The Boy is Athletic

I don't post as much, now that the kids are older, now that they could read or even write their own entries.  But I posted much longer for Abigail than for Joseph and Joseph is a pretty great kid.  At the end of his Montessori education, age 5, the amazing teacher duo of Mr. Jay and Ms. Kelly gave awards to the kids and Joseph got Most Likely to be in the Olympics. 

But Joseph has a very American trait that will seriously hamstring his ability to be a world class athlete:  his not-so-inspiring work ethic.  *shrugs*  But hey, he is happy and well-rounded and I'm okay not having my almost 7 year old on a travel team.

Last weekend, we took the kids to a batting cage for their first time to try to bat anything than a wiffle ball at close range with a fat plastic bat.  Here is the boy on one of his first pitches:

Here is the boy at a recent soccer game (photo credit to Abigail)



















And, just because I miss summer, here is the boy dock jumping at the lake house this summer.
(no, we do not OWN a lake house)

This winter he wants to try basketball. 

Freezing February

The pond at my parents' house froze this week and my mom bought skates for the kids so today they learned to skate.  Abigail was really doing very well by the end of an hour and Joseph was mixing gliding with walking (his skates are double bladed).

Our Old Soul Turns Nine

Abigail has always been an old soul.  I was recently thinking of something that happened when she was 2 1/2.  We were at the playground in our neighborhood and she got stung by a bee.  She tried not to cry, but got a bit teary eyed and I took her home and gave her some TLC.  I tried to make her feel better by telling her that she may have been stung, but the bee died when it stung her.  (I know this only happens to honey bees, and I doubt that is what stung her, but I thought it would make her feel better to know the bee was brought to justice.)  But this only added to her misery as she began to sob for the poor bee with her own discomfort forgotten.

That is still our girl.  Still our old soul who likes quiet time.  Still our little introvert who would rather be around 2 or 3 special people than a whole party room full of people.  For those of us lucky enough to be in her orbit,  she opens up to us in both silly and serious ways.  She is thoughtful, persistent, kind, clever and a loyal friend.  

Sunday Snapshots

My soccer boy

Sunday Snapshots

Sunday Snapshot: I love these two

Joseph's Summer of Growing Up, Part 3

Sometimes it is the little, subtle things that make you take notice of your kiddo and see them in a new light.  Take Joseph.  This summer, he has decided that sometimes he wants to dress himself in clothes that are not athletic wear or DriFit.  You know, shirts with collars and khaki shorts and reef flip flops. You know, the fancy stuff.  I also took him shopping for school clothes for kindergarten. He wanted jeans. Skinny jeans. He looked at least 3rd grade in them!

Joseph is trying to become Mr. Responsible too.  He clears his plate after dinner without being asked (and often clears the plates of other people too!). 

He speaks in more complex paragraphs.  He is full of clever one-liners.  For example, we have a needle for the hand pump so that the kids can blow up their basketballs when they are low on air.  I keep the needle in the garage, in its tiny cardboard package, hanging above a box of sticks we use to start fires in the winter.  I kept warning the kids not to drop the needle into the stick box.
Then Joseph told me "Mama, I dropped the needle in the stick box."  (This was also an out-of-context sentence that really confused Larry.)
I said "Jos, I told you guys over and over not to do that!"
He fired back immediately "Well, maybe you shouldn't have hung the needle over the stick box!"

I had no comeback for that.

Recently his sister had surgery that limited her walking and what she can eat.  He has been so kind and helpful, even though he has been jealous of all her new Lego sets and ice cream dinners. 
She has not wanted to be alone for a second either and when Larry and I told her she had to start getting brave enough to get over that, he looked deep into her eyes and sincerely told her "I will never leave you Jie Jie."