This week.

Here it is Friday and I just finish posting last week. I will try to do a quick recap of our week. This week was hard because Rob worked 3rd shift. That kind of work schedule got us all off track. We didn't do as much as we do in a normal week but we still had lots of fun.

Travis had soccer camp this week. I want to say I am soooooo PROUD of my son! Last year we signed him up for soccer camp. It was a last minute decision. We did it because we had him signed up for the fall soccer season and wanted to get him a bit of training. He was only 7 last year and seemed to do more laughing and playing than listening and learning how to play soccer. After that week Rob and I questioned if we should have signed him up for soccer for the fall season. We left that week of soccer camp knowing that homeschool was the right choice for our son because he did do what we always thought he would do in a group. That is act like the silly children and goof around. I know as his mom that he would act up even more in a classroom than he did on the soccer field. He was with several other boys that acted in a similar way so he wasn't alone (I assume that this is common behavior in 7 year old boys). I was happy to see and hear he didn't start the silliness but non the less he was quick to follow along. He is a bit ahead in school (compared to public school grades) and even being ahead and me adding more challenging stuff than what is in his books he still gets silly if I don't keep him challenged. If we put him back 2 years in school and stuck him in a classroom I know he would find some way to keep from being bored (act silly).

OH! sorry I got off track! Last year after soccer camp we had the fall soccer season and he loved it! He wasn't the best player but he wasn't the worst. He did learn a lot and he liked it so much we put him in indoor soccer in the winter. BUT I made a mistake on his paper for indoor soccer and put him in the wrong age group. He ended up playing with older children. Now he wasn't the best player but even being the youngest in the group he held his own and was not the worst player. He was in the middle of the pack once again. I still thought he was a bit immature so I worried come soccer camp this year he might still be silly if he wasn't running the ball.

Fast forward to this year soccer camp. One full week of soccer camp and he watched the instructors. He tried hard. He was running non stop when on the field. He didn't goof off. He focused on the drills. He once again was not the best player but he was not the worst. He still holds his own in the middle of the pack. He took some hard hits and kept right on playing. Not a tear or even a look of pain after getting tripped or hit with the ball. He flinched and kept running with the ball. Today was the only day he didn't run non stop. He was very tired and worn out from a long week of running/playing hard so I did see him moving slow on the field today. I also noticed that a lot of the children around him played the same way. I have always wondered how long it would take to wear out my son. I have always known he is a bit more active than many boys his age. I now know 1 week of soccer camp in the morning with afternoons of running in our yard with and without the soccer ball, combined with a bit of dancing around the living room playing Rock Band at night and by day 5 he is tired out and ready to sit still. I saw him sit and watch TV for the first time ever today. All of his life when we watch TV he doesn't sit still. Most of the time he runs off to play before a show is over.

Anyway all that to say my boy is maturing much faster than I ever thought he would. The year from 7 to 8 made a HUGE difference in my sons behavior. I am so proud of him.

This week most of our crafts we did a "clothing theme".
One day at soccer camp was crazy clothes day so Travis designed an outfit (I did the sewing). The camp was Top 5 soccer so that is why he has top 5 all over him. We used a regular T shirt and made iron ons out of some fabric in my sewing bin with wonder under. Travis had a lot of fun working on this. He has plans to make many more original outfits in the near future.
Yes that is a couple strings hanging from the shorts. I was asking him to try them on to make sure I got the fit right.Here is the back side. The S in soccer isn't showing because I stood too far to the right when I took the picture.
One day was crazy hair day but I didn't take any pictures. We painted his hair with washable paints. Today was red, white, and blue day and he once again designed his own outfit. He took one of Rob's undershirts and we made some DIY iron ons with wonder under once again. He also used some of our fabric markers. The shirt turned out cool. He made a face on the back. I took a picture of him designing the front of the shirt but I didn't take any of the back. I will try to remember to snap pix next time he wears it. Demi wanted to make a shirt like brother's so I got her out one of Travis' old under shirts and she got to make hers with Daddy. This was a PERFECT Daddy project. He also colored a bit (the diamonds) on Travis' shirt. I hope my children think about this fun Daddy time every time they wear the shirts. I didn't take a picture of Demi wearing her shirt. I did remember to take one when she was making hers with Daddy.


Demi had so much fun making her shirt I grabbed a few under shirts and our old fabric markers and took them with us to soccer camp today. I was thinking that making a shirt would keep her busy for a bit. I took a few shirts thinking about sharing with other little children. I am so glad I took extras. I met a mom who lives near me, has children close to my children's age, and is teaching her children at home this year. Her daughter and Demi sat and made shirts with the fabric pens. They had a lot of fun! That kept them busy for a long time. I plan to make sure to take shirts and markers with me to soccer practice this fall. I know that will keep Demi off the soccer field during pratice. You see, Demi doesn't know she isn't big enough to play soccer. She is very good with a soccer ball (I will try to take a video of her with her soccer ball so you can all see) but she is just turning 3 years old (need to be 5 for soccer). I have a hard time keeping her on the outside of the field lines.

Demi also did a lot of coloring. Daddy got her a new princess coloring book that she LOVES !We spent some time walking the track each day.

Demi and Zee liked going around the track a few laps every hour or so but once they lost interest we had to leave the track to find something else for them to do. I was kind of wishing this week my children were a bit more like a friends children who went happily lap after lap for hours at a time. I was being a bit selfish because I wanted to walk. My little 2 are too young (immature) to keep quiet going in circles for long periods of time without protesting. All week long when they started to fuss I gave up the nice walk so the other walkers could enjoy exercise in peace. I know the day will come that I will be able to walk as long as I want without a toddler saying NO NO! I don't want to walk anymore! Carry me mommy! It will just take a lot longer (perhaps years) than some other children. Maybe it was God's way of getting me back to the bleachers to see how mature my son was behaving?

Over all it was a good week but we are all looking forward to having our old routine back for next week. I didn't take many pix this week. It was hard taking pictures with 2 little ones under foot.
Here is Travis tossing in the ball.

Running the ball. Look at his smile!


I cut off his heat on this one. I wasn't expecting him to jump at the ball!

I will try to do a better job at posting next week. I am once again looking into getting high speed internet. I am having a hard time getting blogs and web pages to load so I have fallen behind in blog reading. If it rains one day this week I will try my old hit the reload button over and over to get the blogs to load game. I think it might be time for me to take the jump to high speed so I can visit with my online friends more. I will also get to my comments. Sorry everyone. I know how rude I must look to everyone. I am behind on housework, yard work, blogging, trips to post office, and many other things. I am not trying to be rude I am just very tired. Zee was up all night for 2 nights this week. I hope in my tired rambles you all can figure out what I am writing. I promise to try better next week. Good night all!