My Izee

Isaac is in his element.  Are those his PJ pants behind him on the door mat? 
Is he wearing any pants? I wonder.
OK, he IS wearing pants. 
But here's the better question. 
Q: What are these doing here? 

A: He had an accident outside and didn't need them any more. 

Here are some cute pictures of him snorkeling.  The mask is still too big, but he can swim with the fins by himself! 

soccer game #2

first let me show you Isaac's pre-game show. 

He looks to see who's watching, then goes for it!

and again (and again etc)

and loves it. 

he kicks the ball too. 

Dylan is waving at me when his coach is trying to get him in line.  Love that boy!

Once the horn is blown, he's a little soccer machine! 

We love watching him! 

He scored . . . in the wrong goal, and was a little embarrassed and didn't want to admit it.  But he only made that mistake once.  (And it's because last week they got to shoot in the goal they had practiced on.  I don't think his coaches told them what goal was theirs b/c he scored right in the beginning of the game.) 

This is his team mate, Benjamin.  They're the star players. 

Dylan figured out how to run back on defense.  I love his little smiles when he knows we're watching him and are so pleased w/ how he's playing. 

Here's Benjamin's high five after they had both fought to get the ball up to the goal.  Benjamin finally scored, but he high fived Dylan for the assist.  What good sportsmanship! 

That's the face of a determined sweaty dirty boy, ready for some Pei Wei for dinner.  Thank you Granddad!!

5 is a crowd

Meet our new addition, Chili Lynn:

She fits right in . . . 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 curious little babies in my sand box:)

Her full name is Chili Lynn Crew.  Noah and Malia got her from a rescue shelter last Sunday.  So I get to babysit her today too!  I think she is a coon hound.  She has been here one hour and has already had 2 accidents, one of each, but they were easy to clean and sanitize so we still love her.  Yay, now I don't need to get a pet for my own kids, thank you Crews! 

K, gotta go play some more!

Life Is Good

This cute foot . . .

is connected to this cute baby . . .

who is sitting next to this cute boy . . .

on our way to this relaxing swinging hammoc. 

Life is good.

(not pictured: the fun before, between, and after. 

Sorry.

I can't ALWAYS have a camera in my hand.)

(And the hammoc is for sale,

Steven helped plant the palm trees from which it swings.

 Click here for details. )

I'm sorry, my dining room table

Or should I say, "I'm sorry Steven," (or should I admit that I'm procrastinating once again to clear my mind . . .)

I sometimes wish I were a neat freak or had an ounce of OCD (the kind where I had to be organized), but the truth is, that's just not me.  Life is too busy and fun and stuffed full of better things to do than to make sure the couch cushions are on the couches before I go to bed.  (The kids were having way too much fun right before family prayers this evening.) 

So, my dining room table was spotless last Saturday, when we had a bunch of family over for a cook out.  But this weekend is another story.  I'm so happy lately and full of energy.  Steven keeps telling me that I do not live in a dorm room any more, and that the dining room table should be clutter free.  But it's just so easy, to drop stuff off there before moving on to my next task.  I know why my mom didn't want to have a coffee table or end tables when we were kids. 

Right now,

• my dining room table holds up soccer info from Dylan's Friday night 1st soccer game;
• a temple wedding picture from off of our living room wall b/c I used it at Saturday morning's Beehive conference at the Tree of Life table;
• my cameras from from 2 photo shoots this weekend;
• my swim bag full of dive rockets, a kick board, and a dolphin stamp from this morning's swimming lesson;
• a basket full of dollar store umbrellas with new stickers branding them for Dr. Brayer's office (my idea for when it's raining and patients have to go to their cars- I always wish I had an umbrella for them to borrow, so now I do!  And they can keep it!);
• lots of church stuff and calendars that I need to sync;
• a zipper pouch of crayons from sacrament meeting;
• a small jar and fake flowers that I used in my object lesson on Sunday;
• my PCDHA binder and a gavel from yesterday's board meeting - yes I really called the meeting to order with one;
• new fishy face photography fliers and business cards for my networking meeting tomorrow (I just decided to invite friends to a meeting and it's really happening! You're invited too!);
• post cards I made for reminder cards I just got in the mail today for the PCDHA meeting tomorrow- cutting it close;
• empty water bottles b/c I'm always thirsty in the car;
• a neat pile of paperwork for Steven's NEW JOB that he started today!!!!;
• painted clothes pins and ribbon from the baby shower I helped throw on Saturday along with the paper plate I painted them on (trash now);
• journals that were extra baby shower prize gifts (from the games);
• a tiny hole punch, scissors, and ribbon (fishy face packaging supplies from Saturday)
• a bag of hair bows and flowers from Saturday's girly photo shoot;
• preschool papers for Ident-A-Kid (I do my own though so that should go in the trash);
• a picture of a temple and one of Christ that I just got and want to frame for the boys' room;
• scriptures and my personal progress book - I still need to read today;
• a baby gift I forgot to include;
• instruments I sterilized for my cousin;
• and my overflowing purse. 

