Pinterest + Polyvore

I love clothes a lot. You can check out my pinterest style board if you want to see how much. I like trying different styles and not putting myself in a box. Sometimes it's easy to get in a mom slump where I only wear workout clothes, or jeans and a hoody, but it makes the days that I do put more of an effort into it that much more of a treat. Dressing up for a night out, church, or a special occasion is fun and it's nice to wear something other than the normal everyday attire but if I had to pick one style that fits me most, I guess it would be leaning towards the sporty athletic look. I own a few too many pairs of athletic shoes and usually my wish list contains a few more. I can't fight it.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite looks I created on polyvore just for fun today. Some sporty, casual, dressy and everything in between.


This first look makes me feel kind of like a mini celebrity. When I pinned it to pinterest, I didn't really expect 13 other people to repin it, let alone 113! Crazy. When I created this "Soccer Mom" outfit, I was trying to find something that balanced between normal casual clothes and a semi-sporty look.





Here's another take on it:





And one more for football season:




 Here is one of my favorite fun happy outfits, I just love yellow:





And another one in some tangerine for spring:







A couple of my favorite dressy outfits:











I love this for a nice fall weekend:






Wintertime:



Vacation:






So there is a small sampling of some of the outfits I've created. I love putting things together and finding inspiration for new ways to wear things I already own or things I see in the stores. It's a fun hobby and almost satisfies my need to shop.

Weekend

What a fun and relaxing 4 1/2 day weekend we had. Friday Kendle only had a half day of school (it was a furlough day). Kendle had another birthday party to go to that night that she was excited to attend. January and February have been super busy birthday months! It was a sleepover, but since she had an early basketball game the next morning we agreed to let her stay until about 9:00 or so instead. After much deliberation she decided that sounded fair.

Bright and early Saturday morning we went to Pasco High for Kendle's basketball game. Her team was missing a few players and have had quite a few people that have been sick so it didn't go too well, but Kendle had a couple of outstanding baskets the last little bit of the game. On one play all of her team mates pulled out of the key taking their defenders with them and left a wide open lane right down the middle for Kendle to drive to the basket. It was great. I wish they could do that more. Since she is not one of the taller girls out there she has to really hustle and try harder for rebounds. She does a good job of shutting down the other teams good players when she gets to defend them. There are only two more games left in the season and it has gone by really fast. I wish I could get pictures and video of her playing more, but it is hard when I'm wrestling little guys during the games.

Saturday night we celebrated my little sister Tamra's 22 birthday. She came home for the weekend from Corvallis. We went to Texas Roadhouse and stuffed ourselves silly and Tamra even got to sit on the birthday saddle. Yee-haw! It was fun to visit with her and her boyfriend Luke, and also Tucker and mom and dad.








After that we made a run into Ranch and Home so the guys could look at some "guy stuff". You know - guns, ammunition, out door gear, etc......We found a super fun little sandbox digger for the boys that was a total steal that looks like this:


Morgan has been digging some big holes already and loving it for his farm. We might have to go back and buy two more for the the other little farmers though! Good thing we still have that big patch of dirt for the kids to play in on the side of the house. Some days I hate it, but it keeps the little guys busy.

Monday we relaxed most of the morning and then Kendle and Riley headed to soccer practice after lunch. Riley is coaching Kendle's t-cysa team and also a tournament team he was asked to put together for the upcoming Blue Mountain tournament that is put on every year over here at our soccer fields. It will take place next weekend so Riley has been trying to cram in some practices beforehand with these girls who are mostly all coming from separate teams and have not played together before. Kendle will be playing up an age group and hopefully their team will do some good things in the tournament. It has been a lot of work having two back to back practices for the regular season team and then the tournament team and Kendle has been getting her soccer legs back under her on Monday-Wed-Fridays and then running more at basketball on Tues-Thurs-Saturdays. The regular season for Kendle's soccer starts March 2 and then softball starts in April. Riley also "officially" starts high school soccer in the next week or so as well. Whew! Hope we can keep up.

October Is Here

Well, I'm officially slacking on my blog. I can't believe I only posted three times for the WHOLE month of September. I guess I could say I just haven't had the time, but I think more than that I just haven't felt the motivation lately. But, vowing to do better from here on out and into the future. Moving on......so here's what's been going on with the family:

Kendle:

Kendle has been one busy little girl. She has been playing softball games two or three nights a week for the last month. I kind of love the night softball games under the lights, although it is really starting to get chilly. She has really improved since the spring season and has had some stellar hits. Her last game she had some great plays at pitcher and third base - one in particular from third where she ran up on a grounder and just zinged it clear to first base (seriously like the hardest throw I've ever seen a nine year old make) and *bonus* the girl at first actually caught the ball. It was amazing. It was one of those things you see your kids do and your heart nearly leaps out of your chest with pride. This week she has her last two games and although there's been some ups and downs, I think she is really going to miss it. Soccer is also keeping her busy with a few practices during the week and games every Saturday. Her team is undefeated so far and are a fun bunch for the most part. Kendle loves playing keeper and she has been working hard on improving her kicking and getting the ball far down the field with accuracy. She is pretty aggressive and will go out and dive on the ball to make saves and sometimes I have to cringe when someone almost kicks her in the head, but I guess I better get used to it. She is also making some great plays out in the field and consistently scoring goals to help her team. Her last game she had a hat trick - three goals all back to back in the first half. I think it has been hard sometimes to have her dad as her coach, but I hope that she sees that all the hard work and running (lots and lots of running) that he has them do at practice is paying off. I love seeing the determination on her face when she is going after a ball or trying to catch up with someone when she's playing defense. Ok, that is a lot about sports! Her first month of school went by in a flash and she is really enjoying it - her teacher, her classmates, and pretty much everything else. I can't say enough good things about her teacher this year, she has gone above and beyond already in some things she has done for Kendle and I'm thankful for that. In Kendle's "spare" time when she isn't at softball or soccer or reading a book, she's been enjoying learning to roller blade with her roller blades she got for her birthday and also jumping on our new trampoline. She's also excited that at her last orthodontist appointment she got her expander removed (no more metal on the roof of her mouth) and she'll also be getting her top braces off soon. Pretty exciting stuff!

