Soccer time

V had his first soccer game last Tuesday. He had a lot of fun, and he is starting to figure out what is going on.


V carefully kicking the ball with the side of his foot like the coach taught:


C enjoyed being outside, though he desperately wanted to play with the older kids. I was informed, after a certain someone saw this picture, that it was time for another haircut. I guess I better get going on that.

Chillin' with dad:

V started out in the back.


But he soon got into the action. I think he actually kicked the ball twice. Don't mind the ugly flesh colored shorts. I couldn't find a pair of white shorts (the team's uniform color), so I made a pair out of one of Ryan's old T-shirts. It was the lightest color I could find.


Ryan even jumped in and coached for a bit (i.e. he told the kids which way to kick the ball).


It was an eventful night. C even found his belly button.

Fountain of fun

It was beautiful weather last Saturday, so I took the kids to the botanical gardens and let them run around. If I had let them have their way, they wouldn't have gone any further the fountain at the front entrance.


I let them play for quite awhile. They splashed around, and V strategically placed C where water would splash down on him. Needless to say, they were soaked.


I had to physically pry C away from the fountain, and he only stopped struggling when the fountain was no longer visible. (Which was a fair distance considering the size of the fountain). I spent the rest of the time trying to keep C out of any stream, fountain, or puddle we came across.


We found a lily named in Ryan's honor. We'll have to go back and see what it looks like in bloom.


I let the kids run around at this grassy area. There was a little girl about a year older than C that was infatuated with him. She kept chasing him around trying to give him a hug. C didn't like this so much, and spent his time trying to get away. I guess he's already playing hard to get.


Here's C trying to figure out how to get at another water feature.


V was more than happy to show him the way. Right after I snapped this picture, I had to grab C as he tried to crawl in.

Snow day!

It snows in Alabama. Here's some proof:

Even V understands that this is a rare event. He said that I should take pictures and put them on the computer so that everyone can see that it snowed in Alabama even though it isn't supposed to. He asked specifically for me to take a picture of the snow on his bubbles.


We had so much snow, they canceled church. Too bad it melted by the end of the day.

I want to be like V!

C is starting to copy whatever V is doing. So after seeing V wear his cape, C started asking to wear it too.


A few days later I caught him with V's name tag while carrying V's rocks. I guess we can call him mini V.

Reading with Grandpa

I'm thankful for the technology that allows a grandfather to read to his grandson even though they live half a world apart.

My personal cheering section

We have been motivating C by saying "Yea!" and clapping for him when he does something good. If he throws something away when we ask him to - "Yea!" When he finishes helping my unload the dishwasher - "Yea!" When he fits a piece in the puzzle - "Yea!"

The result of this is really cute. Now anytime I do something good he smiles for me and claps. So when I throw anything away, or do the dishes, or anything else he deems worthy, I get a standing ovation. Finally, I get some appreciation for being a mom.

Valentine's Day fun

V was very excited about Valentine's Day. Someone gave us heart shaped cupcakes and he said, "These are shaped like hearts, maybe that means they love us." He enjoyed mailing out Valentines Day cards and now wants to mail everything to everyone because we love them.


C was excited about the candy. If he sees candy he gets very excited and does the candy dance. We let the kids have the entire bag of candy, and as you can see from the picture, C tried to eat it all at once.


Grandma and Grandpa also sent them a little money to buy a treat. That was the most exciting part of all. V loved picking out toys from the dollar section. Here are the boys enjoying the bubbles that V picked out.