Birthday and Soccer

I only have a few moments before I have to run off to the daycare. It was a hectic morning. The boys and I actually slept until 7 which is 2 hours later than normal. We needed it but since they had to be at school by 8:15 and I had to be on the opposite side of town it meant a hurried and mad dash to get out the door. In that mad dash, Jacob forgot his blanket for naptime so I am now hurrying to get some work done before trying to get the blanket to daycare before naptime.

Due to family circumstances, the kids are allowed 2 parties. One party is with their friends and the other is family only and much more subdued. The friends party was Saturday at our local YMCA. If you have never explored a Y and have one in your area, I strongly recommend it. For only $55 we were allowed to invite 12 children for an hour of swimming and then an hour in a party room. I chose the child watch area so that the kids would have toys to play with during any down time (there really wasn't much).

We ended up having 13 children and 7 adults attend the party. The children ranged in age from 3 years old to 9 years old and everyone had a great time. Jacob, M and I found a dalmation pinata dressed like a fire dog. It had pull strings so the kids each took turns pulling ribbons. The pinata didn't work quite like it should have and the trap door didn't open when the ribbons were pulled. It was actually more fun that way since everyone got to pull at least one ribbon before I manually opened the trap door and the candy fell out. I had half a bag of candy hidden that I allowed the parents of the younger children to pick from and exchange any candy they did not want their children to have. I then placed the candy on the table and had the parents determine if their child received enough candy from the pinanta and to take what they felt their child should have. It worked really well and the kids had a great time.

M and Jacob played soccer on Sunday. It was the first game of a 6 game season. I chose a shortened season for a couple of reasons. This is the first time M has ever played on a team and he is really young (he turned 3 last May). Jacob played soccer just over a year ago and didn't like it so I wasn't convinced when he told me he likes it now.

M had the first game and it started off a little rocky. With only a half an hour nap and two very big days, M was very tired and cranky. He wasn't really sure what he was doing and didn't know the other kids on his team. He became shy and then began to cry when his coach and I told him to go out on the field. Once we convinced him to go out, he did great. He quickly began running and trying to kick the ball. He really enjoyed it when I taped him and showed him the video. He also liked looking at the pictures I took.

Jacob had a great time too. He got to start in the second game and kicked off (or whatever it's called in soccer). He managed to steal the ball away from the other team and stopped them from scoring a goal later. I was really proud of the way he was able to keep up with the other children since some of them are almost 2 years older than him (his team is 5 and 6 years old and he turns 5 tomorrow). Jacob had a great time and proved to me that he really does enjoy soccer.

The boys are back at daycare/preschool/4K today. I am hoping after going to bed a little early and sleeping in 2 hours late, they will be rested and have good days. Next weekend will be calmer and we will hopefully begin to get use to our school year routine soon.

Weekend Recap

E spent the weekend at our house. It was great seeing her and a reminder of how important a stable family is. We all need a family and home we know will always be there for us. Unfortunately, not all children have this. E is one of those kids and I really hope she finds a permanent and loving home soon. It is always hard to say goodbye to her.

The weekend went well. We went to the children's museum (see previous post) on Thursday. Friday we saw the circus with a group of friends. The kids really enjoyed it. E kept asking to go back to the "popcorn show" again. Jacob was a little disappointed there wasn't a lion there this year but he did enjoy the tigers and clowns.

Jacob went to a friend's house for most of the day on Saturday. I took E and M shopping during the day. I found clearance coats for Jacob. They were $13 marked down from $65. They look really warm and had the next two sizes Jacob will need. I was also able to take advantage of some early sales and get some t-shirts and pants for Jacob and M.

I found some markers that only color on special paper for M. He has a very bad habit of hiding markers and coloring on walls, the dishwasher, books, toys and just about everything he can think of when no one is looking. I have even caught him hiding markers in his sleeves and trying to sneak them into his room. Hopefully, the new markers will discourage this since they don't work except on the paper. I hate making a rule he can't color but I really don't have much choice with traditional colors. He will wait patiently until I get distracted and then run to hide the markers. These markers will be much better than just banning coloring all together which is what I have done the past few weeks.

Jacob and E really enjoy going to church school so we went Saturday and Sunday. The kids had a blast. M wasn't feeling well on Sunday so my mom took Jacob and E to McDonald's for lunch. I took M home and put him down for a nap. He woke up feeling much better and back to his normal self. I love how quickly young children can get over mild illnesses.

I lost my cellphone somewhere during the day on Saturday. I searched everywhere and called it several times but it seems to have disappeared. I was able to renew my plan early and got a new pink blackberry pearl yesterday. It is the same phone as I lost but this year's model. It seems to get better reception and has a few new programs I am trying to learn.

Overall, the weekend was a hit. The kids had a great time together and I enjoyed spending time with them. I am anxious to get another foster child but also know it could be awhile. I am trying to work on patience and concentrate on loving the children in my home now.

Santa Forgot!

Now, believe me. We are not short on toys. I keep saying I am going to go through them and give some away but never quite seem to get around to doing it. Jacob often insists that they need all of the toy cars, trucks, trains, etc so that M and he both have one. The boys are getting better about playing together and not fighting over toys. They have only been "brothers" for about 5 months and were both only children before that. Sharing is something fairly new (although Jacob does share at school) for them and having a sibling close in age suddenly appear is an adjustment.

The other morning they were fighting over the same tractor. It is a tractor that Jacob received as a gift before M came to live with us. Without really even looking up I stated, "Jacob, M, share the toy and play nice." Jacob threw his hands in the air and stated, "But Santa FORGOT to bring another tractor Mom! He FORGOT!" Oh that Santa. He gets blamed for a lot of problems around our house.