June 2nd, 2019: Sophie learns to use the water dispenser, Gracie scores a goal & Dominick mows the lawn!
Friday
Someone learned how to use the water dispenser in the last couple of days!! Yup – Sophie! Wow – she is really tough to keep up with some times! She watches everything & everybody! When she accomplishes a new milestone – the satisfied look on her precious little face is priceless!
Dominick is turning out to be quite the worker! I spent some time on Friday showing him the ins & outs of the lawn mower (electric / battery of course!). We went over the safety features of the mower, how to use it and what to be careful about. I then let him mow the front lawn – which is very flat. He did a great job! I did just a little touch up – and it has never looked better!
I don’t think he is ready to use the weed wacker – so we did the edging / trimming the old school way – with the hand clippers. While he was mowing – I was clipping & vice versa.
For dessert the kids wanted to play Bean Boozled. Why does someone (Melani) even buy these stupid things! Yuk – seriously! I had to tap-out after just a few rounds! All the kids stayed in, and finished the jelly beans, putting Melani & I to shame (but did they REALLY win???…) . I don’t understand how they can complain about ANYTHING their mother makes – when they can eat these nasty things!!! The concept is that there are two types of jelly beans that look identical. Some of them are a good flavor – and the others are truly horrendous! There are flavors pairs like the following (bad one followed by identical looking good one) :
- Dirty Dishwater/Birthday Cake – NEW.
- Stink Bug/Toasted Marshmallow – NEW.
- Barf/Peach.
- Toothpaste/Berry Blue.
- Rotten Egg/Buttered Popcorn
Annie seems to be the most robust with regards to being able to stomach any and all of the awful flavors….(and, ironically – is our most picky eater!)
Saturday
Saturday was soccer day! Fields were muddy, grass was high – but there was no complaining from any of the Williamsons! I am very proud to announce that Gracie scored her first goal ever! Yes – last week something just clicked for her – and she built on it this week! (See last weeks post here: WILLIAMSON UPDATE: #013 GOODBYE GEORGE) She actually had 2 shots on goal – but made just the one goal. Maybe that fact that the other coach’s 14+ year old son was playing goalie for their team might have had something to do with that…. Either way we were all elated for Gracie!
Gracie and Dominick did a great job playing together as teammates. They were definitely on the same wavelength and were channeling Lionel Messi! Dominick got the assist on the goal that Gracie scored.
Dominick also got a goal of his own this week – and about another 10 shots on goal! The kid is so dynamic out there – and his love for the sport is obvious! One of the shots was a pretty powerful shot that would have most likely been a goal if one of his peers was the goalie. Great game by Dominick for sure. There is not much I can tell him at this point to improve his game play. I told him after the game that if he keeps doing what he is doing – more shots will eventually make it into the back of the net. The only thing I mentioned was that I suggested that he consider waiting to shoot until he is a little bit closer to the goal. Sometimes he seems just a little too eager to get the shot off. I’m sure that he will work on that – since he is a very coach-able kid.
Annie also had a great game and scored a goal. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it – since I stayed home with the kids so Melani could go to the game to see Annie play.
I keep telling the kids that consistency is important. Annie has had three games and has scored in all of them. If the kids score at all the games (or all but one) – I usually reward them for that consistency.
On Saturday evening Gracie had a sleepover at a friend’s house. When I got back from dropping her off, Dominick helped me add some air to one of the tires on the minivan. Strike that – he actually did everything except turn the ignition on in the minivan (so the electric pump would work). Very proud of him and his desire to learn and do! It will serve him well in life! He is slowly turning into a young man rather than a boy….
While we were outside Annie was making pizza for dinner – under the supervision of Melani. She made two types of pizza – Hawaiian & pepperoni. Also very proud of that little girl! Oh – and the pizza was wonderful! I especially liked the Hawaiian!
Sunday
After mass we headed over to the Grecian Festival (AKA the Greek Fest). I like that they start the festival on Thursday @ noon. They get a decent crowd of professionals for lunch on Thursday & Friday. I usually head over on both days and then at least one day on the weekend with the family. I think it is the best festival / bazaar in the area. The set up is great, there is a wide selection of ethnic foods, the music is Greek & quiet enough that you can actually have a conversation – and there is not a whole lot of alcohol. Finally – there is no gambling that I am aware of. So it is very much a FAMILY atmosphere!
We were there right when they were opening for the afternoon and got our food quickly. I let the kids each have a soda – which is a treat for them. It is just a nice atmosphere sitting under that huge tent on the patio looking out at the trees…. We got the chicken kabobs & had some of the honey puffs for dessert.
Right before dinner Annie & I did a puzzle together. We didn’t want to do a 500 piece puzzle – so we found several 100 piece puzzles to choose from. We chose the piglets! Gracie chipped in a little too!
Dominick was playing soccer on the X Box – and managed to hurt himself playing virtual soccer. Mind you – he doesn’t get hurt playing the real physical game on Saturday – noOoo. Dominick figures out a way to hurt himself playing a VIDEO game…. Everything worked out fine – mom saved the day and was quick with the band-aid!
As an aside….. Also noteworthy about Dominick this week – the boy managed to get in trouble at school this week – get this – for READING too much. The teacher actually sent a note home to Melani. Yes, that’s right, you read that correctly – FOR READING too much in school! Huh??? Isn’t that what they are supposed to be teaching him – and getting him excited to do?? Am I missing something? Apparently Dominick reads his book about the video building game MineCraft when he is supposed to be doing other more mundane things like math or english….
After dinner the weather cleared a little and the 3 older kids helped me plant some seeds in the garden. We planted some peas, pumpkins, lettuce, broccoli & asparagus. Lately the kids have been really good about helping around the outside of the house. If we could only get them to contribute a little more inside the house!
I hope you all have a great week!
Sincerely,
