Boys

Random pic of the day.

Shane's going to miss being on the cul de sac. We're going to have to be much more intentional about inviting friends over in our new house.

It's Pretty Out

Soccer practice mainly consists of the kids running around and doing whatever for half the time and then scrimmaging the other half.

Shane's flirted with standing in the goal some. He really needs to work on his punt, though. He tries to drop and kick the ball while yelling "Look out!" at every chance, but it never goes as far as he advertises.

All the boys are hands on. Shane tackled Sam here and wouldn't get off of him until I eventually walked over (It was the end of practice, at least).

The fun continued when we got home. Raheem was out. I was keeping an eye on the kids from inside.

They switched to baseball after a bit.

As much as I love the kids getting time to play and work things out on their own, it can be fun to join in sometimes! Carrie went out and hopped in!

That gave me permission to join, too!

Everyone played baseball! It went really well except for when Carrie skidded out on her way to first base. She landed on her butt and was lying flat on her back laughing when I checked on her. Once I realize she was okay, I snapped a quick picture for posterity (though, I'm not posting it here until her dignity heals).

What I find ironic through all this? Shane didn't want to do baseball this spring, but he wants to play baseball more than any other sport when he's at home.

True Spring

Spring is starting to feel like spring! Just in time for team picture day, too.

I feel bad for the photographer. He came out to our practice just to take a picture of four kids.

A fifth ran up later, but the odds of him selling any photos are slim.

Raheem and a couple of other kids walked up to play basketball when we got home. I sat on the porch and Shane half joined in.

I say half, because Shane wasn't playing basketball. First, he wanted to get the ball, spin around, and throw it. Then, he wanted to be a zombie who would tackle other players. Then...I don't even remember what else was going on. I called him aside. I told him that he should jump in the basketball game, but asked him not to run side games that interfered with their game. We had a short talk about "why," and the game went on.

Shane enjoyed it for a while, but then left to climb a tree (a great, spring activity!). He started to call from the tree top with things like "Look at me!" "See how high I am!" and "I'm a great climber!"

I can't remember if I called out or not. I know I thought, "They're in the middle of a basketball game! You don't need to call out, and I doubt they'll join you. Just focus on having fun and the rest will work out!"

Well, I was partly wrong. The kids did stop their basketball game and switch to climbing!

Shane chortled, shook the tree, and made sure he was the highest up. I'm surprised the tree held them all!

It was a moment I was happy to see....though I did think, "It's no wonder he likes to call out, 'look at me!' All the kids do!"

Eventually, it was time for dinner and a shower. Shane went to bed properly tired from playing as all kids should.

Snow: I Needed This!

Shane found an old Gameboy in a drawer and it worked!? I don't remember charging it any time recently. How long as that battery held a charge?

They don't make them like they used to. Shane spent the morning on Pokemon Yellow.

I was so pumped for a snow day. I've been drained and battling myself and the students to get through each work day. It was melting and turning to rain, so it would just be one day off mostly likely.

That's okay, though. I needed it!

The sleet had a neat effect on the bamboo.

The bamboo got taller as Shane whacked it with the sled. We knocked on Rah's door to ask if he wanted to play and then farted around for a while.

I started trying to see how far away I could hit the street sign from with snowballs.

The boys eventually started, but no one beat my record (from the bamboo!).

We only went sledding for a little bit. The sleet turned to rain and never let up. It fell slowly, but with the snow melt and everyone getting wet it wasn't destined to last for long.

We didn't do any real packing or work at all today. We watched season 2 of The Dragon Prince and I played a lot of Xcom 2 (Ironman mode makes it way more fun!).

This week: Saturday is for Social

With my car back, it was time for Shane and I's usual Saturday routine. He started off the day with Taekwando.

I sat in the car for most of practice. It was crowded!

There was a brief window in between activities where we popped home for a change and some impromptu basketball.

Carrie posted our VW Bug for sale online. A mechanic who was aware of it's current condition came by and bought it while his kids played with Shane and Raheem. They didn't stay long, but it was a fun side event.

Unfortunately for Raheem, we didn't stay long either. Shane got changed, had a snack, and we were off to basketball.

Shane hammed it up and really enjoyed a dominating win.

Some of my texts to Carrie:
"They're winning 14-2 so Shane is pumped. He cheers every score. It's his turn to go in again and I could hear across the court, "Boo yah, Baby!"

