid A, but K and C were not distracted.  They continued, K asked, "Can I keep writing?"  Um... "Of Course!"  So they pressed on.  Their haiku eventually slid toward bathroom humor (9 and 11 years old), but they were having a great time.  And they turned out some really impressive stuff.

From K:

Kyra so small cute
She likes to talk a lot too
Soon to walk not crawl

Boring old stump sits
Crazy old man says stay there
I think why bother

FIREWORKS
Lights flash so many
Loud big boom before the light
Good silence sound a sleep

From C:

Fat guys sing songs
Horrible they are for sure
Frogs begin to scream

Sumos fight what treat
Do the dance oh Sumos
Let the fat one win

My hill is pretty
There are followers on the hill
Their buds open and close

To My Boys:

Too fast you mature
Yesterday in my own arms
Little men I love

Loving to laugh now
Making all work fun with you
I love you always

Triathlon

I wanted to attempt another triathlon this weekend.  K instantly wanted to do it with me.  C explained, "I don't want to do it, but if K does...I have to."  I tried to argue that his logic was not exactly correct, but he insisted, "You don't understand..."  Hmmmm...have I raised some competitive boys???  By the time we left for the race on Saturday morning both boys were getting really excited.

Johan stayed home with the girls for the day while the boys and I went to Lake of the Woods for the triathlon then headed to Medford for K's first soccer game of the season.

The race consisted of a 550 yard swim across Rainbow Bay at Lake of the Woods, a 3.1 mile run, and finally a 9.5 mile bike ride around the lake.

I had the benefit of a borrowed wet suit, so for me the water was lovely.  For my two skinny boys, with not an ounce of extra fat to protect them from the water temperature or to provide any extra bouncy there was no wet suit.  But they were brave and as always very good sports.  I believe the water temperature was 57 degrees.

They charged in, but it was quickly apparent that we are not swimmers.  I definitely have a phobia, when I swim it feels as though I am breathing through a straw and that is before I even put my face in the water.  K was much more comfortable in the water than C.  The three of us were the last ones out of the water.  But once we hit land C was off.  He is running so fast right now.  He can sustain 7.5 minute miles for 4 or 5 miles.  It is incredible...and to think that not long ago he could barely keep up with me on a bike while I ran.  At the triathlon I had to shout ahead to him that he didn't have to wait for me...and he didn't.

K was a little slower, I think the water temperature really affected him.  He was shivering for about the first mile of the run.  But once he hit his stride he was fast.  As he started to pass a few people K's confidence grew.  When we got to the bike transition area he was all in.  I had to change shoes so I told him to go ahead and that I would catch up.  He was off!  I hopped on my bike and....FLAT TIRE!  I didn't have a patch kit, and even if I had I wouldn't have known what to do with it, so my race was over (insert super sad face).  I felt a little like crying but there were spectators and I still had to be a mom.  K was racing and he wasn't really confident about where to go.  C was long gone, so I was pretty sure that he would have some other racers to follow.

I jumped into the van to follow K and help navigate.

Now merely a support crew person I was freed up to take some pictures.  Here is K as he makes his way around the lake.  I didn't get any shots of C, he was pretty far ahead of us.

Here are my two triathletes after the race.  They are so so much fun to be around.  We had a great day!   Both boys finished, and both would like to do it again...YAY!  How did I get so blessed!

Here is a shot of K warming up for his first soccer game of the season.  They didn't win, but it was a fun game.

Sunday C had his first game.  I don't know what I was doing, but I don't have a shot of him at the game.  A kept running off "making friends," and I tried to encourage her to stay close to me by asking her to show me different tricks so that I could film them.  She really likes me to film her because she really, really enjoys watching videos of herself.  So here she is tumbling:

A has never met a stranger.  As entertaining as her uber-confidence is, it can be a tad unsettling.  Today there were three or four boys about C and K's age huddled around an iPhone playing a game.  A quickly joined their circle, but I didn't know what they were playing so I had to distract her...  When I called her away, she asked her favorite question, "Why mom?"  Oh Mrs. A you are so spicy!!!

Stealing the show...

Headline news:  K can sit all by herself!  As of 9/7/12!  Not quite 7 months yet, and doing big things.

Friday evening the boys and A were wrestling and giggling and "playing puppies."  I don't know if A or big K invented "puppies," but it basically involves K crawling around at top speed through the house panting like a puppy and chasing A who is giddy and screaming and laughing and shouting barely intelligible commands at him.

Little K and I were watch from the floor in my bedroom.  Little K was sitting up all on her own, hands and fingers waving as she tried to take in all of the action.  I decided to catch her first moments of sitting on video.

I find this video to be absolutely hysterical.  But when I showed Johan he just kind of shrugged...

Here is little K sitting for the very first time...A spots the camera and tah dah!  I am afraid this may be the story of little K's life...