Kate Starts Soccer!!

We were so excited this year when we found out 3 year olds would be included in spring soccer!  My friend Caron and I have been so excited to watch our girls play soccer together!  Kate and Autumn are very much alike and these 2 are going to be a hoot to watch out there on the field.  Kelly has agreed to coach their team and tonight was the first practice.  Yesterday we were outside playing a lot and Kate was so excited about her new soccer cleats.  She kept feeling of the cleats and saying "I wuv these shoes mama", and asking Cohen if she liked them.  I am with Cohen at baton on Monday nights but Kate called me as soon as practice was over and I have never heard her talk on the phone so much.  I couldn't understand much of what she was saying because she was saying so much so fast.  I know she had a good time though!  I did make out "I kick it in the net and I win, I win, I win, Kate win".  So with all that I knew she kicked the ball in at least one time.  Kelly told me she did really well too.  If nothing else I know this season is going to be some great entertainment!  Our team is the Sharks.  I'm so excited to watch them!  Caron was sweet to send me these pictures from practice.  I am hoping that I will get to see the Thursday practices, even though this week is looking pretty yucky weather wise.  Not only am I on the soccer game countdown, but also the spring countdown!  Come on warm, sunny days!

Baton Competition #1-Bulldawg Classic

This past Saturday started off the baton competition season.  Cohen has been counting down the days!  She loves it and was so ready to get the first one under her belt.  She actually didn't even have to be woken up that morning, she was up herself ready to go.  I wish I could say the same...the alarm was still needed for this mama!  I was excited though, because I love watching her and her teammates perform.  They have all worked so hard.  This competition was close by in Athens, the Bulldog Classic.  We got there at 9:30 that morning and were there until 9:30 that night.  These make for long days for sure.  Cohen had a good day and had fun too which is the main thing!  She competed in 2 titles and was 4th and 5th place in those and also in open events and was 1st place in marching (her strong area for sure), 4th place in strut (her very first time competing in strut), and 3rd place in solo.  She had a no drop solo during the day and that is a big thing for her!  She has improved so much from last year.  I remember just hoping she could catch her 1 one turn last year and now she is catching 2 one turns in her routine as well as a horizontal one turn and doing it more times than dropping.  I'm glad her hard work is paying off.  Competitions aren't easy and it takes a lot of courage to do what all these girls do.  I am one proud mama of this little girl.  A lot of our competitions fell right here together in March so we will be traveling these first few weeks every Saturday.  It may be a lot in a row but it will work out great for our schedule overall because Kate's soccer games will be starting too...another post entirely :)  Congratulations to all the ATRM girls for a great day in Athens!

Cohen & Mrs. Amy

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waiting for her turn to march

Miss Amy & her girls!

Snow Days

Last week we got our shot at snow and well, it was a little disappointing.  We did get a little on Monday night/Tuesday.  It was enough for the kids to go out and play.  Cohen woke up and immediately started putting on her snow clothes.  Kate started doing the same thing.  It is a lot of work bundling up 3 kids to go out in the snow...plus yourself!  The girls went on out to play with Grace, Keyes, and Elliott and they had a blast.   Grace even pulled them in a basket behind the 4-wheeler.  If we had gotten a lot of snow they really would have had some fun!  It was a little too chilly that morning for Bryce.  That and he was ready for a nap.  I did manage to snap a quick picture of all 3 kids together.  His very first snow!

We went back out later that afternoon to throw some snowballs in what snow was left.  Kate was not into going back out so she decided to stay in where it was warm :)  I took Bryce back out one more time since he was happy.  He was so smiley that I could not stop snapping some pictures with him.  I'm a little obsessed with him and all his cuteness!  I also had fun throwing snow balls with Cohen :)  She decided to try to build a snowman and we managed to get a small one built.  Dawn also built a little one on the picnic table which was just the right size for Bryce!

