Our Little Soccer Player

For the past four weeks, Alea has been playing soccer. She had two practices and two "games". I should have known before we even had her play that she is not a soccer player! She did not like the contact part this contact sport. I pictured it differently . . . I pictured all the little ones being polite and taking turns kicking the ball . . . NO, they were really aggressive for little four and five year olds. Not to mention there were three boys to every one girl-if that tells you anything. They would literally swarm the ball like little flies. Alea spent much of the time out on the field jumping up and down watching her shadow, inspecting the grass, planting sunflower seeds (??) and giving us thumbs up. She did make two goals tonight!! Whoo-Hoo-but did I mention it was for the other team? I'm glad she experienced the sport of soccer but I'm convinced she will not ask to play again.

They spray painted parts of the field orange and she was fascinated!

-This is during the game.

Is there really a soccer game going on around me?

-Still during the game.

There's our STAR--just go the other way!

Happy? Birthday to ME

The signs were obvious, though I chose not to listen. I'm getting older. This one seems different for some reason. I'm getting older. Why can't I just stay in my 20's, that seems so much softer than the 30's. I'm getting older. Birthdays use to be something to look forward to and enjoy. I'm getting older. My grandma said I could stay sixteen forever--if only?!? I'm getting older. Oh, embrace and let go, it's already come and gone-I'm 30 and getting older!

If you haven't guessed, I turned 30 (on the 10th). It was so much more fun to pick on everyone else in my family when they turned 30 than to experience it myself. Ug, I thought I'd be OK with this, I've even been practicing saying, "I'm thirty" for a while now and that didn't make it any easier to bridge that gap. I'm not depressed, I'm just not eager to let go of the 20's. I did have a wonderful birthday! Greg took the day off and we shopped, walked, swam and ate. I couldn't ask for a better husband or children to spend the WHOLE day with-they made it so wonderful. Thanks to everyone for all the texts, calls, emails and cards-they helped dull the pain!

Happy July 4th

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating our great nation's birthday with family and friends. We were so busy but had a wonderful day. We were in another parade with the church-this time it was cloud covered and rainy (the high was only 67)! We followed the parade with me and my dear friend Amanda trekking off to the outlets leaving the daddys to care for the little ones. We then reunited for dinner and fireworks. Alea was so excited about watching the fireworks she was squealing all evening. Benton did wonderful during the beautiful booms going on all around and we all went to bed happy and tired.

This was our second year to enjoy the local fireworks with our friends, the Charlton family. We are so blessed by their friendship and enjoy many dinners and playdates with them. They are so faithful and encouraging, the kind of friends you can always count on. They help to fill the big empty spot left from being so far from family. I hope we continue to make memories and enjoy each other's families as long as we can. Thanks for sharing this wonderful day with us, Charltons!

Benton Earns Dessert?

We made a cake and have been whittling away at it the past week. During dinner, I did the typical mom thing and told the kids that if they ate all their dinner, they'd get to finish off the rest of the cake. Alea didn't miss a beat and her plate was completely wiped clean in minutes . . . Benton, not so much. He was too busy playing and still had a plate full. I thought it wise to explain to him why Alea was getting cake and he was not. I showed him the empty plate and said, "Alea ate everything on her plate, see, it's empty, now she's getting cake. You will not get cake until your plate looks like Alea's, OK?" He agreed and slowly walked back to their table. Out of the corner of our eyes and amidst muffled giggles we watched as Benton slowly, piece by piece removed his dinner from his plate. Oh, not into his mouth, onto the floor under their picnic table! What a sneaker! He, with a grin on his face, reproduced the empty plate to me, but still did not get dessert.

Oh, Mother!?!

Really? My four years, one month, thirteen days old child has an opinion on what she wears for church, really? I remember the times-few I'm sure-that I would come out all ready for going wherever, totally expecting and even encouraging mom to step in. Following the "look" and "comment", she would send me back to my room for another try. Yes, I remember, but I was FIFTEEN!

