Soccer Phenom

I got one kid out of 5....that actually enjoys sports.  I guess that isn't quite true because my daughter enjoys gymnastics and that is a sport, but still an individual sport at this point.  Christian tried his hand at soccer, t-ball, and football.  None stuck.  He's going to try basketball this winter...but I'm not getting my hopes up.  See, my family was not into sports at all.  I never saw my father watch a game in my life (unless you count WWF wrestling which is more like violent acting).  My older brother was on the JV basketball team, but as far as familial sport talent, we got the short end of the stick.  Patrick on the other hand, was in basketball and soccer during high school.  He wasn't phenomenal, but he did make varsity.  He hit his stride when he was in the Army and played basketball.  Since then, he's been playing ball on and off with great success.

Enter Anderson.  Crawling at 6 months.  First set of stitches at 8 months.  Walking at 9 months.  Going up the stairs at 8 months.  Climbing onto the table, 9 months.  Crawling up the pantry shelves, 10 months, and running at 9 months 1 day!  Seriously, this kid is physical.  I put him in a walker from the moment he could crawl because that kid had no fear.  He didn't see an obstacle, he saw a challenge.  So it's no wonder that when he was 3, we put him in soccer.  He cried when he didn't get the ball the whole time.  We waited a year or two.  When it was time for Kindergarten soccer, he excelled.  Top scorer on the team.  He's aggressive.  He dives for the shot.  He isn't afraid of anything.  And this year, it wasn't any different.

He gets in there with his scrawny self and dominates.  He passes, he dribbles, he does a whole bunch of stuff that I don't understand at all...

That kid can kick the ball...and leave his team in the dust.  Of course having half of the spectators cheering for you doesn't hurt either does it?!  (6 people and that is just immediate family)  I can only imagine what it will be like when he plays in high school.  I'll be that crazy mom that is screaming in the stands, "Run, Anderson, Run!!"  He has this side kick thing that just blows my mind...I guess I need to figure out the rules for soccer now.   And next year...Patrick is going to coach.  His award this year....

This year, to mix it up a little...he got Best Goal Maker...same difference!

"The Hill of Hell"

I did something I never thought I'd do...I was in a race. Well it's really a relay but a race none the less. I've been walking like a crazy women this year and decided to enter the famous Portland/Hood to Coast relay with a few friends. Let me tell you it was soooo FUN!! Nothing like spending quality time with people you kind of know, people you know, and complete strangers mixed in with no sleep, junk food, a grueling course spread out for 2 days, and a large man driver who just happens to be a police captain.

I haven't laughed like that since college! I'd give you a play by play of the whole experience but that would take way too much time, so you get just a crumb of the whole slice of bread....the hill.

I had an extremely hard leg of the relay in the middle of the night, in the middle of BFE. It was a hill located somewhere with windyuphill roads and a 600 foot elevation climb stretched between the first 3 miles. Not a soul out there but you and an occasional walker that would either pass you or you would pass them. Armed with some serious headphones (which I had to stealthily conceal since they were "illegal") and some awesome van support, I made it up that )(*^(*%*&^%&**&)&(*)&_&_)(*_)&*^$^%$##*%^(*!!!!! Is that descriptive enough for you? It wasn't that I haven't climbed a hill that steep before. It wasn't that it was a 6.11 mile leg...it's that I signed up, paid money, and wanted to take this leg in the first place! What was I thinking? Why would anyone subject themselves to the hardest leg of therace? Was I crazy? It's not like I got some special award for doing this incredibly difficult part of the course. As I worked my way up with much swearing, I bemoaned my ego that thought I could do this. I chipped away at my pride and gave myself a good verbal butt kicking...and then...I reached the top.

You know what they say....what goes up, must come down....

