Up and Running/ 1st Soccer Game

The addition of Luke to our family has taken more effort and energy than I anticipated. And not because he's a difficult child, in fact he is quite the opposite, but a second child adds some work. I've managed to neglect many other things including this blog I so enjoyed. So, now with a renewed commitment to my blog, I bring you a series of "firsts" we've encountered over the last many months including today's First Soccer game for Brady, which actually occurred this morning:

The long anticipated first soccer game was here. We pack up the car. Blankets? Check. Water bottle? Check. Camera with extra batteries? Check. We get to the game, the sun is shining, excitement is in the air. I pull out the camera to start recording the moment and wouldn't you know it but all three sets of rechargeable batteries are dead. Awesome. Fortunately I have my new fangled cell phone with a camera (I know, welcome to the 21st century), so I pull it out and pray for the best. I was pleasantly surprised to see the pictures turned out pretty clear. And even better, that was all that went wrong for the day (so far, seeing as it's just now afternoon when I'm writing this). At the end of the game, the sun was still shining and the kids were even more exited than at the beginning.

Here's a few pictures from this morning:

The pre-game player, full of anticipation















The assistant coach (apparently I only took pictures of Ryan's back this morning)















The superfan who spent all of his time alternating between trying to drink out of Brady's water bottle and running onto the field.




















And the cheerleader with the superfan who is more interested in his sippy cup than taking a picture with mom.




















The offense was fierce. Look at that blond curly-headed blur with the ball.
















The defense was tough, even when the ball was no where near.

















A short break was taken in the middle of the game to bring mom a flower which earned a chuckle from all of the parents watching. No one including Ryan or myself even saw him stop playing long enough to pick it. Next thing we know he's running away from the ball and off the field with it in his hand. I think my response was something along the lines of, "Thanks sweetie, that's very nice of you, now get back in the game."




















Rumor has it we lost by one (they don't keep score at this age), but you couldn't tell it by the looks on any of the kids faces, especially one little boy who just scored his first goal in his first soccer game.

Brady vs.Christmas Ornament

Brady - 1, Christmas Ornament - 0

We have a series of football quarterback ornaments that my husband received every year for Christmas. I'm not quite sure exactly how everything happened, but it started with Brady helping me decorate the Christmas tree and accidentally stepping on Peyton Manning, breaking him into two pieces. Peyton's glued together joints must break apart pretty easy because next thing I know, Peyton's now in a career ending 4 separate pieces.

Brady kept trying to put him back together, saying "I think he's okay now" before a piece would fall back off. I told Brady to set the ornament aside and I would glue it back together later. I didn't get to it fast enough, so Brady enlisted the help of Daddy to tape Peyton back together. The following pictures pretty much speak for themselves at this point.

To Brady, Peyton is now as good as new. He is now residing on the Christmas tree where he is ridiculed daily by the other quarterbacks.

Happy Thanksgiving?

So I'm spending Thanksgiving Day in my own home for the first time since I can remember and it's not a good thing. While most everyone else in the country is gathered with friends and family around tables brimming all varieties of delectable food, I'm gathered around a table with little boys recovering from fevers, rashes, and other maladies we won't discuss, and eating applesauce, toast and animal crackers. Yummy. The good news is the energy level is down in the house and I get a moment to update the blog. I thought I'd write a list of 10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving, if anything to keep my mind off of the great food and conversation I'm missing.

Things I'm Thankful for:

1. The upbeat attitude of a 3 year old who sits down to our sad little Thanksgiving lunch of applesauce and animal crackers and exclaims "We're having a party." It made me smile. I think he's just about over his bug.

2. The immunizations earlier this week that made Luke run a high fever and gave him a full body rash because they protect him from illnesses that could be much worse.

3. The chance to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I haven't had the opportunity in years.

4. Dark chocolate M&Ms.

5. A warm house.

6. A pantry that's always full of food, so even after we'd emptied the fridge in anticipation of going out of town for the weekend, there's still plenty to eat when your plans are changed at the last minute.

7. A loving husband that has promised to bring me home a piece of dessert from his family's dinner. I know he will deliver and that it will be wonderful. He comes from a family of great cooks.

8. Our digital TV recorder that has allowed Brady to lay on the couch and watch a recorded episode of The Pink Panther cartoon 4 times today and counting. The tune tends to get stuck in your head. Dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-duuuuuuuum, da-da-da-dum. Your welcome.

9. Cheap food as I realize the price of bananas today are the same as they were when the Pink Panther episode first aired decades ago. (There's a grocery store scene.)

10. Wikipedia that allows me to learn in 10 seconds that the Pink Panther episode mentioned above first aired in 1978. What did we ever do before Wikipedia? Man I feel old when 1978 can be referred to as decades ago.

11. Bonus thankfulness - Little boys that are napping at the same time. I've only had that happen one time before today, mostly because Brady doesn't usually take naps any more.

12. Bonus again - The soda I can pop open now that Brady's asleep. :)

Halloween Fun

It's been a few weeks, but I'm finally getting around to adding Halloween pictures. Brady dressed as Will Rogers and Luke as Chief Joseph, a cowboy and an indian. Can you tell yet where I grew up? The blog address gives you a great big hint.

Brady had a great time playing at our church's fall festival while Luke spent the evening trying to eat his costume. Here's a picture of the boys in their Halloween t-shirts from their Nana and posing with a pumpkin made by Grandma L. Finally for a review of past halloweens with Brady, click here.