Soccer, soccer and more soccer!

A mother was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her teenage son. Suddenly the boy bursts into the kitchen.

"Careful! CAREFUL!! Put in some more butter! Oh my goodness!

You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW!!

We need more buttter. Good grief! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK!

Careful.......CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL!

You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never!! Turn them! Hurry up!

What are you doing? Are you CRAZY?!?

Have you lost your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!!!"

The mother stared at him. "What's wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The son calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm trying to play soccer."

We're leaving for Texas with Josh's soccer team for a tournament. (roll the orchestra background music here.)

I do solemnly vow to sit quietly on the sidelines sipping my Dasani water, eating peel-n-eat strawberry licorice. I hereby declare I will not comment, question or disclaim any calls made by the referees. Theretofor, I will bite my tongue and/or walk on hot coals before I let loose with any mean-spirited comments that might want to come flying out of my mouth if my sweet baby boy gets taken down from behind by another sweet little boy on the other team.

Don't hold me to any of this.

Laura............how does a road trip sound??? I'll share my licorice with you!

Celtic 96 Rocks!

THE Soccer Mom

I LOVE LISTS!

Thursday's To Do:

*Get up at 6:45 (blech. blech. and more blech.)
*Get little kids to school
*Run lots of errands after a stop at Starbuck's
*Return cute shoes
*Small cry for cute shoes
*Buy "Redeeming Love" cuz Kim Mitchell says it is H.O.T.
*Cook something that can be eaten for dinner at 8:30 tonight - I'm thinking taco meat.
*P/U Roman from school
*Head to Josh's first football scrimmage in Putnam City
*Go from there to Roman's soccer practice after that
*Do laundry in prep for Arlington soccer tournament this weekend.
*Breathe. Just breathe.

Life is good.

I should be cleaning...

but instead, I am drooling over my first-day-of-school present to myself!! Aren't these some kickin' shoes??? (uh oh. I just noticed that I uploaded the same picture of just one shoe. You get the idea, right? The other one looks just like it 'cept it goes on the other foot! bwahahahahahaha)

I love them. I really, really do. And first thing Thursday morning, I'll be returning them!

Why return these fabulous Cinderalla-ish shoes with clear heels and bling on each strap? Because they are SOOOOO not me. They are the me I think about being sometimes. The me that throws on a cute pair of cropped pants, a trendy shirt and these puppies and heads out to shop the day away after meeting my husband for lunch at Deep Fork Grill. I would probably even take my hair out of the pony and wear a lot of make up.

I think about that girl that lives inside me. Does she want me to get out of my flip flops and t-shirts? Maybe buy a top that doesn't have a hood? (what can I say? I love a hooded shirt.) Maybe wear something that needs to be tucked in?

I've always thought that being a nurse was the death of my fashion sense. How fabulous is it to work in scrubs - that are basically pajamas - and a great pair of New Balance running shoes? I see women all around me dressed beautifully even when they are in the carpool line or at Walmart.

Not me. I am about casual comfort. White fitted t-shirt and khaki shorts and flip flops. And I'm happy with that. Because I spent too many years trying to be something I'm not. And life is too short to pretend. And because the God of all creation calls me His own.

Here's a shout out to my Bunco peeps because when we get together, we don't pretend. We tell it like it is and laugh at each other and with each other. We fight hard to get a prize and don't apologize when we win in a roll off. We eat like real women - not birds. We grill the single chicks about their dating lives and remind them not to settle for less than they deserve. We don't judge each other when we've just come from yelling at our children and/or husbands but the room gets very quiet when the talk turns to - let's just say - fun topics. And it always turns to fun topics.

I love those girls.

And when I return my cute shoes, maybe I'll go to Old Navy and get a pair of flip flops that are really me!!

Remembering when we used to call flip flops "thongs,"

Beverly

We Did It!

Roman and I made it through our first day of home school!! **party!! streamers!! confetti!!** Being the creative sort that I am (totally not. I was just craving chocolate and lots of it!) I added a subject to our curriculum. Home Ec!! I also needed to get a gift for the teacher - ME - and I knew I would love this. Thanks to everyone for reminding me to get myself a little something! tee hee And, Marla, Canton WOULD be the best gift!!