Gotta love his expression in this one!  You know Cohen loves a good silly face picture

Thursday had promised a lot more snow but was even more of a disappointment when it barely missed us and left us getting nothing but rain.  UGH!  I don't like cold as it is so not getting the snow was just plain miserable.  School had been canceled since it had looked promising for snow at 5:00 on Wednesday.  When the girls woke up they were looking for the snow and were sadly disappointed to see the grass!  Oh well...bring on spring now!
Friday it was back to school.  In fact Kate never even missed a day of school since she only goes on MWF anyway.  Kelly has really been wanting to take Cohen skiing this year and it seems like we have not been able to nail down a time for all of us to go.  Since most of the places close by are about to close for the season I told him to take her himself and let them have a day just the two of them.  So thats what he did!  Friday he picked her up from school around 1:00 and surprised her telling her they were going skiing.  She was excited!  I made him promise lots of pictures and videos so I could see how she did.  Kelly said she did great.  She has an hour lesson and then the two of them skied together for a couple  of times.  They Facetimed me on the chair lift and she was very excited to be riding it.  I was so glad she had a good time and glad they got to have some special daddy/daughter time!  Maybe next year we can go on a big ski trip!

Friday I also took Bryce back to the doctor to weigh in!  Good news...he had gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks.  13 lbs 2 oz!  Yay little man!

Great Wolf Lodge

Last week the girls were out of school for winter break.  It was definitely winter, having some of the coldest temps we've had.  This mama is no fan of cold weather, especially when its cold with no snow.  Instead we had some nasty ice.  Ugh!  We had hoped to take Cohen skiing but it was way too cold for that so it was on to plan B.   If we couldn't be somewhere warm and sunny we would try to find the next best thing, so we decided to head to Charlotte to the Great Wolf Lodge which has a large indoor water park.  We had been once a few years ago when Cohen was small and thought this would be something both girls would love.  Plus I am always up for a trip to Charlotte.  The only bad thing was a lot of our friends were in Daytona for the start of the season.  We did get to see one particular waif...Jessica so we were pumped about that.  We left Thursday morning and got to the hotel and got ready to head to the water park.  Suzy went with us to keep Bryce since he wouldn't be able to play in the water.  Kelly and I were able to play with both girls which was great because Cohen was able to ride every slide but one and Kate could only ride a few.  Cohen loved the slides!  It took a little while to get her on one of them but by Friday she was brave enough to try and once she rode it she was begging to ride it over and over and over.  Kate loved her little slides too.  One was pretty big for her and she was very hesitant at first since she had to go down alone.  With a little help and a small push she headed down it and loved it.  Kelly said she was smiling as soon as she was at the bottom.  She also loved the wave pool.  I have 2 water babies and we are already counting down the days until summer when we can get in the pool!
Suzy was able to sit in the water park with Bryce and watch so I think that was some entertainment.  I actually let him sit with me and feel the water from the little fountains.  He didn't seemed to phased.
On Thursday night Jessica came by our hotel for a little visit.  It was good to have some catch up time with her.  Afterwards Kelly and I took the girls to eat while Suzy kept Bryce in where it was warm.  I think Thursday was one of the coldest days that week!  That night they had a character show in the lobby that both girls enjoyed.  It took a while getting them to settle down and go to sleep but finally they did.
Kelly took both girls back to the water park the next morning while I did some errands.  I miss the shopping up there so much!  I actually am glad I had some errands though because I ran into Michael and Amy, some of our other close friends that I thought were in Daytona.  That was a nice surprise!  I had to get back quick because Cohen had requested I come back to ride the slides with her and I couldn't pass that up.  We had a blast with the girls and ended our trip with a pizza lunch before heading home.  The only way we got the girls to leave without a big fight was them knowing they were getting to play with all their friends that night at a surprise birthday party for one of our friends.  It was a short trip but very fun and we made lots of fun memories!  Short trips can still be so much fun.

Thursday night Kate decided she wanted to draw on herself, not paper.

Kelly & Cohen racing down the mat slide.  Cohen was a little too light and always stopped before Kelly.  

a family photo

Kate loved the bear...next best thing when a mannequin isn't available