Noah's birthday party

Noah had a great time playing laser tag to celebrate his birthday. The group was pretty rambunctious and I was happy to have the help of Alex, the "party liason." He took the group under his wing and they had a blast! They had fun hiding, ducking, and avoiding each other in the laser tag arena. Each friend and Noah had to create an alias to use while they were playing. Noah's was Shadow Knight. Some other's were 21 (later found out this was for Sean Taylor's number), Under Armour, Viper, NikkiDJ, The Punisher, The Pink Bunny (not a girl), and Rambo. Noah wanted to invite Annie Kate, a friend from church and school. She is, right now, "one of the guys," and every mom has laid claim on her for the future. I didn't want Annie to be the only girl, so I had Noah invite two others. One other girl showed up and they were the loan representers of girl power! They had a fun time and were the nicest, gentlest ones of the bunch. Thank goodness for those girls! It was only later after the party that Noah decided to tell us that he liked one of them and she liked him. :)

Football update

Tobin knocked them dead! The final score was 21-0 with Tobin as quaterback. Tobin's coach from last year is currently serving the United States abroad on the African coast near the Middle East and was able to come back for tonight's game. Before the game, he told the Wolverine coaches to give the pins from his hand grenades to the players of the night. Tobin is now in possession of both pins!! Tobin was named both the offensive and defensive player of the night!! I don't think he could have played a better game.

And me? my anxiety? Nil....I was at Noah's birthday party having all the children being tended to by teenage boys who were just as ADD and high energy as the group of friends Noah had at the party.


Coach is the one kneeling with the sunglasses and the blue shirt.

Let's get ready to rumble

The Wolverines


Last week was a pivotal game. Tobin's team, the Wolverines, beat a team that had collectively scored 60 points over two games against their opponents. They had had no points scored against them. They thought they could take the Wolverines, no problem. They were wrong.

The other team, the Panthers, hit a little harder and ran a little faster than our Wolverines were used to. But the Wolverines played with all heart. We scored first-7 points. And then the Panthers grew fierce. They hit a little harder and tried to run a little faster. There was a collision of our quarterback against one of their linebackers, head on. The players stayed down for a little while, while the rest of the team took a knee to see how their teammates fared.

They stood up and continued to play. The Panthers scored on us but missed the extra point. We won 7-6. We became a force to be reckoned with. And then we got the phone call on Sunday night, that even though our quarterback had played the rest of the game, he couldn't remember any of it, not the passes nor the runs. So, what does all this mean? Why am I telling you all this?

Because....that means.....Tobin is now starting quarterback for this week's game! And this makes me entirely too anxious. Seriously, I will be stomach knotted, weak-kneed, knuckle gripping, and pale skinned for the entire game. Go Wolveriines.

Light the Night Walk

On Saturday, October 11th, I will be walking with for a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma. It is so interesting to me that the more I talk with people about it, the more I find out people's experiences with these cancers. So, I will walk for everyone in hopes that they may never have a loved one experience leukemia and lymphoma.

Personally, I will walk, thinking of 3 very special people:

1. My uncle. In his memory. He died of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. For everything I miss about him.

2. For Faith, my daughter, Brenna's friend: She was almost two when she was diagnosed with leukemia. She went through chemo and treatments and seems to be in remission. I walk for her courage and for the hope that she will never be back there again. That we find a cure.

3. For Austin: My twin sister knows Austin (around 2 yrs. old) and asked for prayers for him on her blog. I will do better and walk for him too. So that he will go through his chemo and come out on top, climbing walls and able to use his spiderman blankie for his "cure all" which he loves. He was just diagnosed this past August 28, 2008 with leukemia. I can remember how normal that day had seemed to me and yet, how it changed their world forever.

I am walking with the group Leap of Faith-- our goal together is to raise $25,000 dollars!! I know we can do this. If you can, please donate to finding a cure for leukemia and lymphoma. Listening to Faith's mom share her story makes me realize that faith, science and research are at the heart of finding a cure. To continue the research please do what you can! Even $5.00 helps. Remember, all donations are tax deductible. Thanks for your support.

