First Soccer Game!

Today was Andersen's first soccer game. We signed him up to play soccer at the Y this year. The last couple of Saturdays were practices and today he played his first game. In the first game he played goalie but the ball never made it down to his end of the field. On that note Andersen pretended he was an airplane flying out of the net around and back in. The next two games he ran.

Within the first few minutes of the second game he had fallen. I thought he was ok at first but he took it a little too personally as he sat in the middle of the field. His feelings were hurt when he was accidentally knocked down. I thought it was going to be the end of soccer for the day for Andersen b/c he was shedding tears and didn't want to play anymore. I explained it was an accident, went over the object of the game, something Ron and I have been pep-talking him up all week for, and sent him back out. So he moped on the field with his head down. I pulled him aside again and chatted with him about brushing it off and moving on and told him to GO GET THAT BALL! After some motivational talk he was back in the game. He did fall again when he tripped over another kid's foot but jumped up and kept going. My pep talk did work b/c him and another boy kept at that ball leaving our field and into the next field where another game took place. Once the ref brought the boys back to our field Andersen said he was really tired had lost interest in soccer for a bit.

Andersen taking a breather and needing a pep talk to get him out there running again.

After the game and snack with friend and teammate Kylie!

Ended up not raining for the game, the field was hardly wet from last nights down pour, and was an excellent experience for all of us. Andersen seemed to enjoy it and the twins didn't pay any attention to it. I tried to video tape as much as possible since Ron missed his first game due to having drill this weekend.

Carter's humor

I have found each one of the boys have very different personalities and what they think is funny. Andersen is a goofy jokester, Jasper's a shy jokester, and Carter is....I don't know how to describe it b/c he will do something that makes Ron and I say what the hell? About two weeks ago we were at the park where that has a sand box and metal mechanical diggers for kids to sit on and dig in the sand. As I was watching the kids run around and chatting with a friend I noticed Carter over in the sand box. He was lying under one of the diggers. My initial reaction was to go get him when I realized he wasn't stuck by the way he was moving. I continued to chat and keep a close eye on him.

There was a couple of dads standing nearby and they had noticed Carter under the digger. Carter was saying, "Help me! Help me!" These dads began to walk over to Carter to help when Carter got out from under the digger and began running around laughing. The dads laughed when they realized Carter was goofing around.

Carter below saying "Help me! Help me!" while laughing.


Carter will do this at playgrounds or even at home where he'll trap himself in a laundry basket and say "Help me! Help me!" Last night after our movie night Carter picks Ron's foot up and takes an exaggerated smell. He began shaking his head and saying "whoa!" as he fell backwards as if he were passing out and laughing at the same time. Carter has this strange and off the wall sense of humor that always keeps us on our feet and laughing.

Lakefront 10 miler

Ok, I've heard I'm crazy that my first race was a 16K. Normal people start off with a 5K or 10K. I guess I look at it as if you can easily run 10 miles than why not just do it? And I want to thank my friend for asking me to run it. Ron says why pay to run 10 miles when you can do it for free but this was an awesome experience and I would love to do it again! Great run downtown Chicago. Wish the weather was a little nicer i.e. some sunshine. Race weather was a cool 50s and of course windy and overcast though the rain seemed to hold off.

As seen in the picture below I was very pumped I had been up early. This picture was taken at 4:30am by my husband Ron who wasn't happy with me waking him up to take a picture. =)


Upon arriving to the start I studied what others were wearing. When we went to pick up our packet it was really windy and cold. I was wearing my longsleeve shirt with shorts and could barely stand the wind. The toughest decision for me as I studied the apparel of the other participants was whether to wear my long sleeve shirt. I was so excited about the run I went out and bought a bright pink shirt with the logo RUN across it as seen above. I didn't want to cover it up. The new shirt's thin and hardly a tech shirt. Wasn't sure if it was going to keep me warm enough or was I going to regret wearing my warm long sleeve shirt. Of course I could have taken the long sleeve off and wrapped it around my waist but I'm all about the less baggage the better. Had one bathroom break a little after I passed the 6 mile marker and my right knee bothered me a little after the 7 mile marker but held through to the end. I had bought and worn a hat which I never do just in case if it rained. Mile 7/8 I was regretting wearing it. My head was so hot I wanted to just throw the cap off to the side. I finished with a strong sprint which meant I could have pushed myself harder on the last mile instead of reserving my energy.

