Kason's 1st sleepover

Our Kason had his very first sleepover last night.  Sleeping at nana and papa's doesn't count, he's done that a few times.  I was just thinking how Kason's firsts will happen so much sooner than Kade's or Anika's because he is trying to be like them.  Lately, it's been a huge deal to have a sleepover at a friend's house.  Anika doesn't have very many girl friends her age but Emily is her best friend and she has had a sleepover there.  Kason was very sad that he didn't get to go.

So last night was finally his first time.  If you ask me, 4 years old is not when you start having sleepovers at a friend's house. :)  But, we agreed because it is our friends from church and we know them well.  Not too long ago I started watching their 3 year old son Carsten, just 2 days a week.  He is Laadyn's cousin so his mom wanted to bring him here so he's more comfortable.  He cried some at first but now he's all used to us and has a fun time with all the kids.  Lately Kason and him have become such good little buddies and they do everything together.  It's cute to watch them too because Kason wants to do big kid stuff like sleepovers because that's what his siblings do and Carsten too thinks he's a big kid because he's the oldest and hangs out with his uncles and older cousins all the time.  At first Kason had a play date at their house and now Carsten has been wanting Kason to sleep there and of course Kason was all for it.  I wasn't so sure only because Kason can be so loud when he wakes up in the morning, it's like he wakes up with a roar and he goes down with a roar :) and they have a 6 month old baby too.  But Kason was so excited and whenever he goes somewhere like that, he never gets sad about leaving me.  When Kade was his age he would cry when saying good bye, even if he was going to see me the next day.  So it's fun to see the different personalities in our kids.  Kason is still very affectionate and loves to cuddle with me but he doesn't cry if he's leaving me.  But, if I go somewhere, even to a grocery store without him, he'll still get all teary once in a while. :)  So I think he just wants to go places.  I think all of our kids are like that a little bit - they love going to somebody's house or anywhere.  Anika asks me every night as she's going to bed what we're doing tomorrow because she wants to know if there's any place we're going and gets so excited for every little "trip", even just going to a park or shopping.  So Ehren doesn't have it easy in the house full of people who want to do stuff all the time. :)  because what he enjoys most is spending quiet time at home.  I love coming home when I've been gone but I couldn't just stay at home all day every day.

So Kason made it through the first sleepover great.  He had a lot of fun and didn't even miss me, on the contrary he had a big fit when they got here because he didn't want to come home yet.  I think he was a bit tired which is when he does crying like that so I sent him to bed.  It just helps him relax and calm down and he's ready to go.  I am really glad Kason has a little buddy like that because with Kade and Anika having their special friends, Kason has been feeling a bit left out.  I am especially glad he'll have Carsten at our house to play with when the school starts because Kason's play buddies Ani and Emily will be in school fulltime.

    

Cities Weekend

Leslie Frazier

We had a great weekend in the Cities.  The weather wasn't all sunshine but we still had plenty to keep us busy and it has been the most I've driven around the freeways in the Cities in a loooong time since Ehren didn't go with us.  I do miss driving in the Cities, I love the fast freeways and the changing scenery.  I wouldn't like it if it was during rush hours :) but on a weekend it's great.  We managed to take 5 kids to the Children's Museum and Como Zoo so kids had a lot of fun with that even though I was a bit exhausted from it. :)  On Sunday we went to Grace & Kevin's church (Ehren's aunt) and Leslie Frazier (MN Vikings Head Coach) was speaking there.  It was great to hear him talk and he had a lot of God's wisdom to share.  I didn't even think of going to meet him afterwards or get a picture with him but we only had a few minutes to talk to Grace and Kenzie and Kelsey and they were with him at one point.  So they invited us in the little room and we got to shake hands with Leslie and he asked Kade a couple questions so Kade felt pretty proud. Grace and Kevin took a picture with Leslie then and Grace asked if we wanted a picture and I said "sure" so that is how we got in on the picture too.  Ehren couldn't be more proud that we got to do it and I know he would have loved to see Leslie too.

We spent the weekend with a friend from Slovakia who married a Minnesotan like me.  They have 2 little girls, a 3 year old Hanka and a 6 months old Sophie.  It was nice to spend the time with them and get to know their little family.  Hanka talks Slovak very nicely so I know I need to step up my game, I just have a really hard time talking Slovak 100% to my kids when we have other kids here and when I need to say most of the things twice, with a translation.  I really wish we could go to Slovakia more often because they would be forced a lot more to learn it.  So I'll see if I can change anything.  I know it is me who has to change, not the kids.  It's just the will to talk Slovak all the time and I don't know why it's so hard for me.  It's not hard at all if I have someone else to talk to in Slovak but when it's just talking at the kids it's somehow different.  So I'll try and see.  I keep thinking of people who get nannies who only speak Spanish and the kids are forced to learn it so I should do that with Slovak. :)

I thought Kason was so cute this weekend.  Somehow hearing a lot more Slovak talk at my friend's house, it reminded him of babka and dedko (grandma & grandpa) and he kept asking me when are we going to visit babka.  I felt so bad for him because he's already 4 and hasn't been able to go there yet.  I think he thought since we're visiting my Slovak friend, our next stop should be babka & dedko. :)  Hopefully before too long we get to go there.  My parents are planning a trip here next year so it will be great to see them.  Years seem to just fly by when you have kids and we have to start planning trips like 5 years ahead.  Especially starting to save money for those trips because it is so expensive to go there.