Morgan:

Morgan has been growing like a weed over the last few months. Jeans that I bought him for preschool are starting to already look a little short. He is so skinny though, that it is hard to keep up with the growth and not have him drowning in the waist. He's a little muscle man and has a little six pack. He has loved jumping on the new trampoline and helped his dad put it together. He has figured out how to do some flips, but yesterday he kneed himself in the face while doing one and gave himself a gushing bloody nose. Might need to lay off of those for a while. He also got to go hunting for the first time last week and he was pretty thrilled with himself even if (according to Riley) they only got to see and shoot at a few birds. Just the fun of getting up early with dad, getting his cool camo gear on, traipsing through the fields, and stopping to get breakfast afterwards, pretty much made his day. He loves to help me make cookies, measure the ingredients, and dump them all in. He's also a quiet cookie snatcher when I'm not looking. It would be great if he could learn to play with his little brothers a little better, but for the most part he is still a happy fun boy and I enjoy the quiet time in the afternoons we get to spend together when the twins are napping. He is starting to like to read books with me more and some of his favorites right now are "The Story of Ferdinand" (the bull) and "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything." We're hoping to get him playing some indoor soccer soon.

Cooper (on the left) and Kale (on the right):

Our little guys will be turning 2 in November. Where has the time gone? It's been a whirlwind I can tell you. Wow, these boys are hard to keep up with. They have gotten into quite a few predicaments lately. The other day Cooper pulled his trike from the back patio inside the house, rode it through the house to the laundry room, and proceeded to somehow put two or three scoops of laundry detergent into the back compartment on the trike and also dump more all over the floor. Pretty much every day is filled with little surprises like that. Towels pulled into the bathtub, toilet paper pulled into the tub, pen on furniture, flooding the kitchen sink, getting into the charcoal in the fire pit, plugging and unplugging every chord they can get their hands on, randomly recording shows on tv, pulling all the baby wipes out, squeezing lotion everywhere........the list could literally just go on and on and on. Some days I even get tired of hearing myself be a broken record of "No, no's", "Stop that", and so on. They are squirmy and wiggly and fast, and starting to not let me hug them or cuddle as much. They are little jokesters and love to play and tease. I know they are good boys deep down, they do lots of sweet things so that I know they still love me. While I'm changing one of their diapers, the other one will hug me across my back and lean on me. We call these "backwards hugs" at our house and they are Cooper and Kale's favorite thing to do. It is cute too how at night when I am reading Morgan a story before bed, they insist on having books in their cribs to read as well. They are such good boys about always wanting to say their prayers at night, and always fold their arms at church for the prayers. They are also adamant about holding the hymn book at church as if it is some great prize. It is the first thing they want to do after we arrive and sit down in our seats. They must have their own, and they will not share with me. Ha. Cooper is pretty stingy and likes to take anything away that Kale has that is making him happy. He is kind of the bully of the two and is always beating up on  Kale. He always has to be first and has to sit in the front of the tub during bath time. I am trying to get them to share with each other but it is not easy. Kale most of the time is the big cry baby and will come running every time he feels slighted. He is better about sharing, but is also quick to go grab anything Cooper puts down for a few seconds. Kale is starting to talk a little more than Cooper and I'm hoping Cooper will start catching up. I'm looking forward to them getting along better and being good friends. I pray for it every night.

Riley is super duper busy with work this time of year. The fall is always a super big hustle and bustle and even when he is done and home for the day, he's never really done and still is getting calls and making arrangements for sales and setups. I was hoping for a calmer fall with him not coaching high school girls soccer this season, but combined with being Kendle's coach and also being the t-cysa city director this year I feel like not much has changed. But, it's all for good reasons so it's ok. I think he is somewhat enjoying coaching Kendle's soccer team, but I know he gets frustrated with some ideas of things he wants the girls to do and then maybe it's just over their heads just a little bit. He is a great coach though and the girls seem to respond well to him and not get offended when he's yelling instructions to them during the games.  The city director job is pretty tedious and thankless for the most part, (most volunteer positions are) but he has persevered and the hard part is pretty much over now that the season is a month in. He has been getting some little projects done here and there for me in his spare time, we even got one of our new outdoor lights put up and installed on Saturday, now I'm just waiting for the other three to go up. :) We bought half a cow and Riley also surprised me with a pig (isn't that what every wife dreams of?), so we are officially stocked up on meat for a long time. I give Riley a hard time that he is obsessed with meat and he keeps talking about all these different ways we can cook everything and yada, yada......I just try to smile and be glad he at least likes to BBQ and cook a lot of it.

