Goal!

Noah's spring soccer season began this past weekend. I have a feeling it is going to be a very fun time for many reasons. First of all, this season, his whole team is comprised of his friends. (As opposed to last season when we didn't know anybody). Though this does make it hard for the poor coaches to establish any order, it is extremely fun for Noah - and us - to have a whole team of good friends. I have noticed that he seems much more comfortable this season and I am sure that much of that is due to being on the field with people he knows really well.

The other reason I am excited, is that Noah has unleashed his competitive nature! All of the sudden he is interested in fighting for the ball and scoring goals. And that's exactly what he did by the way - he scored the first goal of the game on Saturday!

                                          There he is, number 4, headed right for the goal!

An interesting side note...I have discovered that I am destined to be an obnoxiously loud, side-line soccer mom. Oh yeah, I was screaming for him at the top of my lungs. (When I asked him later if he heard me, Noah said no. No?) Anyway, I am trying to reign myself in seeing as how it is only micro soccer and they don't even technically keep score, but as soon as that boy ages up to something more serious, you can bet I will be going crazy!

And where was Wes while I was making a fool of myself? He is the team's assistant coach. You can see him in the background of this picture.

He got to do a lot of "bench baby-sitting". You know, making sure kids don't wander off and chase butterflies. We are talking about 4 year olds! I know he loved it though - he has been dying for Noah to enter the world of sports.

           Noah had just as much fun racing his teammates Olivia and Matthew during their "half-time".

Have you ever wondered about the difference in the way that boys and girls perceive things? Well, watching a co-ed team gave me some insight. At one point during the game Matthew turned towards his mom and yelled, "Guess what? I am number ONE!" He then executed a fist pump and ran off.

Later on Addie, the little girl on the right in the above picture, ran toward her mom and said, "Guess what mom? My pony-tail swishes back and forth when I run!"

I am really going to enjoy this!

Action Shots

Today I begged my sister to go for a run with me but the best she would consent to was to ride alongside me like this....

You see, the run quickly devolved once we realized how much fun we could have with a camera phone. We are all about the action shots!

We had a really good time jumping......

.....until a random jogger came upon us and I became embarrassed. I do live here after all. But Liam was amused. (And so were we!)

Conversations With Noah

I had the following conversation with Noah at lunch today.

Me: What's up buddy?

Noah: I'm just looking at that picture. (He points to the framed print of Rainbow Row that we have in our dining room.)

Me: What about that picture?

Noah: Well, I just can't stop thinking about Rainbow Row!

Now, I will take a moment to make a confession. This is the point in the conversation when my head got really big. I mean, here is my son - the same one who thinks farting in his brother's face is hilarious - sitting at our table, and marveling at the beauty of a historical landmark. How many almost 5 year old boys do that?! I must be doing something right, I think to myself.

Me: (Full of cockiness at my parenting abilities) I know Noah, Rainbow Row is really pretty, huh?

Noah: Well......I mean the Rainbow Road race on Mario Cart where you drive on the rainbow path and jump over the stars.

This would be the point where all the air is let out of my cocky balloon.

Me: Oh. Right, you were talking about video games.

I knew the other was too good to be true.

And, since I really prefer a post with pictures, here is a picture of my farting, video game loving boy as we "went for a run" yesterday.  I love that he "ran" with me - even if it was only for a 1/4 mile!

Happy St. Patrick's Day (One Day Late)

Nothing like a play date to make both kids and mommies happy on St. Patrick's day. Everyone showed up looking festively green and the weather was beautiful. And, with the exception of my son trying to drown a moth, a good time was had by all!

Please notice the ever so safe trick that the girls were performing for us.... Stand on a stool, grab the bar, and flip over it. Shockingly, there were no head injuries!

No, she's not mine but she shows up on the blog a lot cause she's super cute! Here is Harper enjoying one of these.....

                          Green Rice Crispy Caterpillars ( or Calla-piters if you're 4).

       And when the gnats start attacking, you can always come inside for a little movie time.

And last but not least, kids watching TV makes it perfectly acceptable for the mommies to drink wine and make fun of the shape of those green "calla-piters".

