Happy Birthday Willem!

Our smart, independent, content, sweet boy is eight years old today! He makes us smile everyday and we love him so much! It has been very hard for Willem to wait for his birthday to finally come! Today we are off to the John Deere store and to Direct Kick Soccer Shop so Willem can pick out a couple favorite things. I so look forward to spending the day with our sweet boy.

(at about 18 months)

(at about 2 years old)

Willem continues to be very interested in the dairy, especially farming and farm equipment (less so the cows). He wants to own the dairy and do what Uncle David does and/or run a custom farming operation when he gets older. 

Willem also continues to love playing soccer, especially goalie. He owns more pairs of goalie gloves that I care to admit :) Willem is fearless, fast and strong! He also enjoys playing football and has loved competing in the all-comers track meets this summer.

Willem also loves to ride his bike around the dairy and he loves to play ncaa football on the xbox though he actually hasn't played in nearly three months because he got a little too obsessed with it! We will let him slowly ease back into it soon :)

Willem continues to be very independent and is happy to play on his own all day long but he really LOVES playing with Cade (mostly soccer) and Cade's friends. Willem also loves playing soccer and football with his best buddy, Massimo, as well as all of his soccer and school friends. He has always made friends very easily and seems to make a friend in no time every time we are at a soccer field! With Willem's independence he often times seems to not need mom or dad much at all :). I remember being that way as a kid myself, so I can relate :)

Willem is not a big fan of school though he really excels at math and his teachers say he is a great student to have in the class, always respectful, hard-working and kind. Willem amazes me in how he remembers things and is very organized when it comes to school such as always knowing when homework or permission slips need to be turned in. Willem still struggles a bit with reading but continues to make progress.

Stats - Height: 4 foot 6.5 inches; Weight: 71 lbs.

We love our sweet Willem so very very much! Happy Birthday!

Birthday Dinner With Friends

I am feeling so blessed once again to have a group of amazing women as my friends and so grateful that many of us were able to get together for a birthday dinner for me this evening at Cafe 440. What a great and fun group of gals!! I love you all and thank you for a great birthday dinner! 

Julie, Amy, Sheri, Sandy, Brandy, Julie, Me, Christy, Chris

Family Party

Tonight we had a family birthday party for Cade, Willem and me (July 16, 29 and 26, respectively)! It was a nice relaxing evening visiting with family. The kids played outside for much of it and us adults caught up. I love sharing my birthday with my two favorite young men in the world!

The birthday trio!

Some of the kids outside looking cool!

Me and my girls!

 James and Mariah

 Chad and Greg

I love this picture of Nev and her Opa

Me and my guy!

 More family: Greg, Tere, Sierra and Sergio

I like this one of Elle and me. Such a beautiful girl!

Time for cake and ice cream!

 Yum!

 

Willem got a bike from his Grandma and Grandpa!

Loving it!

Willem's Party with Friends!

Willem reminded me all year that this birthday (his 8th which is actually coming up this Friday) he would finally get a friend birthday party! He looked forward to it for a long time and it finally happened on Monday at Putters. Everyone that Willem had wanted to be there was able to make it except Hayden and Massimo. The boys had a blast playing laser tag, playing regular tag in the playground area and playing video games. The boys (half from Will's school and half from his soccer team) all got along so well and time flew by. I'm so glad Willem had such a great time!

Mitchell, Jackson, Max, Willem, Zane, Ethan, Irwin and Brayden

A Lucky Gal on My Birthday!

I LOVE my birthday and I had a such a great day today! Chad took the day off from work to spend the day with me. I love that he spoils me on my birthday! We started the day with a CrossFit workout together which I so enjoy doing with Chad. We then headed home to feed the kids and hang out with them a little before taking the older ones to soccer camp for the afternoon. During the kids' camp, Chad, Nev and I went to lunch together at Much Gusto (yum!) and ran some errands (fun and easy with two adults and only one child :). Chad then took over and I got an hour to enjoy a pedicure! Finally, it was time for my coed soccer game (with James, Jenn, Marcus, Roman, Denisha and friends) in the sunshine with the kids playing soccer on the baseball field while we played. Our team suffered our first loss of the season but it was still a great evening which ended with Dairy Queen and presents for me! Doesn't get much better than that!!

Me and my kids after some Dairy Queen treats! Love them all (and my awesome hubby too) so much!

Cade is always so loving and kind to his mom!

Nev excited about my presents!

I love my girl!

Ribbons and Toms!

Genevieve was so excited to run the 60 meters at the All-Comers Meet today and so excited to get a ribbon! It was the cutest thing watching her run and be so excited to get a ribbon! She 'raced' about 15-20 other two year olds and went out strong, running all 59 meters....yes, she stopped a meter before the finish and started looking for me. She would have gotten second place if she would have continued running :) Look at how proud she is here....

And here is Gabrielle with her cousins, Meleesa and Athena. After their tournament this past weekend (post coming soon on that), I took them all the the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and they were very very excited to all get Toms shoes. It took them about an hour to try them on and pick colors!