I saw a chef on the Food Network - love, love, love that channel - fill some cupcakes by using an apple corer to take out the center and then pipe in the filling. How cool is that?


We had to go to the store for some modeling clay for a science experiment we needed to do. Well, we got so busy buying what we needed for cupcakes, we forgot the clay!! Just a little glimpse into my priorities, right?

We made the cupcakes and then filled them with cream cheese frosting and piped on the chocolate frosting on top. We added the star/flower in the center and...............ta dah! Totally impressed all our boys but made it seem like it was a most difficult process. **snicker** Don't want them to think this home schooling business is TOO easy!

Really...our day went very smoothly. It started with a real treat - Hannah "skyped" Roman so they got to talk for about 30 minutes. We finished up right after lunch and just have the science experiment to do on Monday. Roman is a self-starter so she did everything pretty much without my help. Fingers and toes crossed that it will stay like this!!

I've forgotten to update about the Great Church Search! We attended Wildwood last Sunday. We walked in and, except for the chair and carpet color (burgundy), it seemed exactly like EHC. Same-ish stage, trees, praise team, music, etc. The pastor is a teaching pastor. Rock solid. Gives you the Word and then you apply that to your life. That's SO Richard's thing. Me - I like a conversational teacher. Speak to me about a topic, tell me some stories that I can relate to, tell me what the Word says about it, and let me see if that's an area of my life that needs a change. I struggled just a little with that part. But, overall, we liked it and are going back to the early service in the morning. And this might seem like a little thing, but it's only about 10 minutes from my house! Yee haw!

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Bev-O

Bittersweet

Both little kids are back in school as of today. (I use the word "little" lightly these days!) My sweet, baby girl went off to her new school today. She was nervous. I was nervous. But, when I picked her up - in the car line that took forevah - the first thing she said was "I LOVED IT!" whew - finally, I could wipe away the nervous sweat that always forms on my neck.

And look how cute she is in her uniform. I can't wait until she gets to wear the cardigan sweater. Here's a funny random thought I had about her uniforms: the uniform tops can be only in certain colors - blue, maize and white. She looks so good in all those colors!! Random, I know.

We both recited the verse from Joshua today "Be strong and courageous." It worked! Yea, God!

And, I always like to start the year off with a little something for the teacher. So, from Bev's Crafty Corner comes this post-it note holder. This is made from two coasters (the kind you get at Chili's. ya know, they leave like a bazillion on the table. i have made SO many things from them.) This is the front.

And, this is the back. It has a quote by William Butler Yeats: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." From what Roman said, I think Mrs. Hansel will definitely be an inspiring kind of teacher. Roman's Mrs. Hansel quote of the day "No hair sniffing." I guess you had to be there!

This picture is a side view showing how the whole thing stands. It seems like sticky notes are a must-have for teachers. I know when I subbed, I used a ton.

So, what did I do once I dropped my girl off at school you ask???? I drove straight to Starbuck's for a tall, skinny peppermint white mocha. Yum. Then I went to Kohl's and shopped there for 2 hours. I don't go to Kohl's very often - I'm not a fan. But, today I looked at everything in the store - some of it twice! I bought the greatest pair of shoes. (and a *few* other things! I hope Richard doesn't read today!!)

Tomorrow is our first home school day. Here comes the nervous sweat again! Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.

Let the fun begin!

Bev

The Last Days of Summer

First, let me just yack about the weather here in the heartland. Monday it rained and rained. Tuesday it rained and rained. Until the afternoon. It stopped raining and was only in the high 70's. The kind of day for shorts and a long-sleeved shirt or hoodie - my most favoritest season of all!! But this never happens in August!! This is October kind of weather.

But it's the kind of weather that keeps us outside until we get too cold or bitten by a mosquito. (Have I ever mentioned that mosquitos will be the topic of the one question I want to ask when I'm in Heaven?? Why mosquitos?? Why? Why?)

Rant over. But it did make an old mosquito bite start to itch. ouch.

