Soccer Fall 2012

Cute little soccer team: Ike, Brock, Tatum, Aiden, C, and Brinlee

Ike and Coach Ladd

 Both boys played soccer this fall. Ike was on his first REAL team with goals and coaches and trophies and winners and losers... everything. I really was a true blue soccer mom for the first, and surely  not the last, time:) Ike struggled a little. He is a really sporty boy. Athleticism comes easy to him and soccer was no different. He is pretty coordinated (in spite of who his mother is...) and a good sportsman too. He loved his teammates (many we knew from previous preschool years and from church) and we met a few new kiddos too. He LOVED practice. We discovered though, that Ike gets really nervous about LOSING. He does not like the thought that his team could lose (they only lost twice all season, but still...) He is not into failure at all. It actually even caused a little anxiety thinking about potentially losing. Poor guy lost some sleep over the ordeal. BUT, in the end, he scored his first goal, he was an excellent defensive player all year, and has a few new buddies and new skills to add to his young resume. This may be wrong, but I think it has been good for him to struggle a little. I am trying to not be super competitive, but I do appreciate what sports have been able to teach him thus far. He is learning to be a team player. He's learning that we win and lose, but we always try our best; that sometimes in spite of giving our best effort, someone else wins. He has learned that he has a contribution to make and that his team depends on him, as he does them. He is learning to listen to a coach who has expectations for him and knows him. Yeah, we're sold. Looks like Ike will be playing again in the spring:)

    Zach did soccer tots again this fall. He goes for 1 hour every Saturday morning to learn soccer skills with mom/dad. It has been a stretch for him too. He has learned some new skills and is getting to be a pretty good little ball handler. He loves doing everything his big brother does, so for him, it's a win win. I somehow misplaced the shots I had of his soccer time, but again, he'll be playing in the spring. I LOVE Arizona sept-may. LOVE being outside and LOVE introducing my kids to the wonderful world of sports:)

Our Little Sunbeam

Can you believe this little boy is a sunbeam?! What a big deal to this little guy. Zachary has been counting down the weeks until he could go to sunday school with his brother. At the beginning of the new year, all 3 year olds get to start real sunday school classes and so this has been a long wait for Z! He has been super reverent (so I've heard) and has even participated (which is leaps and bounds beyond where his brother was at this point:)
Zachary is a spunky little 3 year old. He is so smart and hilarious and high maintenance. Yep, I think that sums it up. I would say we may have jinxed him a little by making his middle name James:) He acts just a little like his grandpa (as I've mentioned before). Zachary knows the right answer and just how everything should be:) He has shown his 3 year old spunk recently along with lots of requests (demands). Oh what a fun stage. Lots of drama, but these cute smiles and amazing charm (along with kisses and sweet words) make it all worth while. He loves to give mama compliments (Oh mama I love your toes and your cute pants and sweater and other shirt you are wearing under it and your hair and your earrings, etc... )Sure love this Sunbeam:)

The best redneck date night

My dear friend, Kallee, is better known as my partner in crime. The problem with Kallee and I is that between the two of us, we can talk ourselves into about anything. Case in point... I found a groupon not long ago for  a great deal to the car races. Ben and I have never been, neither had the Cooks, so what better way to spend a friday night than a little Smashburger and trip to the races (it was even a surprise for the hubs). Oh, little did we know:) So, we put on our best redneck garb and headed west... well, northwest:) We had a BLAST! We were way out in the desert at a mud racetrack, we were the only people not emotionally invested in the outcomes, we were probably the only ones without a tatoo, and most definitely the only ones not smoking or boozing. We stuck out like sore thumbs (and we loved it)! The cars were so loud it made your insides pound. The ground shook. We got mud on our faces:) It was the best! We chose our cars and cheered and cheered and laughed! Anyway, it was memorable for sure, and nothing like what we expected.

Zachary figures it out

Zachary has it all figured out. What?! You didn't get the memo? He knows everything. Just like his grandpa namesake (my dad). If it isn't his idea, it probably isn't right:) Here are some recent conversations to prove it...
As Ike comes running into the room whining, "Zachy sometimes I have good ideas too. You aren't the only one with the right idea."
Zach: "Nope. Just me. I have all the right ideas. I can't help it Ikie. I just do. I know all the right fhings."
Ike: "I know right things too, Zachy. You can't always be right or people won't want to play with you."
Z: "I just am always right though. I just am."
... and on and on it went...

