Spring Sports Season Ends & New Seasons Begin

This past week Willem and Gabrielle finished their spring soccer seasons. Willem with the club's Little Metros league where he did great with the 2nd-4th graders. And Elle with her Athletica team in the Kidsports league where her 3rd/4th grade team finished in the middle of the top 5th grade league. Cade and Elle will also be done with basketball in the coming week; they've both been going strong with basketball since November and both improved a lot again playing with their Oregon Magic and Team Flight teams. 

And, last week Cade, Elle and (sort-of) Willem took part in the EMFC club soccer tryouts. It was a bittersweet result.  Both Cade and Gabrielle made the teams they tried out for; Cade made the U13 Boca Jr team and Elle made the U11 Athletica team BUT their best friends on the teams, Liam and Jorja, did not make those teams (they are both still playing on lower but still very good teams). There were some tears and it will not be the same playing without them but they are both hopeful that those friends will join them again next year. 

As for Willem, he was asked to play with the U10 team this coming year. He was SO SO excited about it and is just so happy to be with an official team, the EMFC U10 Rovers! He is the youngest on the team by 15 months and will be playing with some boys who will be in 4th grade next year but he is so tough and I know will do great!

So, this all means that our lives will be even more crazy with three kids playing on club soccer teams! Self-induced, we know! There will be no big family vacation for us this summer as we will be spending 16 days in hotels for tournaments but we will make those our vacations and have a great time together. The kids are excited and so are we!

Next up....lots of tournament posts starting with the 3v3 tournament next weekend and two tournaments Memorial Day Weekend.

Here are a few pictures from Gabrielle's soccer game this past weekend...

 Gabrielle and Athena

Jaida, Jorja and Emily (on the ground)

Jorja and Daphne

Jorja and Avalon (with Daphne)

Pure Joy!

Genevieve was so thrilled when we made bubbles the other day. She was squealing with joy and trying to catch them. It was so sweet!

I love the mismatched socks too. It is so Genevieve; she is always asking us to
put different socks and shoes on...sometimes matching and sometimes not :)

Minivan Swagger!

When we first bought a minivan ten years ago, I admit it was a bit of a tough adjustment, a little blow to the ego. But now I embrace it and love my minivan (I'm on minivan number two in fact), maybe that is why this video struck a chord with me :-)

Blind Makeovers

Gabrielle's good friend, Kyndsi, stayed the night on Friday and they had a blast together playing with Genevieve, walking around the dairy, playing on the trampoline and.....doing makeovers on each other with the make-up 'artist' wearing a blindfold!

Gabrielle Playing Soccer

Gabrielle loves playing soccer with her EMFC U10 soccer team 'Athletica'. The U10 year is almost over and she has tryouts for the upcoming U11 year this week. She is excited for another year, especially the summer tournaments, and also a little nervous about tryouts. She really wants to be on her 'Athletica' team (the 'A' team) again. For this spring season her Athletica team was separated into two equal teams (with a few players from the 'B' team playing with them) and the two teams (which consist of 3rd and 4th graders) played in the highest 4/5th grade Kidsports league. One of the Athletica teams is tied for first place and the other is 4th out of 9 teams. It is a lot of fun to watch these small girls play so well against much bigger girls and win with their skills and passing. I am proud of how hard Elle works and love seeing her have so much fun! Here are some shots of her playing Saturday.

"Oowie"

Genevieve's favorite word lately is "oowie". But she doesn't just say it when she is hurt. No, our little girl (future drama queen?) says "oowie" whenever anyone does anything to her that she doesn't want them to do. She says it (often in a pathetic way :) when we change her diaper, change her clothes, take her out of the high chair, put her shoes on, etc! It is pretty cute and funny now...though I wonder what we'll think of her saying it at age nine every time her siblings touch her even gently :)

In the meantime, Genevieve is so loved by her big brothers and sister and I love seeing that bond grow between them all. Here are some shots of her having a blast with them Saturday...

 

Gabrielle and Cade have been taking Nev on walks lately (they took the camera out with them yesterday). One of her favorite stops is this bull calf which loves to lick her shoes and eat hay out of her hands!

Athena, Gabrielle and Cade have also been giving her rides in the (broken) toy jeep. She loves it!

They also love tickling her and 'getting' her!

At Elle's soccer game yesterday, Genevieve loved running around in the sunshine. She looks so big exploring everything...

I want that ball!

Uncle Marcus brought her back closer to us when she ventured near the exit gate

 She is always making us smile!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there!!! How lucky am I to wake-up (after sleeping in!) to a feast courtesy of Chad and the kids?! I love being a mom to our four awesome kids!

Gotta have the silly photo, too!

And some of my favorite candy!

Baby Genevieve Dancing Again!

The only television show Genevieve is interested in watching is 'The Wiggles' and I think it's because she doesn't actually sit still when she watches as you can see in the video below :)

I Love This Girl!

Today while I took our three big kids to school, Chad played with Genevieve and before they headed outside to play, Chad took a couple pictures. Nev is so much fun, always easy with a smile or a wet kiss. I just love her and I also love that Chad thought to take the camera out and snap a couple pictures himself of our sweet little girl!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jacoby!

My sweet nephew, Jacoby, turned two yesterday and we were lucky enough to spend the day with him which included a birthday party at our house! Jacoby is such a fun little guy and he was totally into his birthday party. He told his mom he wanted a cake, cupcakes, balloons and presents...and that's what he got! His cousins had a blast all together playing and celebrating with him. It was a fun afternoon with lots of nieces and nephews...

The birthday boy! He was so happy and proud when we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him

Before the party there were lots of preparations. Athena and Elle were great helpers and Amber did a great job decorating Jacoby's tractor cake

Jacoby's cupcakes and cake

Jacoby and Genevieve also helped...they played with water in the sink while we prepared! They both have such personality. It is fun to see them together; they seem to like each other but they are also trying to figure out their place with each other. They are learning to share more and more and made great progress on this visit. The cutest thing for me though was on Sunday morning Chad, the kids and I left early for church and, while we were gone, Amber and her family got up and left for Portland. When we got back, Genevieve was looking around and then stood at the stairs whining to go up. She was very persistent and so finally I took her up there to see what she wanted to do. When she got up there she checked all the rooms and I realized she was searching for her cousins, Jacoby and Antonia. She had her hands up with a questioning look wondering where they were and when I asked if she was looking for Jacoby and Antonia she got excited and I had to tell her they went home. It was so sweet!

Genevieve LOVED the balloons and was so giddy playing with them!

Pascal and Cade are very good big cousins to Jacoby. They learned from their big boy cousins, Roman and Daniel (and also Colin and Andrew on Cade's side)!

James, Antonia, Meleesa, Athena and Elle

Genevieve enjoyed the cake!

And finally, my little sister's beautiful, growing family! It was great having them visit us for a couple days!!