Monday, November 25, 2013

Mysterious Mustaches

On Thursday night, Valerie's last soccer game (at night under the lights)ended in a 1-1 tie. It was such an exciting game with Valerie playing goalie for part of it and having some amazing saves. You should see her- a 36 lb firecracker, charging girls more than twice her size, absolutely fearlessly. She loves it too. This game was great, as were others this season- all of the girls on her team played their hearts out.

When we got home, there were four mysterious envelopes in our mailbox full of mustaches!!!! I can't tell you the fun that we had! But maybe you can see it from some of these pictures. I have some more pictures of Olivia, where she put the mustache on her chin, forehead etc, before getting it in the right spot. Very very fun. I suspect I know who the lovely sender of these mustaches is, but will need to confirm :)

















Over the weekend, Valerie's girl scout troop had a Thanksgiving dinner. We all went and it was really neat- over 100 people there and each family brought something different. There were enough desserts for each person to have about 10 each, and I think each person there pretty much did eat 10 each- the desserts were almost totally gone by the end!

I took Julia to a ninja turtle karate birthday party of a classmates and she had a blast. She had been looking forward to the party for WEEKS.

On Saturday we took a trip to Fort Jackson and first played on the playground. Olivia went down this huge slide and it was like a tidal wave when she hit the water at the bottom. Hence, the pink army pjs we had to get her before going to do our grocery shopping. At the commissary it was so crowded that we literally had to wait in line as we walked down each isle. The kiddos were very good through all of this though. Steve went to the auto center on the base while we were shopping, where he can put the van on a lift to change the oil easily.



We are all ready for Thanksgiving- the turkey is thawing in the fridge. The kiddos helped me plan the meal on our drive home on Friday. They all agreed on brownies for dessert (although we'll make pumpkin pie too). And they all insisted on mashed potatoes. Ethan wants fish (tuna) b/c he said that the Indian's taught the Pilgrims to fish and that was what they had at the first thanksgiving. Valerie strongly suggested baked beans. I might be able to work in the baked beans, but the fish might need to be bumped to Friday's menu.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Handmade in SC





Last night I finished Livy's bag. Now I've made one for each of the children. Livy especially loves hers and it is so much fun to make something that they like (that doesn't get eaten for a change!), and they don't seem to mind that I am not too good at this. Ethan and Julia got super hero bags (pictured above) over the weekend, with pockets inside!

Not that I have the market on hand made goods cornered. Look at what Steve made for our family room!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Weekend Visitors

We had a really nice weekend with Emi and Granddad who got to see Valerie and Julia at their soccer games. We also went to the park and had some True BBQ among other highlights. I think their favorite part of the visit might have been the early morning wake up calls!




We were also treated to a visit from Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bill! It was so nice to see them, even if briefly! Next time we'll see if they are brave enough to spend the night with our crazy crew.





Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Julia's second goal




Julia has made a lot of progress this season with soccer. At times, it was tough to even get her out on the field. Which makes what we captured on this video even more amazing. And it was the second goal of the game (third for her of the season). Valerie is also enjoying soccer a lot and seems to not want the season to end. I will have to get a video of her this weekend. She is an excellent goalie and likes that position best.

Back to Julia- I rediscovered something this morning. Chocolate is an excellent enticement! We have had a lot of trouble in the morning just getting her to do the basics (put clothes on, brush teeth, and get in the car). This morning, I could tell we might be headed for trouble yet again, so I offered a small piece of chocolate to everyone who did everything they were supposed to do without any problems (used this for Ethan and Valerie when they were each four. Four is an extremely tough age for the Zumbrun kiddos for some reason). The results were beautiful and we were all happy.

Indian dance




The kiddos were all putting on performances together(not for me, but I happened to catch them). Piano has been going very well for E and V- they are truly enjoying it. We seemed to have found just the right balance lately. Did some music flash cards with Ethan yesterday and he knew all of the notes (reading has been a problem all along b/c his ear is so good). He just needs to get a little faster with it. Valerie has been good with both reading the notes and using her ears so far.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Halloween 2013

Boo at the Zoo

Livy the Lion
For Halloween, she said, "I need to put my roar on"!

Valerie, a witch with style

EVJO on Halloween

EVJ AND O insisted on hitting every single house in the neighborhood. Olivia's bucket was particularly full because she would be taking handfuls of candy while the hander-outer would either not notice, or not want to stop her. EVJ were dismayed that they did not have as much as O.

Julia, star soccer player

This season has been fraught with 3 and 4 year olds refusing to take the field during the games. However, last weekend, the entire team played the entire game. And Julia even scored a goal! Valerie is also doing great with soccer. She loves playing goalie and sweeper. Last weekend she did not allow any goals to be scored on her watch even though many attempts were made by the other team. She is little but TOUGH!

Date night (with Livy)-not altogether romantic

This weekend, we had a date night. We went to Mellow Mushroom which was delicious. EV&J were in a date night program at a local gym, but Livy is too young, so she went with us. The last time we did this, she was delightful, just sitting there peacefully during our entire dinner. THIS time was different- she was a total wiggle worm- a happy little handful.

Livy- Early Bird


Livy this morning- sometimes she wakes up early, sometimes foiling my plans for getting the lunches together. I had prepared all of the lunches last night though, so we had a particularly nice time together, then she helped wake up EV&J.