Josh's Soccer Plan

Wednesday was Josh's first Soccer practice. Each boy was told to bring his own ball, and for the practice the coach played games with the boys that involved kicking the ball to the goal. Josh's favorite game was "red light, Green light" They kicked the ball on green light and stopped on red. When practice was over Josh was happy and excited for his first game. On the drive home he talked about the practice and his team. Then he realized that while practice was fun something was missing.

So he asked. "Will the coach tell us the plan next time?"

I asked. "What Plan."

Josh said, "The plan for winning the game!" That's my Josh, always planning.

Today was his first game. Knowing how Pre-k soccer works, every boy for himself, I decided that I better make a plan with Josh. So while I was helping him get his uniform on I told him that the plan for the game today was to kick the ball as much as he could, and try to get it in the goal. Josh seemed satisfied with that plan and was ready to play.

Josh did great. He stayed with the ball and got a few kicks in here and there. As usual with this age group the boys were often found in a big mass kicking each other while trying to get the ball.

Josh loves an audience so he was happy to have his fan club there.

He didn't seem to mind the assistant coach who kept following him around to give him his ball.

Grandpa took on the Job of keeping the Assistant off of the field.

After watching his brother and sister for years, Josh is so excited to finally be playing sports and getting to be part of a team. He had so much fun today, that he is already talking about signing up for soccer again next season.

Baby Talk

Valerie is 20 months old and makes me laugh almost everyday. She is figuring out her place in the family and testing the boundaries of just how bossy she can be. (We let her be pretty bossy at this point, because she is so cute and we can't help it.) She is also learning a lot of new words. She talks quite a bit, but the part I love most is when I catch her singing, sometimes she is trying to sing a song we all know, but she also makes up her own little songs.

All of our Children have come to this age with many words of their own. It is fun to hear some of the words they come up with on their own and it is also fun to figure out what they are saying. Emily called Prince Phillip "Pea Soup." Joe called Emily, OHWEE for a couple of years. Josh was our most creative in the language department and used a lot of different words for things. Like Boo Boo meant train. Valerie has also come up with a few words of her own, and we think we know what most of them mean, but we could be wrong.

Valerie has figured out that if she does not like what someone is doing she can cry and usually someone will come running to see what is happening. She has also learned to say owie if she does not like what is happening. For example, one night she kept getting out of bed, and I kept putting her back in. About the third time I put her back in bed she changed her M.O. from crying, to screaming OWIE, OWIE, OWIE. Hoping that dad would come and save her.

She is getting really good at using that word, but it is usually followed by a word not found in the English Dictionary, "Ma May"

With all of her climbing talents and just the normal trouble a toddler can get into in a day, there are many moments when we have to stop her from doing things. Or tell her NO. So when anyone does something that Valerie does not like, she will go tell on them to someone else. And she will tell them that they are "Ma May." For instance. I take her off of the counter and tell her she can't climb up there. She will go to dad and say in a sad or mad voice.

"Mama, Ma may!"

Ryan and I are "Ma May" at least once a day, and there are days when everyone is "Ma May" for one reason or another. A couple of Weeks ago Ryan had to take something over to his parents. When he left we were all being "Ma May," so Ryan took Valerie with him to see Grandma. As soon as she got to Grandma's house, Valerie went down the roll and told Grandma that we were all "Ma May".

We have decided that "Ma May" means, "mean to me," but I am still not convinced, because sometimes she will come and tell me that Josh or Joe are mean. All I know is that if someone tells Valerie that she is "Ma May" she gets really mad, so whatever it means it can't be good.

Josh has been "Ma May" so much that one day when Valerie was playing I heard her sing this little song.........

"Joshy, Joshy, Joshy, Joshy, MaMay"


I wish I would have recorded it. Maybe someone else will earn a song soon.

Karate Tests

Joe and Ryan Both tested for their next belt in Karate.

Joe was testing to become a full yellow belt. His group went first.

Joe loves taking Karate. He looks forward to going to class and he is always excited to learn the new techniques.



He has even learned to use his skills on the playground and has blocked a few punches headed his way. (This is another story, but we are hoping that said puncher has learned not to mess with Joe. Lucky for us Joe has just blocked and not punched back.)

