Soccer! (and a Health Update)

After posting that I had stomach flu twice in two weeks I've had lots of questions. My mother put it this way when asking David: "Are you sure that she has the stomach flu or is it the baby flu?" Yes, we're sure it was the stomach flu. But thanking you everyone for asking. I can see why you would need some clarification. :)

Lucas had his 9 month well baby check yesterday even though really he is just shy of 10 months. My little chunker weighs 21 pounds and 2.5 ounces. Oooo I love fat babies! The bad news is that his lungs were so wheezy he got put on an oral steroid and nebulizer treatments. He has a terrible cough and ends up throwing up most of his bottles because of the coughing. He is one sick cookie right now and I feel very bad for him. So now that we recovered from a stomach bug, it looks like we'll pass around this nasty cold/croup virus around the family next. Oh Joy!

We finished our Fall soccer season. Usually I'm ready to have a break and I am but it really was a great season for both boys. Jacob stills plays recreational soccer. Next year he can move to competition but he played U8 and it was a lot more intense and we loved it. This is the first year they play with a goalie and had bigger goals and a bigger field. The kids on the team really want to be there and play and the parents are more dedicated. The kids finally know what they are doing and can actually follow the coach's instructions. It was awesome. Jacob's team, the green gators, has 11 players. Four of them are from our old P.G. team and we loved having them on our team still. The rest of the boys Jacob knows from school so that was nice to get to know some parents from Highland too. David really is an excellent coach and the parents love him. My only complaint is he didn't have an assistant coach and so I was in charge of the subs. At the beginning it was horrible trying to do subs and then take care of the kids and David needing me when Lucas needed me too but by the end I was a pro and even carried around this little notepad with all the rotations written down. Pretty soon I'm going to start keeping stats. (I'm joking....sort of.)

This was the first year that Jacob was not the top scorer on his team. It was a little hard for him to adjust. He is used to being the best player and at this age the boys starting catching up. I have loved watching the boys learn and develop and get better and better. Our P.G. boys have played with us for 3 years now. David tried to focus on helping Jacob make play and set someone else up to score. He has some mad dribbling skills and can get through people and make a perfect pass to the hole for a forward to score. This technical game and being able to see the field is still way ahead of the game. In the picture below Jacob did beat that goalie and put the ball in the net.

Adam's team was the Lightening Bolts and again we had 3 boys from our old P.G. team. It's so great to be able to still see these boys and there parents. Adam's team has 8 players and still plays with the little goals and little fields with no goalies. I went back and forth on playing him up a year and choose not too. I'm still not sure that was the right idea but Adam loves being the super star on his team. After he had scored 5 or 6 times, David would tell him that he couldn't score anymore and had to pass to a teammate and set them up to score. So he would yell at his teammate "run with me, run with me" so he had someone to pass too. If they didn't then he would just score and tell his dad "there was no one to pass to so I HAD to score." I was most proud of Adam in a game that David wasn't there to coach. I think David had to coach Jacob's game and they were overlapping. We did have a great assistant coach for Adam's team. Anyway, we only had 4 players so no subs. The other team was winning 2-0 and Adam was getting frustrated. I think he'd never been losing before. When Adam gets frustrated he doesn't always stay in control and that was about to happen. David wasn't there so I started "coaching" when from the sidelines about dribbling around and through people instead of big kicks that the other team got to first. He started calming down and listening and ended up scoring 8 eight goals and his team won. It was a massive proud mama moment which I know is lame because it is a 5 year old's soccer game. But Adam really struggling when overcoming his frustrations and he gets mad and will just give up on things. But this time he listened to me and kept trying and came out the winner. Oh so proud of that boy!

The boys were especially happy because their Mama Nena came to their games one weekend and the last weekend of games their Grandma came. Jacob especially put on a nail biter for Grandma and squeaked out a win by one goal in a very close and competitive game. We just love soccer at our house and had a great Fall season. It was crazy and busy and lots of fun! I can't imagine what we are going to do when Matthew is old enough to play. I don't think David can coach three teams. Coaching two is crazy busy! At least we have another year before we have to figure that out.

