Yeah For Snow Days!

As much as snow days mess up my plans for the day (like lots of work I need to do before Thanksgiving), I cannot help but be excited for our kids! I love seeing how excited they are are to have a day off from school and to see all the snow. Cade could not get to sleep last night until he saw the snow falling (after midnight!). He then woke Elle and Willem up and they all watched the snow fall for an hour! After playing in at at home this morning, I walked all four of our kids to their cousins for snow fights and forts! Genevieve only lasted 30 minutes - she did NOT want to put her snow suit on! But the rest of them are still there and had plans to go to the forest to explore that in the snow. So much fun! Now, I should be getting my work done (I am...just taking a little break) but first here are some snow pictures...

 

End of Fall Soccer Season Update

Soccer season never really ends at our house. All three of our big kids are already playing winter indoor soccer, attending weekly skills training sessions and Cade's team is still practicing for Northwest Champions League games in Seattle and Portland in December (brrrr). But, all three kids have now ended their regular fall outdoor league season so I thought it was a good time to give an update. This is mostly so they can go back and see how the fall 2010 season went and I can remember their personalities on the field. Feel free to stop reading here if you are not a true soccer fan or you don't want to hear a mom gush about her kids :)

Willem: played in the U11 Kidsports Silver league with the EMFC U10 Rovers. His team finished tied for 2nd (with a 5-2-3 record) in his league of eight 4th and 5th grade U11 teams. Willem played half of each game in goal and the other half on the field, mostly at forward or mid-field. Willem scored about five goals in his ten games and had dozens of amazing saves in goal. He is a ton of fun to watch because he is completely fearless, will show us his 'scissors or 'maradona' moves from time to time and he really hustles the whole time he is on the field. He was the only first grader playing in this league and my guess is he was in the top 20% of the players on the field and probably the best keeper we saw (no mom-bias here :). It is no wonder though, Willem plays hours and hours of soccer each week with his older siblings, cousins and their teammates in addition to his regular games and practices. Way to go Willem and The Rovers!

 Gabrielle: her team, EMFC Athletica, played in the Oregon Premier League (OPL) Premier (the highest Portland-based but still statewide) Division for U11 girls. Her team started off with a couple losses and a tie, all against teams they should have beat but, after their slow start they moved up to 5th in their league of 12 teams and ended with a record of 4-3-4. They gave the top (and undefeated) team (FC Salmon Creek from Washington) its only tie and also tied the 2nd place team (FC Portland). Gabrielle was out for all of October with her broken toe but went to every game and nearly every practice. Before her accident, Elle was starting every game at forward and had one of the best shots on her team with her strong left foot; she also played some outside mid and defense. In the end of season tournament (which Elle did get to play in), Athletica beat FC Portland 1-0 (the top U11 team in Oregon) and beat Eastside 1-0; their only loss was to United SA 0-1 on a very muddy field. It was a great end to a season where the team improved a bunch and they proved they are one of the top teams in the state. Elle loves her team, and the girls on it are her best friends. I am impressed by Elle's commitment to her team and how hard she worked when she was injured, doing lots of push-ups and sit-ups almost every day to help her stay fit. Here are a few pictures the girls took of themselves goofing around in the hotel room this past weekend (and the last one is Aliyah playing in the mud-bowl which was their first game of the tournament!)

 

 

Cade: the EMFC U13 Boca Jrs. played in the OPL's U13 Premier (top) Division and finished 4th out of 8, qualifying them again for the Northwest Champions League (next fall). Their record was 2-2-3 and they had a landmark 3-0 win against the top team in the state, FC Portland (it was FC's only loss this fall), in the final weekend of the OPL season. Cade played at forward and started about 2/3rds of the games, sharing time with Juan, Edgar and Akira. It has been a lot of fun watching Cade improve all the time. He works so hard on and off the practice field, practicing almost every day on his own. He often asks his coach, Joe, what he can do to get better and then works hard to do what Joe recommends. Cade was recommended by his coach to represent the club in the id2 program (an odp-type of program to find potential national team players) but learned he has to wait one more year to try-out. Despite being smaller than most of the boys he plays against (most are 18+ months older than him and the top kids in the state at that older age), Cade still manages to consistently score goals for his team. The best part is Cade is so passionate about soccer and continues to love it more each year. He loves his team and his coach and continues to amaze me with his determination, motivation, speed and passion.

