Birthday Decorations

I'm on call today and missing Natalie's swim meet. :(

I wanted to show some photos of some of the decorations at my Dad's party this weekend. This first photo is of the little favor boxes that we made for each guest. I was able to cut them out with electronic die-cutter and Cynthia made the flower centers. We put them together late Saturday night after everyone else went to bed.

They each contained six Hershey kisses. Growing up my dad usually kept a bag of Hershey kisses in the refrigerator that he could just grab for a little snack. My dad isn't much of a snacker, but he enjoyed those Hershey kisses. The kids were fighting for the extra boxes. Unfortunately, one of the boxes got left in the car and fell on the floor. Anthony inadvertently stepped on the melted chocolate and tracked chocolate into Cynthia's house and into her carpet. Oops!

This next picture is of the table set up just inside the party room. We bought the black frame for the guests to write their birthday greetings. The center photo is a photo of Dad graduating from high school. The kids wrote theirs in prominent locations. Natalie even drew a big bubble around hers.

Cynthia scanned a bunch of old photos of Dad and John put them together into a really cool-looking slideshow. The slideshow played on John's iPad, which is also on the table. We couldn't figure out how to loop the video to play over and over, so someone had to keep turning it back on once the slideshow finished. One of these days I want to scrapbook the old photos.

This is Dad's birthday cake. He isn't usually into cake, but we felt like we had to have something. It was delicious! The inside was a couple of layers of chocolate with a buttercream tasting frosting. I loved that it was sweet but not too sweet. There were supposed to be one strawberry on each corner, but one rolled off right before I took this picture.

Tomorrow I'll post about some of our guests at the party plus some swim meet results.

Aly's First Recital

We got back safe and sound this afternoon, in plenty of time to go to Natalie's piano lesson. I'm going to post a few photos at a time from this weekend, because we've got a few things going on this week. Today's photos aren't all about my family, but since my sister Cynthia's family is also important to me, I'll post about them here also.

On Saturday night, my niece Aly had her first piano recital. She's been taking piano lessons since last September and she seems to be learning quickly. She played very well during her recital, especially compared to all of the first year students that played before her. She was the only one that didn't make a noticeable mistake. Many of the others had to pretty much stop and redirect. Natalie noticed right away that the students didn't have to memorize their pieces like she has had to do for her recitals. That seemed to hamper the others, but not Aly. I was so proud of her!

My brother-in-law John played right after his daughter. He's only been taking lessons for three months. He looked a little freaked when we first arrived (he and Aly left earlier and were waiting for us) because the other adult student chickened out and wasn't going to play. He was the only adult student amongst "a lot of little girls", as he put it. He did great too. Afterwards he said that he was more nervous performing during the recital than during his presentation at work last week!

After the recital, people hung around to take pictures and to chat with the teacher. Natalie and Aly both played on the grand piano without any prompting from any adults. Natalie doesn't seem to get "piano face" when she's in a performance setting. She loves "performing" when other people are around, even when it's not an actual performance. Aly also seemed to enjoy it enough that she played her pieces again!

The recital was at 6:30pm, so we didn't have time to eat before going. We stopped at Pei Wei after the recital and then Tutti Frutti for dessert. Natalie and I had never been to a yogurt place like Tutti Frutti. You serve yourself one of the many flavors of frozen yogurt and then choose what toppings. In the end, you pay by weight.

I was surprised that instead of adding toppings, Natalie asked if she could just have extra frozen yogurt. That seemed like a good idea at the time, but she had a lot of Death By Chocolate frozen yogurt in her cup! I chose the Cafe Latte flavor with chocolate syrup. When I made the comment that there was a funny aftertaste, my sisters replied that I was used to higher fat in the ice cream that I usually eat.

Tomorrow I'll talk about some of the party decorations and preparations. Natalie has a swim meet tomorrow that I'll miss because I'll be on call. Patrick is taking Anthony (and Eric) to register for the new club soccer team, so hopefully he'll get to the meet in time for the first race, the freestyle relay that Natalie is scheduled to be in. Alex stayed in Houston with my sister so he can attend my nephew's birthday party next Saturday. I miss him already!

Happy 80th Birthday!

 

I'm at my sister's house, so I'll have to post more photos when I get home tomorrow. This is a picture of the big frame that we got for my dad so that all the guests at his big birthday bash could write their greetings on it. My paternal uncle drove in straight from the airport, so he got there a few minutes late, but his presence was much appreciated. Everyone that Dad wanted to invite was able to attend. Mom said that he was excited about the party all morning. Our whole immediate family was there also. We had way too much food, as with most Filipino gatherings. Most importantly, Dad had a great time.

I took photos with a flash for the first time in months, and they turned out mostly okay, so I'll be posting those on Facebook and a selection of them here. Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you!

Preparations

This is a photo of Aly and Natalie posing with their frozen yogurt from Tutti Frutti,
where you can serve yourself some yogurt, add toppings of your choosing, and then pay for the final product by weight. Natalie opted to get a larger quantity of the Death By Chocolate yogurt instead of adding any toppings.

We had just eaten at the Pei Wei next door after Aly's first piano recital. Her father John played at the recital after only having taken lessons for three months. They both did way better than the students that played before them. Way to go, Aly and John!

The rest of the day was filled with preparations. In the morning we were getting ready to drive to Houston. The kids all didn't pack until this morning. I was also finishing up a frame that we'll be giving my dad at his birthday party tomorrow and cutting out some favor boxes for the party.

My sisters Cynthia and Melissa have been doing most of the prep work already. Melissa reserved the restaurant and ordered the cake and flowers. Cynthia made the invitations and sent them out. She also scanned some old photos of Dad and her husband John put them together in a slide show. I hadn't really contributed much until the last couple of days, although a couple of weeks ago, I did order the frame that the guests will be signing.