Fall Break and Pumpkins

We spent Fall Break sick with the stomach flu. Actually let me back up we spent most of October sick. The day David left for NYC my sister invited us to dinner because her husband was out of town also. We pulled up to her house and Jacob threw up in my car. Most of you know my complete and utter aversion to barf so I'll spare you in details. At least he was smart enough to rush out of the car and finish on my sister's sidewalk. By that night I had stomach flu too. So for three days while day was gone we did the flu thing. Then fast forward perhaps 3 days and Jacob has a horrible cough and cold. Three days after that I'm at the insta-care with Jacob. He has an ear infection and an eye infection (conjunctivitis). Two days after that is the first day of Fall Break. It was a gorgeous day and Jacob and Adam got to play with one of their P.G. friends practically all day. That night David told me he was taking the next day off work. David taking work off is a miracle. The world must be turning upside down for that to happen. Friday morning I woke up with stomach flu AGAIN! By Friday night (after hiking to the Y) Adam had it. That poor kid just barfed and barfed and David was super dad and took care of everything while I concentrated very hard on staying alive. We were so sick. By Saturday night David and the baby were sick and today Matthew is. Also Lucas and I have Jacob's lovely cough and eye infection. David was so sick he didn't go to work today. Obviously the world is still off its axis. That was our miserable Fall Break that we had such great plans for. Jacob and Adam did get to hike to the Y with there dad before the wheels fell off our family train. But that was it. We missed the BYU game that the boys were going to for the first time this season and our neighbors Halloween pumpkin carving party. So we busted out the pumpkins tonight for Family Home Evening. First off I grew all these pumpkins so my pride knows no bounds. Second I really don't like carving pumpkins but David does. So Super Dad comes shining through again and even though he still isn't eating he thinks his super powers will get him through carving 4 pumpkins.

Matthew was very excited to be there even though he has a fever and well let's just call them bowel issues.

Adam was also very happy to be carving pumpkins....

...until his dad told him to scoop out the seeds and stuff. He thought it stunk and just couldn't get his ocd hands that sticky. So this was the one chore I helped accomplish.

 Jacob loved scooping out the pumpkins guts. However I do think this is where brotherly competition wins out to gross slimy stuff.

Drawing faces on the pumpkins...aka the one time the boys are allowed to draw with permanent markers.

 While David carved pumpkins I took pictures of silly kids and took video of Adam singing all his kindergarten Halloween and thanksgiving songs. He's a great singer and if I can figure out how I'll post some video.

Our finished creations. David didn't even pull out the electric drill this year and they are still masterpieces. See those green pumpkins. Yeah, not everyone can grow green pumpkins. You have to be a real talented gardener, such as myself. I finally gave up on them and picked them last week. The barfing pumpkin is somehow a Parra tradition. It started back in 2005 when David carved a barfing pumpkin and called it "Ode to Ashley" I was 3 months pregnant with Adam and there was no end in sight to my "all day and night" morning sickness.

 Jacob in October of 2005. Jacob was 19 months old and such a cutie!

Adam's teeth or rather lack of...

Adam's bottom front tooth had been loose forever. Seriously for at least 6 months but he had no interest in wiggling it and I had no interest in repeating the drama that was and still is pulling Jacob's teeth. However an apple went quite a way in loosening that tooth up and Adam wanted me to try to pull it but I knew it wasn't ready. So I told him I would pull it when he could wiggle it side to side and not just back to front. Before bed one night he informed me to could wiggle side to side and wanted me to pull it. I still didn't think it was ready but tried it once and it didn't come out. I was ready to be done but Adam said to try again. Actually he said "Mom really try this time not just fake pulling!" Okay...so you're not going to pull the drama queen routine on me I might as well really try. Second try and out it came with a stinkin long root on the front just like Jacob's teeth. However, Adam didn't make a sound and was so proud. He wanted to call his dad right away who was in New York City on a business trip. Yet another reason to never travel...you miss out on all the milestones.

 I think he looks so cute with his little hole in his smile. He was happy with the dollar and gum the tooth fairy left and especially happy because he got to put his name on this chart in Kindergarten for losing a tooth. After the tooth came out he told me to pull the other one. What other one? I didn't even know the one next to it was loose.

 But today, thanks to a pear, we pulled that second one out too. So he lost his two bottom teeth just 2 weeks and one day apart from each other. After the pear loosened it up I told him it still wasn't ready but then Adam was reading out loud to me and couldn't stop playing with the tooth so I told him I'd pull it and out it came with a stinkin long front root too. Now he has a slightly bigger and even cuter holey smile. However I'm thinking that if he keeps eating all these raw fruits he might be toothless soon.

Pulling teeth creeps my father out like nothing else and I love pulling my kids teeth. I consider it one of the little perks of being a parent. Grandpa doesn't even like hearing how the teeth come out but Grandma can always be counted on to ask about all the little details. I guess you can tell who I inherited my dental skills from.

