Join me...

...over on the Good Grief message board today for some fun challenges and prizes!! If you need to register yet, be sure to drop me an email at amanda@goodgriefblog.com and tell me what username you registered so I can activate your account. (Unfortunately, even requiring this, I still get scads of spammers trying to register for the board and post their awfulness.)

See you over there! :)

Catching up...

Hi there. For those who don't know, we've been out of town...went to WA for about a week after Nathan's grandpa passed away on the 27th. We got home late Tuesday (11/3) and are still in the catching up mode. I'll update more as I can but wanted to at least point ya'll over to the Good Grief Blog where I've belatedly posted the latest challenge. :) Check it out!

Goooooooaaaaaallllll!

So, yesterday was the last day of the official fall soccer season. To date (in the five seasons of soccer we've now participated in), neither Noah nor Asher has scored a goal, despite valiant efforts and much wishing. :) (Technically, though, Noah did score once, but it was called back on a questionable "off sides" call so he doesn't really count it.) We figured Micah would score the first "real" goal among them (since U5 is just 3 players per side and all...the other two started later when teams were 6 players per side and the fields are bigger), but it wasn't looking like it as the season came to an end. Micah is just happy to be on the field and loves to run and smile, often nowhere in the vicinity of the actual soccer ball. :)

But. Micah's coaches were determined to get him a goal before the end of the season (as all the other boys had already scored at least one goal). I think they wanted it more than he did, lol. So, in the third quarter (having unsuccessfully encouraged him aplenty during the first half), they positioned him about five feet in front of the goal and specifically instructed the other two boys to simply get the ball to Micah.

It was hilarious! They'd kick the ball up there and Micah (being his literal self and having been told to stay right there) would kick the ball but then would not move from that spot. Numerous times the ball came and didn't make it into the goal. Everyone on the sidelines (even the referees) knew Micah's name by that point and were encouraging him. One coach was standing right behind the goal and the other was directing the ball to him. 

And, finally, the ball made it into the goal:

 And life was good:

They did this twice for Micah before resuming the more normal flow of the game and the kid couldn't possibly be happier. :) It was awesome. 

(Unfortunately, both Noah and Asher lost their games yesterday and still haven't scored. Asher was immediately happy for Micah and didn't really let it bother him. Noah took a little longer to come around, lol. Both Noah and Asher, though, got their trophies and had cupcakes yesterday for the season's end, so that helped. Here's hoping the six games at the tournament next weekend provide opportunities for them both, eh?)

Take that, Mother Nature...

So. If you'll remember, the early snow here pretty much wiped out the beautiful fall colors as most trees went directly from summer to dead leaves on the ground. Determined, though, to get at least some fall leaves pictures, the boys, a friend and I went on a walk yesterday afternoon. We walked around our neighborhood, little rake in hand. This was the end result:

Yup, that was one big pile of leaves. And it was one of only two spots along our entire walk where the leaves weren't all crumpled and dry and ugly. :) So there, Mother Nature. Ha. ;)

Off now to our last soccer games of the season (not counting next weekend's tournament, which will be six more games in two days...fun times)...Happy weekend to you all!

Encore.

Okay, I thought of more. They're pretty much all about Micah because apparently he's a hilarious kid. :) (Reminder, for those who can't believe how fast time flies, like myself...Micah just turned 4 at the end of July.)

- I get a kick out of how he's been math-crazy lately...totally just asks us math questions all the time and then congratulates us as if he actually knew the answer. Surprisingly, he often does know the answer...which freaks me out a bit. Why, for instance, can he quickly figure out how many more birthdays I have until I'm 100? He's been on this thing about people reaching 100 years old and can tell you how many more birthdays he needs and how many more you need, too. 

- On a related note, not long ago he got it in his head to just start counting. Completely random. To that point, I'd not heard him successfully get to 20 without getting mixed up in the teens. But that day, he made it to 359. I kid you not. 

- He's becoming a huge football fan. He often comes to me now and asks if there're any football games on that we can watch. I think he's figured out that if he watches football he ends up with some extra time with me. (The other two aren't interested.) Sweet boy. (And don't worry, I clearly inform all my boys that, yes, those football players get hurt...it's a fun game to watch, but not to play, lol.)

- Did I tell you about the day he realized his leg was longer than his arm and then proceeded to try to check if this was true for everyone? Funny stuff. :) 

Yup, done again. :) I actually did some scrapbooking last night and was very productive. Can't share it yet, though. Will try to do some more that I can share soon, okay? Okay. ;)