While getting ready for church Sunday morning, I suggested to Alea that she wear a skirt, shew, that went over well, she picked a nice pink one. Now time for the shirt. Deep sigh. After a few suggestions, she relentlessly insists on, yes, another pink one. I tried to tell her that it was pink overkill (whatever that means to a four year old) and that she needed to break it up some so she didn't look like a pink dot. I found a jean vest that would have looked great. She attempted to get it on and then had a panic attack and threw it across the room. Uggg. She replies, "But mom, I want to look like a pink dot!" To which I replied some smart mom remark I'm sure. Grrr. On to the shoes. . . I suggested some nice pink butterfly flip-flops to which she curled her nose and said she wanted to wear high heels-pink of course. To this I emphatically said no and she melted to the floor while I removed myself from the situation. Are me and my four year old really going round and round about what to wear? Really? This should happen years down the road! I continue getting ready and here she comes down the stairs prancing, "Mom, I look perfectly beautiful" . . . looking down to the red and blue Incredibles socks and tennis shoes. Nooo. I lovingly said that she is beautiful but those shoes and socks were not going to work-for church, sob, stomp back up the stairs. She reserfaced with nice white and pink socks and pink shoes. We ended up compromising on the entire outfit-oh the joy of an opinion!

The "Perfectly Beautiful" Outfit

The compromise

What is she going to be like as a teenager? HELP . . .

Strawberry Pickin'

We revisited the "pick-your-own" farm last weekend and had a good time picking fresh strawberries. I thought it was a great experience for the kids to get to see a strawberry patch and pick their own produce. Greg . . . wasn't so thrilled, ten minutes into the picking frenzy and he was all for heading back to town. Benton did great until he and I tasted a strawberry and then all was a lost cause! From then on he was simply picking and eating-even the most ripe of strawberries. This just wasn't working with the two year old so Greg took him back to the car. Alea braved the elements the longest with me and we ended up with quite a lot of strawberries. Once we got the strawberries home and chilled, we tasted them again and they were sure tart. I ended up eating all the hand picked strawberries mashed up with a bit of sugar . . . mmm!

There are a lot of pick-your-own farms around, this one is called Berry Patch Farm and is in Nevada, Iowa. If any of you locals know of a fun produce pickin' place that's close to Des Moines, please share. For those of you interested, here's the website: http://www.berrypatchfarm.com/ We have enjoyed going to the farm and the prices are extremely affordable!

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day all you father's out there! Alea decided-all by herself-that the best Father's Day gift for Greg would be to go to the Build a Bear workshop and let Greg make a build a bear all of his own for Father's Day! So, after church we loaded up and headed to the mall to make a build a bear. Greg acted surprised-I had to fore warn him so he wouldn't be too shocked. After picking out his "skin", Alea lead Greg through the whole process. It was incredibly sweet and she was beaming all morning. We now have another build a bear named Cowboy-welcome to the family! We had a wonderful day (I hope Greg did too!) and ended up going to some good friends for an extremely "manly" dinner. To my wonderful husband the father of my children:

I love you and hope you know how thankful I am for you everyday. You are the best father I could have picked for my little ones. You are so stable, encouraging, trustworthy and faithful. You are our encourager and support. You are so amazing at making our children laugh and that is important in a world where laughter is happening less and less. Because of you, our two babies are growing into stable, healthy young children. You show our children the truths in life, how to handle hurt and anger along with how to show love and compassion. From watching you, Benton will know how to be a wonderful Daddy and Alea will have a high standard for a husband. We all three love you and hope you had a great Father's Day-you are the BEST!

To my Daddy:

Your silent support has been a priceless gift all my life. I can still see you in the stands at any sporting event and clearly hear the word "ACE" after every volleyball serve. I can remember you showing me how to catch and throw a softball and encourage me to do my best in basketball. I remember watching you shave in the morning and sitting as close to you as possible while you'd read the newspaper and I'd drink the "coffee" you made me-mainly milk and sugar! In the years it was important I felt your protectiveness and cherished your words of encouragement. I could not have asked for a better father and want you to know how much I love you! Happy Father's Day.

To my father-in-law Cooprider:

Thank you for all the time you put into my wonderful husband. Your loving example as a husband and father has been extremely influential in his life I am so thankful for you. You are an amazing Poppies to my children and we love spending time with you. You have such an awesome gift for loving people and that is evident in your actions. We are so blessed to be a part of your family! Happy Father's Day!

To my father-in-law Meyers:

Though the miles separated you, your influence in Greg's life has been evident. The support and encrouagement you continually have for our family is always appreciated. We enjoyed the many months of working together and gleaned so much knowledge from you. You are a wise and respected man in our world. I thank you for all your phone calls and visits they are always warm reminders that you care deeply for our family. Happy Father's Day!