First Soccer Game

Saturday morning the kids played their very first soccer game ever. It was a big moment in our house. They had practice last week and liked it but the game was a bit different.

When 3-5 yr olds play soccer it is most definitely like herding cats. My thoughts were that we might as well throw in a few extra balls to spice it up a bit. It couldn't have created anymore chaos and at least more than the one token ringer could have touched the ball.

 A few words about the 'ringer'. He was at least a foot taller than the rest of the kids, obviously played in many games before, and was probably 7. Okay, maybe he wasn't seven, but he sure as hell wasn't 3,4,or 5. He scored about 15 goals. Anytime one of his teammates (like Adi) got the ball, he stole it from them. He even tacked a teammate who was about to score a goal.

One of the dads finally asked the coach to take him out to give the other kids a chance and the coach replied with a laugh "yup, there's always one on every team" then she high fived the kid and left him in the game.

Once Adi got the hang of chasing the herd she did great. I may have even suggest that she throw a few elbows. Andy did not appreciate this advice but I think its the only way she got in the game:)
 She was smiling, huffing, and puffing by the end. She was a little nervous at first about playing without her friend on the field next to her, seeing as they are the only 2 girls on the team, but after a few minutes she was over it.

Once in the car she told us, teary eyed, that she really wanted to get the ball in the "white, square, net thing" but that one boy wouldn't let anyone else touch the ball. This got me really fired up and I promised her next week it wouldn't happen again.
My girl has the right spirit alright. I wonder who she got her competitive side from?

Belay's only feedback from the game was that he never got a turn. We explained over and over that he had to go chase the ball and that no one was going to hand him his own ball to kick. During practice Belay had incredible focus. He took dribbling, running, and kicking very seriously. But he totally did not get the herd mentality of the game. He kept wandering off the field telling us that "my team is over now, can I have a snack".  He is by far the smallest kid on the team and one of the youngest. But his best buddy is on the team with him, so that help.
 

Little house horror

I cleaned my closet today. It was horrible and I blame it on being pregnant. Not just because I'm tired and way to lazy to hang my clothes, although thats part of it, but because of the 3 seasons of clothing.

A very nice friend loaned me a giant tub of maternity clothes which is great because this pregnancy is the exact opposite seasons as last and because I refused to buy anything I will only wear for a few month.  I pulled out all my "post pardom" i.e. fat clothes to wear during the early months. There is no reason to  put them away now when I'll need them again come august. Then of course all my normal clothes are there. My closet kinda exploded and the huge tub of maternity clothes was blocking the door way.

So, I fixed that today. It is pretty awesome. Andy thinks it will last 2 days.

During the process I found a few chapter books I saved from Christmas and gave them to Adi. Which, by the way, made me a rock star mom busting out a present out of no where. The truth is I forget they were there because my closet was such a mess. Point being, one of the books was a little house on the prairie book. Adi loves little house because I think one of her friends at school (who is a few yrs older) is reading them now.  Apparently they play "little house' quite a bit at school. In fact Adi has requested that for halloween we as a family unit be "Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary and Carrie." Belay is totally cool with being one of the sisters.

Well I guess I never actually read the books as a kid. Sad, I know.  

So I was a bit caught off guard as I  began reading chapter one out loud and found myself explaining what it meant to shoot, hang, skin, smoke and salt a deer.  Adi seemed to be following along ok with it. She made a few comments about how she is glad we don't live in the woods and asked if they didn't have refrigerators. Then came the part about the pig and how they used the bladder as a ball and  I just couldn't do it anymore. How do you explain to your 3 and 4 yr olds about using a pigs bladder as a ball?

Anyways, all the talk about meat and hunting got the kids talking. Adi declared her love of meat (although she seems to prefer it refrigerated than cured) and Belay reaffirmed how gross eating meat is and that he hates it. Then he made the announcement.
The announcement that I'm sure all 3 yr olds make at some point.  I know I made it. On my list was cake, mashed potatoes, and water.

Belays list at 3 yrs old...

Opia(oatmeal)
Grocery stores
Juice
Milk
Chocolate Milk
Almond Milk.

My son can live on liquids alone. And I love that grocery store was on the list. I guess he knows thats where his liquids, and oatmeal, come from.

 I hope Little House on the Prairie stops talking about pig bladders and curing meat so I can keep reading it.  It's not helping the battle in getting Belay to eat meat. 

Ok, I'm Back

I got some of the kinks worked out on this site so I'm hoping it will be more enjoyable for me to write now. I'm not a computer savvy, in the least, so this will have to do. I've been feeling a title switch for a while now and this seems appropriate.( since we have both places to call our home)

this is how I feel after all this computer nonsense.

The latest news in the house is the baby arriving this summer! Yup, I'm pregnant. 23 weeks along now and due early August.  What an adventure this pregnancy has been! Doing it all over again with 2 kids in tow is slightly different, to say the least.  I'm feeling good now, after the nausea subsided around week 12. As much as is sucks at the time, I know how lucky I am that it only lasts a few weeks for me. And I never actually vomit. Just unbearable nausea around the clock for about 4 weeks.

