Soccer Spectacularness!

Wow, it is amazing what a shiny brass medal can do for a child's morale! This past week in soccer each member of Evan's team got a medal for... I guess being cute? It was either that or for spinning around in circles until you fall down... I forget, I'll check the inscription. ;)

Coincidentally, Elena was chosen from her team to get the medal this week. She has been very timid about attempting a kick since her first game, but showed a lot of effort this week, so a medal was awarded. Yay!!!

While I am proud of the efforts they have shown this season, the thing I am still beaming about is what I overheard Elena say to Evan when he walked over with his medal (and this was before she was awarded hers.) She exclaimed, "Oh Evan, I love your medal! Good Job! I'm so proud of you!!!!"

Ahhhhh, I've been replaying this moment over and over... especially when I'm sending them to their rooms for fighting.

Easter 2011

We had so much fun celebrating Easter as a family. Friends and family have been so generous with ideas and resources that I felt very prepared this year to have a fun a meaningful day. But I feel like I need to mention that the first thing my kids did on Easter morning was watch an hour of Barney... just keeping it real.

After Barney we got dressed for church and made the resurrection cookies. Then we left the cookies in the oven, and headed to church. Worship was wonderful and the message was a beautiful reminder of how Christ's death made a way for us to be brought near to the Father. Eph 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ"... love that verse!

Came home, opened the oven, later found the Easter baskets, and finished the day with hunting for the Resurrection eggs and reading the book that goes along with them.

I love how the day was full of things to do that kept pointing back to the significance of the day. It makes me want to think of things to do on Christmas day so we're not ending with presents in the morning.

We were a little lax about getting basket pictures... but here's what we got!

Resurrection Cookies 2011

We made Resurrection cookies again this year. I'm really loving this tradition!

Asher was very curious!

Evan's turn

Asher's turn

Big sis wrapping it up

Watching it turn white

Ready for the oven!

Hey lookie there! They're hollow this year!

"Easter Party Hunt"

We had a little Easter Egg Hunt with some friends on Saturday. Evan talked non-stop about this "Easter Party Hunt" the week leading up to it. Every time we got in the car he thought we were heading to it. And he packed his back-pack daily (underwear, trucks, etc...) for this thing.

Well once it began, all three kids enjoyed it immensely! And Mom and Dad had fun hanging with their buddies too.

Just. Out. Of. Reach.

I decided Asher wasn't quite ready for his jumbo basket.

"Hey, this one's empty!"

Evan loves him some chocolate!

Elena was a blur and impossible to get on camera. She's nothing if not competitive.

All three kids after it was over. Yep, that's a keeper.

Evan - 3.5 Years Old

Evan, you melt my heart on a daily basis. You love to say, "Oh thanks, Mom!", "Dad, you da best!", or "Way to go Ewana!"

You are eating vegetables for the first time in your life!!! You don't like them, but you eat them.

You are not at all shy. Not a chatter-box, but you feel completely comfortable talking to anyone and everyone should the need arise. You are starting to get into trouble at church because you want to be silly and funny for your friends at the expense of listening to what the teacher has to say.

Cuddling and being close is SO important to you.

You have a funny thing about being "just Evan".

-"If we call you Evan Jesse, you quickly correct us with, "Just call me Evan! Not Jesse Evan! Jesse a cowgirl!"

-If we say you look handsome, you reply, "No, I just Evan."

-If we ruffle your hair, you ask for it to go back to "Evan hair"

Your understanding of God is slowly growing. The biggest spiritual truth that has resonated with you is that God made everyone special. You throw this out at the most random times. Like telling Daddy, "Dad, God made you special", as he's wiping your behind.

You love your striped blanket. It follows you around the house.

You know all your colors, BUT you always reverse white and black. It's so funny to me.

You can sometimes pull up your undies and sometimes your shorts, but for the most part, we have to do it for you. It cracks me up how uninterested you are in mastering this skill.

Your sister can make you madder than anything, but you also miss her and seem a little lost when she's gone .

You weigh more than your sister!

You may be quiet in the car, but you are paying close attention to the cars around us. Sometimes when we pass a car, you quietly say to yourself, "Now that's what I call fast!"

Your go-to-excuse for not coloring at church, picking up your room, or fetching your shoes is, "I'm busy!" And you say it as you are lying on the floor looking off into space ;)

We love you so much! And I'm missing you as you're spending this weekend with Daddy going to Astros games!

First Cone of the Season

There's nothing singular about the "Single Cone" from Freddy's Custard.

Soccer

Elena and Evan are playing soccer this spring! They had their first practice followed by a game yesterday. We hadn't done the best job at explaining the game to them beforehand, so we weren't sure what to expect. Everything Evan knew about soccer he learned from an episode of "Backyardigans"; so I think he was half expecting the "Soccer Monster" to jump out and his team to break out into a choreographed dance.

Anyways, Elena is on a team with her buds from church (yay!). And Evan is on the Rodriguez Family team. Seriously, the kids call the coach, Uncle.

Elena really amazed us with her persistence to keep up with the ball, and she had so much fun which is exactly what we were hoping for.

Evan's experience was pretty much the opposite. Poor guy, he had so much enthusiasm about the game (or what he thought was the game of soccer... curse you, Backyardigans!!) before getting out there. But that enthusiasm completely dissipated. There were tears... lots of them. Tears when I told him his water cup had to stay with me on the sidelines. Tears when we told him he can't push the kids (I think he thought he was supposed to tackle). And tears when the opposing team's player kept heading toward the goal after Evan yelled, "Stop!" right in his face.

It will certainly be fun to see how the kids progress during the season!

Elena, Emily, and Tanner!

One of her 6 kicks.

She kept careful count of her kicks and shared her tally with everyone!

Ben headed over to Evan's field to grab some action shots...