So this is how we spent our evening since soccer practice was cancelled. Roman playing tennis on our street. The little blue thing on the road is a tennis trainer. It has basically a ginormo rubberband attached to it that is attached to a tennis ball. So she can hit the ball and it always comes back to her. Somebody had a moment of pure genius to invent that lil puppy!! (Before that it was me chasing the ball down the street!)

After tennis, we moved to ping pong. My kids love that it's an Olympic sport. I think they might have found their Olympic dream. tee hee.

About that. Can you believe all the sports that have made it into the Olympics??? BMX?? Trampoline?? If they only had that one back when I was doing the trampoline in 4th grade with Miss Novey. I'm sure I could have turned that one front somersault into a fabulous two-and-a-half-twist-with-a-layout-to-stick-my-landing sort of routine!! Maybe I could be the wild card for this event. Ya know, the people who get to compete even though they didn't qualify. I think I would prolly just giggle the whole time I was jumping and then go flying off the thing!

Josh tries to convince us that he's preparing for the Olympics by playing the WII. Yeah...nice try!

Hope the weather is FAB where you are and you get to have a few mosquito bites of your own!

B-dog

One down, one to go.

The worst day of my life is over. The first day of 7th grade for my I-can't-believe-he's-not-still-4-years-old Joshy Squashy. I survived. And, so did he.

Actually he did better than survive - he LOVED it. He said it was so much better than elementary school. He didn't get lost one time. He ate lunch. (no bully took his lunch money!!) He has a ton of friends in all his classes and lunch with most of his group of friends. He likes all his teachers. And he got a girlfriend - a cheerleader. (he doesn't know that I know about this one and I'm trying to play it cool.)

This is our traditional first day of school picture - in front of the fireplace with the backpack on. 'Cept usually the child has on their "cutest" back-to-school outfit - not the football practice t-shirt that "everyone" (the whole team) was wearing that day. Oh well - the shoes are cute! tee hee

Now, I just have to get Roman back to school next Thursday. She's starting at a new school that provides a classical, Christian education with a blended model of private school two days and home school two days. Yep - that's right. I said home school. (Please refer back to the posts where I've mentioned that I've lost my mind.) Won't that provide plenty of blogging topics!!

Right now, we're off to birthday parties, some sleepovers for the little kids and a hot date night for Richard and me. (Well....except he has an indoor soccer game at 8:15 pm) So I guess most of my hot date will be in the stands with some nachos watching my rockstar hubby on the field! Sounds perfect!

Here's the verse the Lord has given me this week to pray over my children:

Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its own pupose. Proverbs 16:3-4a

Ciao bella,

Beverly

Action-Reaction

Who was the great philosopher that said "For every action there is a reaction"? Um hmm. This kind of made me giggle! I hope your day goes better than these guys'!! Enjoy.

Bev

It's All Down Hill From Here...

It's a big week at the Wright house!! It all started when (I know, I know - I always say that!) Josh decided to play football. Not really. It started at the beginning of the summer. Josh decided to cut his long hair O*F*F. Richard was ready. I was ready. Or I thought I was ready so I convinced him to wait until we had pictures made. We did that and then I talked him into just cutting it a little shorter before going all the way with the cut. But, Monday at football practice - he got his helmet and practiced in it. And it was hot. And it was sweaty. And it was really time.


I called for an appointment and......................................TA DAH!!!!


Who is that boy with the faux hawk??? I am so amazed by how much it changed his whole little boy look to a (...........can't..........get...............it.......... out.............)a PRE TEEN!!!!!!!!! waaaaaaaaagh! Even today, I keep sneaking looks at him. I wish the picture showed his forehead a little better - it hasn't seen the sun in 3 years so it is w*h*i*t*e. It looks great on him and he really likes it. It's just hair, right???

No one even recognized him at orientation last night. Which brings me to the worst day of my life. Tomorrow. He starts 7th grade at the junior high and as soon as I blink my eyes, he will be graduating and off to college. That's how it went with the big boys. It's all down hill from here.

So, I'm trying to be excited - at least on the outside. But on the inside, I can't believe how fast 12 years have flown by and this sweet-natured, easy-to-smile little boy is growing up. I've heard it said that a mother's love is an impossible love. Um hmm. True dat!

