Soccer - The Nuggets!

Eban’s first soccer game was fabulous. Ryan said that this is another phase of our lives as parents as we’ll now be bringing water to practices, cleaning uniforms, sitting on sidelines, and cheering with other moms and dads for the next 18 years – if not more. We got him ready and took photos at the house and he wore his tiny little cleats and mini-shin guards. So funny to see him wearing sports gear! We was pumped to say the least.

We showed up to the field to mayhem of little tykes and parents running around. We found Coach Starr in the middle of a frenzy of parents and tiny tots. He is this young guy (maybe college) and Eban immediately hugged him. Very sweet. Our neighbor Ava is on the same team so it was fun to be with others we know who have the same aged kids.

Practice was hysterical. Their ability to focus was roughly three seconds and then they were off wandering around or as one teammate liked to do - - stick his head through the netting in the goal and get stuck. Ryan even had to free him one of the times as his mom couldn't get to him fast enough.

Coach tried to teach them minor skills such as kicking the ball in the net and I have no idea what the kids understood. Maybe half of them did the drill while the others lollygagged around. (I love the picture of Eban just watching the ball go past him into the net - - like he was going to stop it?) There are eight kids on the team and they play four on four for five minutes each. Each kid gets a rest while the other one plays. It's a half hour practive before the half hour game each week. Easy concept. They named their team, “The Nuggets.” I thought it was after our Denver pro basketball team only to here Coach Starr yell out, “Who likes Chicken Nuggets?!” All the kids giddily raised their hands. So I guess that’s the team name!

Then the kids stretched. It was SO funny – they did the butterfly, touched their toes, and hopped on one foot while grabbing one ear. Comical to say the least.

The game went better than I thought. The other team walloped us and Ava’s mom stopped keeping score after their “ringers” got four in a row. I don’t think we scored once. Ryan said two of the other kids played dirty and I didn't see any of it. I guess one of the kids knew how to do a slide trip and another one would grab the back of their jerseys to make them stop running. Pretty crafty if this is the case as it's the 3 - 4 year old team?

Eban did very well. We were worried about his reactions as he can get very frustrated and pout. Well, his first time with the ball – it got stolen within a second – I didn’t get the video except the part where he starts to cry but follows the ball anyway. Somehow, Coach Starr gave out high fives and the tears dissipated. Following the game, the YMCA parents all line up and make a tunnel for the kids to run through as a way to congratulate the kids for their game. You could easily tell who the new parents were as we all stood around wondering what the other parents were doing. Then of course, we felt bad for not being a part of the tunnel thing…next week, I’m all over that!

Then we all sat around for snack and drink! Ava and Eban had their snack together. They were so cute! I loved it!
Jack did well during the game. He kicked around a soccer ball that we brought and he wasn’t as intrusive as I thought he was going to be. Ava has a younger brother named Miles and Jack and Miles are the same age so next year will be fun when we each have two kids playing in the season.

Practice - Keep Watching Until Eban Gets His Foot Stuck

Eban's First Minute Playing Ball - someone stole the ball from him and then I started rolling the video

Eban's Almost Goal

My Favorite Video of the Bunch for Soccer Day

High Fives - and the YMCA Tunnel - the new Y parents were not ready for this activity

St. Patrick's 2010

For St. Patrick’s Day, Eban went to Quincy’s house where she dyed his hair green for the day. He absolutely thought it was the coolest thing in the whole wide world. Jack got it shortly thereafter but by the end of the day, the green stuff had fallen out of their hair.

For the weekend of St. Patrick’s, we went downtown Denver to the parade. The parade route for four to six people thick by the time we got there so we stayed for roughly ten minutes or two bands and left. We opted for the less crowded light rail train. We hopped on the closest train station and headed down to Old Towne Littleton where we had lunch at a cute Greek café. The kids liked both activities and I certainly liked the train much better. The persistent odor of drunken individuals at the parade was a little eye-opening for me and I’d rather not have my kids around that many inebriated individuals at once.

We also introduced them to bowling. We headed out and used the kid bumpers and a kid steering contraption and they seemed to like it. The fact that they had bowling shoes for their size feet was impressive. We may wait on this activity as it was a tad expensive for the time allotted. One weekend, we headed to the Paul Derda Rec Center, our favorite rec center near our house. We went swimming and little Eban is such a water baby. He loves the water and is a total adventurer. Jack is more timid and doesn’t like to be pushed to do something. That repels him from trying and it scares him off when you push him. When you push Eban, he likes the challenge…not Jack. It thwarts him!

The boys are wrestling more and more. It’s getting scarier as I envision glass breaking or other things breaking in the near future. Jack is holding his own and take opportunities for pot shots and/or low blows when he can. He’s quite crafty.

Here’s a cute Jack story - - he thinks his middle name is Uncle as he never hears the name Stephen without hearing Uncle.