I am SO excited it is officially fall and we are having some cooler fall weather. I think as I get older I enjoy the cooler weather a bit more, it's like a nice crisp refresher after the summer heat. I've been getting out the fall decorations and went and bought some huge containers of mums this weekend. Also found a good deal on some big urns to put them in by the garage and the front door and some smallish pumpkins to add autumn flair.  It sure makes everything look happy and festive. I love all of the oranges and reds and yellows that are starting to be seen in the foliage around here. I love the month of October and all of the fun things it is filled with. Birthdays, holidays, lots of sports and outdoor festivities and next week I'll also be getting a new niece! Can't wait. I loved listening to General Conference over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed every talk. I especially loved President Monson's talk where he told the story of being a young boy and leaving his five dollar bill that he had worked so hard for in the pocket of his pants that were sent to be washed. It was a sweet coincidence that he told this story, as just the night before I had a long conversation with Kendle about how she can start earning five dollars a week to save up for some things she has been wanting. She did not seem to think that five dollars was very much money and that it would take forever to earn enough money for the things she wanted. I'm glad she could listen to our prophet tell his story about how hard he had worked for that "small" amount of money and how sad he was that it would be ruined and that he had the faith to pray for it's safe return. I'm looking forward to getting my new treadmill set up and being able to get back in a really good running routine. I feel like I am going to be starting at square one since my workouts have been somewhat sporadic since the summer, but I know it will feel good just to be doing it consistently again.

Well, I guess this super long post can make up for my lack in posting last month.

Week in Review

This week we had two games for Kendle. Her game on Monday night was very cold and windy. ( I read somewhere that the weather is supposed to be cooler than normal this month). She is hitting so much better now and really knocked a few hard. Wednesday we had much better weather and the girls didn't have to worry about wearing lots of layers of clothes, some were even in shorts. Kendle had another really powerful hit and some good plays that almost made some outs. Their team is improving a lot and Kendle is having lots of fun with it. It is funny to hear them do the one cheer they know, over and over again. We are liking the week night games and having our Saturdays free.

{Kendle's playing catcher.}

Rileys high school team played Kamiakin on Tuesday night. It was another freezing cold and windy night at Lampson stadium. The game would decide if Southridge would be out-right league champions or share the title and be co-champions with Pasco. So needless to say, there was a lot on the line which just added to the heated rivalry between the two teams. It was a very crazy game, I've never seen so many yellow cards handed out and one of the refs lost his composure and grabbed one of our players, but ultimately the Suns pulled off a 3-0 victory to become Southridge's 1st ever boys soccer league champs. Pretty exciting, emotional, and satisfying for everyone present and who has been involved with the program. A lot of the younger players have really stepped up and proved themselves. Now we are waiting to see who they will be playing next week for their first playoff game. This has been one of the worst years for injuries as well with three players out. Even though they can kind of be knuckleheads (like most teenagers) Riley is really proud of these guys.

Morgan this week has been loving the sunshine and getting dirty outside. He thinks that it is hot enough to start turning on the water and trying to get wet. Really, then all that happens is that he gets covered in dirt and grass and turns into a walking mud pile. But I love him anyways. He always asks to have zip lock bags so he can collect and keep his treasures from outside. We currently have a bag of grass and a big stick sitting on the kitchen counter that "must be kept safe". At preschool yesterday they painted cute flower pots with a flower planted inside for their moms. He was so proud to bring that home and have me show everyone. He keeps running around shouting "Happy Mother's Day" at random moments.

The twins have been loving the nice weather as well. I've been opening up the sliding door and letting them go play and they love to go in and out and are amazed I'm giving them some freedom. Mostly, they love to dig in the rocks and I just cross my fingers that they don't eat too many. Something new they've been doing is when they find random things on the ground (which happens often because my floor needs to be swept a gazillion times a day) they'll pick it up and bring it to me and say "Uh oh". It's cute because they think they are helping me by picking it up and then I tell them to go throw it in the trash. They are also starting to get the doodling/drawing bug and wanting to scribble on anything they can get their hands on. I better stock up on some Magic Eraser's.

This week I've been battling a horrible cough that just won't go away. I'm going to try and get in to the doctor this afternoon and see if they can help me. I don't think I've ever coughed so hard in my life and my back and ribs are so sore. I feel like once I get going I can't stop. It's been pretty hard to get some sleep this week and I'm really glad it's Friday and today is a laid back relaxed day. I just got a new book I'd been waiting for in the mail and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend and hopefully getting some more yard work done. I've been needing to plant some flowers in my pots and do all of those type of things that I usually have done by now. I just don't want the wind to come along and tear them to shreds! Last year it was warmer and most of my flowers were already blooming. I did look the other day and I have some big peony buds that are waiting to blossom, so those will be pretty. They get really huge. Hopefully we can get our broken play set taken down this weekend and get working on our fire pit area we're going to replace it with.

Well, I'm hoping for Mother's Day all my children will be obedient, get along with each other, and just be overall good. A mom can dream right?

Happy Mother's Day Weekend everyone!

Shooting Hoops

Kendle loves to play basketball. She has been getting good use out of our new basketball hoop and I think her smile says it all.  I enjoy the steady thunk, thunk of the ball bouncing and shots hitting the backboard and swishing through the net. It just goes to show, you never know what your kids will love to do until you give them the chance to try it. I'm glad we had her play basketball this year and she was able to discover new skills that have turned into an activity she enjoys. Give your kids a chance to try something new and they just may surprise you!

