Kick! Pass! Shoot!

Soccer season has begun! I was dreading it for a while - realizing that I had just booked every Saturday until graduation - but I've really been enjoying it since the first practice. It's way better than basketball (in my humble opinion, Briana! :)). This is Carter's first season and he is SOOOO excited to be playing. Eric is his coach and really enjoying it. Isaac thinks he's an old pro since he has played two other seasons and his always willing to give Carter advice. He has improved so much and is finally starting to get it.

Our two soccer players.

Gotta get your game face on!

Both number 2. What a surprise! You'd think that they do numbers by size or something....

Ashlyn crashed out before the second half of Carter's game. It was SOOOO windy and she just couldn't keep her eyes open with Nana protecting her from the wind, all cuddled up.

Isaac had to have his turn with the camera. It's a good thing he got a picture of himself, because we didn't. I got plenty of Carter, but Isaac's game was too exciting to stop and take pictures. Eric and I were fighting half the time over who had to video.

Carter didn't disappoint as most 4 year olds playing soccer won't. As soon as his team got the ball the first time, he took off to the goal and stood there waiting with arms and legs open wide. When his team got the ball down field, Carter had a kick-out with his own teammate who was just trying to make a goal! It was hilarious. Later in the game he stole the ball from the other team and when I yelled "Good job, Carter!" he stopped, turned and gave me a big smile - oblivious to where the ball was or what was going on in the game. I'll have to try and be more quiet.

Isaac has bumped up and now plays on a bigger field with four on four, instead of three on three. He has been so fun to watch in practice. He runs hard and plays hard. They played a tough team on Saturday, but he did good. I have plenty to yell - but I think he has learned to tune me out. Hopefully the rest of the team will soon because I know each one by name. It's just too hard to sit there with your mouth closed. This will be a great soccer season. If only the wind will stop blowing!

Birthday Girl!

Miss Ashlyn is two! She's our little princess and it was fun to spoil her all day. The day before her birthday, we invited over Ian Walker and Diana Hunt who had turned two earlier in the week for a little birthday playdate. We fingerpainted and ate snacks and cupcakes. She wouldn't really have anything to do with them, but I'm glad they came. I need to get her together will other kids more often.

Saturday morning she came in our room and requested to watch "Bob." We turned on PBS and what do ya know - there was Bob the Builder. I knew this was going to be HER day! We headed downstairs and I asked her if she was ready for some birthday pancakes. She started to panic and cried "No! No birthday blow!" I had put candles in her cupcake the day before and she did not want ANYTHING to do with them. So, there were no candles all day for her birthday. I considered torturing her out of tradition, but then I realized that today she was the queen and if she didn't want candles, then there would be no candles.

She made us some yummy pancakes and sampled strawberries while they cooked. She'd take a big bite and say "Ummm....that's some good strawberry!"

She loved opening presents and being the center of attention. She wanted to play with/wear everything as soon as it came out of the bag. Everything, that is, except...

...the tutu I made her. It scares her and she won't have much to do with it. She did like the other dress up skirt I made her two days ago when she found it, but I think my dramatic reaction when I saw her putting it on and saying "Ooooh! Pretty!" scared her away from it, too.

Her two favorite presents, by far, were her baby stroller and the bag of candy that Isaac gave her. We even had to take the stroller to the soccer games that day.

We had planned to go to the zoo, but it was a really windy day and everyone was pretty worn out after the soccer games. Instead, Nana and I took Ashlyn shopping for a birthday present from Nana and Papa and then watched a movie and relaxed. Ashlyn was pretty funny picking out her shoes and a new outfit. One second, everything was "So cute!" and the next second it was "Go home!" I had made a birthday dessert, but only the adults enjoyed it.

Nothing in the world could have made Ashlyn happier than her birthday sucker.

Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!

Loving the weather!

We've been having beautiful weather, so when Isaac got home from school today, we decided to take advantage and go hiking by Belton Dam.

Our friends, the Hadley's, went with us and the boys had a great time. My boys were "so starving" until they realized that we were headed back so we could get something to eat and they suddenly changed their minds. On our hike there was a little pond that we stopped at to throw rocks. We started with skipping rocks and ended with "who can get the biggest rock and make the biggest splash." I wish the camera hadn't been in Eric's pocket when he and Jeremy were carrying the biggest rock they could hold together to toss off the cliff into the pond. It was pretty entertaining. The boys were asking when we could come back before we ever got to the car. Hopefully it will be soon. I'm so glad we can do these kinds of things in February!

Getting Fancy

I finally made it to the Dollar Store to buy some curlers for Ashlyn's hair. My main motive for it is to stick them in her pigtails so I don't have to curl them later, but I had to try the whole head, just to see. She loves it!