Matthew and his Angry Birds

One of Matthew's favorite things is to beg David's electronics off of him. Most notoriously the iPad which has Matthew's game of choice on it: Angry Birds. I fend off the question to play Angry Birds on an hourly basis around here. All of which were asked by Matthew. But Matthew is not picky he will also take the iPhone (which also has Angry Birds) or the laptop. I like having the iPad when I need to entertain Matthew but he doesn't share it very well with his brothers. So it doesn't come out very often anymore. Jacob and Adam declared me the most unfair mother when I mandated at the beginning of school that the wii would only be played on the weekends. I actually got this idea from my neighbor whose son is Jacob's good friend. I have loved this rule and the boys don't even ask anymore and also when the friend is over or when Jacob is over there they know they have to do something besides wii.

 Matthew doesn't actually play games on the computer although he does watch Jacob and Adam and he also knows he can watch Mickey Mouse episodes there. Occasionally he watches Mickey Mouse while David works next to him on his laptop.

Here's some of the boys creative play antics. Adam is a good big brother and Matthew is just plain crazy. That boy says and does the funniest things. His personality is just exploding. He says "oh gosh" all the time now. As in "Mom, Lukey barfed. Oh gosh." Matthew only calls him Lukey and barf is just a little spit up. But when Matthew says it all, it's just adorable. Matthew cajoles Adam into doing all sorts of stuff for him and the latest is pushing him around in the laundry basket. I remember pushing my younger brother around in the laundry basket.



Lucas standing up

Lucas learned to pull himself up on the furniture while David was in Hong Kong so right when he turned 9 months old. The first thing he pulled himself up on was his crib and then a chair in my office and then on the couches. Amy and I canned peaches together the night David got home and it was nice to have an activity to keep busy instead of counting the many hours until the plane landed. Plus we had the BYU game on.

Sorry the light is so bad in the pictures. Lucas looks like Jacob to both me and David now. The first 6 months of his life he looked like Adam to me and then for a while like my sister's little boy and now like Jacob. His skin and hair is lots lighter than Jacob so that is more like Adam. He can clap his hands now but we are still working on waving bye bye and no he still has no interest in solid foods. He does occasionally eat those Gerber puff things that I think smell so terrible. He is always moving and is so wiggly you can hardly get a diaper on him and dressing him is an Olympic sport. He still takes two naps a day and if he doesn't get a second nap then he'll go to sleep at 6:00 pm and sleep until 8:00 am. If he falls asleep that early than he wakes up at 4:00 am to eat but if he gets 2 naps and goes to bed at 8:00 pm then he'll sleep through the night. Except I think he was really missing David when he was in New York City last week because he was up several times a night the whole week. Still Lucas is the happiest baby and just so content all the time. He still squeaks when he laughs and I just love it. We all just love Lucas to death. Some brothers literally love him almost to death.

More of Hong Kong

Here are a few more pictures from David's trip to Hong Kong. This building is the church's. It houses the area offices and thus the Public Affairs office. But it also has a chapel where a sacrament meeting is held every single night. Also there are apartments for the Area Presidency. (So mom, this is where your friend lives.)

David with the fancy cars 

Next to David are missionaries that serve in the Area PA office. David really enjoyed. Then next to the missionaries is David's boss and his wife and then that cute girl volunteers at the PA office. Her husband's job brought them to Hong Kong and she volunteers full time for PA. David said she was great to work with and told him where to eat to good American food. Todd must be taking the picture. Todd works with David too and went on this trip with him. They are at the top of Victoria Peak which had great views of the city. David was impressed. He also liked the subway that went under the water to get back to the "mainland" part from the Hong Kong island that he stayed on.

Here's David with his American food. He said the pizza was excellent although I've never known David to ever say a pizza was bad.

I think they are at a nunnery. I just thought the architect was how I pictured China.

David brought the boys back Angry Bird shirts and plush toys. See them all hanging on the fireplace above them? They were so happy especially Matthew who sleeps with his angry bird every night. I also have to hide his shirt from him or he'll wear it every day too.

Day of Service Activity

President Eyring's talk from General Conference reminded me I had these pictures on David's phone. At the end of July the Bishop asked me to put together an activity to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Church's Welfare Program. The ward council had the idea of doing a service fair meaning there would be lots of different projects going on so that all ages could participate. I just needed to come up with the projects and coordinate everything. I had a committee of two other couples and of course I roped David into helping me. I really enjoyed working on this activity because it gave me a chance to get to know a lot of people. Since I serve in nursery I don't see other adults on Sundays and haven't met a lot of people in the ward. So these were our projects: 

 We tied 3 quilts for the Women's Shelter. Grove Creek 7th ward Friends: That's Sis. Packard on the right.