                            Apparently we never left middle school - I love my friends!

Pajamarama

Okay Charleston peeps.....listen up!

Are you looking for a fun, family-friendly activity for the evening of April 9th? Would you also like to contribute financially to a very worthwhile organization? Well look no further - come to the Pajamarama!

Here is the story. For the last several months my Tuesday morning Bible study group has been working with Jaiden's Place, a home for new mothers and their babies who would otherwise have no place else to live. The house gives them a place to stay for 9 months while they work on job skills or finish degrees in an effort to support themselves. I have been to the house and met the founder, and am very excited to be involved with such a great organization. The kicker with starting something like this, is that in order to apply for grant money the house has to be in operation for a full year. But they can't operate without money....you see how this can become a bit of an obstacle! So, that is why we are hosting this fundraiser. The hope is to be able to raise money to help with the monthly operating expenses of the house while it gets off the ground.

And now for the fun part! On April 9th, starting at 6pm, you can bring the whole family to a giant pajama party at the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. Not only does the cost of your ticket get you entry into the museum and all of it's fun activities, it also gets you access to all sorts of special things specific to the Pajamarama - breakfast for dinner, face painting, goody bags for kids, fabulous door prizes (seriously, they are worth coming for!) and a silent auction. There may even be more fun to be had but you must come to find out!

You can go here to buy tickets online or you can contact me directly for tickets. Leave me a comment in the comments section of the blog if you want some and I will be happy to get them to you!

Brothers

The weather is beautiful and we couldn't resist getting outside this weekend. The boys are so cute playing together, but I think this next series of pictures exhibits why Noah should be a little scared.

              It is not a good sign when your younger brother - by 4 years - can knock you over.....

                                          And crawl across your body to steal your soccer ball.

                                          Ahh, sweet victory. Be afraid Noah, be very afraid!

White Flowers and Green Noses

Noah cracks me up sometimes. There are moments where he acts like he couldn't care less about what is going on around him, and then there are times where is Mr. Sensitive about everything! Like when he got sad that they were cutting down trees to build houses in our neighborhood. They are killing those trees! And this morning, when he got mad - and then extremely sad, almost weepy - because the Bradford Pear Trees are turning green. But I don't want them to turn green! I really like the white, it is beautiful!

In an effort to make him feel better I told him he could pick a bloom off the tree before they all turned green. I did not count on him picking a huge cluster that he then wanted to bring in the car. We have enough allergy problems without bringing pollinating flowers into an enclosed space. I managed to convince him that we would take a picture of the flower instead and that would be just as good. So here he is with his beloved white flower.

And of course, then he decided that he needed to take a picture too. I don't really like him messing with my phone but I gave in and told him he could take ONE! Annndddd......this is what happened.

"Okay Noah, we have to go now. Liam is waiting....give me back the phone please."

"Noah! I said ONE picture. You're not listening....give me the phone."

"Noah! The phone - NOW! Don't make me ask again! Don't keep clicking pictures and backing away....Noah!"

And that is the story of almost every conversation we have with Noah these days.

And in other news. 

This little guy has the worst cold. He didn't sleep at all last night (argh!) I am praying the snotty nose leaves us - and soon!

So, What Do You Think?

My blog has undergone a makeover! I treated myself to a little help from a professional and had Leslie of Sweetie Baby Blog Designs work on my blog. I am thrilled with how it turned out. It was worth every penny because I could NEVER have figured out how to do it on my own. (I am just not that technologically savvy!)

 Also, I am going to have a new section on the sidebar for Followers. If you read on a regular basis, please Follow my blog. I would love to know who is out there reading my ramblings! In all seriousness, I find the blogging world fascinating - the whole idea that you can get to know a total stranger even though you have never met face to face. I have several blogs on my blog roll that are my good friends, but also many that are just people I have found out there in blog land but have never met before. I know some people say that technology makes us disconnected but it seems that it also presents us with the opportunity to connect with people in brand new ways. So, let me know who you are so that you can be more than just anonymous readers!

