Lucy Gates and I have a Mommy-and-Me dance class on Wednesdays. She gets on her gear...
It's really a movement class, and it's really, actually, a lot of fun,

Bowden took some pictures, and put his fingers on the lens, but I love her body in this one- she's about to jump!
Lucy, ballerina.

This last Saturday, Bowden asked me, "Mommy, do I have kindergarten today?"
"Nope. It's Saturday. It's the weekend. There's no school on the weekend."
He grinned, and said to Lucy, "Lucy! I don't have school tomorrow!"
Lucy ran into Bowden's open arms. Jack, seeing the love-fest and not wanting to miss out, ran in and also hugged Bowden.
"You should take pictures, Mommy!" So I did.

They sat down, together.
They ate ham, together.
They looked at me, together.
I just could not get them to smile, together.
Jack, the shrimp.

Bowdo, the clown.
Lucy, the Loop.
Oh, Jack wanted the camera...sooo badly.

The shoot had to end.

Kaitlin? Those Oxford commas were for you. My natural tendency is to only use them if there is a list longer than three...because I do give...

Bowden's first soccer game was on Friday. He has been having practices twice a week for the past two weeks, and at the last practice, the team scrimmaged each other.
Bowden was still pretty clueless about the game. "Do we line up in soccer?"He was adorable. He said he was scared, and I could almost feel his little heart racing. "I was nervous before a game, too."
I think it made him feel better.
We left early for the game- with him nervous, I wanted to be able to take our time getting to the field...rushing would have been too much.
Once at the field, he calmed down and started to run around and shortly his friends Lucas and Micah showed up for their games. Bowden is one of the Bobcats. Lucas is a Fighting Irishman. I do not know what Micah is- he's too old for the "minor league."
The boys practiced and played for a bit.

I made them pose together, although, with duds like these, they were not hard to convince. Every kid out there is wearing a swimming pool worth of uniform...lets in the air, you know. Lucas and Bowden.
Micah, Lucas and Bowden.
Joel White is also on the Fighting Irish, and he came along not too long after.

Finally it was time to begin. The Bobcats were playing the Bumblebees...or Killer Bees...I don't remember which. The little blonde girl is Bowden's friend Lily from school.
She and Bowden shared a common strategy throughout the game...look around and move...kind of...in the direction of the ball.

The whistle blew! The game started! Bowden was next to Payton, and they took off!

A corner kick? What is that?
The coaches stayed on the field for the entire game. I was encouraged to see this, as Bowden kept trying to get the ball from his own teammates.

Goal! Return to your places!
More quality soccer playing.
Coach Read had all us parents stand together and make a victory tunnel- Bowden's favorite part of the game. One of the other parents brought out the snacks and drinks. Bowden was ecstatic. His second favorite part of the game? "I like how many goals we scored."

That's because Coach Read's daughter Shelby was BRED for soccer. She can dribble around things and shoot the ball in the net. At five, that's major talent. Gabby and Payton are also good athletes, which means, according to another parent/coach, "Your team is stacked."

I asked Bowden what he thought of the game. "I loved it."

I found it slightly painful to watch, but it was a good time.

(Holy crap. With this post, have I officially entered the ranks of 'soccer mom?' Purse filled with more snacks, toys, and wipes than make-up and money? Check. Three car seats and a double stroller? Check. Mini-van with shin guards and soccer balls? Check. And the verdict is...)

We got a package!

In the package were presents! For us! And Lucy!
Who does this look like?
That's right. Italian Ginny, meet Italian Sarah!
Uncanny. Norwegian Ginny- your twin, Norwegian Lisa!
Italian Ginny even has her own stand!
Lucy loves her. She named her "Julie."
Then she named them, "Sarah" and "Lisa." They'll fit in our family perfectly.

Thanks, Mom Tate!

Jack and Josh took a Sunday afternoon nap.

Be still, my heart.

Yesterday we spent a very inexpensive and enjoyable afternoon at the annual Harvest Festival thrown by one of the other churches on the hill. There was a scarecrow contest- our scarecrow was a little guy...and I don't think he was an American. Bowden and a friend we saw there from school made the message on our travel light bright.
Lucy and Jack actually slept in the car while Bowden and I set the little guy up. One we were done, I woke them up.
Bowden tried his best to knock the guy in the water- and he hit the target, but not hard enough.

I told him how to do it manually.


They had ten or so different games, all for kids, a quilt drawing, and an hourly gift basket drawing- Lucy and I both won!

Hm...I wonder where Bowden's star hat went?

Now, until I purchase a new memory card, or set up our computer to download my currently full memory card, I am not taking many pictures.
No calendar can tell me that summer lingers on- the air is drastically cooler up here, the campers come only on weekends, the staff houses are empty, and the schedule is full of school and Awana and Bible studies and soccer...so I know that it is winter- skip the fall, right to the next season.
I have more pictures to post, and I will, but they are not current, and you must forgive that. I have missed some wonderful picture-taking opportunities, but what to do? Go on, and enjoy the snow.

Bowden was not the only one to experience the excitement of new school-time. Lucy, ready here for her second official day of preschool, started last week going Mondays and Tuesdays, 8:30 to 12:30... She has her princess backpack, her horse lunchbox, and two new outfits.

My school children...
Just so you know I exist, here I am. Lucy loves preschool. She wants to go every day. Jack loves being alone, I know I've said before- he's my only child stuck third in a family. He'll thank us later.
Lucy loves playing with a little girl only a few months younger named Samantha- they actually kind of look similar.