Everything seems ready. The big party is tomorrow at noon! It'll be fun!

I do have one more update. Anthony was offered a position with the new club soccer team that he tried out for last night. What a relief!

A Day Off

We let the kids do almost whatever they wanted today, since it was their first day off from school. Natalie played with a neighborhood friend, LL. She didn't even eat lunch until 3pm. Eric was following them around. Later Eric was watching Bob the Builder on the iPad again. He's been so obsessed with watching that show on Netflix lately. He could watch it all day (which we don't let him do) and still get upset when we tell him that it's time to get off.

Alex played video games on the PS3 and on Facebook. He had planned on meeting some friends at North Star Mall, but then the friends couldn't make it. Surprisingly, he still wanted me to take him to the mall, so I did. He went off on his own and ended up buying some of those trendy rubber bracelets and a Chick-Fil-A Cookies and Creme shake.

Anthony didn't even get up until Patrick got him up around noon. He's been staying up playing video games. During the day he was on Skype with his friends or playing on his iPhone while watching Alex play video games. He decided to swallow his pride and try out for another soccer club, and we're proud of him for that. This late in the tryouts, whether or not he gets a spot on another team depends more on whether or not they've already offered all of their positions than how well Anthony plays during tryouts. Patrick was there and he said that Anthony played very well, so we'll see what happens.

Patrick planted the tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers that have been in pots in the backyard. Those plants were supposed to be for "my garden" but he's been the one that's been watering them and keeping them alive. Thanks, sweetie!

Besides the shopping with Alex, which I did so I could spend some quality one-on-one time with my second child, I ran some errands related to my Dad's upcoming birthday celebration. I hope it all goes well and that it makes him happy.

In the evening, Patrick took Anthony to the other soccer club for tryouts and I took Natalie to swim practice. There we met her good friend M.E. who is spending the night here tonight. On Fridays the head coach announces the "swimmer of the week" and then all the kids get to have a cold treat. They had popsicles today and Natalie got one for Eric too. Eric played in the baby pool again during practice. Natalie, her friend, and Eric must have been exhausted after all of that swimming, because they put themselves to bed at 9pm. No late night talking or giggling during this sleepover!

Tomorrow we're taking our time to pack and then heading out to visit my family. I can't wait to see them!

Last Day of School 2011

I took today off so I could spend some time with the kids on the their last day of school. Natalie had a special request for cinnamon crescent rolls for breakfast this morning. Patrick prefers the chocolate crescent rolls, so I made some of those too. I stuffed them with so many chocolate chips that you can see a couple of chips trying to poke out of the dough in this picture.

After all of the kids were in school, we circled back to Alex's school for their sixth grade awards ceremony. He did his usual "unhappy moody look" and purposely wouldn't look at the camera, but I still snapped away while Patrick took a video of his walk across the stage. He got a certificate for the "President's Education Award" signed by President Barack Obama for students who got at least all A's and B's. He also got certificates for "All A Honor Roll" and Perfect Attendance.

After that awards ceremony, they had a separate awards ceremony that parents were not invited to for just the magnet school. Alex also received awards for "Top 5 Students" in English, Math, and Technology for the 4th Nine Weeks period. He received those same three awards for the whole school year plus "Top 5 Students" in Reading for this school year. Way to go, Alex!

Patrick and I went home and I did a few things for my Dad's upcoming birthday party. We also got some candy bags ready to give Eric's two teachers for his last day at school. At 2pm, Natalie's class had an ice cream social. She loves to pose with her mouth open like she's eating! I let her do it because she was about to eat anyway and it's a lot better than the "unhappy moody look" by Alex.

She had the chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup and marshmallows and she had a second helping. Blech! I had one scoop of plain vanilla and one scoop of plain chocolate. Yum!

When Patrick and I first walked into Natalie's classroom, she was on the floor with a bunch of trash surrounding her. They were all cleaning out her desks. She also had a pile of books that she had borrowed from her teacher. She still had several of those special erasers that she keeps buying for herself and lot of pencils. She also had two of her Build-A-Bear small fry panda and monkey. Needless to say, we had a lot of stuff to take home today.

She absolutely loves her third grade teacher, Ms. W. Natalie loves to hug and so does her teacher. They're a great match!

Natalie's class received envelopes that contained their report cards and any awards that they received. Natalie received three certificates, one for Perfect Attendance, one for "A" Honor Roll, and one for "Citizenship". I'll have to post about the kids' report cards another time.

While we were at the school, we chatted with Alex's previous fourth grade teacher, Mrs. F. We're hoping that Natalie will get her for a teacher next year and it seems like she is hoping she'll have Natalie in her class too. We'll see...

Tonight was the last night of soccer tryouts. Alex got picked for the same team. We have mixed feelings about this. Alex's coach was trying to encourage the coach of the Super 2 team (higher level than what Alex has been playing at, which is Division 2) to take Alex on his team, but alas, he didn't pick Alex. In order to improve, we think Alex needs to be challenged more than he has been. Still, Alex's coach is a great coach, so we're not unhappy with this decision.

The biggest "shock" has been that Anthony did not get picked for a team. He has been on a Super 2 team for a few years, since the time the club did not have enough players to field a Division 2 team. Anthony's Division 2 team was dissolved at that time and there still isn't a Division 2 team in Anthony's age group at that club. Since he wasn't picked for the Super 2 team, he has no team. He's probably going to try out for another club. As a mother, you want to be able to take the hurt away, but sometimes you can't. :( I'm just lucky that I don't have to worry about that too often.

