Saturday Soccer & more!

Our Saturday started with us being on the soccer field by 7:30am for McKenzie's 8am game.  They played the red WDL team and tied it 2-2.  

After her game we picked up the kids so Alyssa could help Richard on the house for a few hours.  Alex had her game at 1, so we left at 11:30 to get out to Lummi by 12:15 for warm ups.  Alex's coach was on vacation, so we had Marc (the Gold team coach) as our coach today.  They played awesome!!  Another win!! 2-1!!  Yeah! Our girls are so excited.  Annie scored both of the goals, but Alex almost got a couple of goals from her defense position.  Marc said he usually gives the player of the game to the high scorer, but today ALEX was PLAYER OF THE GAME!!  She was so excited. She played very well.

                                            ALEX - PLAYER OF THE GAME!

 The boys were "fishing" during Alex's game.  They would grab "fish" (rocks) and try to put them back in the water (the drain).  Then they put the "fish" in a bag. Then dumped them out. Then picked them up.  :)

They kept super busy for most of the soccer game with their "fishing".

We ran into my work after soccer to show Elizabeth to Jen.  She hadn't met Elizabeth yet and I told her I would stop by.  

I also talked to Lesley today. (Quite a few different times!)  After we dropped the kids off at their home, we drove over to Lesley's new house.  We got the tour of the goats, chickens, turkeys, & dogs.  We also met the snake.  :)  She has quite the collection of pets now! We also met Tom (the person, not a pet! :))

Then we met this fun little family over at Tennent Lake for a quick (not really that quick!) walk around the boardwalk.

Aren't they just so cute?!?!

 This little guy is so cute!!  This is his latest...Where is ???  There ??? is!!  He was looking for Xandra in this picture.  He was very happy her found her!

 The boys even got a little fishing in!  They love fishing!!  Aiden is using a stick and no bait, but he "caught" lots of fun things!

 All three boys are trying to catch fish.  Ryan caught "bibbits" (frogs) and bugs.

                                              The girls at the bottom of the tower.

                                               The boys at the top of the tower!

After Tennent Lake, we stopped by McDonalds for a treat (and some late dinner) then home to bed!!!

A super fun, packed, hot, long day!!  We loved it!  The weather was so beautiful out!  At one point  I saw that it was 67 degrees out!!  YES!!!

A little bit of Spring!

As I was taking Alex to school this morning, I saw little pieces of Spring in my yard!

 I have this lone daffodil, all bright and cheery, in my flower bed by my car.  I love the bright yellow.  It is so cheery, it makes me smile! :)

This is my camilla, right by my driveway.  I have noticed buds on it this week and yesterday this bloom was just barely open. When I went to my care this morning, it was opened and smiling at me!

I just snapped these photos with my phone camera, but they make me smile!  I am so excited for Spring.  I think it is my favorite season.  The weather is not too hot or cold.  Everything is blooming or being born. Starting fresh and clean and new. New beginnings.  Sometimes that is all you need, a new beginning.

Thankful for...

I am thankful for...

*This beautiful sunshiny day outside today!  (almost 60 degrees!)

*I am thankful for mommy-sister-dinner.  We went to On Rice tonight and did a gift exchange.  Katherine did a photo collage of Mt Baker & some other Pacific Northwest favorites she has been to.  LOVE IT!!!  I will try to post a picture tomorrow of it.  Mom did little mason jars filled with candy and a fun light up chick! I did twirly butterflies and easter eggs filled with chocolate.  I love that we get together once a month and enjoy dinner and catching up. 

*I am thankful that I stuffed 276 easter eggs!  I am also thankful that McKenzie counted them and I didn't have to!  Our church is doing and Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning between services and I volunteered to stuff these eggs for them.  

*I am thankful that I was able to go for a walk tonight.  The weather was beautiful and the walk was nice. Mom and I went after dinner was over, so it was a new place for us to walk. It had hills!