Talking about years flying by, today is our 13th anniversary!  When you say 13 years it seems like a long time but to me it seems like it went by really fast.  It is hard to even remember what it was like before we had kids. :)  Life sure gets busy when you have kids, but it is so worth it and I feel so blessed through them and through my husband.  I'm so glad that Ehren and I are standing strong together and our kids are able to have a home with both mom and dad.  It is sad to see how many kids nowadays live with a single mom or dad, or are a part of blended families.  Life is so different for them and just the example of their mom and dad and how come they aren't together.  I know a lot of people say it's life, that's how it is and they just get used to it but I think it is painful for those kids.  So I am thankful we can give our kids the example of having a mom and dad who love each other.  And even though they fight and argue sometimes, they work it out and work on their relationship because it matters.  So here's to another great 13 years and more!

Anika during her soccer game - she is really enjoying it now

my friend Danka and her baby at the museum

Curious George at the Childrens Museum

Sparky the seal - Como zoo.
Kids loved watching his little show

  

a fun summer weekend

That is what this weekend was about - being together as a family, going to the cabin, swimming, biking, grilling, soccer games, church and a walk in the park.  It was a great weekend and felt like middle of July because how hot it was.  I've been bugging Ehren for a while to go back to Cass lake park because they have a great bike trail there, through the woods.  It was a pretty hot day and we would be miserable on the sun but biking in the trees was great.  Kason and Ani took turns on our tandem bike and neither of them wanted to get off.  If we want to go on long bike rides like this next year, we will have to find another one of those.

On Saturday Kade's team played 2 soccer games against Bemidji teams and I was glad I was finally able to watch them play.  We knew going into it that Bemidji teams are really good but it was still a rather humbling experience.  You can tell that our small town TRF soccer is just for fun and kids are not drilled enough.  The kids on the other teams were all very good, you could tell they've been playing soccer since little kids and just had the passes and technique down.  Our poor boys were running back and forth so much they got wiped out after the first game, plus it was 90 degrees which made it hard too.  But I think they fought hard and tried their hardest.  Kade did really well too, but he had a hard time keeping up his fast running the whole time.  I was sure glad I didn't have to run around for 2 hours like that in that heat.  It's Ehren's first year coaching this age too so he's just learning about what to do with these kids, plus they're at such different levels of soccer.  A couple boys are very beginners and are just learning the game and a couple could do really well if they had another person to pass to. :)  But since this is such a small town, there aren't enough people willing to take it on, to help coaching or prepare the coaches for the coming season.  It's pretty much "here is your team and here is the schedule for your games and go do it".  And there's also not many boys interested in soccer which makes it hard to compete with the bigger towns.  Girls in TRF have 2 huge teams at Kade's age while boys have like 6-8 players total so we had to recruit a couple younger players just so Ehren can have them switch a little during the soccer games.  So it's all a learning experience and I hope they're enjoying it.  From what I see the boys love it and most of them wouldn't mind having soccer practice every day so it's worth it and it is so rewarding to see these boys get better every time.  It is actually fun playing with them.  I played with them at one of the practices and my memories took me back about 25 years ago (wow :)) when I would play soccer with my brothers and their friends.  This year Kade is finally getting better at it that I can play soccer with them and we're almost equal which is so much fun.  I actually have a hard time just watching them practice or play because I want to go out there and play with them. :)

After the soccer games it was hot so we decided to go for a little swim in the lake.  I don't ever remember swimming there this early in the summer.  We didn't stay for too long though because it got a bit windy and the kids got cold but they had fun in the water.  All 3 of them were pretty wiped out every night and slept so good.

Now we're home and the storms are coming thru, which is good because we've had very dry weather lately.  I'm getting ready for next week because we have something going on every single night and then on Friday I'm going down to the Cities for a long weekend with the kiddos.  I'm excited to go down there and see a couple friends I haven't seen for a while.

a little stop during our bike ride

here we go

Me with the trailer - not easy pulling a 40 pound child and 15 pounds of drinks/food up the hills

Kade taking off 

getting ready for swimming

tiny progress

Today I am thankful for a tiny progress our Anika made.  She has come such a long way from 2-3 weeks ago when she first started to play soccer.  It all started with such excitement, Ani and Emily (her cousin) were going to start soccer together and they were even on the same team together.  Anika was so excited to start, with her girly soccer ball and the whole outfit :), she was going to play soccer like Kade.

