How We Spend Our Saturday's

We're right in the thick of spring sports season for our family.  We've got three of the four kids in sports and are having a great time.  I love to watch my kids playing sports and having so much fun.  I love to see their faces light up when their team scores a point or they get a chance to make a play.  I love cheering on the sidelines as loud as I can and stealing a quick wink and a wave when they look over for encouragement.  I love how excited Brandon and Caleb were when they got their uniforms and wanted to sleep in them every night for a week and how even Kelsie was just as (secretly) excited about her own uniform.  Most of all, I love spending this time together as a family, cheering each other on and watching our children grow.

This is Caleb's first time playing any kind of an organized sport.  He was a pretty nervous at first, but once he got on the field and was given his uniform, it all changed.  He can't wait for his Friday practice each week, followed by games on Saturday.  He counts each and every goal during the game and makes sure that we all know the "score".  He devours the half-time snack of oranges each week and is usually pretty happy about running back out onto the field.  Right now for him, it's all about F-U-N.  He can be pretty cautious about getting in on the action, but every once in a while surprises us all with a good kick.  

Brandon's a natural on the soccer field.  He has a tendency to hang back on the field and play the defensive role.  He also has some pretty fancy footwork as he dribbles the ball down the field, as he puts it "I'm pretty much the best dribbler on my team".  Humble, I know.  He has yet to score a goal, but definitely not for lack of trying.  He is totally in his element out there and is having such a great time playing.  Being one of the smallest kids on the team doesn't stop him at all. He's pretty quick and has no trouble keeping up with the bigger kids.  They put him in as goalie one game and I think he forgot what he was doing and ended up all over the field and the other team scored two goals on him.  They've kept him out on the field ever since. 

Kelsie is trying out volleyball this time around and it seems to be a pretty good fit for her.  She also seems to be a natural at the sport and is on a great team of girls.  It has been such a positive experience for her and she has gotten a lot more confident since starting.  She only complained of her arms hurting after the first practice and now gets excited each week.  She's a fast learner and has picked up on all the different techniques pretty quickly.  She even made some friends with some older girls whose younger brother plays on Caleb's soccer team that play volleyball.  They've been teaching her and practicing with her during soccer practice.  I love to see her excited about each game and having so much fun!

Our lives have definitely gotten super busy around here with all these practices and games to get to.  Isaac is loving all the attention he gets at all the different games, which makes up for all the interrupted nap times and eating schedules that he's had to adjust to.  Having these kids is so much fun!

Running off the field after practice

Exhausted after his first game and waiting for Caleb's game to start

Her coach watches as she serves during a game

Caleb (and Brandon) listening to his pump-up song before the game

Having fun in between games

Spring in the Desert

I can't remember the last time that we had near summer-like weather in March and April.  As much as I feel for all my friends in colder climates (Chicago) I'm totally loving this weather!  The wind is really the biggest nuisance around here, and we were plenty warned.  I love putting on my t-shirts and flip flops everyday now.  My kids are diggin' the nicer weather too.  Brandon is pretty much all over the pants and is only in shorts these days.

I went out to take some pictures around our house and in the neighborhood of our "blooming" spring which has mostly already bloomed.  Being in a new place, there's a lot of things that I don't recognize.  I am really curious to see what they are going to turn into.  I have to admit, I do miss the foliage I was able to photograph last year.  All except the picture of me.  I don't miss that at all!

I'm really not sure what this is going to turn into, but I've never seen it before.  It's growing on a tree in our backyard.

I spy a dove, do you?

Watching the Garden Grow

We have been having the most amazing spring weather here in Chicagoland the last few weeks.  We were even able to spend a weekend planting our garden full of our first round of vegetables.  Caleb and I check everyday after we drop off the kids at school to see how our garden is growing and are so excited to see the beginnings of our radishes, spinach, lettuce, and peas! 

Our sweet neighbor gave each of the kids a small pot filled with “dirt” (oreo cookies, chocolate covered raisins, and milk duds) with instructions to come over to her house to fill them with her real dirt and seeds when the goodies were gone.  They were so excited to receive these pots and, as you can imagine, ate their treats as quickly as they could.  They went over to plant their seeds and came home with cherry tomatoes, sunflowers, and pumpkins.  Since it isn’t quite warm enough for them to be outside yet, we’ve kept them in the window sill in the kitchen and they are growing like crazy!  I am really hoping that it warms up soon so we can replant them outside in the garden before they get too big!

They each have been so interested to watch their plants grow and are amazed each day how much bigger they are getting.  This is such a fun time of year!

Pumpkins

 Cherry Tomatoes

Sunflowers

Spring Has Sprung

I went around our yard to take some pictures of the new blossoms and flowers that were just emerging.  I love this time of year, especially when the weather is nice and the kids can play outside.  I love watching everything come back to life again after a long, cold winter. 

And, yes, for those of you who are wondering, I am ready to have this baby.  Caleb told me today that he wouldn’t push on my stomach so the baby wouldn’t pop out.  Maybe I should go ahead and let him.  It might get things started!  This is about as good as it is going to get of me while pregnant.  Enjoy.

First Day of Spring

I really can’t complain.  We had four days of beautiful mid 60 degree weather before the snow. 

It still reminds me of the first day of spring a couple years ago.

