Sam's Last Soccer Game

Last night was Sam's last soccer game of the season. Between the awesome coach, Sam's success, and the mild weather, I hated to see this season end. And I can safely say I've never felt that way about a soccer season in the two years since he started to play. He's had a great season, with a coach who focuses on ball handling, plays engaging games at the practices so the kids practice skills and don't get bored, and is very encouraging and full of praise on the field. In addition, Sam has been pretty focused during the games, and really goes after the ball. His ball handling skills have imporved greatly, and he scored at least one goal at most of the games. Gage being on his team and having friends to sit with at each game was nice also - even Maria had a friend there to play with. All in all, a great fall season of soccer.

Sam is asking to play basketball next so we are looking into that. I think the Fairbanks youth league plays on Saturday mornings so both kids may be able to play (Maria really want s to play too).

Grandma K.'s Birthday

Yesterday was COTA day - a day off for the kids but a work day for Ben and I. Rita and Darrell came to watch the kids and see Sam's last soccer game last night. Since Rita's birthday is Sunday, we celebrated when she was here yesterday. The kids wanted to make her a Build a Bear for her birthday, to celebrate her retiring from Brady Ware and starting her own business in the area of consulting and speaking to other accounting firms (see her blog here for more info.) And of course Maria and Sam have trouble going to Build a Bear and not getting anything for themselves, so they brought their allowance - Sam made "Fluffy" the Koala who has a guitar and the coolest shoes ever, and Maria made "Winter" the dog in an argyle sweater. So Thursday night the kids and I went to the mall and made three bears (2 bears and 1 dog, actually). And they were so excited when Grandma got here that they had her open it at 7:30 in the morning.

Anyway, Grandma's bear was meant to look professional (you be the judge - it wasn't easy, even with all their choices there). And we also had cake with candles, even though it was rushed with Sam having a 6:15 game. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Aquarium Update

We are 10 days into our aquarium experience, and so far, so good. Salty, Seaweed and Sheldon the Snail are all alive and well (at least as far as I can tell). The kids take turns feeding them each day, and they remember on their own. Maria is in the habit of doing it (or reminding Sam to do it) each day when they get home from school. Sheldon is the most interesting to watch - we always check to see where he is. Yesterday he was missing for about an hour, but then I saw him crawl out of Squidward's Easter Island house. If all goes well, we'll probably add some new fish in a couple of weeks. Hopefully you can see the fish in this picture - I know the other one was pretty far away. Sheldon is on the right branch of the driftwood, Seaweed in to the left of Squidward's house, and Salty to the right.

Coat...Found

This afternoon Dolly, Sam's kindergarten teacher called and said that Sam's coat has been found. If you remember, Sam's coat went missing over three weeks ago and I tried every place I could think of to check. Teachers, bus drivers, lost and found, etc. So I finally ordered him a new coat (did I mention that the lost coat was BRAND NEW?) after over a week of looking and checking with everyone numerous times. The new coat - similar in style but different color, arrived Friday.

Sam has worn the new coat three times - Saturday night at a cook out, and to school yesterday and today. So I probably can't send it back.

So now he has two coats. The new one is a size bigger so hopefully he can wear it in the spring too. I was afraid this would happen.

So where was the coat? In Mrs S.'s room - the other kindergarten teacher. Carol the bus driver found it on her bus that takes the kids to and from the church for Kinder paws. Carol thought it belonged to a student in Mrs S.'s class and so she took it there. And it sat there for three weeks until Dolly spotted it today. Not sure why it was never taken to Lost and Found, but then again everyone isn't as obsessive/compulsive about student's crap in their rooms as I am. Honestly, I can't wait until this new building is done and Sam stays in the same place all day - its impossible to keep track of him (and his stuff). Thanks goodness I like and trust the adults he spends all day with, otherwise his crazy schedule would be difficult to handle.

