Love and Marriage

My boys have marriage on their minds. Nolan announced during dinner last night that he was going to ask his girlfriend, Evah-luv, if she wanted to get married. His "girlfriend" is also 3 and is in Nolan's preschool class. Nolan is in LOVE with her. He talks about her constantly, he thinks about her, and he can't wait to see her when he gets to school. I have never had a child this enamored at this age with a friend of the opposite sex, so I find it mostly amusing and just a little worrisome.

Carson told us that he has to get married by the time he is 23 because if he waits any later, "all the good choices will be gone." Now, I don't know what a "good choice" consists of in the mind of an 8-year old boy, but I'm guessing it has something to do with how much time his wife will spend playing Wii or watching sporting events.

On the heels of all this marriage talk and following the recent Red Ribbon Week, this is the rest of the conversation that occurred last night:

Carson: What happens if you marry someone who does drugs?
Laiken: (rolling her eyes) Why would you do that?
Me: That's what we mean when we talk about making good choices. It would definitely be a better choice not to marry someone who does drugs.
Carson: Well, what if she started doing drugs after you get married? I would be OUT of there if that happened.
Me: Well, God would want you to at least try to help your wife get better if you could.
Laiken: Yeah, because you are only supposed to get married once.
Carson: Well, I would give her 2 weeks and then I would be gone.

Note to Carson's future wife: God may love you unconditionally, but apparently Carson won't.

If you see my daughter...

please tell her to clean her room.

Halloween

I know that I am biased, but I think that Nolan is the cutest Batman ever. He was really into trick or treating this year which made it so much fun. Carson wasn't going to dress up this year, but then decided he was going as the Scream character (he, of course, hasn't seen the movie--he just wanted a scary costume). Laiken wanted to wear one of my old costumes to dress up as a twirler. We took the kids all over the neighborhood and then headed over to the Tokarz's for an unbelievable Halloween party complete with a haunted house, hayride, and cook-out. That family really knows how to celebrate Halloween!

Student Council Inductions and a Blue Ribbon Day

Last week, Laiken and Carson were inducted into their positions on Student Council. Carson ran for and was elected as his Class Representative. Laiken was elected Student Council President. As a bonus, both of the kids were chosen as Blue Ribbon students at the monthly awards ceremony. Happy day!

Great Wolf

We played hooky on the day of 9-week conferences at school and instead took the kids to Great Wolf. Laiken and Carson both took friends this time and we took Nolan for the first time. So MUCH fun! The place was practically empty. I only had one moment of feeling like I was a bad parent for not going to the conferences, but it passed pretty quickly.

He's A Boy....

and proud of it. Here is a self-portrait that Nolan recently drew. Notice that apparently his arms aren't that important, but another body part was... I'm not sure what the frown is about--I'm sure a therapist could have a field day with this one.

Key West

One of the reasons that I am so behind was because Farrel and I took off to Key West for a week and I have been playing catch-up ever since. Farrel had a class on the island and I tagged along. My wonderful parents were troopers and took care of the kids for the week. We have left the kids with my parents before, but never during the school year. So, many thanks to my mom and dad for getting everyone where they were supposed to be, helping with homework, doing bedtime routine, and making sure everyone stayed clean and fed. Since I knew everything was taken care of at home, Farrel and I were able to have a great, relaxing week. Well, Farrel had to go to class during the day, so I probably had a better time than he did. Most of my week was spent just like this:

Nights were spent trying local restaurants, taking a sunset cruise, watching street performers, and taking in the craziness of the festival that was going on.

All was great until we had to load onto the 9-seater plane on the first leg of the trip back home. I was fairly certain I was going to die on this thing:

Fall Sports

I swore that I would not get behind again, but that just seems to be the norm for me here lately. Most of the last 8 weeks have been spent on the ball fields-soccer and baseball. If we were not at practice, we were at a game.

Carson played rec baseball and soccer. The baseball season was not great and we limped through with a team of very young players. Although it was a 7-8 year old league, we actually ended up with some 6 year olds and Carson and one other boy were the only 8 year olds.

It.was.a.long.road.to.the.last.game... Carson played really well, though. Playing primarily shortstop, he made lots of outs and really has a knowledge of the game that allows him to see the big picture. It must be all of those hours of ESPN paying off. He does LOVE the sports.

Unlike the baseball season, his soccer season was great! His team got second place in their division. They learned to run different plays and realized the importance of passing the ball up the field. Carson is so excited about continuing with this team next season.

Laiken started playing academy soccer with FC Dallas this fall. I don't love the drive to Pizza Hut Park for the practices, but Laiken loves the team and is really challenged by the workout. We have had a great time watching her skills continue to increase. Her team won and tied about as many as they lost, so all in all, it was a good first season. We start indoor this weekend, so I am looking forward to the climate controlled comfort as we watch the upcoming games.

Here is Nolan spending his time getting ready for when he can be on the field, too.