The First Game

Austin had his very first soccer game last Saturday, so this post is going to be inundated with pictures.  The grandparents will love it... the rest of you, possibly not so much.  Feel free to look away!

Here's the first huddle for team "Madrid."  (I know, right?!  What kind of team name is Madrid? )  And yes, Austin does have Tim Tebow's number.  That's right, Florida boy.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Austin played defense.  He was still a little timid around the ball, but we're encouraging him to be more aggressive.  He says he has to to stand still until the defense leader tells him to move... but I'm not sure he understands that correctly.  But who am I to say, I am learning soccer as we go here. Hey, I've never been a soccer mom before!

(Don't look too hard, I don't think Austin is in this shot... but that's a lot of green, so correct me if I'm wrong.)

This is awful, but I don't even know what the other team name was.  I was expecting parents to be on the sidelines cheering for their team, but they mostly just sat and talked with each other.  When a play got to be heated, they would perk up.... but no shouting "Go Madrid!" or any other team name for that matter.  (Maybe if the team name was the Lions or Pirates or something more fierce sounding.  Is Madrid fierce?  I admit to not knowing much about that place.)

Check out this action shot.... that's our goalie.  So yes, the other team was about to make a goal and I took a picture.  There seems like there should be some sort of code against that... soccer mom's taking pictures of their kid's team getting beat.  However, in this particular shot, our excellent goalie (who blocked several shots) did succeed.  

Final score?  8 to 3.  Poor Madrid.  Stay tuned for this Saturday's game!

Soccer Time!

On Saturday, Austin participated in his first team sport in Turlock.... soccer!  He is so great at running, Carl and I really felt that we needed to get him involved in using that excess energy.  Last year, he participated in Cross Country and his grades went up, his energy went down, and he slept like a baby.  We are hoping he will sign up for Cross Country again this year.  

{Let me explain this photo- the kids were doing leg exercises where they basically did toe-touches.  Apparently, I only captured Austin doing them and so it looks like he's mad and stomping... but that wasn't the case.  They were supposed to touch their toe to their finger with each step, and keep their leg straight.  Make sense?}

So on Saturday, Austin and I made our way to the sports complex where there was a kick-off carnival being held.  (Carl had to work, boooo!  But he does a wonderful job providing for our family and making sure we are taken care of, so the reason that I "booo" him not being there is because we missed him.) There were snow cones, bounce houses, face paintings, a band, and other vendors there to help rev up the soccer season.  Austin was feeling a little down about playing a sport he had never played before, so I got him a snow cone before his first practice, and encouraged him that he'll get better with every passing day.

He's on a team with kids older than 12, but under 18, and he says he's the only one on the team who has never played.  I watched the kids practice different exercises for a while, and I told Austin that although he was the only kid without experience, it didn't look that way.  Austin was more coordinated than some of the other kids who had played, and with how limber he is, I have no doubt he'll be picking up the sport in no time!  

While Austin was running, I texted my friend (who played soccer in high school for a few years) Mia about how Austin was feeling, thinking she might have some advice for me to give him.  She said "You play soccer for the fun of it!"  I was ashamed I hadn't thought to tell Austin that!  Here I was saying that he'll just get better with more practice, he doesn't look like a newbie on the field, and encouraging him in his abilities.... but really, that one sentence from Mia should cover all of that.  You play soccer for the fun of it.  You will improve with more practice, but you do it because it's fun.  Next time Austin is feeling down, I'm going to throw that line out there.  Thanks, Mia!

Anyone else out there have any advice for a new soccer player?  

{*Fun fact- as I typed that last question mark, my phone told me I had a new text.  It was Mia, saying "Being on a team is important, whether you are playing or sitting on the bench encouraging your teammates."  That's another good one I'll have to make known to Austin!  Thanks again, Mia!  I hope you don't mind me publishing your advice!! *}

What a "Lousey" week this has been.

What a whirlwind of a week this has been.

I've been still fighting migraines, which most of you probably know.  I visit a chiropractor very frequently in order to adjust the alignment of my neck, which has been out of whack for quite some time.  So when I let my hair down on the his table earlier this week, and I saw the strange look on his face, I knew right then that I had to explain why I smelled horrid, like pesticide. 

Let's back up to Tuesday night when Austin came downstairs after his shower.  "I think I have lice."

