Parent-Teacher conferences

We had parent-teacher conferences for three of our four kids this week.

We found out from Joseph's teacher that he is doing wonderfully. At the beginning of the year we were a little worried about his reading, but she says he is reading on a 4th grade level as a 2nd grader and is in the top reading group in his class. She said he skips 98% of the math work because he has already mastered it before she introduces it, so he is given extra work to do independently or with one other little boy. She teaches her class algebra (in the 2nd grade!) and he is loving it. He is also writing stories way above his age level. And he has had no discipline problems.

We found out from Will and Helen's teacher that they are doing wonderfully, too. She recognizes that Helen is headstrong and independent, but says she is very much a leader and it serves her well. She loves Will and obviously "gets" him. She told us that they both pick up on things very quickly. And even though they are the youngest in their class, they are ahead of many of the much older kids.

So now, of course, the question is: Do we go ahead and schedule a conference with Charlie's teacher? Or should we just quit while we're ahead?

Love that girl

Before soccer started, Helen proclaimed that she did not want to play. We signed her up anyway.

The first game, she hovered around the ball, but she would not kick it.

The second game, she kicked it a few times, but fell back as soon as someone took it away. Then she started crying. She spent the entire second half sitting on the sidelines crying. When I asked her why, she said because "I can't score a goal."

During the next week, we pointed out that Joseph had not yet scored a goal for his team, but he wasn't crying. We told her that a player who is sitting on the sidelines crying will never be able to score a goal. And when Joseph scored a goal in his next game, we pointed out that if he had been crying, he would not have scored.

At which point she looked me in the eyes and said, "You can stop telling me that Mom. I know that. And I am not going to cry ever again in soccer."

And then she went out in her game and played her little heart out. She did not score that game. She did score in the next game. Twice. Since then, she has scored more. And not scored. She has been aggressive, she has played great defense, she has been enthusiastic and competitive, she has been in the thick of things every game, and she has loved it. And she hasn't cried once. I really don't think she'll ever cry again.

I absolutely love that girl's determination. She's going to do okay in life.

Snaggle-toothed

Coach Cort

He's really so good at this.

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween

from Super Why

and Princess Presto

who despite her newfound princess-ness still insisted on wearing Crocs with her dress

and also Harry Potter, the seeker (we were running out of sports themes!), with the snitch

and Quidditch Captain and keeper Oliver Wood and his quaffle.

We sure enjoyed our loot

and, as always, handing out the candy with Dad.

We found out too much candy is a little like too much of something else, in that it can make you fall backwards into bushes.

But we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

. . . . We are not, however, looking forward to tomorrow.

Gramma's here!

The kids went to the airport last night to pick up Gramma and her suitcase.

Conversations in the car

Helen: "Daddy, C-A-T spells cat."

Cort: "Very good. What does C-A-T-E spell? Remember that the E is a silent E."

Helen: "C-A-T [using a long A] spells Cate!"

Joe: "Ha! Like Cate [last name omitted]"

Charlie: "Yea, she was the first girl I kissed on the lips."

The little advantages that come with having twins

When one kid comes home with the word "frixy" on his spelling list, it's nice to have another kid in the same grade. Because then you can look at his spelling list and figure out that the word is actually "frisky."

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.