2009 in Review... SPRING!

I'm lumping March, April and May together... we didn't go anywhere during this time, just had some fun at home...

In March we brought home our puppy, Rosie. She actually had some crazy name that I can't recall, given to her by the crazy lady that we got her from! Okay so she was actually a veterinarian at Lilly/Elanco and she raised "leader dogs" so she probably wasn't actually crazy, just a little difficult to deal with.

First came the questionnaire. Like 25 questions, no kidding. What will be the dog's training program? Describe the dog's sleeping situation. What will the dog's daily routine consist of? I didn't think Jason would even go for filling out the questionnaire, but he provided the input that I needed. We got "chosen" as a candidate to adopt the dog, but then we had to travel to the owner's home in Greenfield to have her evaluate the "human-animal bond" to see if we were a match. After sitting in the house for an hour, Jason was done. He stood up and I asked if we got the dog. We did, so we grabbed her and headed to the truck as soon as we'd handed the check over. We left with the previous owner shouting after us "of course I want her back if she doesn't work out..."

Well she did! We intentionally chose to visit with her while the boys were on spring break at my parents' house, just in case we weren't a "match." We hadn't told them anything about a dog so it was a complete surprise to them. We took them to the vet clinic where Rosie was waiting and let them play with her for a bit. Then we broke the news that she was ours. They were so excited! She's been a great dog and goes to work with Jason every day that she gets a chance. She's become the official vet clinic greeter.

We also surprised the boys with a 4-wheeler when they returned from that same trip... they were almost as excited about that as they were about the puppy! They have had a great time, and so has Jason, with the new ride. Rosie even gets in on the action riding on the back. Jason made her a "box" to help her stay on. We ended up taking many trips back to the creek at Jerry Birt's and/or Ted Willer's to find fossils and have picnics during the Spring and Summer months.

The boys learned all kinds of fun things from the girls at the babysitters ... one of the best that they played over and over for several months was "Monkeys always look!" They did it to each other over and over. They even pulled it over on Jason and I several times.

Other faves of Owen's were:
- "fine! you can't come in my woom (room)"
- "fine! I don't like you or I don't love you and you can't lay by me!"
and
- "fine! you're not my best fwend (friend) anymore!"

He got in trouble plenty of times for this sassiness, but he's a mouthy a little 3 yr old nonetheless!

The boys also enjoyed a game of "is he bigger/stronger than my dad?" for a month or two. They asked it about superheroes, guys on tv, cartoon guys. Of course their dad beat everyone! haha!

Spring was also soccer season... the first for Owen and #4 for Ben. We were on the "Centaurs" team and though we never really knew what it meant, the boys loved it! I didn't blog back then but the year that Ben had just turned 3 in Feb and started playing soccer in April I swore that NEVER AGAIN would I have a 3-yr-old playing soccer! Well I ate those words... Owen was 2 mos shy of 3 when he started!

Of course he was motivated by trying to be like his big bro, and having watched his big bro play for several seasons. We got permission from our former coach who was in charge of the league and he said we'd give it a try. Apparently the two DePauw girls that were coaching the team called him to ask if it was a mistake... a 2 yr old on their team! He told them to give it a try and we'd drop him if he got to be too much trouble.

It's not just a momma bragging... Owen was the 2nd most aggressive kid on the team, Ben being first! We lost track of how many goals Ben scored. Owen didn't actually score any in the right goal (for his team) but he was pretty happy about two in the WRONG goal. They were great - and fun to watch. Their team cheer "Centaurs on 3 - 1, 2, 3 - Centaurs!!" was repeated over and over by both boys on a regular basis! They loved it - and they especially loved their trophies when it was all over.

Fall Soccer... the BATS!

Ben had his first soccer game last Saturday morning. He's got the same coach as last season, Scott Weltz, who he loved and really listened to AND not only is he with his friend Scot, but also his friend Gracie... and Zoe, Harris, Stella, and Alison... all kids from our church... + 2 other boys that are not from GCC. They are having fun but are not a particularly aggressive team.