They're a little big for 'curls', but I thought she looked pretty with her waves. Maybe with a little more practice of me putting them in (I have two left hands when it comes to doing hair) and her leaving them in (I chased her around the house re-rolling curlers all morning) we can do it more often.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Our day of love started the weekend before when Eric told me to dress nice and be ready at 5:30p. At 5:30 the doorbell rang and there was the man of my dreams (without any kids!) with a bouquet of roses, just for me. Our first stop was Pignetti's, a nice Italian restaurant. We always laugh at the poor waiter who has to be nice to us regardless of how much our 15% tip is. He just doesn't make as much on no appetizer, an empty bread basket, a split entree, and - since it was a special occasion - a split dessert. I'm sure he would have preferred to serve the cardiothorasic surgeon a few tables away! After dinner, we went to the Cultural Arts Center to watch "Fireworks," a chamber orchestra group from New York. It was fantastic. They're not your ordinary chamber group and their instruments consisted of a violin, cello, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars, saxiphone, oboe, flute, drums, and keyboard - regular and electric. "Dance Mix" was the title of their performance and they played dance songs from all over the world, ranging from the waltz, to the Tango, to disco. They also included pieces from several musical eras. I loved it. Thanks for the AWESOME night, Eric!

We started Valentine's morning with strawberry and whip cream crepes and strawberry milkshakes. Yum! We then headed to Isaac's last basketball game. He did great and had fun. After the game, we went to Mazzio's for his post season party. We got there a little after 11:00, but apparently we missed some vital communication because the party didn't start until 12:30. Good times in the car! We did take them to the pet store for a minute, but didn't want to miss the team, so we didn't stay long.

Ashlyn has a special knack for sneaking candy. She waits until we're distracted and then she works fast. We had hardly turned our heads before she busted into Isaac's V-day bag from a team mate and had a sucker in her mouth while she worked on the wrapper of another candy. If I carried my camera around all day, you'd see several of these guilty, but pleased pictures of Ashlyn. I don't know where she finds it all. I chose not to take a picture of the tears when the sucker was taken away!

Here is Isaac with his coaches and beloved trophy. We think that the trophy is the main reason he plays. I wonder what will happen when he gets older and they only award trophies to the winning team?

After the party, Nana called and invited us to Lexington to make pizzas. I grabbed some pajamas and as soon as Ashlyn woke up from her nap we headed over.

Ashlyn has stepped up to fill the position of "Nana's helper." I'm not sure who had a better time - Ashlyn or Nana. Carter still helps a lot, but we have lost Isaac to the Wii.

I think Ashlyn wanted to make sure that nobody ate her pizza but her!

Carter didn't want his cut, but preferred to take it down how it was.

There's Isaac!

The pizza was delicious and it was a perfect ending to a nearly perfect day.

Taking Flight....for awhile!

Some of Eric's favorite memories of his grandfather are of his model planes. He was sad when his grandmother sold them to her neighbor after Poppa's death, but was ecstatic when the opportunity came to buy them back, plus some, for a killer deal. We've had several huge airplanes scattered around our house, his parents' house, and Meemaw's house for the last several months. After much practice with a simulator and a few outings with the modeler's club, he finally had the confidence and the time to fly his planes on his own. He had several successful flights and surprisingly to me - I actually enjoyed watching - along with several neighbors lined up on their porches. Eric's a natural, with loop-de-loops and all, whereas I'm not allowed to come anywhere near the remote. I can't keep a plane in flight for more than two seconds on the simulator. We took it out again last week and I finally remembered the camera (it would have been nearly impossible for me to walk the 100 ft back to our apartment to get the camera the other times I forgot it! :))

Here they are ready to take flight.

It was a beautiful day. A little Cessna kept flying low over the field where we were flying. We think he was trying to figure out what was going on. Can you tell which plane is real and which is the model?

Everything was going great until we decided to refuel and take it up again. When the plane was barely taking off, it veered hard to the left and was headed straight for an apartment. Eric corrected it and we thought we were out of the woods when it veered again and clipped an electrical wire, which sent it crashing straight down on a wrought iron fence. We're not sure what happened. Maybe a gust of wind? Anyway, I forgot to take a picture at the scene and I really wished that I had the video camera, but I still got a picture of the aftermath. The nose split open and the engine and battery are on the ground. The wing is damaged, but not too bad. Eric is anxious to fix it. A part of the engine cracked, but besides that, we're mostly worried about the integrity of the nose and it's ability to support the engine once it's all put back together.

Eric is still mourning and I'm sure he will be for the next several days. Wish him luck with his repairs!

Bringing down the Spirit

In Primary on Sunday, they were trying to teach the kids about the Holy Ghost. Everyone was being reverant - the Spirit may have even been there - until they brought out some sort of dove to symbolize the Holy Ghost. Carter excitedly raised his hand.

"Yes, Carter?"

"My Dad SHOOTS doves!"

And then it was gone...