I love Fridays

This has been another long but good week. Riley started high school boys soccer on Monday so now he has high school practice every night plus double duty with girls club practice Tuesdays and Thursdays. He and the other coaches think they have a really promising boys team team this year. We're hoping for a good and fun season. We just found out some of their boys who were facing appeals got approved to play this season, so that is great news. His girls club team were tournament champions last weekend and Riley was really proud of them. They really outscored their opponents and played hard. I wish I was able to go watch more of their games to be there to support him and all of his hard work. They travel to Seattle again this weekend. We also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this week. It was without much fan fare, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes when life is as busy as ours is. Riley asked me if there was anything I wanted him to buy me, but I had already ordered some things for our house so I called it good. Aren't we romantic? Ha.

The kids were super jazzed up to have my mom come up last night to watch them so I could go to our Relief Society dinner at the church. She brought them dinner, made paper airplanes with them, kept the twins out of trouble and had everyone in bed with the house clean when I got home. To say she is incredible is an understatement. I can't believe she can do all that she does, and that was after a full day of work at her full time job. She's pretty much my hero and I have buckets full of appreciation for her. If anyone deserves a long extended relaxing vacation it is her. The Relief Society dinner was really fun and it was good to get to visit with so many people I have not been able to get to know until now and put names to faces. We have a really great ward full of fun women.

Today has been a really nice Friday morning. The kids have been contentedly playing, I've stayed in my comfy clothes, nothing pressing is on the horizon and it's nice to relax a bit -- scratch that. One of the twins just spilled a full glass of water someone left on the counter all over the floor. (Have I mentioned how they are climbing up on everything now? Pretty sad I can't even keep things up on the kitchen counter safe anymore.) Ok, two towels later and it's cleaned up. Tonight Kendle has her end of season basketball pizza party at Round Table. It should be a good time, she played with some really fun girls this year and we really like her coach. He's thinking about doing a traveling team for some of the girls maybe in the summer, but not sure if we're ready to hitch a ride on that wagon yet. We'd love him to coach Kendle again though if she got the chance.

I have the biggest stack of books waiting to be read, but I have a confession. My bed time reading routine has been sabotaged by Netflix (cue the Beasty Boys).  I have been loving catching up on past seasons of some of my favorite shows and also watching movies. Friday Night Lights was hands down one of my favorite shows ever and it is now officially over (tear) so I've been going back and watching some of the older seasons where I missed a lot of episodes. I also love the Masterpiece Theater classics and loved their newer version of Wuthering Heights with Tom Hardy from Inception. I even got Riley into it which is really saying something. So maybe this weekend I can get some speed reading done so I don't have to keep renewing my books/and or racking up late fees. :)

*Random thought for the day -- I really, really love the song "And so it goes" by Billy Joel. Might be one of my all time faves. Just listened to it when I had my itunes library on random shuffle this morning and it always makes me stop and think what a beautiful song it is.

Well, nap time for the babes and running time for me. I'm out!

The Kids

This has been a pretty low-key week. It feels like the calm before the storm. Riley will be taking off again for a double header in Seattle tomorrow and be gone until Sunday night, Kendle has another basketball game tomorrow, and it's Valentine's Day on Monday which means I better get in gear and help Kendle and Morgan get their valentine's done over the weekend and plan something fun for Monday. I also promised I'd make our annual batch of valentine's cookies Sunday afternoon and I will have to be praying for some serious will power to not eat like 20.

Kendle came skipping home from the bus yesterday afternoon, bringing home a huge pink poster she decorated at school that says I love you mom and dad. She wanted to hang it right on the back of the front door where everyone would see it. She is so funny sometimes, all it takes is a little craft project at school to have it be "the best day ever".
They made their Valentine's envelopes at school this year, which I have to say I was kind of relieved about. Fun for the kids, and fun for me to not have to sweep glitter up for a week. I think she enjoys school more than she lets on. She tries to act kind of nonchalant about it. She always gets 100% on her spelling tests plus the bonus words. I've never really had to study them with her, she just already knows most of them. I think they need to give them some harder words to challenge them a bit. I told her we should start doing some of our own spelling tests at home with harder words and she kind of just rolled her eyes at me. One of her goals she made at the beginning of the school year was to be 1st place for AR in her grade. A boy was ahead of her for a while and then she started checking out a lot harder books from the library and got ahead. She proposed an idea for a reward and struck up a deal with her dad and I if she finishes out in 1st place at the end of the year -- a very BIG reward I might add, not in monetary means or anything like that, but a compromise on an issue we've discussed before. She really wants to get her ears pierced and we've told her she has to wait until she's ten, but I think if she keeps up like she has been, we will be holding up our end of the bargain.

Basketball has actually been going better than I thought it would. Kendle has been loving it and continues to surprise us every game. She likes practicing and we really need to get a hoop. At their practice on Tuesday night their coach gave every girl a pair of hard plastic goggle type glasses with the lower half of each lens blacked out with duct tape. It is supposed to help them not look down when they dribble and practice looking straight ahead. I thought that was such a great idea. She has been wearing them around the house and outside while she practices dribbling up and down the street. Their practice got cancelled last night so Riley just took her down there anyways since they already had the gym reserved and practiced more with her. He said she made 40 baskets. In her game last Saturday she made two really good shots. The first one was off a rebound under the basket, but the second one was AMAZING. She took it down the court and got  farther outside and just swished it, nothing but net. Riley and I just looked at each other and were like - WHOAH, where did that come from!? She is getting better ball control and can steal the ball away from the other players almost 90% of the time. She also makes good passes and assisted a few other girls in scoring. It has been really fun to watch. This probably sounds way too much like I'm bragging, but really we are just genuinely shocked she has been picking it up so well. She had never even really dribbled a ball before this season, and if truth be told she can be kind of a spazz and a walking tornado sometimes. Ha! I think playing soccer has helped a lot though in knowing how to defend people and looking down the court for your team mates to score and such. I  have also seen the extra boost of confidence it has given her and I'm proud of the way she plays hard and tries to do her best (although last week we had to remind her not to stomp on another players toes, no matter how annoying or mean they are). When she is done with her games she is sweaty and tired and happy. I love it. I'm sad there are only a few games left!

