Random Fodder

Sebastian put a lot of offensive effort into his second year of soccer. He didn't get any goals his first year, but his coach could tell that this year would be his breakout year. He was right!

Sebastian scored many goals this year and really helped his team out. During one game against his best friend's team, Sebastian scored both goals and then finished the game with some amazing saves as goalie to keep the other team shut out!

Here are some of the highlight goals from this year:

And now that soccer is done, it's on to hockey!

Since today is Veterans' Day, Sebastian has the day off of school. Last night as we were discussing plans for today, Sebastian overheard us discussing the vacation day. That's when he asked the classic question:

"Why do we have school off for Veterinarians' Day?"

So we had a good laugh, explained to Sebastian about Veterans' Day, and talked about adding a day just for Veterinarians.

Later that night on a separate car trip, we passed a Bump road sign near some construction. This must have reminded Sebastian of an instance a month before where we saw an oddly-labeled sign that cracked my wife and I up for quite a while. So Sebastian asked:

"Dad, why did you think it was so funny that the sign said, 'Speed Hump' instead of 'Speed Bump'?"

Instead of a straightforward explanation, this one just ended with, "I'll explain that to you later." Little does he know that later either means "When you're much older" or "Never".

Grade School Fight Club

As with any successful series of movies, Baby Fight Club has spawned a spin-off: Grade School Fight Club.

Though Sebastian would have us believe that this bloody shirt was simply the product of a bloody nose, I think I've uncovered the beginnings of Grade School Fight Club.

These clubs have started sprouting up in the deepest, darkest shadows of elementary school playgrounds around the country. Under the monkey bars, by the water fountain, and in the parking lot at 3:00 — hoards of grade schoolers gather to join in this newest trend. So far, they must abide by only two rules:

1. The first rule of Grade School Fight Club is: There is no Grade School Fight Club.
2. The second rule of Grade School Fight Club is: If you tell anyone, we won't be your friend any more.

Please let us know if you uncover any additional information about Grade School Fight Club. We're doing all we can to keep it under control.

I am shifting my list of 43 Things from a list of annual goals to a list of lifetime goals. Thus, I have dropped a couple goals and picked up a couple goals, and I plan on doing further maintenance in the future.

One of my 43 Things that I have kept is to interview my son Sebastian on video every year. I have thought this was a great idea and I wanted to do it before he started kindergarten. This year I added the goal so I could do it during the summer between kindergarten and first grade, but it still hasn't gotten done. So, for some lamebrained reason, I decided to use the Challenge feature of 43 Things to try and motivate myself.

So, my current challenge on 43 Things is to interview my son by December 31, 2007 (70 days from now) or else I will: make three snow angels wearing only a pair of shorts.

I tried to make the penalty something annoying enough that I wouldn't want to do it, but easy enough that I would actually penalize myself if I failed. Hopefully, it won't come down to this and I'll get that interview done in the next month or two!

Of course, since this is a recurring goal, I will mark it as completed each year when I complete the interview and then re-add it to my list when the time comes around again.

Last year, Sebastian told me that his Kindergarten teacher said "the S-word" to the students and I got nervous, but I had to assume that it wasn't the S-word because I knew his teacher wouldn't slip up like that. (As it turns out, "the S-word" was "stupid".)

This week when I came home from work, Sebastian and I were talking for a while. Suddenly, Sebastian got a serious look on his face and he told me that some older kids were outside our window talking loudly. He told me, "I heard one of the kids say a bad word — the bad "SH-word"."

Again, I was concerned. This wasn't "stupid" because he gave me the dreaded second letter — obviously, he wanted me to know that. Sebastian knows that there are bad words to say and really bad words to say. I prefer that he doesn't yet learn exactly what these really bad words are, but I know that eventually he'll find out. I thought perhaps this was an indication that he had already learned of his first curse word.

I raised my eyebrow and replied, "Oh, really? Sometimes older kids say things they shouldn't say." I paused to get a response.

Then, in a hushed tone, Sebastian whispered, "You know, the 'Shut up' bad word? That's what he said." Sebastian looked closely for my response to this atrocity, so I tried to keep a serious face. I'm sure I couldn't help but smirk after hearing what "the sh-word" was.

You can't protect them from "the sh-word" forever!

Game 13 - Yellow Bees

This week, they beat the Yellow Bees 2-1 for their sixth and final win of the fall season. The Blue Dragons spent most of the game with a comfortable 2-0 lead, but a late Yellow goal made the last two minutes of the game more exciting.

Sebastian had a great final game this year. He played more aggressively than ever before and had some great opportunities because of it. Despite not scoring a goal this year, Sebastian was literally a foot away from scoring his first goal this week. Check out the video (and instant replay) to see just how close he came:

Fall Season Recap

The Blue Dragons won every game of the fall season! These six games were much closer than the seven spring games. In the spring, the only game decided by one goal was the game the Blue Dragons lost. In the fall, four of the games were decided by just one goal and the other two games were decided by two goals. This may be because the Blue Dragons lost one of their top goal scorers as she moved up to the next division for the fall season. Sebastian played harder and smarter than in the spring. If he keeps up this pace, next year should be a great experience.

2007 Season Recap

The Blue Dragons' combined record over both seasons of the year was 12-1. The only defeat was to the Purple team, who they did not have to play in the Spring season. The Blue Dragons beat all other six teams twice — once in the spring and once in the fall. On average, the Blue Dragons scored 3.1 goals per game and their opponents scored 0.8 goals.

Great job, Blue Dragons!!!

Game 11 - Red Hawks

In the 11th game of the season, the Blue Dragons battled the Red Hawks. Despite the game being knotted up at 1-1 for quite a while, the Blue Dragons were able to score one last goal to win by a score of 2-1. Sebastian displayed some smart decisions on the field, proving that he is able to think about the strategy instead of just kicking the ball whenever it is close.

This video starts with a pre-game warmup goal that Sebastian scored. What's funny is that Sebastian doesn't celebrate — he walks to the back of the line nonchalantly, just like when he doesn't score . . . but you can see that he's proud under it all.

Game 12 - Dark Blue Dolphins

Sebastian showed that he was growing as a player during his twelfth game of the season. He took opportunities to shoot when he had a decent chance, he got open for throw ins instead of bunching up with the crowd, and he was able to take the ball down the length of the field. As we discussed the game later, Sebastian even articulated some of his strategies. Despite going down by one goal early on, the Blue Dragons were able to tie the game and eventually win 4-2.