Fall (the season, silly – what were you thinking?)

Autumn

Trees don their burnt orange frocks
Before midnight winter   stealthily   steels   in.
Leaves dance
                      dizz-
                    ily
                      down-
                    ward;
A crisp crinkly crunch                 my feet.
                                  beneath

Apples polished to a shiny rosy red.
Enameled teeth
        sink
into white flesh
With an audible cool crunch and juice,
Dribbling
delectably,
descends
my chin.

Pointy
pencils scrape paper;
Inhale the scent of wooded lead
And the dusky pulpy
Pages of books barely opened.

The wind, now bold and brisk,
Bites my cheeks and teases my hair
Into a frenzied flurry of chaos, chasing clouds across the sky.

-J.H. Schmidt

I love fall. I love the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and wet earth as the rain sets in. I love the grins on kids faces as they return to school, and the feeling of slightly more time to get things done.

I love the sound of laughter as leaves are raked and piles jumped into. I love pumpkins bright and orange and bouncing behind the tractor on a hay ride. I love the cheering and flushed faces as the kids kick the soccer ball down the field.

This time of year is SO much fun! I can’t wait to go to the pumpkin patch with the kids and rake the leaves. I feel positively giddy!

Our Saturdays in Pictures

Our Saturdays these last few weeks have been packed.  On September 19th we had our Stake Day of Service. Our ward joined our community, who also has a day of service the same day, and worked on different projects around town.  We helped out, with other ward members, at a group home. Scraping paint, raking, rearranging things, painting fences and the house, fixing the deck, and a bunch of other things.  All the kids pitched right in, and we had a blast working together as a family.

The next Saturday Elizabeth had her boot off and was able to play in her first soccer game. The first week of October was General Conference, which we thoroughly enjoyed, Jacob and Em gave up soccer that day, though Elizabeth and Dorothy were lucky enough to only miss 10 minutes of their game. Then, the following week I was gone and missed these adorbale photos of James playing with Jacob’s favorite truck (I was amazed that Jacob even let him!). This last Saturday was Jacob’s last day of Little Big Kicks – he is #13.

“Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkeys!” After Jacob’s Little Big Kick’s and Emily’s soccer game in the morning, the girls and I had a bit of fun on our way back to the car.

Elizabeth and Dorothy had their soccer game at 1:10 in the afternoon. Once they finished we piled in the car and took off to Heiser Farms for a fun filled afternoon of hay mazes, corn mazes, pumpkin lifting contest (between our kids), hay rides, and tractor riding/playing. It was a hoot.

Even Cats Think it is Cozy

We have a great stroller – the height of fashion and comfort (ha! The thing is over 8 years old). It seats up to two children – and even more if you let them hang off the sides. Aparantly it even allows for stow-aways in the storage compartment. This is what we found halfway through Little Big Kicks on Saturday.

I was told by an observer that at one point the stow-away was lounging on his back as though he was in a recliner made just for him – but I missed that photo op as I was training my camera on the Tsunami in the field.

Apparantly one of the parents for someone out in the soccer field (there was a lot more than just Little Big Kicks going on) had brought the cat – Paul saw the parent come and fetch ti before he left and joined me at Emily’s soccer game.

Little Big Kicks

Jacob had his first Little Big Kicks Soccer on Saturday.  It was an absolute hoot to watch. He picked up the idea of dribbling the ball with his feet really fast.  At one point he was kicking the ball to one of the dads on the sidelines. The dad would kick it back, and then Jacob would kick it to him again. Finally after a final kick back fromt he Dad he dribble the ball down the field and kicked it into the goal.  The hardest part was getting him to listen to his coach – but then most of the little 3-year-olds weren’t listening – heh.

Also they let them all practice with their own ball first, and then did a game situation where everyone was chasing one ball. Jacob wanted nothing to do with that- he just wanted his ball back! I decided watching 3-year-olds play soccer is the funniest thing ever.

Jacob like to call the shirt he is wearing his “soccer shirt”. He was calling it his soccer shirt before any of the kids started playing soccer. We have always gotten a kick out of it, and decided it was appropriate, as the back of the shirt says “Tsunami” – very fitting indeed!

Dorothy & Elizabeth’s First Game

Also on Saturday, Elizabeth and Dorothy had their first soccer game. Elizabeth cheered from the sidelines while Dorothy demonstrated her never-ending amount of energy. She loved her first game and has now proclaimed soccer as her “favorite sport ever!” She really did well, and the coach made sure that each player had a turn as goalie, which she enjoyed, but not as much as being out there running with the ball.

Elizabeth can’t wait for that boot to come off so she can join in on the fun.

Emily’s First Soccer Game

I have decided that soccer is way more fun to watch little kids play than softball. Don’t get me wrong, I loved having Elizabeth in softball and it was very fun, but there is something about watching little kids chase and kick a soccer ball around. It was so much fun. Emily loved her “big game” and played her little heart (or should I say legs) out.

My First Baseball Game

The stadium was surprisingly empty considering we were only 20 minutes early. There was a light rain cascading down and we could see the colorful tops of a few umbrellas scattered here and there. The rain wasn’t really enough to warrant an umbrella, not for a true Oregonian anyway. We were in a suite, or a box, however you care to call them, they are essentially the same thing. The food was delicious, and there was a lot of it. We ate, talked and laughed waiting for the game to begin. It was supposed to start at five minutes after seven. The hour sailed by and before anyof us realized it, it was 5 to eight and still no game. Finally they came out and began to sweep the water off the base covers and prepare things for the game. The National Anthem was sung, and the game began.

We made it through 3 batters, two outs, one good hit, and one man on second. The fourth batter was up to bat when the heavens opened and it began to rain in earnest. We watched as the baseball teams ran for cover, the bases were hurriedly covered, and dozens of colors exploded throughout the stadium as umbrellas popped open. We waited for another hour, but the game was cancelled. We had been rained out.

It is rather funny. There has been a lot of talk about wanting to have a professional baseball team in Portland . . . hmmm.

So, my first baseball team was a huge exciting success! lol. I mean, the workers (who covered and uncovered the bases and such, don’t know what they are rightfully called) and the mascott provided great entertainment running from base to base slip’n'slidin’ across the large plastic covers. It was quite a hoot. I think the National Anthem lasted longer than the game though. heh.