Soccer Games

As soon as the boys were done with their race, we headed over to the soccer fields because Dylan had a game at 9am. Dylan had a great game. It was the first one I was able to see this season because the boys have had all their games at the same time so far.

Dylan scored a goal! Of course I missed the action picture, but this is right after.

Yep, amazing victory dance. (He did nothing)

It was a fun game to watch. His team did great. They passed really well and had some really fun goals. They totally dominated the other team.

We went home after the game and played, had lunch, and then came back for Blake's game. While I was helping Blake get his gear on he said he was nervous about the game because he didn't want to get the ball kicked in his face. Well, wouldn't you know it, about 2 minutes into the game the ball got kicked right in his face. He didn't have time to chest it or to duck or even turn his head. It happened right in front of me. The ref came over and told him he was bleeding so he needed to get off. When it happened all the parents were freaking out because it was a pretty good hit in the face. So  then I told them that he just got his braces in on Monday and was just getting over having a sore mouth. I went over to the bench and Coach Michelle already had ice for him. He was fine though. He was totally nervous and didn't go back into until the second half.

So that was fun. Then the ref was crazy particular with these kids. He never let them play on with anything and called everything!! There was a terrible hand ball that he called and it was just getting really annoying with all his calls, so one of our parents yelled out, "That was a terrible call." The ref stopped the game, asked which team this parent was from and gave our coach a yellow card and said if it happens again he (coach) is out. Then about 5 minutes later there was a direction changing hand ball from the other team and he didn't call it. He commented to us parents that it wasn't intentional so he wasn't calling it. Whatever, it was not a great game.

Blake had some pretty good cuts on his lip, but that was all. He was so worried that it had ruined his braces. We were so hot after the game because it was 95 degrees, so we came home and swam. 

Crape Myrtle Run

Saturday morning the boys ran their first race. It was a 1 mile fun run. This race is in our city and our ISD is very involved with it. The school got $5 for each student of that school that participated. 

Blake and Dylan were very excited to run in the race. We got there at about 7:40 with race time at 8am. We were walking to the starting line and we heard someone yell, "Blake!" It was the head PE coach, Coach Baker. So we went over and spoke with her. We never get to talk to their specials teachers so it was fun to meet her and the art teacher was there too. Coach Baker is great and she told me how much she enjoyed having Blake...and having Dylan too. She knows Blake better then Dylan, but if you remember the recent post, Coach Baker had great things to say about Dylan too.

Then we found Kenny.

There were a handful of people we knew--from lots of different schools.

Blake, Dylan and Kenny ran together. It was good that they stuck together, but Blake was totally slowed down. That's okay....they all had fun.

Aaron and I thought they were a little slow, so I gave Aaron my phone to take some pictures so I could go run and find them and give them some encouragement....well, about 30 seconds later they came, so we didn't get many action pictures.

This kind of sums it up--Blake was not winded at all, in fact he said, "1 mile is not very far, can I run the longer race next time?' Dylan--ran his little heart out and was a little tired and said, "1 mile is far!!)

Story: Wednesday was Beckett's birthday. I texted Cambria that morning to wish him a happy birthday. She invited us to Ninja Warriors after school. Man, my kids love that place, but we have cub scouts and soccer practice right after school on Wednesday so we weren't able to go. We were excited though for his party on Friday. After school we did go see Beckett and sing him Happy Birthday.

I later get a text from Cambria and a picture of Beckett with a neck brace on a stretchers with paramedics around him. He had fallen on his head/neck at Ninja Warriors, so they had  to call the ambulance. They took him to the hospital and did xrays and CT scan....nothing serious. He was in a lot of pain though and couldn't move his neck. Friday morning they took him to our friend who is a pediatric chiropractor. He was able to see/feel right where he fell because his skull was out of whack. He adjusted his skull (this just sounds gross to me) and he immediately felt better. He was having a hard time swallowing, but after his adjustment he was fine. He still had to take it easy, which was sooooo hard for him. We did see him before and the poor guy couldn't move his neck. It was so sad and so scary for Cambria. Our family said a lot of prayers for Beckett!! (and so did a lot of others too) They had to reschedule the party, but I am so glad he is better.

