Soccer update

Jason still loves playing soccer. He is still learning the rules and learning how to play the different postions. Younger kids just want to kick the ball around and get goals. They don't understand that when they play defense they are not supposed to cross center field and they are supposed to keep the ball from going into their goal. He is learning a lot each day. To help him out at home I bought him a little goal and his own soccer ball. He picked out a red, white and silver ball because his team color is silver. Grayson got his own ball too. His is just white and black and a little softer than Jason's ball.

Here is Jason practicing with my dad when he was home to visit a few weeks ago.

Grayson playing with his ball. He loves to play soccer too and should be quite good by the time he is old enough!

Jason in his uniform.

His team is called the

Silver Robots. The kids

each picked a name and the

coach put them into a hat.

That's the name that won.

Jason wanted the team

to be the Silver Sonic.

There was a parent

who let their kid put in

for the Silver Bullets.

I felt bad for letting Jason

name the team after a

video game character.

Unfortunately, the Silver Robots lost their first game. There is no official score kept but they didnt score a single goal and the other team scored 5. So, unofficially, they lost 0-5. I've always said that as long as he was still having fun then it is worth it. It was fun to listen to Grayson say "Go, Silver Robots!" and "Come on Jason get the ball." I think he enjoyed watching the game as much as Jason enjoyed playing it. Jason's best friend Daric and his family also came to watch the game.

Pic of the first game. Jason is #17.

Being the kind of person he is, Chris signed us up to bring snack for the first game. He likes to get things done and out of the way, where as I would have wanted to see what the other parents were going to bring before I brought something. But I let Jason pick out the snack. He wanted juice boxes and cheese crackers. The kids seemed to like them. I am not really sure why parents bring snack anyway. The games are only an hour and I personally can bring an after game snack for my own child. I guess its just a way for parents to feel more involved and at least we are done with our snack contribution for the season. Hopefully they will win the next one. I think some of the kids were a little discouraged after the game.

Picture of Daddy and Grayson watching the game.

My baby was off to Kindergarten today!

Today was Jason's first day of Kindergarten! He was so excited to get on the bus this morning. He seemed to have a lot of fun at school! He wrote his name, drew a picture and colored another picture.

Jason before school. I made the sign so I can

remember the date when he goes to college!

Grayson wanted to be like his big brother

and wait for the bus with his bookbag.

The bus was running late, so they decided to sit
and relax while waiting.



Jason standing in front of the bus.

Jason getting on the bus.

Grayson and Mommy waiting for

the bus to bring Jason home.

I missed the picture of him getting off the bus. My camera was on the wrong setting. Chris got one on his phone though. He is excited about going back tomorrow!

Soccer Time!

So, I woke up at 7am on Wed, went to bed at 8am on Thursday. Then was back up at 10am, went to the Dr., then to get X-rays, then for lunch, and then to the dentist to have a tooth filled. I always have trouble with the Novocaine, so they have to give me extra. Part of my cheek is still numb (I was done at the dentist at by 1:30pm and its now 9:30pm.) I got home a little after 2pm. Meanwhile in the morning Chris took Jason to his new school to visit his new classroom because today was an open house.

After I got home we played a little Wii Fit. The kids like to watch me try to go skiing and Jason likes the running games.

Then at about 3:15, Grayson decides that he wants to go in the pool. So, I trek outside and put him in the pool. While I am hooking the filter up to the pool, Jason's new soccer coach calls and says that they are having their first practice today at 6pm (it was 4pm when he called.) He tells me that Jason should have cleats, shin guards, socks and a soccer ball for practice. So, Chris calls his friend Mark, who owns a sports shop and then puts Jason in the car and goes to Mark's store. He got a great pair of cleats, socks, and shin guards but no ball. Off to Wal-Mart tomorrow! Then at 7pm there was Kindergarten orientation for the parents, so I trekked off the the elementary school to meet his teacher.

Soccer practice apparently went very well. Here are a few pics of Jason's fun.

Jason kicking the ball.

Jason throwing the ball with his 3 coaches.

Jason playing "crazy ball" with his teammates.

Summer Fun!

Here are some pics of the boys' summer fun this summer so far! We are hoping to get in some more fun before school starts this year. We will see what our funds allow us to do!

Jason loves his Wii. This is actually a picture of

him holding a Wii tin. It had gum in it.

Grayson playing at Grandpop's house.

Grayson in a "cage" at Chuck E. Cheese. Those of you

who know Grayson, know how funny this pic is!

