Soccer!

Last night was D's first soccer game! It went as well as could be hoped. D played Goalie much of the game. He was actually pretty good. I think he only let one by him and only put one in the goal with his own foot accidentally. I lost track of how many stops he had -- a lot. He also played in the field. This involved much running, little kicking (about 3 direct hits) and so much water he could have started swimming! It seems like everytime I looked over he was running to the sideline for a bit of water. This was more of an excuse than actual dehydration. He wasn't too keen on being in the field.

I don't think they kept score. (Which is okay considering which team made all the goals!) The kids had a good time. That's what we're here for at this point. We are so proud of our little soccer player!

Design Flaw

I've passed this house hundreds of times and everytime I think, "Who thought that was a good idea?!"

In other news

She's dressed up as "a human"

Sunday night K woke up crying for daddy sometime between 1-1:30 am. My memory is a bit fuzzy about what the clock actually said. I went in and fell asleep by her. She had a fever and was just sleeping poorly. Finally at 4, she and I got up. I took her temperature (103.6!!!!) and got her some medicine. Then I cuddled her for a bit while I looked up fun stuff like "high fever" and "spinal menengitis" and the like.

K snuggled down for a movie and at 5:30 I decided, "What the hey. I'm up anyway. I might as well go to the gym." So I did. I've done the cycling class at 5:45 before but I saw "Step Sculpt" and thought I'd give it a try. I really love the step classes I've gone to in the later morning hours. Let me just say, this was not those. This was some crazy lady calling people out for taking breaks in the reps. She was brutal! 15 minutes in I was plotting my escape. I stuck it out though. Walking down the steps, I seriously wondered if I should have taken the elevator because my quads were the muscle equivalent of jello. So today? Today I hurt. Alot.

BTW, K's fine.

I love this dress. And this girl.

In other interesting news, our cat is back. That's right, we've been down a cat for 2 weeks. I had virtually given up hope. Here's the convoluted story:

Jan. 4: Zibby bolts out the door when I let her out in the morning. (She had been locked in the bathroom b/c Roy was painting the car. He may spray paint the car but even he knows not to let the cat walk on it afterwards. Plus the paint fumes were terrible. Who knows what the cat would do if she were high.)

That night Zibby didn't come in. Or the next night. Or the next. So I alert the microchip company that Zibby is missing and wait for 2 weeks.

Jan. 17: A woman calls to say she has Zibby. 25 miles away. No joke.

Apparently the woman who called me (Keni) is a landscape gardner who rescues animals on the side. Keni was working in a yard less than a mile from my house on Jan. 4 when this friendly orange cat walks up. Keni's employer says this cat was abandoned when one of the neighbors moved away. Another neighbor has been feeding the cat but doesn't want the cat. Keni agrees to take the cat and find a new home for the cat. Keni's employer agrees to let the neighbor know. Jan. 15 Keni's employer calls to tell Keni that the abandoned cat is still around so that was the wrong cat. Keni takes Zibby to the vet to be scanned and is then able to contact me. See. Told you it was kind of a round about story.

We're very glad to have Zibby back. Only.... Keni kept Zibby indoors, fed her canned cat food, has no children in the home, has other cats. Tonight, Zibby is in the garage alone after having hid from the kids all afternoon under D's bed. I think poor Zibby is homesick for Keni's house! (Really, she keeps mewing at the door.)

He's also missing another tooth. Fell out while he was eating a sucker.
D's first soccer practice was today. He was totally pumped. He looked so cute in his little shin guards and knee-high socks! We went and as practice went on he got less and less enthusiastic until he was ready to cry. Roy took the poor kid out for an ice cream cone and a little one-on-one chat. D admitted that when he was goalie he thought the other kids didn't let him have the ball because they didn't like him. Aww, break this momma heart! (Also, perhaps we should have prepared him a bit better for what soccer is....) Roy got him cheered up. Now D is determined to be the hardest working and happiest player on the team! Yea for an amazing dad!

Did you have a good week too?

Last Saturday, D went to a program at the library. He got to do all sorts of activities about Dinosaurs. He helped put together this big Stegosaurus puzzle:

He created a cast of a raptor claw that we were supposed to come home and bake (for 2.5 hours!!) but we didn't do the bake part in time so A got to it. Now it is a train. It was a fun day. The girls played with Roy in the regular part of the library while I went with Dylan to this.

Monday night for FHE we used some blocks D got for Christmas to build something from the scriptures. Here's K's rendition of the gold plates:

D said he wanted to make the tabernacle. Roy assumed D meant the LDS Tabernacle where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings but actually D has been reading his Old Testament for kids and meant the Tabernacle the children of Israel used in the wilderness. I think it came out alright.

Here's Roy's temple:

Tuesday, we went to meet D's new soccer coach. He's starting indoor soccer. His first practice is this week. We're all very excited to go cheer him on!

Friday evening we went to the mall. We wanted to do some window shopping and let the kids play. A LOVED it. All the kids had fun but this was probably the first time A's been big enough to really get out there and play. Yeah...we don't get to the mall much.

I was having a difficult time getting the kids together for a picture so just imagine K is in there between A and D!

Yesterday we went to IKEA. I really really want some shelves for downstairs. They didn't have the ones I want though. Apparently the packaging is changing for the Exedit 5x5 shelves so we'll have to check back in February. On the good side, K is finally tall enough to get into Smaland! Barely. Seriously. The worker girl came out to put her hand on top of K's head to make sure she was in the yellow. And she was. By the poof of her hair! That meant an hour of Roy and I shopping with only one kid and about 4,000 other people. IKEA was so busy!

Now today, I'm home with D who has a bit of a fever. No other symptoms, but the mysterious fever.

You might be a red-neck if....

you take your car to Home Depot for a new paint job.

oh yes. yes, he did.

Sunday of Changes

Today was a big Sunday for us. D moved from CTR 5 to CTR 6. This wasn't that big of a move for him, especially since his teacher moved up with the class so he'll have her for another year. It was big for K though. She moved out of nursery. She is officially a Sunbeam now. I wasn't too sure how it would go. All the kids stayed in the chapel after Sacrament meeting to meet their new teachers. They were excused class by class. I left to take care of A but Roy stayed. He said he walked with the Sunbeams into the Primary room where K gave him a hug and that was it. He left and she went to "D's Primary"! She loved it. I'm so glad.
Even happier, A started nursery this week. This is the BEST! We can finally go to class again! I dropped A off and stayed for a few minutes. I kissed her little head good-bye and left. She didn't even look up. She was too busy playing. We are officially in a kid-free zone right now!

The rest of the story

After our time in Caliente we headed back to Delta for a few more days. My dad's birthday was on Thursday. We enjoyed a steak and shrimp dinner and some good time together. Rick and I stayed up way too late watching youtube videos, chatting and looking up pictures of urban decay. Friday morning, we did our best to pack the van and headed out. We had so much stuff we had to borrow mom and dad's luggage carrier for the top of the van.

On the way home we made a pit stop in Bountiful to visit our good friend Emily at the local K-Mart. Good times.

The kids were great. We have such wonderful kids for traveling. They watched a few movies on my laptop, took naps, played with little toys etc. We got home about 1:30 a.m. Happy New Year for us!