Happy 12th Birthday Cade!!

Our sweet Cade turned 12 on Saturday. It is hard to believe but then it also seems right that Cade is 12. Here are words that best describe our boy:

Wise, Aware, Sweet, Considerate, Impulsive, Funny, Polite, Competitive, Driven, Athletic, Smart and Motivated

Some stats/info: 

Height: 5 ft 1/4 in

Weight: 90 lbs

Wants to be: A pro soccer player and then a shoe designer

Best subjects: PE, social studies, math...also becoming a good creative writer (but still doesn't like school)

Fav TV show: MythBusters, That 70's Show (when he sneaks it in...Mom isn't a fan of him watching it!)

Best friends: Liam, Pascal, MD

Best mile time: 5:40 (he hasn't run it timed in 8 months)

Most juggles: somewhere over 800

Most foot juggles: somewhere over 400

Hours a day he practices soccer: Tries to average four everyday!

On Cade's birthday he played in a futsal soccer tournament in Portland, went to a couple soccer shops and then had dinner with family (after Elle's game) at Red Robin. I love spending time with Cade and enjoyed watching him play and hanging out with him all day! 

We love our sweet 12 year old so very very very much!

Playing soccer...what else would he want to be doing on his birthday!

 With his teammates after their tournament (too bad they didn't do better in the tourney on his b-day!)

Lunch outside with Grandma and Auntie Carrie

Cade really is a great big brother. He is very patient and really loves his siblings! He just wishes he had more of them!

 Cade with cousin Andrew at Red Robin. These two always get along, enjoy the same things and have the same sense of humor!

Cade's B-day Slumber Party!

This past weekend, Cade had a slumber party for his upcoming birthday with three of his best buddies, Pascal, Liam and Mason. They met at the dairy at around 3:00 Saturday afternoon and shot bb guns, played soccer, walked to the Coburg market and ran around the dairy until nearly 10:00 pm when they came in and Chad took them to see the movie, Super 8. After they got home after midnight, the boys chatted, ate, watched YouTube videos and looked through facebook until 2 am when we asked them to settle down and go to sleep (which is what Chad and I finally did). Little did we know that they would stay up all night and head back out to play outside as soon as it was light outside! In the morning, we all watched an amazing US Women's World Cup quarterfinal game and then headed to Portland for the Timbers vs. Sounders game. The kids got to go on the field with the players which was awesome! We were all treated to a good game though we were bummed the Sounders came from behind to beat the Timbers 3-2. After the game the boys all crashed hard in the car and we all took a couple days to recover!

The boys were all so good to Willem, letting him join in on everything

 I snuck up on the boys to get a few shots of them 'hunting'

Love this picture!

A little break for pizza and cupcakes!

These gorgeous gals (cousins!) also walked to the Coburg Market though they were a little behind the boys

See, Chad and I could handle 7 kids just fine ;) We took this crew to the Timbers game with the two of us

Cade was with the Timbers', Fuddy #98), and Elle with the Sounders', Hernandez (#15)

Holding hands with the players. Apparently all the kids made it on the ESPN broadcast of the game!

 

Genevieve and Willem!

It was another totally crazy and sold out crowd! We stood most of the game.

And great atmosphere in Portland

 

How are they still awake after no sleep?!

 

Finally totally crashed on the way home!

July 4

We had a great and relaxing 4th of July which started with the Butte to Butte 10K. The best part is Chad and I did the race together which, believe it or not, is a first in the 25 years we have known each other! I have always wanted Chad to run races with me but he always shied away from road races and longer runs in general. But he was finally game this year and I loved sharing the experience with him. I thought I may have to slow down for him but, NO, he slowed way down for me! He even tried to chat during the run which I had no energy for! We finished the 10K in 49:09 minutes which is a 7:55/minute pace. Not my fastest but I was definitely happy as I haven't put in many miles lately.

Fist pumps at the end! So happy to have done it!

After the run, we hurried home and took the kids to the parade in Harrisburg. The boys especially loved seeing their cousins, Andy and Colin, and they all loved the candy! After the parade we relaxed all day at Grandma and Grandpa's house which was soooo nice. In the evening we headed to the fireworks in Harrisburg. The kids loved setting off their own fireworks and hanging out with their cousins, and we all enjoyed the big firework display though Genevieve was most interested in the bag of Sun Chips she got. She hasn't had chips much and she kept asking me (over and over again, while the big fireworks went off) if I got the chips at the store and then saying, "Thank you, Mom, thank you". Pretty sweet!

Daddy and Nev

 Willem and Grandpa

 Water balloon fights in Grandma's backyard!

Meanwhile, Nev was busy popping water balloons into the pitcher and then watering the plants...

...and finishing the icy water left from my drink

...giving me great smiles

...and swinging on the porch swing with her awesome big sis, Gabrielle!

Cade was very excited to be able to light his own fireworks for the first time this year

Cousins!

 

 More fireworks!

Cade with his Uncle Greg

Elle and Grandma