When Sensei asked Joe what his goals are, he said he wants to be a black belt.

Sensei told him that he would have to work hard for about 5 years to earn that. Joe is fine with that.

Joe did really well on his test, and I could tell he was having a lot of fun.

Especially when they got to the sparring part of the test.

He did great and earned his yellow belt.

Ryan tested in the second group. He was testing for his orange belt.

Ryan is also really enjoying Karate. He and Joe both come home tired but happy.

He did really great too and received his orange belt. He hates it when I take pictures, but I think he looks great!

Karate is a lot of hard work. I didn't realize how much conditioning goes along with it.

Good job guys. I am proud of you. Keep up the good work.

Way To Go Josh

Yesterday at preschool, Josh earned his rocket crown. To earn this special crown he had to be able to recognize all of the letters and know what sounds they make.



Josh is usually my child who hates having his picture taken, but he was pretty proud of himself for earning this award. I am pretty proud of him too.

Way To Go Josh!

Big Girl Bed

I had planned on moving Valerie out of her crib around her second birthday this July. However her talent of climbing was developing too well, and the days of her waiting for us to get her out of her crib were over. She didn't cry when she woke up form her nap, or in the morning, she just climbed out and found us. So to hopefully prevent any trips to the ER from falling out of her crib, we decided it was time for the change.

She has been in her big girl bed for a week and a half now. The first week there was very little sleep for us as we tried to teach her about staying in her bed. She eventually caught on. The first time she slept through the night I figured she was just as tired as we were and couldn't wake up, but the next night she slept all night again, and I knew we had made it.

Valerie loves her new bed. Being the climber that she is, she loves using her step stool to climb onto and off of her bed. During the day she will climb on her bed and look at books. When we first set up her room, we put a small two shelf book case next to her bed. The first day we found her climbing on it and jumping onto her bed. She thought it was great fun and after jumping she would laugh and say "Ah Cool!" So the ER trip may be inevitable, but we are doing our best.

Emily was also excited for this change because she moved to the basement into her own room. It has been a fun change for all of us, and I am glad that it only took a week to train Valerie to stay in bed. Now if we can find a way to get her to stop climbing on everything else before she gets hurt. Any suggestions?

The Fire Station

A friend of mine called last Friday and invited us to go on a tour of the fire station. Knowing that Josh still loves the fire engines I told her we would love to come. Josh was excited to go, but when we got there he suddenly turned shy.



After one of the firemen got dressed in all of his gear he offered to let the kids try the coat and the pants on. The group of kids were all pretty young, but one of the older boys got all dressed up. Josh hid in the back. Valerie was interested in trying on the boots, but she ended up changing her mind too.



Touring the Fire Station was a great outing for a cold February afternoon. I can't wait for the weather to warm up a little so we can get out more.

The Zoo With Grandma

Grandma was here helping Jon and Jenny with their new baby for a few weeks. Due to unforeseen illnesses we didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked to, but the day before my mom left to go home she called and invited us to the zoo. Emily, Joe, and Josh were already at school, but Valerie and I were over our colds, and did not have any plans so we hopped in the car and headed to the Zoo.
This was Valerie's first trip to the zoo, and I was excited to see if she liked it. My Brother Jon and his son Jaxson came too. Valerie was excited to see Grandma and happy to follow Jaxson around.

It is still pretty cold so the Elephants and the Rhino were not outside. I was a little disappointed, but the rest of the animals made up for it. Some of them acted like they had not seen humans for days and were missing the attention. The Gorilla didn't like Jon taking a picture of him. When the flash went off he got really mad and started pounding on the glass.

These monkeys (I don't know what type it is so they are all monkeys) Came into their cage and started jumping around. Jaxson really liked it when this guy started hitting the glass, but Valerie wasn't sure.

The cats were also very active. When we got close to the Tiger exhibit we could hear it growling. It was pacing around it's cage. I think it must have been close to feeding time.

The peacocks were also happy to show off their stuff.

It was a great day at the zoo. Valerie loved getting to see all of the animals, and spend a little more time with Grandma. When the other kids heard about our exciting day, they were really sad they missed it. I will have to take them before the animals get hot and lazy again.