The first two weeks of August have been pretty busy around our house! Several appointments, soccer, hosting a baby shower, starting to plan another shower, etc. I also need to start studying for ACLS/BLS because I have to renew by the end of September. I dread it every 2 years when it’s that time again. Lots to do, as always!
Soccer Shots Session #8 – August 1st
This was the last session of the summer!
Coach Eric usually had them dribble the ball across the field and back at the beginning of every session.
Here she comes!
This was a fun game – they had to kick their soccer balls and knock over the cones to find the hidden stamper. It was hiding underneath one of the cones. They did this game several times over the last couple of weeks. The kids loved it and got so excited when they found it.
Water break!
I loved how Coach Eric made each “drill” into a game—this one involved them pretending to be airplanes going down the run-way.
There she goes!
She scores!
They usually did little scrimmages at the end of each session. I loved how the green team was huddling up on their own..haha
Brooklyn and Nathan thought it was fun to just run and jump into the big pile of soccer balls…haha
Another score!
Savannah did great at soccer every single time. I always made sure to have plenty of snacks for her, and that was enough to keep her happy :)
Brooklyn never really got into the “real” scrimmages where there was just one ball and 2 teams. She kind of shied away from the action most of the time. On this day, though, she was a little bit more into it than she usually was—and I happened to catch those times on camera too :)
I love this one!
Who’s going to get to the ball first?
Thankfully, they didn’t collide! Soccer at this age isn’t very rough :)
Brooklyn actually went after the ball :)
She got to be the goalie for part of the scrimmage, and made a stop for her team!
At the end, since it was their last day, everyone got a medal! They also got their usual stamp and sticker :)
Yay, Soccer Shots!
I wanted to get a picture of Brooklyn and Nathan together with their medals, but Brooklyn wasn’t cooperating too much with that idea. So, this was the best I could do of just her!
I’m glad we signed her up for soccer this summer. I think she enjoyed getting out there and running around, despite the heat. Most days, she would get tired by the end and usually asked if it was over a few minutes before they were actually done. But, I think she’d probably play again if I asked her about it. She and Savannah are actually going to do a music class (same type thing that Brooklyn did 1.5 years ago), and it starts this Tuesday, so no soccer this fall for sure! But, maybe we’ll try it again sometime in the future. I don’t want to be that mom who signs her kids up for lots of activities that they don’t even enjoy, but I do like the idea of her trying different things out just for the benefits socially as well as getting exercise/experiencing new things. I never want to force her to do something like soccer that she doesn’t want to do though! So who knows…maybe we’ll try soccer again down the road…or maybe not. Time will tell!
That night, Travis cut the grass and then went to work on our mulch around the swing set. Grass has started growing up through the mulch even though we made it about 8 or 9 inches deep…ugh. We obviously made a mistake by not putting some kind of tarp or mesh underneath the mulch to prevent the grass growing up through it. So, we (and by “we”, I mean Travis) are trying to reclaim the mulch and shovel the grass out. Hopefully this fall, when the weather cools off and the grass stops growing so much, we can move all the mulch out and lay down a tarp or something. I don’t want to deal with this problem next summer! Hindsight is 20/20 :)
The day, Tuesday (August 2nd), was my day to work, and Paw and Rae Rae came up to babysit. Of course, Brooklyn was so excited! We all went out to eat at Firehouse Subs for supper before they left to go back home. Check out those pickle lovers! :)
Brooklyn is just looking so big these days! I can’t get over it. I took this on Wednesday night before church :)
Something looks a little backwards here, don’t you think?
The girls don’t always get along (Savannah frequently screams and cries when Brooklyn gets into her “bubble”), but I love the times when they play together nicely. This was one of those moments—full of giggles and smiles :)
Check out these drawings! Brooklyn’s artwork has suddenly gotten much more sophisticated just in the last couple of weeks. Now, when she draws people, they actually sort of look like people. Check out Travis’s multiple eyes! :)
I love how she drew Savannah so little compared to herself :)
This drawing was supposed to be Rae Rae at first, but then she changed her mind and said it was actually Cici ;)
Paw has a head full of hair!
…and I think Rae Rae might be wearing a space helmet like Buzz Lightyear! Haha…we got a huge kick of these drawings. I’ve loved watching her artwork progress over the past year or so :)
The end of last week was spent getting ready for Alisha’s baby shower at our house. I was one of several hostesses, so thankfully I mainly just had to clean the house and get it ready. The other girls took care of most of the decor and food, which was a big help. The shower was on Saturday (August 6th) in the afternoon. Everything turned out great, and Alisha got some nice gifts! :)
Britni sewed 2 of these fabric buntings, and I thought they turned out so cute. The theme of the shower (nautical) matched the twins’ nursery, so Alisha is going to be able to reuse a lot of the decor from the shower.
