Usually, I'm just another one of the losers.

I've never had much luck at contests and giveaways.

Seriously, I never win!

There was a brief moment of glory for me during an oreo stacking contest that Kroger hosted many years ago. I managed to stack 28 oreos in 30 seconds. I think it helped that my record breaking stack of cookies was mere minutes before the contest was over, and we just happened to still be in the store when they announced the winner. Thankfully, I was present to claim my prize or else it would have gone to someone else. Tragic.

I don't remember how old I was, but I do remember that I was old enough to be slightly disappointed that the prize was an animated copy of 101 Dalmations.

And so, I've managed to sustain a long streak of losing contests, sweepstakes and giveaways since then.

Until yesterday.

I got the call yesterday morning that I had won a drawing for an ipod. Woo-hoo!

I completed a survey several weeks ago about our experience with the state and the national training program for our foster care/adoption classes. Anyone who completed the survey was eligible to win the ipod. There is a pretty high chance that I was, in fact, the only one to complete the survey and I won simply by default. Even if that's the case, it's still worth getting excited about.

I realize I haven't mentioned much about the adoption in recent posts. It's honestly one of those things right now that just makes me a little melancholy. The excitement over the ipod yesterday also brought some feelings to the surface about the fact that there's not really anything happening.

I knew it could/would be a long process. I had many people remind me not to be in a hurry because the state certainly wouldn't be in a hurry! I knew there would be lots of turnover with the state, and we are now currently with our third social worker...a worker who has not ever met us or even spoken with us in person.

I think my heart still just breaks for children who are hurting. Children who are orphans.

We are still waiting and praying and hopeful that an adoption can and will happen for us. There's just no clear news or answer on when. It is yet another example of how God is so clearly showing me that I am not in control here!

We're strong. We're fast. We don't use our arms.

I officially have a love/hate relationship with soccer.

It was almost exactly a year and a half ago that we first signed Bo up to play soccer with our local Y. I was sporting a soccer ball of my own, but we were ready to enter the world of organized sports with our firstborn. It was a disappointing season, truthfully, mainly because it was a season that never was.

Three weeks into the season and dozens of unreturned phone calls from the sports program coordinator later, we opted to ask for our money back. Turns out our team was without a coach, and therefore without practices, games and information. By the time we got our refund, there was a coach working on the paperwork, but considering it would have been a three game season, we were glad to have an out.


When Jack came less than a week after our refund, I knew that we'd made the right decision!


Fast forward to late August of this year, and we decided to give it another go. I looked into several different league options, but since Bo has never played before, we decided to give the Y another shot. We did not want to end up in a competitive system!


Approximately a week before the first games were supposed to start, J called up to the Y [and miraculously got someone on the phone!] to try and find out why we had not been contacted. He was informed that our team was without a coach once again.


So he called me up and the conversation went something like this:
J: Hey, you interested in coaching a four year old soccer team with me?
E: Really?
J: Yeah, Bo's team doesn't have a coach.
E: You're kidding?
J: No. So what do you say? You up for the challege?
E: J, we don't know anything about soccer, or coaching soccer to a group of four year olds.
J: I know, but don't you think it will be fun?
E: Okay. [hesitant, very hesitant] I'm up for it if you are.
J: Done. I'll call the guy back so we can get the paperwork started.


And so it began. Our fall sports career as soccer coaches for Bo's team.


It took all of about ten minutes for me to go into panic mode as we started trying to figure out details and contacting parents.
Where, how, what do we practice?
Games? Snacks?
Oh, and I checked the calendar-J was scheduled to be out of town for our first practice, and I was scheduled to be out of town for our first game. How about that for planning??


We worked out the details, although I will admit I had to tell several parents I would get back to them with answers to their questions. What size ball? Probably a youth size of some sort...note to self, there are different ball sizes in soccer!


We invested in some equipment...goodness, it gets expensive fast...and we got "THE BOOK" from the Y that explained the basic rules and guidelines of the game. It also gives an agenda for each practice; an agenda, I might add, that we are following religously!


