Soccer Saturday...and Sunday

Brady and Carter were both in the Metro United Classic soccer tournament this weekend. Six games total. Thankfully, the games were all played within ten miles of our house. Bennett didn't have any games, which he wasn't happy about...however, I was thrilled. So glad it's a three day weekend, so we have Monday to "rest".

Height never works in Carter's favor. He barely comes up to this kids shoulders!

Bennett had plenty of time to perfect his skills

Brady's Party

On Friday, we celebrated Brady's birthday-family style. Bandana's BBQ pulled chicken was on the menu, and it was delish! Cate has reminded us a few hundred times that her birthday is next ...(February!)

Opening his gifts. He received two very cool pairs of shoes, video games, clothes, and his favorite...MONEY
Counting his loot. On Saturday morning, he couldn't find his wallet, which led to a 70 minute meltdown. Scott and I lectured him forever about being responsible...only to find the wallet stuck under the dining room tv. Scott's fault...oops :)

P is for.....

P is for....pee! And poop! I know it's gross, but this is big news around here. This morning, Cate went number 1 & 2 on the big potty. WOOHOO. I think I'm making a big issue out of this because Scott and I have completely slacked on the potty training thing and I'm just glad she's not waiting on us to get our act together. She has stayed dry overnight for the last six months and if I put her on the potty first thing in the morning, she's pretty good about going. However, trying to get her 3 brothers up, showered, packed, and out the door before school leaves little time for me to sit and hang out with her in the bathroom. And usually when I ask her if she wants to use the big potty she says "no thanks", which I'm often grateful for. But this morning she said she wanted to go and I had a few minutes to hang out...and then I made Carter sit with her while I finished making his lunch...and then he left for school and I hung out with her a little more. Finally she said "here it comes" and ta-da...there it was! As soon as she was done she said, "let's go to Target and get me a new baby" (something I've been bribing her with). Of course, the toilet wouldn't flush and I thought we would be reminded of her big movement moment for days to come, but it ended up flushing and off to Target we went :) Checking out all of the toys

She decided on this baby/stroller combo. I was smart and asked if they would cut it out of the box before we left...saved myself from lots of screaming on the way home! (She gets her impatience from her dad). Of course, she named the baby Phoebe.

A Math Lesson Gone Wrong

Brady is a lover of money. He seeks coins from every pocket, dresser, purse in our home. And when he hears change flopping around in the dryer, he's waiting for it to be opened so he can catch the coins. When he is at an arcade, he usually pockets his money, and is happy to watch everyone else play. I know there's a point to this story somewhere. Ahh yes. Alina.

On Brady's birthday, Alina sent him a card with a ten dollar bill inside. Brady was ecstatic. This definitely jumped Alina up to #1...far above the other girls who just want hugs from him. She knew money was the way to his heart. And what made this even more perfect...Brady and his daddy had tickets to the Cardinals game that very night. He tucked that $10 into his wallet and off to the game they went. Scott said he checked and double checked all night to make sure it was still there. During the 7th inning stretch, he could take it no more, and off they went in search for a souvenir shop. Brady decided on a small wooden Cardinals bat (I'm sure to use as a weapon during basement wrestling matches). Little big man walked up to the counter and handed the guy his bat. Total bill $8.93. Brady handed the man his ten, the man handed him $11.07 back, Brady put it in his wallet, grabbed his new bat, and got the hell out of the store. Thankyouverymuch. About twenty minutes later when they were standing in line for nachos, Brady pulls out his wallet and Scott questioned why it had more money in it now, after he paid for the bat. Receipt showed the man rang it in as Brady paying with a $20-not a $10. Oops. Brady's excuse..."we're not that far into math yet in my class, I had no idea if he gave me the right change". Uh huh. I'm not buying it...bunch of BS if you ask me but they were already back in their seats, and it was never brought up again. Although the huge grin he had on his face when he came home and showed off his new bat while patting his wallet, proved to me that he knew exactly what had happened and he loved every minute of it.
Brady Smallie 1 Busch Stadium 0