 We assembled 120 school kits. This was the most time consuming of the projects. We asked the ward for donations for the supplies with was a logistically feat. My month of August was all about school supplies and the cheapest places to get them each week. We needed 720 spiral bound notebooks. I hope to never see a spiral bound notebook again. I assigned one sister to be in charge of this project and she was great. Especially because she found a group that meets each week to work on LDS Humanitarian projects and they made the bags for us. I was so glad I didn't have to find people to sew 120 bags. We were told the bags went to Korea through LDS Humanitarian. Grove Creek 7th ward Friends: Brother Packard is in this picture.

We asked the primary kids and youth to donate 20 cents to pay for supplies for a coloring book kits. These kits were given to the AF Hospital emergency room for patients and family members and included a coloring book and 6 crayons. Each 20 cents paid for one kit. We collected enough money to do 300 kits. At the activity the kids sorted and packaged the crayons into groups of 6 and also collated the coloring books and stapled them. These are my boys working on the crayons. See those ice cream cones. Matthew carried them around the entire activity and would not let them go. I didn't have time for a fight so I just let him do it and he acted like an angel. Mostly I think because he knew if he didn't I was going to take them away. Right next to this table I set up the port-a-crib and that's where Lucas hung out. He did get fussy and had to be passed around to all the cute grandmas so I could still get stuff done.

Next I borrowed an idea that we had done for a RS Enrichment meeting years ago in my old ward. I asked the ward members to make a wish of a project they could use help with and we would fulfill as many wishes as we could that day. When I presented this idea to ward council, they kind of had blank stares and told me that our ward didn't have welfare needs. I just stared back at then not knowing how to respond to that. Thankfully David stepped in and  suggested that even if we could physically or financially complete a project ourselves serving each other in the ward would create unity and love and give us an opportunity to serve and teach our children about service. Besides I didn't believe the "we have no welfare needs" line. So I made my little "Make a Wish" boxes and hoped for the best. After a few weeks....success! This is me trying to organize everyone to complete the wishes.

On wish was for have these mounded landscaped beds that had never been landscaped flatten out so cement could be laid. I found another house in the neighborhood that wanted the dirt. I think then men had way too much fun driving this 4 wheeler and little trailer back and forth between the homes.

At this house we sanded their play set so it could be restained. That little boy is in my nursery and that's his dad working behind him. I love this picture. This is what I wanted for the activity. Families serving together. Parents teaching children to help their neighbors.

Here's Matthew still with his ice cream cones. He won't look at me because he knows he's not supposed to have those ice cream cones. Matthew did a good job and following me around or going with David. David's job was to circulated between each house that had a wish going on and tell me if I needed more people or a piece of equipment and just give direction etc. He did a great job and I couldn't have done with activity without David.

At this house we installed with click together flooring. Luckily I had a ward member who's also a builder that knew what he was doing and took charge here. But this was a great example of a welfare wish. This couple was so grateful for our help. They are in their seventies and said over and over again that we saved them their knees. Another wish was an older single lady that needed furniture moved from here garage into her house. She told me that the furniture had been in the garage for 6 months and was so grateful for our help.

Matthew finally surrendered his ice cream cones to play with toys while Dad helped out with the flooring project. So have so many good grandmas in our ward and they all love Matthew to pieces. Every week at church someone tells me how much they enjoy watching him in sacrament meeting with his cute curls. So happy that I can keep the older generation awake with Matthew's antics. :)

For each wish or project I made these signs so people could see everything we accomplished and recognize them for their work. The bishopric submitted a wish that the kitchen at the church building to deep cleaned. We had 12 amazing people who on that and they made the kitchen shine. I've never seen a church kitchen so sparkling clean. We also did some weeding and took green waste to the recycle place for a family that didn't have a truck or trailer and we had a cannery assignment that morning also.

We accomplished every single project that I had for them to do. At the end of the activity we served a huge ice cream sundae bar for everyone. One of my committee members worked for Meadow Dairy and was able to get the ice cream donated. I had 115 people show up to help and it was amazing. I am really grateful for this opportunity I had and was impressed by how much good people can accomplish. The ward council wants to continue the Make a Wish program perhaps quarterly and then divide up the wishes for the auxiliaries to complete. I think a lot of people changed their way of thinking and learned that there was more to welfare than the Bishop's storehouse and fast offerings and that everyone could use a little help sometimes. I particularly enjoyed seeing families serving and working together. I also liked that my kids had an opportunity to donate their hard earned money for other kids who were at the hospital. Really it was an amazing project to be involved in and President Eyring's talk reminder me how special an experience it was.

Adam rock climbing

I found pictures of Adam rock climbing on David's phone. Very happy as long as you don't push him to climb higher than he is comfortable.