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...

Elena's Penguin Party

This was a party that we were thrilled to see come to fruition. We had to cancel it twice due to sickness in our home. So three long weeks after her birthday we were able to celebrate with friends.

Okay, let's talk about the theme for a minute: Last fall I started asking Elena what kind of party she wanted. Personally, I was pushing for a "carnival theme" since a friend was going to lend me her supplies. At first Elena went for it, but then out of the blue, became passionate about a "Barbie Party". I shot that one down, and thus began a pattern of her picking a theme only to change her mind the next day; Farms, Doctors, Family Cakes (?)... finally she announced she wanted a Penguin Party and she was sticking to it. Ahhh, okay, finally; one I can get my head around.

This party was going to be one where the parents dropped off the kids. My parents and friend, Liz were going to be helping... THANK GOODNESS. It was CA-RAZY but we all survived and did have a great time!!!

I am in love with these little cupcake toppers!

This is a BEFORE shot of the table :)

And then we ate...

Asher's a smart guy - observing from a distance

The "After" shot

We LOVE our Elena!

We are SO thankful for such an abundance of friends :)

And thanks again everyone for putting up with the many cancellations!

SNOW!

We didn't know what to do with ourselves when we woke up to a thin layer of snow on our patio!

Socks on the hands already looks pretty ragged, but she had to grab a mis-matched pair. :)

The only way we could convince Evan to go outside was to promise him a Capri-Sun... soooo Evan.

Elena's 5th Birthday

Elena is now 5 YEARS OLD!

Elena you are beautiful in every single way. You are fiercely competitive, but it's tempered with a desire to verbally encourage others along the way. Your biggest giggles are saved for slapstick comedy, usually performed by Asher, but you do have a special place in your heart for an AFV video you once saw of a cat jumping into a fish tank. You love being given responsibilities, and love it even more if they somehow affect your brothers.

You talk all. the. time. :) And I know I'm going to miss that when you go to school next fall. You are desperate to understand time, so you can know exactly when things will happen. Days of the week are starting to make sense, but telling time will be a ways off. Girl, you can read like nobody's business! Such an accomplishment. You are strongly left-handed which is just one of the many wonderful reminders of how unique you are.

Now we have to talk a little bit about just how sneaky you can be. Many are the premeditated "crimes" you commit in this house. The planning involved in your pantry heists scares us, but we are praying for self-control and a love for truth.

You admire anything beautiful; a disney princess, a purse with sequins, or a colorful sunset. You love roller coasters, hair accessories, and creating things out of printer paper and some tape. Your little 5 year old mind is already looking into your future and thinking about leaving for college (this saddens both you and us), getting married (you are pretty concerned over not seeming to have him picked out yet), and having kids (you don't understand why God wouldn't give you exactly two girls a "Bella" and "Emily").

No matter what you are exploring, creating or destroying we love you completely!

I'm showing off my daughter's mad sprinkle skills.

The Great Debate(s)

Elena and Evan have had many different seasons in their relationship. When Evan was first born, Elena pretty much ignored him. Then as he aged he began to tamper with her things, and the physical bullying began. It was months of hearing shrieks from Evan, running to the room, and seeing Elena on top of him - punches flying.

I'm not sure if it's that Evan is now old enough to understand and obey the rules of "Elena's world", or if it's that he's now big enough to retaliate, but thankfully the physical abuse has become a thing of the past (okay, there maybe a few exceptions... but.... anyways)

But we're now entering another season and this one has a different flavor of strife. We'll call it The Season of Great Intellectual Debate. Here is a sample of the arguments you can hear at our house. Both sides are always extremely passionate on their stand and are usually brought to tears over the other's unwillingness to concede.

ELENA: Eve-A (a robot from the movie, Wall-E) is a girl.

EVAN: No He isn't!

ELENA: Yes she is!

EVAN: NOOOO! He is not a GIRL ("girl" said with disgust). Mom, Ewana said Eve-A is a girl!!!

EVAN (wearing a red hat): Look Ewana, I'm Santa Claus!

ELENA: No you're not, you're the Grinch

EVAN: I AM NOT THE GRINCH. YOU'RE THE GRINCH!

ELENA: NO YOU'RE THE GRINCH!

And on and on it goes.....

Elena running away from Evan. Evan following in tears:

EVAN: Noooo! I AM a friendly dinosaur!!! I'm NOT scary!!!

Conner Lawrence

Meet my newest nephew!

Little Conner made his arrival January 18th!

I AM NEVER GOING TO CATCH UP ON THIS THING!!

Aghhh!!! I am so frustrated at how far behind I am on this blog!

But venting that frustration here has been therapeutic, so thank you for listening.

If you're desperate for pics of our trip to Disney World, please go HERE to my sis-in-love's blog.

And unrelated to the above, but very important:

Please pray for my sister as she is delivering her baby boy, Conner today! We can't wait to meet him and are so thankful for his good health thus far.