things about Caroline

- she's talking lots, most recently she's started adding "s"'s to words to make them plural and also putting more than one word together on occasion

- she LOVES her big brother, she wants to do anything he does, when it's time to pick him up from school, she says "Nathan" excitedly and heads for the door

- she loves to help around the house, her favorite thing to help with is putting up groceries

- she's obsessed with bags, so we bought her a purse

- she's finally getting in her fourth molar, no sign of canines, though

- she is enjoying "reading" these days and likes for us to read to her, her favorite books are the smallest board books, she's also taken a liking to "Sam's Speedy Fire Truck" which used to be one of Nathan's favorites

- she likes to wear jewelry, so we bought her a little bracelet and necklace set

- she is making good progress on going potty, most of the time she gets something out, but I think the whole idea is just fun for her right now

- she loves to run in circles, big circles, little circles, it's funny to watch

- every time we pull up to church, she exclaims "soccer", lately she follows that with "kick"

funny question

Leaving church Wednesday night, Nathan pointed to the top of the sanctuary building and asked "Mommy, is that like the steeple where Mary and Joseph stayed?"

Soccer Game #3

On Saturday, Nathan and Matt had their third soccer game. Overall, it went better than the other two. I think everybody had fun. And that's really the most important thing at this point. Here is a video of the team being announced and running out at the beginning of the game:



I thought it was funny when I went back through the videos after the game. Every one of them has either the whole stands yelling "other way...other way..." to Nathan's team, the other team scoring, or kids falling down. It's really funny. Here, however, is one of the two goals that Nathan's team made. Oh yeah, they don't keep up with the score at this age.



Nathan spends most of the game running behind and around the group with the ball. He keeps up great like he's playing...but he isn't about to stick his foot in the middle to get the ball. :) In Upward, however, part of the plan is to make sure every kid gets to play equally and that they all get to touch the ball at some point. As a result, Nathan does a good bit of kicking the ball in when it goes out of bounds.



Caroline thinks she should be one of the group. After the game, the team and parents gather off the side of the fields and somebody from church talks about their relationship with God. Then, they have a snack/drink and get their stars (awards for playing good during the game - everyone gets one but there are different kinds). Caroline wants to be right in there. When she saw this picture today, she said "sit...soccer...Daddy". She loves to sit with the boys!

a family visit

Last Thursday, Jenn and Kaitlin came to visit. They were able to hang out at the house for quite a while. We also ate lunch with Mama and later that night went to sears to take some pictures of the kids together. Here are a few pictures from the day:

soccer game #2

Nathan's second soccer game went much better than the first. His team did a better job of getting in there and playing, and the other team wasn't so aggressive. He did a much better job of keeping up with the the ball. However, he didn't work too hard to get into the midst of the fray. Here he is running out at the beginning of the game.


Coach Daddy getting ready to start the play back and Nathan ready to kick in the ball.


Here's the kick.


I asked Nathan after the game what he was doing here. He said he was resting.


I guess his rest did him some good. Later, he got the ball and kicked it around a good bit before the other team got to it.


And...here he is "shaking hands" with the other team at the end of the game.

labor day with family

For Labor Day, we were able to visit with some of Matt's extended family. It was nice to catch up with lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles. We spent Sunday night with Ben, Jen, Lydia, and Lauren. The kids had a good time playing together.


Nathan and Lydia took a few minutes to watch a video, but I was able to catch a picture first.


They also had a good time playing in the pool after lunch. They mostly stayed in the hot tub, though, because the bigger cousins were jumping and splashing in the main pool.


Speaking of older cousins, here are three of Matt's cousins - Anna, Kate, and Megan. They are really closer in age to our kids, though.

first soccer game

Nathan's first soccer game was supposed to be on August 23rd. But it was rained out. So, his actual first game was on August 30th. Let's just say that it was a very interesting game. Nathan's team was very tentative (those that did more than stand in one spot) and the other team was very aggressive. Nathan was run over several times and was intentionally pushed down twice. As a result, he said that "the game was terrible". Matt was pretty frustrated at trying to coach as well.

Here is a picture of the team being introduced at the beginning. They make a big deal out of the team running out. They also announce each kid's name.


Because he's playing Upward soccer, the teams pray together before the game. They also have a small devotion at each practice and a testimony after the games.