Signs of Spring

The kids and I ventured outside today on a nice little walk/bike ride around the neighborhood.  The sun was out and it looked pretty nice, so we thought we’d give it a go.  We decided to look for signs of spring while we were out and came up with a list:

• We can see the grass again
• The birds were singing
• There are some bulbs starting to grow out of the ground
• Kids were outside playing again
• The wind was blowing
• It was still colder than it looked outside

They had a great time riding their bikes and it felt really good to get some fresh air.  Caleb has become a little pro riding his bike.  He has been waiting for the snow to melt so he could dust it off and ride again.  He picked up right where he left off last fall with only a few stumbles.  I’m so glad that it’s starting to get a little warmer around here and that there are promises of spring, just around the corner (or maybe around the block…)!

Always willing to pose for the camera!

  Getting that helmet off can be really hard!

Making silly faces!

Spring

Here is my latest quilting project. I've actually been done with it for about a week, and am just getting around to posting a picture of it. It's my spring quilt for my front entryway. I have always done simple patterns with squares, but was feeling a little daring this time. I really like how it turned out and I love the pinwheel for spring. Remember all the pinwheels you used to make in school? So fun.

Spring Break '09: Day 4

Is it really the fourth day already? Sure is and it was a beautiful day! I knew it was a promising day when Brandon, our early riser, didn't even wake up until "the sky was blue outside!". That almost never happens. Today we spent the majority of the day outside! It has been a long time since we have been able to do that! We walked to the post office and then the library this morning. I walked to my dentist appointment while Wally entertained the children and then we walked home and ate lunch. Then, we were outside again blowing bubbles, riding scooters, playing basketball, and even having a water fight--sort of! Kelsie went to a friends house in the afternoon and the boys and I walked over to the park for a while. Kelsie even made dinner tonight! It was a great day. One of those kinds of days where the house was definitely low on the priority list! I have decided that when you live in these kinds of climates, you really don't take the weather for granted. Especially since it is supposed to be colder tomorrow. Oh well. Happy Spring!

A Leisurely? Saturday Ride

We had such beautiful weather today and tried to make the most of it! We decided to go on a family bike ride to a park to celebrate a friend's birthday. 45 minutes and 2.6 miles later, we made it to the park and had a great time with friends. We are very proud of Kelsie and Brandon for riding the whole way without getting too tired! We are in the process of finding a new (bigger) bike for Brandon and he was such a trooper pedaling his little 12" bike as fast as he could the whole way. Caleb also had a great time in the trailer and hardly made a sound during the ride. Kelsie sang a repertoire of songs along the way keeping us all entertained!

Our ride was pretty uneventful, except for the time Brandon was riding too close to the trailer and ended up flipping over his bike (don't worry, he's OK), so we stopped at 7-11 to get slurpee's on the way home. We made it home exhausted, 5 miles will do that to you especially if you have little legs, but had a great time in the end. We couldn't be more proud of our kids and are (mostly) looking forward to our next family adventure!

Ready, Set,

HIKE!

What else is there to do on such a beautiful day?!

Spring Break: Day 4

We had a fun day on our fourth day of Spring Break. We didn't too anything too out of the ordinary, but we did get to know our next-door neighbor a little better since we were outside playing in the nice weather we had. She is a professional farmer who is part of a group that is trying to start an urban farm here in Evanston. She is all organic and full of information. She showed me where the people who lived here before us planted a garden and said she'd help in our efforts to garden this year! We might finally have a garden that lasts all season! She also has a fish pond in the backyard and invited the kids to come over and feed the fish. They had a great time watching the fish eat the food and swim around. We're finally getting to know our neighbors now that everyone is coming out of hibernation!

We also made some tissue paper flowers to brighten our home and watched a movie during the afternoon when it started to rain. Later that night we all went to my first pack meeting as the assistant cub scout leader. We had a good time watching a magic show and trying out some new tricks.

It wasn't the greatest day, but sometimes it's all about the little things. It's good to have down days like this sometimes, don't you think?

Spring Break: Day 3

I know it's hard to believe, but we had a really nice spring day today and so we took advantage of it! We rode bikes, went to the park, ate lunch outside, and had fun just being in the sunshine! This is what Spring Break is supposed to be like, right?!?!

Spring Break: Day 1

Today officially marks the first day of Spring Break. We woke up to a gray, cloudy, rainy day with a couple of sick kids. So what did we do about it? We made our own spring! The kids helped decorate our front window with flowers, rainbows, 2 sun's, an airplane, and of course, a tie-fighter (upper left-hand corner of the picture, but look hard). It sure made us feel better during such a gray day, and was a huge surprise for Wally when he came home.

We also started making some "sugar crystals" that will hopefully be formed by the end of the week. I think they are enjoying some time off from school and just hanging our together. They have had fun playing games together, especially Raft Wars (it's a fun game, but a little addicting!). Brandon is definitely taking advantage of more time with the video games!

Hopefully we'll have some nicer weather later in the week, but for now, we're enjoying our own little spring in our window.

Here's Proof...

There is an end to this crazy winter! We had a BEAUTIFUL day today! Brandon and I noticed some bulbs that had started to grow in our yard this afternoon while we were playing catch. We were so excited we did the happy dance! It's supposed to get cold again, but this at least gives us hope!

Happy Spring!!!