Fun fact #1: Did you know that the singular for "lice" is "louse?"  (I felt the need to explain so you would for sure understand the pun in the title of this post.  But I guess if you have to explain it, it isn't that funny.  I digress....)

The boy has been known to come up with some crazy thoughts before, as all kids do, but this is not something I would mess around with.  "Carl, you have to check him.  I can't get near it.  They will get me."  I have extremely vivid memories of getting lice as a child.  My mom would sit on the blanket outside with me for hours on end, combing my hair strand by strand, just to get rid of those little bugs.  My hair was down to my waist, so this was no easy task.  But she did it.

"Yep, he has it." Carl declared.  I cautiously leaned over his shoulder, also checking but making sure to remain at a distance.

In my pajamas already, I kicked the blankets off of me and hopped off of the couch.  "I'm going to the drug store."

"Well we can wait till the morning...." Carl started.

Remembering my childhood days with lice, "No, we can't." I corrected him.  [Now is a good time to tell you that I didn't CONSTANTLY have lice as a child, it was only a two- or three time ordeal.  But those two or three times really made an impression on me.]

Carl and I got dressed in semi-presentable clothing and took off in the car after asking Austin to go completely strip his bed and put everything in the wash.  We arrived home about twenty minutes later with egg removal gel, mattress and bedding spray, shampoo and a preventative spray.  Carl and I grabbed handfuls of large garbage bags and headed straight up to Austin's room.  Austin, looking traumatized, was standing in the bathroom door.  I handed him his new shampoo and the fine tooth comb that came in the kit we bought.  I explained how to use it in the shower, and he hopped in.

Meanwhile, Carl and I gathered up every last stuffed animal, every last hat, pillow, blanket, and loose clothing near Austin's bed and bagged it up.  (Eight garbage bags later....) I sprayed his bed and floor very liberally with the lice spray.  Just when we thought we were finished, Austin opened the bathroom door, close to tears.  He was horrified at the site of all the lice and eggs on the little comb we gave him.  For the first time ever, he begged, "Please just shave my head?"

And that's how we wound up standing on our back patio at 10:30pm with one little light bulb shining on his head.  I shaved every bit I could, in the little light I had.  For doing it in the dark, it actually turned out okay. 

After being around his bedding and him, I was so sure I would get lice as well.  I soaked my hair in the preventative spray (pee-yew!), and then coated my hair in fine sections with hair spray (lice don't like having sticky feet).  I threw it all up in a bun and then leaned back on the couch, knowing I'd done all I possibly could to not catch the plague lice.  Side note: when I retreated to bed a little later that night, I removed my clip from my hair and my hair remained tight up in a bun from all the hairspray.  That was pretty impressive.  Anyway....

It was the next day that my hair was still coated with all the sprays; when I had to explain to my chiropractor why I smelled like the pesticide section in a home improvement store.

Today is Friday.  Austin appears to be lice free (finally) but we are still taking every precaution necessary.  He is still getting sprayed twice a day to make sure the lice stay away, and his bedding is still getting sprayed as well.  Those little buggers are not welcome in our house!

Fun fact #2: Belle is a maltipoo.... meaning she is part poodle.  Poodles have hair, not fur.  Ergo, the thought crossed my mind that Belle could get lice.  So, we googled "Can poodles...." and google auto-filled in "get lice?"  Go ahead, try it.  Type in "Can poodles" and google will finish your sentence.

Fun fact #3: The answer is no, poodles can't get lice.  At least not the same type that humans get.

To end, I'm sorry that this post is making you itch.  I have to assume that you are scratching your head because it's an automatic response every time anyone mentions lice.  Our home is lice free now, and we will do everything in our power to keep it that way!

Dunes in Death Valley

Thanks for continuing on through our trip!  Let's see... where were we... Oh yes.  We were stretching our legs in the desert.  

So we made our way to the sand dunes where our legs got much more than a stretch.  We got a good workout in the dunes!  Man were they gorgeous....

Unfortunately, these were all taken with an iPhone4S.
Carl and I are wondering if we should invest in a good camera.
What say you? (Suggestions on models, perhaps?)

14 Square Miles of dunes.

Amazing how you can scream as loud as you can and it doesn't reach very far.  The air just takes it away and perhaps the sand even drinks it in.

How did we learn about the our screaming not reaching very far?

