First Day of School 2011

September 6th was the older boys' first day of school. They were excited to be starting a new year. Connor is in 5th grade this year and Colin is in 8th grade. They are definitely young men now. 

They were gracious enough to pose for pictures and even to allow their pajama-clad littles to join them. And boy, were the littles tired- the middle school bus comes early!

11th Birthday!

On Aug 21st, Connor turned 11 years old. I can't believe how fast time flies! He is an amazing young man. 

In early August, we had a party for Connor at our pool including: swimming, table tennis, tetherball, pizza, cupcakes, and more.

Not only did Connor have many friends attend but his cousins were able to attend as well. 

Cooper and Andrew (cousin)

The AMAZING Birthday Boy

Sybella and Hannah (cousin)

Although he is now one year older, Connor is a joyful soul and I hope he always stays a kid at heart!

Happy Birthday Son!

Teaching Connor to Sail...

Trying to get a nap...

We parked the car for about 15 minutes last week while waiting to pick Colin up. I was on the phone and when I hung up, I had 3 sleeping kids in the car (apparently, summer can wear you out!).
I HAD to take a picture of Connor napping because as a stomach-sleeper, I have TROUBLE getting comfortable and sleeping anywhere beside my bed. I can absolutely understand that this was the most comfortable position he could find. I felt bad when I had to wake him up before I could drive home. I know vehicle safety has necessarily come a long way but I remember sleeping in the front seat with my head next to the steering wheel as a kid.
Sweet Dreams Connor!

Thank You Cards

I received an email today that was priceless. And, when I was writing the response, I thought: "I should put this on the blog, because if two moms struggled with kids and Thank You Cards, then I bet many more have too. Also, it's a great reminder adults as well.

We have become a culture that is so accustomed to fast-paced, ever-changing information exchange and yet somewhere along the way, the simple basics of etiquette (RSVPs, Thank-You Cards, and Introductions) have escaped us.

DISCLAIMER: I am not perfect. SO, I may have missed your thank-you card following the baby's birth or some other event, but this story of a principle. It is just one of my little attempts to create good habits in my children and to teach them courtesy.

Here is the e-mail, it came from a mother (I'll call her Annie) whose son attended Connor's Birthday/Pool Party on Saturday.

Sharon -

You are an awesome Mom! We got Connor's thank you note in the mail today....it was fantastic! We are still working to get efficient at getting thank you notes done and mailed. Have a great afternoon....Annie

I replied with the following e-mail:

Annie,

I laughed out loud when I read this! Thanks so much BUT, let me tell you my secret.

I gave up on trying to get the kids to sit down and write their Thank You cards. It was a losing battle with me spending time aggravated and the cards still not written.

So I changed my approach completely. All I do is make sure that we have plenty of Thank You cards on the day of the party.

The rest is up to the kids.

They must write each Thank You immediately after opening the gift; they cannot open another gift until the card is written.

How fast or slow that happens is totally up to them. It usually takes 3-4 days to open all the gifts but I have had it take as long as 2 weeks. Connor finished his last card about 2 hours ago. :0)
I have found that not only does this arrangement cut down on our arguing but it helps them to appreciate each gift more because they spend time with it before hurrying on the next gift.

Also, If there is complaining about writing the cards, I offer that they do not have to write a Thank-You card, they can simply return the gift to their friend and explain how they don’t appreciate the gift or the time, care, and money that it demonstrates. Suddenly, the thank you card is NOT such a big deal.

At Christmas, they open all the gifts at once, but the gifts must stay in the living room and can’t be played with until Thank Yous are written.

Sounds a bit outlandish when I write it out but it works AWESOME and has solved my problem with very little effort.

Thanks for your kind words and Have a great day,

Sharon

Annie subsequently replied with the fact that her mom's group would enjoy hearing this method to the Thank-You Card "battle." So, I thought I would share it with my friends as well.

I hope if nothing else, you got a laugh out of some of our family fun.

Motivation

After just having a baby, I am working very hard to get in shape. One of the things I am doing is sit-ups. While we were on vacation, Connor had volunteered one day to hold my feet, Sybella wanted to get in on the action, so she sat on my feet. When I would come "up" for my sit-up, Sybella would give me a kiss. It was cute and is a great motivator to have your 2-yr old daughter cheering you on, "Go Mommy, Go----Hey, Mommy kissed me!!"

First Orioles Game

Connor and Cooper at Cooper's First Orioles game on June 28th. They played the Nationals and lost but we still had fun!

We visited guest services and they even gave Cooper an "Most Valuable Orioles Fan" Certificate to commemorate his first game.

