Baby Doggie

We had so much fun with Uncle Chris and Aunt Erin on Saturday. Every time we hang out with them I bring my camera and say that I want some cute pics of them with the kids, but somehow I just never get around to it. Maybe it's because I know how much my brother despises pictures and I just don't want to recreate any Olan Mills experiences for him.

Anyway- this time I had to do it just so I could tell this adorable story! For the past couple of years, Hazel has been told that this precious little doggie is her cousin (and he IS). Herbie is part of our family, and so far he has been the only cousin to come from Chris and Erin.

Yes- it's not his finest moment, but we love him all the same. :) So I have been explaining to Owen and Hazel that Aunt Erin has a baby in her tummy, and Hazel was so excited to see Aunt Erin and learn more about this mystery. She ran up and gave Erin a hug and basically didn't leave her side for the rest of the day. She was sitting in Erin's lap and touching her stomach and this is the conversation that ensued:

Hazel: Is there a baby in there?

Erin: There is! It's your new cousin.

Chris: What do you think it is? A baby girl cousin or a baby boy cousin?

Hazel: A baby doggie. (They weren't fooling her for a second- she knows what kind of cousins they produce!)

She did say that it would be a girl doggie, though. So there is Hazel's prediction. I hope she won't be too disappointed.

To top off the excitement of seeing Chris and Erin, they decided to give Hazel her birthday presents a little early. She was thrilled (to say the least). I think if you click on the picture you can see her face expression close up. It was priceless.

She was so thrilled with her new Sleeping Beauty dress up gown and flashing ring. You should have heard her gasp of excitement!

She also got a little battery operated pig (that she immediately named Chloe) that has a little bottle. It's her new baby. She hasn't played with any of her dolls since she got Chloe. She just carries her around and coos "My baby" at her all day long. Since Erin gives birth to doggies, Hazel probably thinks she can give birth to a pig. This is going to make the "birds and the bees" talk a little more complicated.

Game Day

Owen had his first soccer game today. I was so impressed with him at practice this week. He jumped right in, met his coach, and did everything he was asked to do without hesitation (not typical Owen behavior- he usually observes for a while before participating). And he looked like he had been playing soccer forever! He looked like such a natural. I was so excited for game day.

Here he is before he got his team t-shirt

Here he is after he got his t-shirt (looking very professional)

Warming up with Daddy

Precious, right? But the true magic started when the game began.

Here's Owen (yes-despite appearances, the game IS in progress)

Here's the rest of the team at the other end of the field...hmm....what's wrong with this picture?

Eager to have Owen participate in some form, the coach asked if he wanted to goalie :)
I was a little embarassed that I had bragged so much to Nathan about his abilities (and Nathan was a little frustrated to say the least), but I thought it was hilarious. It made for a great memory, and we had fun yelling for the rest of the team. He did actually start to run back and forth towards the end of the game, so that made me proud enough to give him a hug and a high five (and lots of praise). He says he will do better at the next game now that he knows what to expect. To our dismay, the Hornets (Owen's team) lost to the Gators. We have no idea how big of a loss it was- it was kind of hard to keep track. But I will say that Sasquatch (the nickname I gave the girl on the other team who appeared to be about eight years old) scored a couple of goals that looked Beckham inspired. We were thrilled to have Uncle Chris and Aunt Erin there to cheer Owen on (although I had to have a little talk with Erin about yelling degrading remarks to the opposing team's kids...haha). All in all it was a great day and we are so proud of Owen. He looked darn cute in those cleats and shin guards.

Being a good sport

I almost forgot my favorite part of the day! I heard the Gators' coach ask her team if they were happy and one little boy yelled "Did we win?!"

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday! Hazel said Easter brought her candy and eggs and he is coming to dinner with her tonight. Easter is her new best friend.

Isms for the day :)

Owenism:

(randomly in the car today)

"Another way to give money to Jesus is you can put it in an envelope and tie it to a balloon and let it go up in the sky"

I guess he was talking about tithing....maybe we need to have a talk about what our tithing goes towards. Or maybe I should just continue to let him picture poor Jesus up there using our tithing to get his daily twix bar and coke from the corner store.


Hazelism:

(in the tub tonight)

H: "Excuse me"
Me: "Yes?"
H: "Excuse me"
Me: "Why are you saying excuse me?"
H: "Because I didn't want to fart in your face"
Me: "Did you just toot?"
H: "Nooooo....I farted in your face!!!"

I have no response to that.

Where do you keep YOUR loose change?

I am guilty of leaving my vacuum cleaner out between cleanings. This is only because I vacuum AT LEAST once a day. I have two kids and about 800 square feet of living space that they trash on a regular basis, so I don't have much choice. Live in filth or clean constantly.

So today I grabbed the vacuum from it's place beside the "dining room" table and did a quick sweep of the floors. When I turned it off and propped it back into its upright position (which it can hardly do anymore after 8 years of daily work), about three dollars worth of change came shooting out of the front of it.



That little vent on the front must have just been too tempting for Hazel to resist- the slots are the perfect size for coins. But I do have to wonder if she was expecting something in return for that money.

Optimist in training

Yesterday I hopped in the car with the kids after just waking up from our naps. I glanced in the mirror and saw a tired, wrinkled face with no make-up. I said to the kids "Man guys- your mom is looking old!" They just stared back at me blankly. I asked "How old do you think I look?" and Hazel (without hesitation) exclaimed "Perfect!!!"

Nathan has trained her well.

In True Ghetto Fashion....

If this isn't a testament to the ghettoness of Owen's school, I don't know what is (although I could offer you several more proofs if this one doesn't convince you).

Owen's class has been practicing writing sentences, and this was the sentence he chose to write and bring home to mommy.

"My friend has a little bling."

I asked him what it meant and he said "You know- like a necklace."




At least everything was spelled correctly.