We bought 2 books for guests to sign instead of a guest book. One book was about twins, and the other was just a book that sort of went with the theme. It’s hard to find board books about twins, so I did the best I could! :)
We kept the food really simple for the shower since it was in the afternoon. We just served different kinds of pie, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was different than the typical baby shower food, so it was kind of a nice change I think!
Emily worked really hard on these letters, which Alisha is going to use in the nursery also. I thought they turned out great!
We also had a station in the kitchen where guests could write their address on a return envelope for Alisha to use when she writes thank you cards. Hopefully that will save her a lot of time!
Hostesses :)
Alisha and her mom/MIL :)
Sistahs!
Two of the most special gifts Alisha got were quilts made by Baugay—one for each boy personalized with their names!
Most of the gifts—not pictured: triple stroller, crib, crib mattress, and double glider. She got several big items! It was a great afternoon!! So excited for Alisha—she’s already 30 weeks!
Sundays are tiring! Savannah took a mammoth nap last Sunday afternoon (over 2 hours!), so she was still asleep when it was time to head back to church.
Brooklyn usually doesn’t want to go to sleep right away on Sunday afternoons, which leads to her falling asleep right before we have to leave the house. I hate waking her up because she wakes up in a cranky mood almost every time. She looks so sweet and innocent here though ;)
Last week, Emily (who is now living up here again!) was nice enough to tag along with us to my dentist appointment. She was a huge help keeping the girls occupied while I got my teeth cleaned. After that, we went to get smoothies and then checked out the house she’s renting with a few of her friends. It’s so nice and even has a swing set in the backyard. Of course, that was the girls’ favorite part! :)
“Push me higher, Aunt Emily!”
We also played outside that day at our house—chalk and bubbles are always a hit!
Brooklyn has gotten really interested in selfies lately–and yes, she knows that’s what they are called. This was one of her recent attempts :)
Silly girl!
Last week, we also went to the Bridge Street pop-up fountains with Caitlyn, Nathan, and Gabriel. It was a fun morning!
Savannah was more interested in the water this time than the last time we went!
Brooklyn and Nathan had fun running from one end of the fountains to the other…
Gabriel even surprised us and walked through the middle of the fountains :)
Caitlyn brought Popsicles for the kids to share, so Brooklyn was definitely excited about that too. I’m hoping we can go back at least one more time before they shut the fountains down for the winter. We always have a good time there, and it’s free!
And they’re off for more fun in the backyard! Yesterday it was actually not too hot in the morning, so we enjoyed playing outside while Daddy was off playing tennis.
Simba and Brownie got to swing together in the bucket swing :)
Normally it’s the other way around, but yesterday Savannah tried to pull Brooklyn in the wagon! They didn’t make it too far ;)
I love these cuties!
Other Quotes and Notables:
- Yesterday, we were getting ready for lunch, and I said something like, “Are you ready to eat lunch, Savannah?” And she replied, “Eat!” It was unmistakably that word because Travis and I both heard it. I was so excited…haha. And, of course, she never said it again. Baby steps though :)
- Tonight, I was asking Savannah if she wanted MORE food or if she was FINISHED because she knows the signs for both of those words. And, without me even demonstrating it first, she signed FINISHED. It’s so nice for her to be able to communicate with us, even if it’s through sign language for now. She is learning the signs for more, finished, eat, drink, and book. She won’t always do them, but she can sign more, finished, and eat when she wants to :)
- One day, after Savannah spilled the box of crayons, Brooklyn told her: “Things can happen, Sabannah. Just try to clean them up.” Brooklyn is such a little mommy already. We constantly hear her quoting things that sound like something Travis or I have said in the past.
- We were eating catfish for supper one night, and Brooklyn said, “I don’t think I like cat” with a big frown on her face. We told her it was cat-FISH. She must have still been thinking it was some kind of cat because she then asked if she could pet it, and started petting the fish on her plate. She said, “I think she likes it!” and “I think I hear it purring!” (talking about the catfish). We were dying laughing!
- One day recently, I asked Brooklyn, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Her reponse: “A PIG!”
- These days Brooklyn refuses to watch Finding Nemo, Frozen, and several other movies that she has enjoyed watching in the past. She doesn’t want to watch Nemo because she’s “scared of Nemo going in the open water.” If you ask her why she doesn’t want to watch Frozen, she’ll say, “I’m scared of the bobibal (abominable) snowman!”
- Brooklyn has moved up to the preschool Bible class at church, and so she’s learning her very first memory verse. If you ask her to say it, she’ll say, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Then, I’ll prompt her: Genesis…? And she says ” 1:1:1!” :)
Happy Sunday, everyone!