Morgan doesn't like watching the basketball games so much. He'd rather be wrestling with his brothers or down hiding under the bleachers or eating ten packets of fruit snacks. He gets mad that he's not old enough to play yet and doesn't get to go to practice. He does occasionally let loose a big old "Go Kendle" every once in a while during her games (usually when the other team has just scored). He loves tractors and since his grandpa showed him these tractor videos on YouTube, that is all that he wants to watch. (They are soooo boring, but some are put to some kind of fun music). His favorite ones to watch are when the tractors are stuck in the mud. He loves his grandpa and tells me all of the time how when he grows up he's going to be Grandpa Tovey. For the last few days he has been coming up to me and telling me he wanted to go see "the miracles" and he was making tickets for the "miracles". I could not for the life of me figure out what he was saying. Finally he said something about sitting on the tractor at "the miracles" and it dawned on me he was talking about Country Mercantile! Mercantile, miracles -- is that not the cutest thing? I thought so. That is his favorite place to go. He loves to sit on the big red tractor and then go inside the store and pick out a treat. He has such a mechanical little mind and always wants to see how things work. He is still obsessed with all things Toy Story and asks me all the time who I like best, Woody or Buzz.  He is really excited for his little Valentine's Day party at preschool next week. Hopefully I can make it through helping him sign his name ten times without either of us losing our tempers.

What to say about Cooper and Kale today....hmmmm.....they are just the busiest babies I've ever seen. Cooper more than Kale I would have to say. He goes a mile a minute and you can see the wheels just constantly turning. The poor kid this week has bashed his head about fifty times, got a bloody lip, and so on. His poor little face just looks terrible. I was telling Riley last night that he never cries for long after he's fallen off of something or just hit his head because he's already plotting his next move. He's always climbing up on something or running and falling. Kale is more methodical and not so random. He has certain things he likes to try and do and get into over and over again. His m.o. is wearing you down. His current favorite is turning the computer off at least ten times a day and getting into the dishwasher. Kale also really likes to bring me things and show me things and likes to throw things in the garbage so I have to be pretty vigilant about checking every so often what's in there. He is the one though that is learning to pick up their dirty clothes and put them by the laundry room door. :) They are sweet little guys with the happiest faces and growing up in fast forward it seems. They both got another tooth recently as well. They love to go "bye, bye" and when they know we are leaving to go pick up Morgan from school they will go in their room and start bringing me random shoes. Cooper will stand on his tip toes and try and turn the front door knob. Kale even brought me the diaper bag the other day and I thought that was so smart he thought we needed to take some stuff with us. I got all the bottles packed away yesterday and it was kind of a bittersweet feeling. No more "babies" in our house. :(

Well I didn't really intend for this to turn into that long of an update but there it is. Now nap time and workout time is calling. Too bad the nap time is for the twins and not me!

Future Football Players

At least once a day Morgan will come ask to play catch with me. He loves football. It is amazing to see this little 3 year old boy throw an amazing perfect spiral like a rocket to you. Before his throws he will get set up, make sure his hands are in the right spot and then fire away at you. He loves it when I yell -- TOUCHDOWN! The twins love chasing after the loose or overthrown balls and being the little retrievers. They will come stand in front of me with the ball raised up to their shoulder and act like they are trying to throw it. It won't be long until they do I'm sure and then things will get really wild! I love it though. I enjoy the moments where they all play together and can catch little glimpses of what it will be like in the future. It's my dream to have a yard big enough someday where we can make a little football/soccer field for the kids to play on.

Live - Breathe - Sleep - Soccer

I feel that it is very ironic that my previously least favorite sport is now an all consuming part of our family life. I'm sure the soccer gods are having a good laugh at me. To be fair, where I grew up soccer was pretty much non-existent and to be honest it was kind of the sport we made fun of. They didn't have it as a sport option in the schools and there were few if any local youth leagues. Anyways fast forward all these years later after I met my husband and I feel a bit tricked that it has become such a huge part of my life. In all fairness, he was a football coach - not a soccer coach when we first started dating, but I did know he was definitely passionate about sports - playing, watching, and coaching.

I first started to rethink my previous opinions about soccer when Riley and I were dating and I would go watch him play "Mexican league" soccer. I was blown away at how tough and fast those guys were. I couldn't believe they could run so hard and fast for that amount of time. I got tired just watching them. Most of the games were pretty exciting, Riley was (and is) a very physical defensive player and a master at slide tackles so he was a fun person to watch and cheer on. I being a soccer newbie, had no idea really how the game was played except for the obvious tactic of kicking the ball through the opponents goal. It seemed so backwards to me, I mean really, what kind of strategy is it to pass the ball backwards to in essence move it forward. Riley would throw soccer terms and lingo around in attempts to educate me on the game and my eyes would just instantly start glassing over with the overload of information.

Fast forward more years and now I'm literally entrenched in soccer fever. With Riley coaching three or four teams and Kendle now playing I have a bit more incentive to be knowledgeable about it and have even (dare I say it) started to really enjoy watching soccer. It is still not my most favorite sport, but it continues to grow on me. Our kids all have soccer gear and jerseys and our garage looks like a sporting goods store.