Brady and Alina...his favorite

Bottom line... Brady is lucky. He has won $893 in a raffle (he bought a new dishwasher:p), and at every skating party he is always chosen for a gift. He probably needs to start picking our lottery tickets :)

Park Hopper

Cate and I are really enjoying our days together. I am trying to spend as much quality time with her as possible, so we have been spending a lot of time at the bookstore, browsing for toys at Target, and almost everyday we end up at a park. We literally spend at least an hour at Target one morning a week. No lists, no cart... just me tagging along, following her up and down each and every aisle...reading books, playing with toys ("put this on my Chwistmas list"), and admiring the new holiday decorations. It's nice to be able to offer her this laid back, no agenda, time since our afternoons and weekends are currently booked with soccer practice and games!

Sometimes we leave the bookstore and head to Culvers to get a scoop of vanilla for her and a fountain coke :) for me. She loves eating inside!

She's not too picky about parks. As long as it has swings and something to climb, she's happy. We've been to every park within 20 miles of our home and she loves them all :)
Her favorite thing to do is climb...here she is showing her muscles after scaling this "huge" wall
Hiding so I can't take her picture

Please don't tell Brady that we go to the park while he is at school. He still believes we stay home everyday and wait on the couch til he walks through the door at 2:45. And if he finds out about our Thursday morning plans to the zoo, I may have to start sleeping with one eye open.

Happy 6th Birthday Brady!

On Friday, Brady turned six! Six seems so much older than five. Five meant preschool and naps. Six means all-day school and select sports. We celebrated by taking Thursday off school and visiting the eye doctor (20/20 vision) and dentist (no cavities). Fun, right?! He chose Cracker Barrel for his birthday dinner and then he and Scott went to the Cardinals game. And to top it all off, he had three soccer games this weekend.

Heading to the Cards game

Playing checkers at Cracker Barrel

I love this picture of Brady. He's so little and scrappy!

Girls Day

Today's weather was perfect for some outdoor fun with the girls. After we spent the morning at the park, we decided to come home and paint birthday pictures for Brady. He is turning the big 6 on Friday! All day long, the girls sang "Happy Birthday to Bwady" and they would sit at the table in the living room with a candle/bowl and sing at the top of their lungs and then take turns blowing out the "no-fire" Very Amusing!

The painting went way better than I thought. And a special thanks to ME, for overbuying school supplies and keeping a tub full of countless boxes of crayons, markers, pencils, and at least three watercolor sets!Cate needed to take a kitchen break. Notice that she made it out of the house without her Minnie Mouse jammies, but she insisted on wearing her pants backwards.

HAPPY BIRFDAY BWADY!!!!

Here is a short video I captured while they were hard at work. Three things that I find very funny on it...1-Their response to my question about how old Brady is....2-How quiet and uninterested Cate is until I ask about what kind of gifts Brady is getting...3-Grace's love for cake and ice cream...screw the presents!!!

Bennett's Book Report

3rd grade...ugh. Monthly book reports...double ugh. After this first report, I have two rules when it comes to future book reports....

1. His teachers rule is that the book has to have more than 100 pages. My rule is that it can have no more than 105 :)
2. Every book he chooses needs to also have been made into a movie. This way I don't actually have to read the book, but I can still help.

Bennett chose The Diary of a Wimpy Kid (224 pages...grrrr). He did a great job with his illustration and we've practiced speaking loud and slow. I know he's going to do great!

Catie "Bugger"

One interesting fact about me is that I'm not afraid of bugs. Spiders, moths, cockroaches, crickets..none of them seem to phase me. In our house, I'm in charge of taking care of all creatures not invited in. And nothing made me more proud than when the boys started yelling about a spider running across our living room and Cate jumped up, grabbed a shoe, and smashed it dead. That's my girl! So, we started bagging our "kills" and hanging them in our kitchen. Hey, don't judge me...we're cool!!

This huge spider was no match for my Cate!

Bag-O-Bugs displayed amongst my favorite pictures and Brady's artwork!

Her first spider...it's in about eight different pieces now because she loves to admire it :)

Big yellow-jacket that sent the boys running out of the room...