Double Swim Practice

Doesn't she look so little in the water? The phrase, "Small But Fierce" really suits her. Natalie didn't get to go to swim practice yesterday because I was on call and Anthony and Alex both had their first night of soccer tryouts. Patrick wasn't able to get everyone registered and where they were supposed to be unless Natalie skipped swim practice. As it was, he put the little ones in bed with Alex still up when he left to pick up Anthony.

They go on their summer practice schedule next week, but until then Group 1 practices at 5:45-6:30pm and Group 2 (Natalie's group) practices 6:30-7:30pm. Natalie always wants to go to both practices because she loves swimming and because she has some good friends in Group 1. I let her do both practices today to make up for missing out yesterday. I let Eric play in the baby pool during those two practices.

Natalie swam pretty hard during both practices. I thought her strokes all looked pretty good, at least compared to other kids her age, but then I'm a little biased. As soon as she swam the length of the pool, she would get out and run back to the other side of the pool, so I didn't really get a chance to see her standing still. I could tell from the speed at which she was swimming and by her focus that she was working hard. The whole group then started doing some strengthening exercises out of the pool (plank, static squats). That's when I saw that Natalie was actually breathing a little heavier and faster as she stood there waiting for instructions. Double practices like this one will be good for her to increase her endurance.

Meanwhile, my endurance was being tested. Eric went to the potty twice while we were at the pool. One of the times he found that one of his fingers was bleeding, which caused a lot of distress. He was better after Patrick came by and gave us some bandaids. The rest of the time, Eric was "swimming" back and forth in the baby pool. He is so close to actually swimming. He can paddle with his arms and kick his legs to keep himself afloat for a short distance. I think all of us will sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow is the last day of school!

Memorial Day Shopping

We had a pretty relaxed Memorial Day yesterday. Natalie has been begging to go shopping. We went to Michael's first. Natalie ended up with a sleeping mask that said "Do not disturb". Eric wanted this ladybug mask. They wanted lots of other things too, but I held them to just those two things. The lady behind me in line told me, "That's why I don't take my kids shopping." SIGH--they're so cute though! :)

We went to Old Navy next. Eric spent the time playing in one of the fitting areas behind the curtain. At least it kept him busy and he was within earshot. Natalie was busy shopping.

After Old Navy, Natalie begged to go to Justice For Girls. She had seen a root beer shirt in their flyer and wanted to see if they had it. Root beer is one of Natalie's five favorite things, which I should post about in the near future. By this time Eric was complaining that his legs were tired, but he refused to sit down because he said that isn't what he does when his legs are tired.

Our next stop was La Cantera Mall for lunch and then to Gymboree. If Natalie had her way we would also have gone to a couple of other stores, but I had enough and Eric was getting more antsy. As it is, we didn't find the shark pajamas that she wanted at Gymboree, so she asked me to buy it online. These were "boys'" pajamas, by the way. She kept saying how she was jealous if Eric because of clothing choices.

We went home and I took a nap. I was exhausted! Patrick grilled bratwurst this time. I felt so spoiled with him making dinner for us. It was a nice end to our busy weekend.

Before I finish this post I have to say that I've really learned to appreciate all the sacrifices our military men and women have made for us to have these freedoms, even seemingly minor ones such as the ability to go shopping whenever we want. I see those sacrifices on a daily basis at the military hospital where I work. We must not forget those sacrifices.

Last Soccer Game

We had our last soccer game of the season today. Woohoo! Now there's only tryouts this week for both boys and then summer vacation starts.

This first picture is of the desolate landscape that we saw this morning at 6:40am. That's when we arrived at the assigned soccer field for the 7:15am warmup/8am game. Patrick didn't want to be late! At least we had our choice of where we wanted to put our chairs and park our van!

I didn't get very good pictures of the game. We tied the one yesterday 2-2, but I missed that due to Natalie's swim meet. We also tied today's game 2-2. I was disappointed but Patrick said that I shouldn't be disappointed because the other team was a Division 1 team that was at the top of their bracket. I was just disappointed because we were up 2-0 at the half but gave up the two goals in the second half.

Poor Anthony was miserable after the game because he felt that the second goal was directly related to his trying to stop the ball that was headed straight for the goal but the ball popped up really high above his head and the other team was able to pop that ball right into the goal on its way down. Patrick tried to reassure him that would have been an uncontested goal if Anthony hadn't been there. His teammates didn't seem to place any blame on him either. He didn't start in either of these games this weekend. We'll see what tryouts this week will bring.

Eric was pretty happy at the game today. We not only picked up "Starbox" (Starbucks) for breakfast on the way to the game, he also sat in the van watching Bob the Builder on Netflix on my iPhone almost the whole time. I took this picture of him when we were already at home because I thought the way he was holding the phone was rather interesting. He often holds the iPad this way when he's watching a video because he doesn't want to take the chance of accidently touching the screen and causing his video to stop playing.

Natalie and Alex stayed home by themselves. As soon as we got home, Natalie wanted to invite her best friend M.E. over to play. They spent most of the day together, first at our house then they went to the dog park with M.E.'s parents and dog then we took them to the pool. M.E. came over around 10am and she went home around 7pm. They had so much fun together. Eric had fun too.

I always associate Memorial Day weekend with going to the pool and cooking out, so even though we spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon at the pool yesterday, we went to the pool again today. We'll probably go tomorrow too. Patrick grilled burgers today--yum! He said that he wanted to grill tomorrow too. I'll report back on that tomorrow. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday weekend!

Five For Five

Today was Natalie's first swim meet for our neighborhood swim team. This is just a picture of the drawing on her back. One of the team dads is the one that does these drawings. At each swim meet, he always has quite a long line of kids waiting for him to draw on their backs, legs, and arms. The other team was named the "Torpedoes" and we're called the "Tigersharks" thus the picture of the tigershark eating the torpedo!