Kendle had her first game this last Saturday and did a great job. She got to play goalie twice and had some great saves and a great kick that made it all the way to the other teams goal which would have been awesome if one her players would have been there to kick it in. She was really excited they get to play four on four this year because she has been dying to get to play goalie. When she was playing out in the field she was able to score two goals. She is listening to my coaching from the sidelines a lot better this year. Ha! At least no more dirty looks when I yell "run faster" and "hustle" every five seconds. I love it when she is excited after her games about how she played and tired because she knows she worked hard. I think they have a pretty good team this year and the girls had a lot of fun together.

Riley's team played West Valley on Saturday and beat them 2-0. This was an exciting game for them because WV is a very good team, I believe they were the league champs last year. It was great for them to get that win and have it behind them. Southridge went up a spot in the state rankings from 7th to 6th, so hopefully they can hang onto their winning streak and keep playing hard.

Riley mentioned to me the other night that by Thanksgiving we are going to need a vacation. It probably won't happen, but I think he's right.

Catching Up

We have had so many things going on as is usual for this time of year. We've been wrapping up sports seasons, getting ready for school to be out, celebrating birthdays and more.

Saturday Kendle had her last softball games of the season. She had a lot of fun playing and making new friends this year. She said her favorite position to play was 3rd base. She also picked the number 5 to wear on her jersey as a tribute to her old mother. Here are a few pictures Kristen took for me:

{Riley got roped into umping again}

I'm glad Kendle had a good attitude and tried her best during the games. We've got things to work on for next season and look forward to maybe playing some more softball in the fall.

Yesterday was also Kendle's last day of second grade. I was more sad than I was last year for first grade. I think it just has to do with the fact that she is growing up so fast and third grade sounds so old! We really enjoyed Kendle's teacher Mrs. Coronado this year and all the extra efforts she made on Kendle's behalf and all of the positivity she gave Kendle. We will miss her. They had an assembly and Kendle got a Star Ship McGee Award for "Responsibility". Once again, something I wish could translate into her home life. Ha! Good job Kendle.

Some fun facts about Kendle's second grade year according to her:

Favorite Activity: Chinese New Year Unit. They had a dragon parade, ate fortune cookies and Chinese food and learned about the culture.

Favorite Classmate: Jasmine (who also lives down the street)

Favorite *Special* Class: Art

Favorite Activity at Recess: The monkey bars

Favorite Day of the Week: Mondays (When I asked her why she said it was the day they got to go back to school. I think most kids would say Friday.)

Here are some pictures from her last day at school:

Way to go Kendle. Glad you had a great year. On to third grade!

*More to come tomorrow on Morgan's Birthday and how we celebrated the last day of school.

Near Perfect Day

*Sunshine*

*Perfect weather*

*Baseball food*

*Second row seats*

*Ichiro*

*The Cheesecake Factory*

*A quiet car ride with good conversation*

The only thing that would have made it better is if the M's could have pulled out a win.

Thanks for the early birthday present Riley!!!

*And thanks to my parents for making it possible for us to go

Done.....Well, Not Really

(my good friend Natallie took the above four pictures, she is great at the action shots)

(I LOVE this picture of Michelle. These girls played in every possible type of weather.

Tough girls.)

Saturday Riley finished his season coaching the girls U-14 club team, "The Rage". It was quite an accomplishment for his first year of coaching club soccer. They finished undefeated and won their league title. They led their league in scoring and only gave up 5 goals in the regular season! They finished league play back in November, but have been playing in the State Cup the last month or so. Saturday they played the number 1 team in the state and played really tough only losing 1-0. Riley was very proud of how his girls ended the season and their effort in that game. They ended up placing 3rd in the state which is not too shabby. I know I complain a lot about how much he is gone and that all I hear about is soccer, soccer, and more soccer, but I am really proud of him and how he doesn't do anything half way, he doesn't do something just because he is being paid to do it. He gave those girls 100% of his efforts and it amounted to a successful season for everyone involved. It will be exciting to watch some of those girls who are moving up to his high school program in the fall as they progress and become even more amazing.

So at least for the next month or so, we will be back to Riley only coaching one team, IF you don't count all the work getting ready for girls high school soccer starting in June, and the club work that starts back up in the summer...............................................ahhhh, who am I kidding?

Keeping It In the Family

How often do you see an athletic team that has siblings playing together?

How often do you see 6 sets of brothers all playing together on the same team?

Well, hardly ever, especially at the bigger high schools that we have here in the Tri-Cities. But this season, the team Riley helps coach has some outstanding talent and lots of brothers. They were featured in an article in today's Tri-City Herald. Here is the link if you'd like to read it.

It is really an amazing thing!

I hope one day our boys can experience something like this as well.

Soccer Camp

If anyone is looking for a fun and constructive way to occupy their children's time during spring break, the Southridge High School boys soccer team is putting on a spring break soccer camp.

It will be held March 29 - April 2 (M-F) from 10:00 to 11:30 am at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick. It is for grades K-5 and will cover ball skills, fun games, team work, sportsmanship, and micro soccer. It is through Kennewick Parks and Recreation department but is open to anyone. The cost is $38 dollars for Kennewick residents and $42 for non-residents.

Kendle has gone the last few years and has always had a blast! The high school boys and coaches (Chip Elfering, Riley Dodson, Johnny Trevino) do a great job instructing and running the camp and try to make sure everyone has a positive experience. It is a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

You can register online here if you are interested in your children attending.