Down, Down, Down I went with the speed of a cheetah! And then a most important life lesson came into full view as I plummeted down that hill (passing people that had previously passed me), I choose the hard road for a reason....I wanted the reward! Nothing beats coming off of a challenge that you don't like but knowing that you accomplished it and that leg provided me with the greatest reward. Sure, I had to climb the steepest hill in the dead of night with not a soul in sight. I had to rely on my strength and just keep climbing upward no matter what obstacles got in my way, but I also got the biggest reward too. No one got to go down a hill like that. It was a piece of cake with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream!

So yes, I applied it to my life and realized that I really hate having to climb all the hills that I probably signed up for in some little clipboard in the SKY, but I knew that I would get greater rewards in the end...and that makes all the difference...

Mother Knows Best

I know you hear of mother's that think there kid is the cutest child ever put on earth, the smartest, the most talented, etc....well I hate those mothers. They give us moms who actually know that our kids have faults, a bad name. I'm here today to redeem myself....I think my daughter is gifted. I think all my children are gifted in some way but today I want to talk about Brighten. Brighten has been in dance since she was 3. She is coordinated and not shy in front of an audience. As she grew, I noticed that although she is a really good dancer, she held herself a little differently than my other daughter. She is very flexible and a great monkey bar afficionado. In my mom brain, I just knew that she was a natural gymnast. As she grew (or didn't grow for that matter) her little frame was built like Mary Lou Retton.

Now that we live very close to a great gymnastics center, I enrolled her in a beginning summer class to try it out. Of course, it was very evident to me that she was the best of the best in her class. You should have seen her dismount off of the balance beam today! Anyway, the teacher recommended that I place her in an intermediate class.

This would be skipping a class. I promptly signed her up. She had to go back later today for a makeup class because of her recent bout of shingles, so I dropped her off this afternoon in an intermediate class with a different teacher. I came in a few minutes before it ended, and it was evident that she was better than all the girls that were in that class...but who am I to judge right? I'm just the mom who thinks her kid can do no wrong right? Apparently, that was not the case. The teacher pulled me aside and told me that not only should Brighten skip intermediate, but Advanced as well and move straight into Training for competition...yes that is right folks...my kid is a natural! So now I will have a little gymnast on my hands. She hopefully will be competing in the spring and I will be one proud mom for pegging my kid's natural talent. So I guess I'm not a freaky mom after all...

Football

Sherwood is a very different little community. It boasts a top 10 spot according to Family Circle of places for families to live. Number 18 in the nation, according to Forbes. All these accolades, Sherwood received after we decided to move here. Everyday I live here, I love it more and more. Lake Oswego will always be home for me, but Sherwood will be my children's home. They will ride their bikes down the sidewalks, go to the football games and get donuts on the way home from the library. These kids are lucky little ducks to live in such a neat place. And guess what, football is free here....

Yes I said free. Well, kind of... You have to sell your five entertainment books and sell $75 worth of car wash tickets. So if you are an adept fundraiser, it's free. You have to supply a practice jersey and some cleats and socks, then you are good to go. They do an equipment check out every year, so everything gets recycled. We had 9 teams from 3 to 8th grade this year. Every single one of them made it to the playoffs. Not only does each team have at least 5 coaches, but then there is the team parents and all the people behind the scenes that coordinate it all. Can you say AWESOME!! Christian has been begging us to let him play football, and like it or not, he just doesn't have a natural ability towards sports. What he lacks in talent, he makes up for in confidence. He loves it. It's hard work though. 5 days a week of practice in August and then 3 days a week of 2 hours of practice and a game every Saturday. Needless to say, our lives in the fall, revolve around football. With the season winding down, only one more playoff game to go, we are thinking about what to do next year. Do we let him play or not?

