Times Are Changing

We've been busy lately. But it's a different busy. A carting-kids-to-multiple-activities busy, not a chasing-after-multiple-kids busy.

A couple of weekends ago, we had an even-busier-than-usual Saturday scheduled. In addition to the usual two soccer games and one baseball game, Joe was participating in a UIL competition. And, Cort decided that he wanted to do a 150-mile bike ride around Galveston Bay.

Three years ago I would have told Cort he couldn't do the bike ride.

Two years ago I would have let him go, but I would have sulked about having to handle the kids alone all weekend.

This year, however, I was fine with it.

The day was busy, yes. But, relatively speaking, it was easy. I wasn't having to chase after toddlers. I was taking four kids to their respective activities. Four kids who can carry some of their own stuff, know where to go and what to do when they get there, and aren't going to go run away from me if I don't have my eye on them every second.

This was just once of many times lately that it has occurred to me how much these kids have grown up recently. I think I'm only starting to realize, looking back, how much work it really was to have four very small children at once. But no longer. My kids are growing up, and things are changing.

P.S. It was busy. We left for Charlie and Joe's soccer game at 7:40am. Afterwards we came home so Joe could shower and then went right back for Will and Helen's soccer game. Before the game was even over, I took Joe to the prelims of his UIL competition (thank you to Claire and Peter for taking the rest of the kids home!). After we found out he made the finals, we headed home for lunch. Then we went back to the UIL competition for the finals. Immediately after the finals over we came home, the boys changed into their baseball uniforms, and we went back to the ball fields for their baseball game. We got home around 7pm, ordered pizza, ate, and went to bed.

However, we ended the day with two wins in soccer, a goal for both Charlie and Joe, a win in baseball, and a first place finish in UIL solo acting! And despite getting rained on, Cort successfully finished his bike ride on Sunday.

A busy day. But a really, really good day.

Observations of a Sports Mom

1. I'm a sports mom. Who'd have thunk it?

2. Remember last year when I said that we were definitely only going to let the boys play one sport this fall? Yeah, famous last words, and all that.

3. Charlie is a coach in the making. When he's not in the soccer game, he is constantly yelling from the sidelines. "Guys, spread out - don't bunch up!" "Who's got #6?" "Pass the ball!" Etc., etc. He is also vocal with his teammates on the baseball field. And I caught him, after one of his younger teammates at the bottom of the lineup struck out, giving the kid a very sweet, guy-like, "it's ok you'll get it next time" pat on the batting helmet as he passed him going to the plate.

4. I really love baseball. I'm glad the boys do too. But it is so much more nervewracking than soccer as a mom. It's harder for your child to single-handedly miss a play in soccer.

5. I can't wait until spring when Will and Helen start t-ball. T-ball is less stressful than baseball. And way cuter.

6. Joe has really, really improved his hitting. He's quite consistent at making contact with the ball. He still can't catch though. Which brings us back to the nervewracking part -- I know it's good to let the kids play different positions, but I'm so nervous when Joe plays infield.

7. All of our boys are slow. Excruciatingly slow. When Charlie and Joe run to first base, I just want to push them.

8. Will and Helen have loved the idea of soccer for awhile. The reality, not as much. That led Cort to promise Helen a lollipop if she scored. And, given the relative odds, to promise Will a Jeep. A real Jeep. Guess who scored a goal in his second soccer game? Yep, there's a parenting lesson in "be careful what you promise your kid" right there.

9. You don't really appreciate something when you have it. For example, Charlie was a natural soccer player at age 3. He scored goal after goal after goal. Joe didn't score a goal for the first two years he played, and he still scores far less than Charlie does. And here's the thing. Never once have a seen Joe cry about this. Helen, on the other hand? A different story.

10. Helen has always been our strongest and most coordinated child. That's why it has surprised us that she hasn't been better in her first sport: soccer. But suddenly, she's getting there. She was incredibly tentative in her first game. She cried half of her second game because she "couldn't" score. But then she played hard in her third game, and even though she didn't score she announced that she wasn't going to cry anymore. By the fourth game, she scored two goals. This morning on the way to school, she was talking about how many games her team had won and lost and how they would definitely win the next time they played the team that beat them.

11. Cort is amazing. He is currently the dugout coach for the boys' coach-pitch baseball team, the assistant coach for the boys' U8 soccer team, the head coach for Will and Helen's U4 soccer team, and the U4 division director. And he's so good at it. It's especially cool to see all these little 4-year-olds listen and actually learn.

12. My main job in all this is to wash and keep track of 5 water bottles, 6 jerseys, 4 pairs of soccer shorts, 2 pairs of (white, ugh) baseball pants, 2 baseball belts, 2 baseball caps, 6 pairs of cleats, 8 individual shin guards, and 12 individual socks. I'm actually pretty proud I've managed this so far.

Mr. Long Term Memory

You can send him upstairs to brush his teeth, and by the time he gets to the second floor Will has completely forgotten what he's supposed to be doing. But at the same time, he's got a somewhat freakish long term memory.

Example One: I got Helen a shirt at Target in September. It has a little saying on it. Because she is starting to read, I was trying to get her to sound out some of the easier words.