Thanks to our friends for sharing in the adventure with us: Katie McFaddin, Chad Riley, and Dana Frisillo! (More pictures to follow.)

Cousins in DC

My brother and sister-in-law moved back to the DC area about 2 weeks ago. We are so excited for the opportunities that lie ahead for them but we are also excited to have more family close by; having our kids grow up together, close enough where they could actually know each other, has been a dream of mine and I am thrilled to see it unfolding! Here are the 2 of the cousins together at the soccer fields this weekend. How adorable!!

All Stars Soccer

There have been many soccer posts over the history of our blog. So, one more should not come as a surprise. :-)
Both the boys had an awesome Spring Soccer Season:

Colin scored several goals, had an opportunity to develop more in the goalie position, & performed quite well as a Middle Mid-Fielder. This was his first season playing with Coach Driver and Colin thoroughly enjoyed the experience; he looks forward to playing with Coach Driver again next spring.
Connor played primarily in the Right Wing position but also got to try his hand at goalie. He also scored several goals. Connor was in his 3rd Season with Coach Damon and we will MISS him very much as Connor moves on to Travel Soccer (see Travel Soccer Team Post). The highlight of Connor’s Season was being selected to play on the All Star Team. Two kids from each team are selected. The kids practice together for 2 weeks and then play in a final tournament against other Northern Virginia teams on Father’s Day weekend. Connor’s team did awesome. They played some very tough teams but still performed quite well…AND, they scored more goals than they gave up! Great Job guys! Connor was thrilled to be playing with his best soccer friend, Matt.

CCH Sharks Swim Team

This year our family joined the local pool; we weren’t able to do this when we lived in Vienna because there was a waiting list for memberships. We joined Country Club Hills Pool. One of the exciting opportunities that comes with being a pool member, is that the kids had the option of joining the swim team. I swam on a team for 2 years when I was a kid and it is an experience I wouldn’t trade. Colin did not want to join the team (I understand, he would have been swimming with kids in their 5th year of competitive swimming) but Connor was interested immediately.
The CCH Sharks is a great team and they have an Awesome coaching staff. Coach Scott is the head coach; he is knowledgeable, has a great manner with the kids and parents, he keeps the focus on team spirit and learning first, and he teaches the kids about how they should conduct themselves while still competing to the best of their ability. Coach Katherine is the assistant coach and does a great job as well.

On June 15th, the CCH Sharks had their First Meet of the season. It was a “Developmental Meet” which gives all of the kids a chance to participate. During regular meets, only the top 3 swimmers get to compete—which will often leave out the new kids. At a developmental meet, each child can compete in 2 events and has the opportunity to swim for improved times, experience, and feedback on their stroke style. Connor swam the backstroke and breaststroke at this meet. He did awesome!
He has a great backstroke and a fast breaststroke (the hardest stroke technically). He will continue to work on form through the season which will invariably increase his speed as well. Above all, he had FUN. One of his good friends Will also swims on the team so they have fun no matter what.

Travel Soccer Team

We got the invitation this morning for Connor to join the Vienna Boys Rising U-9 Travel Soccer Pool. There will be 4 teams of U-9 Boys and we do not yet have a team assignment but we have accepted the invitation and will begin our travel soccer journey in August. Travel soccer is designed to be a developmental program and more competitive than Recreational or House League Soccer. There are try-outs that a player must go thru to join a team.
CONGRATULATIONS to Connor for making it through 3 rounds of try-outs. Approximately 40 boys were selected and approximately 75 tried out.
This is a great opportunity for Connor as they schedule 2 practices a week and one of those practices is run by Brazilian Trainers who can help improve the boys’ skills.

Colin did not choose to try out as he spends the fall playing American Football.

Look-A-Like

When you look at families, sometimes you say that one child or another looks like one of the parents. In our family, it seems all my kids look alike. But, it’s still fun to figure out who looks the “most alike.” The consensus from just about everyone who has weighed in with an opinion is that Little Cooper looks most like Connor. So, I thought I would put this fun picture up of Connor laying with Cooper.
(All the kids LOVE Cooper and believe it or not they will take every opportunity to hold him, lay next to him, entice him to make gurgle noises, or just watch him sleep. Boy, am I Blessed!!!!!!)