Another weekend, we headed over to Barnes & Noble and we were chatting in the car about sharing the Thomas the Train toys at the kid table in the back of the store. We explained we’d have to leave if they didn’t share and we left the last time because of this fact. Eban, in a matter of fact way, told us that he shares and he continued by saying, “I don’t believe it.” As we were there, they both did very well with sharing with other kids. The only time I heard one of the get upset was when Eban was frustrated with one of the train magnets and he turned the toy over and exclaimed, “What a joke.” I have no idea where he heard this as we don’t say that!

Last weekend, we headed out to a play called “Girls Only.” Ryan surprised me with tickets and he was surprised, in turn, to realize he was the only male in the audience. When we came home, our babysitter told us that Eban was having a hard time going to sleep. She told him he could sleep with Jack on the bottom bunk and he sadly told her that, “Jack only sometimes makes me feel safe.” Speaking of sleeping – we’ve caught Harriet on the bottom bunk sleeping at the end of the bed with Jack. It’s so sweet as we look at her and she doesn’t move. She stays with the kids. I totally love this! What’s not so sweet is in the morning when she wakes up - - she checks on the boys first by bonking their door open to smell them…then she’ll check on us. It wakes them up every time.

Their current favorite band is the Nadas (out of Iowa). The love three songs and I have to play them over and over again. Of course, they songs all have adult themes!

Bowling

Bunk Beds and Trains

At the end of February, we hit up the model train show in downtown Denver. Since Grandpa Bob introduced us to this unique hobby, the boys have talked about returning to the train show time and time again. This time, a life size Thomas the Train was there and they crammed all the kids they could into the train before it slowly sped off. My favorite part of the train ride was the crab-tastic conductor! Not once did he smile. The kids loved looking at all the model trains. Again, they were very well-behaved and didn’t race pass any of the tiny rope barriers.

Let’s see - - Jack calls underwear underwees. Eban - when he is mad at you or something else - he’ll say “I don’t like you anymore,” and then pout. This drives us crazy. We are working hard to change this behavior. Pretty soon it will be another behavior we don’t like and then we’ll work hard to change that…

Eban got his mid-term report card from preschool and he is doing well. Although, he did have to get separated from a girl as they continue to instigate bad behavior. She is now in a new classroom away from Eban. His teacher, Mrs. Lyla, thinks there’s real chemistry there and he does become a total showoff as soon as he sees Brea. Ryan said that this behavior is replicating his as a child. But it’s scary that there are attractions as early as three years old?!

Eban still is having trouble with recognizing letters and numbers. We are working on that with him. He’s good with shapes, colors and other items…not letters or numbers. Jack is showing an interest in writing and it shows in his artwork. It looks like hieroglyphics rather than smudges like Eban’s. Jack recognizes “J”s without problem. Eban is writing “b” “a” and “t”s well.

Let’s see - - Tutu came in the beginning of March and we went straight to the Butterfly Pavilion. We saw lots of bugs, Eban held a tarantula named Lucy, we saw lots of butterflies, and some fish! The close up spider is the third largest spider in the world. It’s a great little place near our house and the boys enjoy spending time there. Although Jack did wake up from a nap upset about his nightmare about butterflies and spiders when he was at Quincy’s house.

Eban and Jack got bunk beds. They loved watching the men put them together as it was like having “construction” happening inside our house. They are into construction and mighty machines. There wasn’t anything mighty about it, but they were completely enthralled with the bunk bed process.

They are actually napping in them and sleeping through the night - - there are a lot less visits to our bedroom and this is great! Although when Tutu was here, Eban would sneak down to her bed and sleep with her or just have sleepovers. He is a snuggleworm for sure. I snapped this picture in the middle of the night and I’m sure it wasn’t that restful for Tutu to have him glued to her hip as she attempted to sleep and to top it off, he’s a mover and shaker all throughout the night.

Eban was really sweet and asked Tutu if she was going to stay forever. She smiled and said, “No - Only five more days.” His response was a simple shrug of the shoulders and the reply, “okay.” How sweet.

Watching Trains

Pressing Buttons to Manipulate the Trains

Romance on Valentine's Day

February has been exciting as Jack is practically potty-trained. We are saving so much money on diapers and that’s fabulous! He’s still not too sure about going popo on the potty but we’ll get there soon - - I’m sure! For some reason, he gets shy about being wiped while sitting on the toilet. It’s now March and we’re still waiting for him to grow out of it. We’ve only had one successful “code brown” on the toilet this month.