Patrick was at Anthony's soccer game across town, so he missed the whole thing. Usually I don't know the race times, I just know what place Natalie came in, but since Patrick wasn't there, I tried to keep him updated by telling him Natalie's swim times as she swam each race. The races and the times as well as the times she had during Monday's time trials are below. All races are in the Girls ages 7-8 category.

25m x 4 Freestyle Relay--1:48.12
(Natalie swam the anchor leg and she said she was SO nervous before the race. She thrives on that nervous energy!)

25m Freestyle --20.35 sec (time trial 22 sec)

25m Backstroke--24.25 sec (time trial 34 sec)
This is just further proof that Natalie thrives on the nervous energy she has on race days. We're so proud of her.

25m Butterfly--28.12 sec (time trial 33 sec)
Most kids this age are only starting to do this stroke, but she was half the pool length ahead of the rest of the swimmers in this race. She was the only swimmer from our team in this race, the rest of them were on the other team.

25m x 4 Medley Relay
I didn't get a time for this one because there was only one team from our neighborhood and one from the other team. Natalie swam the third leg (Butterfly) and she did SO well.

She was so proud of herself too. She got five first place (blue) ribbons in the five races she was in. Now, these are only "heat ribbons", but since she was in the fastest heat each time, chances are that she will win the overall first place ribbons too. I had so many parents come up to me and tell me what a great swimmer Natalie is, how "natural" she looks in the water, and how amazed they were at how fast she is. Because I've never been athletic, I'm just amazed at how good she is. Patrick used to be a swimmer, and he's amazed too. All I could do was say "thank you" and think to myself, "That's my girl!"

Cuteness

This cute little boy has been causing trouble lately. I'm not sure if it's just because he's always tired (from not sleeping enough) or because he's testing his boundaries or what. Every night he fights getting ready for bed. Every time we want to give him a bath, he insists that he doesn't need one. Every time we go somewhere that he enjoys (the pool, the playground, etc.) he fusses and cries when it's time to go. Almost every day he wants to watch Bob the Builder on the iPad and if the answer is not "yes", he starts crying.

He has also been sneaking candy to eat. A couple of weeks ago, Alex still had his Easter Basket with candy in it in his bedroom. He found empty wrappers in the basket that Eric had eaten. I made Alex bring the basket downstairs since we don't allow food in the bedrooms. Yesterday Patrick found Eric eating a piece of chocolate under Alex's bed (one of the small Hershey's Cookies and Cream chocolate bunnies). Alex used to sneak candy like that when he was this age, but at least Alex was/still is big for his age and he ate a lot of other healthier things.

Patrick and I have always kidded that the kids have a "cuteness" that keeps them alive for a number of years. Eric is lucky that he's a cutie!

No Homework For Me!

After praising Natalie for her passion for swimming, I have to admit that I was not happy with her at all today. She told us Monday about two projects that she has due this week. She has a book report type project that she has known about for a while. She has to make a poster board with written facts about her chosen book. Last Friday she found out about a project involving choosing a type of candy, making a larger model of it, and then writing two paragraphs about the candy. She could have started these projects this weekend!

Natalie has swimming practice every day right now along with piano lessons on Monday. She doesn't even have time to play with her friends during the week, let alone time to complete a project. Her brothers had to learn this the hard way too, but since she is only eight-year-old, we've cut her some slack. Basically, she skipped swimming today so she could complete most of her projects. Since she loves swimming so much, this was a big sacrifice for her, and hopefully one she'll learn from.

I was really resisting these assignments because doing "homework" was making me grouchy. I think I'm still tired (and therefore irritable) from my busy overnight call last Friday. Patrick went with Anthony to soccer practice tonight and left me to help her because I am supposedly the "creative one". I "helped" her make a Hershey bar. I didn't have the right letters for the "HERSHEY'S" part, so that was frustrating the OCD part of my personality, but she was happy with it. The alternative would have taken me an extra hour, at least--so I let it go and just completed it as is. There is still some work to do on the poster board and thankfully Patrick will do some of those things tomorrow. I don't want to do any homework anymore!

Our Fish

I took this picture yesterday when we went to the neighborhood pool. After a whole weekend of being outside on the soccer field, it was nice to relax at the pool. Natalie wanted to work on her swimming with Patrick and Eric just wanted to play in the water. He has a renewed fondness for the "baby pool" because he can sit in the pool and still have his head above water. Natalie came into the pool and started doing pushups in the water. Eric took that as an invitation to get on her back with his arms around her neck. Of course he tickled her when he did that, so they were both laughing and giggling.

Also this weekend, Natalie and I were in my car driving to the mall to pick up Anthony. She was talking about how much she loved to swim. She told me that she was interested in swimming the IM or Individual medley event in the upcoming swim meet, and then she said, "Got any tips?" She just cracked me up when she said that! She also said that she loves it when Papa calls her his "fish". I told Patrick about this conversation and he loved it too. He gets so proud when he sees Natalie all excited about swimming--even more so when he sees her doing so well.

The neighborhood swim team is having "time trials" today and tomorrow. They're timing all the kids in the various strokes so they can seed them for the upcoming swim meet this coming Saturday. I was with Anthony at his soccer practice, so Patrick texted me Natalie's approximate times. I'll list them here for future reference. She did the freestyle in 22 seconds, the backstroke in 34 seconds, the breaststroke in 42 seconds, and the butterfly in 33 seconds. She did the IM in 2:33.00. I had no idea, but he said that those are good times for an 8-year-old. He also said that he thought she could go faster. :) He was most impressed with how enthusiastic she was about swimming the IM. In his experience, most kids dread swimming the IM, but she's been so excited about even the thought of doing it.

