I am a Soccer Mom!

Ok, this post is a little late, but I was waiting on pictures from an unnamed source.
Cole was finally old enough to start playing his first sport ever, soccer. He was very excited about it. We got his jersey a few weeks before the season started and he and his buddy tried to wear it every day!
We had a fun season, but thankfully they don't keep score in the kindergarten league. Cole had a less than stellar coach who couldn't teach her team to score! But we had a good time, and that's all that matters, right?!!?
Team meeting with the coach to discuss our game strategy, or to at least discuss which direction we are supposed to kick the ball!
Cole playing his outstanding defense. (Notice the goalie's attentiveness!)
Who says soccer is not a violent sport?
Cole was a pretty good dribbler, as long as the ball stayed in front of him. (I hate when the ball trips you up on a breakaway! It happens to kindergarteners a lot!)
More of Cole on defense (Again, notice the attentive goalie. Oh well, you can't inspire them all!)
The kids even learned some of the basics, including how to make a proper throw in, as Cole demonstrates here under the watchful eye of his coach.
Overall, we had a fun time, and we might even be talked into it again next year!

Gameday, Provo-Style

If you haven't heard the big news yet, ESPN Gameday came to Provo a few weeks ago to hype the TCU-BYU game. Not sure when (or if) it would ever happen again, Chad decided that Cole needed the Gameday experience in his life. So, he and Cole got up way too early and endured weather that was way too cold to journey up to Provo and stand with way too many people so they could cheer way too loud any time BYU was mentioned.
But they had a great time and now Cole (and Chad) can say, "Been there, done that."
This picture is courtesy of Chad's Dad and his fancy camera and Chad's connections that got them to a very high point in LaVell Edward's Stadium so they could look down on all the madness! (This was a little later in the morning when the crowd had diminished somewhat.)
As you well know by now, our favorite Cougars lost. But, my boys are true fans and continue to cheer even during the down times.
We still love you Cougs! Get 'em next time!

A Date with Dad

Chad learned that Disney on Ice, Princess Edition was coming to Salt Lake, so he decided he and Emily needed some special Daddy-Daughter time. (To tell you how special it was, Chad even missed the BYU football game that was on at the same time. He was willing to tape it and watch it later. What a Dad!)
While her initial reaction was being afraid of the scary parts (the mean Snow White witch, the Beast, and the mean Sleeping Beauty witch), she continues to tell me every day something new that she remembers from the show. She is also constantly trying to sing the songs, although she knows about as many words as her Dad! And, she really loves the Princess coloring book and Cinderella statue that she talked her Dad into buying for her.
She loved Mickey and Minnie Mouse (who doesn't!).
She thought the castle was so cool.
And, of course she loved Tinkerbell, her favorite!
Most of all, she loved having a day with her Dad all by herself!

Independent Addy

It seems like I could write a blog entry every day with the exploits of Addy, but I'm pretty sure I don't have that kind of time!
Here are 2 signs of a child that is far too independent for her own good and for mine! I think it's that third child thing. I've found she's much more capable than my other kids were at this same age. It's amazing what they can pick up on with older examples to follow and when we don't have time to watch them like a hawk!

Addy likes to climb.
So far I've caught her on a chair (how can you get mad at that face?),
drinking and eating from whatever food was left on the table,
on the keys of the piano,
on the table,
and I haven't even captured her favorite spot, sitting on the tray of her high chair with her legs hanging off the front! I have a feeling stitches are in her future.

Addy also loves to be outside. She's very cute whenever someone goes outside. She grunts and bounces excitedly, then she heads to the back entryway and brings back her shoes. (She usually even finds 2 matching ones. That's better than Emily manages sometimes!) Lately she has even been bringing a jacket with the shoes. If I tell her no, or don't take her out, she watches for a chance to head out on her own. As is inevitable with a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, an opportunity always arises. (I might need to invest in a self-closing door. 3-year-olds and 5-year-olds don't seem to know how to close the door when they go out no matter how much I nicely remind them!)
In the past week, I have found her not just sitting nicely on the porch right outside the door, but clear on the other side of the yard in the sandbox (she was quite proud of this one),
headed to play with her friend next door (Emily caught her and monitored her this time),
and eating a huge chunk of ice leftover from our latest snowstorm.
Thankfully all of these escapades wear her out and we can all get some rest and recovery time at night! (Not even goldfish could keep her awake this day!)