J drove a LOT of extra miles to make it back in time for the first soccer practice. A gesture so noble and unexpected that I burst into tears when I saw him in the parking lot. AND it took about 2 minutes at the first practice to realize that no matter how little I know about soccer, four year olds know even less! Coaching at such a young age is more about herding children around with dramatic hand gestures than it is about actually teaching much of the skills!


Then, J [with the help of the sitter I hired for the younger two munchkins] handled the first game like a pro, in the rain, without any assistance from me. Thankfully some parents stepped in to help and he had an experienced and patient official walk him through it. The game was not really all that close, but it seemed like the kids had fun.


It was after that first game, that J had the kids pick out a team name. We considered the bulldogs for a moment. [This was actually one of the other parent's ideas since J and I accidentally showed up to the first practice in similar GA Bulldog t-shirts.] J gave the kids the alternate option of being team T-Rex, and that was that.


He thought team T-Rex would be a great fit since the dinosaur is strong and fast but has little arms that are largely unused. Perfect for a rookie soccer team, right? AND we're looking for anything we can to reinforce the idea that the kids can't pick up the ball :)


J spent some time designing some coaches t-shirts for us and for the kids on the team to order if they are interested. They are really cute and you can sort of see them in some of the pictures, but I'll try to get some better ones on here if I can remember.


This weekend was our second game, and I finally got to watch J, Bo, and the team in action.

For those of you who have made it this far into the post, I hope you enjoy the photos!

Coach J working on some warm ups with the group. Even at four, they still look so little!




Jack and Ella acted like perfectly content and wonderful children for the 8 minutes of warm up. Then, the chaos began...more on that in a few.





The team circle at the start of the game. They all recite some sort of oath about sportsmanship and fun and doing their best. Notice Bo is chewing on his shirt? His fascination with his jersey and/or shorts became a theme of the game!




This was some time into the second quarter. Jack had eaten through the snacks I brought and was no longer interested in watching the game. This was the beginning of the end for him!


Bo working out something with his jersey.




Water break at the half.




Back in the game and making sure the jersey tastes just right after the water break.

Hmmm, are these shorts okay?

Not sure where the ball is.

Working the shorts and watching the action. Keep in mind this is during his time on the field!

It was at that point in the game that Jack had been doing this for approximately 9 minutes.


My picture taking and game watching took a serious hit for most of the second half as I held a screaming Jack. Even in my arms he would not calm down. I'm not sure why he was so upset, but it's pretty rare for him to be that enraged for that long. We'll just say that he kept the second half very interesting and I'm not sure how much the other parents appreciated his little show!

And here's the team lining up for high fives with the other team at the end of the game.

I'm honestly not sure who won. I know it was close, and J told me later that we scored six goals, but I have no idea what the official score was. It occurred to me later that it might have been my job to keep track of that, but I really have no idea! It's certainly too late to worry about it now.

And for the grandparents I took a little video. I don't think Bo is going to be the star of the team, but he said he had lots of fun!

I did ask him after the game if he thought it was more fun to play or to watch and cheer.


"Oh, mom, it's way more fun to watch and cheer. I like it when I get to do my dinosaur roar!"


And there you have it!

Maybe we don't get out enough.

It was beautiful today. Sunny, yet cool, and a perfect day to be outside.

I was playing a game of "soccer" with Jack when I heard Bo call for me:

"Look mom, it's a wild hog!"


What? Huh?
"Actually, I think it's too small to be a hog. It must be a guinea pig or a hamster."

Upon further inspection, we decided together that it was most likely some sort of very fuzzy caterpillar.

"Will you take my picture with the caterpillar?"

Ella wanted to get in there too...


I'm hoping there's not a wild hog in the backyard any time soon. A pregnant gal can only handle so much!

She likes it because it spins!

Remember when Jill walked me through the pattern?