Pumpkin Farm Visit and Other Weekend Stuff

This afternoon we visited Leeds Pumpkin Farm, which is about 10 minutes outside Marysville. We go every year, a Keller family tradition. Today, there were at least twice as many people there as we have ever seen. And it was pretty hot in the sun. Because of the crowd, we had to wait to do everything - the big slide, the tubes to walk in, and the new jumping pumpkin they had. It was like an amusement park. The kids had fun, but wanted to leave after doing three things, which still took an hour with the waiting. We didn't even get to see the farm animals, but Sam and I will be back in a couple of weeks for his re-scheduled kindergarten field trip. We got our kettle corn and pumpkins and left - we were hot and thirsty. Next year, we are going to have to plan this better - maybe not go on such a nice day!

We also got some stuff done around the house today - much of which has been neglected since we've been so busy and Ben has been working so much. Ben cleaned out the garage, and I organized Sam's dresser and closet - adding some of Mason's clothes and bagging up a lot that didn't fit. I still have to do my closet and Maria's (which I need her input on), and couldn't put all the summer clothes away quite yet, but I do feel like I accomplished a lot. I'm hoping to get the rest of the closets done by the end of next weekend. Of course then I have to do the coat closet, and bug Ben to do his...it really is never-ending. I've resigned myself to the fact that the entire house will never all be organized at the same time!

Yesterday, Sam had a great soccer game - scored two goals and was focused almost the entire game. Maybe Grandpa K. coming to watch inspired him. After soccer, Darrell and Ben took Sam golfing - I think he lasted through 7 holes, after which I picked him up so they could finish 18. Maria chose to play with Mason and Lindsey rather than golf. Then after dinner we spent time at the superintendent's camp-out at the school (a vote-for-our-levy activity and Ben in charge is in charge of the committee). We took Mason with us so the kids had someone to play with - they enjoyed Hide and Seek in the dark. Then we ended the evening with some family Wii bowling.

Friday night I took the kids to the Miami/OSU ice hockey game at OSU. We met Doug and Mike there and their families. Miami should have crushed OSU - our hockey team was rated 8th in the nation. But it ended in a 3-3 tie. We left before overtime - it ended up going to a shoot-out where OSU finally won. Maria loved it and enjoyed learning about the game. Sam liked the first period and wanted to go home after that, but he made it through to the end of the game - staying for overtime was out of the question. But I'm glad we went - I just wish Ben had been able to join us!

Fish!

Tonight we bought fish for the aquarium. Two guppies (each kid picked one) and one snail. Maria named her guppy "Seaweed," Sam named his "Salty," and they agreed to call the snail "Sheldon." Time will tell how it goes, but we do have a 14 day warranty on each of them. Maria and Sam like to watch the tank - Sheldon is amazingly active for a snail.

Maria News

Maria finally lost her tooth today. It has been hanging by a thread for a while now, and it finally fell out in Science class today. Mrs. Hall gave her a little tooth box to put it in and it hangs around her neck. She left it out for the tooth fairy tonight.

Tonight was also Parent Observation night at ballet and gymnastics. This is her fifth year of ballet, her second of gymnastics. She has Miss Patty in ballet this year, after four years of Miss Krista, Patty's daughter. And this year seems much tougher to me. They spent a lot of time working their muscles, holding positions and perfecting different poses. My muscles were tired just watching her. But she did well and I was proud of her.

Then we moved to Gymnastics. There are only 3 girls in her class, only two were there tonight. So Maria gets tons of individual attention, and is working on all kinds of new stuff, none of which I remember the names of. Back and front walkovers, etc. She can do a cartwheel on the balance beam, which is pretty impressive. I think her skills have improved so much since the last time I watched her in the spring. Both teachers told me that Maria is doing well. Miss Christina (gymnastics) was appreciative of how coachable Maria is - how well she follows directions and takes criticism and works hard to improve.

Tomorrow evening we go get fish for our tank. We have sucessfully kept the thermometer in the green zone and have some idea of how long we need to run the lights each day to keep it there. We are trying to prepare the kids for the possibility of fish death, especially in the beginning. Look for updates tomorrow night - I will try to post fish pictures tomorrow.

Sam's Version of Things

Yesterday we sent Sam to school with his purple bruised eye from his fall on Saturday night. The eye looks worse with each passing day, even though it is healing, the bruise spreads more and more each day - now his eye lid is purple too.

