Fall Soccer

Grace is playing soccer this fall in a local church league. Lots of her friends from preschool are playing and they are all on the same team. It is really cute. It is an all girl league, so I think it may be a little more coachable than the team she was on in the spring. I wasn't there this past Saturday, but before she left I told her to make sure she protected the ball by strong-arming anyone who tried to push her out of the way. I later heard that there were two little girls who were pushing to the point that the game had to be stopped (no, Grace was not one of them) and the coach said that there was to be no more pushing. Grace spoke right up and told the coach that her mommy said that she was allowed to push. :-) That's my girl!
Here- Isaac is pounding on Daddy's head. Good boy!

Pounding on daddy is as fun as riding on his shoulders.

Grace is wearing her stylish tie-dye t-shirt.

I'm sure she is paying attention to her coach (thankfully not me right now.)

A little red light, yellow light, green light soccer drill.

I believe it is only the balls that are to be in the goal.

Here we have RyRy, Grayson, Hayden, Grace, and Meghan.
I just thought this was cute. Daddy and Isaac both have navy blue crocs.

First Day of PreSchool

Grace and Isaac started preschool yesterday. Grace is in the 4-year old Shining Star class- ie she is a senior and couldn't be prouder. Isaac is in the 1-year old Friendly Frog class and wasn't super excited when I left him. However, he knows both of his teachers from last year and recovered quickly and had a great day. This is Grace with her best bud Ryen and new teacher Ms. Michelle. They sign their names in the roll book before they enter the classroom. Grace was very proud to show her name writing skills.

Ryen and Grace before school.

Grace and Isaac at the end of the day. Both are happy and tired. :-)

Isaac had such a good day that he even gave Ms. Sandra a hug before he left.

A kiss too!

He was such a goofball when I picked him up. It made me happy because he is only silly when he is happy. I was relieved to know that he had a great day.

Grace's 4-year-old Pictures and Labor Day at the Park

We spent the first half of our Labor Day at Pullen Park. Our beloved park is closing in December for an entire year as they do some much needed repairs. We are trying to squeeze in as many visits as possible until then. It has been a gray day with rain off and on. We decided to brave the weather and I am glad we did. It was in the high 70's and we truly enjoyed our morning. Grace allows Isaac to drive the motor boat. However, about half way through the ride the boat was without a driver as Isaac had to be taken out of the boat because he kept standing on the seat. He was not too happy with me.

Grace shows off her pumping skills

Isaac was pretty happy with himself- he was a big boy on this swing- and I have a feeling that this may be the new trend. Daddy complained the entire time that swinging made him sick to his stomach. Hmmm, I wonder why he kept doing it then?

Grace and Isaac feed the well fed geese and ducks.

Isaac and Daddy feed them while Grace is in her photo shoot.

Below are the photos I took of Grace for her 4 year birthday. For the first time I decided to do them myself. I'm not sure if upcoming cost of three children is haunting me, or I am just tired of paying tons of money for photos that are hardly average- but Grace and I had a great time and we only spent about 20 minutes doing it- which of course made her very happy.

Fun and Friends at the Museum

Friday was our last official day of summer vacation. We celebrated by heading to the NC Museum of Life and Science in Durham with lots of our friends. We started the morning with lots of energy and ended soaking wet and exhausted. Sounds like a good day to me! Here Isaac and Grace anxiously await the start of the train ride. Isaac, now quite the talker, kept saying "Go Choo Choo!"

After the train we headed for the dinosaur exhibit. This dinosaur is one that the children are allowed to play on. Caleb, Pierce, Grace, and Isaac all pile on the tail.

These dinosaurs, however, are not to be climbed on. Stacey and I checked for security cameras before we allowed Hampton, Isaac and Grace over the fence. Then, not surprisingly, Isaac started to get a little rough with the dinosaur, so before any damage was done, and before we were caught, we high-tailed it to the next exhibit. Always trying to set a good example.

Isaac in front and Spencer behind dig for fossils and shark teeth. Well, mostly they just loved playing in the dirt. Isaac had a total meltdown when we had to leave. Total.

