Spring Soccer

Tyler just had his last soccer game of the season and boy did he have fun! He started out strong with a goal in the first game. Of course, I was off with little miss Kate trying to find a bathroom and missed it but at least daddy was there to congratulate our budding star.

We thought it might not be the best thing to bring out the competitive spirit that lies within him (we know it must be in there somewhere...he's half Tidwell after all) at such an early age so we emphasized on having fun. By the end of the season we realized we may have emphasized the "fun" part a little too much because he was distracted by his surroundings VERY easily. He seemed to discover, all too soon, that mud puddles in the middle of the field could be just as much fun as scoring. But...I love looking at all his pictures and seeing a smile on his face in about 90% of them. Here are a few fun shots:

(I love this one(above)...notice where the ball is)

Wow! Check out that game face.

And now to acknowledge his most loyal fans:

Never mind the look on Kate's face....let's talk about the
fact that CareBear has a blue bow in her hair!!

Good job Tyler!! We are already looking forward to what the next season might bring...

Girls vs. Boys

This is my conversation with Kate today in the car:

"Mom, I just love my Brookie. She is soooooo toote (her version of cute.) Can we keep her forever and ever??"
I replied, "What a great idea, let's do keep her."
She sat there for a minute with a smile on her face, pleased with our idea, and then suddenly turned quite serious and asked, "But, are we going to keep Taller (her version of Tyler) too?"
" Uh....yep, we're going to keep him too," I replied. "Wouldn't you miss him if he wasn't in our family anymore? He is such a good big brother to you and he LOVES to play with you. I think you might be sad if he goes."
Her response was, "Yah, but daddy would miss him the most because he's on dad's team...right?"

Apparently we have a girl vs. boy thing going on here. All I have to say is watch out boys because you are clearly outnumbered!

Girl Team

Boy Team

Man, they're CUTE!!

Pineview Dam

Last week we went up to check on"Jeff's Lake"

with our friends, Scott and Lex.
Jeff and Scott discussed their future water skiing trips (which I'm
sure won't be too far off); Lex and I caught up on the girly gossip;
the boys fished, played in the sand, had rock-skipping
contests, etc; and Kate...was wondering where all the
girls are in her life! Actually, she had a lot of
fun throwing every single rock on the beach into the water
and doing her ballerina twirls for anyone that would
watch.

Here are a few pictures of our little adventure:

Tyler and Hayes "fishing" while Kate dances

Tyler really fishing and loving it!

Cute boys

Parker striking a pose...what a stud!

Kate showing off her HUGE rock.

What a fun night, thanks guys! Jeff is now officially ready
to start the water skiing season. Bring it on!!

Two Months Old

I just want want to know how this:


can turn to this in just two months!!!!


(Who wouldn't want to squish and kiss those cheeks all day!)

Where did my newborn go?? It has been so much fun having a
little baby around the house again. I was telling
Jeff the other day that I am totally spoiling her because
I can't bring myself to put her down...EVER!
I will probably regret it when she weighs 20lbs and
wants to be carried all the time but I guess I'll
just worry about that later!

She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and he came in, looking at her charts, saying,
"looks just like a Dodenbier baby!"

Her stats, for the record:
Weight: 11lbs 14oz, 85%
Height: 23.5" 95%
Head: 15.5, 75%

Apparently, the only way we know how to do babies is...BIG!

Tutu.....or hat???

Who needs to go out and pay for entertainment when
you have this clown around?!!

What a NUT!!

Our little bookworm

Kate LOVES books. She comes in our room

every morning with her little stash for us to read.
Seriously, by the time I manage to get my
laziness out of bed I am surrounded by her little
library. Love it.

(She has some pretty great reading glasses, don't you think?!)

Being a Mother

Today started out a little rough. I think I heard my name more than a thousand times by 9am (in a whiny voice no less,) BOTH kids were super sensitive and not really getting along and Brooke was a little more fussy than usual. Needless to say I wanted to crawl in a hole by noon and escape it all. Well, we luckily all made it to nap time and as I walked into the kitchen to start on the dishes I noticed this poem and started to read it....

"When you thought I wasn't looking"
By Mary Rita Schike Korzan

When you thought I wasn't looking,
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You fed a stray cat and I thought it was good to be
kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You said a prayer and I believed there was a God that
I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You kissed me good-night and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt-But that
it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You smiled and it made me want to look
that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
You cared and I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked...
And wanted to say thanks for all those things you did
When you thought I wasn't looking.



Some days I may need an hour massage, a date with my husband, a night to myself, or even an exotic vacation to cure a bad day with the kids but today, this is all I needed. I'm so grateful to be called "Mom..."(even if it is a million times a day!)