This is about 2 months after his sister, Kelsey ended up in the ER after being run over by an ATV on vacation. (Another crazy story!!) So I told Cambria that they need to stay away from the hospital and use their money on fun things...haha. Wouldn't you guess....I am sitting in Relief Society next to Cambria when she gets a text from her husband saying that he just got a nail hammered in his hand. (Our stake was called to serve down in Houston 2 weekends...and he was there this weekend). I'm pretty sure they will now go live in a bubble now. 

Blake's Braces

On Monday, right after lunch, I picked Blake up to go get his braces on. Here he is at the orthodontist's office waiting to go back. Last picture with no braces for awhile.

This is him right before dinner when he finally let me take a picture. He did a great job. Poor kid has an expander on the top (which we turn every night) and braces on top and bottom. The springs on the bottom are trying to expand the bottom to make room for the teeth behind to come in. He hasn't been in too much pain. He has had only soft foods so far, but this expander is the tricky thing for him. Food is always getting stuck so he is learning how to suck that food out. We were encouraged to buy a water pik, which we did...Costco had them on sale! It is totally fantastic for braces. He can flush that food out with that thing in no time. Gross? Sorry, this is our world right now. They didn't put brackets on the baby teeth that are wiggly. Cool thing--we go in every 3 months. They have changed the braces technology for the better. They are also smoother so it isn't as rough on the cheek. 

Story: When I went in to pick up Blake, our front desk secretary at school said, "Oh, you aren't getting Dylan?" I said no that Blake had to get his braces on. So she said, "Well, I have to tell you I was just walking behind Dylan's class at lunch. He was in the back of the line and the PE coaches were there and asked Dylan his name. He responded with Dylan Johnson. So the coaches told Mrs. Robinson (his teacher) that he was such a good kid...always did what he was asked to do and was kind to the other kids. The coaches said...it is kind of sad...the first couple of weeks the good kids fly under the radar because we are so focused and have to put so much energy on the crazy kids. Mrs. Robinson then told them that Dylan's older brother was Blake. The coaches were then..oh, that makes sense. The Johnson boys are such great kids!" So, Ms. Pam said, "I just thought you would want to hear that your boys have a reputation at the school...for being good, kind boys." It was nice to hear. There are about 650 kids at the school, so I'm glad that they have a good reputation and that they stand out for good reasons. 

Dylan is doing great in school. He has made a new best friend, Jake. They play at recess together and eat together. I don't know what it is, but kids are drawn to him. They all want to be friends with him. It is kind of funny--after school all these kids will say good-bye to him, and I ask Dylan their names and he has no idea. The most fun thing though, we got home from school on Monday--after getting braces, we went and got Dylan from school. Dylan finally got homework and he as pumped to do his homework. He has to read for 15 minutes and  they have a log to keep track of it and keep track of who read. He told me that he was going to read a book all by himself and then sound out the words that he didn't know. Good thing I had just gone to the library that day and got a bunch of books. He found one and this kid did awesome at reading. The tough words he sounded out. (It is at this point when I was reminded of how weird the English language can be...so many exceptions to the rules, etc). He then wrote everything down on his reading log. I hope this excitement for homework continues!! 

Root Beer Floats

We had root beer floats a lot last weekend because Blake was scheduled to get his braces on Monday so I wanted him to have some of the goodness before he couldn't have it anymore.

Soccer

September 16--Dylan had pictures at 8:15. They both had a game at 9, so I watched Blake's and Aaron watched Dylan's.

From what I hear Dylan played really well. He didn't make a goal..but almost. It was a tough game, but they won.

Blake's game was tough too--tied 1-1.

Blake's coaches are Jake and Michelle--husband and wife..aka, Jonathan's and Luke's parents. In March of this year, they found out that Michelle had a brain tumor. She had it removed, but it was crazy. She was treated down in Houston because they have one of the best hospitals for this. She was supposed to go for a follow up appointment the week after Harvey hit, so that didn't happen and instead went the following weekend. Great news---she is doing well. They didn't' find anything bad in her head, so she doesn't have to go in for a year. They finally nailed down her medicine. She was forgetting some things...it was so sad talking with her sometimes. She is a tough, very determined person so this kind of rocked her world...and her husband's. Anyway, so glad that she is doing so much better.