"20-8 at halftime. He's tried a few steals. Was celebrating too much and his man almost ran down unopposed to score but he heard me yell."

The final score was 36-14. The coach's son, Ethan(?), did most of the work. Shane tried a few steals, took a shot from under the backboard, and actually got a rebound. He contributed! How's that for low standards?

Shane tried to make friends with the scoreboard guy when he was on the bench. I bet he was asking to push buttons, too, but I couldn't hear from across the court!

The kids had fun and I was happy with Shane's effort.

We got home to eat and get ready for Sam's birthday party at 3! Rah had a nephew coming to visit at 3, so I felt less bad as we drove off again (He at least had something going on...). 

I recognized a couple of the kids at Sam's party. I could have left him, but I ended up staying and talking with the adults. The other guy who stayed was a computer science professor at UVA. I found the academia discussions and politics interesting. It's a very different world from what I deal with.

There was an awkward moment where a kid showed up who wasn't invited to the party. He'd been visiting his grandparents and wanted to join. Shane immediately started to chat him up. The other kids wanted to play soccer and Shane was happy to find someone who wanted to grab a shovel and dig holes in the yard. Sam has history with the kid and "hasn't taken to him." The kid was allowed to join the party until the kid drama/angst levels were too high and he was sent home.

To my surprise, Shane did not cause the most noise of the kids. In fact, he disappeared at one point. Sam had a new Dogman comic book and Shane sat in his room to read it while the other kids had a light saber duel in the basement. I was amused.

There was cake and a Pokemon themed "Pin-the-Pokeball" activity. Several of the kids had unerring accuracy for being blindfolded and spun. The blindfold may not have worked as intended, but they had fun.

Everyone went outside again after. Shane wanted more cake and to go outside. I told him not to take their silverware into the yard, so he scarfed the cake down on the porch before vaulting down the stairs.

I would have happily stayed at the party longer, but after two hours of mayhem I figured Sam's parents would be happy for some quiet. Shane and I left as soon as other parents started arriving to ease the energy level.

Three planned activities and a little spontaneous play in between. We had a good day!

Snow day!

SSSNNnnooooOOOOooOOOoowWWW!

We've had church cancelled twice now. That's the same as the number of days of school cancelled!

I'd rather go to church than school. At least we should get Monday off. There was plenty of snow!

The city is doing a much better job of clearing the roads after that debacle several years ago.

We have our snow day routine: Sledding with Rah, Silas, and Zora!

The snow had a more ice-like feel. It was warmer than expected, so it could have been part melted.

Made for some fast runs and some rough landings when we built the ramp!

There wasn't enough snow to build anything really dangerous....which is probably a good thing, because I would have been tempted. Shane is on the cusp of doing all sorts of things that start hitting my interest level, but he's not there yet....

But for now, Shane was happy to push snow down a grate as I shoveled it from the street. We each did something we liked.

If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow some. Snow is fun!

Snow Day #2

The roads were much clearer this morning. Cars that weren't cleared of snow still had inches on top, so I felt good about yesterday's shoveling effort. 

Shane wanted to try and make a giant snowman again today. The melting snow made it the perfect consistency for packing. Shane started rolling up the base on his own.

I took over and then Silas and Raheem showed up to help.

We didn't stay at it long enough to finish the base, though.

We took our engineering skills and made a ramp on the hill instead.

Then, we hit the jumps! First, Rah...

Then, Shane...

Then, Silas and I. Silas tried to land on his feet. 

There's no video of me, but I mainly tried not to bruise my butt on the landing.

I would have loved to have keep going bigger and better! We joked about building ramps, half-pikes....

The only other feat of engineering I did was to use some snow to keep the sled in place so I could run and jump onto it. Shame filmed that one.

Boy, he loves the sound of his voice! Rah tried it at the very end of the video with rougher results (if you watched that far).

It was slick out!

Rah had a funny moment where he chose to slide down on his back right past me. I only got the camera out in time for a still shot.

There were still some shaded spots with snow and street parking looked difficult, but the roads were basically back to normal. Wrestling was cancelled yesterday and basketball closed with the schools, so I took Shane to TKD to get back into the routine there.

We missed for a couple of weeks, so it was good to get back in the swing of it.

Right now, they're calling for a two-hour delay for city schools. The county is closed, so *maybe* we'll close, too.....but I wouldn't count on it. The roads were fine and our deputy superintendent seems to feel like more of a man if he makes us go to school while the neighboring counties are closed.