Alex's 4th Soccer Game!

Here's the link to some video of

Alex's forth soccer game.

There are 2 other videos from that same game in my files.

A Long Weekend

Today was picture day for soccer. I pulled Alex's hair back into pigtails for the first time in 3 months. It took a clip and a lot of hairspray, but it worked and her hair was out of her face for pictures on this cold and windy day. I have to say though, Alex really impressed me today. She worked hard on offense and defense out on the soccer field and even made a few goals herself.
Johnny must have ADD or something because he couldn't hold still for two seconds for the photographer to get a decent shot in. I'm not sure what we'll get out of it so of course I had to take a few of my own. Luckily with his hair cut we didn't have to worry about the wind and his pictures were first thing in the morning.

Friday, Alex's Kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo. Johnny and I met them there and walked around with our little group of 5 and then I signed her out when the rest of them loaded back onto the bus and the kids and I spent a little more time doing the things they look forward to doing the most when we visit the zoo.

Things like, riding the carousel...

Alex is helping Johnny make the 42 inch height requirement.
Luckily they don't actually measure you before entering the ride.

We also like to stop by the penguin exhibit and measure the kids against different "life-sized" penguins lined up out front.

Alex is now taller than the tallest penguin there.

Following the path of tiger paw prints on the ground...

Love the life-sized statue of the komodo dragon. All Johnny could think of was riding the two slides at either end of the park. Oh, and let's not forget the rock he pointed out that "also lives at the park".

Interesting how none of their favorite attractions actually include the animals themselves. Although this year a few new animals did peak their interest, including the lions and the giraffes. They actually stopped running for a minute to check out the giraffes, I was amazed.

And because of this extra long field trip, she gets Monday off from school so the afternoon classes can also visit the zoo. Time is flying a little too fast these days, here's hoping this next weekend doesn't sneak up on me quite as fast as this one did.

Sometimes...

Sometimes my kids actually do get along and enjoy each other's company. To prove it I had to post this picture and video. I took the picture with my video camera, indoors, with no flash so it's not the best but you get the picture. They have been playing a lot of "school" lately. Johnny pretends he's sleeping, Alex wakes him up and tells him to "hurry and get on the bus", then acts as bus driver and drives him to school. While at school she has him practice writing and saying his letters and numbers, reads him a book and then sends him back home for another good night's rest before school starts again. Rest and repeat. I snuck in a little video of one of her book readings because she was being so cute making up her own words to the story and Johnny was thoroughly enjoying it as well.

Here's the link to the video:

Alex reading to Johnny

If you look under "More From: laurelday" there are a couple of other new videos on there of the kids flying their kites over the weekend.

Grammie & Grandpa came for a visit!

My parents came for a visit this weekend and this is what we've been up to.

Soccer game #3

Johnny loves soccer practice...

This is what he did during the game.

A little Wii time
A nice day for the park

Johnny just wants to close his eyes and pretend he's flying

And just enough wind to fly a kite!

Sunday, we decided to walk home from church and as passed the many flowers planted at the front of the entrance of the subdivision Johnny asks me what their called. "Those are tulips" I say. Then we walked past a house with one little tulip planted under their tree and Johnny exclaims in an excited voice "look Mom, there's ONE LIP!!!"

If You Believe...

This year Alex has really paid attention to the Easter story as each day we read new scriptures telling the different events that led up to Christ's resurrection. She has also paid a lot of attention to what her older friends at school have said regarding the Easter bunny. After the whole leprechaun discovery she's been quite suspicious and wonders what else we might be "stretching the truth" on. So when your 6 year old asks you if the Easter Bunny and Jesus are real, you know it's time to differentiate between fact and fiction. Alex found out Easter Eve, I would've preferred to wait until after she received her basket of goodies but it was necessary to set things straight. The first thing she did was thank me and Brad for everything we ever got her as Santa or the Easter Bunny. How funny she would think of that. Brad and I both talked to her about the importance of keeping such a grown up secret and to not tell anyone (especially those younger than her) because it's fun to pretend. We even told her not to tell other adults and that if someone asks you about it you just say "If you believe, you shall receive!"

The Great Easter Egg Hunt!

Yeah! Spring is here, the sun is shining, the kids are wearing shorts

and candy-filled eggs are hidden around the yard.

It's great to have cousins near by to celebrate with!
Johnny, Ethan, Alex, Aiden, Logan, Westin and Brayden

Too cute!

Game Two...

A few pictures from soccer game #2 on Saturday. Easter pictures will be coming tomorrow and there are a lot. Johnny's still having a hard time holding up whenever someone brushes shoulders with him in the soccer game. One girl used him to brace her fall and almost knocked him over, he never quite recovered. Alex did great and made a few goals of her own. I have video, I just haven't had a chance to go through everything yet from this weekend. Then today, after my chiropractic appointment for my back, some imitrex for my migraine and a speech assessment test for Johnny, the day has flown by. Johnny had a (very long) story for every picture the therapist showed him and had her laughing through most of the test. He can definitely talk your ear off if you let him. She'll call after she has a chance to score his test and I don't think he'll qualify for assistance but maybe she can give me some pointers on how to help him improve so I'm not translating for him all the time.

Soccer Season!

The kids had their first soccer games this weekend!
You can see a video of Johnny here:

Johnny's first soccer game

And one of Alex making a goal here:

Alex's first soccer game

You might remember Alex's first experience with soccer 2 years ago. Needless to say, we gave it a break last year and decided to give it another try this year since Johnny was also old enough to participate. Alex is now on an all girl's team (which she enjoys) and is much more aggressive with her footwork. It helps that she has a friend on her team that she knows from church and school. They have a larger field, corner kicks and throw ins to make it feel a little more like a real soccer game. Our goal this year is to teach her teamwork, not to kick the ball out of her teammate's feet and that a goal from anyone on her team is a goal for the whole team.

Johnny loves soccer practice but for some reason once the game started he became quite reserved. Granted he had a morning game with icy cold wind and he had to be bundled up for his game. He had also had a rough morning and once he starts crying over something, anything can make him break down. So he was a little sensitive out on the field. It took him awhile to get into the spirit of things and stop complaining about his knee...or elbow...or whatever else he hit when his body hit the ground or the fact that the other kids were running faster than him. He's so accustom to falling that he usually doesn't pay much attention to the side affects until he's looking for an excuse out of something. At one point the coach was holding his hand, guiding him around the field after the ball (seriously Johnny?) So, after a few pep talks, a kiss on the knee and a fruit snack bribe he got in there and even made a goal. Granted, he actually kicked it just outside of the goal, picked it up with his hands, placed in front of the goal and kicked it in. But they counted it and he got high fives all around.

We have high hopes for next week's games and I'll keep you posted!