We've been riding the fence of, he's not very good and it's a huge time commitment. He's never going to be Steve Young so what is the point right?...I know we are such bad parents, but really, he has to try really hard to accomplish even a little bit of what the other players can do. Then we repented of our short sightedness and realized that football was teaching him really important life lessons. He doesn't have to be the best, but he can learn, that with hard work, he can improve, be part of a team, connect with his peers, do something that he might not be gifted at, but grow to be better. I guess in my own little world, I really fall into the trap of doing only things that I am good at and struggling to get rid of the things that I suck at. Weakness made into strengths is hard. I don't shout for joy when I have a weakness that I have to work on. Christian is going to play football next year. He may get better, or he could stay the same, but he will learn that he doesn't have to be the best at something to enjoy the process. I'm learning everyday how to be a good parent, and he taught me a valuable lesson this year.

Sunday Scribbles

As you can tell in the right hand corner, I joined NaBloPoMo which means I will be blogging everyday this month. Sorry for the onslaught of meaningless words that will invade your blog list this month but I figure that it will keep me in check on completing my novel this month. NaNoWrimo, for those of you that aren't in the know, means I will write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Today, 1711 words. After finding my inspiration, a song by Rascal Flatts, I then sat in my sun room and wrote. Nothing like getting baked by the sun in November to make you happy, right?! Granted, I probably could have written more, but I have a mountain of laundry on my bed that needs to be folded, (which I never do, but this is two weeks of laundry to fold...insanity I know) and another pillow to make for tomorrow.

You may ask, " What? Making pillows for what?" Well I was the Team Mom for Anderson's soccer team and am in charge of the team party as well as the coaches gift at the end of the season. We just happened to have 2 extra team shirts that I have made into pillows. They have a little pocket in the back, made with the leftover fabric, to place the gift card to Red Robin. I need to make one more. Then tomorrow, after a trip to Costco to pick up the cake, we will be gorging on pizza and passing out trophies to each of our little soccer stars. Granted they don't keep score, but Anderson scored at least 3 to 4 goals each game and that is all he cares about. I'm sure it will get more competitive the older he gets.

The kids had The Great Candy Exchange while I wrote. Not only did I make out with a bundle of goodies that no one else wanted, but the kids learned how to get trade with their brothers and sisters without blood loss.

Now I have to figure out what to make for dinner that doesn't require me to think or be in the kitchen for more than 20 minutes...I know...I set my goals high!

Halloween Ends....Let The Games Begin

I was a sexy Goth girl for Halloween and my husband was the biker guy tatted up beyond belief. He picked out his own costume this year and was pretty proud of him. Secretly, I must have a little bad girl inside of me because I thoroughly enjoyed wearing knee high black boots and fishnet stockings with long leather gloves and freaky hair. Something must be wrong with me, or something just woke up?! LOL!
My children have become more creative when it comes to costumes due to the lack of television personalities that are aloud to enter our home, so Mummy, Rocker Girl, Zorro, and a Special were conjured up tonight. They all looked great. Christian had to skip out of Halloween tonight to play his last regular game of football. Yes, it sucked for him, but all the parents of the team chipped in and they still made a good candy haul. Somehow, I think he'll survive.
Now on for the games...NANOWRIMO games that is. Tomorrow the novel writing begins and normal life ends. Not only do I have to write 1667 words a day for the next month, but I have to still have a normal life and teach a Super Saturday craft in two weeks, and make 60 gifts for Relief Society and make ornaments for my Christmas tree. I've hatched a seemingly impossible plan! Not only will my laptop follow me everywhere, but I have to bake "cookies" for my tree, paint and glue baubles, embroider mangers and paint frames, but I also have to care for my 5 children, keep the house in order and make all the Christmas gifts. Yes you heard me right. I am making everything this year. The only stuff that isn't homemade is the gifts coming from Santa and the stocking stuffers. Am I nuts? Yes...Nuts@!! But mark my words, I will do it if it kills me. Because not only is it cheaper, but I think I'm pretty good at it too. Who needs another Obama Chia Pet anyway right? I can't really list my gifts for fear that those who will be receiving them will find out but lets just say that all my "talents" will get used. So on your mark...get set...GOOOO!