Well, the shirt/dress has been a little big on Ella, so now that the weather is cooler she can wear it with a shirt underneath! She was so excited to put it on the other morning.

Look mom, it spins!

And so she spun...over, and over, and over.

Breathless, she finally slowed down.

"Oooooh, mom, I love it!"

Melts my heart!

Sign of the times

This morning as breakfast was ending I noticed things were not quite right with Bo and his cereal spoon...

The kids have started collecting their own bowls, spoons, and cups for breakfast. I'm happy to let them pitch in whenever possible, even if it means Bo eats his cereal with a serving spoon!

And as I'm typing this, J is watching a video of barking seals that is a part of one of his online video lectures...something about croup and how it typically presents.

These things make me giggle, but they also seem strangely normal. Just a sign of the times, I guess!

Back to reality

I'm somewhere between nostalgic, overwhelmed, and exhausted today after an absolutely fabulous weekend with my sister and her fabulous newborns.

I joked that when a long weekend with two week old twins feels like a vacation, it defnitely puts life at home in perspective!

I must say that my husband rocked it! Just the fact that he was willing to hang solo with the kids for four days was an amazing gift. I did leave him with seven pages of handwritten instructions and a refrigerator full of food, but he still had quite a bit to implement on his own. Not to mention he had to coach the soccer team's first game [in the rain] without the assistance of his assistant coach. Sorry about that one, babe!

We were able to skype with him on Saturday afternoon, and I felt totally validated as a mom when he said, "Em, I just can't believe that you do this for free!" That was some serious encouragement :)

And my sister...and those babies...there are no words for the wonderfullness that they are! I've been randomly sniffing things in my suitcase as I unpack in an attempt to catch a whiff of some of their newborn goodness. We ate; we snuggled; we lounged, we snuggled some more; we lounged some more, and we ate some more. It was heaven!

It made me so excited that I'm going to have some sweetness of my own to snuggle in a few weeks. I know some people don't really love the newborn phase, but I just can't get enough!

It was a bummer that I did not have a camera with me, but Sarah did get some shots that she's supposed to send me. I think I need to proof that I was actually there because at this point it still feels like it may have just been a dream. A seriously awesome dream!

I think loungewear may be my love language!

This week has been a flurry of activity. I don't generally like to advertise when J is out of town, but he's been out since last Friday. He did make the long drive for Bo's first soccer practice last night, so I guess technically he was here last night. More to come on the soccer experience; it's going to be quite a season!

Anywhoo-I've been all a flutter getting ready to go visit my sis and her precious new twins. I've been trying to get laundry done, meals planned, and the house generally in order before I leave J with the kids for FOUR whole days. Excited does not even begin to capture the emotion I'm feeling.

I called Sarah today as I was trying to pack just to see what I needed to bring, and she confirmed my intuition: loungewear it is! I can't tell you how fun it is to pack roomy t-shirts and pants without waistbands. Although, if I'm honest, it's been a while since I have worn a waistband :)

I can't wait to snuggle me some babies!

Makin' a list

Bo is thoroughly enjoying his ability to read, write, and spell. He is especially fond of making me lists. I mentioned the other day that I needed to start working on my list for the store, and he quickly announced he would be making me a list as well.

This is the first of quite a few magnadoodle lists from the past few days:

Are you starting to see why we're working on handwriting this year?

Translation:
Puppy
Book
Cap or Rap [for his head...that silent "w" in wrap is a little tricky! I will also add that I'm not entirely certain what a head wrap is, but Bo sure wanted one :)]
Cars Cup [his old one broke]

You're so sweet, ma!

Bo has decided to start calling me Ma. It just started a couple of days ago, and I'm not sure exactly how he even came up with it to be honest. It is, however, one of the absolute sweetest things to hear him say it.

It was today at approximately 5:42 that he looked at me and said, "you're so sweet, ma. Do you know that? You always do the things I love, and I love you, ma."

It was something to hang my hat on after a particularly long 48 hours...how about this recap?

