Cow Dreams

Keagan has one chore around the house: pick up dog poop before Evan mows the lawn. This inevitably leads to a fight. Evan finds something that Keagan missed, Keagan thinks Evan should just drive over it. Boys yell. Doors slam. Chaos ensues.

It’s no secret that when we build our forever home, I want pet Longhorns. Wes thinks this is odd, but nothing reminds me of home more than cattle and nothing says Texas like longhorn cattle. I think I need only three, maybe a pair, but I want to be able to sit on my porch, look out at the pasture, and see cows. 

Today, while I was out of earshot, Keagan confided to Wes that this is the worst idea ever. He’s against my cow dreams. When Wes asked why, Keagan said, “There’s no way I’m cleaning up that huge cow poop.”

And he was serious. 

I’m still laughing. 

Soccer Sunday

Church of Soccer was Sunday where Keagan played in his first state league game of the season. 

CSC played Aris and tied 2-2.

Keagan played CDM for most of the game, and he did a great job winning 50/50 balls. Next weekend is the first tournament. Can’t wait!

Silver Lining

Evan is still not playing soccer; we are nine weeks post injury and his Achilles is still too weak for him to run without pain. We have seen countless doctors, had an MRI done, had ice massages, and he does daily stretches. Yet, he’s making very little progress. We should be at training tonight. Instead, he’s studying for a chemistry test, reading his novel for English class, and helping his brother solve two-step equations. 

 

We are trying to find the silver lining while it rains:

He has plenty of time to study. 

He’s not sleep deprived. 

I am much less stressed trying to fit it all in before it’s time to hit the road.

We are getting more nights at home together.

Meanwhile, it’s still raining. Evan meets his new physical therapist next month. We are hoping she’s the magic we need to find the rainbow.

Hard Work

Both boys spent their Saturday mornings reffing U7 boys and girls games. Neither was happy about getting up early, but the fat wallets at the end of the day made up for it. I also loved the high-fives Keagan gave the girls after each shot - whether it went in or not - and the “coaching” he provided during the game when one girl got a hand ball or another kicked the ball out causing a corner. Evan was just as great with the kids smiling ear-to-ear when the boy with obvious talent dribbled the ball the length of the field to score a goal.

One day they will appreciate my efforts to teach them the value of hard work and the value of a dollar. It’s not today but it’s coming. I hope. One day soon. 

School Fail

Evan is the only kid in his circle of friends in Tennessee who can read and write cursive. That’s because his fourth grade teacher in Georgia taught it. Keagan got one day of cursive handwriting on the last day of fifth grade. All 52 letters crammed into one handwriting lesson. To this day, Keagan can’t read or write in cursive. I had big plans to teach him two summers ago, but one mention of “teach” and I received all kinds of push back. I don’t think he came out of the playroom for 72 hours the first few days of summer in fear I’d corner him at the breakfast table and start with cursive lessons. 

This week all of his birthday cards have had sweet messages written in cursive. Today he’d had it! He opened a card, couldn’t read the message, threw the card to the side and exclaimed, “I feel like an African slave unable to read or write.”

Happy #14

Happy birthday, Baby Boy! You are 14 today, but it seems like yesterday we were celebrating your fourth birthday in Virginia with a Go, Diego, Go themed party.

There are so many reasons to celebrate you, but here’s fourteen of the very best reasons!

1. There is no lack of laughs when you are in the room. You can make the mundane hilarious! 

2. Your love for shoes - and your quirky way of smelling brand new shoes when they come out of the box. Don’t forget to save the shoe box, too. 

3. Your no-nonsense-say-what’s-on-your-mind-no -matter-what-attitude. You were three years old and told the wife of the Sec Def she had crazy hair, and I’m pretty sure you’d do that again today if given the opportunity (and some strong wind gusts).

4.Your affinity for wearing your green Hugh Hefner robe anytime the temp falls below 70 degrees. 

5. You still have no concept of time, the calendar, or the sequence of events.. It’s 6:15. We leave for soccer in ten minutes. In ten minutes, you still haven’t changed into practice gear. Some would call that frustrating, but I think it’s endearing (unless we are late). Or last year’s question: which month is Thanksgiving? Or how long do we get out of school for Labor Day? When is soccer practice?

6. I love your desire to have everything neat and organized. God forbid I open a folder for school and move one piece of paper. Don’t even think about throwing dirty clothes your bedroom floor. And all those shoes boxes are stacked neatly in the closet.

7. It goes without saying that I love little more in life than watching you play sports. Your fierce competitive spirit gets me every time!

8. Freckles. Oh, how they make me smile in the summertimes.

9. Your love for blueberries. Muffins, cake, pie, cereal. You will eat anything with a blueberry. 

10. The hair. Oh the hair! It can cause angst and the  slamming of doors on rainy days, but on a good day, when it falls just right, it’s good. Real good.

11. Junk food. You can get all kinds of mad if the pantry only contains cans of vegetables or soup. I like to buy chips, cookies, and processed junk just to see your happy dance.

12. Speaking of dance. You haven’t lost your moves. They just get better with time!

13. Video games. Not unlike most 14 year olds, you and the PS4 have a special relationship. I’m pretty sure you are one step away from a medical diagnosis of “Fortnite Addiction.” You’re always lookin’ for the next win - even at 0300!

14. Leaving the house without shoes. Refer to #5 (time) and #13 (video games) to draw conclusions for why a 14 year old leaves the house not fully clothed. It’s so much fun (even if I don’t see anything fun about it until about an hour later) turning around to go back to the house for a forgotten pair of cleats, slides, or street shoes. 

Happy birthday, Keagan! Love you BIG!

Friendly Fight?

 

Keagan’s new team had its first friendly on Sunday, but by the second half, we had a full on brawl in the middle of the field. The other team was kicked out of the park, and we left with a 1-1 tie. During the fight, Keagan said, “I just pulled a Lonzo and walked away. I’m an eighth grader and not about to mix it up with sophomores.”  He did try to stop a mom from running across the field, but she spit out some Spanish and just kept on moving.

Keagan started out playing up top but that was short lived. He moved back playing CDM and did much better playing defense. He’s playing up and this team had players all Evan’s age. They tried to body him up, but Keagan was still able to use his smarts to shield and keep them from moving up field.