I Love Crazy!

Note: this is not me, just some random woman who just happens to look like I felt


Crazy is usually used as a derogatory term, but in my case, I think it fits me to a tee. Yesterday was just another crazy day in the life of my family. Saturday is filled to the brim with activity and I drink it all in as Anne of Green Gables would say.

Our day started off with us getting up at a decent hour of 8. The children stuffed their faces with toast and eggs. Patrick drove Christian to football practice and I actually blew my hair dry and put on a tiny bit of makeup. (good thing too because this day gets pretty interesting) Feeding the dog, OOPS, forgot to buy dog food, so the burnt toast and a dozen scrambled eggs would have to tide the guy over. After getting all the remaining children ready for soccer or spectating, I waited outside for Patrick to drive up. He arrived in time for us to load up and get Anderson to his soccer game a few minutes late.

We watched our awesome Kindergartner save the day and score 3 goals. Mark my words, you will see his name in lights for some kind of athletic prowess. The kid is a phenom on the field. He actually ran 11 laps at the fun run on Friday...more than any other kid I have heard of. Then we left early, before snack which is the reason that some of those kids even like soccer, and rushed to the football game across town.

Christian's team was dominating. Looking frantically for Janye, the kids newly adopted grandma since none of their REAL grandparents ever come to any of their games, we finally ran her down and proceeded to watch Sherwood hand Wilson their butts on a turf platter. Janye brought a Costco box of Rice Krispie treats. Definitely will go down as one of their all time favorite games as they snarfed down 34 rice crispy treats in an hour. Good grandma style though! Did I mention that I rarely remember to feed my bottomless pits? Lunch wasn't going to happen so 34 rice and marshmallow squares would have to do. After giving Vicki, my wonderful Aunt who came to watch as well, and Janye, their homemade jam, we were off to pick up Madeline from the airport.

We had 30 minutes. Did I mention that United Airlines woke me up at 3:45am to tell me that I needed to pay them another $100 for Madeline's safe return home? Did I mention that I keep my wallet in my car? Did I mention that we have no outside lighting and that I was zombie walking in the middle of the night trying to recite my credit card number to a crabby easterner who wasn't very nice? Anyway, we were there right on time and she was early...figures. We all crammed in the car and the kids and parents alike bombarded her with questions. Then the gifts came out. Patrick decided to drop a bomb on us at this point and let us know that we were going in for an audition for a travel documentary in Oregon. What the HELLO?!

Meeting with a casting firm was not on my agenda, but in order to appease my husbands unique idea of fun, we proceeded to downtown Portland with 5 dirty kids, 2 of which stunk to high heaven after their respective games. We filled out forms, including descriptions of ourselves that just happened to mention our weights and heights. Why? Why does anybody need to know how much I weigh? Just look at my photo...and take a wild guess. I guarantee that I don't look like I weigh as much as I do. My bones were dipped in steel when I hit puberty. That's my story and I am sticking to it. After sitting for 2 hours amongst families with their perfectly dressed "Gap Ad" kids and their skinny model head shots...head shots?...what has Patrick gotten us into now?...I actually was quite happy with our little performance and my kids shined! Who cared if Evan just cut his hair off and my kids weren't wearing socks. They were my "normal" and I loved each of their little quirks. At least we are in the database and if the next Twilight movie needs a middle aged curvy woman that can cook, well I'm your girl! Secretly, I think that Brighten would make a perfect love child of Edward and Belle. She could scare the crap out of any self respecting human, just put some fangs on her and watch her scream her cute little head off!

