A Little Break in the Action

Last night Kelsey's soccer practice was cancelled, so she enjoyed spending time doing one of her favorite things - sleeping :) Conner's practice was cancelled tonight, so he actually got home by 3:45 today - the first day home from school before 6:00 since school started. He was very excited to be able to relax at home and eat a couple of cookies out on the deck in the sunshine. All five of us were able to eat dinner together two days in a row - what a treat!

Very Wet Day!

Today was so much different than yesterday! We got absolutely drenched at the soccer tournament. Kelsey got so soaked that we had to go to the laundromat in between her two games to dry out her clothes, shinguards, and cleats, rather than enjoy a picnic with her team like we had originially planned. We stopped by the Dollar Tree to see if they had a t-shirt and shorts we could buy so that she could change out of her uniform while it was drying. We settled for an adult-size sweatshirt and a pair of flannel boxers that she changed into in the restroom of the Dollar Tree - not quite how we were expecting to spend our time in Canby :) One of the highlights of the day was all 5 of us hanging out at Starbucks in between games, just visiting with each other and helping Conner write a sonnet about tomatoes!

Canby Tournament

It was a very beautiful day for a soccer tournament in Canby. It's pretty cool to watch soccer games with Mt. Hood as the background! The girls played very hard today. McKenzie's team lost their first game 6-0 and then lost their second game 3-1. They're not used to losing like that, but they definitely hung in there. Kelsey's team won 2-1 against a club team, so that was an extra fun win.

Westside Christian is Amazing!

We continue to be amazed by Conner's new school. He loves going to school and today was matched up with a Senior buddy. The seniors took the freshmen out for lunch, and Conner had such a great time. He said that his guy is very nice and outgoing. It is so cool to see how the school really sets the kids up for such great success. Today when Conner got home there was a postcard waiting for him from one of his teachers who is the leader of his focus group. Each week the kids meet in focus groups for 40 minutes to have time to talk about life, work out problems, get mentored by an adult, etc. Conner really is maturing and becoming more responsible right before our very eyes. We are so excited for him and feel that paying tuition for this school is worth every cent!

Assist for Conner!

Conner played in his very first high school soccer game tonight against the toughest team in the league (OES). Conner played forward for most of the game and made the assist for their goal! I was amazed by how fast and strong Conner is! All of his conditioning and practicing over the past 6 weeks has definitely paid off. Westside led 1-0 for 3/4 of the game, and then the other team scored on a PK for a handball at the very end of the game. It was still very exciting to tie the game because Conner didn't think they even had a chance!

Looking Forward to Fall

I am definitely getting in the mood for fall - it is one of my very favorite times of the year. Yesterday morning was so pretty seeing the rain, sunlight, and fog on our back deck, with the sunlight coming through the slats of the chairs. I absolutely love seeing the leaves change colors, lighting candles almost every day when it's dark outside (I bought a new Chestnut Spice candle at Williams and Sonoma this weekend :), and baking fall-type desserts. Tonight I made an apple cobbler from the apples off our tree (it tasted much better than the picture looks!). Peter's mom used to make apple cobbler quite a bit, so he asked if I ever wanted to try to make one. It turned out to be quite tasty!

Soccer, Soccer, and More Soccer

Kelsey had a great game today - she scored 2 of the 4 goals for her team, so she was pretty excited. She is really enjoying her new team as you can tell by the look on her face. The girls have such a great time together, cheering VERY loudly, doing warm up dances, etc. Kenzie's team tied 1-1 again. Conner missed almost a full week of soccer due to being sick but is supposed to play in his first game on Monday.

On the Mend...

Conner has had the stomach flu for three days. He's feeling better this afternoon, so hopefully he will go back to school tomorrow. He had to miss two days of school already - kind of a bummer of a way to start off high school. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't spread through the family!

A New Collection

It's neat how most kids really enjoy collecting things. Peter remembers collecting coins when he was a kid, and I collected little bear figurines that I put in a shadow box. Kelsey is our collector out of the three kids. She collected many, many Webkinz for a couple of years and has now started collecting erasers. Today I saw that she has categorized all of her erasers - they looked so cute I just had to take a few pictures. The middle row of hampsters almost look like they were aware that I was taking their picture!

All Home at the Same Time

Today's lunch was the first time this week that we were all home at the same time! Given our different schedules, all 5 of us did not eat together at the same time this week. We have been doing meals in shifts since Conner doesn't get home until 6:30 and Kelsey or McKenzie is at practice every night when he gets home. So today when we were all home at the same time, I just had to have Conner's friend take a picture :) Both Kelsey and McKenzie had their first soccer games today. Kelsey scored the first goal of the season for their team, and they won 4-0. McKenzie's team tied a team that had been undefeated for 2 years. They were very excited to tie as McKenzie was sure that they were going to lose :) After lunch McKenzie and I got our hair cut, and the stylist straightened my hair for me. I hardly recognize myself!