Glimpses of Normalcy

Last night we took our first family outing with the twins in tow. We felt somewhat normal getting out of the house and attempting to do something all together, never mind that it was FREEZING. The u-14 soccer team that Riley coached had their end of the year team dinner at a local pizza place. It was loud and fun and great to chat with the parents and the girls. Riley really lucked out with snagging such a great talented group of girls and super nice and supportive parents. They all had lots of great things to tell me about Riley and what a great job he did coaching this year. Their team was the only 3 Rivers Soccer Team to land a league championship and we are all pretty proud. Riley had a nice little speech to say about each of the girls, along with their stats and individual accomplishments. I was really touched with the nice things he had to say about each of them and how well he could remember the details of their games and the entire season. He absolutely was cut out to be a coach and one of his best qualities is that he is FAIR. He does not do preferential treatment, but whether you are the best or the worst on the team he will give it his all to make you a better player.


So while Riley was doing his little shpeal, where was I? Oh yes, at the very back table with two car seat strapped infants, one who started crying and needed to eat. Kendle luckily was having fun sitting with the older girls, Morgan however was sitting across the table from me chowing down on a piece of pizza another parent kindly served up for him since I was basically limbless. He had an almost full glass of water sitting right in front of him, and I mentally started counting down how long it would take before he knocked it over. It took about three minutes. After that he was standing at the wall flicking the light switch on and off while Riley was speaking. Yep, got to love the feeling of watching your 2 and a half year old be naughty in public and be totally helpless to do anything about it.

After the dinner was over we packed everyone up to go home. As we got in the car and were pulling out of the parking lot, Kendle and Morgan started fighting about something and they were clear in the back where we couldn't really talk to them or break it up. Then the twins both started howling and crying. We are driving down the road and Riley glances at me and I know we are both thinking the same thing. This is our life now. For better and for worse. I think all the forces of the universe have conspired to gang up on us and make us more patient parents and individuals. We get it. We just have to laugh about it. This is our new "normal".

Family Update

I feel like my blog has been totally focused on everything pregnancy related and lots of babytalk, so I thought I would give a little update on what everyone else in the family is doing before I get too behind to remember.

*Riley has been killing it at work and was the top salesman in his whole company for the last few months. He beat out all of the guys from the bigger areas like Seattle and Salt Lake which should be nearly impossible. He told me these babies have been some good motivation for him. For his "second job", (even though he gets paid it is really more of a hobby) he's been coaching a U-14 girls club soccer team, the Rage, who have been in first place in the state league premiere 1 division. He is an excellent coach and is always looking for ways to improve his team and help his players. We have been so impressed with these girls on his team, they play better than a lot of high school teams and are very coachable. I've also been keeping him busy in what little spare time he has doing random projects and honey do's. He has been a big help to me the last few weeks doing things like making trips to the store at odd hours, helping pack lunches, fold laundry, and rubbing my sore, tired, and swollen feet, not to mention listening to my constant complaints and ramblings.




*Kendle had her last soccer game on Halloween. She did pretty good this year and I think has a knack for playing defense. She has been watching too much older girls soccer and likes to stay back analyzing the game instead of being right in the little cluster of six girls all trying to kick the ball. She would wait for the ball to get kicked back to her and then take off with it. She also says she wants to play goalie. I think she will really have more fun once they get into position playing. This is her first year taking piano lessons and she has been really enjoying it. She likes to sit at the piano and sound out songs she knows, which is funny because I used to do the exact same thing at her age. Right now she really wants to learn how to play the Oregon State fight song on the piano. I have no idea why? She loves to read and goes through books as fast as she can get her hands on them. I think she would go to the library at school every day if she could. I wish we didn't butt heads at home so much, but I am glad she saves up all her goodness for school and when she's with other people. She brought home a prize certificate on Monday that she got for being really quiet during their library time and I'm thinking, "wow, she is usually the most NOT quiet little girl." I guess she will continue to surprise me. She really enjoys her little friends from school and is always coming home with little pictures or nice notes that they write to each other. Also, she is getting taller just since school started. I should be better about measuring and keeping track of that sort of thing, but she just seems huge to me lately. In addition, her other front tooth that seems like it has been missing forever is finally starting to come in. Yay for that!



*Morgan is my little buddy still and I joke that he is a little man-child. He is so particular about how he likes things and is pretty neat and tidy for a 2 year old boy. He likes to have his routine in the morning - sausage and eggs for breakfast, take a shower or bath, get dressed, help mom clean up, etc... One of the cutest things is that he tucks his slippers (has to wear those slippers) right under the bed so he can easily slip them on when he wakes up in the morning. He plays pretty hard during the day and lately instead of real naps in his bed, he has taken to passing out in a comfortable spot. The other day I didn't know where he had gone to, and I found him snuggled up in our bed and yesterday he got a blanket and went to sleep in the recliner. At this point I don't care where he takes a nap, just that he's still taking one if he's tired enough. He is talking so much now and it is fun to be able to have little conversations with him as we go through out our day. He loves to go to church and asks me about it every day. He likes to go see his "buddies" in nursery. Any time we leave the house (and most of the time at home) he is always wearing a hat. I've never seen a little boy that liked to wear hats so much. The thing that gets me is how he knows how to pull it on and adjust it until it's just right. It makes me smile every time. I think he is just so adorable and he melts my heart on a regular basis.

Well, I guess that pretty much sums it up for now.

