Refugees + Soccer

The city has a refugee community of Bhutanese/Nepalis.  We have many people from our church who work with the refugee community.  The refugee children love soccer.  They practice weekly and even have their own jerseys.  Needless to say they are pretty good.  Our local home-school soccer league has been getting together (as an outreach) to play soccer with them.  Jack participated recently on a hot Saturday morning.

We're the hodge-podged jersey team.

Maybe we lost because we didn't practice as a team....or didn't have matching jerseys.

But, the point was to have a good time.  And they skunked us...pretty badly.  No need to tell you the score.

Eva got tired of watching and headed off to play her own game of soccer with her buddy.

Kids = Mess

There is no doubt that I cannot have a consistently clean home and have children at the same time.  Don't get me wrong...I don't mind.  I'd much rather have these crazy kiddos of mine and a dirty house than life without them.  Sometimes I just have to laugh at the messes they make.

I have numerous broken picture frames from the days when Seth and Jack played soccer inside during the winter months.  I also have broken lights on the outside of the house from flying soccer balls.  I'm sure this is not unknown to all you mothers out there, but here is my most common and annoying sweet memories from my messy kids:

Bug guts splattered on cathedral ceiling
Stickers on bed
Names of famous soccer players carved into the headboard of a child's bed
Glue on freshly painted wall so children can hang artwork (never mind they have a cork board for that purpose)
Ink from broken pen splattered on wall
Vomit splattered on wall
Other bodily stuff on wall
Dirty windows because they can't keep their hands or faces off

They can all be cleaned up.  The work is never ending.  And years later, some of the carvings memories still remain.  One famous one:

Jack wrote his name in permanent marker on the side of our couch.  At least it was red and matched the living room.  The kind man who was recovering our furniture saved it for me.  I'm sure it deserves to be framed and hung somewhere prominent.

This brings me to my latest re-do.  We bought a new table before we even thought about adding to our family through adoption.  I made the mistake of buying fabric covered chairs.  Seth spilled soy sauce that first night we used it.  I wanted to cry.  Then we adopted.  Over the years I placed a covering over the fabric...

because it looked like this...

Yes, it was embarrassing.  But this weekend, I broke down and bought some fabric.  Hindsight, I should have bought industrial fabric instead of the indoor/outdoor.  It was much easier than I thought, and I am pleased with the results.

Let's see how long it lasts....

Water Fun

All kids love smoke bombs, right?  There is something alluring about that thick, colorful, sulfur-smelling smoke.  Apparently, dogs enjoy them, too.

But, I don't think they tasted great.

Mike bought the girls water guns this week.  It is an understatement to say they enjoy them very much.

Eva and Ivy showed no mercy.  Joy just tried to shoot without looking.  No need risking getting shot in the face by an unmerciful sister.

Joy then decided to  to do more serious things with her new water gun...

...like spray smoke bombs...

...or rinse off the car.  That seems pretty safe.

It's safe to say she will always be the baby of the family.

And just because he was a handsome bystander (who still had bedhead at 4:00 pm)...

Happy 4th of July!

80 Years

I can't remember when I last saw my aunt.  I know it was at my dad's funeral (her brother).  But, I could have seen her before we adopted the girls.  I have great memories of spending a couple of weeks almost every summer with her when I was younger.  Her daughter was a few years older than me, but that didn't stop us from having a fun time. 

My aunt was honored with a surprise 80th birthday party a few weeks ago.  I took the girls up, over, around, and down mountain after mountain to the small town tucked away in West Virginia.

(Aunt Peggy, with her daughter)

At times it was painful to look at her.  She reminded me so much of my dad, who was only 13 months younger than she.  Initially, Aunt Peggy was upset about the "surprise" party, but soon she made her rounds and enjoyed seeing everyone.  She even got in a couple of dance moves with her grandsons.

After the party, all of us sisters crashed mom's quiet house.  We brought with us 1 husband (Melissa's) and 6 granddaughters.  It was good being together with everyone.

 

Aidan never wanted me to take a picture of her.  So, the cousins did their best to make her look at the camera.  That's OK.  I was able to quickly sneak one anyway.

Gotta love the chewing gum hiding in Eva's mouth.  I think she chewed that for 5 hours...Anything to stop them from getting carsick from all those mountains.

New Bathroom

We finally finished up our bathroom remodeling.  And, as usual, we found some interesting things after the tear-out.  For instance, we had double sinks.  But, they both were feeding into one pipe thing-a-ma-jiggy underneath.  Mike spent a lot of money on drain-o over the years trying to make the water drain faster.  What a waste.  We also had our duct work feeding right into a vanity, which then had a vent at the bottom.  Lots of wasted heat/air over the years.  So, it's now all working, and I am very pleased.

So, here is the before picture.  Behind the door was a dressing vanity with the strange vent.  It is a small bathroom, but I'm thankful for it.  I grew up in a house with 4 kids (3 girls) with mom and dad and only one bathroom.  We made it work.  So, this is more than enough.

We decided to open up the small space by bringing down the wall.  I'm glad we did.  It feels much larger than it is.

We had a stall shower insert previously.  When we took out the insert and replaced it with tile, it added a little more elbow room, which is a bonus.  I'm very pleased with the result.  I really wanted a frame-less shower door.  That was a "must-have" on my list.  But, I went a tad bit over budget on the tile itself, so we will have to wait on the shower door.  I realize that it wasn't a "must-have" after all.  Most things aren't.

Gag Reflex and Other Stuff

We all have it.  That gag reflex has saved us all many times from choking.  And, it has probably embarrassed us just as many times.  I've noticed that I have a child who has a SEVERE gag reflex.  Recently, I was brushing my teeth when she walked in my bathroom.  I am, by no means, a gross tooth brusher.  I don't make weird sounds or anything.  But, for some reason, my daughter starts gagging every time she walks in on me brushing my teeth.  She gags; then takes off running.  The other night, her sister didn't rinse the sink out too well after her own oral hygiene routine.  Sure enough, Eva walked in the bathroom and started gagging when she saw the sink.  I could hear her from upstairs.

This morning, I asked Eva to bring me Jacks laundry.  Jack is a 15.6 year old young man who plays soccer...quite often....4 days a week....and sweats.  You guessed it.  Eva started seriously gagging.

She can eat larvae and grasshoppers, but cannot stand stinky stuff or watch someone brush their teeth.

(a grasshopper)

Moxie, the girls, and I went for a short hike last weekend.  The weather was perfect.  Each of the girls have gotten quite a few ticks on them this year, so we always wear hats and checks their legs and heads whenever they've been near or in the woods.

Eva was the only one who ended up with a tick on her leg.....The price you pay for loving the great outdoors.

We had dinner with friends on Monday.  The girls tried a bit of fishing in their pond....no luck.

We had a great time with friends, though.  They introduced my girls to boxing on the Wii.  Eva was sore for a couple of days afterward.  Maybe I should take up boxing...on the Wii.

Now, I am going to show you a before, during, and after picture of Jack.  His friend, Abby, will be mad that I posted this picture because of her closed eyes (but she still looks lovely, along with her sister)...but it tells the story.  The gang was enjoying chatting...

....then Jack started getting itchy...very itchy.

He ended up being miserable.  So, I guess he is allergic to their grass...or their house...or them...

Jack was better by the next morning...after we pumped him full of antihistamines.  Poor guy.

 (The girls' paper chain)
Fifty more days until we see Zach and Jordan!