Game on!

You know how typically you don't tell your kids about things that you know will excite them until whatever it is you're talking about is imminent? Well, Aaron and I have never really held to this rule of thumb, and at times we pay for it.

Kayla got a soccer ball, cleats, and shin guards (all pink) for her birthday last November. She's watched her cousin, Mari, play soccer, and knew it was something she wanted to do.  So we kicked the ball around in the backyard after she got her birthday gift, but she wasn't eligible for our local league until this spring.  So, for months now, Kayla has been asking us when she gets to play soccer. And thankfully, it is finally...game on!

So I barely got my camera out and ready to go, when Kayla scored the first goal!  Her first goal, the teams' first goal, the first goal of the season.  Quickly followed by her second goal.  Talk about a good way to get things started. 

Goal #1

After her goal, Kayla was trying to dig the ball out of the net with just her feet.  You know, you don't use your hands in soccer.  It was hilarious.  But it was good that she was trying to follow the rules!  Especially considering she doesn't ALWAYS follow the rules.  I know you're all shocked by that!

If she saw the ball, she was after it. Though she did frequently flop herself on top of another player when they "tripped".

Here's goal #2!

Thankfully their jerseys are so long that they cover Kayla's shorts.  So what you can't see are the denim shorts I had to dress her in.  I had a panic attack the morning of the game, realizing that we don't have any soccer shorts!  Lots of pink, yellow, brown, and other very girly play shorts.  Not really what you suggest for soccer.  Have no fear, she now has new shorts, Adidas no less!

Charging up the field, and thankfully, in the right direction!

Now, I had titled this post prior to this past weekend, but didn't realize it would have dual meaning.  Aaron, Maren, and I have all been sick for a couple weeks now, and with the promise of an 8am soccer game in the rain on Saturday morning, we were praying that the fields would be closed.  I was up at the computer at 6:30a, anxiously awaiting the posting of the field status.  Much to my dismay, the game was on!

It ended up being fine; no rain and actually fairly warm.  I didn't go since we weren't sure what the weather was going to be like, and since Maren was still sleeping.  The report, Kayla got another goal, but all 3 boys didn't attend, so it was the 3 girls left to play the whole game; no substitutes.  Needless to say, they were wiped out.  To make matters worse, there was a very talented girl on the other team, so they were scoring goals left and right.  Not the most motivational of experiences!  But a good life lesson none the less.

Easter and all things spring

God blessed us with another beautiful Easter day with our families. We were able to go to my Mom and Dad's church for breakfast, and then to Aaron's Mom and Dad's church for their service. It is such a joy to hear Kayla talk about Jesus dying for our sins and going into heaven. It's amazing to see the world through her eyes. She has such a joy about the little things that we often forget to appreciate.

As you are already well aware, I never feel like we get a good picture of the two girls together.  So, I had to throw in this very silly one.  I thought it was pretty funny.  And since none of the "good" ones were all that good, I had to add this one to make myself feel better!

Some background on the dresses: Kayla basically hated her dress.  We tried and tried to find out why.  First she said it was because there was no black in the dress.  Since when does she like to wear black??  Then she said it was because there was no purple; nice try, there's plenty of purple.  Considering we were staying with Aaron's parents, I had no other options.  I told Kayla it was this dress or, well, this dress.

When we got to church, there was a little girl, maybe 2 years old, who had on the exact same dress and shoes.  After that, and with everyone telling her how beautiful she looked, she whispered to me, "Mommy, I really like my dress now!"  What a relief!

Next, Maren's dress was originally worn by Mari (now 10) when she was the flower girl in our wedding, at about Maren's age.  Mari had similar curls, so it's really amazing to look at Maren in these pictures.  The one below was just too sweet.  In our wedding album, we have a picture of me in my wedding dress, holding Mari's hand as she looked up at me, kind of like this.

So after church, lunch, naps and well, I guess that's it, it was time for Easter egg hunting.  It was very windy, but otherwise sunny and beautiful.  Maren was happy after one or two eggs.  Kayla was a ferocious predator, snatching up every egg she could find - even if that meant poaching on her sister's basket.

The girls check out their loot, and go through their Easter baskets as well.  I was so excited to have found Lightning McQueen and Sally cars for Kayla.  She is addicted to the movie "Cars" right now, so these were a perfect find.

The girls also got tons of bubbles in their basket (thanks, Mamaw!).  You can see below that Maren was trying to eat them.

Check out the rapid fire bubble gun.  It is so awesome.  Kayla was sending the bubbles flying all over the place.  It may seem lazy, but it's actually so much less messy, and you don't have your child whining that they can't get the bubbles to blow from a little wand.  I highly recommend it!

Peek-a-boo!

The stand-off.

Every year, I think since we've owned a home, we've had some sort of baby animals around our house.  We've had kittens, ducks, bunnies, etc.  This year...bunnies!  We found at least four in our front bushes as Aaron was putting out fresh mulch.  The girls were thrilled!  Maren would bounce up and down saying, "hop, hop" as she looked at the bunnies.  Here's a few pictures of them (and our beautiful new mulch!

Finally, here's a funny picture of Kayla's crazy hair (since I forced Maren's wild hair into the last blog!).

We hope your Easter and spring are off to a wonderful start!