 I thought I was in the clear until the headaches began. Then, for the next 2 1/2 months straight I had  mind numbing headache.  Now, I had headaches with Adi but they were always tolerable and went away with some added magnesium. This time however, all I could do was lay on the couch with an ice pack on my head. My midwives got worried because nothing, not even strong rx pain pills, took the pain away. They sent me to the neurologist convinced I had a brain tumor.
Ha ha.  I knew I did not have a tumor and that it was all hormones, but no one wants to take on the responsibility of something like headaches. So, needless to say, I did not have a tumor and my headaches have come and gone.

And now I have been blessed with hives all over my body. Can't say I saw this coming. I still don't know for sure that its pregnancy related, but I have no other explanations. No one else in the house has them, I have stripped sheets, bought new sheets, cleaned like crazy. Nothing has helped.

Enough about me. How about a little info on baby #3?  Well, she is a she! We are pretty thrilled about it. By "we" I of course mean Adi. Life could have been pretty sad around hear if Adi had to deal with 2 brothers.  She has grand plans of how the baby girl with sleep with her. Actually the baby is supposed to sleep under the sheets, at her feet. She also can't understand why we are having a hard time coming up with a name. She gives us new names everyday. I've been keeping a list so we can all look back at them one day. Here are a few...Aloosha,(an Adi made up one) Ivy, Emmy, Stormie (short for stormer from "Jem and the misfits") Dot Star Light( I have no idea) Alanee Lee (pretty creative, I have to say) Caroline (random, but she loves it ) Laura (I'm assuming little house on the prairie). And of course Belay has a few too...Baby spiderman and Peck-a-boo sissy (he apparently calls "pelicans" peck-a-boos)

Kissing her sister

Belay is in denial. He is telling everyone that he is getting a brother. Sorry buddy. But if you do ever get a brother someday, he will have brown skin like you.

who is freezing cold in the 90* day at the beach and falls asleep wrapped in a towel? Belay does!

We just spent a week in Florida with my inlaws. The kids had so much fun. They always do. The drive is brutal but oh so worth a week swimming with Gramma and Appa. These are a few of my favorite shots of the week.

Work in Progress

Excuse the mess while I clean up this blog.

turkeys,christmas tree farms

I found these four sitting here the morning after thanksgiving. 

reading with Apa

"Gordon the train...a gold dress"

no one cried this year! not ever me.

Backing up...starting with pumpkins, apples, and costumes

 Impecable timing. I write a post about having no picture and then I get my sister in laws camera and it is loaded with pictures from every one of those things. We have apple, costumes, tree farms, thanksgiving, school field trips, school concerts, santa and even a shot of all four of us. (I may need to Photoshop a few together to actually get one decent one but its better than nothing)

So as to not overwhelm, I am going to start out slow and add over the next few days. I thought early fall was a good place to start. Here we are at an apple orchard with Adi's school.

cousins

my handsome husband and his identical twin brother (not really but don't they look just alike? they are actual brothers though)

Belay was NOT ok with a group shot.

ugg I need a haircut

Ok, getting better. At least all four are touching each other.

Much better. Why is it they always turn out better when no one is looking at the camera?

Onto Halloween. Adi was a bride. We thought we might be strawberry short cake but when the time happened she was just way to worried that she would not be beautiful enough.  So, bride it was. And she was beautiful. I even made the veil the morning of the party thanks to a friend who pulled through in a time of need with some old lace curtains and a hot glue gun.

Blushing Bride. Notice her something blue?

the pre-k/k class. and little Belay as Rapunzel.

                    

When push came to shove, he just couldn't give up his dream of being Rapunzel. But the wig wasn't gonna fly.

How awesome is this R2-D2 costume? Totally hand made.

Dorothy ( another awesome hand made costume)  and the bride

one of my favorite. One of the teacher with Adi and Padme. I love Adi's face here.

Blame it on the camera

Beautiful fall hike, apple orchard, pumpkin patch, Halloween costume, trick or treating, Thanksgiving day, cutting down the Christmas tree, decorating the Christmas tree, sitting on Santa's lap, wearing matching holiday clothes, school Christmas concerts...These are all awesome things to take pictures of huh? And to even blog about.

I don't have a single photo of any of these things. Nope, not one single photo. But I do have the memories and that's all that matters, right?  

Who are we kidding, photos are way more memorable than memories.

I'm blaming it on my camera. If it were fancy I'd take more pictures. On the other hand if my crappy camera ever had a fully charged battery and/or the memory card in it, maybe I'd take pictures too.

The kids are being kids. A lot of whining, a lot of crying, a lot of fighting. 

Adi got her first "report card". Its the cutest thing I've ever read. Apparently she has learned all sorts of things the last few months. Including Egypt, Africa, Lewis and Clark, basic addition, letter recognition, sounding out letters, handwriting. She has made some amazing dioramas. The only thing she wants to do is "projects " Any and all kinds of projects. alldaylongeveryday. I could probably get rid of every single toy except glue sticks, scissors, craft paper, crayons. 

Belay has mastered preschool for itty bitty boys. He can officially sit in the hall and wait his turn to go outside, he can wait his turn to grab at all the arts and crafts supplies, he apparently only gives black eye's to his sister. He can spit, fly like super man, and climb like spider man.  He has a tie. He feel mighty powerful in that tie and wears it most days.

We are getting ready for the holidays around here. Just a lot of hanging out, listening to music, and seeing our friends and family. Maybe I'll even take some pictures.