Ho, Ho, Ho

Not to be outdone, Zach earned his bubble bath too!!  He says, "Ho, Ho, Ho" to all.

Lainey's Reward

Lainey's reward for cleaning her room today is a bubble bath!!  She is all smiles.

Christmas in Candyland

Lainey had her "Christmas in Candyland" dance recital at school this evening... and she ACTUALLY DANCED THIS TIME!!  She was all smiles and laughs with her special friend, Ella, and Coach Sugarplum.  The girls performed two dances - ballet and hip hop.

Our star of the show!

Unfortunately, I received error messages when I tried to load the videos :( You'll just have to believe me that she DANCED and was super cute doing it!!

Icepocalypse Day #3

Icepocalypse or Icemageddan, whatever name you prefer to use, now continues into day #3 and the kiddos LOVE IT!!  We've spent more time sledding with Caleb and watching the neighbors ice skate in the streets.  Can you imagine seeing that in Texas?!?

We will probably be homebound again today and rumors are spreading that schools will be closed again tomorrow.

"Look, Mommy.  I'm ice skating sledding!!"

Icepocalypse 2013

The kids enjoyed their first snow day of the winter... commonly referred to as Icepocalypse!!  We spent time outside with our neighbors pulling down icicles, sledding on cookie sheets, and getting pulled on a sled.  Fun was had by all!!


Ready for playtime bright and early, 8:30am

Christmas card photo?

 

Zach and Caleb

Caleb with his icicle collection

 

End of day... Cranky Lainey

Lainey's Slumber Party Plan

Lainey is just dying to plan a slumber party with her best (boy) friend, B.  Her little mind has crafted up the perfect plan that we discussed as I tucked her into bed tonight.

Lainey: Mommy, can B sleep with me?  Can you tell his daddy to bring jammies to our play date?
Mommy: Well, Lainey, I don't know if B would like to sleep over on his first trip to our house.
Lainey: Mommy, he can sleep with me here (patting her princess pillow).  B's daddy can sleep with you and daddy... or on the couch.

Astronaut

Lainey was busy helping Zach make a building for his school project... by wearing boxes on her head.  This was her favorite of the night declaring, "I am an astronaut!!"

Halloween 2013

Drew Brees and Tinkerbell scored some major candy this year!!  Happy Halloween!!

Last Games of the Season, POTG

We finished up Zach's baseball and soccer seasons last Saturday.

The boys really hit the ball well in baseball and played much better in the field this season. Most importantly, we have a great group that love to play and love to play together.  Zach, Cooper and Tommy rounded out the season as the Players of the Game.

We also wrapped up an undefeated soccer season.  What fun!!  The boys worked really hard and showed great teamwork in their passing skills.  I can't wait to play again with the same team next season!!

Blanket Fort

The kids had a blast making their first blanket fort last weekend.  They slept in the fort Friday and Saturday nights and shed huge tears tonight when it came down.

Pizza Night

Lainey:  Look, I made underwear!!

Wolverine of the Game

Zach was the Wolverine of the Game today!!  The WOTG gets to bring home the team mascot until the next game.  

The uniform and venue is mixed up because we had to do the 2-sport scramble and race from soccer to baseball.  Coach Kelly gave Zach his "trophy" at the second game.

Once again, great job to Zach and the other Wolverines!!  We're having a great season!!

Weekly Updates

I'm facing technical difficulties in updating the "What's up with..." entries this week.  So, the updates are posted here instead :)

What's up with Zach?
As usual, our week is filled with sports. Zach had a soccer game last night, easily winning 21-2. The boys played great!! They played their positions and passed the ball well. Zach scored 5 goals and had at least 5 assists. We have a baseball game tomorrow evening. Go Raptors!!

Zach continues to do well with his reading and spelling. We now read 2 short books every night and his spelling test is each Friday. He earns extra points by creating 2 words with his spelling words.

Weekly spelling words:
yet
web
pen (pens, penmanship - his "extra" words)
wet
leg
hen
What's up with Lainey?
Lainey was standing near me last week when I was talking about her being a "self-made vegetarian." What a mistake!! Here is our conversation at the grocery store the next day.

Mommy: Lainey, would you like me to buy bagels for breakfast?

Lainey: No, I'm a vegetarian.
Mommy: Lainey, vegetarians don't eat meat. The do eat bagels.
Lainey: Well, I'm a vegetarian that doesn't eat bagels.

And so... we didn't buy the bagels. Silly girl!!

Go Wolverines!!

The boys are playing-up this year to 7U soccer.  Our team loves to win, but I was hoping that we'd finally lose a few games.  Winning and losing will help to balance their expectations in life and sports... but that lesson will come later, I guess.  The Wolverines won 21-2 to tonight.  I guess the win brought the devil out in Zach with this crazy smile!!

Go Wolverines!!

Zach with Cooper, his super best friend

Lainey's New Word

Lainey created a new word at the park today.  REMEMCOGNIZE.

Translation: Remember + Recognize

Humdingers #2

From the mouths of babes, comes some funny stuff!!  The kids have me laughing again this week with some of their humdingers!!

ZACH 

Mommy: Zach, you were orange last week? (referring to behavior chart in school)

Zach: Yes, I had to click down twice.

