Slim Jim Magic

Either the soccer Gods were on our side today or beef jerkey has some magical powers because after Evan had five Slim Jim sticks for breakfast, he had one good game.

You wouldn't know that he just had two assists looking at this picture, but I think this is his I'm-coming-back-for-more face. He was fierce today, tongue and all. Thanks to Mr. Columbus we get to spend the day at home tomorrow reliving the win, and I have the opportunity to restore my supply of beef jerky.

The Habits of Soccer Greats

Another weekend spent on the soccer field. The only way life could get better is if we actually won a game.  

  Evan loves soccer, but he can take a habit of a basketball great and make it his own. 

We are hoping for a win today. With the help of the tongue, we might just have a chance.

Snap Happy

It's an addiction. Pure addiction, but I use the excuse that my husband is deployed and he wants me to document everything that he is missing. So I continue to snap happy. Here are today's top pics. 

Keagan's team won. We celebrated with Five Guys, and he commented that his day was complete when he found fruit punch Powerade in the soda machine. Never mind the fact that we have an unopened eight pack sitting in the pantry.  After finishing off the last of the fries, Evan looked at me and seriously asked, "You think I could have another burger? I'm still hungry." Obviously, he wasn't feeling the same level of completeness.

Dawn and Deer

I awoke this morning with ESPN on LOUD and then found the boys on the couch watching Chelsea and Arsenal duke it out. It was a great game, and while I sat in the leather chair eating my Captain Crunch, I said, "OMG! I can't believe it!"

And Evan said, "I know, right! I thought it was going in, too!"

And I said, "No, I can't believe THAT is in our back yard!"

We forgot the soccer game to watch the deer. Keagan screaming Where's the camera? Evan asking Will Mr. Baker shoot it? All the while, I was just thankful it wasn't another snake, or worse another cat to feed.

Before we knew it, we had this.

It was a wonderful way to wake up - even if the TV was on loud.

SOAR student

Keagan was awarded SOAR student for this month. In true Keagan style, he gave away all of his goodies from his prize sack to his friends and brother. His teacher calls him her "go to guy" and her "right hand man." She adores him; Keagan seems to think she's a pretty good teacher because she watches football on Sunday afternoons.

This award, though, must have been presented before he got into that little scuffle on the playground that involved swing dumping and pushing another kid into the sand where "ring worms live." I'll be honest and admit the scuffle part of his story was never fully processed by my brain because I got hung up on the mention of ring worms.

I think I am going to be sick.

I think I am going to home school effective Monday.

Kicked in the Crouch

"Boys, what's all the yelling about?"

"Mom, I was playing football and I got kicked in the crouch."

"The crouch?"

"Yeah, you know...Mom, The crouch! See! Evan told me it would feel better if I got a bag of frozen peas. I couldn't find peas, but I found the ice pack you take to school in your lunch."

And then he slowly stood up and removed the mini-icepack (the one that I carry in my lunchbox) out of his underwear.

I think this means I will not be making a sandwich with mayonaise for my lunch tomorrow.

Soccer, Friends, and Wins

 On Saturday we spent 12 hours on the soccer fields. Twelve hours in temps hovering around 90 degrees. Because I have nothing else to do. At all. Armed with an ice chest, beach blankets, sideline chairs, sunblock, multiple jerseys, and anything else that could possibly fit in the back of the car, we looked like we were prepared to spend the night there, too.

Keagan's first game ended in a tie. It was a very exciting game with Keagan scoring the second goal that we thought was the winning goal. While we waited four hours for Evan's first game, we ran into some old friends.

 The only thing that had changed was the color of our jerseys. The boys hung out with their old team mates and well, watched even more soccer.

 .
Then it was Evan's turn. His team played two games back to back and won both. Evan scored and had an assist. Because I now know all of the team members names, it is much easier to cheer. However, I lost my voice on Friday, and by Saturday, I had only a fraction of my voice box functionally properly. It was a sad day for me; great day for the coaches.

As we walked back to the car, Keagan said, "Well, this was a pretty fun day. How long were we here, Mom? It looks like it is getting dark."