Ben's Busy Fall

So, I try not to be the mom who overschedules her kids (and I don't think I do), but Ben has had a very busy fall. In addition to serving as assistant coach for the Teal Turtles (see earlier post), he's been singing in the children's choir at church, taking a few cooking classes, playing tennis, and taking a class at our community garden (okay, so maybe a little overscheduled, but he loves them ALL). The children's choir sang during worship a couple of Sundays ago. The picture's dark, but Ben's on the left.
About to eat the "cowboy cookie" he made at cooking class. Our budding chef.
Ben's been doing a "munchkin tennis" clinic for about a year now, and he's showing great improvement!

Ben took the "Wild Things" class at our community garden last spring and wanted to do it again this fall. It's a sort of hippie, love-the-earth, peace-to-all kind of experience, and he LOVES it. He's tie-dyed shirts, made and eaten stone soup with herbs from the garden, dug up and eaten sweet potatoes, and eaten honey from bees in the garden. He informed me the other day that "apples give us love and light." Too sweet.

He picked me this gorgeous bouquet at garden class a couple of weeks ago - best flowers I've ever received.

Kickin' It and Camping

A couple of weeks ago, Noah started soccer, his first-ever organized sport. Ben played when he was 3 and wasn't real interested, but we thought Noah might be more enthusiastic because this summer, as Ben was playing t-ball, Noah spent the entire season doing this: Poor guy. He was DYING to get out there and play. So now he has his very own team - the Teal Turtles.

Our little Teal Turtle at hist first game (and assistant coach in background).

Warming up. Not sure you can see, but the tongue is out, which means total concentration ... be the ball.

Last-minute tips from Coach Daddy. Then it was game time.

A bit of a slow start. "Where'd the ball go?"

But then he got into it, putting some moves on the opponents.

We'll have to work on the no hands thing.
Gooooaaal!Uncle John and his girlfriend Kristen came to watch the game last weekend. As you can see, Eliza's an avid soccer fan.

Right after the game, we packed up and headed out for our first-ever camping adventure. Ben's class does an annual camping trip, and we thought we'd give it a try (we are so NOT campers). We borrowed a tent and sleeping bags from some friends and set out. The boys were, to put it mildly, very excited.
The kids spent a lot of time "tent hopping" (think bar hopping on a 5-year-old level).

Sitting by the campfire with pal Catherine.

Eliza even made it out for her first camping trip. She and I headed home after dinner, though, because she didn't want to sleep in a tent. Sheesh - she's such a baby sometimes!

Waking Up

Throughout the month of September, Eliza went from "sleep mode" to becoming much more awake and alert. She gave us her first smiles (I've yet to catch them on camera) and beautiful happy coos. And oh how she's growing! It's amazing how much she's changed in her short little life.
Excited about bath time.

She dressed out in support of the Bulldogs ... to no avail.

And the boys' love affair with their baby sister continues ...

Sweet Angels.