Mr. Tough Guy

Um, who turned Elmo off?

 

It was you.....

You'll pay for that!!!

No one messes with Elmo!!!

 

Lesson learned.

Spring, where are you??

Not the ideal start to our spring break.

Disney on Ice

Disney on Ice 'Rockin' Ever After' is in town this week and Cate has been talking about it for months.  As with all things Disney, they really put on a great show and all of Cate's current favorite princesses were in the storyline...Rapunzel, Ariel, Merida, and Belle.  I told Cate we could get tickets for any of the shows, but if we went Friday morning, Hadley could go with us.  BUT, she would have to miss her class Easter party.  It was a very hard decision for her, but after days of going back and forth, she decided she'd rather get to take Hadley with us.  So, Friday morning it was!  Aunt Kathy happened to be off work and decided to go with us, and bring Trevor.  FUN!! 

Our seats were located in the section right across from the parking garage which meant we had very little walking to do.  Makes a big difference when you have three kids in tow and no strollers :)

 

 

Our seats were dead center and just a few rows off the ice...perfect distance to keep the kids interested throughout the entire show.  After grabbing souvenirs for everyone, popcorn, and a pretzel, we sat down and didn't get back up til the show was over.  (Except when we lost Hadley)

Trevor loved all of the lights!

Hadley loved the show.  She clapped and laughed the entire two hours.  And we only lost her once (which is a lot less than I expected). During intermission, we stayed in our seats and were talking away when we noticed Hadley was no longer with us.  She is notorious for wandering off (her mom has some great stories) and Kathy found her running up the stairs.  Longest 30 seconds of my life.

Trevor making his move

Busted!

He didn't stand a chance with the popcorn police!

Looking at me for help.  Sorry buddy!

Cate sang along to every song!  She is looking forward to the next show in the fall. 

a darling debut

Cate's first soccer game was super cute...makes me smile every time I think about it :) It was so cold out, but all of the girls handled it like champs.  The game was a little more hardcore than I expected...real goals (opposed to the little ones they practice with) and they played two-twenty minute halves, which is a long time for little legs! Our entire team played great!! 

Bluebirds!!!  Stuck a bright red hat on her so we knew which one she was on the field!

Ha!

We were so proud of Cate!  She ran the entire time she was on the field and by the end of the game I could tell she was starting to get the hang of it. 

Trevor wasn't gonna miss the big game because of cold weather! Or Mau Mau, or Papa, or Grammy, or Fran, or Ken, or Kathy, or Jon, or Ann, or BauBau....

Game over!  Not that it matters, but we won like 6-1 :)

Reid played at the same time on the next field over, so we had to get a picture with him after the game!

Can't wait for the next game!

Well, I guess technically.....

I think Brady needs a little more math and a little less baseball in his life.....

Funny Girl

Yesterday on the way home from school, Cate said....

"Mom, I've got a great idea!  Let's go to the bank and you can get eighty bucks out of the machine and then we can scrounge up 20 bucks around the house and then we can go on a Disney cruise.  I just keep thinking about the Disney cruise and I can't get it out of my mind.  How bout that? "

Ha!  Made me laugh out loud :)  And I especially love that she said we could "scrounge up" 20 "bucks" in the house.  She's always got big ideas!

Cate loves her gymnastics class!  She loves to flip on the bars by herself and she's mastered the handstand against a wall. 

here she goes....

Yesterday marked the beginning of Cate's soccer career (or something).  The first three practices were canceled due to crappy weather but yesterdays scorching 45* finally made it possible to play outside.  Today was her first scheduled game, so to say they would be unprepared was an understatement...but for 5-year old soccer, it's all about having fun anyway (so they tell me).  Cate has been super excited about starting soccer.  She is playing with a great group of girls who have rockstar parents and I think all but one of them will be in kindergarten together next year.  Most of the girls she knows from Paddlers and she couldn't wait to spend more time with them.  She has been wearing her shin guards and shorts all week, which look very funny on her.. I'm used to her in tutu's and princess high heels.  She chose a pair of longer Adidas soccer shorts that literally hang past her knees...shocked me because she normally refuses to wear anything that is even a tad bit big on her.  Carter is convinced her love of these "boy-ish" shorts means she's going to be a lesbian.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Carter wears me out, that's all I'm going to say about it.  Regardless, in terms of soccer gear, she's thrilled.  Oh, and when her coach asked her if the #1 jersey was ok, she looked at her like, "seriously, what other number would I be?" 

