Every year I take my camera out and take photos of the kids on the teams. Then I go through all the photos and pick out about 5 - 6 photos of each kid, and a few team photos and some funny photos and I set it to music, publish it and burn it to CDs. I scour the Internet for "soccer" songs and also quotes. Sometimes the quotes are soccer related, sometimes they are just motivational. Last spring, I only made a DVD for Job's team and Isaac's team. It was too hard for Lona's team. For game days the team was split in half and each 1/2 team played 4 different matches in an hour. There were 14 girls on the team so it almost made it impossible. This year Lona's team stayed all together and played only one match in an hour. There were only 10 girls on the team which made it much more doable. I took over 600 photos for each team and narrowed them down to less than 70 photos. Soccer can be such a challenge to photograph because of the pace of the game. For me I liked being able to change my focus point at the touch of a button. It also helped to have the focus on the opposite side that the player is running to. This allowed me to photograph a player running into empty space in the photo and make the photo more dynamic. With that in mind I have plenty of photos that don't follow that rule. Some children are harder to photograph because of the position they play, how they play, whether I have to be at another match, or how often the player is at the match. With three children and practices 4 nights a week, there was some matches that either overlapped or were at the same time. My goal was to have 90% of the photos done by game three and then organize and get the last minute photos. I had this done for 2 out of 3 teams. I do have to say that having a telephoto zoom lens is a must for me. I'm trying to talk John into purchasing a fast zoom lens. It would make taking indoor soccer and ballet/tap recital photos easier. I would also love to hang out behind the goal and take photos instead of photos from the touchlines (sidelines). Sadly parents/spectators aren't allowed behind the goal line.
A visit to the locks in Ballard. In September we studied the Erie Canal in History. Not realizing that it had such a monumental impact in our country's history, I merely dismissed it in school. Come to find out it helped our nation with trade and expansion tremendously. Sometime growing up, we stopped at some locks. I thought it was on the Columbia River but really couldn't remember. I really wanted to take the kids to see some locks because of the amount of locks on the Erie Canal. Talking to some gals at coffee, I was told that there are locks in the Seattle area! Thank you, Marty! So I looked it up and sure enough we could go. Please John, can you pull the boat down and put in at Lake Union and go through the locks both ways with the boat? I thought for sure that as a home schooling family that he would definitely be up for that. NO WAY!
So I drug the kids down there without him or the boat. Maybe another time (like not during soccer season). We started out with hot cocoa and coffee and got out of town with a map to the locks, a walking tour guide of Ballard, a guide to the gardens attached to the locks, and Isaac's ipod.
We got down there quick, paid for our parking and walked into the garden area. Who knew the museum, gardens and fish ladder were free. Love that.
Who knew that across the street there was a restaurant where all the kids would order fish and chips. I didn't know they liked fish and chips. Loved it.
Isaac has gotten into yo-yos and carries his around with him everywhere; that and his ipod. Of course they are both green.
There were squirrels galore here and not timid at all. We watched this one poke around the ground and bury a nut. Who knew that we'd spend almost an hour watching this squirrel.
Who knew that we could spend 3 HOURS watching boats go through the locks! When we arrived there weren't any boats. Within 15 minutes there was a boat going through the locks. The variety of boats were incredible. Tug boats, pleasure boats, tour boats, boats that pulled logs out of the water, and fire boats. It was educational. We also watched a film in the museum and looked at all the displays, including a simulation of the locks and how they work.
There is a park on each side of the locks and you can walk back and forth on the gates to each side. A draw bridge for the train tracks just down the way. We spent another hour or two going through the garden with their map trying to find all 29 trees listed on their brochure. The trees on the end of the list were mislabeled. They had a California red wood labeled as a yucca plant. I don't think so. I thought that we would see a couple of boats and then the kids would get bored and want to do something else. Who knew that I'd have to drag them out of there and home to get to soccer practice. Wow. It was a beautiful but slightly chilly day. So perfect to spend 6+ hours outside. I'm hoping to go back down there in the spring, the trees were gorgeous with the fall colors and am thinking that it would be a beautiful place to bike ride this spring or summer.