Jason was so excited to see Chuck E Cheese.

Grayson relaxing on the pool. Unfortunately this pool broke.

I am going to try to fix it. The ring around the top has a big hole in it.

Jason likes to go under the water.

The boys love their pool!

Baby News!

On Monday July 28th, 2008 we welcomed a new member of the family into the world. His name is Galen Alan Charles. He weiged 7lbs 9oz. He was born to my sister, Gale and her husband, Matt. He as an older brother, Ethan, who will be 3 tomorrow. He's going to have a lot of fun getting into trouble with his brother and 2 cousins soon enough!

Sleeping baby, almost 24hrs old!

Pround Grammy!

Even prouder brother, Ethan!

Proud Parents!

Museum Fun!

On Thursday, my mom's group took a trip to the PA State Museum. We first went to the planetarium to see a movie about weather. It was called Zula Patrol, which apparently is on early Sunday mornings on PBS. The kids loved watching a movie on the ceiling!

After the movie we visited the Curiosity Connection in the museum, which is a room of learning designed for kids up to age 5. The boys absolutely loved it and they didn't want to leave, even after playing for over 3hrs. Grayson especially loved the Lego Thomas. Jason really liked building trucks and made a whole row of them. I have many more great pics, too many to post on here. We will definitely be going back to play soon!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I was actually a little relieved on Wednesday that it was raining. I had worked all night Tuesday night and was exhausted, so knowing that I could take it easy and keep the kids inside all day was kinda nice. We mostly watched TV, read books and played. The kids did manage to sit at the table and make picture frames out of craft supplies that we had in the house. We have decided that we are going to put photos in them and give them to some friends and family members.

Hershey Park

Monday we took the boys to Hershey Park. My company had a picnic there and just like last year the food left a lot to be desired but it was basically free so no complaining. It was hot and sticky but we all had lots of fun. They have a huge water park that the kids played in and they rode tons of rides. Some of the lines were kinda long but most of the stuff the boys wanted to go on wasn't too terrible.

Grayson wanted to spend all day on this train!

Little Engineers

Grayson was able to operate the helicopter on his own this year!

Sharing the rocket ship!

Grayson found a little girlfriend.


We found her again at the dinosaur ride. She was quite taken by him
Daddy having fun with the boys in the water park area. Unfortunately because my shorts had a metal zipper I was not allowed to go in the water. I think its because they use salt water and it would cause rust. At least I was able to take pictures.

Again, daddy having fun on the water slide with Grayson.
Jason in his safety vest at the water park.
Jason waited all day for this photo. Hershey park measures kids and assigns them a candy based on their height. Jason was a Reese, so he was looking forward to finding the Reese character all day. We finally found him as the park was closing!

We did have a great day and I got a great workout for the day. Jason made me carry a huge intertube up a very long flight of stairs six times to go down the big gren water slide.

We are hoping that next year Jason is a Hershey bar (in height) and then he will be able to most of the bigger rides too! We opened and closed the park for the day and we still only got through about half of the park. Oh well, I guess we will have to go back again this summer!

Dentist!

On Thursday Jason had his first full dental cleaning! He has gone with us to the dentist before and has allowed them to brush his teeth with a regular toothbrush and they counted his teeth. This time she used all the tools! He has great teeth, with good spacing for his second set of teeth when they are ready to come in.

Oh, and guess who has the cavity! The person in this household to takes the best care of her teeth has a cavity! Ugh!

Swimming Update

Thursday was Jason's last day of swimming lessons and by the end of the class he was swimming on his own (for a very short distance). The parents were allowed to watch all of the last class, but I decided not to watch the whole thing because Jason gets distracted by trying to smile and wave at me.

They really did a lot of swimming. I was quite impressed with how many times the kids had to swim the length of the pool. They swam with their backpack floaties and noodles, then without the noodle and then they were swimming with a kick board. Jason is quite fast using the kick board. He kept passing all the other kids in the water.

I have considered signing Jason up for the last session of the summer because I believe he would be in a higher group and learn some more swimming techniques, but he says he doesn't want to do it again yet. I might sign him up anyway!

I really liked this swimming class because they really worked with each of the kids individual needs. At the conclusion of the two week session the kids get a progress report also. I have really seen progress in Jason's swimming ability. On Friday we went to a friend's house to play in the pool and Jason lost his floaty at one point. He was able to swim to the side of the pool by himself, even being in somewhat of a panicked state, he knew what to do. It was really amazing to watch him.