Zach was pretending he was the daddy (even wearing daddy's shoes) and he was coming home to his kids (me)... "Kids, I'm home!!"
Me: "Yay! Daddy's home! Daddy, where were you?"
Z: "At school."
Me. "What do you do at school, Daddy?"
Z: "Work in people's moufs."
Me: "What do you do in their mouths?"
Z: "Work on teef and get my hands all bloody." (they ask Ben 2 questions every night: 1. Did you get to put trays in anyone's mouth today? 2. Did you get your hands bloody? Every. Day.

Me: "Why do your hands get all bloody?"
Z: "Because I take out deir teef."
Me: "Why on earth are you taking our their teeth?"
Z: "So I can put in gold ones!!"

That's pretty much it, son. Good one.

Reese snuck up to 7 months!

Sweet little Reese sneeks and creeps along at 7 months! Literally. This little girl is rolling all over and has learned to army crawl and spin and move any which way this month. She can get where she needs to go, as long as it is behind her... haven't quite figured out forward yet, but maybe that just means she'll be an excellent parallel parker?!
Little miss Reese has also learned to speak a little more gibberish and definitely knows her name and mama and dadda. I'm not quite sure what she calls her brothers, but she sure does get excited if they look her way or walk past her. They often can keep her attention for as long as they want and sing and dance for her daily. She loves them so much and often gives them very lovey, wet kisses!
Reese has finally taken a little more liking to baby food, though if her food is pureed, she still sticks her nose up at it! She likes a little chunk to it and especially loves black beans, avocados, and mangoes, apples, etc. She even like edamame... or most anything that is not pureed. She has also started liking a bottle a little more, which makes date night a little more possible (whew!)
Reese is sleeping like my babies normally do. Not enough:) She still wakes in the night, but is such a joy, you can't help but just bask in her warm, loving smiles. She eats and goes right back to sleep, which doesn't hurt either:)
Reese is my little partner in crime. She has a wardrobe bigger than daddy and mamma combined (ok, maybe daddy and the boys...) And her hair is long enough to do ponytails, pig tails and side ponies. I don't know much about girl hair, so are on a definite learning curve, but we accessorize more and more:)
Reese is also daddy's little girl. If she even hears his voice, no matter the time day or night, she will quit nursing and turn every which way to find him. She gives him the biggest, brightest smiles and then goes back to her job:) She's got him wrapped around her little finger. Good girl.
This little girl has us all completely smitten. I can't remember life without our little angel:) We just love her to pieces!

Isaac's ROAR-ing DINO-mite 6th Birthday

We had Dino Dinner: swamp dip (guac and chips), carnivore food: dino dogs (little smokies) and dino chicken nuggets, dinosaur bones (pretzel sticks in white chocolate), dinosaur eggs (green grapes) and swamp juice (lime sherbet and sprite)

herbivore delights

dinosaur cupcakes- funniest part: one friend proclaimed, "I don't like cupcakes!" So, all but 4 children ended up opting out of the cupcakes claiming "I don't like them either!" or my favorite, "Cupcake give me a belly ache!" Ben and I got a good laugh out of it, lucky for us, they were actually really good! AND Zach loved them... I let him eat 2.... Made my ego feel better!

Swamp Juice and Cupcake table

Dino Eggs

Ben and his dental buddy (BFF:) Clayton. These two lucky boys asked the most unfortunate question, "What can we do to help?" Which is why they spent the next 30 minutes stuffing glow in the dark bracelets into easter eggs (turned dinosaur eggs) for our glow in the dark dino egg hunt! It was a HUGE HIT!! And was only accomplished because of these two highly educated men and loving husbands:)

Three of our friends partying up!

What good is an outdoor party without a water feature?

We had a killer dinosaur dig with 80 dinos ready to unearth with paint brushes and "tools" for the paleontologists

Isaac received a soccer goal from Mom and Dad and boy has it been put to good use already!