Family Outing At The Zoo

Yesterday the boys and I had been planning on spending Saturday all by our lonesome while Wes was at a conference, but he ended up not going so we suddenly found ourselves with a whole day to spend together, free to do what we wanted. Upon Noah's request we decided to make a trip to Columbia to the zoo. You never know how these things are going to go with little ones but I have to say, we had the best time! The weather cooperated, nobody had any meltdowns, and we really enjoyed just spending time together as a family. I took tons of pictures to share on the blog!

Here are the boys at the beginning of our adventure. Please note the map in Noah's hand. It did not leave his grip the whole time. He was convinced he had to consult it every five minutes to figure out how to get to all his favorite places!

Our first stop was the reptile building. There were tons of really cool things there actually. My favorite was the Copperhead snake.

I am kind of obsessed with the look of his skin, and strictly thinking from a fashion perspective would love a pair of flats or a cute handbag with that pattern! (It could be fake Copperhead skin of course, so as not to harm any animals!)

While in the reptile building we saw this guy.

He was sitting so still in his tank that Noah said, "He looks... a little bit... dead."

Another highlight of our outing was the little train that you could ride on. Noah rode twice, once with Wes and once with me. Needless to say, he loved it!

And Liam loved standing and waving as we rode by!

A side note.... This picture cracks me up....

I couldn't get both of them to look at the camera at the same time, so Noah's solution was to physically grab Liam's head and turn it toward the camera for him. I can promise that seconds after I took this shot Liam came out swinging!

We saw so many cool animals. It was really amazing to walk through and just marvel at all the different kinds of creatures that God has put on this earth. I think my exact words to Wes were, "God has the coolest imagination!"

And what was Noah's favorite? I am fairly sure it was the Giraffe because he got to feed him.

Okay, and as a reward if you have made it this far without getting bored and giving up. It is amazing what crimes against fashion you can find on display at the zoo. I saw so many that I was a bit overwhelmed by them all. But one did take the cake for me, mostly because it was something I saw repeated over and over again. I discreetly (I hope) took a picture of an example for you....

Apparently those Sketcher type, tone your legs as you walk around sneakers are a big hit with the masses. I hope that I am not offending anyone who is reading this but I beg you, PLEASE do not wear these! They are flattering on no one! If you need to tone I think you should rely on good old fashioned squats and lunges.

A Rough Day

This was my fortune in the chinese food I ate for dinner last night. I laughed out loud when I read it because my day may have been memorable but it certainly didn't feel lucky.

Yesterday was one of those days where you want to start drinking but you look at the clock and realize it is only 2:43 and that would be inappropriate so, instead, you devour many dessert type foods. I can't really pinpoint what it was about my day that made me so crazy. (Well, thats a lie - part of it was definitely the behavior of my four year old.) I just felt like I never stopped moving all day, but when all was said and done NOTHING was accomplished. Do you ever have days like that? If you don't just lie and tell me that you do.

Here is what I did yesterday:

~ Woke up, got ready, got the boys ready and loaded in the car. Dropped off Noah at school.

~ Ran (literally) into Target because we were out of diapers completely. How did I let that happen?!

~Barely made it to bible study at 9:30. Had to settle for listening because I had not been able to locate my copy of the book we are studying. Oops.

~ Pick up Noah. Drive home, unload children, feed them lunch. Clean kitchen and then prepare to dirty it again.

~ Make dinner and dessert for my friends who just had a baby. (To clarify, I was glad to do this. It is just that any kitchen endeavor is made harder when Noah is being a brat and Liam is pulling EVERYTHING out of the cabinets.)

~ Put pause on the culinary experience to put Liam down for a nap, only to have him wake up 30 minutes later screaming. He spent the next hour in the jumparoo screaming off and on. It was fun.

~ Deliver dinner, come home, do some laundry, feed my children. Then bath, bedtime, and (Yay!) chinese food.

Which brings me back to one more thing about that fortune cookie. Wes opened it and added the whole, "In Bed" phrase to the end of it and looked at me with a huge grin. I simply swallowed my last sip of wine and proceeded to lay down and fall asleep on the couch. Sorry Wes. Have a talk with these guys about the unfairness of it all! :)

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. Man they are a pain sometimes but I sure do love them!