I'm a soccer mom!

We signed Elsie up for soccer with the city.  We had been looking forward to seeing her get out there in her cute little shin guards and dribble the ball around.  She did great at her BYU soccer camp this summer and the clinic the city put on a few weeks ago.

We missed her first two practices while we were up in WA at the reunion, but she was able to make it to one final practice.  She was mostly just bugged that the uniform was so big.  I don't blame her...why can't they make them smaller?!

The day of her first game came, and we were pumped.  Ang and Q came down to hang out, eat dinner, and watch the game.  I had to wake Elsie up from a little power nap (problem #1) to eat some dinner, which she didn't have time to finish (problem #2).  Then we put on her uniform, and she was really upset at how everything fit (problem #3).  We drove to the game and got there right as it was starting (problem #4), so we told her to run over to her coach and team to get going.  She freaked out!  She did not want to play.  She was crying, clinging, etc.  Aaron was mostly trying to deal with her, so we wouldn't make a scene.  The coach kept telling her that she could sub in whenever she was ready, but she wasn't having it.  Aaron finally took her to the car because he was about to lose it!  He got real serious (as in, a little crazy) in there and even threatened to never go to Disneyland again if she didn't play.  That was funny!  We were about to just leave, but she finally said she would play goalie.  (Then she wouldn't have to be in the mix of things.)

Well, she finally went in to the game.  Aaron and the coach helped her along, and she eventually even moved positions and ran around a bit.

She had fun!  We knew she would.  By the end of the game, she was all smiles.  (I thought she was just being a baby and throwing a fit, but the more I think about it, I think she gets real anxiety and has a hard time with new situations...especially when it comes to performing.)

I was so glad that it turned out to be a great experience.  Her coach was awesome and really made her feel good.  A couple days later we went to her second game, and she was all over the place.  She got the ball several times, dribbled it almost the whole way down the field and tried for a goal, and got to be silly with the other girls.  She still doesn't like to really get in there and try to get the ball.  She is not aggressive AT ALL, but she was figuring it out.   

First Day of Kindergarten

I know people say this all the time, but I'm trippin' for real!  I can't believe Elsie is in Kindergarten already.  It's crazy!  She's my one and only kid, and we have reached a major milestone in her life.  No worries, there were no tears.  I was too busy dealing with my grumpy (and, I know, very nervous) child to get sad. 

She was really nervous to start school until we went to her classroom last week and met her teacher.  She found out that she will sit at the yellow table and that made her very happy.  Plus, the classroom theme is Rainbows.  (Side note:  Elsie really wanted to wear this too small shirt that is yellow with a rainbow on it for the first day of school.  I asked her if she wanted to wear something a little fancier, and she said "Well, the theme is rainbows."  She said it so matter of factly, like it wouldn't make sense to wear anything else.  I laughed.)

I just wanted a cute picture on the doorstep, but she said that was too embarrassing because people would see her.  We settled for a picture inside, but she still couldn't muster up a smile.

We got a little smile on this one :)

Aaron and I took her to her classroom, and she knew exactly what she was supposed to do.  She found her stick with her name on it and put it in the bucket, put her backpack in her cubby, took a seat at her table, and got started on her picture. 

She was all business and had no problem with us leaving. 

When I picked her up, I saw several people taking pictures in front of the school, so I asked her if she would let me get one of her by the flagpole.  She wasn't having it, so I bribed her to stand by the car and let me take one. 

She said she had fun.  Recess was her favorite part of the day.  She likes her teacher.  I know she'll love Kindergarten...I just can't take any more pictures!

We went to the Orem Summerfest Carnie Fair. Elsie had a good time. Aaron and I just felt hot and dirty.

Elsie rode with Aaron on the Scrambler and loved it!  She couldn't even see over the handlebars, but it didn't ruin her fun.

Fun on the Patio

Riley, Mattex, and Qiana were here for the day, so we filled up the pool and played outside on the patio.

Elsie and Riley would ride by me on the bikes and have me take a picture each time the passed me.  They thought it was so fun and funny.  Oh girls!

Mini Cubs Soccer Camp

Elsie went to soccer camp at BYU for a week this June.  We got her ready with all the gear, and headed over to the indoor sports facility for the camp.  She was nervous and not feeling too enthusiastic about it, but Aaron and her warmed up with the ball a bit before camp started the first day. 

They had a popsicle break each day at camp.  Elsie would always get banana because that's what Aaron likes.

