Sunday, July 27, 2008

Just A Typical Saturday

A couple years ago (gosh, I can hardly believe it's been that long!), right after we returned with Marcie, I posted about a typical day in the life of Marcie. But I never did that for Casey-- mainly because he wasn't home with me. But we're all together on Saturdays. So here's a relatively typical Saturday for us.


Soccer game

Casey plays indoor soccer-- four on four, coed. There's no practice. The kids just show up on Saturday, practice for 10 minutes, and play two 20-minute halves. They really improve a great deal over the 8-week period during which they play games. And no one keeps score, so it's about learning the basics of the game. Marcie likes to go to watch Casey (and get a treat with the players at the end of the game), so unless it conflicts with music class, we all go as a family. Jason assisted the main coach of the team this season, so it was just me and Marcie in the "stands." Here's a quick video of Casey playing:


And here's a picture I just really like. (By the way, the netting is what theoretically prevents the ball from knocking the spectators in the head. Of course, our kiddos aren't kicking that hard, but I suppose the guys in the adult league do.)



It gets pretty hot out there, so I'm so impressed with their stamina. And forty minutes is a long time-- especially if you only have five kids show up to play and four are on the field at all times.

Music Class

After soccer, where Casey was named "Player of the Week," we headed immediately to music class. The kids love music class, though there's a new teacher this session, and she's not particularly enthusiastic or engaging. It's not that she doesn't try-- it just doesn't appear to come naturally to her. Which is a shame, because the other teacher has made participating really worth while and this teacher, well, I'm not sure we'd pay to return if she weren't trading off with the original teacher. But she's knew. So we're giving it some time. Anyway, here are the kids in music class:



Toasty Lunch

And darnit, I forgot to take a picture of our next weekly ritual-- lunch at Quizno's. Which our kids happily refer to as "Toasty." It's really become a tradition and something the kids look forward to. We usually eat with one of the kids in music class (who also happens to be a family friend). But no picture of him or Casey and Marcie gobbling up their sammies and anxiously awaiting their half cookie.

Nap Time or Party Time

Now during the summer, there are not a lot of birthday parties. But the spring is a different story. Casey used to nape from 1-3 p.m. And Marcie still does most weekend days. But not this Saturday because we were invited to a birthday party for one of Casey's soccer teammates (whose parents we really like). In fact, before we headed to the party, Jason cautioned the kids: "Now, it's really important you behave yourself because Mommy and Daddy really like Ben's parents and we'd like to be invited to hang out with them again." Normally we don't have this conversation before a birthday party because we don't even know the parents' names. Luckily, our kids were pretty good. They set up a hose at the top of the slide and the kids slid down it into the pool:



And they had a ton of legos to build structures with (Marcie built a traveling zoo!). And they had homemade lego cake. And a pinata. Which one kid actually busted open. It was cool to watch.<
Dinner

After the party, we stopped by Costco and ran the van through the car wash. The kids slept in the car, but we didn't want them to nap too long (or we'd risk them not going to bed at a decent hour!). So after we got home, we let the kids have quiet time in front of the television. Marcie mostly followed me around while I did laundry and tidied up. Jason made shrimp for dinner.


Homework

And after dinner, Casey did some homework for school. He's taking a special (pre) reading class, and we're so impressed with what he's doing so far. He's actually beginning to sound out words! This pleases us greatly. Almost as much as how much he obviously enjoys the tutoring class. This morning, while Jason and I were still sleeping, Casey found a pad of paper and some crayons and wrote "purple," "red," "green," and "yellow" on his own. And he wrote each color in the right color crayon. I know he copied it from the work he'd done, but it was still amazing because he took the initiative to do it on his own.


Dessert

Casey did such a good job on his homework, and Marcie did some a fantastic job coloring the pictures she was working on that we spoiled the kids with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. Mmmm.


Breaking (and Repairing) Appliances

Oh. And somewhere around dinner/homework time our washing machine broke. Again. I suppose it's been two whole years since the last time it broke, but that doesn't seem like much to me. I was mad because I knew the pump had reversed (I recognized the sound because it was the same problem before). Which meant something got stuck in it. And ever since a pocket full of nails destroyed the first pump, I've been pretty careful to check Jason's pockets. I was not looking forward to the service call (and the pile of wet laundry I was going to have to take to a laundry mat). But my uber-handy husband looked it up online and pulled apart the washing machine himself. The part was blessedly not broken. The pump had reversed because and object got stuck. The culprit? A bobby pin. In my pants' pocket. Left over from wedding weekend hair. Oops. But the washer is good as new and running just fine. Whew. That was close.

All in a typical Saturday.

2 comments:

Danielle said...

Perfect way to spend a Saturday.
So sweet.
And Marcie...I can't believe how big she looks. I'm dying to see you guys again.

Julie said...

Popping in to see how you all are. When did Marcie start looking like a little girl instead of a baby??? Hope you are enjoying your summer.