Well, let me tell you a little story.


You see, it all started with this guy.

RUNNING.

And running.


He's in this picture, too.  Can you find him?

With the zoom on.

Carl and I started chasing after him, but...well, let's just say he was the Energizer bunny.
He kept going, and going, and going.

And going.

Once I reached the top of one of the dunes, I told Carl to (say this in a really dramatic voice) "Go on without me."  Then I pulled out my camera and snapped this picture of him.


He got a little farther (further?)  and got this one of me.  And this is with his little camera (iPhone) zooming in with all its might.

He got pretty far away from me before finally getting Austin's attention.  This was me, with the zoom on Carl's camera.

After finally catching Austin's attention, he was able to direct him to return to the car via hand waving and other exaggerated gestures.  Some foot stomping might've been involved.
{Eh hem.}

*We explained once again that when we are in wilderness, you cannot simply run without abandon.
I don't think 12 year old boys quite grasp the fact that mountain lions, coyotes and rattle snakes are deadly.*

And there are signs posted warning you of such things.
We even saw some animal tracks.  PROOF that the signs weren't telling us a tall tale!

Want to know what these were tracks of?
{Yeah, me too.  Heh, heh}

Again, no idea what little creature made this.

BUT THIS ONE, I CAN IDENTIFY!

By the time we got back to the car, our skin was a little more pink, and the sun was a little lower.

So we rushed on to our next destination in Death Valley...

Stay tuned!

The Difference of 6 Months

Six months ago, when we went to Yosemite, we stopped to take these pictures.

Are those pretty?

And check this out...

Is it normal for a boy to change so much in six months?!

Seriously.

Then:

Now:

WOAH.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." -Ecclesiastes 3:1

"A season for snow capped hills, a season for lush green bushes.  A season for a boy to look like a boy and a season for a boy to look more like a man." -Lindsey

Something tells me these next few years are going to be flying by.

Tidbits

Carl's parents have been in town visiting us these past few days, so I've stepped away from blogging.  Since I'm already having to be on the computer during the day for work, I try to spend time with them in the evenings instead of blogging.  Sorry I have been missing, folks!  They are out of town now for a couple of days, so I'll fill y'all in on what's been happening.  Boy have we been busy.

-Austin is now on the cross country team at his school!  It's really helping him in numerous ways.  He's actually tired at the end of the day, he is learning more discipline (either that or the light finally got through to him that his dad and I have been trying desperately to invoke in his daily routine....)  His grades are on the up and up, meaning so far he's getting mostly A's!  Woohoo!  He comes home every day, hauls is bag up to his room and does his homework.  It takes him a little under an hour every day and that's mostly because his dad and I have him read thirty minutes each day.  Then he comes downstairs, has a snack, and he gets to enjoy the rest of his afternoon.  Pretty sweet.

-Before my inlaws came into town, I got my hair touched up so it would look it's best for when they saw me the first time as a blond.  I got there and started chatting away with my hair girl, who had given me a fabulous haircut several months ago.  I had assumed that touchups would take an hour TOPS.  Boy was I wrong. 

4  Hours later.... I came out with ORANGE hair.  I couldn't tell at first because it was dusk outside.  Now I have to go fork out more money to have this mistake corrected.  The worst part?  (Other than the money...) The day after I get my hair done, I typically have a migraine.  So now I have to choose when to have my migraine and waste another day in the salon.  Bleh.

-We did a lot of traveling last week.  So much that we couldn't leave Belle at home, so our friends watched her for us.  Thank you, guys!  We appreciate you!  Belle came home from their house and b-lined for the bed.  Her BFF Beldar really wears her out.  :)

-On one of our excursions, we went to Monterey where we visited the aquarium.  It was pretty nice, but if you have ever been to the Tampa Bay Aquarium, you may not be very impressed.  But still, it was a nice day that we got to spend with family.  However, while we were at the aquarium, Austin decided to do something....er....silly.

Why did you stick your legs through those bars?
"I wanted to see if they would fit.."
Um... but didn't you think about the possibility of them not fitting?
"No..."