Did I Mention...?

Did I mention that my kids are growing up far too fast? I don't like it one bit!

Did I mention that Cole learned to whistle...

...and soon after lost his first tooth which has severely limited his whistling abilities. (We aren't really saddened by this!)

Did I mention that Emily has learned to spell her name...

...and is now learning to write it?

Did I mention that Addy is officially a toddler? Thank goodness for diapers to pad the behind!


Did I mention that I want them to stay little, if only for a little while longer?

A Day at the Farm

For "F" week, Emily's preschool went to a farm. (It was actually more of a horse ranch, but the kids didn't care!) Since it was in the morning, before Cole's school, Emily said Cole and Addy could come too.

Emily loved it. She got to pet a goat.
Cole also thought the goats were pretty cool.
Addy, on the other hand, was not sure what to think about being licked!
They also thought it was fun to help brush a horse.
Then, they got to pick out their very own pumpkin that the farmers grew.
Jack-O-Lanterns, here we come!

Trick-Or-Treat

Once again, I had great hopes of doing a "themed" Halloween. I figured Cole could pick his costume and then I could steer Emily in a related direction. Once again, Cole had other ideas. A while back, he decided he wanted to be the Star Wars character Jango Fett. I kept waiting for him to change his mind, as kids usually do, but after a month of no changing, I decided I was stuck. We've already done a Star Wars theme, so I decided he would once again have to be left out of the fun. (Sadly, I'm not sure he really cared!)
Just in case the yellow crocs weren't enough of a give away to tell you who it was. (Notice the serious bounty hunting face!)
Emily loves Tinkerbell right now and initially decided that was who she wanted to dress up as. However, not too long after that, she saw a cartoon that told the story of Little Red Riding Hood and changed her mind (I think the fact that she found a basket that looked like Red Riding Hood's helped sway her decision. She really hoped to put cookies in the basket!) She flipped back and forth several times until finally a week before Halloween I made her decide for sure. She settled on Little Red. (Good thing because she is pretty darn cute!)
I could handle that costume for Emily because then I could make Addy into the Big (or Little) Bad Wolf. This idea eventually morphed into the Wolf dressed up in Grandma's clothes. (Imagine what I could have done if I had more than a week! Ok, maybe not. I think I work better under pressure!)
Of course, I was a little worried at first that Addy wouldn't wear the costume. After I brought the fur home from the fabric store and laid it on the ground, Addy refused to go near it and would crawl 10 feet out of her way just to get around it. However, one thing about Addy (and most kids her age), she is very bribable. So, half a bag of goldfish later, we got her in the costume and she even cracked a smile or two!
The kids had a great time on Halloween. It's fun that they are getting to ages where they really enjoy it and I don't have to wonder why we go to all of the effort.
We started at a Trunk-or-Treat.
Addy learned to like her costume really fast once she realized that she got candy if she wore it! She decided to crawl like a wolf without my prompting even!
Then we moved on to the houses!
Our fun trick-or-treating group.
It used to be that a trip around the block was enough to satisfy my kids. But Cole is obviously growing up and he and his friends really got into it. So after a while, I took Emily and Addy home, while Chad stayed out with Cole.
Obviously the Big Bad Wolf was worn out from all of the fun. She fell asleep in the 3 blocks that it took to drive home. (I guess when you come down off the sugar high, you crash hard when you are 1)!
Emily used the time at home to line up and count her candy. I was cracking up when I realized what she was doing!
After the bigger kids finally wore out, they all came back to our house for hot chocolate! They were gone for much longer than I expected. I was glad that it was Chad who walked all that way with them.
What a night!