The boys like playing soccer, but neither of them have ever seemed as excited about playing soccer as Natalie is about swimming. We're glad that she is doing well, but we're even happier that our "fish" loves swimming so much.

Shamu Shootout

This was busy soccer weekend #2 in a row. Alex's team participated in the local "Shamu Shootout" tournament. They were scheduled to play in three games on Saturday and one on Sunday. They would have played another game on Sunday if they had reached the finals, but alas, they did not even come close.

They lost all four games. They didn't play well at all in the first game, which they lost 1-8. At least they scored! They scored one point in the second game also, but they lost 1-4. They were scoreless in the last two games, but at least they looked like they were playing better. Either way, it was still a good experience for this team to play all of those games. Now they have tryouts starting a week from Tuesday (on May 31st).

The game times were 11:30am, 3pm, and 5:20pm on Saturday and 11:30 on Sunday. The weather has been very humid and hot here and we all got too much sun this weekend. Natalie and Eric played in the playground area all day Saturday and during the game on Sunday. It was challenging for me to keep them occupied and still be able to watch the game because they were getting a little tired of playing in the same place for that long. I let them stay in the car with the air conditioner on during the last Saturday game. Even the parents were tired of being at the field all day long. Next week will be busy soccer weekend #3, this time for Anthony's team.

I'm not good about sending cards. Happy Birthday, Melissa! Love you!

My Mother's Day Gift

I've never had nor have I wanted any "mother" jewelry before, until I saw a cute personalized heart necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs on someone's blog. I haven't worn any necklaces lately, so I was happy that she had the bracelet too. Apparently this bracelet was so popular that they were swamped with orders and they couldn't make it in time for me to get it by Mother's Day. I finally received it today and I love seeing my kids' names all around the heart.

I got Alex to take this photo because I had a hard time getting a photo myself. I was wearing the bracelet and my arms are shorter than the focusing distance of my camera, so the camera wouldn't take a picture. I was also the one who checked the mail today. I saw the box and then I gave it to Alex and told him to give it to me (as if he were giving me a present). After I opened it, I thanked Patrick and the kids. I know I was being a little silly, but it's my belated Mother's Day gift after all. I did a great job picking it out. *WINK*

Telescope Project

Anthony had to pick an object invented before 1600 and describe it's chemical properties. Other students chose "simple" (as described by Anthony) things like bowls and arrowheads. He chose the telescope. The telescope was actually invented in 1608, but his teacher approved his project.

He made the telescope out of PVC pipe. Patrick bought the glass lenses at a local science supply shop. The larger diameter pipe didn't fit tightly enough over the smaller diameter pipe, so Anthony wedged some old surgical towels that we have around the house. He super-glued the lenses onto the pipe. The lenses didn't fit exactly, but close enough. Anthony's teacher wanted them to display their items on a stand, as if it was in a museum. Anthony used a Lego stand that used to support his Lego Death Star. What a cool project!

This is his description of the "item", as if it were in an actual museum. He has to give a speech on the different chemical properties of the materials he used and such. He says that he used to get pretty nervous for these speeches, but he's given enough of them now that he is much more comfortable. Speaking as someone who still has trouble with public speaking, I think this is an invaluable skill for him. I know I've been bragging a lot about Anthony lately, but he did such a great job with this!

Eric saw me taking a picture of the telescope, so he came in with his helicopter and he asked me to take a picture of him with the helicopter. He also described the helicopter as "belonging to the family". I'm not sure where he got that from, but it was pretty cute.

This week should be a little less hectic than last week, at least during the week. The weekend will be another story.

The Other Kids

We took all the kids with us to Anthony's games this weekend because we ended up staying in San Marcos overnight on Saturday. Natalie was happy playing with the sisters of some of Anthony's teammates. They ran around and they did crafts. Natalie was lucky that they had brought something to do and that they shared them with her.

The field we were playing on was far away from the playground area so we were glad that Eric was happy staying with us, at least on Saturday. Most of the time he was content to snack on Goldfish, Cheerios, Flaming Hot Cheetos, etc. He also watched videos on the iPad. In this photo it seems like everyone else wanted to watch with him.

Alex was the most vocal about not wanting to go with us. He did bring some books to read, but I was glad that instead he played soccer with the brother of one of Anthony's teammates. CTW and Alex used to be on the same Academy team. He now plays on a team with another club.

Alex decided to play soccer in his stocking feet. The grass was soft enough, but Alex had brought his cleats, so playing in socks didn't make sense. Patrick was furious with him when he saw that those socks had gaping holes and Alex's feet were absolutely filthy underneath. I have to admit that his feet were pretty disgusting.

They played soccer with Eric too. Eric was having fun tackling CTW and Alex. He would grab their leg and they wouldn't be able to run anymore. In turn they tackled Eric and he loved it.

Eric got to play in the playground a little on Sunday because the field we played on was next to the playground. After all of that activity and lack of sleep, Eric was exhausted by the time Anthony's last game ended on Sunday. Luckily he took a nap in the car on the way home. He was so energized that he was dancing away during the Sunday 5pm mass that we attended when we got home. If we could find a way to bottle that energy, we'd be millionaires!

State Champions

This is Anthony's team right after they won the third game 4-2 this morning and after they knew that they had won first place in the Director's Cup. They had just beaten the team (the Titans) that beat them in the regular season but that they beat two weeks ago to win first place in the Western District, even after they were down 0-2 at halftime. Coming from behind to win seemed to be a common theme this weekend.

The first game was at 9:30am yesterday (Saturday) morning. They played against the Fusion from Houston. The other team scored pretty early and then they scored again. Our team didn't play well at all in the first half. During the second half it was like they were a different team. They ended up winning 4-2.