*I am also thankful I have comfy jammies and a cozy bed!  I am going to go enjoy them now!  :)

What are you thankful for?

Sunny Spring!!

What beautiful sunny spring weather we have been having!!  The first two days of Spring, we had snow, sleet, hail, rain and wind.  Saturday to today we have had sun.  And warmer weather. 

I walked around the track tonight during soccer practice.  It was beautiful outside!  Warm and sunny. 


This is from the soccer game on Saturday.  The one the Rangers won 2-0!  Yeah Rangers!  I am not done going through the pictures from this weekend.  My computer is still not loading my pictures correctly so I will have to look at it later this week.
 

McKenzie and the boys were sharing pretzels.  McKenzie ate hers in the shape of a heart!

Happy Spring!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Michael!! and to Dad!!

 Today is Mike's birthday and tomorrow is dad's birthday.  We got together to celebrate.  It was a fun, quiet gathering.  We celebrated with lunch and cake!  Yummy pineapple cake.  Mom gave Mike some pictures that she is going to put in an album for him, so we all spent a while looking through pictures of Mike when he was little.  He used to be sooo cute!!!

I love this one of the birthday boys!  Yes, Mike is taller than dad!  Happy Birthday you two!!

Soccer Saturday!

Both of the girls had soccer games today.  I took lots of pictures.  I had the kids this afternoon.  I took lots of pictures (mostly of the boys).

However, my computer doesn't want to load the pictures from my card.  UGH!!!

So, the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. :(

McKenzie had her first WDL outdoor game this morning at 9:15. The fields had some ice on them and it was very cold (about 32 degrees) but the sun was out and it made everything better! :)

They lost to the green team 4-0.  The green team was bigger, faster, first to the ball, and more aggressive.  I am glad we got that team done and out of the way! :)  The rest of the teams are a little more evenly matched I think.  McKenzie did pretty good.  She tried really hard and made some great plays!

Alex had her game this afternoon in the warm sun!  It was beautiful out!  They played at 3 out at Lummi.  They have a great new turf field.  The best news is they WON!!!!!  The score was 2-0!!  Her team has not won an outdoor game since summer tournaments!  We have tied, we have lost, but we had not won.  Today was super exciting!  The girls played great!  Worked really hard as a team, and pulled off a win!  :)  The coach said she would wash their practice pennies as soon as they won.  They have not been washed since summer! (Super stinky!)  They are now in the wash! :)

After the game, we went out to celebrate at dinner!  We went to Billy McHales.  I took this picture with my phone, so it loaded on my computer just fine.  McKenzie had a really long french fry!

The dinner was pretty yummy.  It was nice to not have to cook after a long day of outdoor soccer!

After dinner we ran over to Target to get some candy to stuff Easter Eggs for church tomorrow.  We are having an egg hunt next week, and we volunteered to stuff some eggs.  I bought two bags of eggs and one bag of candy and let each of the girls stuff a bag of eggs.  They had fun!

Now it is time for bed.  I hope when I wake up, my computer will let me load the pictures!

Have a great day!

Flashback Friday

This was taken Fall 2012

 McKenzie at one of her last outdoor games as a Red Lion soccer player!  This picture is taken just after she scored a goal! :)

This how the fields looked!  Super wet and muddy.  Full of puddles everywhere!  The ball didn't go really far unless you swooshed under it with your foot so it could get some air.  If you just kicked it like most of the girls did, it just sat there.  This was the shot just before McKenzie scored the goal.

I didn't flashback very far, but McKenzie has her first outdoor WDL game tomorrow morning at 9:15.  She is no longer a Red Lion, but a Navy WDL.  I am excited to take some fun pictures. :)

Happy Spring!

Today is really the second day of spring, but I didn't blog yesterday.  Although with the weather we have been having, you wouldn't know it is spring!  It has been in the 40's for a while now and even though there was sun today, it was cold!