Carl had to tug and tug to get him loose.  We were thisclose to calling the fire department.  I couldn't help but laugh at the situation because this is totally something that would happen to us.  And Carl practically forced me to take pictures.  Seriously.  *I know some of y'all are going to have a hay day with this, *cough* Daniel *cough*... all I ask is 1, you don't go TOO hard on him, and 2, you don't name your source.  :-P

It's his knees that are locking him in place.  The pictures are hard to tell because (believe it or not) I felt like a horrible parent snapping pictures while our kid was stuck.  And yes, we had onlookers.  "Is that little boy stuck?"  "My kid did that once...." "Oh boy, good luck....."

-On a more relaxed note, I'll now show you a picture of the Pacific ocean.  Enjoy.  :)

Success!

Austin's first day at his new school went great! He likes all of his teachers, and says they are all really nice...except his language arts teacher, "She's not nice like the others...she's nice, she's just not as nice." He's good at phrasing things as to not hurt other people's feelings. Sweet boy.

I was so proud of him; he came home with all of his papers in folders (Something that's always been big job for him). He said he didn't have a problem finding his way around school, except for once, but he was only lost for a minute. He also liked his afterschool program and the teacher there told me that he met a little blond girl in his EDEP program and played checkers with her for a while (Austin conveniently forgot her name though...). And this morning, when we got up to take him to the bus stop, he begged for us to let him walk HIMSELF to the stop! Woah. With a bit of hesitance, we let him. It was only about a 6 minute walk, and the stop is located on our street so there would not be any crossing of roads or anything dangerous. He knows to stay on the sidewalk the whole way there. So, there he went. He made the trek down the street, and we peeped through our windows until he was out of sight.

I have a feeling these next few years are going to fly by quicker than we're ready for. Better buckle up!

Sunday Showers

Yesterday was a wonderful day, in my book. We went to church in the morning, and then went out to lunch with some good friends. After lunch, us girls headed back up to the church to throw a baby shower for our dear friend, Lily! Lily and her husband Scott are expecting their baby boy, Jack, to arrive in just a couple of weeks. Scott is a firefighter, and Lily is a nurse...little Jack's room is decorated in fireman decor! It's absolutely adorable. Her shower was a lot of fun, yesterday, too!

When we all got home, it rained. I love Sunday afternoon rains. I just love them. I love the sound of the rain hitting the roof, I love the haze of white we see when we look out the window, I love watching the water droplets hit our screen and then our pool, I love how the house cools down and everything just seems to move slower at a more relaxed pace. And I love going and changing into sweat clothes once it starts raining. Aaah, nothing like a Sunday shower.

While it rained, the three of us did a bible study together. We've been doing weekly bible studies on the book of Acts. After our bible study, Carl started cooking dinner for the three of us, and I helped Austin gather all his things for school the next day. I also ironed his polos, filled his backpack with folders and paper, pens and pencils, and laid out his clothes for the next day. That's when I realized his brand new jeans don't fit him. Oh, snap. He was able to wear a pair of kahki shorts today, so he was still within the "uniform" parameters. But, it looks like either tonight or tomorrow I'll be hitting up the store for some new clothes and even more school supplies, once we get the lists that Austin will be sent home with today.

Today is his first day in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Carl and I reminisced on our big first days... he says he can't remember if he was nervous about middle school or high school, but he does recall accidentally washing his hair with facial soap. (Oops!) And for me, I vividly remember my first day of middle school and being terrified for no reason whatsoever. My dad even worked at the school, but it was still the scariest place on earth, as far as I was concerned. I remember clinging to him and my friends coaxing me away from him. Eventually I went with them, and it wasn't so bad after all. Don't know why I was so scared!

So, today is Austin's big first day. Carl and I have talked privately and we must admit, we're BOTH nervous for him. Austin didn't seem too nervous but I imagine he had at least a few butterflies. Today will be his first time walking through a school all by himself, with no teacher to guide him. It's also his first day in which he's responsible for getting him self to class on time (We make sure he gets out the door in the morning on time, but he has to walk to all his classes on his own). I can't believe he's in 6th grade. That's just crazy. We'll see how his first day went! Here are some pictures that Carl took of him while he was waiting on his very first bus! (I had class at UF at 7:25, and since Austin's bus came at 8:40, I didn't even get to see him this morning. That's how it will be every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll be the one to walk him to the bus stop.)

Waiting on the bus.

From Something That We Do

Getting on the bus! "Dad, stop taking my picture...you're embarrassing me!"

From Something That We Do

Let's hope he had a good day!