Soccer 2010

We haven't had any kids in soccer since Jake played when he was 9 (seven year break). So, this year we were excited to find a league just our speed and Caleb, Miriam and Ethan all played.  Their last game was on Saturday, and Leslie took photos to remember the season.

This is Ethan.  His team is called the Tigers.

Here the Tigers are trying to remember which goal is theirs. :)

Miriam played on a team with a lot of other little girls her age.  She had a great time.  Their team was called the Panthers.

Miriam is in the center.  She can really run and is quite competitive at heart. Fun to watch her play.

This is Caleb in an action shot (far right).

His team was the Burnt Marshmallows.  They were one of only two teams in this age group, so they battled each other every week.  This is saying "Good Game" to the Orange Crush.

All the kids had a great time and we enjoyed cheering for them.

Now we take a break until spring! Phew!

Volleyball

  Camille and Leslie have been playing volleyball this fall with the girls from our ward.  Last night was the last game, but the first one I was able to watch.  They are great girls!  Photo highlights follow:

Way to go, girls!

Halloween 2010

 Carving pumpkins

Ethan and pumpkin

The crew.  Jake stayed home to give out candy, but this was his costume for the big school Halloween dance.  Jake is a Man in Black, Leslie a pirate, Camille and Miriam are both the Dread Pirate Roberts.  Caleb is The Doctor (Doctor Who?). Ethan the vampire and Seth is Batman.

We had a visit from Grandma McAllister this year, she was the Paper Bag Princess. (A story I adore.)

Much candy was pilfered, many unsuspecting citizens frightened, and we were all pretty happy about it. :)

Seth Goes to School

Taylorsville High School has a preschool program where the students learn about child development and teaching young children.  Historically, this is my favorite kind of preschool for my children.  Not too serious, just some structure and some fun.  Seth started preschool this week.  I am not emotional about my youngest going to school unless you count the dawning realization that I could potentially have two hours to myself a couple times a week and that makes me ecstatic.  :) (I say potentially, because Ethan was a preschool dropout. So you never know.)

Seth's First Day of Preschool

Seth and his buddy Michael.  The second day of preschool was a Halloween party.  The kids were able to wear their costumes and parade around the school for teachers and high school kids to appreciate their cuteness.  They also did a bit of trick or treating.  Please take a moment with me to appreciate Seth's costume for what it really is: A too-small T-shirt with the batman logo combined with a cape from the dress up box and Seth is convinced he is Batman.  He zooms around in the cape and convinces most on-lookers, I am sure.  To me, I love how a suggestion of a costume transforms a child in their own mind, becoming their reality for a moment.  Childhood is precious. What I am learning over time is that we are all still in there, the little child in our heart still loves a good Batman shirt once in awhile, can still appreciate the whoosh of the chocolate as it cascades from the trick or treat bag onto the floor.  I'm grateful for my children who allow me to still enjoy Halloween.

Field Trip to the Zoo

Ethan's class went to visit the zoo this week and I was a chaperone.  We had a good time. Here are a few photos.

This is my personal favorite.  Ethan is generally a head taller than all of his classmates.  Grow, big guy!

Mother Daughter

Miriam and I went to the Mother Daughter party for her activity day girls.  It was a fiesta, and so fun with wonderful food!  Here are some pictures:

 Conga Line

Friends

A Pinata (the girls decorated this cute box)

So fun to be together!  Love you, Miriam!

Employment Update

Nathan is still looking for a job.  We have several, actually, but none of them come with a salary. :) We want the kind that does.  And benefits too.  Things are looking hopeful, there has been more interest in him lately, and some big construction projects have been awarded in our area, so we'll see.  I hope it comes soon, as we are weary of the situation and battle the depression demons and insecurity more than anything.  In all of this, we still have been greatly blessed.  This round of unemployment has taught us a lot about being on the receiving end of charity.  We have found so many loving people around us and we have been humbled at their goodness. We are thankful for prayers in our behalf, money left at our home and food from friends.  We are grateful for the things that we need appearing at yard sales or in bags of hand me down clothes.  I am glad for visits at just the right times or phone calls to listen and support us.  We feel eternally blessed by our families and friends.

Nathan is plowing through his master's program too.  That has been a stretch to go back to school, and I think he is brave.  He is also very excited about all of the things he is learning.  We hope it will be an investment in the future.

I am pooped.  I feel most days like the coyote on the roadrunner show as he falls off cliffs trailing little puffs of smoke or gets flattened by stray steam rollers.  The stress has affected my sleep, my waistline, my house, my interactions with the children and my marriage.  I wish it all over with.  But I know that all change, even good change, comes with stress.  There are debts to pay this time and the process of digging out of this mess will be long, no matter what.  We are changed by it all. I hope we will do good things with the change in perspective--that it makes us more loving and charitable too. There are direct debts of gratitude that I'm not sure we will ever be able to pay, but maybe sometime we can help someone else.