Excited boy. First paycheck. Grade 9 referee. I love you Isaac.
As Job says, "They like to stack each other."
Remember last year when Isaac got a hamster? Then it died. Then he bought another hamster and that one died? Well he's been planning on another hamster and he's saved his money. He even went to the pet store a couple of weeks ago but couldn't afford a hamster and a new cage. He's convinced that his old cage has death on it. I was perusing Craig's list for a dog when I came across Free, note the word FREE, gerbils. Isaac got all excited and made the call. He looked on the Internet about gerbils. Turns out they are sociable and need more than one gerbil. They aren't totally nocturnal and they smell less than any other rodent-pet. They drink less so do less and tend to contain that to one area. My roommate in college always had gerbils. They even had gerbil babies. She purposely bought a male and female. We purposely didn't. Nine to ten babies every 5 weeks was not and idea I am willing to entertain. We picked up the gerbil girls from a gal at Western (yes they have many), and headed to Petsmart to pick up the other needed supplies. We still had bedding from the hamsters. Turns out rodents can handle aspen bedding but allergic to pine shavings. We needed food and a wheel. The wheels need to be specials because gerbils can have their tails ripped off getting caught in hamster wheels. ouch. We had a 10 gallon tank with a locking lid. Gerbils need about 5 gallons of space per gerbil so this was perfect. They have been very entertaining to watch. Lona even wrote about them on her own. Yes. Job and Isaac videoed them. Isaac showed them to a friend and now he's getting two on Wednesday. Way to share excitement with a friend.
Eight years ago John and I moved to Bellingham with two small children and no other family around. Our Pastor in Montana called around and recommended Silver Beach Community Church to us. We attended and soon became friends with a family from that church. This wonderful woman would have me and my toddler and baby into her house twice a month. As soon as I walked in the door with children in tow her girls would whisk the boys out of my arms and downstairs to entertain them while I visited with this sweet woman. She taught me so much about being a mother, being a Christian, being a wife and being content at home. She did this by being hospitable to me and quietly teaching me by example. I've watched her children grow in the last eight years and have seen their walk with God grow and develop under the care and prayer of their mother. Lydia is one of these children who is not a child anymore. She has always been kind to my children and played with them. She has sought Lona and the boys out at church and church functions even when she could have been visiting with her friends. She is such an example of someone who wants to honor her parents and I wish I could have been that teenager to my parents. Lona adores Lydia just like she adores Lydia's older sisters. I have been very honored to know this family and to watch the changes in each of their very special and wonderful children. Thanks Lydia for allowing my to practice with you.
This year I want to do so more field trips. We have talked about secret codes and secret signs. We've also looked at mosaics so we headed to Creativitea for a little art project/field trip.
This place is great. It may seem like a pricey tag for the project but they have everything you need. There are ceramics to paint/stamp and glass squares to make mosaic pictures. In the past we've done the ceramic paintings and we've tried the glass as well. So we thought we'd do the glass again.
There are long flat sticks, small squares, then smaller pieces in three sizes from chunks to granules. They have the glue and the cutters available for you as well. The table is laid out so that it is next to the window with supplies.
The kids were fairly self-sufficient. I helped them cut a couple pieces of glass but they did the rest.
I was able to wander around and look at some of the projects some other people have done. In my dreams I would be able to make something look this good. I have an Aunt in Switzerland that does some amazing work. She has tea cups with gold rims and delicate flowers. They look like they were purchased from some china company. She has such a wonderful gift. I'm not one of those. I tried on once but it turned out terrible. I had a picture in my mind but I couldn't get it to work out. An artist I'm not. Good thing because if everyone could be an artist then being an artist wouldn't be special. So I look and appreciate and hopefully I can allow the kids some creative time without the pressure of producing a masterpiece. All in all, I think that the field trip was a success. We picked up the pieces about a week later. I haven't taken photos of them yet.