Well, little did I know their first practice was going to be a traumatic experience for both girls.  The way the soccer teams start up at age 5-6 is that they play a lot of games using the soccer balls, one of them is "sharks and the minnows".  It was one of the first things the coach made all the kids do except he called it the "Monsters" game.  I realized right away I should have prepped Anika a little because she had no clue what to do and pretty soon got scared and started to cry.  I hugged her and sent her off with some simple commands for the game.  Well, pretty soon Emily got chased by a "monster" and the little boy was running towards Emily's ball a bit too fast and they collided, causing her to fall down.  More tears, this time from Emily.  They took turns crying a bit more after that, all for different things so I was glad when that practice was done.  I actually kind of laughed it off because some kids do that at first, especially if their moms are right there at the side lines.  And so I was all ready to tackle this for next time.  We practiced all the games in our yard and both Emily and Ani were doing so well with it, finally kind of getting what they were supposed to do.

But then the next practice came and Jessica told me Emily doesn't want to play soccer anymore and that she was done.  All I could think was "oh no, now Anika will want to quit for sure".  Ani is just so attached to Emily and whatever she does Ani wants to do and half of her excitement for being in soccer was that she was going to do it with Emily.  I could tell Anika had to really process it when I told her Emily won't be there anymore and there were more tears of course.  I never gave her the option of quitting though.  I told her that we signed up for soccer and now we have to finish it, no matter how hard it is and I was going to be there for her.  Next year will be another story and I won't push her if she says she doesn't like it but right now, we are going to persevere. :)

And now, 3 practices later I am so glad I didn't give up on Anika.  I kept encouraging her, practicing with her at home and praising her for little things.  Today was the first practice she didn't cry one bit.  I think she's finally getting more comfortable with the routine of it, what is expected of her and what the little games are.  A little reward also probably helped because she wanted a piece of gum on the way to the practice and I said "how about if you don't cry tonight you can have one on the way home?"  I know, sneaky. :)  But I was so proud of her tonight.  Not because she is doing such a great job with soccer and not because she is getting better at the little drills but because she worked so hard to overcome her fear, to get out there and try her best even though she feels like she can't do it at all.  It is just so different to watch her from when I was there watching Kade 3 years ago.  He is athletic and very coordinated and it took him no time to figure the basics of soccer out.  Anika is nothing like him and has a hard enough time running without having to kick the ball in front of her :) but she tries so hard and she doesn't give up and I love that about her.

Ani and Emily together at the first tragic practice :)

I get it that some of us are not into sports and are not born athletic so I am not going to push Ani into doing it but I will still ask every year in case she will one day say she'll play soccer again.  And maybe she'll surprise me and will love it some day.  But for now, I am happy she went thru the practice without a tear and that even though it's a bit early in life, she got a little lesson on how not to quit something just because it's hard or just because her best friend quits.  And I do know everyone's personality is different and with some children, there's no use in trying to make them do it if they make up their mind to quit but I know that's not Anika.  Her team will start playing games against other little teams once a week now so we'll see how that goes but somehow that part is not that scary to her, it's more the drills she's worried about.


 

here we go...

I knew this day had to come sooner or later. :)  It's been a week since I got my teeth pulled out and it healed very nicely.  I got the stitches out which hurt but now it's just fine.  Except for me getting used to wearing the retainer all the time.  It feels very weird, like I'm back to wearing night-time braces except I have to wear it all the time and even eat with it.  My absolute least favorite thing is eating with the retainer on.  It feels like it's going to fall off, sometimes hurts to bite and food gets stuck inside it so I just hate it.  I also don't like talking with it because I sound so funny.  My "s" sounds terrible and I'm always conscious about my talking to someone.  Although some friends said they didn't notice anything with my speech so that gives me hope it's mostly just me.  I know it will take time to get used to, but the eating part really stinks.

And so, most of the time when I'm home I take it off before eating anything that I have to bite.  And tonight, as I was heating up some leftovers for dinner for the kids, I took it off so I could taste the food when I heard a knock at our door.  Of course, I just ran to answer the door and it was a guy in charge of the soccer giving me something for Ehren.  My initial reaction was a little smile and a "Hi" and then it hit me:  "I don't have my teeth in!" (and to be honest, a little smile is WAY more than enough because even if I don't smile at all and just don't have my lips shut closed, you can see the weird gap because the other 2 teeth on the side are showing)  I kind of froze right there for a second and I could tell he noticed because he was trying not to stare. :)  I just looked down at the piece of paper he gave me and tried to keep my lips as closed as possible while I said a couple more words before he was gone.  I just couldn't believe I did that.  I know it happens to a lot of people but come on, that's like my nightmare right now to come up to someone and smile and then realize I look like a witch. :)

Anyway, it's over with and I just hope I'm more careful next time.  But I sure hope I don't have to run into that guy again, I'm still embarrassed about it. :)