Well, we did it- We survived our first week of school.
It was only 4 days
and only 3 days of 5:30 am wake up time
for early morning Seminary.
When they said Seminary changes lives, they weren't kidding!
This week is our first whole, official week.
Before school started our evenings were crazy. Sam had football practice from 4:30-6:30, Joe had football practice from 6:00-8:00 and Emma had soccer from 6:30-8:30 all at different places every night. Now that school has started, Sam goes over on the bus and we just have to pick him up at 6:30. Joe only goes Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and only until 7:30. Emma, unfortunately was cut from the soccer team. They had to cut 25 girls this year. Soccer in this area is insane! After talking to the moms I got the sense that we just didn't do enough. Most of the girls were playing with very competitive leagues all spring and then had personal trainers on top of that. It was the first time that Emma said something that wasn't "I was awesome today." So we kind of had the feeling, going into the check your name on the door morning. It was still a really hard day. Every single Mormon girl was cut. It makes you wonder! (Not saying they were biased. Just wondering if there was something that the girls just didn't need to be a part of.) Many of the girls that got cut, joined cross country. They love the reject soccer girls, because they can run! There is a 2 mile run for soccer try-outs and they have to get it down to 15 minutes. Emma refused to do cross country though, so instead she is playing rec soccer with 2-3 other girls that were cut and 2 of the boys that were cut. She also took a class and has become a ref. She gets $15 a game for referring the little kids. If she feels up to it she can get $20 for referring a big kids game. Not bad! I also found trainers for her, in both soccer and volleyball, so that she can make the teams in Europe when we move.
Sam made the A-team on Football for corner back
and punt return and then as an alternate for running back. I personally think it's all about the ball and if you don't get to touch the ball, it's not worth it, but Sam has a different philosophy. He said, "Mom, I love playing defense. You get to hit someone, every time!" Guess, I just don't understand football that well! Anyway, after his first scrimmage, we figured out that he is on the A team, but he is second string. He very well might play more, if he was on the B team. They have separate games. He is suppose to suit up for both of them, though, so he will probably get plenty of play time, especially since he plays offense, defense and special teams. He always goes out on punt return! One of the boys in our ward just made Varsity his freshman year (again, unheard of in this area where sports are such a big deal and there are a million kids trying out for every single one of them!) as a punter. That's when I learned there was a difference between the punter and the kicker. I thought they were the same people. Silly me! It has been thoroughly explained to me, now! Ha ha!
Joseph had his first game and he was very upset afterwards.
He said, "I just don't understand!" I said, "what don't you understand?" He then explained that he didn't get to play, hardly at all. The team he is on, has been together- like most of the teams in the area- since they were in 2nd grade. Joe is still just trying to learn what football is all about. He looks lost most of the time. It breaks Rob's heart,
Rob on the chain gang
but it didn't mine until Joseph started noticing that he wasn't getting to play very much. I explained everything to him and told him what he needed to do to get noticed, but that just made him cry. I felt so bad. Poor guy, he is so sensitive! I guess we will see if he continues on or quits. Sam took it as a challenge last year, but Sam seems to be the one child of ours that has that internal motivation. I don't know that any of the others have that.
This year for lunches I have embraced the Bento box idea.
Being cheap, I bought regular type plastic containers, instead of the $50 Bento box system. I am loving it so far.
I feel like I am wasting less and saving the environment a little more and hopefully coming up with some interesting ideas for lunch. These were their choice for last week.
I had to take some pictures,
because who knows how long this will last!
Update: Joseph is working harder than ever in practice and getting some good hits. He gives us thumbs up all the time. He is so cute! I hope he doesn't get frustrated!
Max says he hates his school! When I asked why, he said, "because you have to get up so early!" This all day, every day thing is hard on him!