We came home and ate, made some pie, went swimming (because it was hot again....only a few days of nice weather).

Pack Meeting

Thursday night we had pack meeting. Theme: How the West was Fun. Isn't this a cute poster? Blake got a ton of awards again. He already earned his Wolf, but there are still some badges (electives) that he can earn. He has 3 more that he can earn--that's it. He did earn his Nova award, which is one cub scout award that takes a decent amount of work. He had been working on it for a couple months, but it was much easier to do in the summer because we had to go to the museum, etc.

Also during the week I went to a PTO meeting and did some training for some things I am going to help out on. The next morning I got a call from my friend who is over yearbook and convinced me to be on the yearbook committee. I actually know a handful of people on the committee so it will be fun. 

One day while running I saw Kenny's mom (I see her everyday) but she told me that we needed to do a playdate, so on Friday Kenny came over and played. He is such a good kid. I might have even convinced his mom to come run the half marathon in our city the beginning of November. 

Grandparent Day

September 11--Blake had an ortho appointment right during Dylan's lunch. It also happened to be Grandparent's Day. Since their grandparents aren't available we think it is just fine if the parents come. I took Blake out of school while Aaron was able to go each lunch with Dylan. We weren't sure how long Blake's appointment was going to be, but we got back to school just in time for his lunch, so I stayed and ate with him. They are kind of sticklers at the school about eating lunch. You have to eat lunch with your class. Well, that day was a free for all, so I invited Kenny, his best friend to come eat with us since he is in a different class and they don't get to eat lunch together anymore. I talked with his teacher towards the end of lunch and she told me how much she likes having Blake in her class. She said  that he is a good leader...kids love to follow his example and he always is doing the right thing so she loves that he is a good leader that the kids like to follow. 

**Can you see Kelsey in the background? This is our friend Kelsey...in 2nd grade. They were just coming in for lunch and  they are looking to see if  they have a grandparent or parent coming to eat with them.

Getting Ready for Bed

We have a routine for getting ready for bed at night. It started when Blake was young and he loves having a routine. After we read the scripture and say a prayer, we either watch a little video or tell stories. I loved this..the boys are listening so closely to Aaron. He was telling them a super hero story.

Side note: our Bishop challenged our ward to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas. We read 4 pages a night. The boys help us read too. Dylan reads one verse and he makes sure it is the shortest verse. We are doing really good. We did start a little early because Aaron knew of the challenge beforehand in ward council. There are some nights that we get home late from practices so we can only read 1 page, but other nights we can read 6.

Blake's Soccer Team

Sept. 9--We helped our friends, the Smart's, move. This is the friend that I ran the half with and who was my secretary in Primary. They bought a house...not in our ward boundary...so sad. 

We came home and then got ready for Blake's game. We took some pictures before the game.

After the game, we came home and went swimming. It was actually a beautiful week. It cooled down at night even.

Dylan didn't play that day.

Whirlyball

A couple weeks ago we had our group date, which was whirlyball. It is so much fun. The picture isn't great, but it still gives you an idea of what it is like. You are in bumper cars. There are 2 teams trying to score on the backboard. You carry the ball in a lacrosse type stick. 

We have had a bunch of people move into the ward and almost all of them came out. We have some fun folks in our ward. 

We had one of our favorite babysitters come watch the boys. Her birthday was coming up so the boys made her a card and gave her some lotion. She loved the cards...the are funny and sweet. 

Rock Climbing Wall

Aaron and the boys have been working on a project for some time and finished it up the other week. They built this rock climbing wall and attached it to our play set. I started to paint the play set with some of the left over paint that we had one day while the kids were at school, but then we thought that we (and by we I mean Aaron and the boys) would make another wall.

The boys really like how the project turned out.

Later that night I went to curriculum night at the boys' school and then I went to Roundtable for scouts. Not sure which one was more "fun".

Labor Day

Yesterday the boys had no school and Aaron had no work because it was Labor Day. We took the boys to one of their favorite places....Obstacle Warriors first thing when it opened. This place is so much fun for them and they get a lot of exercise. Dylan was very sweaty at the end.

These kids were all on one side and Aaron was on the other...by himself...playing dodgeball.

Then the boys all played with Aaron against the other kids.