Mommy: What did you do?

Zach: I was caught in conversation.

LAINEY

Lainey: Mommy, when can we get a pool?  I'm cross when I don't have a pool.

Cowboys Classic 2013

We packed up for a family day of tailgating and football this past weekend. The LSU Tigers were battling the TCU Horned Frogs in the 2013 Cowboys Classic.  LSU came out with a win!!

We tailgated with two families that have sons on Zach's soccer team.  One of the families rented an RV for the weekend, so we had access to a bathroom (yeah!!) and semi-cool AC... which we needed because it was a hot one!!

The kids did great with the long day...

- lots opened at 2:00pm (we arrived at 1:45pm)

- kickoff was 8:00pm

- returned to the car at 12:00am

- returned home at 2:00am

We all enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning in bed.

On our way to see the Tigers play!!

Zach and the LSU fans.

Lainey sleeping through the first half.

Lainey and the LSU fans.

Zach sleeping through the second half.

Purple and gold...with a splash of maroon!!

Back to School 2013

The kiddos have started the school year with new teachers, new uniforms and good attitudes!!

Zach is now our 1st grader.  His teacher is Ms. Wilson.  He is ready for a great year!!  Go, GRE Gators!!

Lainey has started Pre-K at Primrose and will be wearing the school uniforms.  Her teachers are Ms. Ronda and Ms. Ashley. Lainey's goal for this year: "Mommy, I draw my 3s good already, so I don't need to practice that number.  I don't draw my 2s good.  Ms. Ashley will need to show me 2s."

For Those That Don't Believe...

For those that insist that Zach looks like me and Lainey looks like Sal... check out the "Original Ribauls"!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Zach

We had a great day climbing walls, ladders and cargo nets at Zach's birthday party.  The kids managed to slow down for one cute photo op before running to the next event!!

King

Zach: When I marry someone else, I'm going to make our last name King.

Like Cousin, Like Cousin

Took a walk down memory lane today finding the perfect picture... like cousin, like cousin.

Zach, September 2008

Ryan, May 2013

Double Splash Day

The school year is almost over - we only have one day left.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!  

Zach had a great time with splash day today - double splash day!!  He had his class splash day at noon, then ESD splash day after school.  I think the smile on his face tells everyone just how much fun had!!

Let's Dance... Or Not

Lainey had her Spring Showoff dance recital last week.  We were able to measure Lainey's success again in the lack of tears instead of the amount of dancing.  Maybe she'll dance in the fall recital... or maybe not.

Another Great Season

The Wolverines just finished up another great season. The boys played well and loved every minute of it!!

Tough Met

Lainey and I were driving home this evening and she was telling me a story about her best little friend, Brady, falling off of his bike.

Mommy: Oh no - is Brady ok or did he get an owie?
Lainey: He's ok.
Mommy: Yes, I bet that Brady's a tough bulldog.  Just like you and Zach - you're tough bulldogs too.
Lainey: Mommy, I'm not a tough bulldog, I'm a Tough Met!!
Mommy: (chuckling) Ok, Lainey, can I not call you a tough bulldog anymore?  Do I need to call you a Tough Met from now on?
Lainey: Yes, Mommy. I'm a Tough Met.

I guess that Lainey has really embraced her new baseball team this year - she's made the full conversion from a Bulldog to a Met!!

Now, for those that don't remember, we have called our kiddos Tough Bulldogs for several years when they fall down or get hurt.  It's our way to help the kids get past the pain and fear, get back up and put a smile back on their faces.  We came up with this nickname after one of my favorite shirts that Zach had when he was younger - it was a red Carter's t-shirt with the picture of a bulldog and the word TOUGH.  It was awesome!! 

This was the best picture (and it's a great one!!) that I could find of the infamous Tough Bulldog t-shirt, circa July 2009.

Zach - Player of the Game

Zach was the Raptors player of the game on Saturday. He earned it with two great first-pitch hits and fantastic play at shortstop including stopping a line drive with his body.

His first comment when he received the ball: "I didn't get this for catching that ball, there's a chart." In truth, yes... But he earned this one!!

May I Borrow a Barrette?

Lainey was creative with her hair today... I'm not sure I like the new look.

Learning New Things

Zach learned two new things in school today.
1. Oviparous = things that come from eggs. We are not oviparous, snakes are.
2. A Burp in your Pants = fart. Zach burped in his pants on the car ride home. Eww!!

FC Dallas Soccer Clinic

We attended a FREE soccer clinic hosted by FC Dallas this afternoon. Zach was able to learn new skills... and now he loves Sharks & Minnows. What a great time!!

Duty

Zach's joke of the day courtesy of Wreck-It Ralph:
Question: Why did the soldier flush the toilet?
Answer: Because it was his "duty."

Player of the Game

She was SO excited!!

Dallas Til I Die

What a Sunday Funday!! We went to the FC Dallas soccer game with Cooper's and Luke's families yesterday. We won with a game-winning shot in the 89th minute.

To top off the great win, Sal was able to get the boys onto the field after the game for player autographs. The boys all had their jerseys signed by Blas Perez (7) and Eric Hassli (24). They were super excited!!

I'm Dallas til I die, I'm Dallas til I die, I think I am, I know I am, I'm Dallas til I die!!