Thursday afternoon, me:
nose=drippy
eyes=watery
sinuses=pressure
head=hurting

Friday:
Use an entire roll of tissue to blow nose - check
Have a roomfull of moms at MOPS tell me, "You don't look so good." - check
1 and 1/2 gallons of water consumed - check
Tylenol every four hours - check
27 squirts of ocean spray in my nostrils - check

Ella wakes up from her nap with a fever of 101 - check
Babes down and out by 7:30 PM - check

Saturday [did I mention daddy was at work today?]:
Wake up to screaming child at 6:03 AM~Jack
Wake up at 6:27 AM to the sound of a child throwing up~Bo
Round 2 of throw up at 8:23 AM~Bo
Runny diaper #1~Jack
Pitching a fit at 10:42 because sister doesn't like being whacked with book~Jack
Three sips of water, one bite of toast, and a little applesauce at 11:38~Bo
Round 3 of throw up at 11:41 PM~Bo
Runny diaper #2~Jack
Fever of 100 degrees at 12:37~Bo
Tummy hurts, on the potty at 12:38~Bo
Dose of tylenol and naptime~Bo
3:27 PM manages to keep down a pedialyte popsicle~Bo
3:41 PM wakes up with diarrhea in her undies and a fever~Ella
Runny diaper #3~Jack
4:50 PM popsicles for Ella and Bo that stay put...yay!

5:43 PM ravenous children devour dinner [eggs and toast] and play happily and fever free until 7:40 when they are all settled into their beds with nary a peep!

Bo did get up once to go potty and to remind me "I really love you, ma!"

How is it that J always manages to be working on our sick days??

Ahh, the smell of glue stick!

Almost two years ago, I started praying that there would be someone here to do "school" with for Bo. I knew that a traditional pre-k program was not really something I wanted to consider, but I like the structure and interaction of doing "school" with others.

Last year, Bo and I began a little formal instruction here and there. It was mostly phonics and some handwriting skills because I was an English major and honestly, that's just what I'm the most comfortable with! Towards the end of the spring, I started putting some feelers out there and found that there really wasn't anyone who was interested in keeping their kids at home for the pre-k year.

It was a bit discouraging, actually. It's not like I didn't have options; they just weren't options I really wanted to consider. Sending him to school every day for a couple hours? Sending him a couple days a week for a lot of hours? Nothing felt right.

I longed to do something at home with Bo and a friend [or two] as well as another mom [or two]. I knew the socialization would be good, and I also think that having someone else be the instructor is good for him. It certainly gives me some much needed perspective.

Fast forward to the end of summer, and I'd pretty much given up hope of finding someone willing to join me. I planned to visit a friend who had a baby recently and casually mentioned the situation to her. I hadn't really even considered asking her because, yeah, did I mention she has a newborn?? BUT it was a moment of utter delight when I discovered she too was interested in the same thing! We quickly decided on a basic curriculum and one day a week we'll be getting our boys together for school. Woo-hoo!!

We opted to wait until after Labor day so that we could really enjoy the end of summer. I spent a little time taking Bo to the store for his list of supplies and we then spent the holiday packing his backpack and preparing school supplies.

Bo and I are still doing some individual instruction each afternoon while the little ones nap, but I'm excited to have something that feels new to him one day a week.

Here he is decorating his supply box Monday afternoon. I think he wrote his name on there a dozen times!

So today was the "first day of school" around here. Last night, as I was doing my preparation for today's lesson, I suddenly found myself so nostalgic at the smell of the glue stick. I just got excited thinking about this new chapter for Bo, and for our family. Gluing race cars on card stock and preparing paint for our craft just filled me with thankfulness for my boy and for this experience.

Check out that smile! AND all three are in one picture; it's a miracle!

Our friend C was a little shy about the picture, so Bo took one by himself. I don't think C even realized he was in the background. Here he is saying "first day of school."