In February, we celebrated Grandpa Morgan’s 74th birthday. I made my first homemade birthday cake (yes, I know…it’s hard to believe). It was three tiers as I ruined my first batch. It was practically an inferno as I used all the candles we had to make the number 74. The kids loved the mini-blaze atop the cake. As they say in the video attached below, "It's SMOKY!" Grandpa said he couldn’t remember the last time he had cake on his birthday, so that was special. Of course, he got some Civil War books!For Valentine’s Day, we had planned on an exciting family day out. We went to the Pepsi Center to see Monster Jam - - yes, it was very romantic! ha! We didn’t know what to expect but we did buy earphones in advance of the event. Talk about a funny event! Basically, trucks or cars with big wheels crush other things. That’s all it is - - well, and VERY loud. The kids LOVED it – and embarrassingly enough, I did to. It was hysterical. We had great seats and it was action packed. I’m now a fan of Monster Mutt and the boys love Gravedigger (these are names of the celebrity monster vehicles). Enjoy the videos below as we have to watch them a lot as the kids never tire of singing “Who Let the Dogs Out” and watching Gravedigger go in a tiny circle over and over again. In fact, a month later, Jack still says he loved Monster Jam and loved Gravedigger. Both of those words are big, but he has no problem regurgitating them. I can’t remember when the Super Bowl was, but that was exciting as we got to our friends house and promptly left 20 minutes later due to the antics of the kids. They were ornery and wanted to play with the older girls and the girls didn’t want anything to do with the boys. So the boys were stuck with one another and all hell broke loose. Next thing you know the entire party is hearing them scream at one another and call each other baby butthead. Then as we are trying to stop their antics, we are called buttheads and the excitement didn’t cease. We basically hauled them into the van and got our stuff and left before the first quarter was even close to finishing. I guess every parent has these days with their kids, but it’s just embarrassing when you know the folks. It’s easier just to grab the kids and put them under your arms like footballs and leave the grocery store. Maybe I’m wrong?

Eban has decided he wants a guinea pig and another dog. He told me that Seamus and Harriet are lonely and need a new friend. He said the new dog’s name will be Sparky. He continued to say that we also need a guinea pig. He told me the guinea pig’s name is Edward. Interesting. As an FYI, we aren’t about to get new animals to add to our crazy household, but it’s great that he’s thinking out of the box.

Our dogs are great. They continue to exude patience as the boys try to ride them, or squeal with delight close to them and they don't even flinch, or poke in between their toenails…we are certainly lucky to have them. Harriet has assimilated better than we ever expected. Sure she went through the stage where she ate couches, and shoes, and toys…but she has really learned how to act within the confines of our house and really adds a lot of love to our lives.

Happy 74th Birthday Grandpa!

The below videos are for the boys as they love watching these videos of Monster Jam. It's easier to watch them here rather than the small screen of my camera.
It's Gravedigger Time!

Jumping Motorcycles

Monster Mutt

Monkey Bizness and MLK Day 2010

Eban started full-day preschool at the beginning of the year. He’s thriving and loves the kids and his teachers. The structure is really good for him and he has his days when he doesn’t want to listen very well. We have those days too so we are working diligently to mitigate them.

Jack is now the big boy at Quincy’s house. He follows Quincy and then Jonah follows Jack and then Brandon follows Jonah. It must be nice for Jack to finally be the big boy. In the beginning of the year, Jack was our little drama queen. Something would hurt him and he’d repeatedly say, “ow-wee, ow-wee, ow-wee.” We’d ask him what happened and he’d tell us that Seamus bit him or that Mama hit him, etc. All of his excuses were clearly made up as we’d be in other rooms at the
time of the alleged infraction. This behavior has stopped for the time being and we are hoping it doesn’t come back as his exaggeration skills were impressive.


We have a new outlet of activity near our house. It’s called Monkey Business and it’s a big indoor play area and they interest the parents by having coffee and free wi-fi. The place is always packed when we are there and the boys love it. They tend to hang out with one another and I like seeing that interaction too! For sure!

Let’s see, I wrote down a quote from Eban from January 2010. He told me that if I break the back door, then “…we’ll have no money to go to Chucky Cheese or McDonalds.” I see my oldest has his priorities set straight. Nice.

Jack also had to conquer pink eye in the beginning of the month. He looked fabulous in the beginning stages of it.

On MLK Day, I took Eban to the Marade with me. I met up with commissioners and staff from the Colorado Governor’s Commission on Community Service. I’m trying to teach Eban about volunteering, and it may take a while, but at least this was a step. Eban gravitated to the fire truck that was at the Marade - - Marade is a word that takes the words parade and march and mixes them. This year, the Denver Marade was the largest yet and to see so many people committed to MLK’s life and legacy - - well, it was so amazing. Everyone was happy and jovial and kind. I can’t wait for next year and hopefully, I’ll bring Jack too!

On that vein of giving back, Manual High School asked me to come speak to their student body about the importance of giving back and incorporating some of MLK’s teachings into the impromptu speech. Jovan, from the Commission, and I tag-teamed the speech. I love that stuff!

Uncle Chad came for a brief visit in January. We took him to Monkey Business and made him crawl around in the kid toys. He was a champ about it. We also went to Carmine’s for the first time in ages. Man oh man, I miss that place but it sure is fattening! Ryan and I used to go there every week when we were young and without children. It brought back memories to have Chad with us and some of the ol’ gang of people.

This picture is of the boys and I having dinner. They learned about the “timer” piece of the camera and wanted me to take a picture with it. Papa was working late and that’s why he isn’t in it, but the picture isn’t half bad?

Finally, here’s Jack’s “rock on” pose. I love how serious he is with his fist high up in the air. That’s our Jack!

Just a normal conversation at the dinner table - - and then the topic of kissing came up


Playing at Monkey Business