I am a very lucky mom to have such passionate and hard-working kids! I love watching them play and especially love watching them have so much fun doing what they love.

Fall Leaves

The kids and Chad spent much of yesterday outside raking the massive amount of leaves that fall in our yard each year. Cade and Will were really good helpers. Willem said he wished they could do this everyday. Cade wasn't so enthralled by it but worked hard. Gabrielle somehow managed to spend the day at her cousins :) Nev loved it but took a nasty fall on the bricks in our front yard which resulted in a good cut on the back of her head and a fair amount of blood. She ended up falling asleep in my arms and I enjoyed the hour and a half she slept on my chest. Thankfully, she's doing just fine today.

Potty Time?

Genevieve surprised us all by going potty in the toilet last Saturday and then again today several times. We haven't tried to train her at all but she's been wanting to take her clothes off lately and with the little potty out she has just sat down and gone. I didn't believe it at first but then she did it again and again when we asked. We'll see if anything comes out of this; I feel like I need to probably work with her for a week and then maybe she'd be able to do it for good on her own but I'm not sure with our busy schedule I will actually do that any time soon. In the meantime she sure is proud when she goes on her own!

So happy and proud...

Ben's Birthday Party

Last weekend Cade went to his buddy's (since birth) birthday party. Ben's mom, Christy, and I have been friends since grade school and now our boys are classmates and friends. Cade had a great time eating pizza, playing and then going to the haunted corn maze with his friends. He claims he was not scared at all but had a great time! Cade couldn't stay for the sleepover because he had an early game in Portland the next morning. He was bummed he couldn't stay but definitely not bummed enough to even consider missing his soccer game. He is lucky to have a great group of boys in his class at St. Paul (plus a couple great boys from the 5th grade at the other Catholic school in town, O'Hara) as friends. I've known most of these boys for at least six years if not their whole lives; it's crazy to think they are all turning eleven this year!

 Classmates: Jace, Joey, Ben, Hayden, Dawson, Connor and Cade

Catholic School Boys (O'Hara & St. Paul): Max, Brendan, Jace, Connor S., Cade, Ben, Hayden, Joey, Dawson

Ficek Family Birthdays!

On Saturday evening we had a little birthday party at our house for the many fall birthdays in Chad's family. We celebrated Chad's sisters', Tere and Carrie's, birthdays as well as Chad's mom and finally Chad's birthday. He turns 42 tomorrow! Happy birthday to all but especially to my fabulous hubby! I love you, babe and I am so lucky to call you my husband!

Carrie, Chad, Tere & Bev (with Nev getting an early taste of the frosting!)

Halloween Night!

We all had lots of fun Halloween night. The weather was warm and dry and the kids had a blast getting as much candy as possible. We were all very happy (me especially :) when Chad came home from a week-long hunting trip a few minutes before we were ready to head out to trick-or-treat (luckily he had time for a shower!). First though, we got spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa who came to our house with candy for the kids. Next we headed to Opa who also filled the kids' trick-or-treat bags. Then it was off to Uncle David and Aunt Amy's house where we met up with cousins and friends for lots of trick-or-treating. Pascal, Athena and Carsten joined us. James, Jenn & Meleesa came along as did Antonia, Jacoby, Amber & Tony and Liam, Shae, Maddie & Jason. It got a little crazy as the big kids just wanted to run from house to house so we had to slow them down a few times but mostly we let them go and hit four houses while the younger kids did their one house, then we'd meet up again. After the fourth or fifth house Genevieve got the routine down and started saying 'trick-or-treat' and 'thank you' which was very sweet. She wanted to walk on her own (little miss independent that she is!) which also slowed us down a bit but it was a great atmosphere in the neighborhood where we trick-or-treated with lots and lots of people on the streets and many very decorated houses. After the kids' bags were full, we made one last stop to uncle Marcus' house for more candy! One funny after-story: when we got home, Cade, who is always trying to make more money, negotiated with me to buy his candy. I finally got him down to $6 which is a small price to pay for less candy in the house (after I eat my favorites :)

Elle as an 80's Pop Star (looking much too old!), Nev the Butterfly, Willem as Mario and Cade as Robin Hood

 

Nev looked so cute and to ensure she didn't take her butterfly shirt off I decided to not put a shirt underneath!

Twins?

They love their Opa!

Jacoby and Nia looked so cute and my kids were SO excited to see them!

Most of the Trick-or-Treating gang

Party at Crossfit

Friday evening, while Willem was a ball boy at the UO soccer game and Cade went to the Haunted Corn Maze with friends, Elle, Nev and I went to the Halloween Party at Crossfit. We all had a blast, playing games, eating, chatting with friends and doing a workout with pumpkins as weights and apple bobbing as the final workout station. I haven't bobbed for apples in forever and I forgot how tough it is. I wasn't planning on getting soaked but we all did! I am so lucky to have a great group of friends I workout with most days (and who were nice enough to share their pictures)! I was supposed to go to another fun costume party on Saturday night at my friend Sheri's house but after a full day of soccer in Portland and a long week without Chad (hunting), I was so tired, I just couldn't get myself back out after getting home after 8:00 pm. After nine hours of sleep (yeah!) I'm looking forward to more soccer today and treat-or-treating with the kids this evening!

Gabe got some great shots of all of us bobbing for apples!

Kendall, Heather, Cheryl, Me with Ty, Malia and Nev (after we got all wet and much of our costumes came off)

Gabrielle started out as an 80's Pop Star but lost some of her costume along the way :)

Elle bobbing for apples!

Me at the costume judging

Cheryl made chicken feet as an appetizer!

Me during the workout; notice Nev in the back in her butterfly costume

Our new gym was decorated!

Nev and me all wet after bobbing for apples!

Go Kendall!

The Stecker Family as Wizard of Oz!

Halloween at School

I was so bummed I forgot my camera today when visiting the kids' school for Halloween parties. Thankfully, I always have my trusty phone as a back-up. It is always so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes. I love it! I also love that my kids really wanted me there for all their parties and were excited to see me arrive in each of their classrooms. So fun!

Jace, Cade (Robin Hood), Caleb, Joey, Conner, Ben

Jorja and Gabrielle (80's Pop Star)

Willem (Mario) and Ben

Sisters on the Playground

Last week, Gabrielle and cousin Athena took Genevieve to the playground while Willem played a soccer game. I sent them with the camera and they got some fun shots. Genevieve is such a daredevil on the playground. She climbs up everything, runs across swinging bridges, swings on the big kid swings and goes down the longest slide. It always makes me a little nervous but she loves it!

Sisters! Elle is very good to her little sis.

Genevieve loves the playground!

Willem Playing Soccer on a Gorgeous Fall Day

We got lucky Saturday and were able to watch Willem and Cade play games in nice weather before the rain arrived in the evening. And, we were treated to two great wins by both boys' teams (4-1 for Willem vs. Roseburg and 6-0 for Cade vs Westside). Gabrielle's team tied their game in Portland in a nail-biter against the top U11 team in the statewide league (FCSC who was 8-0 before tying Elle's team today). I took my camera out for Willem's game and got a few good shots. It was gorgeous out with the fall leaves. As always, I love capturing Willem's passion and intensity in pictures of him playing soccer.

Notice the untied shoelaces which is so typical Willem though it does not seem to bother him!