Football at the Park

When I type this post title, it makes me think of the ad for Direct TV by the Manning brothers, "Football on your phone!"  If you have no idea what I'm taking about, never mind :)   Last Sunday was warm and beautiful!  So Matt organized an afternoon football game at our park.  Walking over.


We went early so the boys could play and then I would take them back for naps shortly after the game began.


Always good to have a mom who will wipe the snot from your nose!


Josh does this when he sees something he likes or wants.




Now you can see what he liked!  A dog.  A HUGE dog.












Josh doesn't show a ton of interest in walking.  But he will indulge us sometimes!


I honestly didn't think to worry about this until one particular day when Matt made a comment of if we should be worried.  That same day we had dinner with Dave & Sarena (I mentioned that in a previous post, though I forgot to mention we ate an AMAZING apple pie that Karla and I made...okay fine, I peeled the apples with her old fashioned peeler, and not very well at that! ha ha.  Anyway, the pie was a hit, as was the second she sent home with me and I put in the freezer!)  Anyway, Sarena was talking about their son Daniel who didn't walk until 16 months and that the doctor said he wouldn't until he was ready, so to relax.  So, I thought, sounds like good advice!  Good timing.  Thanks God.








Matt kind of lost Nathan...this wasn't want Nathan had in mind!




Love these two.  Josh was lovin' the slide too!














He kept trying to dive forward at me!


His staticky (word? I don't think so.  Oh well.) hair is so funny!


















Matt trying to show Nathan how to push Josh without getting hit in the face.










Time for the game! 


These two were more than ready for their naps!  The both had some stomach bug going on earlier and by now they were just plain worn out.  I tried to get them home fast!


But a few more pics of the happy guys playing football with the beautiful mountains in the background!




Dave (Sarena's husband) came to play along with all of our small group guys, Josh, and Kyle's brother, Chad, and two of his cousins, Tanner and Jared.  So 5 on 5!



Matt said all of the guys loved it and want to do a Turkey Bowl the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm happy for them.  They need to get away and burn some energy (other than work!).  Of course, Matt sustained injuries.  It's just how he plays.  I reminded him that if he breaks his leg or arm or something in the Turkey Bowl, we're out of luck as far as his work is concerned.  He told me Chuck will just put me to work for a few weeks!  ha! :) 

Playing in the Leaves

We got an H&M at our mall!  The boys in their matching hats that I bought them there


Maybe Josh has the creative eye for photography.  His first shot :)


Going somewhere with daddy.


One afternoon Nathan and I went out to rake up the last of the leaves for Matt so we could run the sprinkler one more time!


Nathan loves to make "tracks" in the leaves with his dump truck.


We had a bit of a meltdown about using daddy's rake, but after a temper tantrum and a timeout, he got over it.  And eventually he found out that there are better ways to get what you want.  Matt and I are navigating a difficult phase in child-rearing (or are they all?! ha ha.)  Prayers are appreciated as we are seeking God, trusted friends and other resources and learning what makes our eldest tick! 


"There are still some on the tree, mom!" :)


Laying in our leaf pile :)


Our view.  He's right.  There are still some up there! 

By the way, just had an email exchange with the head of forestry.  This tree will be gone by the end of the year.  That will give us some time to save up for a tree or two to plant in the spring!  It will be a LONG time (if ever) they will be this large though!

I love the leave stuck to Nathan's hat.




He's blowing a leaf to me.




Loading leaves in his dump truck.




Coming at mommy!


I love him!

As suspected, he wanted to DUMP the leaves on me!  I'm still laying on the ground :)




Yep, there I am.


Then I heard from our the corner, "Mommy, I'm stuck!" as I was still lounging in the leaves. (I LOVE the smell of them!)  This is what I found! 


He apparently was getting a brush to kindly brush off the leaves he dumped on me!






So we didn't get the leaves put in a bag (we were playing too much) before Josh woke up and we needed to go in and eat lunch, but we left them here for daddy. 

Although I ended up running out there when Matt got home to load them in a big bag. He fed Josh and kept him happy. Sometimes it's nice to swap chores...especially when Mommy needs a change of pace :)