My Soccer Stars

On Saturday morning Anson and Cameron had a soccer tournament. It was so nice to have them on the same team this year. Their team was undefeated until the last game when they lost to the other town team in the dying minutes. Anson was the goalie when they scored their only goal, he was pretty disappointed. After the game one of our friends went up to Anson and Cameron and said some encouraging words to them. I'm so thankful for godly friends who take an interest in our boys lives.

Two Cuties.

In January my friend had twins girls. When they were almost a month old we went to visit them. Anson and Cameron for the most part just wanted to play with their older brothers, yet they did get a chance to hold one of them. Anson was disappointed that I didn't get a picture of him with one of them.

I'm not sure who Cameron is holding here. They look so much alike.

Surf's Up!

No, we didn't go on vacation somewhere tropical and go surfing. That would have been nice, but my little northern boy loves to watch Backyardigans and thinks that when we go sledding down a hill with a crazy carpet that we are in fact going surfing. Maybe one day he'll have a chance to do the real thing but for now this satisfies him.

Anson loves to go fast and would try crazy things if I let him. The day that we went sledding there were two boys about 12 years old on the same hill and they were doing some stunts which made me want to keep my boys the age they are now so I can keep an eye on them and protect them.

Cameron lays on the breaks as he goes down the hill and it takes him forever to get back up the hill, but he still has fun.

The most amazing (and only) fort on the block. Doug helped the boys make a pretty cool fort in the front yard. Cameron especially loves to play in it whereas Anson would rather play hockey on the driveway. The boys just had a week off of school and I was so thankful for the mild weather we had, they played outside quite a bit.

Cameron showing off his funky green teeth that he got from the grocery store free bucket. He wanted to wear them all the time, I'm not sure why, they looked uncomfortable to me.

As I mentioned the boys just had a week off of school and I greatly enjoyed having them home. On one such morning as I was peacefully having my coffee while the boys played quietly and I was thinking how nice it was that everyone was so relaxed and we didn't have to rush to get ready for school. So I commented about how much I was loving the pace of our week together. I mentioned that I should quit my job and home school the boys so that we could always have it, but Cameron quickly informed me that it was OK if I quit my job, but he was still going to school.

Now we are back to the busy pace of life and I'm feeling like I need to go on a spiritual retreat.

Daddy's New Truck.

This past week, Doug bought himself a truck. We were actually going to buy one awhile ago but then the transmission went on the van. It will be so nice to have a second vehicle and not feel like we are just taxing each other and the kids around all day. It will be nice to have it for other reasons too.

Brandon waiting to go to the dump. He probably would be happy to sit in there all day.

Anson and Cameron felt so proud to be Daddy's little helpers. Doug is so good at including the boys in his work projects.

Thoughts About Working.

Most of my married life I have worked outside of the home. Doug and I both worked full time when we were first married. I worked at the DQ and most of my shifts were the same as Doug's so were got to spend a lot of time together. I worked up until three before Anson was born and then I got to go on maternity leave for a year. A month after my maternity leave was done, Cameron was born so I didn't go back to work. When Cameron was 6 months old I went back to work evenings and weekends at the DQ. It was great because we never had to get a sitter and Doug was able to bond with his two little munchkins. The only down side was that Doug and I didn't get to spend too much time together that way. I stayed working part time until two weeks before Brandon was born and I got to go on another year of payed maternity leave. A month after Brandon's first birthday I went back to work at a boat rental/restaurant. I gave up two summers/fall working there. After that stint I was sick and tired of working evenings and weekends so I started applying for jobs at different banks. I figured that if I would be working outside of the home that it might as well be something that I would enjoy and not have to work anymore evenings and weekends. I got a job at a bank back in September. For the most part the job is going well except that I'm working way more than I want to. I started to get really stressed and frustrated. I started to think about what I wanted to spend more time doing, and it included things like; doing crafts with Brandon, volunteering at the boys school/and going to school functions, being available to help friends/family in need, being able to keep a cleaner more organized house and having the time to plan and cook nutritious meals for the family. After assessing what I really wanted to be doing, I wondered if work would still fit into the picture. For those of you who know me really well know I get restless quite easily, and if I don't get out of the house I get discouraged and unmotivated, so I feel like I still need something, I'm just hoping to cut back my hours at the bank to 7hrs a week and then spend more time doing the things that are really important.