Friday's School Commute

Last Friday saw a family bike ride over to Pickle's school. She and New Kid got to ride in the trailer and The Boy had to travel under his own power. Everyone enjoyed it immensely! We even dragged The Boy out for another 4 miles afterwards which on his little bike can't be too easy.

Soccer

Pickle is playing soccer. She started an eight-week Kinder Kicks program and after 6 weeks she is finally starting to warm up and really play. At the first "practice" she adopted this very odd (for her) shy demeanor and kept running off the field in tears. She still starts each session with hands-in-her-mouth nervousness but now quickly gets into it and tends to shine by the time the scrimmage starts. I actually think she is pretty good and she gets really excited when she scores a goal . . . big grins and thumbs up every time! I am hoping she wants to stick with it because she has a great natural athletic ability that - if she listens to coaches - she could really hone into something.

$576

The Boy's school partnered with an organization called Apex Fun Run for their fall fundraiser. It is a multifaceted project and included not only the run and the fundraising aspect but the Apex "Athletes" were at the school all week providing lessons on SUPER: Selfless, Uplifting, Patience, Extra Mile, and Reliable. The event kicked off last week with a Pep Rally and the children were tasked with obtaining pledges for each mile they planned to run (between 26 and 36 laps). There were prize milestones as they reached dollar levels per lap and the Athletes would stop by the classrooms each day to hand out prizes and energize the kids. Our runner set a goal of $15 - to get the UFO Hovercraft - and he exceeded that by raising $16 per lap! He made all of the calls himself and was very, very pleased with results.

The run was held this past Thursday and two small "tracks" were set up in the school field with blow up tunnels for the kids to run through. The team played music and there was plenty of cheering and excitement and water stops to keep them going. The result? The Boy ran 36 laps for a grand fundraising total of $576. Many thanks to our family and friends for contributing to the fundraiser!

 

Slowpoke - A Book Review

This little girl has always done things on her own time and at her own pace which is something that can be incredibly frustrating to those around her . . . particularly me. I have little patience - it's true - and have to work VERY hard to allow the kids to do things themselves like strap their car seats or put on their own shoes. I feel like I am always in a hurry and never have enough time and I know it will all happen faster if I just do it myself! So without a doubt Pickle often tests my patience whether it is stopping what she is doing to come to dinner, picking out a book to read, or finding her shoes . . . it doesn't matter; she is going to take her time doing it.

But last night I was taught a lesson - an unexpected and completely unintentional lesson by this little girl. We read a book that Pickle had picked out at the library. (The library is the one place she moves fast - darting from shelf to shelf stuffing her bag with as many books as she can fit before I start hustling her to checkout.) The book is called SLOWPOKE and is by an author named Emily Smith Pearce.

In this book Fiona "likes to take her time. She takes so much time that her toes wrinkle in the bathtub and her dog falls asleep waiting to be fed." Her mother eats her dinner in one bite and her father watches TV in fast-forward and her brother does two things at once. Can you figure out who Fiona is in our family?
Well, this is me:

Fiona's mom has little patience for "pokiness" and sends her off to "Speed School." In Speed School Fiona learns how to do 3 things at once and "eat an ice-cream cone before you could say 'lickety-split.'" She is tops in her class! "But Fiona could not taste her ice cream. She could not enjoy a soak in the tub." She decides to put her family through "Slow School" and makes them do things like take off their watches, walk down the street, and eat their dinner one bite at a time. Her mother notices the flowers and her father comments on how tasty the food is. Everyone learns something!

I highly recommend this book to the many adults out there who are in "Speed School" mode like myself. Is it so bad that it takes her 5 minutes to pick out just the right book to read or that she wants to tie her own shoes or that she wants to stop and wash her hands right after getting out of the shower? Maybe not and maybe I need to stop, slow down, and taste my food. Cheers to pokiness and Cheers to Pickleness!

Goodbye September, Hello October!

We've been missing. I wish I had some clever comments or funny stories to share to explain why we skipped an entire month of blogging but the truth of the matter is we just didn't have the time - or want to spend the time. When the day begins or the day is done I have to make sure we are spending time on the most important things - ourselves and the children - and sitting at the computer can not always be on the list. Oh, and there was that 3-week period in September when the computer took a vacation with the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

The Family had an interesting summer and I hope I can find some time to record some of the adventures and tribulations on the blog. We then rolled into the school year - as you saw in our only August posts - and I think we are still trying to get into a rhythm of homework that exponentially grew this year. We have also experienced the trials of growing up, making bad choices, and having the school Principal call us several days in a row. To say that I am glad September is over would be putting it mildly.

September is never my favorite month around here because I am always fooled by the weather. You would think after eleven previous Phoenix Septembers I would be prepared but unfortunately I still take it as a personal attack that the temperature chooses to stay above 100 degrees. It is already getting better though as we have the doors and windows open this morning enjoying a cool 70 degrees. We have also gotten the fall and Halloween decorations out which always brings a smile to everyone's face!

So Hello October . . . a busy one for sure as weeknights and weekends are already full of soccer, baseball, and bike races. It's time to contemplate once, twice, and three more times what we want to be for Halloween. It's time to open the doors in the morning and practice "Atmosphere Management" to keep the house cool throughout the day. It's time to enjoy the backyard and play at the park. Oh, and it's time for this: