Project 15 to 15: Day 5

Day 5 is here and so is the start of fall soccer! Whoop!


For a few weeks it looked like we might find ourselves without Saturday soccer for the first time in 10 years as the local rec league was short on players for Wonder Boy's division. The league kept registration open a bit longer and encouraged others to join in and in the end everything worked out. And I am so relieved that it did! I really enjoy watching the Boy play! This game was a tough one. Both teams were pretty evenly matched. The heat and humidity eventually took its toll though and Wonder Boy's team wilted a bit faster (they had fewer players to rotate on and off the field). And in the end, the guys in blue came away with a 4 to 3 loss. I think they show a lot of promise for the season to come. And the weather man is even promising a slight cool front for this week's game!

Our look back to 2005, brings a BIG smile to my face!


The boy and a book! Even today that is a pretty typical sight, I'm pleased to say. Curious George has long been a serious family favorite. We watched George on TV, we saw his movie, we read every book we could find, and we listened to the movie soundtrack in the car. We still have these books stashed away in the hope one day we'll get to share them all over again.

Project 15 to 15: Day 4

It's Day 4 of my favorite photo project, but unfortunately, I'm quite a bit under the weather and just didn't get around to taking a snap for today. So instead, I'm going to back up about a week or so and show this little snap I took while visiting with friends recently:


There is so much I love about this little snap - mostly the fact that it is just filled with laughter. I sometimes worry that, being an only child, Wonder Boy might have trouble fitting in when we are around large families like this one (our two closest sets of friends have 4 and 5 kids each). Wonder Boy has a number of cousins, but not any that live close by so we don't see them regularly. But it really is something I have never needed to worry over. The Boy seems to do well with older and younger kids alike. And in this instance, both brothers got a kick out of the big boy who didn't mind getting down on the floor and playing with them.

In our look back to 2004, we see the Boy and his dad at a traveling carnival that had come to town:


Like most kids, Wonder Boy loved the flashing lights and colorful sights of the traveling carnival as it set up in the mall parking lot each fall. And even better were all of the adrenaline inducing rides! This particular ride was pretty tame, even for a barely 3 year old Wonder Boy, but he loved it regardless! I still think about this evening when I see the carnival set up in the fall. Now days, the Boy sees the carnival as a "kiddie" thing to do, but he's still an adrenaline junkie at heart - he just prefers to get his kicks white water rafting or full sized theme park roller coaster rides in lieu of this simple airplane ride.

Project 15 to 15: Day 3

For Day 3 of this project, I wanted to highlight how much heavier the Boy's load has gotten now that he's started high school:


It has amazed me how much more he seems to have to shoulder (literally) each year. Every day finds him carting around his backpack with notebooks, text books, and lunch box, then he has his viola, his binder (with the rest of his school supplies), and quite often there are extra projects and supplies that have to make their way back and forth between home and school as well. To top it all off, the Boy's school is pretty big (by my standards). It's easily twice as big as the high school I attended, maybe even more. It has 3 stories and a ground floor. And the Boy's schedule is such that he doesn't stay on the same floor for any 2 consecutive classes. Before the year started, I might have worried about him not having a PE class this year. But he spends so much of his day running up and down those stair cases that I don't have to worry about that at all! He doesn't seem to mind the load. And he does have a personal locker and an orchestra locker to help with the load during the school day. But I know a lot of kids skip the locker all together and just carry everything everywhere. I guess that is good practice for when they move on to college.

In looking back to 2003 I'm going to share a big laugh with you all:


WHAT A MESS! I don't recall the specifics of exactly what led up to this massive cereal explosion on the kitchen floor, but for some reason the Boy was left momentarily unattended not long before bed time. And in that short span when no one was looking, he managed to spy his favorite cereal of the day (Kix) on the counter. I'm not sure how he reached it - he must have jumped. But reach the box he did! And after reaching it, he proceeded to empty it out on the floor for easy access. He ate his fill until the shock of it wore off enough for us to pull him out of the middle of it and let the dogs enjoy one HECK of a late night snack! It took us QUITE a while to find every last little kernel of Kix, even with the help of the dogs. I swear they kept rolling out from strange places for days! But as frustrated as I must have felt that night, I can't help but laugh now when I see this snapshot. Just look at his face - he didn't see a thing wrong with what he had done. And I suspect a big part of him was just proud of himself for getting that snack himself. Little bugger!

Project 15 to 15: Day 2

It's day 2 of my favorite project and today we look at another aspect of the Boy's personality that I truly admire - his creative side:


He gets on these creative kicks from time to time and I always try to soak it up when he does. He has some talent. Currently, he is enjoying sketching "impossible shapes" (think M. C. Escher) and some of his favorite fictional characters (like Deadpool and Bart Simpson). I love how he dives into his interests. He will watch tutorials on youtube, spend hours with his sketch book or wacom tablet on the computer, and some days (like today) he jumps out of bed having dreamed of something else he wants to try.

In looking back to 2002, we see Wonder Boy and his dad just a few weeks after his first birthday:

Even today, the first hour after Dad gets home from work is just about the best time of the day for our little family. Back in the day, the boys would hang out in the family room reading, wrestling, and doing all things boy before we had to jump into the routine of dinner, bath, and bedtime. These days it's more about going over whatever the Boy did at school or camp or whatever during the day and planning out our evening activities. It's still a great time though and I look forward to it just as much today as I did back in '02.

