Family Photos 2011

We didn't leave ourselves much time to get ready for this shoot, and Lexie absolutely refused to be in any pictures after the first two, but I think they turned out pretty nicely!

Soccer

We signed Jason up to play soccer this summer!  Last weekend was the draft.  Mike took Jason, and I guess all of the kids from the league (or half of the kids) ran around so the coaches could get an idea on how to fairly break up the teams.  Well I guess Jason was a little intimidated because he never left Mike's side on the bench.  He said there were too many kids there.

Of course they put Jason on a team still.  He is on the Yellow Bananas, #54! Yesterday was the 1st practice, and I made sure to be there, so maybe he wouldn't be as scarred this time.  Nothing like a sappy, cheering Mom to make you feel great, right? While we were waiting for practice to start he ran around with all of the other kids kicking balls into the nets.  When they called for everyone to line up to stretch, I saw a look of panic in his face, so I showed him where to stand, and encouraged him a lot.  After a minute or two I could see he got comfortable, and started to LOVE soccer.  Then they broke off into their teams, and practiced.

He did so great! It made me so teary-eyed to see him so grown up and so happy, when he was just so scarred! He shot me a few thumbs ups, and an I love you with his hand! That's my boy!  His coach, Brian, is perfect with the kids too.  They stretched, played a name game, learned the lines of the field, passed and trapped the ball, raced, and practiced dribbling around a cone.  It was so darn cute.  They all lined up their water bottles and watching them all run together to take a water break was adorable too.  At the end of practice they all got their jersey (t-shirts).

Lexie was great!  Although she really wanted to play with the big kids, she didn't give us any trouble staying on the sidelines watching, and cheering on her big brother! We took them to Wegmans after to pick out some icecream cones to celebrate a great 1st practice!

I'll post pics of our little soccer star soon!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year.  We spent the day with family at a beautiful cottage in Angola.  We have gone every year since Jason was born.  It was such a great day.  We ate way too much delishous food. The kids were so good that we even got to go see fireworks at UB at 10pm! It was their first time!  They loved them.  Colden slept right through them though :-)

Father's Day/ Part 2

Fantasy Island was made for my kids.  Almost every ride is kid friendly, and there are never any lines. They can usually just stay on again and again.  They have a water park, a petting zoo, different shows including an old west shootout, free canoes, and a trolly train going around the park. For Father's Day, Dads get in free!  We went this year with Grandma, and Amy too! The weather was great.  Lexie is so fearless.  We took her on the Log Ride (you know like a small roller coaster where you get soaked).  She absolutely loved it.  She even demanded to go on it a few more times! Can't wait to go back!

Father's Day Weekend/ Part 1

 Because we are so EXTRA thankful that Mike is ours, we gave him 2 days of Father's Day fun this year.  We tried to let him sleep in on Saturday, and brought him breakfast in bed. The kids each painted him a father's day paper plate, and Jason anwsered a bunch of questions about Daddy and gave them to him (will add that later).  Then we spent the day in the yard soaking up the sun!  It was finally warm and sunny out! Later Grandma and Aunt Amy came over for dinner, and Mike and I got to go out for a little bit with just Colden.