First official sport

Kari's had two soccer practices, and I've forgotten to bring my camera both times. Luckily, Christine brought hers to Thursday's practice and posted some photos here. She also explains how, with no soccer coaching experience whatsoever, Greg became coach and her husband, Mike, became assistant coach. The guys are going a great job, and it's going very well so far. Having her friend, Ellie, on the team has made it a fun and exciting experience for Kari thus far, which is great because when we first approached Kari about playing soccer she didn't want anything to do with it. Having Daddy as her coach has helped make it a not-so-scary new experience, too. Poor Joel is sad because he wants so badly to be on the team, but he and Ellie's brother, Blake, (both 3 yrs old) will just have to play off to the side this season. We're looking forward to a fall full of soccer entertainment.

Wonder Anew

Aubrey turned 18 months this week and is the epitome of toddlerhood--so cute, so fun, and such a little stinker! She screamed and squirmed and wouldn't stay on the scale at her well-child visit, so we don't really know exactly how much she weighs, but basically, she's tall and big but taller than she is big. She's growing just fine.

One of the things I love about being a mom and staying home with my kids is getting the privilege of seeing things through their eyes. The kids and I were taking a walk one sunny morning when all of a sudden Aubrey starts screaming, pointing to the ground, and running in circles. She kept looking over her shoulder as if someone were chasing her. Something was chasing her--her very own shadow. I rescued her from that dark, scary thing and picked her up, waving so she could see my shadow waving to us. The fear dissipated and then she was completely enthralled. She spent the next 15 minutes waving and saying, "Hi, sa-doh!" over and over again. We live in an amazing world, don't we? Black things on the ground follow us and wave back at us! When I stop and take a break from the laundry, the computer, the cleaning, and everyday chores and spend quality time with my kids, I get to see the world through their eyes, and I feel a new sense of wonder of and appreciation for God's greatness, the earth he created, and the precious children he's given me.

9 Years

Nine years ago today we became "man and wife," and I'm so thankful I married the man I did. We've had so many good times together, along with some difficult ones, like this last week, and they all have drawn us closer together. Marriage just gets better and better. May we be blessed with many more anniversaries. I love you, Greg!

Now, how are we celebrating this 9th anniversary? We're going to Kari's first soccer practice! Romantic, don't you think? We'll celebrate eventually, once things simmer down around here, and we can figure out a new time to go out together. Our original plans had to be postponed.

Sad news

We shared our happy baby news on the blog, but now we have to share our not happy news--miscarried the baby, no heartbeat. You can pray for us. We're ok, but it's hard.

Pigtails and painting

I got all of Aubrey's hair in pigtails for the first time. She's a big girl now!
We did some painting while waiting for cousins to come over this morning. Aubrey wants to do what Kari and Joel are doing these days, but we stuck to watercolors for her.

Not bad for her first try.

These two love playing together in the back yard. It's so nice that they finally WANT to be out there and can do it without fighting (most of the time).

Sidenote:Joel just in the last couple weeks got brave enough to go down the slide. He was quite proud of himself.

Mischief

This is what happens when you say, from the couch on a Sunday afternoon, "Sure, you can get the bubbles out of the cupboard under the sink," thinking they just want to refill their bubble containers outside. They grab the bubbles and the full bottle of dish soap to make a huge outdoor bubble bath.

Rockaway '09, Part Two

First short trek to the beach

gutting/cleaning the morning's crab catch

eating chocolate with Grandma

lounging, fireside

s'mores, banana boats, and biscuit-on-a-stick (some we know refer to it as "bannock")

gathering shells and scaring birds

glamour beach girl showing off her new-found shell

my crazy husband and brothers playing in the cold ocean on a not-so-warm day

Rockaway '09, Part One--The kids

Joel thoroughly enjoyed this year's Arnold beach vacation. He and Kari ran around together and had a blast. He was a little timid when it came to actually going in the ocean. He wanted to go in like Kari (running at full speed) but just couldn't make himself do it. Uncle Brian helped him one afternoon, and the bottom middle photo shows them trying to "hold their ground" as the water rushed in. Very cute.

Aubrey had a love/hate relationship with the beach. Well, actually mostly hate, but she had a couple moments when she loved it (purple sweatshirt day--running after the birds and swinging between Daddy and Uncle Blake). She hated the sand on her feet and hands. The top row is the first day on the beach. She was not a fan, but Greg got some rare Aubrey snuggle time because of it. Aubrey is a mama's girl and everyone heard about it on this trip--"Mama! Mama!" all day (and night) long. You can see the next day she wasn't much happier about the sand. Every time we went to the beach we had to carry her down to the wet sand otherwise she wouldn't put her feet down (middle row). Aubrey was the cutest, most exasperating little thing on this trip. She did not sleep well (woke up between 4:30 and 5:30am every morning) and so neither did we. She kept us laughing, though, most of the other hours of the day. Hope you like the sand better next year, Aubrey!

Kari loved everything about the ocean, as usual. She ran right into that frigid water. She and Joel had fun "fishing" with Uncle Blake. She ate way too many smores and marshmellows, but it was vacation after all. I almost forgot to mention that she and Joel got to come a day early with Aunt Emily and Uncle Brian. The kids were so excited to go and spend the night without Mom and Dad. Brian and Emily had them for 24 hours--nice break for us! :)

News travels fast

Kari often enjoys helping "baby" Aubrey with things like putting on her swimsuit, and she will be having many more opportunities to help with such tasks because...we are expecting #4! Was it a surprise? No, not really, although it did happen a little sooner than expected. We told our families right away (I don't keep my exciting secrets very well, especially when best friends call and ask, point-blank, if I'm pregnant before we've told ANYONE--yes, this did happen.), and we told our kids last week after we saw a tiny but strong heartbeat on an ultrasound, so I decided I may as well share our news on the blog. I'm only about 8 weeks along with a projected due date of March 16th. We're very excited and praying that God will keep this little one growing healthy and strong.