Blake mastered getting up the warped ramp.

Blake thought he would try to help Dylan get up.

But Dylan didn't need Blake's help....he can do it all by himself now.

Our ramp experts. They both went and tried the harder one and Blake was soooo close. Maybe next time.

Afterwards, we went to Sonic because the boys earned a free slush from their library readying program. They both got blue raspberry...can you tell by their tongues?  We came home. ate lunch, watched a movie and went swimming.

For those who are wondering how their first week of school went...it was great! They both love their teachers. Sometimes kinder kids are super tired especially by Friday, but Dylan was not. He earned enough tokens by Tuesday so he was able to pick something out of the treasure chest...that made him think school was pretty awesome. Then he earned enough to pick another prize on Friday...the little things that make him happy. Dylan played with his soccer buddy Truett the first day of school and then he made friends with kids in his class so he has been playing with them. He doesn't have much trouble making friends. The second day of school I rode bikes with them to school, but said bye to them at the bike racks. I asked Dylan if he was fine walking into school with Blake and he said, "Of course!". Blake took him to the kinder hallway and asked him if he was fine to walk down the hall and into his classroom...he told Blake that he was...he knew already how to get there. Hehe...hr is growing up. I love though that Blake was a good big brother. It was fun last week to hear  them talk about school...about PE, music and art, since they have the same teachers for  those. 

Blake was very excited to see Kenny again at recess and to play with his other friends. It seems like once again he got a great teacher! They are doing great finding each other after school and riding their bikes home. Blake had cub scouts last week, soccer practice and got his spacers in for his braces. It has begun. Blake is very responsible so I know he will take good care of his teeth and braces. In about 2 weeks he will have the braces on...just in time for school pictures. 

We had tickets to the BYU vs. LSU football game. We were going to meet up with some friends who live there and go to a children's museum and then see my Aunt and Uncle who live in Louisiana at the game....they are LSU fans. When they switched the game to New Orleans, my Aunt was super sweet and offered for us to stay at her house, but after much debate, we decided not to go. It was an 8 hour drive. But we did let the boys watch the game. They made it until halftime. Since we weren't  traveling, we were able to finish the rock climbing wall that Aaron and the boys have been working on. We attached it to the play set and tested it out. They love it...and Aaron wants to do another one since we have holds left over. 

I suppose I should say our friends who our actually in Kingwood are safe--their house is fine. They haven't started school yet and there were 20 families in their ward whose houses were flooded so they are gone all  day helping out. Aaron's aunt who lives in Spring is fine too. Blake's soccer coaches are from Spring as well and a lot of their family lives in Spring and almost all of  their houses were flooded. This storm was crazy. I'm not sure what is being said in the media outside of Texas, but I will tell you that it has been so neat to see how much people are helping. People from all over the state drove down with their boats to help rescue people. People are there volunteering at the shelters. In Dallas they are collecting so many donations that there are traffic jams at the drop off spots because the workers can't go as fast as all the donations coming in. Our school is doing stuff to help out, there are donations around our city..our church is organizing efforts...although most of that right now is helping evacuees who are coming to Dallas (I know the church has sent 7 truck loads of stuff and have massive efforts in Houston too). Someone was saying they were so sick of the media and all the negativity from it so it was refreshing to hear the goodness that has come from Harvey. I noticed it when we moved hear to Texas, but I see it even more now...the people of Texas are just really nice people! Side note: I've talked to and listened to a lot of people's stories about their family or friends in Houston. So many of the people who had a decent food storage had their homes spared...they were the ones who were then able to feed their neighborhood with their food storage. 

Sunday at church we walked into church and there was a young man who came visiting. To make a long story short, he was looking for my parents. My parents taught him seminary when  they were on their mission in Ohio. We actually went out to visit them at the end of  their mission and I think it was his mom who bore her testimony the week we were there and said that my folks were sent to that mission for her kids. I believe they also home taught them. Anyway, his dad had told him (Alec) that my parents lived there...because they did last year for a little bit and what ward  they were in. So, I met him and told him  that they actually live in CA, but that they would be out in October. I gave my dad Alec's contact info and they spoke. He plans on coming to visit them when they are out here next month. Small world huh? I'm guessing he must like my folks enough to come down and see them.