I'm so thankful for this opportunity to teach Bo and another precious boy, and I am excited that Bo has the chance to learn from another teacher. I'm also glad that I'll have some accountability to stay the course when this new little one arrives!

Go Dawgs!

So while it may not have been the most exciting start to the GA Bulldogs football season, Bo and J headed off Saturday morning to enjoy the festivities. Bo was beyond himself excited!


Walking to the stadium.

Before J and Bo left, I asked him to do a number one with his finger and say, "Bulldogs are number one." J said that Bo must have really thought that was a great idea because he ended up doing it in almost every photo for the rest of the day!

What kid doesn't have the time of his life when dad buys him cotton candy...

and a hotdog?


I hope Bo will have memories of this day for a long time because it certainly was a big first for him. The noise in the stadium was a little much intitially, but after a break [for some treats] and a phone call [to mom], they headed back to the stands :)

Who made you?

Growing up, I remember my dad doing catechism questions with us during our time of Bible study as a family. We've been able to do similar questions with our kids, and it is so amazing to see them learn [and remember] biblical truths.

Bo quickly picked up the questions, and within a relatively short period of time we were doing 30-40 questions a night. This got a bit time intensive, so we stopped doing them for a while.

J recently came up with a system that would allow us to review the questions each evening without taking a huge chunk of time, so we've reintroduced them to our bed time routine.

Jack was excited to get in on the question fun...

Question 1: Who made you? God.

Belated

This week totally got away from me. With the birth of the twins and the anticipation of J's birthday yesterday, I've been a little distracted from the blogging world!

We started the day with a birthday tradition; decorations in the kitchen.

The sign was a collaborative effort of all the children. Bo did most of the letters.

I love the part at the bottom. He started to write "DAD" in the orange, and decided his first line wasn't dark enough. The second letter accidentaly turned into a "P." Then, when he changed to the black paint pen, I think he forgot what he was writing and he started to write his name. We managed to get "DAD" on there eventually. Ella did all of the letters at the top. She's mastered "E, L, B, and P" at this point. I'm not really sure why, but the little girl has a mild obsession with the letter p.

The kids couldn't stand the wait, so we did presents just before dinner. They were a little disappointed when I reminded them that they had to give daddy their present instead of opening it for them. He was gracious enough to let them "help" anyways.

My exhaustive search for a babysitter so that we could have a birthday date was unsuccessful. I blame it on the holiday weekend and the obsession that most teenagers have with high school football. We opted to feed the kids an early dinner and have dinner just the two of us later in the evening.

The kids were excited to have their cupcakes when they finished eating.

Jack was especially fond of the frosting! He is so precious!


And the birthday celebration continues today! My brother hooked us up with two free tickets to the UGA/OSU football game, so J and Bo headed out for the afternoon. Bo was sooooooo excited about the big game and time with his daddy. I got the most precious pictures; I will try to get on here later.

Ella, on the other had, was a little sad to be excluded from the football game fun. She kept wailing, "but I really want to go to the soccer game with daddy and Bo."

Hope it was a great birthday, babe. We love you so much!

And they are here!

I don't have much information, but I thought everyone would want to know that Brooks and Reese are here! Sarah rocked it. She called this morning and was absolutely delirious with excitement.

Here's what I know:

Brooks
3:37 AM
5 lbs. 13 oz.

Reese
3:40 AM
5 lbs. 10 oz.

And no c-section...woo-hoo!

Restless

There are a million things I should be doing, including several blog posts I've been intending to work on; however, I've spent the majority of the afternoon just pacing. My sister is in that contractions-are-coming-but-are-they-steady-enough-for-real-labor-waiting-at-the-hospital-but-not-yet-admitted phase of her labor with the twins.

I can't seem to sit still.
I certainly can't focus.
Productivity is not my friend.

Oh, and not two minutes ago, I sprinted to my phone because I could have sworn I heard it ringing. Nothing.

I may lose my mind if she actually ends up carrying these babies for another week :)