Another iPhone Catchup

So here is an overview of our life for the past few weeks. With soccer practices and soccer games, taking Natalie to school and picking her up and Shane working and going to school...I feel like we are just getting through the days. Nothing super exciting. 

We did take the girls to play miniature golf and ride go carts. That was really fun! They loved the go carts. Natalie rode with me and Heidi rode with Shane and we just drove around and around. They would have gone around in circles all day! :) The girls HATED the miniature golf. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else playing so we walked the whole course, picked the few holes that looked fun and then turned in our golf clubs. No future Tiger Woods here! 

Lots of soccer games. The girls are doing great! Heidi scored 2 goals last game and Natalie scored her first goal too. Nokie got head butted by accident and had a bloody nose. My Dad thought that was awesome and he was taking pictures of the blood running down her face and onto her shirt. I was trying to get her nose to stop bleeding and clean her up so I only have pictures of the "before." :)

Then last weekend we went to the Farmer's Market downtown. So much yummy food and cute craft tents! The girls wanted everything they saw! We compromised on face painting. :)

When we finished at the Farmer's Market we made a last minute decision to head to the Zoo. The kids were so surprised and we had a great time. We did all their favorite things...feeding the giraffes, riding the merry-go-round, and checking out the penguins. They also had some fun craft booths at the zoo too. The girls got free animal tattoos and got to do some spin art.  It was a really fun afternoon.  

Happy Birthday Matthew

Seriously...I don't know whats wrong with me. I have seriously just not been motivated to get on here!! It could be that we have been super busy or it could be that I've been trying to catch up on my scrapbooking, (eek!) or maybe that I'm just not in the mood. :)

Anyway...so Matthew's birthday. We went to my parents' house to swim and hang out. We had a honeybaked ham, scalloped potatoes that were A-MAZ-ING, rolls and salad. Super yummy! I made a chocolate chocolate cake for him and Colie decorated it. Matthew is a pretty tough kid to buy gifts for. Last year...I bombed! I heard about it all year and I had to make up for it this year. He doesn't ever want anything but money and that is not a fun gift to give. So I went to the store and I got a bunch of dollar bills, a couple gold coin dollars or whatever you call those and then some 5 dollar bills. I had the girls color pictures for him and Natalie found some random gifts around the house. I had Shane blow up around 20 balloons and I filled them with all the different things. Some had a couple dollars, coins, 17 pennies, pictures, crayons and chalk from Natalie and a few empty ones. We filled a giant box and told him he could have whatever he could pop in 60 seconds. That kid popped the whole box in less than 30 seconds with his bare hands! It was so funny!

 Mom's gift to Matthew...an entire bowl of pasta salad just for him!

 Our crazy gift for Matthew

Silly dog

It's That Time Again

It's soccer season again! This year is kind of insane. We have practice every Tuesday and games every Friday but this year Natalie moved up to the U7 league. So we have Heidi's practice/games that Shane is coaching at 5:30 and Natalie's practice/games at 6:15. It makes eating dinner very difficult! We have to eat super early because as soon as we get home the kids get right into the bath and then straight to bed. The girls love it though and it's only for a little over a month so it's totally worth it. 

They had their first game on Friday and they did awesome! Heidi did great. She scored for the first time since playing soccer. And...she did it twice! She ran the ball down from the other end of the field three times but the first time she tripped 5 feet from the goal and another kid got the ball. She is so much more focused this year and so much fun to watch!

Natalie did awesome too. She is with the bigger kids now and they actually have some strategy and teach positions instead of just "go for the ball." They are much more competitive which makes me a little nervous. Natalie actually fell and on her way to the ground got kicked in the ribs. Poor thing! She started crying but within 3 minutes was back in the game. She didn't want to sit on the sidelines! I was so proud of her!

Soccer Season Again

Soccer started again today. This is going to be a crazy season!! Heidi and Nokie are on the Purple Panthers...so cute! Shane is their coach and they practice at 5:30 for 45 min. Natalie moved up to the 5 and 6 year old league this year and her team is the Dynamite. They start practice as soon as Heidi finishes so that means that we don't get home till after 7:30. What a long night! Twice a week! If I'm not posting much for the next 6 weeks you'll know why. :)

1st Day of Kindergarten

Natalie started school yesterday! I was very prepared. We had her back pack packed up with everything she needed and her fist day of school outfit picked out.  Natalie has been excited to go to school since preschool let out so there was no worry or fear about going to a new school for her which helped me out a ton. I didn't have to worry about her being scared or not making any friends. We also found out that her good friend from preschool is in her class so no matter what happens she will at least have one person to play with.  

So yesterday morning I got up early and got myself ready. Then I woke Natalie up, then Heidi. Shane made them eggs for breakfast and I packed her lunch. We went in the front yard and took pictures and then drove to school. There were a million people there!! We had to park a ways away and walk over to the school. As we get closer to the school I start getting anxious. We walk through the big doors and down the long long hallway and when we finally get to her class I feel it. It was so weird! I took one last picture of her and then she went into her classroom. It was just so sad! I didn't cry...I held it together till I got to my car! I couldn't believe how hard it was! That was the one thing I was not prepared for!

Natalie Poses

 Family Poses

  

 I dropped Heidi off at my Mom's house around 11:30. She wanted some Mammy time. :) I ran some errands and then got in line to pick Natalie up at school. When she got to the car I was so excited to see her. I couldn't wait to hear all about her day. Here's what she said. 

It was fun.

I made a friend today but I don't remember her name.

It was really hot outside.

We got to color.

I sat at table 3. 

Everything else I had to drag out of her. :) 

I had a special afternoon planned for her very first day of school. I took her to a ceramic studio so she could paint something. She had never done that before and it was really nice to do something just the two of us. I got to hear more about her first day and we had fun painting together. I think it might be a first day of school tradition for us! Then Shane picked up Heidi from my mom's house and met us for dinner at Red Robin...Natalie's favorite. She got to tell Shane all about her day...even less than she told me. :) It ended up being a really nice day. 

"Adventure Land"

My cute little Heidi is really really terrible at going to bed when she is supposed to. She will call me a million times, come out of her room to ask me a question or I'll find her sneaking down the stairs. The final straw was about a week ago when she woke up at 1am and kept coming into my room every 20 minutes until 5:30 in the morning! Just long enough for me to fall back asleep before she came and woke me up again! So I came up with a plan! Shen she goes to bed she gets three popsicle sticks. Every time she calls me or comes out of her room I take a popsicle stick. In the morning she gets a star for every popsicle stick she has left. When she got 10 stars we took her to this place called Adventure Crossing...aka "Adventure Land." :) It has a little arcade, mini golf, go carts and a few rides. They loved the arcade! They had never been to one before and loved winning tickets. They played ski ball, air hockey and other little games. Shane and I played some too! It was a fun morning. They also went on the merry go round and a caterpillar roller coaster. I was worried that Heidi would be scared but they loved it. They laughed the whole time!

 Heidi really wanted to try the motorcycle ride

 Shane trying to beat Natalie at ski ball...didn't happen :)

 They went all by themselves! They were really proud of themselves.

They loved the roller coaster!

 The kiddie air hockey table

 Shane and Heidi playing a race car game. Shane did the pedels and let Heidi drive...most of the time!

 Natalie was really good at this game!