Soccer Stud

Soccer is in full swing in Sioux Falls, and I am now an official van driving, kid toting, soccer yelling, mom. And I wear it quite well, if I do say so myself. I would used to drive down I 229 on a Saturday afternoon and just cringe at the sight of the packed soccer fields. But its growing on me. Being outdoors on freshly mowed and mosquito sprayed lawn watching your kid play his heart out and leave it all on the field is a very rewarding way to spend your time. Plus, there are some other really nice soccer moms out there. And as long as your other kids cooperate and play with the toys you've brought for them, you can really enjoy it.

Tonight was already Jack's 3rd game of the season. Its so fun to see how all the kids have improved at their ball handling skills. They still steal the ball from their teammates, kick it way too far down the field, and from time to time, score a goal for the other team, but they are getting better.

Jack had a kick off tonight and the ball caught some air and clocked a player from the other team square in the face. The poor kid tried to suck it up, but it was a pretty hard hit, and he ran off towards his mom. I felt so bad for him, but on the other hand, it was a pretty good kick.

Here is an action shot of Jack. He sure knows how to hustle! He isn't afraid to get in there and start kicking. I'm surprised more kids don't get kicked in the you know where.

Oh! One more funny story from tonight. The "white" team was scoring one lucky shot after another, 40 seconds left of the game and they were aiming for another one. All the kids bunched in front of the goal and our team "yellow" just couldn't get it away so at the last second in an attempt to save himself the agony of seeing them get the goal, Jack just dove over and landed on the ball. Times up! He saved it, maybe he'll end up being a goalie? I don't know, he runs to fast to stay back there.

Almost There

Ella has been getting closer to full on mobility everyday for well over a month. I keep reminding they boys that it won't be long. "Another two weeks", I've been saying for what seems like forever. She has now managed to move across the living room by lifting up on all fours and then landing in a different spot, rolling, and scooting on her butt. She is very entertaining to watch and I love to just sit and watch her play. We finally went out this last weekend and bought a gate in preparation for the big event.

She also love to stand. Her saucer has always been a favorite place to practice this stance in safety. But lately she has been wanting to do it with some assistance on the floor. She will hold onto our hands, or arms and then let go with one hand, and then will slowly let go of the other and as soon as she realizes she isn't hanging on, will lunge toward you in a panic. But tonight, at Jack's soccer game, Lewis was standing over her holding onto her hands and she was pushing him away. She stood by herself for over 10 seconds before leaning back into his legs. She is getting better and is able to stand for longer lengths of time. After she figures out crawling, I don't think walking will be too far behind.

Birthday Wishes

So last friday was my birthday. 29. I'm not at all afraid of 30, I actually welcome it. I mean, how much worse can it be? I already have 3 kids, I'm pretty much as grown up as I'm going to get.

When Lewis cam home from work he surprised me with a bunch of yellow and white daisies. They were so pretty and wrapped in white tissue paper. What a sweet surprise. The next day Jack asked me if they were real. I said yes, then he questioned, "how can they grow so fast in just paper?"

After a lasagna dinner at home we went for our first bike ride as a family of 5. It was really fun, and a lot of work pulling a 100+ lb trailer of kid. I was really proud of myself though, I didn't have to stop once, and I got a great workout. We stopped at a park before we turned around to come home. The boys played and Ella ate grass and enjoyed swinging.

As I was pushing Ella, Jack ran over and told me "Will is talking to a stranger!" I noticed he was talking to a little girl, I told him it was fine to talk to kids. So off they went and continued to play with her. As we were getting ready to leave Jack informed me that Will said he wanted to marry the little girl, she was around 8 years old. I asked Will why. He replied "because she is a nice girl". I just hope he keeps looking for those "nice girls".