We began our day early for a Saturday by picking up Lukas from a sleepover. I knew that he would not sleep very much. It's a sleepover, and that's what kids do at sleepovers. They stay up late. They eat junk food and sugary treats. They laugh and shout and make strange noises. They watch movies and tell stories. But sleep? It's at the bottom of the "sleep"over priority list, isn't it? At the same time, I thought he would sleep a little.
He didn't. Since he was born, he has never slept very well when he is elsewhere, but he is 8 and old enough for this kind of adventure, so we let him go knowing that he would be exhausted today. One day of exhaustion isn't the end of the world. I'm glad he went. I only hope that the parents of the child who stayed awake with him aren't upset as well as our friends with whom he was staying.
According to Lukas, he slept for 15 minutes. He looked the watch that Papa gave him for Easter (he is extremely proud of this watch) at 6:15 and went to sleep. The other boys who had been sleeping awoke shortly after, and Lukas was awake with them by 6:30. He was apparently quiet during the night at some point because, according to my friend, Amy, she thought he slept about 4 hours. Either way, the boy is exhausted! He managed to make it through his 10:00 soccer game today, but he was dragging by the end. He played half of the game, and by the last period, he was kind of trudging across the field like a weighted camel as if each foot weighed about 50 pounds.
The funniest part of the day happened during Ava's game. Lukas resolved to sit in Ava's tiny chair because we forgot to put a larger chair in the van for him. He covered himself with his sleeping bag (it was cold and exceptionally windy in spite of the beautiful sunshine this morning), and about 10 minutes later, I caught him as he started to fall over asleep. He eventually ended up in Eric's chair sound asleep outside on a cold, windy day at a noisy soccer game. Heehee! We took a picture.
Ava's soccer game was at 11:00. I wasn't sure what to expect when Ava announced that she wanted to play soccer. Ava dances. She tried cheerleading and enjoyed it. But a sport like soccer? This was the first time for her to do something like this, and I half expected her to be doing cartwheels in the middle of the field. Not so. Not at all. At every practice, she is focused on the ball (unfortunately at times when she should be focused on the coach). During the game, she was focused on the ball as well, and her smile? Oh my gosh...I don't know if I've ever seen my girl so happy. She was grinning from ear to ear as she raced after the ball and giggling and cheering for her team when she was on the sideline. She loves soccer. I mean, of course I could be wrong, by the end of the season, she may not like it as well, but I don't think I'm wrong. She had a blast on that field. She practices in the back yard. She looks forward to practice each Thursday evening. I think she is really going to excel at this, and, if she doesn't, she's going to have a blast trying! And that grin? I'll look forward to seeing that each week. Every parent wants to see that kind of happiness beaming from the face of their child.
After the soccer games, we came home and napped. Ava was the only one of us who slept enough last night since Eric was clearing space on our video camera and I stayed up to finish reading The Glass Castle (maybe I'll write a review this week...such a great book), so she watched a Sagwa video from the library (we're studying China) while the rest of us slept. Lukas could barely be awakened from his nap. He's in the tub enjoying a hot bath right now and will be going to bed early.
I'm going to wrap up my great day with the winner of the official "Husband of the Day" award watching a movie. He had to buy a tire because his spare blew this week. When he left, he took a pair of scissors with him so that he could return with a surprise bouquet of lilacs which he cut from a huge lilac bush that grows in a vacant lot near-by. I was very happily surprised. They are beautiful sitting on top of my entertainment center, and my house smells fantastic! He also cooked dinner. Grilled pork chops, grilled potatoes and green beans. He wins the award today.
A Saturday like this one is one of my favorite kinds of days. The sunshine was beautiful. The soccer games were a blast (though they might have been a little bit better if I could have felt my fingers and toes more by the end). My afternoon nap felt great. Dinner was delicious. There's still a little daylight to enjoy, and the kids are heading to bed in 15 minutes. I love days like today. I hope that each of you have your favorite kind of day soon too!
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