Bangsund Family Blog: Sidewalk Chalk, Squirt Guns, Narrations, and More Upward

Well folks, we've had some crazy good weather here this week; hence the post that focuses mostly on outdoor activities. Yes, we are still doing school, and there will be a little bit of that business in this post. But when the sun shines around here, we must go outside and enjoy it.

Toward that end, Oma arrived on Wednesday with some brand new sidewalk chalk. I left for a few meetings, and the boys decorated the driveway. Here are some pictures of my favorite bits.

They wrote this adorable message directly in front of where I park my car, so that I would be sure not to miss it. So sweet.

The other thing that has happened this week is new super soaker water guns. They were on sale. And I knew the weather was going to warrant them. Here are some pictures of that goodness.

This is "I'm a tough guy" face. Awesome.

No, I didn't get drenched after this shot was taken. Shocking, I know. ;-)

Our school year is five weeks from being finished. Luke has improved in so many areas this year, but the skill that impressed me this week involved our writing curriculum. We use Writing With Ease by Peace Hill Press. I love it. Each week, Luke does some copy work and some narration. This narration on Friday really impressed me. I read him a version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a story with which he is familiar. He narrated this summary to me.

His sentence structure and word choice amaze me. The introductory clause in the second sentence is especially lovely in my opinion. We posted this one on the fridge.

We finished our week with a morning at Upward today. The weather was warm and windy. We were joined by guest fan, Wren Bombardier, a dear friend from Roots Community, our church. She and I joined forces with Oma, my fabulous mother, to get Luke and Paul through the mildly crazy schedule that was Upward this morning.

Paul practiced from 8:30 am to 9:00 am, and then played his game from 9:00 am to 9:30 am. He did really well, staying on the field and listening to his coaches, who are definitely candidates for sainthood in my opinion. Here are some pics of the cuteness that is Paul at Upward.

Paul playing center - this is serious business!

The Bengels with Coach Adam and Coach Tim. These men rock.

Paul's cheering section from left to right: Wren, Daddy-Man, Brother Luke, Oma.

Happy Paul!

The Grand Finale - THE TUNNEL!!!

Later, Paul got his face painted. Cute!

Meanwhile, Luke warmed up his arm, watched Paul's game, and waited for his practice to begin at 10am. Once that started, Oma took Paul to the plant sale being held in the church parking lot next to the fields. They returned with this bit of loveliness and Paul said, "Happy Mother's Day!"

Gerber Daisies are my favorite flowers. Such a dear boy!

Luke's practice went great. Even with a player missing, these little folks are starting to gel a little more. I took video of scrimmage just for the fun of it.

Luke's game started and he was in at quarterback. He's having fun learning the plays and bossing, uh, I mean, leading the other players. ;-)

I also got video of Luke at quarterback during the game. If you click on that business, it should play. I tried embedding it, but Blogger is not being my friend right now. It's not great video because I get distracted. I'll try harder next week. :-)

We were having a hard time getting the running game going. And the throwing game is largely non-existant at this age. We turned it over on downs our first three possessions of the game. The other team scored on their second and third possession.

Coach Tammy could see our little men starting to give up. We were on defense again, and she was hollering encouragement. "Don't give up, guys! Let's play good defense!" And they did. These little guys didn't let them move five yards on their next possession. And it was our turn again.

By this time, the game is almost over. They aren't long, and a lot of time is spent setting up each play. We had the ball on our own ten yard line. Keep in mind, our modified field is only fifty yards long. It's third down. Luke takes the snap, and hands it off to number 12, who is able to turn the corner and he is on his way. He is ahead of the pack and manages to shake off the safety! He's got the touchdown!! It was SO great! Luke was jumping and cheering like a madman.

Then a small and gracious miracle happened. Luke threw for the 2-point conversion! I wish I had video. I wish I had a picture. But I was WAY too busy jumping up and down and screaming my brains out on the sidelines. I'd like to say that I played it cool. Nope. I was a goofy excited mom who was so very proud of all these little men. It was great.

We did not win today. And it did NOT matter. The Saints scored their first touchdown of the season today! It was so very much fun.

Here are some pics of Luke.