 

Elsie's coach was so sweet with her.  She was the only girl in a group with 5 other boys.  At the end of camp each day, each coach would pick out and tell about someone from their team.  The first day he picked Elsie and said that he liked how she always followed directions, asked questions, and participated even though he was the only girl.  She was beaming!

She really learned a lot and got so much more comfortable with the ball.  They would do some fun drills and games, but my favorite to watch was "Sharks and Minnows".  The coaches would be sharks and try to get the ball away from the kids as the ran across the marked area.  Once the kids were caught, they became sharks as well.  Elsie would always run on the edge of the group because she doesn't like to be in any sort of crowd, but one particular time a boy was coming after her.  She just kept dribbling the ball straight ahead and just kept going and going way out of the boundary.  She was determined to keep the ball!  It was so cute to watch!

The Yard Project

This is what has been consuming our lives for the past couple months!  I would love to act like it's something we have contributed to equally, but it's been all Aaron.  He has worked his tail off taking our yard from a sloped hill of weeds to what we have now (I bet you can't wait to see pictures!).

I wish I had taken pictures from the very beginning before we killed all the weeds and rototilled (sp?).  It was a mess!

Then we got our first dumptruck load of dirt.  Aaron moved the dirt with many loads in the wheelbarrow to various places in the yard and then raked them out to try to even things out and get rid of the major slope in the yard.

Our next big project was to get some cement poured.  We got 9 yards of cement delivered and hired some guys to pour it for us.  Of course, Aaron was out there just about the whole time anyway.  He likes to "observe" their work.  He just can't help himself.  It was fun to watch them work and see the progress, but Elsie and I just did it from inside the house. 

We really wanted a patio that was big enough to use and enjoy and store things.  We never did it up at our Nampa house, and we always regretted it.  So we may sure to do it right away!

We also poured a big slab for Charlie's kennel.

I forgot to mention that Aaron and his Dad busted out the walkway and steps that were in the front because it was sinking.  That was hard work!  The cement was so thick.  So we replaced that as well.

The next project was to plant a few tress that we got from Costco.  We have a bit of a junkyard in the lot behind us, so we wanted to get some trees planted and hope they grow really, really fast.  Okay, so it may take a few years before they do much good, but it's sure been nice having some greenery in the backyard.

Because the yard was still so sloped, we had another dumptruck load of dirt brought it.  Which meant many more piles to move and spread out.  Fun for Aaron!

He also started digging (by hand!) out an area in the yard that would be completely flat.  We want to put a firepit in there and have enough room for chairs and such.

Once the area was all dug out, he started building a retaining wall on the taller side.  We originally were going to wrap the wall around the side also, but scratched that idea once we realized how many blocks it would take. 

This wall proved to be quite the task for Aaron.  He had to redo it about three times because of changing plans and needing to make it straight.  It was the most frustrating part of this whole yard for him.  There was one particularly bad afternoon where the wind was blowing like crazy, and he thought he was done...only to realize as he was walking inside that wall was crooked.  Yeah, he wasn't too happy with life right then!!  But, he got it done and it looks great!

(The two blocks sitting on top were added to to the ends of wall once we got a little more dirt.)

There was a lot more spreading of dirt, raking out rocks, etc.

Oh, I almost forgot...we put in sprinklers in the back.  Aaron did some law work in exchange for help with the sprinklers.  The guy came up with the plan and picked up the materials, and then they (including Aaron) got to work.

I didn't get any pictures of the front yard project that he started as well.  He killed off some grass along the edge, dug it out, and added a bunch of dirt to raise it up a bit.  We'll plant some decorative stuff in that area and dress up the front a bit.

We realized we needed more dirt.  So our third load of dirt was delivered.  I even helped spread this pile!

On to the next step...curbing.  We had some curbing poured around that area in the front and then all along the sides in the backyard.

After a week of letting the cement set, we finally got sod!!  Aaron, Pete, Merv, and Gary spent a couple hours laying sod, and it was so exciting to see it go down. 

Pete wanted me to get a picture of the sweat on his back.  It was a really hot morning.  I enjoyed sitting in my chair under the umbrella and cheering them on.  Courtney and the kids came for moral support.

The finished product...so far!!

We had an area over by the kennel that we flattened out enough to put a swingset for Elsie.  We'll be getting that this week. 

We are at a good stopping point now and so happy!!  We're going to wait (maybe this summer or next year) to plant around the edges of the yard and put up a fence.  Now, Aaron's got to get back to his real job!