Weekend fun - soccer, garden, kites, and playground

Stephen is getting so good at soccer and tries really hard. I was proud of him today. He took a few blows to the body and head trying to get the ball.

Here are some photos of the soccer game, kite flying, playground, and gardening fun we did this weekend.

Princess 5th birthday

Check out the video and photos of my princesses 5th birthday.

The princess turned 5 Jan 21, but we had to cancel the party until Feb. 14 because of the snow and then she was rushed to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia.

She has talked weeks about the party and was so excited. She helped clean up and enjoyed every minute of it. She is such a blessing.

Click here for the photo slide show. Below is a quick video with a Flip camera I was testing.

Finding time....

Here are some photos of the dinosaur trail:

I am finding it harder and harder to remember to take pictures, upload them, and write blog posts to share and archive family events. Time slips by so fast with work and family activities. I am afraid I will wake up and be 50, not knowing where the time went..... Nothing wrong with being 50. It is just that "fun" with people your own age seems harder and harder to fit into all the work and family responsibility.

But, this week I took advantage of some alone time with my kids.

My 5 year old went out to dinner and then church choir with me last week. As we ate, she hugged me and told me how special it was to go out just the two of us...

I took my 7 year old to the museum of life and science. It snowed the previous night, so he got a kick out of the dinosaurs with snow on them. We also spent an hour building contraptions in the museum. I love watching him try and figure out how to build something, he is very much a visual person.

Picture of the kids

I love their faces in this photo.

Prep and Landing

We watch Prep and Landing the other night. It was a cute little special with great imagaes. I took the liberty of adding in my kids to a poster :) Happy Holidays!!!

Flying Mattress

Chloe has become interested in all sorts of bug life. From snails, lady bugs, spiders, and now Praying Mantis. She attracts these darn bugs and tries to keep them as pets....

The other day she caught a Praying Mantis and was squealing with excitement. She ran in the house and yelled "Look what I caught, I want to keep this Praying Mattress as my pet."

Hosptials, art work, around town with the kids

We have been busy this month. Trips to the hospital for Caitlyn, soccer and baseball games, getting the garden and yard back into shape, and simply keeping up with the kids. It is raining now and I decided to take some time to post an update to the blog.

More pictures from May are in the family album.

Stephens self portrait was on display at the mall art show this weekend. He was one of only a few from his grade selected. We enjoyed looking at all the art and Stephen came home with more ideas. He ran to his room and started working.He designed his own shirt later in the day and has worn it for 2 days now...


Here is a picture from my cell phone. Chloe was ready for church early and wanted to go for a bike ride. I thought it was cute. But, when we got home and took her bike helmet off, her hair was a mess. But, we had fun!

This is a great picture of Caitlyn. She was not wearing black or her big ass high tops that she does not know how to tie. She even acted like she was happy :) I love this photo....

More pictures from May are in the family album.

Daycare drama

I realized that I avoid dropping Chloe off at daycare because she screams, cries, and runs for the door ...... Yesterday was the first day she gave me a hug and was semi happy when I left. Small steps.... Soon enough she will avoid me like Caitlyn :)

Stephen's 1st Grade Play

Below are 2 short videos. I also took a few pictures. I got there early and we still could not find good seats. It was a mad house! The kids did a great job!

The clouds blocking the sun




Chloe sings along with the kids

My kids are my Emmy!

When I hear people say they are blessed, it reminds me of someone winning an Emmy and saying "I want to thank God and my family". It all seems superficial.

But, then there are days like today when I realize how lucky I am to have a job, able to take online classes for my masters, and have a wonderful family.

Tonight I was online for my class and could not tuck the kids in. After I logged off from class, my routine usually consists of going into their rooms, covering them up, kissing them, and taking a minute to appreciate how lucky we are to have them in our lives. Yes, even though the house is like a circus and I feel my time with them is all about saying no and yelling...

But tonight I did not see Chloe in her room. She snuck into Stephens room to cuddle and they fell asleep. I took this picture to capture the moment. It's not as cute as the real thing, but will help me remember no matter how much they fight, they love each other.

So now I understand what feeling blessed is like. Now if only I could win an Emmy!

Santa talks to our kids

We got emails from Santa today. He had us gather the kids around the computer and spoke to each of them. As you can tell they were so excited and amazed that Santa not only knew their names, but had pictures of them and knew what they wanted. Check them out, each is a little different. Pay attention to Caitlyn's. I think Santa was not paying attention.....

