Addidas Cup Soccer Tournament...

Chase tried out for a competition soccer team last spring and made it. They have been practising together this summer and just had their first tournament and took second place. It was a fun tournament. This is a totally different ball game for Chase that he is still getting used to. In rec ball he ran the show because he went wherever the ball was and kicked it until it went in the goal. In competition they actually play positions and keep score so his coach is on the side yelling "Run up line, Pull Back, Stay on sides, Cross the field," Etc.. and he looks a little lost out there. But he is getting the hang of it, and he really loves it so it will be fun to watch him progress.The game for first place was intense! They tied 1 to 1, so they went into overtime which they tied, then they went into a shoot out which they also tied, so finally each of the goalies had to take a shot on each other and our goalie missed. Poor kid, there were some tears after that. I felt so bad for him, that was way to much pressure for an 8 year old kid.

Crazy Chase...

Seriously this kid is Crazy! I have called the nurse 4 times this month. First because he sliced his foot open in the creek, I knew he didn't need stitches I was more worried about tetanus or infection. Second and third were because of wasp stings that swelled up huge and stayed swollen for 4 days One on his ear and the other on his hand. And last but not least because he dropped a stick on his foot and it went all the way through. He had a nice little hole in his foot that once again I wasn't worried about needing stitches (how do you stitch a hole?) but I was worried about it getting infected.

Do you think this stops him... Of course not. After I gave him benedryl for his wasp sting he headed back outside to go catch some more wasps (I'm not kidding) and after I got his foot all cleaned and wrapped up he ran back outside to play without shoes on (In my defence I didn't know he didn't put his shoes back on, but I did get scolded by Matt when he came home to find Chase outside in the road limping on a swollen dirty foot that had a hole in the middle of it.)

Anyway, School started today so maybe he will calm down a little bit. What do you think the chances of that are?

Hip Hop Camp...

I really don't plan on encouraging my girls to do Hip Hop. But at Center Stage where Aspen does her singing group her last months tuition went towards one of their intensives and this is the only one that fit our price range. So we did it, and Aspen loved itShe learned a little dance to "Baby" by Justin Bieber. I came home and YouTubed him singing it so Aspen could show Matt her dance. While Aspen was dancing Zoe was falling... IN LOVE! And now has a very bad case of "BIEBER FEVER".
She has asks to watch the video every day. And each time she watches it she asks me "Do you like him Mom? Do you think he's cute? Do you like how he sings? Do you like how he dances?"

I have 2 very different little girls on my hands, On the one hand we have Aspen who is sweet and sensitive, who wants to grow up and be a Mom and have Babies. And on the other hand we have Zoe who is Sassy and Feisty, who wants to grow up and wear makeup, sing like Hannah Montana, and marry Justin Bieber. I think she's going to give me a run for my money...

She's finally LOST It...

Her tooth that is. After a whole year of kindergarten watching everyone lose their teeth. And then months it being loose and wiggling it non-stop. The darn thing finally came out! And boy was she excited! She called everyone to tell them and loved showing it off, she has even faked a lisp every now and then just for special effects...

Baby Zeke

My baby sister had a baby. He is so cute, I am just crazy about him.I was so anxious to see him, I was curious if seeing a newborn baby would make my tiny little Lola seem big. It totally did, well mostly just long. He has some meat on him, but she's got some length. And she isn't all curled up anymore, I love when they come out and for the first few weeks they still want to curl up in a little ball.Congrats Jordan and Josh!

Splash Park

They made this new Splash park in Highland and this was our new hangout after I had Lola. It is free, and much easier than the swimming pool! Once again this outing was made possible by my wonderful Mom who Chase's my kids around while I sit under and umbrella with my baby. She also gets everyone lunch and snacks, she really is the best (Sorry to make you all jealous)I'm not even sure who Chase is with in this picture, he just came up and asked me to take a picture of him and his friend and their new pet (The prey mantis in the cup holder)Isn't she Cute!!Josh and Jordan even came with us with their 5 day old baby. Scott kept climbing on Josh's lap so he could grab some mango's and stare at the baby, then he would run off and play for a minute and come back and do it again. I told him the baby was to little to touch and he said "Okay I will not touch him, but can I pet him?"

The Zoo

We decided to try and take the kids to the zoo before school started. I was nervous it was going to be a nightmare with 5 kids, one of them being a newborn. But Jordan and my Mom came, and Teresa and Kris, and we had 3 double strollers so we survived... and even had some fun! In fact, it was probably the most fun I've had at the Zoo because I had plenty oh help and plenty of time.
We didn't have any sort of agenda. We let the kids take their time at each place. Chase and Aspen brought along these notebooks and carried them around the whole time taking notes about the different animals that they saw.Zoe enjoyed pushing all the buttons, especially the ones with the smells.Scott's favorite part was the Monkeys, he especially liked how they could hang from the trees. Here he is doing his best Monkey impression.Oh... and here he is growling like a tiger, kind of funny how it looks like he is smiling, but when I tell him to smile it looks more like he is growling...We thought it was a perfect day to go because the morning started out rainy, but by the afternoon it was HOT! (It didn't help that I dressed everyone in long pants.) So half way through we took a break and got some snow cones.Then we went for a ride on the train. It was really Fun!Now for your viewing pleasure, here is Chase trying to pose like a J Crew Model...And here is proof that Lola was with us...

Love You BJ...

After the BBQ we went to BJ's grave to let off some Balloons. The kids were so excited about this. They each wanted to send a note up with their balloon. Their notes were so cute! Debbie and I were trying to get a picture of them , but the kids were kind of sensitive about them, probably because they were so sweet. Part of Chase's note said "I'm going to be good at Baseball just like you because I can hit pretty hard and I am a really good aim" and Brooklyn let him know how everyone is doing, she told him "Matt and Rick are fine but Grandma and Grandpa are still having a really hard time." It's kind of surprising what kids pick up on.Over the past year Zoe has asked me a handful of times when BJ is going to come back alive and I tell her that he will when Jesus does and she just kind of nods like "Oh okay, so any day then". And BJ's daughter Addie said "I know Daddy's coming back alive, but he's sure taking a long time!" I love the simple faith of little kids!Debbie found a little something to help ease the pain

1 Year...

Last year on July 31st was the day we lost Matt's brother BJ. It's kind of crazy to think back on that day. We spent the first part of the day in shock, then came the tears so many tears, and then came the laughter as we reminisced about BJ and each took turns telling our favorite stories about him. The next few days were pretty much the same lots of laughs, and lots of tears. Then came the funeral which was harder than I ever could of imagined and then it was over. And we were all kind of expected to get back to living our normal lives with this huge part of us missing. But before too long it was pretty obvious that he wasn't missing, we have had some wonderful experiences over this past year that have let us know he will always be a part of our lives. So we spent this day in true BJ style... Just Hanging Out! We BBQ'd and played games and just enjoyed being together as a family. (Except for Rick who is still in Georgia, it definitely felt wrong with out him)