Raleigh - Defender of the Imaginary Offense

We went to Raleigh's second soccer game this morning. It was a hoot. She was so excited to play and was the cutest player on the field...but she was not the best...in fact, she has a long way to go. While our Golden Lions were practicing, James and I watched the Purple Panthers practice. Clearly the coach has been working with the team, namely, his daughter Brittany. That little girl was practicing by kicking goals from 3/4 across the field. Our little team was standing 3 feet from the goal taking turns trying to score (with no goalie). Then, the Purple Panthers were practicing drills that included super-star defenders trying to keep the offense from scoring. Hmmm, the golden Lions were too busy jumping up and down when one of the girls made a goal from 3 feet (still no goalie). So the game gets started and James leans over to me and tells me that I won't be able to live vicariously through our daughter because she is the defender of the imaginary offense. I told him that he could live vicriously through Raleigh, I got Sydney. But then the worst of us came out. These girls are 5 and we are getting ticked because the rules say only the coach can be on the field with the players and the Purple Panthers had 2 adults. Of course they were both Brittany's parents and they told her exactly what to do...(BTW, the mom was wearing pink bedazzeled pants - oh, and only 4 girls play at a time - 2 adults - are you kidding me??) . Pink Pants lady called every throwin for the purple team and convienently every time our team had a goal kick or something - it was the end of the quarter. We decided that although we tried to act like we did not care - we really did. Raleigh did do better than last time. She tends to be the one outside of the bunch - not because she is trying to get open, it is just because if someone else has the ball - that is fine with her. She did have a great kick to clear the ball from the bunch one time...it went right into the other teams net...oops. At least we have Sydney:)

Happy Birthday Missy

Happy 30th Birthday Missy. We love you!

Trip

Ryan and I had a great time on our trip. Here are a few pictures, with more and more of a story to come. :)

Grace Day Pictures...

We went out to the cemetery yesterday to celebrate Grace Day!!! Here are some pictures from our time at the cemetery.

Soccer and Baby

Raleigh had her first soccer game on Saturday - it was pouring rain the entire time. We were all soaked by the time we got home - it reminded me so much of soccer in high school. She had a good time and has lots to learn!! (I think her little sister is more of the soccer playing type - she insists on kicking the ball on the sidelines the entire time, rain or no rain - reminds me of someone else back in the day...)

And...our appointment with Dr. Dodds went great - we have one healthy baby. The arms and legs were moving quite a bit already and you could even see the fingers a little bit. April 22 is the due date. I have to start seeing the high risk doctor within the next 2 weeks and he wants me to be monitored closely the entire time. Dr. Dodds said to call him if right away with any signs of infection if we cannot get ahold of the high risk doctor. He has been wonderful through all of this with us and hopefully we will not have to see him again.

Chilling Out In Holland

Mallorys turn!

It's Mallory's first day of school...we've been working on "Hola, Maestra Gomez, meomo (sp?) Mallory." She's up to "Hi Maestra Gomez, Meow Ma-your-eee".

"GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!"

The kids all had soccer games this weekend. Dugan had one two weeks ago and scored his first goal ever!!! Daphne scored her first goal too and "Goal-a-Game" Brendan got one too. They all had fun but we don't think they are adjusted to the heat quite yet. Dugan's team is 2-0, Daphne's is 1-0 and Brendan's is 0-1.



Deep Thoughts by Ben La Barge: I know they got all those soccer moves from me!!! Will the Lions ever win?

Pictures of my new apartment and chairs!

Raleigh's First Day of School

Raleigh's first day of school is today. She was so excited to ride the bus but this morning she got a little nervous - but when we showed up at the bus stop, her friend from preschool was there so she got really excited. The bus driver was really nice and made sure the Kindergarteners were in the front seats. We watched the bus leave and hopefully everything went well from there. Sydney had to wear her backpack this morning too - I am sure she will every day. Hopefully Raleigh is on the bus when we go to pick her up this afternoon!