Here is Nathan getting ready to kick in the ball.


And here is a great example of part of Nathan's difficulty with this game. He was having a hard time separating Daddy from Coach.


I know that this isn't the best video to display Nathan playing, but it's pretty funny. Just keep an eye on the left side of the screen. :)

school update

So, we have now made it through four days of preschool. Everything seems to be going well. Nathan is enjoying himself and making friends. Caroline and I are working to find our school morning groove.

To back up just a bit, the first day of school was a little different from the others. After the kids were all dropped off, the parents had an orientation meeting. Then, the kids finished up earlier than normal. So, last Friday was the first normal day of school. I have to say, it was definitely a weird feeling dropping Nathan off at his class and then getting in the car and leaving. It was a little bit hard. But instead of letting myself get too sad, Caroline and I can home and did lots of housework. We stayed busy! I did, however, watch the clock all morning...afraid that I would forget that I needed to go back and pick Nathan up. Luckily, all went well. Nathan was picked up on time, and Mommy survived.

We haven't made too big of a deal about school. We're treating it like just another activity. I think that has helped both Nathan and I. I do think, though, that Caroline has been missing Nathan in the mornings. It is a strange thing for her to not have him around telling her what to do all the time. :)

bowling

We occasionally have a fun family night out and go do some sort of activity that we don't normally do. The last time out, we went bowling. Nathan enjoys it, but I think he likes playing the games in the little arcade much better! :) He's getting better about getting some speed on the ball. At times, we've wondered whether it will actually make it to the pins or not. This time, however, he decided to try throwing the ball...yes, throwing. It worked ok, but Matt and I were waiting for it to end up three lanes down.


Caroline did pretty good hanging out. For part of the time, she colored. Otherwise, she watched and did a little wandering. Here, she is cheering for Nathan.


I know this is a really strange picture. We were trying to find a good way to take a picture in the dark bowling alley. I thought this one was interesting, though.

the essence of fashion

Yeah, I know this is the third post today. I really am working on getting caught up. There are posts scheduled every day for the rest of the week. However, I couldn't resist putting up this picture. I mean, let's be honest, this is the essence of fashion! What could be better than Nathan's old painting shirt, 1980's looking shorts, black church shoes, and a new fishy purse?

just as healthy as can be

Last Thursday I took Caroline back to the doctor. We wouldn't have had that visit except that she had not gained enough weight at the last one. Between the 12 month visit and the 18 month visit (well, she was 17 months), she had only gained 12 ounces. She dropped from around 50% to about 30%. Well, this time, it had been about two months and she had gained two pounds. So, now she's back at about 50%. Everything seemed fine. We're not sure exactly what was going on at the last visit, but we're glad that it all looks good now. Oh...in case you're wondering, she now weighs 24 lbs, 12 oz.

swimming again

We went swimming again in August. Well...Matt and the kids went swimming. I actually enjoyed NOT swimming and just watching and taking pictures and video. The kids are doing pretty well. Caroline loves it (as always) and Nathan is getting braver.


Here is Nathan working on his kicking.


Once Caroline had her fill of swimming, she enjoyed hanging out in the kid chair and watching the butterflies and bees.


Just a couple of quick after-swim pictures of the kids.



And here are a few videos. This first one was supposed to be Nathan swimming, but he decided to be silly. You can see Caroline in the background turning circles and kicking, though.



And in this one, Nathan is showing off how well he is kicking while swimming. If we could just go to the pool more often, we might have him swimming with no flotation device.



And here is the big one. Matt somehow got Nathan to let him throw him into the pool. I was very impressed that Nathan did it. However, once he did it the first time, he was ready to go again lots of times. I had an actual video of this, but I liked the still photos put together better. So, here is Nathan being thrown into the pool.

outside pictures

Here begins my attempt to catch up on things from around here. These are a couple pictures of the kids from one day mid-August. We went outside to play and I took my camera. Mostly, Nathan just wanted to play in the "jungle" (his word) in the front yard. Caroline was right on his heels wanting to copy whatever he was doing. She loves her big brother and wants to be just like him!

the first day of school

Nathan started school today. It went well. I'll probably give more details later, but here is a picture for now.


(PS: I was going to try to get caught up this afternoon, but I just don't have time. I'll try to do that soon, though.)