Mason's first Soccer Season

 Mason's first "official" game was last week, but I mentioned that it was a little challenging to take pictures while filling in as coach! I tried to make up for it this week.

 Mason was on the first string to sit on the sideline....but it wasn't a huge sacrifice....he was able to hang with his preschool friend, Zoe.

 And then there were three

 "I can't never get to play soccer!"

 A little pep talk from "coach" about being goalie. It's so hard for the kiddo's to understand when they can use their hands and when they can't. At tonight's game one of our teammates thought it was tackle soccer.....twice!

You say you want a revolution

 Soccer season is back! This is Mason's first season to play, and I promise to upload pictures of his game next week. I wasn't able to get pics of his first, because I had the pleasure of filling in for Blake as coach. There were random tears, kids running off the field to their parents, or hug their Mom, or like Mason, just having fun blowing spit bubbles. Blake had to be in DC, and I didn't mind filling in, but am happy he will be there the rest of the games!

Ironically, he isn't Braden's coach this year, but had to "fill in" for Braden's first game, because the Coach was out of town. We had just enough kids to play, and no subs, so they worked hard!

We are team Revolution.....which is fun to yell from the sideline!

William paved the way for Dash

About two weeks ago I was driving home for lunch and spotted this turtle in the road. When I was a kid we never passed up the chance to bring a turtle home and let it hang out for a few days. I was in second grade when I kept pestering my current turtle by tapping it on the nose. My mom told me if it bit me, it wouldn't let go until lightning struck. Picture bright blue skies and cotton candy clouds, no rain in site. Of course, Mom's are ALWAYS right, and sure enough the turtle latched onto my finger. I would also like to mention that my grandfather was on his way to pick me up for church. I screamed and cried as any second grader would, and my Step-dad had to bonk it in the head until it let go. Lesson learned.

Braden and Mason were fascinated with this turtle, to the extent that Braden named him William. William was only with us a few short hours, before we convinced the boys that Lakeside Park was where his family lived, and he probably really missed them.

There were tears shed when we let William loose to be with his family, but we are quite sure it was the right thing. Both boys kept all their digits!

Meet Dash

 A few weeks ago, we came to the conclusion that it was now or never for a pet, and started looking for a puppy. We knew we wanted to get one from a family, and it was far easier to locate this little guy than we could have imagined. He is an 8 week old Golden Retriever. It's missing in the pictures, but we brought him home with a red bow hooked to his collar. To say the boys are thrilled is an understatement!

Easter with Batman

 The boys were thrilled with their Easter Bunny gifts....Cardinal underwear and sponge capsules! The little capsules you soak in hot water and they dissolve into some kind of animal shaped sponge.

 Real or Fake. Note sure what was going on here, but you can never assume! Blake has been great at getting the "real moments" lately. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but for Mason these days, it's a thousand screams!

 After lunch we had a lovely brunch at PSU.

 The sun was shining, and the campus is so green right now, it was too perfect, not to get a few shots!
Of course Braden can smile and hold, while Mason is a wiggle worm. Below he was complaining about the sun in his eyes, but really the sun was behind him....in my eyes!

 I love to look back at last year's pictures and see how much they've grown!

 Mason the squirrel hunter

 Braden has yet to meet a camera he didn't love!

 As soon as we got home, Braden hid eggs for Mason to find. Not sure what made him think of his Halloween costume, but he was Batman for the rest of the day!

 Braden was so sweet, he even put a prize ticket in one of the eggs, and this trophy was the prize.