Yesterday, the first day of Spring, was cold, rainy, windy, and blustery.

Today was sunshiny and hailing, raining, and typical soccer weather! :)

The weather today was actually really nice and sunny.  I even had the door open at work for a little while to let the sun in.  Mom and I were meeting at soccer practice (both girls, same field, almost same time!) to walk.  I had the boys and Elizabeth with me, but we were prepared.  As soon as I got Elizabeth in the Moby wrap and the boys in the stroller, it started raining.  Then hailing.  Then cold, rainy, windy hail.  Just as we started our walk and the girls started soccer.  We did a short walk in the parking lot, but it was sooo cold, we called it early.  Unloaded the kids in the van, put the stroller away, and the sun comes out.  Figures!!  It got really nice out, but I wasn't taking any chances....we stayed in the van!
Tomorrow is another day!  We will walk after I get off of work, with no kids, and our rain/snow/sun/sleet/night gear on!!  AND our cool new app!!  Love this app!  It is called RunKeeper.  It tracks where you walk.  Your miles, and lots of cool stuff that I haven't tried yet!  We played with it on Tuesday and were going to use it tonight, but.....

So I am super excited to play with it tomorrow night!

Saturday the girls both have outdoor soccer games.  McKenzie is at 9:15 (field #7) and Alexandra is at 3:00 (Lummi-hoping they have the gates unlocked this time!!)  It will be nice to have them spaced out. A full day of soccer, but not rushed.  I am hoping we will have warm spring sunshine on Saturday.  Is that too much to ask? :)

MIxed up Tuesday

Today was a little crazy schedule wise! 

 Alex was supposed to have her last Volleyball game today at 4 and then soccer practice at 5:30.  I found out this morning that they switched times with the 8th graders and they played at 5:00.  No problem!  I can rearrange my schedule last minute!  Text the soccer coach and tell her that Alex will miss practice tonight.  Mom and I decide we can walk at 4 because volleyball isn't until 5.  On our way to walk, I get a phone call from Alex (3:40) saying, actually...they changed the times again...we play at 4:00!  Are you kidding me!?!!  No walk...time for volleyball!  Off we went to volleyball, a little bit late.  They did win all three games...the first one by a lot the other two squeaked in a win.  After volleyball, Alex went to soccer with one of her soccer teammates from volleyball.  Except that when they show up, the fields were locked!  Nobody can get in to practice!  Back home they go!  

Now we are all home, inside and we are not going anywhere!!

This is Miss Elizabeth Kaye at her first volleyball game!  Grandma Kaye is holding her. :) 

In other news today...

*McKenzie lost her 15th tooth tonight and she has another loose one! (Yes, she did loose her 14th tooth a couple days ago!)  She asked me to see if it was loose enough for me to pull it out.  I felt it and pulled it right out.  She didn't even know I pulled it out! :)

*Alyssa, Aiden, Ryan, & Elizabeth joined mom and I on our walk today.  It was a little drizzly rain out, but not to terrible.  The boys had on their coats in their new stroller and Elizabeth was secure in her Moby wrap.  Mom and I took turns pushing the stroller.  I got the downhill and she got the uphill! :)  (I did push uphill too!)  It was fun!  We will definitely have to do that again!

*McKenzie has early release the rest of this week and Alex has it on Thurs/Fri for report cards.

*McKenzie brought home her report card today.  She did very good!  All of her marks went up or stayed the same.

Have a good night!

Monday Madness

Today was madness!  Crazy madness...like full moon madness.

My morning started off with a clogged toilet.  Yuck!  As we were getting ready to go to work/school, I was told that the toilet was clogged and it wouldn't flush.  They tried to plunge it and it wouldn't work.  So I go to plunge it...still doesn't work.  So I call work and let them know that I will be in a little late, we have a plumbing emergency.  I take children to school, go to Ace Hardware and buy a super plunger.  (We just had an ordinary plunger).  I come home and after a bit, it is unclogged!!  Yeah! So after sanitizing the bathroom, I go off to work.