The group that we went downtown with. Great group of people who I just recently met but my friend Amanda's known for years. I was the only one who brought a camara to take a picture of all of us.


Overall an excellent first race and start to the weekend! Looking forward to my first half marathon!

First race..10 mile no sweat!

Excited! Excited! Excited! And yet deep down nervous! Nervous! Nervous! My emotions can't figure out what to feel. It's not the 10 miles that make me nervous. 10 miles no sweat for me...but cold, rain, knee, not sure how much I can carry with me i.e. ipod etc., and the total unexpected that makes me nervous!

The Lake Front 10 mile run. What better race can one sign up for especially for a first race? Beautiful downtown Chicago, lake front, flat land, hundreds of people and the best part it's in the spring. Not too hot nor too cold....well that's what I thought. Rain, thunderstorms, 50 degree weather. So I loaded my Ipod with lots of new music. I'll be running with a group of friends but I just want to have a fall back safety of music for a burst of energy. And for those people who ask how can I run on a treadmill for 5-10 miles, it's simply music. As long as my Ipod's loaded with good new music I can run forever.

My new favorite artist is Superchick. Kinda punk rock, fast, and the lead singer jams about overcoming hurdles. My favorite new song is by Asher Roth 'Be By Myself'. Good beats. What makes good running music for me is if I can hear my feet hit the pavement in the song or if I can hear my heart race to it excluding what the song's actually about. My favorite song with great positive message to run to is Miley Cyrus The Climb. She sings the message I need to start living by, "There's always going to be uphill battle sometimes I'm going to have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's on the other side. It's the Climb." A few other Artists who will be joining me for my first race tomorrow are Coldplay, JLo, Depeche Mode, Wale, Pitbull, Killers, The Veronicas, LMFAO, Melisa Etheridge, BEP, Hot Chelle Rae, Morningwood, Ke$ha, John Mayer, Orianthi, and etc.

My bag's packed with towel, change of clothes, fruit and nut bar, Gatorade, water, hat, a light long sleeve shirt to wear and possibly take off, Endurance, and MOTIVATION! Now to just get some sleep tonight.

Soccer

Andersen started soccer this past weekend. The last time he was in soccer was in the fall and the class took place during the day while Ron was working. Saturday morning Andersen was quite anxious and excited about Ron attending his soccer practice. The morning of while Ron slept in a little Andersen was questioning whether he was home and going to be able to come watch him play soccer. It made his day when Ron came down for breakfast. The difference between his soccer class in the fall and the Y soccer is he gets a soccer shirt and we bought shin guards and cleats. I let him pick out a pair of soccer shorts to start the season off with. Of course his favorite color at this time is Red so that was the color shorts he picked. The first thing that popped in my head when he picked out red shorts was what if the team shirts are green. He'll look like he's ready for christmas than thought the chances of that happening are slim to none. I didn't try to change his mind or talk him out of it b/c it's something for him to be excited about.

Saturday morning was much colder than we had anticipated. With trying to pack things to keep Jasper and Carter entertained, warm, and occupied with I totally forgot the camara. We walked the twins over to the field and Andersen met his coach and was handed a green shirt. I chuckled to myself. Ron ran around during practice with Andersen and they practiced kicking and doing drills. I sat with the twins on the sidelines feeding them snacks and trying to keep them as warm as possible. It wasn't all that cold in the sun though the wind made it really chilly. They ate their snack for some time and watched Andersen practice. After awhile I walked the twins over to the park and we ran around.