Field Trip Fun

Today, I took Sybella and Cooper to Van Dyke Park. Connor's class had a field trip this morning and stopped at the park to enjoy their lunch and recess before going back to school. Parents and siblings were invited to join them.
We made the trek over to the park (since it's less than a mile from our house).
The skateboarding park is also located here so we got to watch some skateboarders (a big hit with Sybella and the 2nd graders).
I took some pictures of the kids: having lunch, Connor helping Sybella out with the Monkey Bars, Sybella driving the fire truck, Connor playing with a group of his classmates, and then Hugs "Good-Bye." Sybella had fun. Cooper ate and then slept through the whole thing. And Connor was thrilled and surprised that we joined him!
**Don't forget that if you click on the pictures/mosaics in the blog, they will enlarge for better viewing.

Water Water Everywhere...

A few candid moments while the
boys 'soaked' in the great weather
here in Northern Virginia.
As much as they can be 'all boy'
I love to watch them have fun and just be brothers. It is also great to live in a neighborhood where they have tons of kids their age to play with.

~David

Connor's Last Soccer Game

Here are some pictures of Connor's Last Soccer Game yesterday. There is also a picture of our awesome Coach, Damon, giving Connor his trophy and then of course, Connor "displaying" his trophy. The Green Strykers had a great season and had lots of fun. It's a good group of kids and parents and we will missing seeing them every week! Most of us will back together for spring season in March or April.

PRE-CIPROCATION???

PRE-CIPROCATION...huh? That's what I was thinking when I heard Connor (Age 7) explaining to his brother Colin (Age 10) what he expected to get out of the deal. Now they were sitting in the very back of the van and I was driving (so I was working hard to ease drop on my children).

I am not sure what the deal was about but Connor wanted 'Preciprocation' for his efforts.

So I asked, "Hey Connor, what is preciprocation mean?" He replied back, "Dad, it's when you do a favor for some one adn you expect them to return the favor".

I had a really hard belly laugh in the van as Sharon and I explained how sharp his negotiation skills were but the word is...RECIPROCATION!

I love to listen to what kids have to say and how they explain themselves...

Connor's DC United Game

Many of you know that Connor's Team, the Red Dynamites, had the opportunity to escort the DC United Players onto the Field this past Sunday. The United were playing the San Jose Earthquakes. It was a sizzling hot 3pm game with lots of fun, food, goals, and excitement.

The boys arrived at 1:30 to line-up and be escorted into the "tunnels." They were issued their very own DC United Uniforms (Shirts, Shorts, and even Socks). They were taken out to the Players' Field Entrance and had the opportunity to talk to the coaches, trainers, subs, and even spent some time with Ben Olsen.

As the players exited the locker room, Connor was matched up with Gonzalo Martinez, who later scored his 1st goal of the season in the 55th minute of the game. Martinez was certainly in the action of this game, after his goal, he also managed to get a yellow card---Connor was thrilled to have walked with a player who was central to the United's 3-1 Victory!

**Here are some of my favorite pictures, you can check out the rest (all 85 of them) on Flickr.

FSM

Well it isn't quite Father's Day but since I am traveling again on Sunday and I have plans with my Father on Saturday...I thought it was a good idea to take the boys out for a Father Son Moment. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just some good old fun at the driving range. There is a driving range about 4 miles from the house (Oak Marr Rec Center & Golf Course).

We had fun just swinging the clubs and the boys wanted to go on the 'upper level'...I think it makes them feel like thier golf ball goes further. We had a good time and enjoyed the weather. Just having a quality time with the boys...who are growing up way to fast (10 and 8 now). Colin will be in 5th grade next year...YIKES (I have a 5th grader) and Connor will be in 2nd grade.

For the record...we did not dig tunnels in the sand trap at the golf course. These are photos from of the tunnel I helped the boys build while we were in Myrtle beach several weeks ago during another FSM.

Army Adventures

It is moments like these where I wish I was a kid again. The boys insisted taking me on an 'Army Mission' this past weekend. While they attempted to get me into camo and boots; I was able to convince them that photographers don't have to follow the same rules.

They were fun to watch and appeared to me more guerrilla warfare or special forces rather then a plain old Army mission. Every once in awhile I need to stop and engage on thier level...dream on thier level...and explore on thier level. I read recently that the most significant vision casting is done 12 inches from your childrens face at night right before they head off to bed. Need to be dreaming / vision casting with these 'troops' more often. They are growing up fast.

GOALLLLLLLLLLL!!

On Saturday afternoon, Connor's team won their soccer game. Connor scored his FIRST goal this season. It was an awesome shot that was just ahead of the defender and hit the back of the net despite the other team's best efforts-Great Job Connor!!


Here is a picture of the "kick-off" right after Connor's goal-

Note Connor's confident stance. The celebrating had just ceased. :)