So for all the moms who are struggling with sending their "babies" back to school tomorrow or in the next few weeks here's a great big cyber ((((((((((((hug))))))))))) from me to you. I always think back to the day that Roman started kindergarten. My friend, Katrina, speaking my love language, took me to Krispy Kreme to drown my sorrow in an iced cream filled donut!! Maybe I'll find my way there after I drop him off at school!

Go Cubs!

Beverly

Olympic Mania!!

It's the most wonderful time of every four years... Sing with me now! Not Christmas or my birthday
or BOGO at Famous Footwear or the last day of school. It's the

XXIX Olympic Games!!! I **HEART** the Olympics. I especially love the summer Olympics. It all started with Nadia Comanenci (sorry, Nadia, I know I completely butchered your name.) (you never know who's reading your blog, right?) I remember watching her get perfect 10's in gymnastics and Bella what's-his-name squeezing her stuffin' out! Now I get very nervous watching gymnastics - I worry about them falling! I love that there is 24/7 coverage. Yesterday, I watched fencing. What is that about??? I didn't get it AT ALL!! But all three medals went to the USA! And I watched men's cycling. Boring. Until the end when they all started bookin' it to the finish line.

And there is my most favoritest sport in the world. Soccer. Ahhhhhh.........what more can I say? We watch a lot of soccer. We have the channel that is dedicated only to soccer. But there is something about seeing those kids out there playing for our country. It's the next best thing to watching my own kiddos play. It makes my heart pump! So, here are some photos from the two men's games that have been played. We're following the women, as well, but I couldn't find any photos of them.






First, the fans. Seriously.......I have only one word for these peeps - LUCKY!! What a thrill to be in the stands cheering for Freddye Adu. Definitely would have to be some face painting goin' on!!

























This photo speaks to me and says "PURE JOY!!" times a gazillion! This guy (who has a foreign name that I will never be able to remember EVAH) scored the first goal against the Netherlands. We were watching this game while getting ready to head out to Josh's last tournament game this morning. We were trying to walk away from the TV and get out the door when the Dutch scored the equalizing (I get that from the soccer channel!!! roflmbo!!) goal and the game ended in a tie. Bummer.


Wowzers - what a picture!! This is from the Japan game the other day. The US won! Woo Hoo!!!!!

I hope they called a foul on the Japanese player. Climbing up someone's back really is not allowed. tee hee. These guys are so intense. More than a gold medal - their country's honor is at stake!

I don't want to put TOO much pressure on my sweet, soccer-playing children but...........

Listen up, Josh and Roman. If there's any way you could work really hard and train and practice as much as possible and then you could get invited to play on an Olympic team - well, let's just say, you would be my favorite child. (Don't tell your other siblings, K? This is just between us.)

USA all the way!!!

Beverly

I

Guess what I did yesterday??

First of all........EWWWWWWWWWWW......what weird looking toes I have!!!! I can't believe I'm putting them out on the www for everyone to see. (I'm sorry, Mindi. I know this breaks all promises we've ever made about showing our toes.)

Anyhoo - the little kids went with NaNa to Whitewater yesterday for the whole entire day. So, I made plans. Big plans. To shop the day away. And get a pedicure. I won a g.c. for one at Bunco so it was even f.r.e.e., free!! woo hoo!!

I didn't get to shop very much because I was with Richard at the dr's office until 10:45!! And then, the dr. didn't even drain that swelled up sucker! (the elbow, not the husband!! Remember his septic bursitis?) I know, I know. It's the nurse in me - I'm all about the medical procedure. I'm sure his joy at "no needle required" could be heard around the world. Really........it was good news that the dr. was satisfied with how the antibiotics were working and that the elbow is looking better. The x-ray showed a "possible" bone spur that could be the culprit. So, no gory drainage for me. It made me miss nursing for about a millisecond!