Crazy at work!  We were super busy, and I spent most of my morning out front helping customers.  Weird random questions from crazy customers. :)

I come home from work (late) and Alex was bouncing off the walls.  Tomorrow is her last volleyball game, she hardly had any homework, she was painting her fingernails, and she couldn't sit still. 

 Literally. Could. Not. Sit. Still. 

I started doing the dishes because I didn't have time to do them this morning and she comes in saying she is hungry. I asked her what she wanted for dinner and she wanted spaghetti.  I had her fix dinner hoping to calm her down.  Nope.  No such luck!  She fixed dinner, but kept talking and bouncing and just crazy!!  After dinner was over she said she had to finish her math homework but she kept bouncing around.  I told her to go for a run!!  Outside or on the treadmill, I didn't really care, just get out some of that crazy energy!!  So she went for a run on the treadmill for about 10-15 min. 

Running....running,....running....  AND it worked!!  She was able to calm down and finish her homework!  I was getting tired just watching her. :) 

I wish I had half of her energy! :)

After her homework, she got out her crocheting and is calmly sitting on the couch and making things.

I am going to bed!  She has made me tired just watching her! :)

Volleyball tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4pm.  Home game! 

Saturday Soccer & Sunday Fishing

Yesterday (Saturday) was a long day!  We drove to Seattle for Alex's soccer game.  It was a tough 1-0 loss with the goal scored by one of our team. :(  One of our girls kicked the ball, but it went in our net and our goalie didn't stop it. :(

I love these three pictures!  You can see Alex taking the ball away from the other team! :)
                                                              Go Alex!!
Our team played pretty well, we just could not get a shot in the other net!  We had a couple of close shots, but that doesn't get you any points!  The next four games are home games and I am hoping for a WIN!!!  I know the girls are hoping for a win also!!

 After the game, we drove over to the Bellevue Square Mall to have lunch at Red Robin.  It was only a couple miles away from where we played.  This is right outside the mall/Red Robin.  I love all the fountains and art pieces down there.  We love the skybridges too!

When we were in the mall, they had a lego building event.  You got a baseplate and a bucket of legos, and you got to build whatever you wanted.  Some people built bridges, skyscrapers, houses, unidentified objects :)  There was so many fun things.  After you were done building, they put your masterpiece in their "town".  So much fun!!

After the mall, we stopped at Krispy Kreme for a yummy donut.  Mmmmm.  They are melt in your mouth good! :)  As we drove there, we got stuck in a little bit of traffic.  Mostly foot traffic and most of Seattle was going to the Sounder's game that was just starting!  We were going to go, but I didn't have enough cash to park and buy tickets.  I wasn't sure if there were any left for sale at the gate.  I did see a lot of people holding signs asking for tickets.  So, we didn't end up going.  I did tell the girls that we would plan a day and purchase the tickets in advance and make a day of going down there to a game.  

We were pretty tired out by that time, so we headed back home.   Pretty much walked in the door and went to bed!

Today after church, Alyssa and Richard had a softball meeting, so we got to watch the kids for a bit.  Elizabeth and I stayed inside while the girls took the boys outside.  I grabbed my camera and started playing around with it a little bit.

                                       I love how she is almost smiling in this one!

 She has Ryan's expression in this one!  Either that, or she is telling me she is all done with the camera! She will get used to me always having the camera out and taking pictures!!

 Meanwhile...the boys went fishing!  Outside in the front yard, they found some sticks (fishing poles) and some fish (the balls) and a pond (swimming pool). They had so much fun!  They were out there fishing for about 45 min.  It was sunny, but still pretty cool out.

                                    Aiden with his fishing pole and his bucket of fish.

                     Cheesy Mr Ryan with his fishing pole!  Notice how wet his clothes are?      
      