So even though everyone is the school district knows us, and I've been friends with his kindergarten teacher for over 10 years, I was still a little uneasy about sending him to school with a black eye. But I knew that Dolly had a new student coming, one in a wheelchair with a feeding tube, so she had enough to worry about. I decided not to e-mail her about his eye - that Sam could tell her what happened.

Monday after school I asked Sam if anyone had asked him about his eye.

Sam: Mrs. Wilson did.
Me: What did you tell her?
Pause
Sam: I just don't remember.
Me: Did you tell her you fell into the table?
Sam Fell into the table?
And then he laughed like that was the craziest thing he had ever heard.

So this morning I e-mailed Dolly to tell her what had really happened, since I was a little scared about Sam not remembering what he may have said. She said that Sam told her and the class that he was "wrestling with my Dad and I hit myself in the eye." Which is interesting, since Ben wasn't even home when it happened.

But at least we haven't heard from Children's Services. Yet.

Weekend Update

Random Updates from our Weekend:

*Ben's last Saturday band contest was yesterday. The kids and I went to see them perform, then had dinner at Boston Market - one of our favorites (where else can Sam get a Mac and Cheese kids meal, with a side of Mac and Cheese, and substitute the cornbread with more Mac and Cheese?). Although he did tell me he thought he might throw up when he was done eating. But he didn't, thank goodness. I thought the band looked pretty good - was able to get the best view of the drill I've seen yet this year. But they were disappointed with a 3rd place of three in their class. Ben is just ready to be done with the season. He doesn't have to work on a Saturday again until a January basketball game. Yay!

*Sam has a bit of a black eye. Last night, about 15 minutes before time for pajamas, when the kids usually go crazy, Maria was chasing Sam around the family room. He slipped and fell, hitting his face on the round end table (thank goodness it was round!) The first thing I heard was Maria saying "Oh my gosh Sam I'm so sorry" over and over again so I knew it was bad. This was followed by both kids bawling. Maria was able to get us ice before retreating to her bedroom where she continued to cry. Sam had a bump and bruise on the right side of his face, under and to the right of his eye. I was able to keep ice on it for almost 15 minutes, and I could tell the ice was helping the swelling. As soon as possible, I went to retrieve Maria out of her room, who felt so badly that she had caused Sam to get hurt. Eventually we all sat down and watched iCarly together, me holding ice on Sam's face. He started to talk and laugh, so I assumed there were no broken bones in his face or that would hurt it too much to laugh. A phone call to Ben helped to calm me as well.

Today the bruise has moved under his eye and it looks like he got punched in the face. It's not as dark as I had feared, however, and looks much better than when I put him to bed last night. And the good thing about his concussion last year - I know immediately when he doesn't have one, and last night I knew there were no signs of that, at least. And Maria and Sam had a sleepover in her room last night, where I heard them talking and giggling for quite a while, so all was forgiven between them.

*We finally went to Jack's Aquarium this afternoon and bought an aquarium and all the stuff for it. We ahev been promising the kids since May that we would get one. We have a 14 gallon tank and made it freshwater - were a little scared on saltwater maintenance. Plus the saltwater fish are more expensive which may be a problem if a lot of fish die. Each kid picked one thing for the tank - Sam picked an Easter Island head (Squidward's house) and Maria picked a piece of driftwood. Ben got it all set up and we can get fish for it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Ben also moved some furniture around in the front room to make room for the fish tank and the treadmill that I will be getting for my birthday next month.

Guess that's all the news here. Getting ready for another busy week.

New Name

Lunchtime conversation:

Sam: Can I change my name?
Me: No
Ben: When you're older you can if you still want to.
Maria: You can just tell people to start calling you whatever you want to be called.
Ben: That's called a nickname.
Me: But I'm still calling you Sam.
Sam: Daddy, what was your name when you were a little boy?
Ben: Ben
Sam: Really?
Maria: What do you want your nickname to be?
Sam: Umm...Jack. I want my name to be Jack.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the little boy on the other team that ran all over us at the soccer game this morning was named Jack. But it is ironic, because if Maria had been a boy, the name we had picked out for a boy was Jack. But by the time Sam came along, we were tired of the name.

So it might be interesting to see if he goes through with asking his friends to start calling him Jack.