Jordyn Plays Soccer, sort of....

Kindergarten soccer isn't really soccer, it's more like gather ball. We had 18 kindergarten teams. I think every single child in Mapleton played soccer this year. They play 3-on-3 with no goalie. It helps a little with the bunching, but not much. They actually conned me into coaching Jordyn's team. Hahaha. Yeah, I know, really? It was actually kind of fun, but I'm ready to be done. The kids are cute and fun, but spacey. I can't tell you how many times I had to pick a kid up from somersaulting on the grass. How many times I had to remind them that we were playing soccer. It was funny to watch them. The most important issues to them are, who brought treats and who gets to kick the ball at kick-offs or penalties. I finally had to make a rule that they weren't allowed to ask if they could kick. There were times they were all "too tired" and didn't want to play. Maybe the games are a little too long? Jordyn had fun though, and I guess that's the point, right?

Matthew Soccer

Matthew had a good, but tough fall soccer season. Mapleton played 6-man soccer for Matt's age with no offsides rule, so it was a totally different game. Matthew's coach was great, and taught him a ton. I've seen great growth in Matthew this year. The tough part came because the league is 6th-9th grade. Our team was all 6th graders, so it was pretty hard playing teams with older kids. They weren't able to win a game until the final two games of the season, but Matthew was able to score in two of the games. Go Matthew!!

Really?? Who does this??

We knew we got a bargain when we bought our new house, and we knew that there were a lot of things we needed to fix. One strange thing we noticed was the extreme temperature swings in our bedroom. (No wisecracks from the peanut gallery!!) It would be freezing in the morning, and really hot in the afternoon, while the rest of the house stays pretty constant. With fall mornings and waking up to seeing our breath in the air, Dennis cut an access panel (no, we didn't have one of those either) in our closet to see what was going on. Guess what? No insulation. None, nada, zip. Who does that? Who "forgets" to insulate one whole section of the house? Evidently our builder does. Since we bought the house "as is" we really have no recourse, good thing there is a great rebate program right now. Wonder what other surprises are in store?