Soccer Mementos

Ryan put together the best prize for his soccer girls--instead of a trophy or a medal, he made each of them player trading cards. Half of them had their serious photo and the other half had their action shot photo and he had them each say what they loved most about soccer. On the back he put the team photo... they turned out great!

I think the girls will be so excited to have a professional trading card of themselves that is so personalized.

**Have you ever had a trading card with your own photo on it?
(I didn't think so.)

Chinese Intrigue

At our May Book Club we discussed the wonderful book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. We all loved it. Rather than try to summarize this book myself, I'll quote what is written on the author's website:


A language kept a secret for a thousand years forms the backdrop for an unforgettable novel of two Chinese women whose friendship and love sustains them through their lives.

This absorbing novel – with a storyline unlike anything Lisa See has written before – takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound, then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. But in one remote county, women developed their own secret code, nu shu – "women's writing" – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. Some girls were paired as "old-sames" in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

An old woman tells of her relationship with her "old-same," their arranged marriages, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood—until a terrible misunderstanding written on their secret fan threatens to tear them apart. With the detail and emotional resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha , Snow Flower and the Secret Fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all time—female friendship.

I highly recommend this book!

We had a great discussion about foot binding (and whether or not the things people do to their bodies in our culture can be compared in any way to that tradition that has thankfully been dying out), education of women, arranged marriages, friendships between women, mother love, and the Chinese animals assigned to each year. The author did an amazing job in her descriptions of different characters and their corresponding animal years, and it was quite humorous in some instances. It made me curious what year I was born in and if the characteristics assigned to that animal held true. This website has a way to calculate which year you were born in and a summary of each animal's traits.

I was born in the year of the TIGER. I am supposedly: Liberal-minded, outrageous, heroic, love limelight, gamble all and risk everything believes life is for living in a big way. Thrives on action and new ideas. Brave, gifted, clever, reckless, fights for what is right but no discipline, vague, quarrelsome.

Not so sure about everything there... I liked another website's description a little better:

Tigers may not be the king of the jungle, but these striped cats are no softies! Magnetic and self-possessed, Tigers are born leaders. They have an air of authority that prompts others to fall in line, which is exactly how they like it. Although they are magnetically charming and fun to be around, Tigers like to go it alone sometimes too. A Tiger's main interest is in following its ambitions -- and maintaining control.

Tigers are courageous beyond compare and generally come out ahead in battle, be it in the boardroom or the bedroom. Seduction is one area where the Tiger is definitely king! Noble and warm-hearted, Tigers have a natural, raw appeal that's extremely attractive to other Signs. They're not just about attraction, though; ever on the side of right, Tigers will fight the good fight to the bitter end if the cause is worthy. Opponents are wise to fear this feline.

A bit of caution is a good thing around Tigers, since they can pounce without warning. They experience mood swings and often feel things more intensely than others, the latter quality being both good and bad. They can react poorly under stress and are prone to emotional outbursts. This Sign's bristling sensitivity can send friend and foe running for cover.

A lesson that Tigers would be well-served to learn is moderation in all things. Once these cats can find their center and direct their considerable energies toward worthwhile endeavors (as opposed to racing through life), they will accomplish much.

I'm not into astrology at all, but it's interesting to see which characteristics I have (or don't).

Both Ryan and Olivia were born in the Year of the SNAKE.

Some of the snake characteristics:
Power seeker, looking for excitement and intrigue, money and fashion conscious, graceful, softly spoken, elegant, well groomed, wise, passionate, cool under pressure, intelligent, thoughtful, attractive, but sometimes conceited, poor loser.

Coleman was born in the year of the SHEEP.
Some of the sheep characteristics are: Lucky, attract prosperity and comfort, emotional, feminine, compassionate, artistic, graceful, timid, good Samaritan, shoulders to cry upon, kind, perceptive, eccentric, whimsical, indecisive, insecure, pessimistic.

It's interesting that some of the characteristics for each of us hit the nail on the head... others are pretty far from reality... but if anything else, it's entertaining.

**Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?
**What year were you born in?
**Are the characteristics right on or nowhere near the truth?

Spring Soccer 2009

Coleman and Olivia both had a great spring soccer season.

Coleman's team named themselves the "Green Snakes" and even got a visit from the team mascot (one of the coaches has a pet snake).

Coleman's skills noticeably improved this spring... he dribbled better and had much better control of the ball....

...and he scored several times throughout the season. It seemed that the Snakes were either way better than the other team, or they couldn't hold their own. There wasn't a lot of middle ground, so they got a good taste of both winning and losing.

You could often see Coleman in this pose... his coaches told them, "If you are close enough to touch your teammates, you are too close" so he made it a point to do the airplane maneuver to check his distance.

When Coleman was assigned to a team outside of our immediate neighborhood I was a little disappointed, but it turned out to be a great blessing. His coaches were wonderful and he became fast friends with the other players-- and we hope to be on the same team next year. Go Green Snakes!

Olivia's all-girls team named themselves the "Purple People Eaters" (despite brilliant suggestions from Ryan and I to be the "Shrieking Violets" or the "Violet Vixens").

Their picture day got rained out, so Ryan took it upon himself to be the team photographer. He had each of the girls pose for individual photos...

...he set up a team photo (I clicked the button)...

...and he got great action shots of each of the girls.