Brady's old bag...perfect fit, don't ya think?!

The first practice wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  I don't really know what I expected, but it's 24 hours later and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it.  I knew Cate wouldn't necessarily be Brady-like on the field (he scored like six goals his first game...and every game that first season), but I just didn't think she'd be that....girly out on the field.  How did I, of all people, end up with a girly girl??  And girls sports are so different!!!!  The prancing, cartwheels, waving to parents on the sidelines....so different.

 

I realize I don't seem too supportive, but I promise I've been nothing but the perfect cheerleader in front of Cate :) I'm hoping this is just a quick boys vs. girls adjustment phase I'm going through and I'll be back to my normal soccer mom self by the next game.  I've been very spoiled with my boys athletic ability and I guess I've just taken it for granted.  Cate wasn't quite the go-getter that Brady and Carter were on their first soccer outings.  And have I mentioned that this girls sports stuff is a little different than the boy stuff I'm used to??!  First of all, their uniforms are teal.  TEAL!  And their team name is Bluebirds.  BLUEBIRDS!  Cate even came home from practice and drew a picture of a bluebird for her coach. WTH?  Most of the girls were pretty clueless as to what actually happens during a soccer game.  I don't know why this surprised me??  They're five years old and they've never played before, they absolutely should not know what to do.  But, I thought Cate would.  I mean, she has probably sat through more than 8,000 games in the last five years! During the scrimmage, she did a lot of standing.  Like, A LOT.  She yelled "MOMMY" then gave me the 'thumbs-up', threw out random high-fives for no reason, and gulped down water during the breaks like she had just run five miles in 100* heat.  When Scott called from baseball practice and asked how she was doing, I told him she was doing a lot of standing and he said "That's it! Pull her off the field, she can just be a cheerleader".  We're bad, I know.  So...after practice, I was kinda thinking she wouldn't be as excited about soccer anymore.  I thought she would possibly be discouraged and bored, cause you know..she barely touched the ball...but to my surprise (and delight!) she loved it!  Like, REALLY LOVED IT.  When we got in the car, she declared she had "the best practice ever" and could not wait for her first game.  She also told me she couldn't believe how hard she worked and she thought her armpits got sweaty.  (Um, I must have missed that).   

 

So, after mulling it over for a day, I'm happy to say I've almost accepted that Cate didn't go out and rock the soccer world during her first practice.  I'm ok with her being somewhat clueless because I know after Brady runs her through his Soccer101 class, she's going to play lights out...or something :) I'm happy she didn't cry and refuse to take the field but instead ran out there and jumped right in.  But mostly, I'm proud that she has so much self-confidence that she can walk off the field (after being mediocre at best.  Ok, I'm done, promise!) and give me a look like "Damn, did I rock that or what?!" So, I've had a long talk with myself and have decided to just sit back and enjoy her season, offer endless high-fives and mommy waves from the sidelines, and leave the competitiveness to her brothers.  And who knows, maybe this princess will end up finding her inner sports bad ass self and teach us all a thing or two :)

 

Today when we woke up, it was pouring and all soccer games were canceled for the day.  Cate was so sad :(  but I'm thankful they have at least one more practice before their first game and we have seven days to run her through drills in the backyard.  Ok, now I'm really done. 

GO BLUEBIRDS!!!! 

Tuesday

Slowly realizing Cate did not go to school and she is walking down the hallway ready to shower him with love :)

Trevor really does love his Catie Bug and especially loves listening to her (very animated) stories. He was on the verge of sleep, but hung on long enough for her to tell him all about Little Bunny FooFoo

 

Trevor is no longer the sweet little calm baby that loves to be held.  He has morphed into a nosy, always moving, hair pulling, face squeezing tough guy!  When being held, he literally turns his body all the way around so he can see what's going on around him.  I almost dropped him several times yesterday :)  And when he's on the ground he rolls non-stop and refuses to stay on the blankets I put down.  And poor Murphy.  Trev was sitting on the couch when Murphy jumped up to get to his favorite window spot and Trevor grabbed him by his ears and lifted him up off his feet.  He loves Murphy but hasn't quite figured out the difference between "petting" and "pulling all of his hair out".  Murphy has been through a lot of kid trauma in the last 9 years!!

 

Giving Trevor the stink eye before the inevitable hair grab! 

 

I can't wait to see all of the trouble this little guy gives his Mama!!