That is, until the game on Saturday. Ben was on fire! Ha! He got a goal right away and was noticeably impressed with himself. He was running back down the field with a smile from ear to ear. Then came goals #2 and #3 that first time out... as he ran to the sideline at the timeout he flashed up 3 fingers to his dad and mouthed "three goals!"

He went on to get two more. He lamented all the way home about how he got more goals in that first game than ANYONE and more than he did last season all together. He's convinced that it's because he's grown so big from cleaning his plate several times in the last week! ha! Whatever keeps him eating well though!

This pic is from practice.

This last pic is of Gracie, Stella, Ben, Owen and Scot. Owen's pretty confused about why he can't play... especially since the other little brothers and sisters (Stella and Harris) who sat out with him in the Spring are NOW playing!

Our Weekend... the first of May!

Saturday morning we had soccer again. Ben played well... kept up with the guys with the ball pretty well. It's funny, Ben is actually the 5th youngest on the team. Usually they start the 4 youngest on each team and his friend Scot, who is one week younger than him, goes out with that group. When that happens, Ben goes out with the bigger group and it's pretty hard for him to keep up with them. In fact, he usually just runs well behind them and doesn't worry about the ball too much. Saturday they started him in the youngest group. I didn't realize that he had even noticed if he started or not, but he was pretty excited when he came back out. Later, due to the rotation and getting a 9th kid in, both Ben and Scot ended up in the game with the 2 big boys on their team. Apparently deciding that they couldn't keep up, they were on the field holding hands! Melissa (Scot's mom) and I thought it was very sweet. The dads thought it was less cute that their 2 soccer players were walking down the field holding hands!

Owen wore a really cool shirt to church... under his jean jacket. It was mine when I was about his age. This pic is of both boys before we left for church...

This one is actually after church - we had to go to Rockville to pick up Jason's truck - that got worked on this week. The back of the shirt says "ANGELA" - Owen got a lot of attention at church for the shirt! One of my friends that had him in the nursery said that she was taking his jacket off and noted the name on the back... she said that she had to turn him around thinking "I thought I had Owen..." Jason had driven to chruch separately or I might not have gotten him there in a girl's shirt! He overheard Annie talking about the shirt and just shook his head!

I was changing the boys to go outside. I had Ben's shirt off - so he decided to do his "muscle" pose.

Then Owen wanted in on the action... this is his "muscle" pose!
Owen enjoyed being without his shirt! He thought he was very funny.
Ben strikes one last pose!
Owen usually won't wear a hat. I got one out thinking it would keep the hair out of his eyes... it did, and he wore it b/c his big brother was wearing a hat. While we were home for a couple of hours Sunday afternoon, we all worked in the yard. The boys enjoyed riding in the back of the truck.

Sunday night we had our last HFG meeting of the semester... the last one with childcare for awhile anyway. We (adults) roasted hot dogs, ate and talked while the kids were at their classes, then we brought them out to join in on the fun. The 2nd pic below gives you an idea of how many kids we have amongst us, but I should note that several families had already gone home during this time. They had a lot of fun running around and later, throwing things into the fire. The moms stood off to the side and tried not to watch as the dads allowed/encouraged the stick throwing!

Soccer - Apr 26

We had another soccer game this morning. This week's game was pretty unremarkable for our team... I'm not sure we actually scored in OUR goal the entire game. Ben's friend Scot made 2 or 3 goals, but for the other team. Our shirts were all the same color and since the kids can't READ yet, they were having a heck of a time figuring out who they should take the ball from ! It was also FREEZING out there, so everyone just wanted the game to be over and FAST! Jason had to work (call this weekend) but was able to arrange his calls so that he could stop by the game. Owen and Ben were very happy to see him!

A Soccer First!