My photography skills pale in comparison, but that's beside the point. Olivia really improved her playing this season too. She loves soccer and is looking forward to Soccer Fridays this summer and another exciting season in the fall with most of the same teammates and the same coaching staff.

Ryan loves coaching and Olivia loved having him be so much a part of her soccer life. (During games the clipboard was like another appendage.)

To be truthful, I'm mostly relieved that we have our Tuesday nights and Saturdays back, but there is a small part of me that will miss washing uniforms and keeping track of cleats and socks and soccer balls and schlepping around chairs and water bottles and team treats and cheering for the Snakes or the Purple People Eaters.

Luckily it will all start again in a few short months...

Preschool Graduation 2009

Despite feeling that in our society we tend to make a big deal out of normal life changes and events (such as promotions from 6th grade or even junior high--do we really need to set the bar so low?) I am a sucker for a preschool graduation that shows off cute kids, especially when they get to wear a cap and gown. Coleman's preschool graduation didn't disappoint....

Here's Coleman with his teacher, Ms. Sherri, who is wonderful in so many ways.

Here is Coleman with Grandma Stover who came down for the big event.

Coleman had the responsibility of handing out flags to all of his classmates. I fear he will grow up to be the class clown... he was tossing them because it made people laugh. Today I told him he was clever, and he asked what that meant (that's his latest thing... learning new vocabulary words). I explained it and he said, "Oh, I like being clever. I like being funny too." I have a feeling we'll have to keep an eye on that!

When it was time for his part he was confident and delivered it perfectly.

Coleman is such a riot... I videotaped several of the songs they sang, and this one captures his funny personality. (It's short, only 50 seconds.)



Here's a genuine smile from our little graduate. It's hard to believe he will be in kindergarten next year, but he is very ready and I know he'll love it. (Let's hope we can avoid calls from the teacher because he's goofing off too much.)

Opera Star

Olivia has had a great music teacher at school this year. She gave the second grade classes a chance to write and produce their own opera. Liv's class named their opera "Sharing is Caring" and they performed it for us on a Saturday afternoon at the Junior High.

She was a wizard and got to wear a hat that she decorated all by herself with blue sparkly foam stars and a wizard cape that I made all by myself with stamps and glitter paint.

Liv is the fifth from the left, standing with other wizards, next to elves. Not shown are the royalty and the Jedi. With that mix of characters, you can tell that second graders dreamed it up.

Here's the video of the opera... it's fairly long (over 8 minutes) so NO obligation whatsoever to watch):



I'm so grateful for good teachers who go out of their way to give our kids good experiences with things like this. I love that she got a taste for creating a whole opera and that she helped with the scenery, costumes, music in addition to performing in it.

The whole musical thing reminded me of a conversation I had with a few of girlfriends during our fun "Mamma Mia" night several months ago--a few of my girlfriends and I decided that life could be so much more fun if we could spontaneously break into song and dance.

**If your life were a musical, which one would it be?

Piano Recital--Spring 2009

Olivia had her spring piano recital last weekend. She worked really hard to memorize her two songs.

I may be biased, but I think she has especially good form.

This is her teacher Cindy with all of her cute students.

My mom came... Liv and Coleman were so excited to see her! We missed our other family members that couldn't' come, but we thought we'd share some quick videos of her songs:



This first one is called Amaryllis...



...and this is Magnificent Sunset.

Remnants of Paris

A week after we got home I got to host book club (for a great book--The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch) and I still had Paris in my heart and taste buds... so I made or bought some yummy foods that reminded me of my trip. You might notice my toile tablecloth (happily purchased at a discount price at JoAnn Fabric) and Eiffel Tower and Fleur de Lis (also purchased here in the States at a discount store). You have to love that I bought my Paris souvenirs in the U.S. and a couple of them were more than likely made in China. Oh well... they still remind me of a fabulous trip and I didn't spend a fortune on them.

I made crepes and served them with Nutella and bananas (or butter and sugar). I made ham and cheese quiche (although I would have purchased the mini-quiches from Costco if they had been in stock). I served cream puffs (thank you Costco) and chocolate-croissants (thanks refrigerated crescent rolls and chocolate chunks). And I pulled out all the stops and served the very baguettes I had stuffed in my luggage (we froze it right when we got home) with Laughing Cow cheese (thanks to Costco again). We even had sherbet (not nearly as tasty as the sherbet from Ile de St. Louis) with ginger ale (my beverage of choice on all flights going anywhere, including Paris). I don't think anyone there was nearly impressed with everything I pulled off for that night as I was with myself... it had been my first full day at my clinic and we had a soccer game for Coleman in between, but somehow the house managed to get clean and the food got made, just in time for my lovely book club friends to come over and enjoy it with me.

The next week I had signed up to decorate a door for our PTA's Teacher Appreciation week... the theme had something to do with our teachers being world-class and so Olivia asked her teacher what her dream vacation was... she was so kind in saying that she was dying to go to Paris (I am sure she had compassion for me and knew that I could easily put something together about Paris). We came up with this rendition of the Eiffel Tower (complete with gem sparkly things for the lights they turn on at night) and put random sayings about Paris and our fabulous and wonderful Mrs. Rhodes who has been a great teacher for Olivia this year.

I think those two projects sufficiently got Paris out of my system... although we are still enjoying a baguette every few days and will likely keep the Laughing Cow cheese and Nutella a staple in our fridge and pantry....