Soccer Star

Soccer season is in full swing. Hayden was a little disappointed at first to learn his team was going in different directions. Some of the boys opted for more competitive leagues, including the coaches kids. The new team is a mixture of kids from nearby schools, and seems to be blending quite nicely.

The kids are learning to play all of the positions, and some of them manage to remember what position they are playing during a game. Hayden's biggest frustration right now seems to be when the other kids 'forget' their role and aren't where the need to be.

He likes to be a defender or a forward...he's not so keen on midfield since it is "just a bunch of running". He hasn't tried his hands at goalie yet, but since he stopped playing baseball because he was afraid to get hit with the ball, I'm not sure how it will play out. Plus, he's so hard on himself, I'd hate for him to crumble if a goal gets past him.

My favorite thing about this team is that the parents form a tunnel at the end of the games for the boys to pass through. It's a wonderful tradition that really brings the boys up from a loss and gives them a chance to strut their stuff after a win.

Grace doesn't even mind going to games or practices this year because one of Hayden's teammates has a little sister the same age. Now, if they could only both remember their Leapsters on the same day...

Off With The Braces!

After putting up with braces for a year, Hayden was more than happy to get them off. He'd been making a list of things he'd be able to eat for months!

He didn't even fuss when they took the pliers and yanked off the brackets. I think I would have.

There was quite the post-braces process. X-rays, polishing off the adhesive, and fitting the retainers. When his mouth wasn't being worked on, he asked for pictures so he could look at it later.

He'd been given a catalog of choices for retainer designs. He thought about the watermelon, the soccer ball, neon green...and finally settled on star spangled. He's a 4th of July baby, through and through.

I though he'd be sore after, but he was hungry. I let him pick since I wouldn't be too keen on chewing after having my teeth manhandled. What did he go for?

Buffalo Wild Wings. He's been stuck with boneless wings for a year and he wanted something he could bite. Okay, kiddo.

Then we hit the store for his dinner request - corn on the cob. While there he asked for taffy, something he's really missed. He wasn't sure about buying an assorted bag because "there is liquorice flavor in there and no one likes that." I suggested he chose the flavors he liked from the bulk bin and then made the mistake of picking up some chewing bones for the dogs.

When I got back to Hayden, he had a lunchsack packed with bulk candy. Strawberry hard candies, taffy, gummi worms and gummi bears. I couldn't even tell him to dump it because the gummies aren't wrapped! Fifteen dollars of candy later, I learned my lesson with this sugar fiend!

He was so looking forward to corn on the cob, but biting into it wasn't all he'd hoped for. He was bummed that I had to still cut it off the cob, but I promised we'd try again soon, on a day his teeth hadn't been abused!

L'il Pickers

I have the best of intentions when it comes to childhood experiences. There are a million fun things I want the kids to be able to look back on. One of those I routinely seem to miss is apple picking.

Growing up, my grandparents had a ranch with a giant garden, enormous apple and pear trees that were as old as Oregon itself, and fields lined with blackberry bushes. Needless to say, we had fresh produce all summer without ever hitting the grocery store. I still have a hard time paying for pears or blackberries. Or zucchini. Even though I can't make a zucchini plant grow in this yard.

The kids got their chance to play harvester today. A transformer blew in a mighty explosion, so we decided since there was no power at the house, we might as well take the dogs on a walk and find out exactly where the trouble was. The power company had the bucket trucks out by the time we found the blown transformer, so we trudged home without any dangerous fireworks show.

As we were looking up at a neighbor's apple tree, they drove by and offered for us to pick as many as we'd like. They said to go ahead to try the pears too. We were so excited we rushed home for a bucket. Bayley opted to stay inside since the power had been restored...and he was still wearing his bathrobe. He refuses to take it off before one. Ahem.

We made quick work of the fruit on the lower branches, and then Jeff & Hayden tried their hand with the picker. Hayden had such fun with it. I really enjoyed plucking the pears. Gave me a great nostalgic feeling.