After the first game we got to go out to lunch with the team. The boys sat in a different room at Logan's Steakhouse. One of the parents had the great idea to tell our servers our son's uniform number so we could pay for the correct boy's meal. Anthony really wanted their 11 oz. steak for lunch even when Patrick told him to "eat light". He ended up ordering the salmon. Some of the other boys ordered that steak, so we were hoping it wouldn't impact their play.

Well, none of the boys got sick after that big lunch, but the other team (the Sonics) scored first again. Again we were down in the first half, but we did come back to win 3-2 in a more "back and forth" type of game.

The Sonics had apparently beaten the Fusion six times in a row. They had some Spanish-speaking parents that were shouting profanities during the game. We couldn't believe it! They were yelling these things at our boys and the referee! Of course some of our parents (and boys) can speak Spanish as well, and one of our parents got thrown out for retaliating. I was so relieved when we won against that team. That team didn't even shake hands at the end of the game.

The Titans were our 8am game this morning (Sunday). It was cold and windy (50s) and I had forgotten to bring warm clothing. Luckily one of the other parents had an extra blanket. This team wasn't as rude as the Sonics, but they were fouling us like crazy. For example, one of them deliberately elbowed one of our guys in the face, even though he had already gotten the ball away from our guy. The referee was right there and gave him a red card. He didn't even protest it because he knew. We heard one of their parents say something like, "They're teenage boys." What?!!

The Titans had lost all of their games this weekend putting them in fourth place. They didn't even stay for the medal ceremony where they presented the remaining three teams with their medals.

Don't they all look so happy? This picture right after the "official" one that will be on the website. One of the boys held up two fingers instead of one when we last took this picture two weeks ago. They made sure he held up only one finger this time. We're Number 1!

This is a picture of Anthony and his club team coach. John has been pretty tough on Anthony, and there was a time when Anthony didn't like him very much because of that. He now understands what a great coach John is. The whole team has benefited from his great coaching.

Anthony has been on such a high that he has worn his medal almost constantly since the win this morning. He put the medal under his shirt because he didn't want to be "obnoxious" by wearing it around in the hotel. He took it off when we went to church. He plans to bring it to school tomorrow to show it off. Congratulations, Sweetie! We're proud of you!

Papa Guilt

Patrick hasn't posted on his blog for quite a while now, so I try to post things that happen to him or things that happen when he's around and I'm not. A couple of things have happened recently that have made him feel very guilty.

Yesterday, Natalie was in a little play that was shown during school. Patrick did all of his errands in the morning, even though it was raining (it's been months since it rained the last time). He sat down to read his book around 1pm--and lost track of time. He totally missed the 2pm play! He was so upset with himself. What made it worse was that Natalie was very upset that he wasn't there. He felt so guilty that he pretty much let her have whatever afternoon snack she wanted (Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream). We also went out of our way to arrange for her to be taken to and from the neighborhood swim team practice by a friend. Patrick and I had plans to see the musical "Rock of Ages" at the Majestic Theatre, so we hadn't planned on taking her to practice at all.

Today, I got a text from Patrick while I was at work. Eric was really sleepy this morning and so he even ended up taking an afternoon nap. He was still sleeping when it was time for Natalie to get home on the bus. It was getting late and she wasn't home yet, so Patrick left Eric alone in the house for a few minutes so he could go to the bus stop. Eric seemed sound asleep because he didn't stir when someone was using a leaf blower outside nor did he stir when someone else was honking a horn. Natalie's bus still wasn't there, so Patrick asked one of the other parents to let Natalie know that he was going to be at home with Eric. Well, when he got back, Eric had come downstairs and he was on the landing, saying "Why did you leave me by myself?" Oh, that "papa guilt" was going pretty strong!

I'm writing about these things because I want to remember what a good father Patrick is. He loves his children so much that he wants to be there for them all the time.

The reason why he was running many of those errands yesterday was because Anthony has a Chemistry project due next week that he needed supplies for. He is making a telescope and he is supposed to give a speech on the chemistry of the materials used to make a telescope. It sounds like a pretty interesting topic, and I'll be sure to post some pictures next week.

Tonight Anthony went to a birthday party for a friend. The party had a "50's theme". The easiest "costume" we could think of was a white T-shirt, jeans, and slicked back hair. Anthony is so good to me--he knew I wanted a picture and he let me take a few. I also took a full-body photo to show that for once he wore his shirt tucked in because that's how they wore shirts back then. The party was way across town and it took Patrick more than 45 minutes to get there (during rush hour traffic). Coming back and picking him up took less time, but it was still a significant time investment.

The reason why we went to see the musical last night instead of our usual Saturday night was that Anthony has three playoff soccer games in San Marcos this weekend. We decided that it would be too much to come home on Saturday, go to the musical, and then get up at 5am on Sunday just to go back to San Marcos for the 8am Sunday game, so we rescheduled the musical and we also booked a room in San Marcos for Saturday night. The things we do for our children!

Ten Minutes and Immunizations

I'm constantly forgetting that I need more than 10 minutes to leave the house. Tonight, we finally convinced Eric to eat dinner at around 6pm. I started eating dinner too. He was done by around 6:20pm, and I thought all I had to do was wash his hands and we could leave to get to Natalie's swim team practice by 6:30pm. Well, he said he had to go to the potty. Of course his diaper was wet from before so I had to change it. He only had two diapers in his diaper bag so I had to get more diapers. I told him to put on his shoes. His sneakers were out, but he complained that he didn't have any socks. I told him to wear his sandals instead, but he didn't know where they were. Luckily Alex was there to help me, because Natalie was not helpful at all. Patrick and Anthony were at his soccer practice. Oh, and Eric argued with me about calling his sneakers "tennis shoes" and not sneakers. He also argued that his sandals aren't "shoes".

Natalie ended up being exactly on time to get in the pool with her group. During her swim team practices, Eric insists on going to the "park", aka the playscape near the pool. He was on the swing for most of the time and doing crazy things. He would lean back or lean forward so that his head was pointing towards the ground. He would stand up on the swing seat. He would also lay on his belly on the swing. He was being such a boy!

This morning, Eric had his four-year-old appointment with the pediatrician. He measured out at 32 pounds and 38 1/2 inches tall. Apparently, that puts him at around 5' 6" when he's all grown. Patrick and I still hope he'll grow to be a little taller than that. He also got four immunization shots today and did wonderfully with them. Patrick said that before the shots, he talked to Eric about how the shots would hurt a little and that he needed the shots to be able to go to school. He also told Eric that it was better to hurt a little bit than to get sick and hurt a lot later on. He compared the shots to the bruises and scrapes that Eric has all over and how when he got those they hurt a little and then they stopped hurting. Eric nodded his head. Then, Patrick told Eric to look at him and then to take a deep breath and then blow it out right before the shots and that it wouldn't hurt as much. Amazingly, Eric didn't cry or even tear up. He didn't even say "Ow"! Can you imagine? The other kids all cried, but not Eric. Patrick pretty much spoiled him the rest of the day. What a big boy!

Director's Award and Perfect Attendance

Tonight we attended an awards ceremony at Anthony's school. Refer HERE for last year's description. Anthony stayed after school to do homework and hang out with some of his buddies that were going to the awards ceremony. Patrick, Eric and I met him there at awards time. We left Alex and Natalie at home. They both had to miss their soccer and swim practices respectively because of this ceremony.

The ceremony was mainly for the graduating seniors, but there were a few other awards mixed in. Anthony's first award was for perfect attendance this year. Then there was a long period where there were speeches that focused on the seniors and then they presented each senior with an award and an announcement of any scholarships they received and what college they were going to. Finally, they presented the Director's Awards for excellence in two or more classes. Anthony received one of these last year too. The director presented him with a certificate and a pin. His buddies received this award too. Thankfully he hangs out with kids that are also good students.

Eric did pretty well for the time of day and the length of the ceremony. He did get a little restless, but he was mostly quiet--only getting loud when he started asking questions in a normal tone of voice. Tomorrow he gets to visit the pediatrician for his four year old checkup and immunizations.

This Boy

This boy is covered in bumps and bruises, which hasn't slowed him down.

This boy loves swords and light sabers and keeps poking the walls and furniture with them.

This boy loves to tell his siblings what to do.

This boy has been playing hide and seek with Alex--except that when Alex asks him where he's hiding, he replies with his location. When he's "it" he'll ask where Alex is hiding and Alex will tell him a different location than where he's actually hiding.

This boy sat on the potty for a while yesterday and managed to poop in the potty (probably only the second or third time he's done that).

This boy was so excited today when Patrick told him that I was coming home early and that I would be taking him with me to pick up Natalie from school and then to Natalie's piano lessons.

This boy is bound to get cranky this weekend (along with his siblings) when we spend the night in San Marcos for Anthony's playoff games.

Ever since he was a baby, I would occasionally sing to him, "Mama loves Eric. Mama loves Eric." Recently I then added a part where I say, as if I could ever forget, "Who does Mama love again?" He replies emphatically, "Me!" Now he goes through the whole family, like "Eric loves Mama. Who does Eric love again? Mama!" He'll also say, "Alex loves Anthony. Who does Alex love again? Anthony!" and so on. Of course when Alex and Anthony hear this, they make funny faces at each other. Oh dear Eric, you make life challenging but also very fun and enjoyable. Mama loves Eric--of course!

2011 Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! My two youngest children came into my bedroom this morning to greet me with "Happy Mother's Day" wishes and to give me hugs and kisses. I did get to "sleep in" somewhat. We woke up around 7am and I got up at around 9am. My dear husband made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon and we all sat down together to eat.

The rest of the day I just puttered around the house, mostly surfing on the Internet and playing on my phone. The boys played video games, Natalie played with her friend LL, and Eric just played. He was all over the place. He was played inside and outside. He complained that Natalie wasn't playing with him. He set up his toys all over the kitchen. For the most part he was happy, although he acted very tired and cranky some of the time.

We all went out for ice cream at Brindles about mid-afternoon, then Patrick grilled steaks for dinner. We all ate together, which seems to happen less and less. When Patrick went to Costco to get the steaks, one of the employees recognized him and asked him where all the kids were. She said that he was supposed to be taking all the kids while I relaxed. He told her that I don't see the kids as much as he does, so I always want to spend time with the kids. He is so right.

I really wanted a photo with the kids. The kids all complained, of course, but in the end they cooperated. I took a few test shots to adjust the white balance and exposure of the camera before I handed the camera off to Patrick. The kids acted normally and I love this "slice of life", so I put those unedited photos on a scrapbook page. I definitely want to remember these everyday moments.

Rocket Launch

One of the big projects for Alex this year was to build a rocket and then the whole sixth grade would get together to launch the rockets. Today was the rescheduled date for Alex's rocket launch. They were originally supposed to do this in March, but that was on one of the very few days that it rained, so it was postponed until today.

This is the only "good" picture I have of Alex with his rocket pre-launch. I was taking photos of everything. Every time he saw me with the camera, he would walk away or give me that "if looks could kill" look. He did "pose" for one picture after I gave him a hard time in front of one of his teachers, but this one is actually better.

This is a picture of one of the tables they had set up for the launches. Alex's rocket is the black one that is launching. No fancy painting or other colors on his. He just wanted plain black.

Patrick did the spray painting and he thought some of the paint got on the tube that fits on the metal rod from which the rocket launched. The rocket didn't slide off properly. That meant that Alex's rocket didn't fly as high or as far as some of the other rockets.