Back to the pedi........I am so ticklish on my feet that I rarely get pedi's. I squirm and giggle like you wouldn't believe! The whole time saying "I'm so sorry" over and over. I don't even know if the girl understands what I'm saying but I keep saying it! But I love cute toe nails so it is worth it in the end. Even though the whole time I'm convinced the manicurist is dissin' me in Chinese cuz I'm such a giggle-box!

So show me your toenails! Are you up to the challenge? For all my non-commenting, non-blogging friends that read, e-mail me a pic and I'll post it for you! (Now that will be funny!!!) Come on, girls - let's have a little summertime fun!

Two things on the news front: IT'S RAINING!!!!!!!! I can't believe what I'm seeing after a week of 105 degree weather without a cloud in the sky! Wait..........it's already finished. **sad face** What a tease. One clap of thunder and it's gone. Oh well.........it is August on the prairie.

And, drum roll please, my friend Marla has started a blog so go check her out! She's one of those people who can do anything she sets her mind to and is gifted in many areas. Her photography is amazing so I hope she puts lots of pics on there. She's got mad gardening skillz. Maybe she'll give us some pointers!! The possibilities are endless. There are pics of cookies and a cake on there right now that will make you drool on your keyboard so be prepared. You'll find her on the left side of my blog at Capturing Reflections of the Son. Go leave her some LOVE!!

Got to go feed the kiddos. Those few drops of rain prolly won't cause any soccer practice to be cancelled! As long as I can keep my cute toes dry!

B

Anger Management

A guy says to his wife, "When I get mad at you, you never argue back. How do you control your anger?"

She says, "I clean the toilet bowl."

He says, "How does that help?"

She says, "I use your toothbrush."

bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha - that is me roflmbo. Now that is funny. (and a good idea. **plots**)

Happy Tuesday!

Septic bursitis, staycation and the 20-year-old

Well, if that title doesn't demand your attention...

It certainly has demanded mine for the last week or so. Do you know what a "staycation" is? Here's the Beverly-not-quite-Webster-dictionary definition: Time is short, gas is high, soccer and football have started, it's too hot to cook so let's do some things close to home and call it a vacation. So that's what we did last weekend.

We had grand plans to hop the train, the Heartland Flyer, down to Ft. Worth, spend the night and then ride it home on Sunday. There are some way cool things to do in Ft. Worth but they are all outside and it was in the mid-100's this weekend. To know me is to know that I am H*O*T. (not that kind of hot!!) (except to my husband!) I am hot-natured so I go out of my way to make sure that I don't have to be out in the heat. And, there were some other things that came up to keep us in town, also. Roman was really excited about the train so to avoid her disappointment I said "What if we buy you a new Webkinz?" Problem solved. What train???

So we swam, shopped, ate out and went to the movies - Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D!! Wowzers! Talk about way cool! It was a fun weekend. Did I mention that we ate out? No cooking for this mom.

Then, Sunday evening, Richard gets up from a little nap in the cheetah chair and his elbow is swollen and painful. My first question is "What did you pick that's gotten infected?" (sidebar - he's a picker. Sad but true. Can't leave anything foreign on his bod alone.) He crosses his heart, promises no picking occurred. Yeah, right. I'm a little skeptical. Monday morning he gets up (long before I get up!) and it is way more swollen, red, warm and way more painful. He calls me when he's on his way to the clinic so I know there's really something going on. (Getting him to the dr. is near impossible.) He has bursitis and it's probably infected. He has to see an orthopedist to get it drained, possibly have the bursa removed and be on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medicine. He went to bed at 7pm last night because he was feeling so awful. Now I know it is really bad!

So, say some prayers for him. I hate it when he doesn't feel well. Makes me sad and then, thankful that we are so healthy.

Now, on to the 20-year-old AKA Brandon. LOL. I will spare you the week's worth of details and the hit to our bank account by just saying Brandon has moved back home. Oh yes, he still has an apartment that he is paying rent for, but he is living at home. What is that emotion I'm feeling??? I mean what are those hundreds of emotions I am feeling?? I can say that Josh is beside himself with pure J.O.Y. His big brother is the best thing since the soccer ball was invented and he is glad to have him living on his bottom bunk.

We love that boy. He's a great kid. He's back home.

Stay tuned.

Beverly