More party animals

Entrance to the Parrr-tae

Dino Dig

More Paleontologists

Birthday boy with his two trustiest helpers:)

By the end of the party it was dark, which meant strands of Christmas lights all above the yard. What a brilliant treat! I LOVE Arizona "fall!"

Totally awesome, amazing friends and the coolest presents:)

Happy Happy Birthday Boy!

Our big boy Isaac is thrilled to be 6! A couple of his besties have already turned six (a few weeks ago) and it has been killing him to not be the same age! He claims six just feels so much older:)

Isaac loves kindergarten and his teacher. He is constantly wanting more and doing more, so we supplement a lot from home and investigate a lot. Obviously, his newest obsession is dinosaurs. He knows at least 50 dinosaurs and knows what time periods they lived in.

Some of his other favorite things are pretending. He could pretend anything from "baby and daddy" with his best buddy, Zachary to "School" with his school friends (Isaac is always the male teacher Mr. Fish from his elementary school). The boys often (as in every second of the day) are borrowing my kitchen tools, random things from under the sink, recycling, etc. to play. I think for Christmas they would seriously love their own kitchen tools and free reign on the recycling bin!

Isaac thought long and hard about his birthday party. He chose the menu and he helped every step of the way. He is really "in" to food and details.
Along with his party, much thought went into his guest list. At school, it is a HUGE deal to be invited/disinvited from someone's birthday party. We limited our list to friends we had had for more than a couple weeks from school, our back yard (and ambition) just weren't quite that big. We limited ourselves to 12! His insisted-on guest was Grandma Christmas (my mom, who had to take a rain-check, but joined us via facetime).

Isaac loves to play soccer, but is not really into the competition. He is a great defensive player but is timid about taking the ball down to score. He works really hard though, and is determined to overcome his fear. He loves soccer practice, but gets nervous for the games. He is a great little player, very coordinated and super fast, so I think he has many more years of sports in front of him. I love the skills he has learned and watching him overcome his individual obstacles. He knows now he can do hard things.

Isaac is a good worker. He is the first to help pitch in and clean up, loves helping in the kitchen and loves even more outdoor work with dad (except when it's hot, but I don't think dad likes it much then either!) This weekend was Mormon Helping Hands weekend where we volunteered all over the community doing different things. Isaac collected shoes for a shoe drive to raise money for a little girl with cancer and helped pick up trash at his school's nature area. He is really proud to go to school and tell his teacher tomorrow:)

Isaac is the best big brother ever! I always wanted an older brother and Isaac is exactly the one I wanted! He is so loving to his siblings. He treats Reese like a princess all the time and is constantly singing to her, dancing with her/for her, making her laugh with weird/annoying noises, feeding her (mommy approved), and getting diapers/toys/binkies, etc. Zachary is his best friend/bunk mate/partner in crime/ re-peater. It is rare to find them apart outside of school time. He even accompanies his brother to the bathroom! Truly, they are the perfect fit for each other and perfect partners in crime!

Ike really has a firm grasp on who he is. He knows he is a son of God. He knows more about the gospel of Jesus Christ than I'm sure I did at his age. He really impresses me with his faith and understanding. When he lost his shoe a few weeks ago, he was really distraught and didn't want to wear a different pair to school. I told him he'd have to because we needed to leave, to which he replied, "Mommy, I just want to say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help." His faith was perfect. He thought of a solution I hadn't. AND it worked. I love him and I know he really does have a Father in Heaven who knows and loves him too.

Isaac really is a complete joy to us. He is a loud joy, but such an amazing little person. I feel so grateful to be his mother.

Our best efforts...

Charlie Chaplin and Flapper

 We have a dear, sweet friend who requested some of our halloween flashbacks, so here are some of our favorites! Arizona Halloween is so amazingly different than Wyoming! It is warm and incredibly festive, as it is finally not a gillion degrees (or a gillion degrees below zero)! Stay tuned for this year's halloween treat...

Pirate Family with one on the way...

The Wizard of Oz

Kanye West and Taylor Swift right after the big VMA controversy

Kanye spouting his mouth again

Taylor was pretty sad...