After I finish this blog post and the power point for tomorrow, send out the two mass email/newsletters, wash, dry, and curl my hair, unload and load the dishes (from yesterday when I wasn't here), I'll hit that dining room table.  I didn't go play soccer tonight because I had to say no to something even though I was torn.  I wanted to play, or even go for a run.  Why is it so hard for me to say no?!  One of the PCDHA board members quit something yesterday.  I was baffled yet jealous.  Steven will then have a better day tomorrow b/c he won't have to have a messy room mate, he'll have a wonderful house wife! 

I'm officially a Soccer Mom!

So where do I get my bumber sticker for my swagger waggon? j/k, I call it my CAR even though it is a mini van, and no thank you to bumper stickers.  And was I a soccer mom before b/c I still play soccer myself?  Maybe not.

But DYLAN PLAYED HIS FIRST SOCCER GAME TODAY!

He was so cute! He needed Steven by his side for the first part of his little pre-tee ball season, but at the warm up before tonight's game, he went right out on the field, dribbled, kicked, scored, then picked up the ball with his hands to come back to tell us about it. All by himself.


He's all dressed and ready to go!

So is little Monkey-see-monkey-do who kept sneaking in the photos:)

In the practice/warm up, Isaac was all over the place!  Most of the kids held onto their shiny new balls, but Isaac was doing everything the coaches wanted and more!  He was so red faced and sweaty.  He ran up and down the field, scored, dribbled, laughed, fell, tripped, enjoyed it so tripped again, etc. 

Dylan is #2.  I was hoping for #5, but that's ok.  There are 4 players on the field at a time, so they started with numbers 1-4.  He was in the starting line up! 

Here's a good picture of how they forget how to share when one is really tired.  They weren't tired, but they were really really hot after the half hour of running around. 

 

Isaac was done with the size 1 ball and wanted to stand on/fall off of/trip on/balance on the big #3 ball. 

  I love this poorly focused fun picture!

goooooooOOOOOOO RAMS!

This is how Dylan started.  Shoulders down, sorta feeling silly, not sure what to do and wanting to let the other kids get the ball. 

He's still confused at why the other team is clinging to the coach's leg. 

But since half of our team decided to sit on the sides and take off their itchy shin guards and drink their waters, Dylan got to play all but 30 seconds of the game!  He started getting the hang of it. 

And Isaac was sooo good at just sitting on the sides with me and Steven.  He knew that Dylan was playing, and we were there to watch.  He really did just sit with us and watch! 

Dylan stole the ball some, and he dribbled/chased it all the way down the right way!  He ran it right off of the end of the field, then he stopped and walked back on the field and let somebody else bring it back.  It was good practice though! 

He did it a couple of times. 

And once, near the end of the game, he ran it down the field again . . .

and this time looked up enough to aim where he was going, and

HE SCORED THE WINNING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

I don't know the score, but I do know that both teams scored in both goals, but the coaches decided that after Dylan's goal, the game was over.  He did it!  I told him to come over to give me a big hug.  (I guess it's a good thing the game was over b/c I needed that hug right then!) 

Yay for Dylan, my little soccer player:)

Then we went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe b/c Dylan requested "a salad with those crunchy things on top, [i ask croutons?] yes, the frutons."  He ate his ceasar salad and smoothie like the champ that he is.  (But they didn't have frutons, oh well.)

brothers: the love/hate relationship

Patients of mine, when looking at this "engagement picture" (as my mom calls it) that I have sitting on my family-pictures-shelf in my office operatory, always ask me if my boys get along well together. 

I answer, "they're brothers." 

Of course they know how to fight real hard, but they also know how to play real hard.  They're brothers, and that's what brothers do. 

Lately Isaac has been matter-of-factly backing up or seconding everything that Dylan has to say.  If Dylan tells a story, Isaac agrees and tries pronouncing a funny new vocabulary word (like a crazy animal or something) like Isaac KNOWS that what Dylan is telling me is FACT.  I love it. 

Sometimes I feel bad b/c I'm letting them play pretend or wrestle or read books or play with toys by themselves while I piddle at the computer, but they have each other and don't need me to entertain them all the time. 

They do know how to push each other's buttons, of course.  They usually share really well, but if one is tired or moody, then watch out.  Isaac can throw a bouncing, hair-flopping, loud tantrum.  It's pretty recent, and he usually has no clue what he was upset about by the time he's done.  Half way through his tantrum, all he wants is to give me a hug.  He had one such tantrum as we got to my mom's house before family photos.  Embarrassing.  I kept him at arm's reach and didn't let him hug me until he was done.  He was so mad!  But after the cuddle time, he was ready to go punch an uncle! 

They've been spoiled this past week.  First, they got to wrestle with all of their uncles, well not Uncle Brent I guess, but all of the others.  Then they got to wrestle with Jake, Marc, and Brent yesterday.  This next picture depicts pure joy.

Don't you love their opposite yet matching outfits:)  This was taken after Stephen and Stepheni's reception at my mom's house.  I think the best gift that I have given to Dylan has been a little brother.  I'm so blessed that I was able to do it easily and that these two get to grow up hanging out together every day. 

AND every night.  Good luck getting them to go right to sleep at nap time or bed time.  They talk, laugh, sing, or bother each other.  Good times!