SOCCER!!

At the beginning of January, Landry Grace expressed some interest in playing soccer. We thought we were going to skip this season, but instead we have both kids playing. And since they are so close in age, it's very convenient for us that they are on the same team. Originally, Landry was just excited about the sport since she saw her brother gets snacks after every game last year. So naturally, she just wanted to play for the snacks. Silly girl!

But yesterday she proved us wrong. Landry Grace is aggressive and this we've known. She came out of the womb having to defend herself from big brother. I loved how she got in there and wasn't scared of the boys:). Granted, there were times when she just stood out there, but that's expected. Overall she had a great time.

And Jake, well, he's come full circle and what a difference a year makes! Last year he wasn't that into soccer and got tired easily(normal for a 4 year old). Yesterday he scored 2 goals and was big into keeping score of the game. He was pretty excited that his team won 3-2 against the Barracudas. He is all heart, just like his Daddy! Not the best, but played hard. Matt was pretty into the game as well and coached from the sidelines. It's fun to see the kids evolve into sport lovers. I love the life lessons, camaraderie, team work, and work ethic that comes from sports. I know they are young, but the learning has already begun and it's important to us for the kids to learn all of these lessons early on.

Jake took a bad spill but got right back up and kept playing.

Landry Grace was non-stop about the game until GiGi mentioned she brought brownies. Need I say more?

Jake had just stopped the ball. I love how he was looking at Matt for approval, sweet moment.

LG right in there with the boys, bow and all!

Goalie Landry Grace after a stop. Not sure what Matt was telling her but he looked intense:).

We've lucked out on coaches for soccer. We have another good one! Team huddle.

I love this one! No words needed.

Jake and buddy Landon running for the ball

This was after Jake's second goal. He was so excited!

Keeping score.

Fun day!

Catch up

Whew! It's been a busy week but we've made it through! We had Monday off for President's Day so that was nice to be able and spend some extra time at home with the kids. On Tuesday we went back to school and my co-worker, Sharon, had just come back from Walt Disney World. She and her family brought back some Mickey rice krispy treats for the kids and they were THRILLED. We also booked another Disney trip this week but it's not until December. I had finally talked Matt into celebrating both kid's birthdays plus our 9th anniversary at the most magical place on Earth. We also decided to stay at the new Art of Animation resort, so we booked it well in advance to avoid a sell-out. I say all of this to recommend my friend ,Krystal Pearce, if you plan to make a visit to WDW at any point in the future. You don't pay her, Disney does. She saved us lots of $$ on our last trip and pointed out deals we didn't know existed. You don't have to live in LA to use her either. She is so great and several of my friends that have used her have raved about her services. Her contact is disneykrystal@hotmail.com. You can also "like" her Face book page: Krystal Pearce-Magic Express for upcoming Disney specials.

Matt took me to test out a new restaurant in Monroe last week, Cotton. It was really good and I recommend the sea bass. Warning: disturbing picture below. Might want to skip it(somehow).
So I have taken 2 major falls while running in the last 2 weeks. The first being a major blow to the knee after tripping over a construction sign in downtown Ruston. After 4 days of not being able to run and a Celestone shot in the knee, I was on my way to recovery. Then Friday I fell again. Really, I just wanted to lay in the road and cry. This fall got my other knee and elbow really good but nothing compares to skinning the palms of your hand(this one being the worse of the two). Sorry for the gory picture....:(. It still hurts!
And MOST IMPORTANTLY, I want to document Jake's Mardi Gras parade at school! He had to construct a float that he could wear. Some of these parents went all out!! I was super impressed with the creativity of the floats I saw at the parade. I have taken myself out of the "over-achiever" parent category. I am over it and convinced my kids will still be fine:). With that being said, we borrowed our float from a fellow teacher whose child went to the pre-K center last year. We added his picture to the back of the float and were ready to G-O. He was so proud!

Is this not the cutest/most hilarious thing you've seen? We got a lot of reactions! Thanks to Walgreens, I blew this picture up to poster size and was out the door in 10 minutes. That's excellent costumer service.
And his class after the parade. We have been super pleased with his school and teachers this year. So blessed to have this school in our community!
Stay tuned for another post. Jake and Landry Grace had their first soccer game today!

Happy Mardi Gras!

We took the kids to the Krewe of Highland parade in Shreveport today. This was our second year to attend, and although it may not rival the New Orleans parades, we had a fantastic time. The kids got so much that we really needed a large trash bag to bring back their loot! If you haven't been to this one and live in northern LA, you need to go.

Landry Grace was pretty excited about the parade starting!

My heart.....

Yes, I promised them ice cream after the parade and got this.

I think they caught a little of everything, including hot dogs. Float riders grilled them on the floats and tossed them over. Jake and LG passed on those....

Showing off the loot.

Such a fun afternoon!

Valentine's Day

Ok, so I'm lacking the motivation to get on my blog. Trying to get back into the swing of things! We've just been busy and frankly, I'm too tired at night to post anything.
Today was Landry Grace's Valentine's party at school. She was so excited to wear her Hello Kitty shirt. Then I flipped through my phone pics to pull up Vday pics from the previous 2 years. So fun! I'll post more very soon.