Any way, by this time the rice krispy sugar high had worn off and Madeline's secret stash of Dr. Pepper Jelly Belly's had been exhausted, so we headed to Izzy's to feed the hyenas. Gorged isn't the right word I would use, but lets just say that my food budget has increased sizably in the last few months. I've never seen my kids eat so much ice cream! I see all you can eat joints in my future. 3 boys will soon be 3 teenage boys and Costco will become my primary grocery store... As we still only have one car and Patrick's BIG BOSS will be coming to check on them on Monday, we had to make a trip to Office Depot. It took him an hour to get everything while we sat in the car and watched The King and I. Did I mention how much I love having a DVD player in the vehicle? The sugar high was starting to wear off completely and we had some pretty cranky kids at this point. I thought Madeline's head was going to explode! Jet lag and 4 loud siblings did not sit well with her.

We arrived home at 8pm. Madeline immediately went into hysterics at the site of her messy room. OOPS! There was cat litter everywhere. I really should pay more attention to Brighten and Anderson. They are like Thing 1 and Thing 2...always making a mess and leaving the aftermath behind. So as Patrick went straight to work, I was barking out orders for Christian to pick up the kitchen floor, sending Thing 1 and Thing 2 immediately to bed with tear filled screams of unfairness and vacuuming up litter off of a very tired preteen girl's bed. Cats smell. We have 4 now. I am so done with animals. Isn't 5 kids enough already?

Evan decided that the 5 minute snooze in the car was enough to give him his second wind and he would not go to bed. This is where all that sugar comes back to bite me in the Butt...and so after everyone was in bed except for Evan, I snuggled up next to him with my IPod and tried to pretend to sleep. He was out in 45 minutes and Mommy really wanted to go to sleep too. But where was Patrick? He wasn't done. So I went to sleep...well I tried. Then he comes to bed and wants to talk...he had too much sugar too and was hopelessly impossible to talk to. Around and around in circles the conversation went. So I did what any self respecting woman in need of sleep has to do and did the only thing that I knew would knock him out...enough said. I finally crashed at midnight.

That was my day. It was crazy. Most days are crazy around here. Are their parts I'd like to change? Sure, but I love crazy because that means I am living and I am grateful for that!

Summer Summed Up

Summa Summa Time...as Will Smith might say. It's been a busy few weeks for the Laing family. August has been packed full of fun things to do. The girls participated in a week long Activity Days Boot Camp organized by our 3 wards in Sherwood. Christian started Football, complete with 2 hour practices 5 days a week. Anderson did a Kindergarten Camp put on by the school and soccer so Evan and I had some great alone time. Canned refrigerator pickles, picked raspberries, froze a ton of green beans from our garden. Picked peaches and attempted to can them, only to realize that this particular variety was not worth the effort. Then we had a Carter reunion that lasted all weekend. And then a Westwood picnic. And finally, the kids and I met up with Patrick in La Grande, and we went on vacation. Really, I can't remember the last time we went on vacation...maybe two years ago when we traveled down to Crater Lake and up through the southern Oregon coast. So in our quest for cheap and fun (and a place that cell phones could not reach) we decided upon Yellowstone. Can you get more American than Yellowstone? I don't think so and maybe that is why President Obama decided to take his family up there at the same time we did. Little did we know that it was going to be 28 degrees at night and snowing and hailing during the day. Needless to say, we only spent 2 nights in that tent and decided that it was a good time to visit Patrick's Aunt and Uncle in Cody. We crashed their family reunion but they made room for us on the living room floor. That floor was like heaven compared to the freezing tent the night before! We made our way through the Park and onto Jackson Hole Wyoming where were going to stay but it was just too expensive and opted for a night in Lava Hot Springs Idaho instead. Didn't get any pictures of that, but so relaxing and so nice to sleep in a bed. Then on to Heber, Utah for the Laing Family Reunion held at the Heber Valley campground. All I can say, is the girls that go to camp there have it pretty darn easy. We went on the Zip Line Challenge Course, ate copious amounts of good food and canoed. Patrick went fishing with Christian 3 times during our vacation and on the last day, when visiting friends in Daybreak, they both caught some bass and trout. Now we are back to reality...and it will get pretty insane before it gets any less busy around here....