Weekly Preview and Review

10/16 Sunday - Church, relaxing
Monday - Work 5, Lessons, Karate, David drivers ed
Tuesday - Work 5, Lessons, Practice (S,J), Soccer Game (D-away)
Wednesday - Work 5, Lessons, Church, Robotics (D)
Thursday - Work 5, Lessons, Soccer practice (J), Karate, Wordsmith class
Friday - WORK 5?, Co-op, Halloween Party (S), Soccer Game (D-home LAST ONE)
Saturday - Soccer Game (S), Harvest Hoopla
Sunday - Church, relaxing

Whew, life is busy. Soccer season has 2 more weeks. David will be done this Friday. James and Suzy both have their last games on the 28th. I am thinking about taking both of them out of AYSO and putting them into more competitive teams. If the team David plays for has a junior high team next year, James will play for them in the fall. If he stayed in AYSO, he'd play U14 and that's travel soccer anyway, so all his options would be travel. I don't know of anything nearby for U14 level that only plays locally.

But Suzy isn't old enough for that, so I've talked to her current coach about the situation. She has a daughter a year older than Suzy; she was on the team I coached for Suzy a couple years ago. Now that girl plays for a competitive team based in Lapeer. I may sign Suzy up for that league. The main drawbacks? It's a travel team and it's expensive. I said no to a similar opportunity for David when he was 9 and didn't really regret it. But the local AYSO was bigger when David was 9 and there were more skilled players. Suzy is quite good and I'd like to see her improve and I'd also like her to play for a girls-only team at the U12 level.

Hmmm.... what to do?

David is finishing Segment 2 of drivers ed this week. Then he has to make sure he has all his hours and he can go take the test. He is also committed once a week to Robotics through the end of the year. In January and February, it is more of an everyday commitment! That high school has a pool open to the public so once a week, I'll probably take the other kids swimming. And I'm thinking about teaching a writing class one of those nights. Wonder if I can get a room in the high school?

Our karate testing is less than a month away. We will test for orange stripe.

Last week was a hard one.  Uncooperative kids, moody mama = bad week. Glad that's over.

Enjoyed taking David to his soccer game in Saginaw on Friday, despite the chilly wet weather. Good company on the sidelines and then out for Mexican afterwards with a bunch of friends, while the 6 teens sat on the other side of the room!

James played well in his game on Saturday, though the game was downgraded to a "scrimmage" since the other team only had 6 players show up. Our team lent them a player and they recruited a couple siblings to play, including Suzy. She was not intimidated by the bigger kids (some more than 2 years older) or the bigger field. She just got right out there and played hard! James made two goals, one from way back, almost to the center line. Suzy had a game on Tuesday and she also made a goal.

Last weekend James and Bob went on a campout for Royal Rangers. It wasn't very far away, on the property of a church member. They had a great time and the weather was warm, though rather chilly at night. They even went swimming in the pond. (Well, James did.) While the boys were gone, I stayed at a friend's house with the girls. Her guys were also at the campout. We had a relaxing movie/chatting weekend. Such fun! We also walked 4 miles -the first exercise I've done in more than a month, other than karate. David spent one night with a friend that weekend, and the other night at home alone - the first time he's done that.

Also met with a local school superintendent, along with a couple other homeschool moms, to explore possibilities of homeschool-public school partnerships. Interesting meeting. This guy started in June and has lots of exciting thoughts and plans. We shall see what pans out from that.