Joe...

   Joe has been taking swim lessons the last two weeks.  We hoped he could master enough to be able to swim on the team this summer.
   While he isn't quite ready to swim on the team, he did improve a lot.  Enjoy watching a little peek of his efforts.

   Here are a couple videos of Joe playing soccer. The video we took a couple weeks ago was too long to upload...but this allows you to see his aggressive play as his little legs work!
   This first video shows him at goalie at the end of the game.  It was his first time to get to play goalie. And the team we were playing against had a good player that just kept scoring (as you'll see).  But Joe wasn't afraid to go toward him to stop the ball.

Joe says, "Finally!"

 The boys and I headed to TN for a trip to the bumper cars. Joe is finally tall enough and was super excited to receive his "bumper cars" hat from Grandpa...and RIDE!

At the playground after a long bike ride

Joe rode the roller coaster by himself

Jake tries out the "glass playing" after we watched the group from Poland perform several songs this way.

And, of course, we spent a good chunk of time at the squirt guns...!

in action

Josh's birthday

The boys had fun making coupons for dad's birthday present.  Football, wrestling/tackle, baseball, tennis, cuddle, etc were all part of the package!
They wrapped the gifts themselves and made little tags for the gifts!  Neat stuff!

This weeks soccer game...

   The boys both had great playing during their games this week.  Jake scored 2 goals in his game (with a winning score of 3-0) and Joe dribbled 2-3 times down the field from his own goalie with great shots on the goal that barely missed.  Joe especially showed that things "clicked" in his mind as to what he should do.  Because he got aggressive and played well starting suddenly in the 2nd quarter! :)

Finding Dad on the sideline after his first goal!!!!!

Joe's happiest moment after the game...snack time!

Go fly a kite

 Fortunately (or unfortunately...whichever way you look at it) it was a windy week...which allowed for a lot of kite flying!  We had fun each day taking the kite out for a bit and taking on the challenge of the often swirling wind...trying to figure out which direction to quickly go before it changed again!

My Happy Spot

We've been working on the wrap around porch this week. 

Jake and Joe helped a lot with drilling holes and screwing in screws.

So that was a big help!

 First lunch time on the porch...doubling as a lunch break, of course!

 A week later...the finished decking.

Now...onward to the rest of the deck and (hopefully) some landscaping! :)

My favorite time of the day...

I look forward to watching the sunrise (and the sunset) every day!  

Here are a few shots of the sunrise from this week!

First soccer game

 Joe was ready to go...kind of.  He had important questions, though!
1. Will they have snacks?
2. What will my number be?
3. When do we huddle?
4. I don't want to play. (Why?) Because I like to fall down when my legs get tired.
5. I don't want to go to my game.  (Why?) Because it will be hard and I will get tired!

However, Saturday morning...he woke up excited about his game...ready to run down the field and score a goal.

 There wasn't a lot of aggressive movements during his game. It is 4 and 5 year olds!  And Joe seemed unsure of taking the ball from others and unsure of how aggressive to be once he did have the ball.  So, hopefully as the season goes on, he'll get comfortable with playing and continue to enjoy it all.  He has several kids from church and two coaches from church.  So, for him, that helps a LOT!
  




  Jake says he likes soccer more than swimming.  I think he likes running...and soccer lets him do that a lot!  His game was much more movement (6 and 7 year olds).  But with only one practice under their belts, there wasn't much tactic to their play.  So, hopefully he can understand more and be able to stay aggressive. 
  Jake did a great job staying after the ball and running hard to get to the ball.  And he had good ball control with the ball, too.  So, I would say he will continue to gain confidence as he gets a feel for what his teammates are doing.

The girl behind Jake is Emaree.  Her dad and I worked at the jr high and his wife was pregnant when I was.  Josh now works with her dad at the high school.

 

   Both of the boys' teams lost (by like 4-0).  But the boys are excited to go to practice and work at it again. 

Easter Eggs

 The boys were very excited to color eggs again.  They enjoy crafts of all sorts.  And they are always creative in what they come up with.

Jake's work...

Joe's work...

 And they had to "taste test" one when they were done...!

Joe also wanted to dry out the play-doh version of the nativity that he made last week. 
(far left is manger, top left is Mary, bottom left is baby Jesus, middle is barn parts, and far right is Joseph;  Jake made the colorful heart at the bottom)

Oh...and if you'd like to taste test their hot chocolate and chocolate soup that they have slow cooked in the outdoor oven for a few weeks (down by the creek)...here ya go!