March in Recap

How on earth can it have been a month already?   The speed at which these days go by now, is incredible.  We've finished soccer (A SUPER successful season - finishing 3rd overall in a few different leagues and tournaments), swim has continued for Atlas (who, can actually swim now, he just needs to learn how to breathe, the teacher hasn't shown him that yet), track has begun (Ares is pretty set to run the 1600, 800 and long jump - although, first meet isn't until next weekend). 
Ares turned 9!  (What!?!?!) and got a Nintendo Switch for his birthday.   His parents are the coolest, aren't they?!


These boys (yes, plural  now!  Atlas eats them too!)  put SO MANY jalepenos on their nachos and in their macaroni and cheese!  Crazy kids!

U-9 Streetsboro United played in the Upper Division after going undefeated in the Lower.
They got 3rd, I believe, and they allowed the least amount of goals in the whole league.  Go Defense!

RENT this month!  The singing was AMAZING, but I'm not sure I'd see it again

My favorite photo of Atlas thus far!



This is what Ares practiced in for Track. I couldnt' take a photo from the track, as my fingers were frozen, so I waited.  We couldn't see the kids on the other side of the track, when we were standing at the center of the football field.

Why, We Have a Runner!

OK Guys, seriously, you know how we all say how much Ares is like his daddy... no joke, we decided to have him join cross country this season.   Their practices were a joke at first - freeze tag, duck duck goose, you know, the things that you do to get kids to run without them knowing that they're running.   We were told that they will be running 1.5 miles, so I took him for a run around the Aurora Lake one Saturday.  the kid ran the 1.75 miles in less than 14 minutes, and totally whipped my butt.  (After him jogging in place twice, I told him to just keep going and not wait up for me). 

The next day was his first race.  It was there that we learned that it was only 1 mile.   Neat, right?   Ares was SO SO SO nervous.  He's never raced before, and had NO idea what to expect.  He started off fast.  Very, VERY fast.  I dreaded the end of the race... until he came out of the woods, and I realized he was in the top 6 runners!  Whoa!   Out of 93!  Well, turns out, this kid has a kick as well!  In his first ever race, he got 3rd place, with a 7:21 time!!   Yeah baby! 

He said he didn't try his hardest, because he had a pain in his side (a cramp)  Oh my goodness, this kid! 

So the next week was Labor Day weekend, and no race.   He raced again the week after that, and out of 92 kids, he got 2nd place!   The only reason it wasn't first, was because the kid wouldn't let Ares pass him, he kept putting his foot out.  Ares didn't know what he should do, so he finished less than a half of second behind him.  7:12:36.  O.M.G.   The kid who beat him, collapsed in exhaustion at the end of the race.  Ares walked to get some water and then to watch the rest of his team finish. 

This past weekend, he decided he wanted to play in one of his soccer games (he's missed 4 already this season).   This kid!   Look at this awesome photo! 

Oh, and the Tribe won 22 games IN A ROW!!!!  AMAZING!!!!    (Swept Detroit (so add a W there) and won the first game against the Kansas City Royals. 

Ares' new trick move

They learned this in practice, so happy to see him actually execute during a game.  And a pass to a teammate to follow!

First Day of Soccer - Atlas

Atlas had his first practice EVER for soccer.  It was a riot!  This kid!  Spent all his life watching his brother, and now it's his turn to play.  All he wanted to do was dribble and kick into the goal.  He's hilarious, he still runs like a little baby, but handles the ball pretty well for just turning 3, haha.   He had so much fun and Ares was a great help for getting him excited to play. 

U-8 Soccer Streetsboro United

This kid.  THIS KID!   He has improved drastically in 6 short weeks.   He has always hustled, but he's gotten aggressive,  not afraid to steal the ball,  he's learning how to kick and follow,  and even scored 2 goals their last game!   (I think there were 5 goals that game). 

Well, it's November....

And we've been quite busy since.... August?  Ooops.    I'll post pictures some day.   Like, Halloween.  Maybe. 

Ares started and finished soccer.  He's an awesome defender and even made a few goals this year.  He's improved so much, that he's one of the best kids in the league!  (He had a good team this year and they all made each other better, not to mention a good coach.) 

Atlas had fun at practices too.  He'd just run around with a ball.   Sometimes I'd have to chase after him.   Adam was working a long 1-10pm shift during this time, which wasn't fun for any of us, but it was fortunate that it was right before his big race in Vermont, so he got to train in the mornings when the kids were at school.  

Soccer was 2-3 times a week, which was crazy hectic for me to make dinner, pick the boys up, feed them in the parking lot and watch soccer, but it's made me stronger, and we had BEAUTIFUL weather for pretty much the entire season.  Plus, I got the best parking spot each day because we got there early to eat.   #silverlining

Adam managed to finish his Spartan Ultra Beast race.  This was 26 miles of mountainous terrain with 50 obstacles in a certain time frame.  He did awesome, but called me saying he will NEVER do it again.  He was miserable.   I don't believe him one bit.  
He's decided that he wants to get into welding.  So last week and this week he's spent a ton of $$ to get safety gear and a welding kit thingy.   HE's pretty excited about it, me?  Well, I hope it's not another one of those 'hobbies' that he throws all this money  into and does nothing at all with it.  *cough* sand blaster *cough*  I can *cough* about 7 other things, unfortunately.  

I've been prepping for a vendor event this coming weekend, in which I'm hoping to sell some of my hobbies' fruitions.   I made a countdown to Disney and countdown to Santa blocks.   Adam signed me up for a 15k this weekend.  I'm not excited at all about it, but I am curious if I can run/walk 9.3 miles.  I hope the weather isn't too cold.  It's calling for high 30's/mid 40's. 

We've had some fantastic weather these past few weeks.   We even put up our Christmas lights in 75* weather!  In NOVEMBER!   We had a week straight of 70's, surrounded by weeks of 60's.  It's been pretty amazing, so we've gotten NOTHING done around the house (it's a messy disaster) because we've been taking advantage of this beautiful weather.  The time change kinda stunk, because it's dark when we get home now, but at least the kids play outside at school and we've been spending all weekends outdoors. 

The boys are absolutely amazing.  They play SOO well together.  SO WELL.   Atlas likes to get piggy back rides from Ares, and then they fall, laugh hysterically, and do it again.  Sometimes they fall hard, but they have learned how to get each other ice packs, so the tears are minimal.  I am delighted at how well they get along.  I never thought at 6 and 2 that theyd have the same interests.   Apparently, dressing up in costumes, wrestling and legos are a boys dream.   In fact, I've been purging our toys because the kids have only been playing with each other and a few select toys.  

I want to have a huge purge for the house, but can't find time to do it.  Adam's been working Saturday's (has monday's off) but I haven't given him honey-do lists, so I still try to get things done while watching the boys, (hah, yeah, that doesn't happen).  I did take a half day off to purge the toy room and managed to clear out the linen closet when I was between jobs .
Right now, that's what I want to do all the time.  Just begin to purge all the crap from my house.  We have lots of stuff, and no where for it to go other than what seems like counter tops and closets (but there's no room in the closets anymore).  

This winter isn't nearly as busy as most of our past years have been.   We're still doing our Luau in January, hopefully going to Atlanta in February, probably the Song party in April again.  But thus far, Nov/Dec are looking pretty nice.

OH!  And Ares came home begging to join Cub Scouts.   We're hoping he love it.  Not excited about another activity at night, but excited about him getting involved.   Hopefully this goes a long way.