Day 2

Well, good news to report - 2 out of the 3 kids love school, and one is okay with it. Conner LOVES high school. Last night he gave it a "10" out of a scale of one to ten, despite that he forgot his locker combination the whole first day (except for the first time he opened it) and that he didn't get home until 8:45 after his team played their first soccer game in the pouring down rain. We are so proud of him, as he has had an amazing attitude these first couple of days. He has come home happy, talkative, and excited. He even did some of his math homework in the car on the way home (without being given this suggestion!) His favortie classes so far are World History, Bible, and Multimedia for Mac. It is amazing all of the things that he has to remember to bring home and pack up each night for soccer. We are hoping that nothing gets lost in a friend's car on the way to soccer practice or in one of the carpool cars :) McKenzie wasn't too thrilled the first day because she does not have enough of her friends in her classes. Since school is all about friends, it looks like she will be needing to make some more friends so that she can better enjoy her classes :) Yesterday was better, though, because she had PE, and there were at least 10 of her friends in her class. Kelsey is also loving school. She told me after the first day that she has never really liked school but couldn't wait to go back to 5th grade the next day. She said, "That's the first time I've ever said that." That was news to me that she's never really liked school, but it's a good sign that she's off to a great start.

3 Kids, 3 Schools

All three kids have left for school this morning, and I'm always sentimental on the first day. This first day was different than all the others for a few reasons. Conner started high school, McKenzie is going to school for the first time without a brother or sister, and this is the last time I will send a child off to elementary school! Conner left first at 7:10, kissing and hugging both of his sisters :). I took Kelsey to school at 8:15, and McKenzie left on the bus at 8:40. They all did wonderfully - they were nervous, but also excited.

I made sure to wake up early today to be able to have my quiet time and pray before starting off our school year. I can sometimes feel anxious about having so many different schedules to keep track of, practices to go to, working full time, etc. That's why I have to do my quiet time in the morning, or I would be a complete mess :) Our message at church on Sunday was Psalm 127 which says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Our pastor encouraged us to substitute whatever we do for "building the house" to help us to see that whatever we do without God leading us, it leaves us empty. So for the past few days, I've been thinking, "Unless the Lord helps me do all the driving this week, I do it in vain," Unless the Lord helps me clean and cook, I do it in vain," etc. This has helped me so much the past couple of days and gives me a fresh perspective on the things I do day in and day out. So this morning I got down on my knees and asked God to really lead me this morning as I woke up the kids, made them breakfast, and took them to where they needed to go. We had a great morning and all went smoothly. A couple friends and I are celebrating "Back to School" by going out for lunch and getting pedicures. I can't wait to hear how they all did today!

Happy Birthday, Mia!

Today we celebrated Mia's 2nd birthday at the Coussens. She is such a sweet little girl. She loves seeing her cousins, and they love seeing her! She fell down the stairs last night and had to go the hospital :( Not a fun way to celebrate a birthday. She was a very happy girl, though! We enjoyed seeing everyone, and the kids had fun playing basketball and running around in the backyard. Katie and Jim did some cartwheels for us - proving that they still are young!

More Painting!

I think I'm "nesting" before school starts in a few days! It's been great having 3 weeks off from work (well, paid work). Closets are cleaned out, rooms are painted and organized, and carpool schedules are ready to go. Our last projects are washing the outside windows and organizing lunches and dinners for the next couple of weeks. The bathroom had never been painted and was in need of some color. Mom and Dad gave me the rest of the paint they had from one of the bedrooms they had painted. We all love the color!

New Room!

Now that our internet is back up and running (after Comcast being here for 3 hours today), I can finally do a new post! This weekend Mom and Dad came over to help transform Conner's room into a room ready for a highschooler. We decided to paint his room the same colors as his new school's colors (which just happen to go with the Badger and Blazer colors!!) Now we just have to buy some poster frames, a black rug, and hang up his posters. Dad did a great job supervising all of the painting and has now decided to become a painting instructor at PCC :), Mom did a great job with the touch ups on the black line, so good that Dad is going to have her be a guest speaker in his class. Conner and McKenzie both helped a lot. Peter helped with all of the prep work, cleaning up, and the pizza run (he HATES to paint :) - it was definitely a team effort!