Of course I didn't take my camera today... there was rain as we drove over to the field AND I had both boys w/o Jason (he did get to stop by, but he wasn't headed there with us). So anyway, didn't take my camera!

The first today WASN'T that Ben fell down. Within the first 5 mins on the field he had fallen/faked falling FIVE times. I think I mentioned before that the coach has pointed out to him - "Ben, you're much faster ON your feet!" Anyway, the first was that a little later when he was KNOCKED DOWN, he actually got up, and then went BACK IN! It was a good fall. His nose and cheeks were muddy. I cleaned him up and held him for a moment, and he went back in. This is definitely proof that FOUR is a better age for us for soccer than THREE is!

A couple of other cool/cute things... he was very into his running today. He pumped his arms and looked toward us on the sidelines with a big smile as he ran. In fact, a couple of times he wasn't even watching the ball .. instead watching us.

He did follow the ball MOST of the time though. Last year the coach would say "come here little Ben, come here Little Ben... nevermind... just stay down there little Ben!" There were actually a couple of times today when Coach Weltz had to practically chase Ben down because after an out-of-bounds he was STILL running for the goal with the ball!

Oh and the last, cool/cute thing... he got his first goal. He was very proud ... and so were we! He called both sets of grandparents as soon as we got to the van! He's still wearing most of his soccer outfit as of 5PM today. It was a good day for him!

Soccer last night...

It was a beautiful night to go out to the soccer field last night. Unlike last week -- it was freezing. Ben plays at the field just north of our house and the wind there is incredible. Not unlike the wind tunnel at Purdue, I think. Ben did well... has the running/kicking (dribbling?) thing down pretty well now and makes his goal when they do the drills. He's also listening much better than he did last year (could it have gotten any worse really?). He has two problems though... and I share this because it's just funny. He CANNOT do jumping jacks. The other kids are getting the hang of them. Ben just stands there and grins. We practiced at home last night and he does okay in slow motion... but clearly this is something that we'll have to continue to work on. I guess he really did get my coordination issues! Secondly, he falls down. ALOT. See previous comment about what he inherited from me! Last night as we were leaving the coach said "great job Ben. We just need to try to stay UP a little more... you're much faster when you're up!" Ben just smiled. He gets all shy when the coach tells him something!

Owen took a ball w/him again last night and started kicking around with some bigger boys that were calling him a "baby" (they were probably all of 2 1/2 or 3!). Anyway, they kind of took his ball off and started kicking it between them... so he went to some BIGGER boys (like 8, probably) and took theirs. One of the boys was laying on the ball and Owen walked up and started saying "kick, kick" and trying to kick the ball while it was under the boy. It's a good thing he's cute. I anticipate that won't work for him in a couple of years and he'll be in big trouble for kicking the ball out from under a kid that is 5 or 6 yrs older than him!

First Soccer Practice

Ben had his first soccer practice Wednesday night. We were excited because he has a really good coach this year - and someone that goes to our church. He played some fun games with the kids like "body parts" where he yells out something like "ELBOW" and all of the kids have to stop and put their elbow on the ball. When everyone has listened, he lets them up to start dribbling again. Contrastly, last year's coach was usually late and had NO plan when he got there anyway!We didn't play Fall soccer - in fact we didn't mention Fall soccer to Ben! Last Spring was quite an experience as he didn't listen very well to the coach and frequently (okay MOST of the time) refused to go out on the field! We said that we wouldn't do soccer at 3 yrs old again... but then there's Owen kicking around on our ball while Ben was practicing and he is pretty GOOD. He won't be old enough NEXT Spring so we'll either be looking at Fall or the following Spring. We'll have to see how the listening part goes for him... he may be able to run and kick pretty well but I have a feeling the listening part will be a problem!

Ben's first game is April 12. They play for 7 weeks. His team is the MUSKETEERS and they are already doing a fundraiser! Ugh! Anyone need Papa John's pizza cards?