Andersen had a blast and was very enthusiastic about soccer. I think it was due to Daddy playing soccer with him. When we left Ron promised to take Andersen out and pick out a soccer ball so we did and upon returning home Andersen was still very stoked about soccer he wanted to skip lunch and practice more with Daddy. We decided against it since it was our spring cleaning day and later took the boys to a park with a field to let them run and kick their new soccer balls. Overall a great day and start to the soccer season!

"Boy Heavy"

Since switching Andersen to a new school I have found him to be much more talkative and engaging in conversation with me. It seems the witty, goofy, 1000 questions Andersen is back. He seems more pleasant, content, and outgoing. When he comes home from school he seems to really enjoy talking about school unlike before he would say, "I don't want to talk about it", or become aggravated with my questions about school and would growl, "I don't remember" or "I'm done with it already."

With this positive turn around in personality and very much looking forward to the next year in pre-k at his old school, which Andersen knows, understands, and is fine with. I found out one of the kids who according to his old teacher 'had a negative affect' on Andersen will be attending pre-k next year. Part of me is terrified for Andersen. How do I take him out of a negative situation and then put him back in a class with one of the personalities that had a negative affect on him? I do have full confidence in next year's teacher, who was his teacher the year before, that she will keep full control of the class. She's a very straight forward teacher, something I found lacked this year. I felt we, as parents, were given the run around with excuse after excuse ignoring behaviors and issues that were happening in the class.

I find I dislike when people make excuses for problems in the class. It's "Boy heavy." I would have somewhat agreed with that previously to changing schools though Andersen's new class has seven boys and four girls. How come one teacher can keep the "boy heavy" class in check but at his old school the "boy heavy" class ran by two teachers there's such a lack of control? Believe me, I understand "boy heavy". It's chaos if there's no control. Boys will push each other and the boundaries to the limits and it can be crazy. At home there can be a lot of chaos.

Overall, this shouldn't be happening in preschool. Preschool's suppose to be fun and engaging for the three and four year olds. If a child feels as if the teacher's not going to do anything, as Andersen has told me when I said go tell the teacher, than there's a lack of safety and trust in the teacher(s.
Really hoping for a better year next year.

Carter Poot!

Today Carter told me when he needed to poop. The way he says poop, "poot! poot!" I can't help laughing when I hear him say it b/c he sounds like Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks. "poot, poot!"

It was after naps and I was going to change his diaper when he farted and realized I better leave it on so I don't waste a fresh diaper. A couple minutes later he looks at me and grabs his butt and says, "Poot Mama! Poot!" I asked if he already pooped. "No Poot! Poot Mama!" So I put him on the toilet seat and he pooped. I clapped, smiled, told him great job, and gave him a sticker. He smiled and laughed and even Andersen said, "Let me see Carter! Great Job!" as he looked at Carter's "Poot" in the toilet. This really upset Jasper. He came in the bathroom screaming and crying, "I poop popta too!" (I poop in the potty too) I put Jasper on and he couldn't which upset him even more. I told him it's ok if he doesn't have to go we can try later. "No! I poop too!" We waited a couple of minutes and the longer we waited the more angry and the louder he cried. After consoling and leaving him to his fit I finally pulled him off the toilet and faught to put his diaper and jeans back on him. He screamed and cried b/c he wanted to poop in the potty as Carter had.

The one thing I've learned about Jasper the past few months is he is very competitive. He wants to be first, he wants to win, and he really gets upset when he doesn't. If we're at the park Jasper will bypass any child, big or small, just to be first and he gets by the other child very smoothly (without knocking him or her down) and very quickly. Carter on the other hand could care less about winning or being first.. He's content with just being where he is and just having fun.

I was very proud of Carter and his first time seriously letting me know before he poops b/c lately it's been after he's already pooped. Lately he's been asking to be put on the potty. He hasn't been going in the potty but it's the initiative. I'm not pushing potty training just yet and god help if Carter starts using the potty before Jasper. Great Job Carter!