Special Award, Soccer, and Standing - Go Kids!

Josh came home on Friday with a special award - he got student of the month from his class, and the certificate says because he excelled in "respect." I will remind him of this. Seriously, though, I am so grateful he is treating the teacher and the other kids nice in school, because that is more important to me than any scholastic thing. Cute Joshy . . . He is a normal kid and things bother him, but he really is so cool to go with the flow so often. On Friday he had P.E., and his size 12 shoes had given him really bad blisters the week before. We hadn't had a chance to buy him new size 13 shoes, so his only option was a pair of size 2 shoes his cousin had given him. I put socks in the toes, and he totally wore them to school. Smiling, even.

Some stuff came in a giant box. So of course the boys had to put a flashlight and some books and toys in there, then get in and have someone else duct tape the box. They then set a timer, enjoyed the entertainment until they heard the beep, then busted out! At one point all 3 boys were in there, and Josh was reading them a Transformers book. He got too sleepy to read anymore, and when they busted out, they were all drenched in sweat. Good decision to bust out.

Noah made a crane out of Trios, and it actually looked pretty good. Andrew said he made a crane, too, but Noah told him it was a gun. Hmm. I'm glad these two are getting more of a chance to play together since Josh is gone most of the day. Things aren't totally smooth with the two of them yet, but they've got all year.

With our first games on Saturday, soccer season has officially begun! Josh didn't get to go to his game since we headed down to BYU football, but Noah was in his jersey at 7 a.m. for a 10 a.m. game. Gary made his big coaching debut, and it was an hilarious comedy of errors, as preschool soccer usually is. Andrew was PROUD to be out there finally getting his chance to play soccer, and Noah did some fist pumps when he finally got a chance to get in the game. The team did great, and Noah scored 4 or 5 goals. Dreams came true.

See that cute little guy, it's Andrew!

Andrew saw this picture and said, "I'm soccering!"

Insight into the role of a U5 coach

Right after Noah's goal, I took a picture of him - and he stopped to smile proudly.

Noah in action.

After the game, Noah really wanted to take a picture of himself. 

And the rest of the week is just random snippets. We had regional conference this weekend, and both our stake president at the adult session and Elder L. Tom Perry at the general session talked a lot about America, it's history and founding, and our duty to protect and defend it. Elder Perry said that Satan knows that a weakened America is a threat to peace worldwide. Very interesting to me that both chose independently to talk about that. Also, a lot was said about strengthening and fortifying our families. I made a list of things Gary and I should talk about. Elder Perry said he heard one mother say she tries to pick her battles to fight with the kids, and decided modesty wasn't worth the fight. He said that was a poor choice, and it is a battle worth fighting, our kids are worth it. Yep, Gary and I will talk, these kids are worth it. A lot was said about how much good one righteous young person can do. So good to hear.

I did a good job this week at forcing myself to do things I didn't feel like - making dinner and exercising. Not usually a big deal, but this week, I'm calling a victory.

On Friday night there was a football game at the high school, and my kids were out in the back yard playing. The announcer can clearly be heard from our house. Andrew came in saying, "There's a really big dad talking out there!"

Oh, yes, and Lissy can stand up by herself! In the middle of the room, with nothing to pull up on. She's not the steadiest yet, but it's adorable, of course.