I could pretty much sum up the rest of my 2012 year in a few words. Soccer, baseball, scouts, and surgery. Oh, let's not forget mice, flooding, and more surgery.
Let's start with soccer. Ethan, Ashley and Gavin got to participate in British Soccer Camp in August. It was a lot of fun for them and their skills were greatly improved. On top of that, though, we had the opportunity to have one of the coaches come and stay with us. It was fun to have him come and the kids loved that he was willing to play soccer or give them airplane rides constantly. Poor Liam was worn out by them but never complained once.
We spent as much time as we could at Seven Peaks for the rest of the season. The first part of the summer we weren't able to go so we wanted to make up for it. By the time the season ended, I had three stronger swimmers, one beginning swimmer, and two that would put their faces in. I was thrilled! We're all looking forward to the opening this year.
School started, and along with that came soccer season. We had five kids playing soccer, on four different teams.
Steve coached Ethan's team and had a lot of fun with it. It was hectic at times but everyone came away loving the season. Ethan even scored a goal with the help of his friend, Ethan, on his team! Ashley and Gavin played together and Ashley's goal was to score five times each game. She made that goal a few times and others she scored one or two. Gavin did awesome. He never scored but he came close many times. Andy's team did very well and he loved playing. His best friend was on his team and they played very well together. Jakob's team was very fun to watch. There were players that could some awesome tricks as they passed the ball and I was in awe. I decided this last year that I'd become a full-fledged soccer mom and I never expected to be. I got more into the games than I thought I would and Steve enjoyed watching me.
Jakob and Andy were also doing scouts and Steve went on a couple of campouts with Jakob's scout troop. One camping trip was staying at his leader's dad's house but it worked out for everyone involved. They had lots of fun. My other kids enjoyed it because we went to McDonalds and then watched a movie that night.
Around that time, I was still having health problems and we decided it was time to have surgery. I wasn't looking forward to it because I knew that it would be hard to do my calling during that time. We decided it was worth it though because I was feeling crummy enough that I wasn't able to get a lot done around the house anyway so we scheduled a hysterectomy for October 22nd.
Oktoberfest
That meant that our Oktoberfest that we had planned was moved up to October 20th. It. Was. Packed. We couldn't walk through the house because there were people jammed into every corner of the house. I loved it! The food was amazing and we had fun talking to friends and family. A lot of people from Steve's mission came as well. I was exhausted when the day was done but it was well worth it.
Surgery for Jaclyn
Surgery went well for me. I had my mom in town to help with the kids and it was a huge blessing. She took the kids everywhere they needed to be and had my house spotless on top of that.
I stayed in the hospital for one night and I was happy to go home. The painkillers they gave me made me very sick and I made them change what they were giving me. I couldn't sleep so I caught up on a lot of reading and several video games. I had Rachelle and the Ellises come and visit me and it was great to see them all.
I was ready to go home to my own bed by the time I got out of the hospital. I slept better that night than I had in months and by the next morning I felt amazing. The painkillers were still making me sick so from about day 2, I went to only ibuprofen and I was fine most of the time—as long as I was behaving.
I'll wait a second while you stop laughing and wipe the tears from your eyes.
I actually did very well with behaving for the most part. I had amazing neighbors that took my kids for the school hours for the first two weeks. It was wonderful to be able to sleep when I needed to - which was most of the time. :) The meals that were brought were also amazing. I was in awe with the help I received when I needed it the most. However...
Mean little visitors
The Sunday after I had surgery, Steve and the kids had left for church and I was laying in bed. I started hearing running around in my room and I looked up to find a mouse running from under my bed to the closet, and back again. Ugh, darn mice!
There went behaving. I jumped the floor and crawled into the closet, determined to find the stupid little mice. I pulled everything out that I could and then waited for Steve to do the rest (See? I mostly behaved). As soon as he got home, I sent him into the closet to clean and I went to talk to the YM president who had brought me the sacrament. He brought us some mousetraps and another neighbor let us borrow their cat.
I spent the day getting everything up off the floor that they could hide in and soon they were caught and I was able to live in peace—until they got to our storage room but that's another story (which has ended and thankfully they're gone). The next day I was very, VERY sore from sitting on the ground and it took a few days to get feeling better.
A Great Night of Friends
The next Saturday I was feeling well enough that I decided I wanted to have company over. We had two families come for dinner and we had a lot of fun together. It was a great night. I may or not have overdone it but it was totally worth it!
Halloween
Halloween came the next week and I had to be creative without sewing anything (a bummer because I do it every year). The great thing was that everyone came up with easy costumes that turned out great (or at least I think so).
Heidi wanted to be Captain America and there was no changing her mind. I decided to make the tutu to give it some flare and she was thrilled.
Ethan has one love and that's Angry Birds. For his birthday, Christmas, and, of course, Halloween that's all he wants (or wants to be).
Here's my little clown, Gavin. If you know his smile and mischievous spark in his eye, you'll know this fits him well.
Ashley wanted to be Wasp (from Avengers) for Halloween and I had no great ideas to do quickly for her. So I painted her into her costume. No joke. The shirt, skirt and leggings all took two and a half bottles of acrylic paint.
Andy changed his mind several times but finally came up with Thor. The hammer was fun to make and his shirt... stank. Note to self: Don't spray paint a shirt anymore! But he was thrilled, I loved it, and it all worked out just fine. Plus, the shirt spent all night outside so it could air out a little...
Jakob was Hawkeye and but did it turn out fun. He helped make everything and it was probably one of my favorites we've come up with.
Steve was the Flying Spaghetti Monster and I was in a robe and nightgown, handing out the candy. Steve took the kids out to get candy and it went very well. Heidi was very sad when it was time to come home—even when all of her siblings were ready to go home! Jakob went with his friends for the first time and I survived.
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