To donate please go to my Light the Night Walk page at http://www.active.com/donate/ltnAlexan/2288_PaigeP If for some reason the link isn't working. The words Light the Night are a link to take you there as well.

What does my typical week look like?

Mondays:
Brenna gymnastics 4:00- 5:30pm
Brenna soccer 6:00 - 7:00pm
Tobin football 5:30 -7:30pm
Paige late meetings at school every week

Tuesdays
Tobin soccer 6:00 - 7:30pm
Tobin YM's(church)7:00 - 8:30pm
Noah football 6:45 -8:00pm
Noah scouts 4:00-5:00pm
Paige late meetings at school every other week (same with Andy)


Wednesdays:
Tobin soccer 6:00 -7:30pm
Tobin football 5:30-7:00pm (which one do I take him to?)
Playdates for Brenna and Noah


Thursdays
Noah soccer 5:30 - 6:30pm
Brenna Brownies 3:30 - 4:45pm
Andy and Paige Dance Lessons!! 7:00 - 8:00pm


Friday
Tobin's football games 7 or 9 pm at night
Noah's soccer 5:30 - 7:30pm

Saturday
3-4 games to plan for and get the children to!!

Sunday
Church (where Andy and I have had to plan lessons for the youth
throughout the week)

It's a good thing work is in the morning!!

Nanny McPhee's Look Alike

For those of you who don't know Nanny McPhee, she is a nanny with magical properties. She came to a family who had a history of having worn out 17 different nannies. When Nanny McPhee arrived the children start to magically behave! I looked into hiring her, but all I found was a look alike knock off that does the misbehaving instead of correcting it. Oh well, she has some cute moments.





Nanny McPhee is played by Emma Thompson (one of my favorite Shakepearian actresses). I heard her once say in an interview that during the filming of Nanny McPhee she sat in the make-up chair for about an hour each day and, yet, when she sat in the make-up chair for movies where she was more natural (more like herself than a fictional character) that she needed to stay seated for up to two hours at a time! She was able to laugh at herself after she divulged this little secret. And while she can certainly laugh at this, I am ready for Brenna to have her new teeth come in. One tooth she lost four dayts ago and the other, she lost10 months ago! when it was pulled out by the dentist. It still has not come in.

And to top it all off---the final tooth--the one still there is lose as well and will fall out soon! I can only imagine that she will look like someone's West Virgina cousin then!

O Captain, My Captain

Tobin, Ryan, Drew and Teddy, playing soccer together since 2nd grade.



Noah looks behind him as an opposing team member is felled by his own two feet.

Sweltering heat. Sun beating down. Sweat dripping down your back in rivulets. The smell of damp earth steamed by the heat of day. The swoosh of the net being hit by the soccer ball. The roar of the crowd--mostly moms and dads and siblings dragged along for support, cheering "Go team.". The sound of exuberance--soccer players saying, "Yes, I knew I could do it!" One time. Two times....six times...nine times! The taste of victory. These were the sensations of my day.

Noah's team won by nine goals today! He made one of them, but the best news of all was that he was designated the captain of his team today. Each game, the coach decides who will be captain for the day, kind of as a reward for last week's efforts. And he chose Noah! Noah was thrilled and decided to cheerfully lead the team through the hot, sweaty, sunny game. He did great!

Brenna's team also won by like 8 or 9 goals. It was sweet, but we cheered when the other team finally scored a goal near the end of the game. Brenna's game was the second of the day and allowed us to continue the wonderful sweaty experiences today would be: a hot August-like day full of humidity and heat. I am amazed at what troopers these six year olds were as they chased the ball down. They grew red cheeked to match their jerseys and ponytails wilted, but their smiles grew.

Tobin's game was fun to watch. After Tobin's late football game last night (they won)we were a little worried about how he would do with such an early game. But I was amazed at his hustle. And as the mother's and father's edged farther away from the boundary of the game to find shade, the boys jumped, bounced, and kicked the ball all over the field. His was the first game of the day and really let us know what we were in for with all of the heat and humidity.