Christmas Pictures, Take 1

The last couple of years, I have taken pictures of the boys and used them as my Christmas card. I usually use shutterfly, upload the pictures, put our names on it and I'm done.

I've been flitting around pinterest. If you haven't checked it out, do. There are a ton of great ideas on just about everything. I saw a cute picture of a little boy with fairy lights in his lap and it came out so great. Mine, not so much.






The idea is cute and on the computer it's cute but once uploaded I can see the graininess. The lighting wasn't great--mostly so I could get the fairy lights. Also, my ISO only goes up to 1600, so I'm not getting tons of help there. So, I'm going to have to throw the boys outside and try this again.

Football!

It's fall so that means the boys are in flag football at the Y. Last week was pictures for the teams.

Bohdan's entire team.

I noticed there are more dads "helping" coach for football than soccer.





Stasiu's entire team.

The trees were at their peak then. Just beautiful.

I'll have more pictures of Bohdan, probably not Stasiu. He's been sidelined for at least two weeks. We'll find out Wednesday how long he'll be out.

Allowance

After some conversations with my sister-in-law and Chris, we have decided to give Stasiu an allowance for work that he is doing around the house. For those of you who don't know, our house is on the market. This means that I do a lot of cleaning. Tons of cleaning. I'm sick of cleaning! You can see my house here.

The first week he had chores he did great! He has to keep his room clean, wipe down his bathroom a couple times a week, vacuum a couple times a week, feed the dogs, set the table and clean up after the dogs. Money has been a great motivator for him. He gets two dollars; one to spend and one to save. We will be in big trouble once he actually starts to understand the value of money. I'm sure he'll start asking for raises.

It's a Cold Day for Soccer

Saturday was another soccer day for the boys. This time, however, it was decidedly colder. The temps for the day were in the lower to mid 60s. That is significantly better than last week which had temps in the mid 80s.





Bohdan was having on off day. We finally got him to go with his teammates when he wasn't playing. He made due. That is Angie, the coach's wife holding him. He was fine juuuuust like that.




This time, he was a defender. Last week, he was upset because he was a goalie and just stood there. This time, he was a defender and just stood there. We are trying to teach him the importance of moving and going after the ball. Wish us luck.



This is Nana at the afternoon game where the temps are in the mid 60s. She's got about 12 layers under there. She's definitely a Floridian.

Stas doing the victory dance! His team scored! It wasn't him, he likes to celebrate, though.

Our opponents were friends. This is Eduardo and he goes to AJ with Stasiu. Eduardo's dad is a their coach. Let me tell you, their team is awesome! This is the best team we have gone up against and it was a fantastic game!

Stasiu Tells a Story

On the way home from school today, Stasiu decided to tell me a story he had heard last week in school. He told me this story last week but apparently forgot. The conversation went like this:

Stasiu: Mom, do you know about Irvan?
Me: You mean Ivan?
Stasiu: Right, Ivan. Well, he plunked out..
Me: He plucked out someone's eyes.
Stasiu: Right. There was this architect who made a beautiful building and Irvan..
Me: Ivan.
Stasiu: Right. Ivan thought it was so beautiful that he plunk, er took out the architects eyes. He didn't want him to look at it.
Me: Ivan the Terrible didn't want the architect to build another building like it again. Ivan wanted it for himself.
Stasiu: Right. So he took the architects eyes. And you know what, Mommy? He was still alive when he did it!! Have you heard this story before, Mommy?
Me: Yes, honey.
Stasiu: Really, when?

Soccer Picture Day

This weekend was picture day for the YMCA soccer teams. We are so lucky to have the same coach for both boys--he is the best coach we've had at the Y!

What, Mom?

Bohdan was being just a wee bit fussy; hard to imagine I know. So, Coach grabbed him from me, spun him around a few times and had him giggling for pictures in no time.

The entire 4/5 soccer team; The Red Rangers.

Silly picture time!

Bohdan was goalie for the second quarter.

He did a pretty good job of throwing the ball back into play.

Otherwise, he was clueless about his duties.

He's swinging while waiting for the next quarter to start.

Stasiu's team the Scorpions!

They were a bit more enthusiastic about the silly picture.

Wee-Wee

Today, I went to the dentist to get my stitches out and took the boys with me. After a bit, Bohdan was getting antsy so the assistant started talking to him. The conversation went like this:

Assistant: What do you have there?

Bohdan: Baby (his ugly, dirty cabbage patch doll)

Assistant: What's it's name?

Bohdan: Baby

Assistant: Your baby's name is Baby? Is it a boy or girl?

Bohdan: It's a girl. Boys have wee-wees and girls don't so it's a girl.

Now, I'm laughing while the doctor has some kind of device in my mouth to get out the remaining stitches...

Assistant: That's right! Boys do have wee-wees.

Bohdan: Yes, and my baby is a girl.

I'm so glad he didn't offer to show her his wee-wee. I'm sure that was next.

Stasiu the Soccer Star

Stasiu had one of his first games before we went on Spring Break. At this age, all the kids play all the positions and each one has a turn at goalie.

This was Stasiu's turn. He looks ready and is paying attention.

Going after the ball....

And he catches it! Lots of loud cheering and hollering ensue!


He's getting really good at this game. He enjoys it quite a bit and looks forward to each season. He still says football is his favorite but wants to keep playing soccer.

Welcome to My Garden

Last year for Mother's Day, Chris bought me two knockout roses. The nice thing about them is you can basically ignore them. They don't need dead-heading, fungicide or pesticide. They also produce tons of flowers throughout the spring and summer and into fall.

This weekend, I spied my first rose bloom. There are also a lot of buds. I'll post pictures when it is in full bloom. It also has aphids; so much for not needing pesticides.

Right out my back door is my jessamine. For those of you who don't know it is the state flower of South Carolina. It is a greedy, fast growing vine. It will take over anything if you turn your back on it. The blooms, however, have the most heavenly sweet smell.


Last year, Chris had enough and tore most of it down. I was very upset until he found wisteria. The jessamine had taken over the wisteria and it barely grew. Now we have a huge vine of it next to the jessamine going over the porch.




It's amazing that it was stunted by the jessamine vine. I'm so glad Chris uncovered it.

Sunny Days

We had a beautiful, sunny day on Saturday. Chris was powerwashing the house--on his birthday, I might add. Bill was painting, I was running around and the boys finally got to play outside all day.

Did I mention we had a week of rain?




Faces only a Mother could love.

Puppies!

It seems we've added two more dogs to our family. They are super cute with blond hair and blue eyes well trained.



The big guy, in the middle, goes in there to get away from the kids. He looks pleased to be sharing his spot, doesn't he?


She's not amused. It's her crate.