Grace was digging and then decided to hit others up for help. She really wanted to find a shark's tooth.

Bingo! I think Ms. Erin may have come across this one. :-)

Here we all are at lunch. The moms enjoyed themselves as much as the kiddos.

We ended our visit at some sort of water feature where, as usual, my children drenched themselves. Grace had just stuck her entire head in the water and now Caleb and Pierce are about to attempt the same.

Isaac played and then laid in the tiny little river. Again, total meltdown when we had to leave. Total.

Our Precious Baby GIRL!

As many of you already know we went in for our big ultra sound yesterday and are joyously happy to say that our baby girl appears to be perfectly healthy. Such a relief. Yes- the pee test was wrong- no little boy this time. :-) Having two healthy babies already really makes you appreciate the gifts in your life. We are working on some names for our next little princess- we'll let you know as soon as we figure it out. Here she is either sucking her thumb, or trying to suck her thumb.

This is the determining photo - she is a girl! Her booty (looking as though she is sitting and we are looking up from the bottom) is on the left and her two legs extend out to the right.

Here she has her hands up by her face.

Praying already?

Look at those long legs! Just like her mother!

There are those gorgeous legs again.

We are very proud parents.

5k Fun Run

This morning we awoke at 8:35 for a 9:00 5k. Yes, we were late. So we jumped in and ended up running about 2.5 of the 3.2 miles. I felt like that was okay since we were pushing strollers and I am 4 months pregnant. I also had to pee the entire time and the baby is on my bladder-making things interesting. The kids were excited and loved watching all of the runners and the policemen directing traffic. Our Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Team sponsored the run to raise money for cancer research. Several people from Sid's office participated in the run too. Isaac and Grace sported our numbers and ate our pancake breakfast.

There was a 100-yard dash for 6yrs and under. Grace was ready.

She took off with a strong start.

She's focused and determined.

Tongue is out and her stride is long and strong. She finished easily. Honestly, I was so proud of her that I could hardly stand myself. Being a competitor and athlete myself I have always wondered how I would feel when faced with watching my own children compete. Would I want them to do better? Would I be satisfied with their performance? Would I wish it were me? Well the answer is I was thrilled with her performance and effort. I was living in the moment with her and could feel her excitement. It was wonderful.

Five Days of Fun with Nana

We got back to Raleigh on Monday afternoon after spending 5 days with Nana in Albemarle. As usual Grace and Isaac were lavished in attention, juice, and rule-bending. We were all very sad to go home but know that Nana will visit soon enough. We also spent lots of time with Aunt L and Uncle Craig who are also quite enamoured with the dynamic duo. But before we left Isaac decided to play both basketball and baseball with the big boys.

We drove to the NC Zoo in Asheboro and had a wonderful morning. It was actually in the low 80's so the animals were very active. So were the red fire ants that bit Isaac over 20 times on his feet. Fortunately that was at the end of our time- but he handled it like a trooper- as usual-and had no reaction. I was SO thankful.

Grace and Nana viewing the animals through the impossible "binoculars." I have never been able to see a thing in those things.

Isaac and Nana check out the giraffes- Isaac's favorite animals. There are two baby giraffes laying down next to the tree.

And then we got to feed Osha! Grace was the very first one to do it. That is her hand and leaves that you see in the photo. She was absolutely beside herself. Osha is one year old.

Now Isaac's turn! He didn't realize that Osha was actually eating his leaf and when he turned back around he wasn't quite sure how to react.

Back home at Nana's my thumb-suckers rub their blankets for dear life.

Aunt L and Uncle Craig have some generous neighbors who let us invade their pool a couple of times. Nana basked in the glory of her lifeguarding days and showed the kids a few things.

Poor Grace would still rather be napping in the chair...but not with baby brother around!
She finally moaned "Mama, help me!"

Grace and Isaac help water...everything.

Gracie and her adoring Aunt L.

One morning we stopped by the main firehouse to get our own personal tour. (You can just stop by anytime in Albemarle.)

Isaac was in Heaven!

Fortunately they do not use this one anymore...though in Albemarle it was probably only retired a few years ago. :-)