Soccer Game - Tigersharks

Our second soccer match of the year. The team did very well and our kids did great. Much better than expected considering the at the practice the night before Reuben and Jacob were kicked out for fighting. Reuben is a scoring machine and Jacob is passing and centering the ball very well. And Faith now gets right into the action! She is handling the ball great. A lot of fun today.

Weekend in NY

Had a wonderful holiday visit with family in Long Island. Got to see everyone! Our kids were so glad to see their cousins. Everyone is getting so big. And Grandma held a great break fast.

Happy New Year (5770)

This weekend was Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and we have now been relegated to the Family Service. I dreaded it with all the kids, but turned out pretty good. The rabbi was pretty engaging for the kids and I found some of insights pretty interesting. The one big bonus of the Family service is that it's shorter than the regular service, though today the rabbi went a good 2.5 hours.

First Soccer Practice (oh and first day of school)

My friend Dan and I were drafted to coach the K-1 soccer team. Between my three and his two we make up over half the team. Anyway I have not played organized soccer since elementary school. I remember quitting after we went 0-8 for the season. So... not going to let that happen as coach! I downloaded some age appropriate drills which really worked well. Kids enjoyed practice and got into the soccer spirit and even got in some good dribbling practice!





Today was also the first day of school and Faith's day of public school. All the kids were old hat at it, even Faith. She has Jacob's old teacher and used to sit in on his class when Karen volunteered for reading time. Boys also seem to like their class. When asked how was it... "Don't remember" :-)

And Karen also had her first day back at school. She's a substitute at an elementary school helping to organize the book room. A job she is returning to from last year. She also had a good; didn't get picked on by the older teachers!

Party at Cub Run

All three kids were invited to a birthday party yesterday at Cub Run Park. Same place our kids had their party a couple of years ago. A lot of fun. Reuben and Jacob must have done the slide 10 times. They even tried the big that is an enclosed tube. They didn't like that one much at all.

Nice September Day

Packed up the tent this morning (got it all to fit in original bag). Then we had some friends over; first Susan and then Ken and Amanda joined us. Spent most of the day outside in the yard or in the front court. Even got Jacob riding his bike...

He likes to go fast making sharp turns nearly missing parked cars (not always nearly missing).
Meanwhile, Reuben is meeting the challenge of "The Hill"...

Backyard Campground

So it only took me a year to finally use the tent and sleeping bags we got. But it was worth the wait. Fun time. The kids and I roasted marshmallows, told stories, and fell asleep listening to the strangest sounding bugs.

Just as I remember from camping days, I woke up every couple of hours with some part of my body aching; my sleeping bags sliding down the slight incline we were on; and my body temperature alternating between sweating and freezing. Still nothing beats waking up just before dawn with birds and the cool moist air in your lungs. The four of us spent awhile listening to the birds - they liked the rubber band sounding birds (whatever that means).
Soon it will be time to pack it up for hopefully a real camping trip.