• Click here for Stephen
• Click here for Chloe
• Click here for Caitlyn

After they watch the videos, they began to see elf's peeking in the window checking in on them. The energy got so bad, I had to take them on a elf hunt around the block. At dinner Chloe explained that "Joeself" and Mary had baby Jesus. Baby Jesus grew up, died on the cross, went to heaven to be with God and became Santa.

Stephen was struggling to listen today and recorded Santa an apology. I hope he gets it in time...

Chloe gets her ears pierced

For over a month Chloe talked about getting her ears pierced. Last week, she came home from preschool saying she was not a real princess because she did not have pierced ears like Megan at school.

Pierced ears became priority one for her. She talked about Santa getting her ear rings and how pretty she would be. Telling her she was pretty the way she was did not help. She could be prettier with ear rings....

I wanted to be there when she got her ears pierced because it seemed so important to her, but I did not want to be blamed for putting her through the pain, if she cried.

Well, I decided to man up and go. Below is a video of my brave little girl. I swear I see her fighting back tears. But, she won't admit to it. At the end, with no one to remind her, she even tells the women "Thank You"!

Now she wants Santa to bring her ear rings and lots of make up......

November Activities

More photos from November can be found here.

Lots of playing in the leaves and in the backyard, A perfect kids paradise.
Drew and Sharon came for Thanksgiving and we had a good time. But, somehow I forgot to take pictures.....

Stephen and I rode our bikes 4 miles round trip today. We went to his school and then hiked to the river. Below is a cool panoramic shot I took of the river. I darkened it up to make it spooky.

Click on image for larger view

Here is a picture of the car I purchased after I totaled my truck. It reminds me of a college kids first car. Small, not a smooth ride, no power anything. But gets 35 MPG and a low car payment.

Soccer season ends in two weeks

A few posts back I talked about the kids soccer teams. Time flew by because the season is almost over.

Here is a picture of Stephen's soccer team (Red Tigers). I think they won every game this season. The kids don't care too much about winning and really seem to have fun.

Here are some more pictures of The Red Tigers in action.



Chloe had a slow start to the soccer season. She wanted to pick weeds and hug everyone. We also lost a coach. The parents stepped up and took over. It has turned out better then I thought. Kudos to two key parents in making it a great season.

I have a few videos of the team in action. At this age it is funny to watch them.

Check out pictures from the game.
Check the videos out here.

Below is a video of Chloe in action. This was the most I have seen her touch the ball. At the end of the video one of her friends scores a goal and hits his head on the goal post. OUCH!!!

Self Portrait

First time for everything

Remember when you were young and discovering how to tie your shoe, ride a bike, or the first time you got to go around the block by yourself..... Ahh, the simple times!

Here are a few firsts for our kids, click play on the videos and prepare to be amazed :)

Stephen's first bike ramp
We made it together a week after he learned how to ride a bike.

Chloe's first day at preschool




Stephen's first day in adult church
When the children enter first grade our church introduces them to the congregation. They are now of age to sit with their parents (to test our patience...) He was so proud and excited to be presented with a new bible. When they introduced him, he told them he liked to "work" with his hammer and enjoys salad...... I hope the faith thing comes easier for him then it did for me. Below is the outfit he picked to wear.

Friends

I don't remember being 3 or 6 years old. I guess me and my brothers played a lot together and I know as we got older we fought a lot. But, one thing was for sure, if anyone messed with us, they had the other brothers to deal with.

Chloe & Stephen fight too. Stephen does not realize that when he plays tricks on her she learns and eventually will get him back. A few days ago Chloe hid for 3-5 minutes waiting for Stephen to come up the stairs and when he did she scared him. Stephen screamed and came running with tears in his eyes. Chloe was so proud yelling with an evil laugh from the stairs "I scared him". As soon as she realized he was crying, she came running to hug and comfort him. It was so sweet. Payback is tough....

Anyway these pictures remind me of the joy of friendship and the simple days when the only thing you cared about was when the ice cream truck came and what tree to pee on.

This is a picture of Stephen and his friend on a hike. They are starting to act so independent. I was chop liver on this hike and could hear them a few feet in front of me talking about half truths and the adventure that lay ahead of them on the hike. It was fun listening to them.

I pray Stephen and Chloe have close friends and keep in touch with them for their whole lives. I missed out on that. I always felt like a nomad. As a kid moving to 3 high schools and as an adult moving for jobs. I never kept in touch with the friends I made. I think I also took/take life to serious and do not stop to enjoy it. If I can teach my kids anything, enjoy the moment, stay in touch with friends, and touch other people's life in a positive way.

Here is a picture of Chloe on the same hike. She found a walnut shell and showing me that it looked like a pigs nose...