Athlete

It would seem that the smallest of us all has a natural talent for just about anything athletic.  It becomes clearer every day how much of a natural athlete Erin is.  The only organized sport that she plays is soccer, and we only do that on a purely Parks & Rec level.  This is largely due to time constraints.  You see, this natural athlete also loves anything music or drama as well as Girl Scouts, church activities....you name it.

Erin's abilities at soccer are quite natural, yet she over thinks much of the game.  She knows when to be where, but tries to remember so hard that Coach Daddy says, "Pass The Ball" to everyone else that she tends to pass the ball a little too quickly.  She's played wing for several seasons, but when placed on defense a few times this season, she quickly took to that position as well.  Knowing how to keep the opponent to the outside, when to challenge for the ball, what angle to take to cut him off.  Did we teach her any of that?  Nope, she just figured it out.

Last summer Erin and I trained for the 4-Miler here in the 'ville.  Well, we started training again this morning. I have continued to run throughout the year on and off.  I trained for a 5K back in April.  I made Erin go on 2 training runs with me.  We ran together and she beat me in that race.  She even finished 2nd in her age group.  At school at the end of the year she got a "fastest dragon award" for completing a mile in 9:16.  Today we headed out with a group of ladies for a 2.5 mile run.  Erin took off, and I reminded her (since she hasn't run since April) that she shouldn't go too fast.  That was the last I saw of her.  She was gone and clocked her 2.5 miles in under 24 minutes.  I was proud of my 26 minutes (keeping myself under a 10 min pace!!).

Erin apparently also has a gift for about any sport she tries.  Basketball?  When she asks to shoot around at the gym she typically makes 6 of 10 shots she takes.  Does she know any rules of the game?  Not really, but she can shoot the ball.  Gymnastics?  We haven't done any tumbling since she was 6.  Still some friends were doing round-offs at recess one day and she wanted to try.  She now excels at them (and can still do her back bends from a stand) enough that her friend's sister keeps asking if Erin wants to do Cheer with them (no, we don't have time).

There are times I think we should take more advantage of her athletic abilities, but also I know that when she gets pushed, Erin tends to push back.  Clearly these things are nothing more than fun for her.  I don't want to make it less fun.  We need to keep more fun in our lives.  We are so busy with all the other activities that she's not willing (nor should she want) to give up to focus on athletics.  So we will keep running, playing soccer, shooting baskets and tumbling as well as singing, dancing, acting, playing piano etc...

I'll make sure to let you know how badly she beats me in the 4-Miler late this August!!

Biking and Growing...

Jeffrey has recently been complaining that we don't live in a neighborhood with friends nearby.  I think he wants a cul-de-sac type neighborhood.  One where he can ride across the street or two houses down and hang out with a friend.

This spring, even before he got his bike for his birthday, Jeff and Erin had been riding their bikes near the house.  I love that they are enjoying riding their bikes, but understand Jeff's desire to want friends other than his sister to ride around with.

There are other kids in the development.  Not many, and not the exact same age as E and J, but close enough.  A few weeks ago there was a knock on the door, and 2 boys (who had been walking up the street with their bikes a few nights earlier) wanted to know if Jeff and Erin were able to 'come out and play.'  Specifically they wanted kids to come out and ride bikes.  I hesitated a minute and then realized that I needed to let them go a little bit.  Jeffrey ran up and got his cheap watch from Easter and we agreed on 30 minutes as a check-in time.  And 30 minutes later, they were right back on the doorstep.

We did set up some ground rules.
1:  They must make each check-in time or that's the end of the biking for the day.
2:  They must stay together.
3:  They may not go into the house of a new friend if we do not know the parents.
4:  They cannot leave the neighborhood.
5:  They can't swim at the beach without us.

This has continued almost every day since then.  The kids will ride up to a friend's house see if he wants to ride around (or often go play at the beach).  So far we've only had a few infractions.  They tried with just one of them checking in (breaking rule 2).  They've also missed one or two check-ins, but never by more than 10 minutes.

It's a big step for me to let them out and about.  I'm praying that they make good decisions.  I'm reassured that one of the other moms will occasionally call to see if "so-and-so" is here (so I know there are other moms looking out for them too).

So kids, keep making good decisions.  Keep having fun.  Keep making new friends.  And I guess....keep growing up (there's nothing I can do to stop it anyway).

Behind

Oh I got behind again.  I never even posted pictures from Erin's birthday.  Or her school play where she was Ka the snake.  May seems to have gotten away from with me, and here we are almost half way through June.

We have certainly been busy.  We had 2 long and wonderful weekends of Annie.  Weekends packed with soccer tournaments, festivals, races, trips to King's Dominion.  Erin had a spa sleepover birthday party.  We spent a day in Winchester doing some Geocaching.  We've been a busy bunch, and enjoyed it.  

We've hit summer break.  Today was our first day of summer vacation and it rained most of the day.  We headed to the gym at a reasonable hour.  Met Tom for lunch at a local sushi place (where Jeff inhaled his California and cucumber rolls).  Then we took in a movie at the local dollar theater.  I've been promising to take Erin to see Oz the Great and Powerful.  The kids really enjoyed it although Jeffrey tried to snuggle on my lap when he got frightened.  He's getting a little big for that and doesn't really fit on my lap any more.
So here are a few pictures to tide you over until I get my act together to post again.

Erin and her BFF Sierra at the Spa Sleepover

Jeff leading us to the next Geocache

With one of the Peanuts gang at King's Dominion

Erin and mommy at King's Dominion

Last day of school treat from mom and dad

Sushi lunch with dad on first weekday of vacation