A Late Easter Pic

I was going to post this on Sunday but I forgot.

This was a picture from my very first post back in 2007.

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter.

Another Soccer Post

PK (penatly kicks)  She says she loves them, but I don't.

You can't imagine the stress of sitting up in the stands, watching you daughter take the field, knowing that the game will be decided on whether she catches the ball or not.  No other team mates, just her and the kicker. 

She says she doesn't feel the pressure.  She loves the challenge.  I guess that's why she's a goalie and not a forward.

 

I am told that the arm to the side is to freak out the other players.

You can't see it in the pictures, but there is a lot of bouncing around going on.

Look at that height.

This wasn't a normal night for PK's.  They went through both teams line ups, and switched back and forth between the goalies.

 All 4 goalies from both teams where standing back and joking around.  They started sharing their favorite freak'em out secrets.  There is a rivalry between this High School and Megan's.  But since she is playing for another city she got to know some of the players and had a good time.

I can't say it enough.....She is loving playing for this team!!!!!!

A Weekend to be Proud Of

Was it because Megan won her games.  Nope

They didn't win and that was ok.

 We always love watching her play, win or lose. 

 This was a tough game Sunday.  The team was from Idaho and 7 of the 11 girls will be playing for Division 1 colleges next year.

 Megan never gave up.  She was complimented by both the parents on our team and the parents from the other team.  But that's not why I am proud of her.

The second team we played that day, had tied the first team we played 0 - 0.  So we figured this would be a tough one to.  And it was. 

 I like this picture because you can see the focus she has on that ball.

There are days that I am completely in awe of the way she plays.

She saved this from being a goal.  This is why I love to photograph her play.  I just never know what I am going to get.  Still not why I am proud of her.

Of course, this is soccer and goals are going to happen.  The above picture is the shot every goalie hates.  You see it coming, it doesn't happen fast and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

But you will give it everything you can to try. 

 

At the time of this picture, they were down 4 - 0 and she is still smiling.  Look at that right knee and she is still smiling.  That is why we are making the trips, because she is smiling again.  We haven't seen that in a while.

 

Look at that knee again.  She started the 3rd game and ended up being pulled.  You can see her coach in the background watching her.  It made her feel good when he said "we need you next week, so have a seat." 

This is why we are proud of her.

She noticed this little girl watching her warm up.  She was coping everything Megan was doing.  We all laughed as Megan put her hands on her hips and was watching the other team warm up.  Because this little girl put her hands on her hips and stared to.  It was even funnier when she leaned up against the goal post and tried to stretch her legs like Megan was doing.

Megan stopped her warm up to play with the girl for a little while.  The little girl followed Megan for the rest of the day.  She even sat next to Megan on the bench and tried to make her feel better after she was pulled from the game. 

This makes my proud.

Science

One thing I really love about Home School, is that I am learning to.

This year we decided to challenge Jason to learn Chemistry.  I was nervous about this because I don't do science well.  I stumbled on this great book.

The book promised that anyone could teach Chemistry.  It was right.  The book is Christian, it gives Bible quotes that go along with each lesson.  It also gives "G" rated movie recommendations that go along with the lessons.  

I sometimes get a little leery of some Christian based books.  Some take a very anti Catholic approach.  While I believe in the Bible, I don't want to combine science and a Bible lesson.  However, I also don't want to take the approach that Science disproves God.  

I think this book balances it perfectly.  It references God and the Bible, but sticks to the proven facts as well.  

The questions is.........is Jason learning Chemistry?  Yes.  He has a firm understanding of the Periodic Table of Elements. He understands chemical bonds, acids and bases and so much more.  It gives you hands on projects that use stuff that can be found around the house.  This book was completely worth the money.  I am so happy with it, that we are going to do the Physics book next year.

Here is Jason showing his experiment on chemical reactions.  On the right is a normal uncooked egg.  On the left is a uncooked egg after 24 hours of soaking in vinegar. 

Another great thing about homeschool.....you don't have to comb your hair for class.

Workshop Weekend

We ventured off to Portland for the weekend.

This time it was for me.

I have talked about MOMS Club before here.  It's a International group aimed at supporting stay at home moms.  I joined this club back when Anthony was 13 months old.  19 years ago.

Since then, I have been a member of 3 different chapters and held almost every executive board position and committee chair person.  So I guess it's not strange that I am now an International volunteer.  I am the State Coordinator for Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and Wyoming.

This weekend was a Executive board workshop.  It's where we help chapters understand some of the by-laws and more important offer ways to help their chapters stay strong and supportive to their members.

This year was different for me.  I was the co-host.  I generally am not the one that stands in front of a large group to give a talk.  Not big on public speaking.  But I did it and I think I did it went well. Which is good, since me and one of my Area Coordinators will be holding a workshop in Idaho and it will be just the two of us.  No worries.

Of course when ever we hit Portland we go to Buffalo Wild Wings.  We got there in time to watch the Trail Blazer game.  Which was a blast.

I didn't take my camera this trip.  So there are no pictures.  However, we start the soccer craziness this weekend.  Camera is ready to go.

Hope your week is a good one.

Sticker Shock

I know what we signed up for when Megan joined this soccer league.  I really wasn't paying attention to the schedule because it kept changing every couple of days.  And it will probably change again.

I knew we would be traveling.  I just didn't realize that most the traveling would be done in a 7 day span.

Why are we doing this again????

Oh yeah.......because of this kid.