After they came inside, dried off and changed clothes, it was time to take them home.  Ryan is in the back of the stroller sleeping, and Aiden got the front seat.  Alex decided to push them while she was riding her unicycle! Such talent that girl has! :)

McKenzie helped a lot pushing this heavy stroller up the hill with these two boys.  I was holding Elizabeth so I couldn't push the stroller ;). 

Mom and I went for our walk after we took the kids home. We went to  Pioneer Park.  That seems to be our Sunday walking place.  It is so nice to walk along the river.  Hardly anybody is there and it is such a cool walk.  

It was a chilly day out with a few sprinkles, but the sun was shinning most of the day and we just enjoyed it!  The weather forcast does not look very promising this week, so we took advantage of the sun while we could!  

Enjoy your week!

New Bath toys

We have had the same bath toys in our tub for a very long time.  Very long time.  Last time the boys were playing with the squirty fish, they were squirting black stuff out of them.  Yucky!!  I had to throw them away, but I told them we would go to my cool toy work and buy some new bath toys!  What a fun shopping trip that was!

Aiden and Ryan picked out 2 new toys.  This is the Spin Whale.  He is so cool!  The top is a cup that when you fill with water, it goes into the middle section and spins the wheel and comes out the bottom! They loved it!

Although Ryan did try to use it as a cup! Icky bath water, Ryan!!

 The other cool toy we got was a fishing rod and fish.  Aiden mostly picked this one out!  The fishing pole has a double hook on the end to pick up the fish.  It came with a fish, crab, starfish, and something else...  Lots of fun!!

Add some bubbles and you have a fun bath time!!  They were in the bath for almost an hour!!  It was hard to get them out, but the water was cold and they were little raisens!  

Happy Pi Day!!

Today is 3.14!  AND at 1:59 today it was 3.14159! :)  We didn't celebrate by eating pie tonight, although I would have liked to! :)  McKenzie did some Pi activities in school today for math.  She also lost her 14th tooth tonight!  (I did help pull it out!)  It has been loose for a few days but the root was still pretty firmly attached. She could wiggle it all the way around, back and forth, side to side, but it wouldn't budge!  I helped a little, and it popped out!  Jay told her she should get $3.14 for it! I told him, he sure could!!

Alex had a volleyball game against Horizon this afternoon.  They lost all three games. This is Alex and Rachel laughing and talking at the net before the ball was served.  Off the court, friends (and soccer players) on the court...  :)

Last night Alex had her orchestra concert.  They played Conquistador.  I was on the very opposite side, way, way, way in the back.  This is not a great picture, but you can see her.  When she was on stage with the whole Vista/Horizon 7th grade orchestra, I couldn't see her at all where she sat.

Rain, Rain and more Rain

So much rain. It must mean spring soccer is starting! :)  Last night, I laid in bed listening to the rain beating down on my roof.  The wind blowing the trees in the backyard.  It wasn't blowing very hard, but between the wind and the rain, I was very glad I was bundled up in my house!  

It rained most of today, but it was warm out.  That makes the rain better.  I dislike cold, bitter, blowy rain.  Warm, breezy rain is so much better! :)

Tonight the girls both had soccer practice at the same field at almost the same time!  I even think they have it that way next week also!  It is not very often that works out that way, so it makes me very happy when it does.  

Alex had a volleyball game after school today.

This was the score of the first and third game.  The second game was a big loss. :(  

The first game I came in a couple minutes late and they were behind by quite a bit.  They played pretty good and caught up, then pulled ahead and squeaked out a win.  

The second game was just.....a big loss...

The third game they pretty much stayed within one or two points either way.  The other team pulled ahead by about 3 points, but we quickly caught up and then pulled ahead and won! :)

 I really like this one of Alex diving for the ball!  She did it and it went over!  Bump, set, spike!!

She is very happy to be serving the ball!

