Slice of life

This is our weather.  For the most part, it's been raining. A lot.  I mean, seriously, it's been pouring here.  We've missed some soccer practices; we've done some in the rain.  We go stir crazy.  And we play Monopoly Jr.

So, if you've ever wondered about the body of water that we can see from our house...

The water and beach we overlook is Bagnall Beach Reserve and Nelson Bay.  The beach there is a dog beach.  We tend to visit it on weekend mornings, if it's not raining.  All it takes is the time required to walk there, about 20 minutes one way.

All the black stuff on the beach...it is sea grass.  It covers the beach here during low tide.  During high tide, there is no beach.  This is probably the reason why this is a dog beach. 

Lacey got a new bed.  This one stays in the living room so that she has someplace to lay when she's not in the laundry.  I thinks she likes it. 

Joe has been trying for the last several months to get a friend over for a play.  It's been tough to schedule, but it finally happened.  This is the first time that Joe has had a friend over (just for him) to play.

They had a lot of fun bouncing on the trampoline and playing video games. 

This week, it was my turn to watch Joe and his team, the Raptors.  They played in Newcastle as the away team and lost, but they tried hard.  The Raptors are the ones in the yellow shirts.

Joe, center of screen, in bright blue shoes

Joe, center screen, bright blue shoes



Joe, getting ready to kick the ball



 It is amazing the view we have when it doesn't rain.

sunrise

Of course, when it's gone, we miss it.



pouring rain



A little creativity and some soccer

Before vacation, Tom got an invite to a birthday party.  This little girl is one of Tom's favorite friends.  Unfortunately, the party was scheduled for the same day as Tom's first soccer game.  We had to wait to RSVP until we knew what time the soccer game started.  The game and the party both started at 10.  Soccer only last 45 minutes, so we'd be to the party by 11.  The party was scheduled to end at 12.  If this wasn't one of Tom's favorite friends, we'd probably just passed. 
Anyway, I didn't find out the time of the game until late Wednesday.  We were then able to plan what Tom wanted to be for the party.   You see, this was a dress up party.  The theme was pond creatures with the idea that the kids could dress up as frogs, fish, tadpoles, dragonflies, bees, etc.  I looked around for some sort of cheap costume on Thursday with no luck.  Our local area is very limited in what is available.  The closest place that would have a larger selection would be an hour away.  I'm not driving that far with fuel this expensive.  I decided I could try to make some dragonfly wings.  Should be easy, right? 
Well, our closest fabric store is an hour away.  So, I have to make do with what is in our local Kmart.  I found some silver organdy curtains and some garden wire.  Along with my mini sewing machine, I made wings.

I only have my tiny craft sewing machine as we didn't want to move my bigger, heavier one.  It isn't a fancy machine, but it gets the job done.  I had no pattern and only a few hours.  I managed though.


A single wing, one of four



Here's Tom trying them on with just a plain white shirt.  I didn't manage to get a picture of him with the gray shirt and the wings.  He looked pretty cute and was very happy with them.  Everyone was very impressed with the wings at the party.  He was the only boy at the party and only wore the wings for an hour.  Oh well, I sure that this experience was karma revenge for the Mrs. Claus costume.*
Before the party though, Tom had his first soccer game.

Tom, warming up

Tom, number 3

Tom is getting ready to kick the ball. 



The Taipans, at half time.

 Tom's team did manage to win, 5-1.  The little boy with the yellow on his shorts on Tom's team is a fantastic player for his age.  His dad has been coaching his older brother's team for a few years.  He scored all 5 of his goals. Though some of our other players got really close on their kicks. 

Joe also had his first real game on Saturday morning, the same time that Tom was playing.  I wasn't able to watch Joe and I had the camera so Jay couldn't take any photos.  Next week, we switch.  I'll get to watch Joe and Raptors.  Joe's team lost their first game, but hopefully they'll do better next time.