Project 15 to 15: Day 1

Woo Hoo! Today marks the start of my absolute FAVORITE photo project of the year - the photo countdown to Wonder Boy's birthday! As he is turning 15 this year, we start 15 days out.


This is one of the 2 white boards in Wonder Boy's room. Both boards are covered in equations, school notes, or programming functions. I tell people all the time that math comes to him like breathing and it is something I seriously admire about him. I love math as well, but what I love most about this aspect of the Boy's personality is that it's more than just school stuff for him. He wants to know how it works and WHY it works. He likes the theory behind the numbers and why they work together they way that they do. And that is something that I truly admire!

In looking back to 2001, we see our Wonder Boy at about a month old in one of his favorite places - the bouncy chair!


He was, in general, a pretty happy baby. He craved physical contact, but he was quick with a smile and was not really very shy (that came later). But this chair was one place he didn't mind letting go of us and hanging out long enough for us to grab a bite to eat, run a load of laundry, or maybe even grab a shower. We loved to get down on the floor next to the chair and watch him giggle as it bounced him around. Looking back at this snapshot, I can still hear that sound in my head and it is something I will always cherish.

Mission: Middle School - Accomplished!

Just like clock-work, another school year has come to a close. And with the close of this chapter, a new, BIGGER one is on the horizon. Today, our Wonder Boy completed his time in middle school and now moves on to the exciting world of high school!


I think, over all, this has been a good year for him. There were some hiccups along the way, of course, but on the whole it's been a very successful year, especially on the academic side of things. The Boy is looking forward to a summer of cuddling with his pups, dashing off to one camp after another, and then a family vacation to tie things up before facing the new challenge of starting his freshman year of high school.

Here's to hoping this summer will be all he dreamed and that high school will be just another chance to earn success!

Magic Moment

So you might have noticed I have cut down the number of soccer posts I share. It's not that soccer has taken a back seat in our lives, no sir. In fact, you will still find us - 2 nights a week and almost every Saturday through the Spring and Fall - sitting sideline to watch our favorite soccer star.

But for one thing, it's nice to show other parts of our lives. And for another, the older he gets, the more I realize that a lot of these are Wonder Boy's stories to share - not necessarily mine. And I think that is just something we all face as our children grow and become more and more independent. I do try to hit the highlights though.

And then there are moments like this one that I want to make sure and capture for those days when my memory starts to fade.


Here's the set up:

It's an absolutely beautiful day for soccer - crystal clear skies, cool breeze, 10:30am start time - just PERFECT! In the last meeting, the teams played to a 2 - 2 tie. They are very well matched with both being very fast and athletic with a number of quality skilled players. But this time, both teams barely have enough players to avoid the forfeit, meaning everyone on the field will have to play the whole game without a rest. So no matter what, this is likely to be a very different game.

I was both right and wrong about that last statement. It WAS a very different game from the first, but it was still a very tough, evenly matched game like the first time around. It may have been the most exciting soccer game I have ever watched Wonder Boy play!

The Boy's team gave up an early goal and went into half time still trailing 0 - 1. My heart was in my throat as every shot they took was handled by the other team's most excellent goal keeper. I was so worried that Wonder Boy's team would come out frustrated to start the second half and let up on their attempts. But I need not have fretted. They came out charging hard to start the second half and eventually wore the keeper down and evened things up. It looked like the tides had turned and the Boy and his team managed to take a 2 - 1 lead at about the mid-point of the second half. I held my breath as both teams fought to keep possession of the ball. And with about 5 minutes left in the game, the other team evened things up. I thought for sure we were headed for ANOTHER tie.

But THEN ... with just 3 minutes of game time left, Wonder Boy made his move - streaking ahead to chase down a pass from his teammate. He dribbled through a tight crowd and let loose a hard shot, low, just to the right of center on the goal. With all the stops the other team's keeper had made, I thought for certain he would get to this one too. But things came together in just the right fashion and the ball not only slipped through, but actually slid right between the keepers legs!

Talk about the crowd going wild! Wonder Dad and I yelled until I thought I would lose my voice! Talk about a truly proud parent moment!

The Boy and his team buckled down and weathered a ferocious flurry from the other team who did their level best to tie things up in the short time that remained. But on this day, the boy and his team came out on top! It was one of the BEST soccer moments our little family has ever lived!

But let me tell you WHY .... yes, there is something truly special about scoring, especially in a tight game like this. And scoring the WINNING goal is another level of amazing! But it really goes much deeper than even that.

You might recall me mentioning that in the fall we moved him to a different division. He *should* be playing in the u14 division, but we really wanted to challenge him, so we moved him to the u16 division. He has missed only 1 practice through both the fall and spring (due to an orchestra concert). He has never missed a game. He has played his heart out every time he has hit the pitch. And we have seen his game really grow through this process.

But one of the biggest struggles for him has been to earn the trust of his teammates. And in this game ... we saw that trust come through in spades! Wonder Boy has scored a number of goals through the fall and this spring, but this ONE GOAL seems to perfectly illustrate his efforts to me. And getting to watch that like we did ... well ... as a parent, there is just something truly special about it. To know the efforts that go into the moment truly heighten the experience.

I know I'm gushing. And I'll stop now. But it was a moment that I want to share, a moment I want to keep.