Memphis Soccer....gotta' love it!

We spent this weekend in Memphis at a soccer tournament for Ben and Alex.  The soccer complex was AMAZING!  One of the biggest I have seen so far.  The boys had amazing games and great competition.  Their teams BOTH made it into the semi-finals at the same time on Sunday, so William and I were running back and forth between the fields.  They BOTH made it to the FINALS, and BOTH ended up tying (did I mention their finals games were also at the same time?)!  They BOTH went to a PK shootout which can always go either way.  The winds were blowing like CRAZY all weekend, with gusts up to 45 mph.  Ben's team won his PK shootout and were the champions, and Alex's team came in second in their match and were the finalists. I am so proud of their hard work and the wonderful coaches that we have.  They work the boys hard but also help build their self esteem and confidence at the same time!  What a way to "finish" the fall season!

Ben as captain

Picking goals

Ben's team gets a pep talk after their semi-final match

Alex throwing in

Calming the ball

Alex's team's pre game talk

Trying to play in 40 mph winds is hard when you are only 26 pounds!

Good time to just roll down the hill

Over and over

My favorite shot...cheering on the team during the PK shootout

WINNERS!

AH....what a little bling will do for one's confidence

My two big guys!

Mommy and Daddy "bling"

Soccer is over, so sad!

Alex and just what he needed!

SIX MONTHS HOME TODAY!

Six months home!  It seems like a lot longer than that!  Florie has done really well.  She is a trooper with soccer practices and games, school activities, errands, lunches, meetings....she loves to GO!  She also enjoys home but still has some anxiety at home. She wants to go over who is home, when is night night, when is bye bye, who is going bye bye, who is leaving, coming ,going, staying....etc.  Usually I can answer a short answer and she is back to playing, but this past week, we had a babysitter on Saturday, a friend who came to help a bit on Monday, and bible study on Tuesday(where she goes to "school" for 2 hours and just loves it!).  All THREE of those things in a row have increased her anxiety.  Right now I cannot leave the room or really her SIGHT without her crying for me, frantically.  Some of this is her concern I might leave (although we never leave without directly saying BYE BYE), some is being two years old, and some is CONTROL.  Nonetheless, it has been a challenging week, and I pray it will be short lived.  Please pray for patience and grace for me....

Now to my favorite part, likes and dislikes!

LIKES:

Halloween candy :)
Leaf piles
Coloring
Book reading
Playing outside
Playing bears with William and the boys
Stroller rides
DOGS!
Yogurt
Soy milk
Nutella
BBQ air popped chips
Orange juice

Dislikes:

Vegetables (still)
Sticky fingers
Putting the tops back on her markers
Butterflies
Gloves..

Some recent pics:

Hanging at a chilly soccer game...her choice of clothes :)

Loved the pose

Passing time while Mommy unloads the dishwasher

In the middle of the mix....where she loves to be

Halloween and School Parties

Where does time go? It is already November 1?  We are busy preparing for Orphan Sunday, and trying to catch up on laundry (hee hee) so here are a few pics from our last few DAYS....

Florie and Jack at his party

Making silly faced pumpkins

Such a cute idea

Ben getting mummy wrapped

SCARY face??

My youngest mummy

Get ready neighbors!

My crime fighters

First Halloween

You never know about soccer players!

Sweetness

My Ninja

My Bumblebee Transformer

Walking out for "chocolate!"

Please, Mama?

One more?

SCORE!

Can you believe it?

Halloween candy rocks!

She could sit here ALL NIGHT!  She has a sweet tooth just like her Mama :)

Fall Break 2011....the Freedom of Camping!

We just enjoyed Fall Break.  The weather could not have been MORE perfect.  William took the boys camping early Saturday morning.  They spent the day exploring, setting up the campground, and just hanging.  Florie and I drove the two hours east on Sunday morning.  I wanted to wait for her to spend the night in a tent since she has been with us less than six months, and is still in diapers. Although we have come so far with sleep, I was not quite sure how she would handle the tent.

The site

Running through the woods as wild boys do

Warming by an early morning fire

We met up with the boys and William and had a great day. First we played on a playground to burn some of the kids' energy.  Then we went on a hike.  I forgot Florie's backpack carrier, so she ended up walking most of the way and really did a great job.  She loved the letters on all the signs and wanted her picture by EACH one!  We then went back to camp and had "lunch" aka baked beans and trail mix. The rest of the afternoon was full of exploring the woods around our tents.  There was a creek, a bridge, a skunk hole :) and more!  William made a GREAT dinner of couscous and chinese noodles complete with hot cocoa.  The kids then all wore headlamps and glow sticks and ran around until S'mores time.  Florie LOVED the fire about as much as the boys did, but fortunately she kept away from it.  We helped the boys clean up and then headed for home about 8 pm.

Happy to be back with the boys!

Alex hiking

Florie pointing out the letters for us

Taking a water break

Daddy and his full lap

At the top

Fall Creek Falls

Heading back on the trail

Alex for his school

LT had to get in on the posing too

Lunch!

Yum!

Our own wonderful backyard at the camp

Getting dinner started

William and Jack

Crazy camera but 4 kids with glow sticks and head lamps

The boys stayed another day to fish and explore a bit more.  Needless to say they came home stinky, filthy, exhausted, and perfectly happy.  Hard to beat a camping weekend! Oh!  Ben also "lost" his jacket at the park which was a new fleece with his juice pocketknife inside.  When we went back to look for it, it was gone.  BUT, William checked in the camping headquarters the next morning for it, and someone had turned it in for him.  Love the camping community!