I did enjoy sitting inside the dry gym watching volleyball today, while it was raining out!  After volleyball was over, I did take Alex and two of her volleyball/soccer team mates to soccer practice. Mom and I walked outside in the rain.  It wasn't bad though.  It was a little drizzly, but warm.  It was perfect walking weather. :)

Just another Monday...

Not a lot of excitement today around here...just another Monday.

Alex woke up still not feeling great.  She did go to school, but asked me to make a dr. appt for her. That's when I knew she still wasn't feeling good. :)  I dropped her off at school because she said she was ok to go and didn't want to miss anymore school. (she missed Friday).

After dropping her off, I came home to get McKenzie ready for school.  I fixed McKenzie's lunch while she made us eggs for breakfast. She usually makes her own lunch too, but we were running a little behind!  When I dropped her off at school, I stayed for a while counting the Butterbraid money from the fundraiser.

Then off to work for a couple hours, turned around and came back to pick up Alex for the doctor.  Good news is, she doesn't have strep throat!  I think she is probably the only one at her school who doesn't! I think most of the kids in her class have been out in the last couple weeks with strep.
They did look at her knee.  It has been bothering her a bit for the last couple weeks, but only when she is playing soccer or volleyball.  It doesn't hurt much when she is sitting on the couch doing homework! :)  They referred her to a physical therapist.  She went a couple years ago when she was having ankle problems.  Her bones grew faster than her tendons and she had to do some exercises to stretch them out.  The doctor today said she thinks it might be tendonitis in her knee, but the physical therapist will check it out and give her some exercises for it.

 When mom and I did our Sunday walk, I had to stop by the library and return on of McKenzie's books.  When I walked in the front door, they had a "clearance" section of their book sale.  I found these books for 25cents each!! I have been collecting the "House of Winslow" series by Gilbert Morris for a while now, when I find them at Good Will or Value Village.  I have a few of these titles, but I wasn't sure which ones.  For 25 cents, I bought them all.  Now I will sort through the ones I have and donate back the duplicates!

I do love me a good book sale! :)

Alexandra found this candle at Michael's when we were there on Saturday.  It is Raspberry Lime.  I was not to sure of the scent when she told me the flavor.  I don't usually like things that are lime scented.  However, when I smelled it, yummy!! :)  Aiden even smelled it and told me I needed to buy it. It is a fruity scent, but the lime is not overwhelming...it is just light and pleasant.  It makes me happy when I smell it.

Sunday

This is Alexandra's new hobby!  This is the purse/hat that she made for her first big project.  Yesterday at Michael's we bought the book so she could learn some more stitches.  The right way, not my sorta, kinda, maybe remember way.  We also bought a case for the hooks to go in.  She is having fun learning all sorts of new stitches.  She even found some fun patterns to make.

This is Alexandra modeling the purse/hat that she made! :)  Cute!

The blue ribbon is the drawstring that you pull together to close the purse, or leave it open to have it as a hat.  She said that she would make me the sweater on the front cover of the book. :)  I just have to buy the yarn.

Today was a get stuff done at home day.  The girls took care of the garbage and recycle today.  Alex cleaned the bathroom and McKenzie went through all the hair stuff.  I sorted through the kitchen cupboards rearranging and getting rid of dishes.

Mom and I did our Pioneer Park walk today.  Much cooler than yesterday.  It was even a little drizzly outside.  We went the opposite way than we usually do and we went around twice!  Fun to mix it up a little bit! :)

When I came home from the walk, I took the light bulbs out of my purse that I bought last week for my van lights (one head-light and one tail-light) and replaced the burned out ones!  :)  I figured that since the nice policeman warned me yesterday that I had a tail-light out and I showed him that I had them, I just needed to replace them, that I should probably do it!  So I did! :)

We had yummy french toast, bacon, and eggs for dinner tonight.  Mmmm, my house smells so yummy now! :)  McKenzie also had a waffle and made her eggs into eggs goulash.

Now it is time for bed!  Long busy week ahead...