School started! Yay! Actually, in all seriousness, yay, because my kids need the structure and they were missing their friends. And to celebrate, have a badly photoshopped picture, because getting both of them to smile nicely in the same picture was impossible:
They both like their teachers and have some friends in their class, and they both seem very happy. Trevor's teacher teaches them all of these cute little "cheers", like where she says "kiss your brain!" and the kids kiss the palms of their hands, press it to their forehead, and then go "ahh!". It's ridiculously cute.
It's weird having the kids gone all day though. Obviously I haven't had a chance to do much, but I did get runs in during the day, apply for another job, get some housework done, and get the grocery shopping done and some paint bought, since we want to start working on redoing their rooms. Next week's project is to paint Toby's room. Should be fun :P
Soccer opening day today- both kids decided to do soccer this fall. I really, really wonder how much longer Trevor will do it. I am seriously getting close to the point where I feel like paying for it is a waste of money, and our money would be better spent getting this kid some art lessons. Which is fine- I don't care if my kids are athletes or not. But I do care if they're active, and my kids aren't super active. They can sit and read or play Legos or whatever until the cows come home. I do try to get them outside, but even when they're out, they'd both rather dig in the dirt. Neither of them can really ride a bike yet, and I worry a bit that they aren't as active as they need to be for good health.
However, they have soccer now (one practice and one game a week), plus swim lessons once a week. Add in a park 2 afternoons a week and we should be good for the fall, especially when you start considering hiking and other activities that they may do. And finally, they both wanted to register for a mud run, and there's a good one here in October. Mud runs come in different levels, and this is "have fun and goof around with your friends" level, not "shock yourself with live wires and jump off 15 foot platforms to prove how tough you are!" level. Trevor's is only 120 yards, but Toby's is a full mile, so we're going to start working on the running a bit. The good thing is they're both really excited about this and think it will be fun. I've mentioned it to Toby's den leader, and she's going to toss it out to the den as well. (I'd do it with Trevor's den, but the 4-6 course is pretty lame.)
I do mean what I said about Trevor and soccer though. Like, with Toby, he's not very good at soccer, but who cares? When he's there and at practice, his head is in the game, he's making an effort, he tries to understand what he's doing, and he clearly enjoys it. It might be gone from his mind as soon as we leave and he doesn't practice on his own or anything, but he enjoys the game. It's worth it for him to play. Trevor doesn't even have that. He likes running around (a bit) and kicking the ball, and he does enjoy the drills, but the game itself? Not so much. If soccer was free or cost less, then who cares. But it's not cheap. So why keep doing it? Why not find something else for him to do those days that's active, and then take the money we spend on soccer and spend it on art lessons, because he LOVES art and can spend hours drawing? I think we just need to figure what we can do to give him the physical exercise, especially since he's fairly sedentary if left to his own devices. My main concern with soccer is his health and stimulating physical activity, but health also isn't just physical, and I want my kids to be who they are, too.
We have talked about other sports, but we haven't found a good one yet. Baseball would be a disaster (although Howard wants him to play for one season. But trust me- it will be a disaster). Martial arts are expensive and require a three day a week commitment. Football? I love my kid and would like him to survive, please.
Oh well. It will come to us one day.
Still job hunting. Still hating the process. not looking AS hard- hoping that come winter, being able to have current work on my resume will help me get hired somewhere. But still looking.
Finally catching up with Korra. Zaheer is really, really interesting, and I love this Red Lotus thing. I mean, I don't agree with them, but I find them interesting and powerful and slippery and charismatic and that's what makes them fun. I've been loving this season and all the stuff with the grown kids of the previous generation. It's just so interesting. I mean, I didn't really care about Katara/Aang in the original because he was 12 and EWWW, but the whole idea of how the two of them would balance a family along with massive responsibility, not only of Aang being the Avatar but the last airbender? I mean, there was really no good way for him to handle that, was there? So their kids are just fascinating to me. And Toph's girls are awesome. I'd love to meet Zuko's daughter at some point, too.
Also been catching up on Falling Skies, but liking it less now that the New Caprica arc is over and Tigh!Anne is gone. (I loved Tigh!Anne.) Now they seem to think that since BSG had a useless love polygon, they must, too. (Hint: The Ben/Maggie/Hal thing is BORING. Ben could have been an interesting character!!! Please stop squandering him! His relationship with Lexie is far more interesting than him mooning after his brother's girlfriend. Hal got temporarily interesting in New Caprica, go back there! And Maggie's always had a ton of potential- give her something dark to test her. Make her make a dark choice and explore what that does to her! She's perfect for that sort of story!)
Anyway. Guess I should take a shower. Soccer left me sticky and covered in bug spray. Hope everyone is havng a good weekend!