New Years Eve

New Years isnt really my holiday. It does not do a whole lot for me...it could be because staying up until midnight does not sound fun to me but its almost impossible for me these days. I am so. tired. all. the. time. 

We had a couple invitations that night, but we decided we were going to stay in, just the 6 of us--have a picnic on the floor (like we did when we were young), a few fireworks out front and a family movie night. 

It was PERFECT. 

The boys each told me a few fun foods they wanted for our picnic...baby corn, olives and pickles, coconut shrimp, sushi rolls, watermelon, blueberries, banana pudding, yummy bread and salami. It was random for sure, but it was perfect. We sat on a blanket on the floor, surrounded by all of Cash's stuffed animals.

After dinner we did a few small fireworks and sparklers. The pictures did not come out too great, but they had a blast.

Tripp went to bed, and the rest of us went upstairs and watched Wonder--Owen's choice, ate candy and snuggled up. Both Eli and Owen had read the book and wanted to see the movie. I started crying about 30 seconds in and did not stop until it was over. 

Cash fell asleep on my lap....

Eli, Owen and I also headed to bed, and Blaine had to head out for a fire watch at a fireworks display until midnight. 

Sometimes I feel like we are missing out on fun things when we either choose not to attend a party or are unable to, but this night felt so right. It was so fun and so, so perfect hanging with my 5 boys, at home, just us, ringing in the new year together. 

December Wrap Up

December was a little bit of a blur. It is always a hectic month with all the end of year parties at school, teacher gifts, holiday prep, shopping, yada, yada. So here is a quick recap of the month. 

Hanukkah started early December this year and I was no where close to being ready with gifts, so we just celebrated every night by lighting the menorah and the prayers. The first and last were at my parents house. I feel like most of the time this year I am just sliding by with the bare minimum for everything. I am loving how busy and overwhelmed we are, but it shows in my effort in things I am usually really good and excited for. The holidays were no exception. We just kept things pretty low key this year, but the boys just did not seem to notice my lack of effort. We waited and did all of our gifts on Christmas morning along with our usual Christmas morning monster stockings. But actually, the monster stocking never made it our of storage this year (ha!) so they were actually each in a plastic bag--lack of effort at its finest. 

 A really nice young kid came to our door selling mistletoe to raise money and he was so polite that Blaine bought some. I have no idea why these pictures make me laugh so much.

 On the last day of school before the break, Owen got invited to go out with his friend Sutton. When he came out of school, he handed me his backpack and then a paper bag he had decorated for me with a gift he made at school. He looked at me and said "this is for you but don't you dare open it without me!!!!' He was so excited about it. So I said good bye to him and walked to the car with the other boys. I put his backpack and his gift in the front seat and no joke, a huge gust of wind came and made the car door hit me in the back, the paper gift bag flew out of the car, underneath the car and around it straight into the gutter behind my car. It was like straight out of a cartoon the way it happened. I think I stood there starring at the gutter wondering what the hell just happened. How in the world was I going to tell Owen that the gift he made me, that he was so excited about ended up in the gutter?!?!? I called Blaine and he could tell I was upset. And of course he came to the rescue. He met us at the gutter with some tools in case the manhole was locked and got the gift!!!

 We stayed in town for the winter break and kept it pretty low-key. A lot of wresting and playing football in the front yard.

 A lot of hanging out at my parents house.

 Just hanging at home.

And with friends.

 Blaine still had to work, so we introduced Tripp to facetime.

 We made a visit to the store, a favorite place for the boys (and for me).

 They met the new store kitty, Dusty who likes to hang up in the safe room.

 We went ice skating at Whole Foods and had a super fun time!

And we admired this super, cute little face.

 Not to forget the mountains and mountains of laundry that was done.

Sweet OGK

Owen came home from school a few weeks back and told me he wanted to be in the school wide spelling bee.

 Um, what? Excuse me? Are you sure?!?!?

It took me back to being in school and the panic and anxiety that would have  overtaken me if someone told me I had to be in the spelling bee. I found myself asking him over and over again if he was sure he wanted to do it. I realized I was feeling so anxious for him and the idea that he may crash and burn up there that part of me was hoping he would drop out. I did my best to put my feelings aside and supported him in this.

We went to the practice and he did great. It gave him a little boost of confidence because he started to feel a tad unsure and nervous. But when the night of the real deal came up, he started to second guess himself again and was unsure if he should go. Truth be told, he barely did any studying despite all my pestering. I think he was picking up on my feelings of anxiety without him realizing it. But he decided he would go and check it out and feel himself out and make a game time decision. He just wanted me to go with him instead of the whole family because it took some of the pressure off of him.

He decided he was going to do it! I texted Blaine and he came with the other boys. I was SO proud of him. I was choking back tears. Never in a million years would I have done this at 8 years old. I did not care how he did. I was just so proud and impressed that he would even consider doing the spelling bee. 

 Owen made it through the first three rounds and was one of the last 2nd graders standing. The third round knocked about half of the remaining kids, so he did great.  The best part of it is that he did it and he was proud of himself! I love this kid so much!!!

Some mornings at our house before school includes basketball, soccer, a made up game using a ball, bouncy ball games, wall ball in the garage....you name it. Some combination of these games were happening one morning and Owen hurt his leg. He was crying to hard and refused to put weight on it. This literally happened 1 minute before we were to walk out the door to school. So in a panic I told him to stay home while I took Eli and Cash to school that we would address his leg when I got home.
Of course his leg was fine. I knew it was. Owen tends to be a tad over-reactive. I had to wait to take him to school after Tripp woke up from his nap and he happened to take a super long morning nap so he got a free morning at home. Before sending him back we went to get some sushi at Whole Foods--Owen's request. It was such a fun, little treat to get to have lunch with him and spend a little impromptu one on one time. He is so inquisitive, kind, empathetic, goofy, smart and overall an amazing little human. 

Team Cuba

Cash got really lucky a couple of years ago when he was placed on his first soccer team. There is a core group of boys who stuck together for years on the same team. This year they decided to move up from Rec to Jr. Academy.

They were all able to stick together plus two other boys and Coach Aitor joined their team. It was certainly different from Rec, the coaching was much different, the competition more intense, they played with goal keepers and the games were all over the city. The season started off incredibly rocky with all of the rain we had, but they made the most of it. Some of the games were moved into an indoor soccer field, a lot were rained out, and some were incredibly muddy!

And at the end of the season, they had some super cold practices! They practiced on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Westcreek. Cash's buddy, Ronin, from school was in in Jr. Academy, but on a different team so we got to see him at practice.

Cash had a pretty good season. Not everyone had a great feeling about the coaching, as it was very different than we were all used to. But all in all, I think Cash had a good season. I am hoping they are able to build off of the fall season and continue to grow in the spring. They ended the season with a big tournament in Round Rock. It was a tough fight but they came out on top with a 2-1 win and won the division for their age bracket. I am not sure I have ever yelled so much at a kids soccer game. 

Here are a few highlights from the season....

....and the sweet soccer siblings!