Play Ball

Craziness officially begins today around our house. Kendle starts tee-ball this afternoon. Luckily their games will only be held on Monday evenings and early Saturday mornings. That's a pretty sweet schedule for the most part. It would be great if there was at least one person on her team that she knows - last year she didn't know anyone, but luckily she is pretty outgoing and makes friends easily. Good thing she played ball with her cousins a few weeks ago or else she'd be really rusty. I love how cute all of the kids look in their little uniforms and hats that sit on their head like Elmer Fudd. Last year Kendle really liked playing catcher, that is a good position to keep kids' attention in the game.

Well, now I just need to go dig out her mitt, cleats, sweats, helmet..................

*We found out at practice last night she's the only girl on her team. REALLY little league people, you thought that would be an ok thing to do? I bet we will play other teams that will have like four girls on it. I am a little ticked off about that. (she still hit better than most of the boys last night though - he, he)

End of the Season

Saturday was Kendle's last soccer game. I'm glad to say that her and the rest of their team ended on a high note. They ran hard, played well, and had lots of good team work. Kendle had 2 or 3 goals, I'm never really sure because I'm also usually wrestling a strong feisty toddler during the games so I'm lucky if I can look up in time to see if she's the one who kicked it in. Riley is the statician in the family. I hope he doesn't end up driving our kids nuts by keeping all of their season stats for them. He's a numbers guy.

One thing that Kendle has really improved on is running hard after the ball. She is a good defensive player and has taken her fair share of lumps this year, but she always gets up, doesn't cry, and keeps on playing. Now, she might point her finger and yell at the other team that they are playing dirty, but she's just saying out loud what all of us parents were thinking anyways. Ha.

As much as Riley was the hard-nosed coach to the kids on their team, they really liked him and would always come up and give him a hug before their games. The kids all got along really well, and it was just a fun season overall.

Here are some pictures I took during their last game:

Kendle cutting across to steal the ball and get a fast break down the field.

Talking some strategy at half-time.

Looking for that open player to pass the ball to.

Tonight we have our end of season pizza party, and also I'll be celebrating having my Saturdays back. YAY!

Something to celebrate

It seems like I've been writing a lot about Kendle lately on my blog. We have been pretty busy with her birthday, school, and other activities, but I promise Morgan is still alive and as mischievous as ever. I've got some good material to share about him later this week.

Kendle started soccer this week and Riley once again got roped into coaching their team. Really, are there no other parents that want the supreme joy and privilege of coaching U-6 soccer? They had their first game on Saturday and can I just say what a turn around it was from last year. Riley was "concerned" because he had 4 girls and only 2 boys (one of which we are fairly certain does not speak english), but the girls totally dominated. Kendle scored 5 goals! That's more than all of last year combined. She tore it up, and by that I mean she was literally tearing her way through the other players and knocking them down to the ground. I had to reprimand her a bit, tell her not to be too rough, to which of course Riley told her not to listen to me. Hmmm...., sometimes it's not so good to have your dad as the coach.

It was a really fun game and all of the kids did well. My mother came up to cheer Kendle on, and she even commented on how much she enjoyed it. I think almost all of our players scored at least one goal so everyone felt good about the game. I of course did not have my camera, but I so wish I could go back in time to get the perfect shot of Kendle jumping in the air after she made her first goal. Classic. Last year she did not even want to touch the ball and would just meander around after everyone. I think this should be a much better experience (for her and her dad). We decided to celebrate and went out for some lunch and ice cream afterwards. It was a really fantastic day.


Later that evening this is what I saw:

































Oh, it's amazing what a small fleeting moment of your children getting along can do to your heart. They were laying there and laughing together for quite a while and so I had to quietly sneak and go get the camera because these moments don't come along very often. I'm glad I did. This was also a moment to celebrate.

Family updates

Here are some of the latest happenings in our family:

Little Man, aka the Morgster, has started walking a few steps at a time on his own. He's getting a little more daring and independent and finding his balance.

He's becoming such a big boy so fast! He is so giggly and happy.

Kendle has been playing tee-ball and had her first games last week. She wasn't too excited for her first game, but I could tell during her second game on Saturday that she was enjoying herself a lot more. She got to play catcher for a little while and loved it and was running really fast around the bases. She did great.

I found out this morning that my little sis was crowned prom queen on Saturday night. Congrats Tam, wish I could have seen you all dressed up.

I'm bummed I haven't been able to attend as many of her games as I would have liked to since this is her last year of softball, but I was able to snap a few pictures at their game against Nyssa:

Her team beat Umatilla 39-0 on Friday. Yikes!

Riley's soccer teams are still doing pretty well, I've missed their last couple of games too because of tee-ball, but he continues to be passionate about coaching.

*picture via Natalie. Sometimes he's a little too passionate. I think he was trying to get carded. He's been so busy lately that he hasn't even gone golfing. (gasp) That' s unheard of for him this time of year.

I've been busy with the usual mom duties and running around. I just seem to chase after everyone else. Last week I planted some new flowers and did my pots for our covered patio out front. Not as easy to do with a 10 month old, but hopefully he only downed a minimal amount of potting soil. I have a few surprises this year, some of my plants that I thought just didn't make it last year are coming back. I planted a lilac bush last year that is starting to get some green. Oh how I love lilacs! I've also been trying to help Kendle with her song she is singing for the Talent Show, which totally reinforces the reason that I cannot teach her piano lessons myself. I have to pray for patience. It is coming along pretty well though.

~So there are just a few updates on what we've been up to.~