It was a cloudy morning, but the sun broke through just before Alex's group launched their rockets, which made it painful to watch the rockets fly into the sky. This picture makes me smile because Eric has a clump of grass clutched in one hand while the other hand is shielding his eyes from the sun.

We would have stayed a little longer so I could take a picture of Alex taking measurements and such, but Eric really wanted to go home. I was a little surprised because he seemed to really enjoy watching the rockets. Natalie might have enjoyed watching this, but she opted to stay home and read. Anthony was definitely interested, but he has several ongoing projects that he wanted to work on.

We don't have much scheduled this weekend. I hope tomorrow will be a very relaxing day for us.

Stuffed Animals and Updates

Eric loves stuffed animals more than his older siblings ever did. He plays with a combination of stuffed animals that he has received, and those that used to belong to his siblings. The maid comes on Thursdays (today) and she often puts away the ones on his bed so she can change his bedsheets. He was a little upset when it was time for bed and he couldn't find his current favorites. We found them in the huge stuffed animal box in the gameroom. He had to get on top of the train table in order to reach the box, but I thought it was funny that he kept getting more and more animals, so many that he could barely hold them all. By the time he had finished, he had three dogs, a chick, two "fish" ("Nemo" and "Shamu"), and a train. I really wanted a picture of him holding them all, but he did agree to a picture next to them. He then piled them all up in his bed so he could be surrounded by them while he sleeps.

I should include updates of the other children instead of only writing about Eric. :)

Anthony stayed late after school again today so he could help a friend with her math homework. Eric and I had to wait around for him until about 5:30pm. Tonight he and Patrick went out to get supplies for a school project. The project is not "due" for a while but the teacher wants to see what progress they've made. Obviously Anthony hasn't made progress because he didn't even tell us that he needed those supplies. Tomorrow he is babysitting for our neighbors, the family of LL who is one of Natalie's more frequent playmates.

At Alex's school, they've spent time building rockets. They'll launch those rockets on Saturday morning. Tonight he told me a story about how he and his friends put their uniform shirt collars up and buttoned their shirts up to the top button. One teacher made them put their collars down right away. One of his teachers put his collar up too. Personally, I thought he was being a troublemaker by doing that in class, but he had a big smile on his face when he was telling me. I decided that it was harmless enough.

The neighborhood swim team has started nightly practices. We're paid through the end of the month at our gym, so Natalie goes there on T/Th and she'll be going to the neighborhood pool on MWF. The weather suddenly turned cool earlier this week, so practice was cancelled on Monday. Her friends that are the same age are in the first group that practices at 5:45pm and she is in the second group that practices at 6:30pm. Patrick and I like to think that she is with the older group because the coach sees some potential and wants to challenge her.

I'm working late tomorrow. I hope I get home in time to spend a little time with the family.

Random Eric Stories

Nothing unusual is going on here--just our normal routine of kid activities, so I'm going to tell a few random stories about Eric.

When we lived in Illinois, we used to go to story hour at the local library every week. It was a fun time filled with stories and crafts. When we moved here, compared to the previous story hour, we were very disappointed in the story hour at this local library. We've tried going with Eric more recently, and he wasn't interested. In fact, he refused to go. Today Patrick took him to story hour and he did great. He didn't participate, but he sat still on Patrick's lap. He told me he enjoyed himself when I asked him about it. This will be another option for Patrick to entertain the little man.

Eric is climbing more and more. He climbs on the outside of the stairs on the first floor. He hangs on the handrail at the top of the stairs. Last night I noticed that the rail on the second floor that overlooks the entry way seems a little loose. The handrail at the top of the stairs is loose too. Today Patrick noticed Eric folding his arms, putting them over the handrail on the bottom half of the steps, lifting his legs up, and sliding down the handrail to the bottom. We're afraid--very afraid.

For the last couple of days, as soon as I get home, Eric sticks to me like glue. When I went to the gym with Natalie for her swim practice yesterday, and tonight when I took Anthony to soccer practice, he begs to go with me. Yesterday, after a few tears, he stayed home with Anthony while Patrick took Alex to soccer practice. Tonight I managed to leave quietly and he barely noticed. He went with Patrick to Natalie's neighborhood swim team practice. I'm experiencing some "mommy guilt" but Patrick assures me that Eric is fine when I'm not there. I'll be home late the next two days, so hopefully I'll be able to cope.

See You In Two Weeks

Anthony's game today was scheduled for 10:30am at the same San Marcos fields, so we had to leave by 8:45am. Alex and Natalie wanted to stay home. Those two fight and argue so much that we were a little apprehensive about leaving them home with just each other. After a talk about respecting each other, we allowed Alex and Natalie to stay home by themselves. We still had to take Eric, and luckily he didn't try to stay home with his sister.

Eric loves the play area at those fields, which was a good thing to start with, but when the game started, Patrick and I both wanted to watch the game. This time the field was not right next to the play area. Eric cried and cried about going back to play in the play area until I finally managed to bribe him with a lollipop, Goldfish crackers, and Gatorade. At halftime I let him go back to the play area. He was so happy there! He didn't want to go back to the game and I didn't have the heart or the energy to make him leave again. I settled for being able to watch from afar.

We played against this same team during the regular season, the game I missed because I was working. They beat us 2-1 then, but this time we beat them 2-1. The boys played pretty well today with lots of shots on their goal. We'll see them again during the state playoffs/tournament in two weeks (weekend of May 14-15).

We stopped off at Schlotzky's (Anthony's choice) on the way home so we didn't get home until around 2pm. That meant that Alex and Natalie spent the whole day by themselves--and the house didn't burn down and they didn't kill each other. There might be some hope for those two after all.