That's when Will piped up, "I know what it says: Play like a girl. Beat the boys!"

Since he can't read (at least, not nearly that well), I was floored. And thoroughly confused. Then he told me that it was just like the shirt that another little girl, Carter, had while we were on vacation.

He saw that shirt once. In early August. Someone read it to him.

And over a month and a half later he remembered exactly what it said when he saw it again.

Example Two: The other night, I picked Will and Helen up from school. We were planning to pick up some food somewhere and bring it home to eat, so I asked them where they wanted to go. They picked Chik-Fil-A. An excellent choice, except that there are no Chik-Fil-As near their school or our house. (Yet. Rumor is that we may be getting one close by soon. Yippity skippity!! But anyway . . . .)

So I told them that we couldn't go to Chik-Fil-A because there weren't any close by. They reminded me that Daddy brought Chik-Fil-A to them at the baseball game last week. I said, yes, but there is a Chik-Fil-A by Daddy's office so he got it from there. There is no Chik-Fil-A around here. That was the end of our Chik-Fil-A discussion, and we started discussing other dinner options.

About five minutes later, Will said, "Mommy, so are we a long way from Greenway Plaza?"

Greenway Plaza is the group of office buildings where Cort works. But we never say "Greenway Plaza" to the kids. Just "Daddy's office" or, at the most, they know that Mommy works downtown but Daddy doesn't. I have absolutely no recollection of ever telling Will about Greenway Plaza. But apparently at some point I did. Because when I asked him how he knew about Greenway Plaza, he told me that I told him once that Daddy worked there.

And he remembered it.

Practice

This is Helen sitting under the sign our husbands had made to recognize their wives' tolerance for football tailgating.

Why do I doubt that Helen's future husband will ever describe her as "accommodating"?

The three best things about this weekend

1. We went back to my hometown for Pioneer Reunion. And my kids love Pioneer Reunion.

2. The rodeo was rained out after the first event, and Clay County really needed the rain. And my kids were only mildly disappointed. The excitement of running from the incoming downpour, huddling with a huge crowd in a big building to stay (sort of) dry, then coming home to darkness due to lack of power and getting to use flashlights for everything is, if you are 4 and 7, almost better than a rodeo.

3. There was--get this--ZERO crying this year in the car. And on the way back, we made it from Henrietta to Houston in slightly over five hours. I believe we are turning the corner with our kids in terms of car trips.

Makes My Monday

The boys went to a sleepover this past weekend at their friend Eli's house. When I saw Eli's mom later, she told me how incredibly well behaved both Charlie and Joe were.

I believed she used the term "such little gentlemen."

Is there anything a parent likes to hear more?

Makes my Monday!

Ten Years Ago . . .

Cort was in a deposition in Beaumont. I was watching the Today Show while getting ready for work, as usual. The Today show broke in on itself (the show actually airs an hour later here, to account for the change in time zone, so the live version broke in on the delayed show) to report the plane hitting the first tower. Always a bit of a disaster news junkie, I was already glued to the TV, even before we had any idea what had really happened.

Cort was getting no news, so I started emailing him updates via Blackberry. The second plane hit the second tower, and I emailed him that this was definitely a terrorist attack. It was so surreal to be discussing a terrorist attack in our country. More hijackings were rumored. All planes in the U.S. were grounded. I was watching news coverage in Washington D.C. (I can still see the news reporter--Jim something), when there was an explosion behind him, and speculation began regarding a bombing. Soon it was determined that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. The fact that this was happening in multiple cities began to sink in. I suddenly wished that Cort was at home.

Later I watched unbelievably as the first tower came down. I immediately emailed Cort again. I don't remember our exact exchange, but I remember him expressing complete disbelief. It was one of those things that you had to see to believe it was really happening. Cort, stuck in a deposition with no television coverage, could not believe it. At first Matt Lauer on the Today Show reported that "part" of the building had collapsed. Then it became clear that it was the whole building. We had been to New York City a few months earlier (my first time) and had visited the World Trade Center. I remember having a strange regret that we had not eaten at the restaurant at the top, Windows on the World--we had considered eating there but had decided upon someplace else instead.

I continued watching, and to the nation's horror the second tower also collapsed. Other buildings nearby were in danger. People were walking across the bridges out of Manhattan. I was glued with the rest of the country as we waited for news of the rescue of the injured which (save for a very, very few lucky people) never came. At some point the news reported the downed plane in Pennsylvania and speculated it was headed for the Capitol, but it was much later that I became aware of the story behind that hijacking.

Word came that my office building was closing. I still had not made it in, but made arrangements to have work brought to me so I could work at home. I never did any of that work that day.

A few months later, Cort and I visited New York City between Christmas and New Years. Because we had no kids and we could. Because during our visit the previous April I had discovered, to my surprise, that I really love the city. Because the events of September 11 made it seem important to do so. And, truthfully, because the terrorist attacks had depressed the tourism economy and we could stay there relatively inexpensively.

Ground Zero was not yet open to visitors when we were there. But we went by, and we saw all the flyers that people posted looking for loved ones who were never found. They were still hanging on fences, along with mementos and written notes. Soot from the collapsing towers still covered everything for blocks around. We took this picture while there and have it hanging in our house.

