Spring Soccer 2012 Wrap-Up

This weekend is our last weekend jam-packed with soccer games.  But, have no fear, because summer training starts up the beginning of June :)  I have definitely transitioned into being a full-fledged soccer mom, with Hailey having practices/training 2-3 times a week plus games on weekends, along with Zach now playing too.  Since Hailey joining Olympia Soccer Academy last fall he footwork and skills have improved tremendously.  She transitioned from really disliking playing forward, to really taking to the position, along with playing goalie.  Here are a few pic from this weekend.

At Zach's level, they still dogpile for the ball.  However, we are switching him to OSA this summer with Hailey where they focus more on fundamental skills so hoping this will improve.

Yellow pinny, gray shorts.

Zach's right in middle with gray shorts.

And, Hailey's game today.  They tied 1-1 and played great, despite only having 1 sub and playing up a age-bracket.  Go Flames!

Hailey at forward, taking the ball towards goal.

Hailey taking on most of the other team.

fighting for possession

getting ready to shoot

My "Super" Boys...

Sometimes I feel that the boys get left out in the "dress up" play area, so today I made them some superhero capes.  This was the easiest project I've done in a while ~ no sewing required.  I upcycled some of Mat's old t-shirts that were too worn out and stained to even donate.  To make your own: (1) cut the sleeves off an old t-shirt (the bigger the better) (2) cut up both side seems and around the front neckline leaving the entire neckline and back of shirt intact (3) fold in half (so both sides are symmetrical) and cut a cape-like shape (4)  use wonder under to add embellishments of choice (4) some very happy kids. Or, just bring me an old t-shirt and I'll make it for you :)


Faster than a speeding bullet...

On the prowl...

Partners in crime...

Home Sweet Home...Finally

The process of building a house went so much smoother than we thought.  Our builder, Greg of Dun-Rite Homes, was great to work with  and was always in contact with us regarding the progress of the house.  However, the process of closing on the house proved a bit painful for everyone involved.  Originally, we were scheduled to close on April 11th and move in that weekend.  That was our mistake from the get-go, scheduling a moving date of Friday the 13th.  Anyway, the closing date got pushed back and we were told it would be April 15th at the latest, so our builder kindly let us move everything in.  So, with all our wordly possessions at the new house and nothing but bare floors and our old house, we thought we'd camp out for a few days (since we couldn't live at the new house until we closed) and it would be fun. Well, a few days morphed into 2 entire weeks of camping and storing food in coolers since the mortgage company lost all our paperwork, told no one, then moved us to the bottom of the pile.  Argh...needless to say, this past Friday when we closed was heavenly in that we finally could sleep in beds again.

We were very thankful we had a place to stay and that our good friends loaned us a very nice air mattress.  Now, we are totally moved in, organized, and just seamlessly going on with our lives.

We are enjoying our new house, making new friends, and adding some finishing touches to make our house our home. 



Sibling Love...enjoying the new house

Matt landscaped this odd dirt area between the garage and porch for me and the tiered planter I made.

Hailey, cleaning the ledge between the kitchen and living area.

The boys making themselves at home already.

A few our favorite areas of the house since I posted a bunch on facebook already
The living room

 *My* kitchen

View of the back of the house, and that's still not our entire yard

HOME ~ SWEET ~ HOME

Friday...Show & Tell

Since I'm now a regular at the orthopedic surgeon's office as my clavicle is on the mend, I was able to snag a copy of my x-rays since the kids have been clamoring to know what it "looks" like inside mommy.  I'm sure a few of you are interested too, so here we go...

1 day before surgery ~ clavicle in 2 pieces that are pretty far apart

1 month after surgery ~ a straightened clavicle held together by titanium plate and 5 screw.  Still not healed in terms of new bone formation, but on the mend!

Luckily, we don't fly much because this will definitely make travel interesting. Hailey is now very excited to go to school next week with a picture of the screw inside me to show to the boys...she really knows how to win them over, oh my!

Plastic Easter Eggs...Bunnies & Chicks

With us getting ready to move next week, we've been pretty busy packing and cleaning house.  I've taken to selling most of our household possessions on craigslist =) and we've been organizing everything else and buying new furniture (putting our grad school days behind us), curtains, and all the fun stuff that comes with creating a home.

The kids have been very patient and have been helping out where they can as we box up all their books and toys.  So, today we spent most of the morning having fun doing some Easter crafts (with supplies that weren't taped in boxes yet) since we have no Easter decorations out due to packing. 

We turned some plastic Easter eggs into cute chicks and bunnies with my box-marking sharpie and craft supplies we have in a tote.  These came out much cuter than I expected and the boys were proud of their work!  I glued a piece of cardboard on the bottom of the plastic eggs so they would stand up and the boys had fun decorating them.  I poked a hole in the top with a screwdriver (1 of my 101 ways NOT to use a screwdriver in the way it was intended) and we added pipe cleaner bunny ears and chick hair. 

And, the boys decided to decorate the backsides, too.

Our Crazy Busy Life

Time to post some new pictures!  We've been quite busy lately...Zach and Hailey are taking swimming lessons twice a week, Hailey has soccer practice once a week in addition to her games, and we just added another busy day with Zach playing soccer now too.  Add this along with all the decisions and little bits and pieces of building a house and packing (we move in less than 2 weeks) and things become a little hectic.

This weekend has been extra busy with 2 soccer games, a visit to Omaha to celebrate Matt's Grandma's 85th birthday (which is really on April 7th), putting in a mailbox at our new house, and adding plywood to our attic so we have extra storage space once we move in.  It's been awesome working with our builder who gave us a key to go in any time we want to see all the updates.  We spent a lot of time at the new house this weekend (even though we don't close till the 11th) and already met a few neighbors ~ all with kids.  It's going to be a very kid-centric neighborhood and everyone we met has been very friendly, so even though we are sad to be leaving our friends in this neighborhood we are excited to be gaining new friends (for us and the kids), too. 

Here are a few pictures from this weekend...

85 years young ~ Matt's Grandma Jean.  We took a special trip to Omaha today to spend some quality time with Matt's grandma; it was great getting a chance to visit for a while.  Our kids are so fortunate to have a loving great-grandma!

The weather was so beautiful, that we spent some time outside and enjoyed the porch swing.

Late this afternoon, Zach has his first soccer practice/game.  After watching Hailey play for several seasons, he was more than ready to get in the action.  

He is definitely not afraid to go after the ball, a lesson he learned from playing keep-away with Hailey.

While Zach was busy playing soccer, Hailey hung out with her soccer friend whose brother is playing in Zach's soccer league.  They decided to seek some tranquility way up in a tree.

And, Grady's favorite part of the day...Grandpa, his best bud.

Budding Scientists

Last night, Hailey had her annual science fair at school.  This year, she opted to work with a friend and they explored gummy worms and the interesting things they can learn from them. 

They studied elasticity by measuring how far they could stretch a gummy worm under different temperature conditions.

They made their gummy worms dance by soaking them in baking soda and then putting them in a jar of vinegar.

And, since we had vinegar and baking soda on hand, we made a purple volcano just for fun.

Here are the young scientists showing off their hard work at the science fair.

Zach had a great time at the science fair too!  He was so intrigued by all the projects and decided we needed to try to make rock candy at home.  So, this morning, we set up his experiment.

He wanted to do the project mostly himself, so here he is stirring the supersaturated sugar water solution.

He wanted to make bright-colored rock candy, so we dyed our solution and put in our pipe cleaners.

Now we wait....

 
 Stay tuned next week for the final result.  Zach keeps asking to look to see of any sugar crystals are growing yet so it's going to be a long couple of dyes for him.