Now, ten years later, our world is so very different. But I'm talking about our world. Not the world. Ten years ago we were a young, childless, married couple. We are now parents with four small children. Children who will read about 9/11 only in history books. Will and Helen do not yet know about it. Charlie and Joe do. They learned about it in school, though, not from us. It does not really scare them, at least not yet. It is an event that, to them, is about as real as the battle of the Alamo.

Certainly, the terrorist attacks of September 11 changed our country. But for the most part, for those of us who did not lose a loved one, not significantly. My kids feel safe and secure. We spent the tenth anniversary of 9/11 at the same place that we spend many fall Sunday afternoons: at the Texans game. My kids enjoyed eating too much junk food while tailgating, seeing the huge American flag unfurl, and watching the Texans easily (!) beat the Colts.

None of these are very important things, really. But I am thankful that we live in a country where my kids can enjoy the simple, not-so-important things. Certainly, I realize that everyone is not so lucky. But as I watched the tenth anniversary retrospectives throughout the day, I was struck by the fact that, as horrific as the events of 9/11 were, the terrorists still were not able to fundamentally change this country. And for that, I am thankful.

Makes My Monday

I don't know exactly what it was--something about the kids being excited about the three-day-weekend and us being lazy because we have a three-day-weekend--but by Saturday evening our house was a total and complete wreck.

Toys were strewn all over the playroom, living room, and all common areas. Any toys with small parts are generally kept in boxes, and several of those boxes were laying empty in the living room with hundreds of those itty bitty pieces scattered not only in that room, but several others. You couldn't walk around the house in bare feet without endangering yourself.

Sunday morning, while Cort and I were still in bed, Will came upstairs and asked us to get down yet another box-full-of-small-items toy. I told him he needed to put something away before he could get anything new out. He said there was too much for him to clean up. I thought he had a point. Cort piped in and asked Joe and Charlie to go downstairs and help him. I expected protests.

Instead, the three boys went downstairs. Helen joined them, and the four kids spent 20-30 minutes cleaning up.

And they cleaned it all up. The place was spotless.

And all of this occurred while Cort and I stayed in bed and continued to sleep.

I cannot adequately express how unbelievably impressed I was.

So all I can say is: This really makes my Monday.

Never underestimate the power of twin competition

I think I mentioned recently that Helen is starting to read. Tuesday night she read an entire BOB book on her own. This isn't great literature, of course. (Think "Mat. Mat sat. Sam. Sam sat. Mat sat on Sam. Sam sat on Mat." Scintillating.) But she read the whole thing all by herself.

I thought it appropriate to make a big deal about this. Not too big a deal, mind you, because if Helen thinks something is really important to you, then she will find every way in the world not to do it. But I told both Charlie and Joe that she had read a book by herself, then I told Cort over the phone (he was out of town), and I mentioned it to her teacher.

Will has been a little further behind on the reading curve. He knows a few words by sight, like CAT, DOG, MOM, DAD, and STOP. But if he tried to read the word "can" he would usually sound out c-a-n and then exclaim "cat!!" So, I didn't think he was really getting the whole sound-out-the-words-and-then-read-them thing.

So Wednesday night, Will said that he wanted to read a book. I thought he was going to pick a book that he had memorized. But he picked another BOB book. And then, lo and behold, he read the whole thing himself. (OK, he made two small mistakes, but then I had him re-do them and he figured them out himself.)

It looks like we are about to have two more readers in the family!

Never, ever underestimate the power of twin competition.

Second grade already

So, have I mentioned that the boys are in second grade now? Or even mentioned anything about the end of first grade? No? Well, just so it's official, the boys finished first grade last May and as of last week they are second graders!

Our second graders on the first day of school

First grade ended well, with Joseph making all As for the whole year, and Charlie missing all As by only one (and learning a good lesson in the process about trying your best because a couple of poor grades can bring an average down to unsalvageable). Charlie had a great year, though. Joseph never could manage an "excellent" conduct grade, but at least he never fell below "satisfactory."

For a variety of reasons, though--including class placement that gets both of them out of cahoots with some of the more troublemakers in their grade--we are hopeful that second grade will be even better. Although it's only been a little over a week, they seem to be really happy. Of course, that could be because they haven't had any homework yet.

To commemorate the new school year, here are a few first-day-of-school thoughts from Charlie that just came home in his folder:

1. My favorite place is Grand Camyan.
2. After school, I like to Play.
3. My pet peeve is My Sister.
4. When I feel sad, it helps to Read.
5. If I could change my name, I'd call myself Charles.
6. My favorite time of the year is Christmis.
7. I wish I were as tall as Yao Ming.
8. I'm good at sports.
9. If I could rule the world, I'd make everone pay me.
10. I could make school a better place by cleaning up.
11. If I had $100, I'd Get sports stuff.
12. The best thing that happened to me last year was Doing math.
13. My favorite possession is Balls.
14. If I lived in another country, I'd like it to be Grand Camyan.
15. On my birthday, I'd like to Go to dave and Busters.