Soccer

June 26, 2010 was Tyler's last day of soccer... probably ever!

This was his second season so I'd say we gave it a good try. Tyler doesn't seem to have the competative or team spirit at all. We spend many Saturday mornings watching him "play," which in Tyler's world meant prancing and dancing in the vicinity of the ball, but never actually touching the ball. Hmmm...

This picture shows exactly what I mean. If there was a ball in sight, it might look like he was right on top of the game, but no, that is not the case!




To be fair, he did really well at practice. He enjoyed all the drills his coach had them perform. It was something about game day that didn't fit with Ty.

Here is the whole team including his buddies from school, Tommy, Aaron and Tyler K.

During his first season Ty earned a medal.

This time his reward was a trophy! Very exciting.

Never again...

Graduation Video

I wouldn't recommend playing this too many times... it tends to get stuck in your head!!

"In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth... and it was good!"

Pre-School Graduation

We finally got to experience Tyler's much anticipated pre-school graduation celebration!! We were able to share this moment with multiple sets of grandparents, great aunts and uncles, as well as cousins. I am incredibly proud of Tyler. All of the kids did a great job!


A while ago the daycare director let me know that they had selected Tyler to play God in their presentation. I was concerned that this may go to Tyler's head, but no worries... he let me know that this was not his role of choice... he was very disappointed not to be playing Jesus!!




These kids were just too cute performing their songs, all carefully choreographed by the wonderful team at school. My heart swelled and I was unsuccessful at keeping the tears at bay.


Here is Tyler receiving his diploma. I'm sure I'll be looking back on this at High School Graduation and wondering what happened to this little boy. But for now, I wonder how we made it this far. Tyler was 12 weeks old on February 28, 2005 when he started at this daycare. His first teacher was there tonight.

He was tired after the celebration and requested a picture sitting down.

The night was a huge success, especially for Tyler who received two marriage proposals!! Wouldn't it be funny if Emmy or Faith turned out to be the one?? Ha!

I took a video of Tyler's grand performance, but I'm having trouble loading it so I'll have to do so separately. Be sure to check it out. "In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth... and it was good!"

In the meantime, check out this rap version of "The Wheels on the Bus."

CONGRATULATIONS TYLER!!

Random Kid Thoughts

I'm sitting in an airport waiting for the next plane to take me further away from my family for the second week in a row. While I hate being away from them, I love the excitement of my job and the challenge that my travels usually bring. Feeling torn is now a normal state of mind. I also know that my boys will do just fine without me and they're getting some special time together.

When I returned home last week, I found that Ryan is now a huge fan of Dan. His speech is very limited (although his non-verbal communication is quite clear) making any distinguishable words special. His favorite word is "daddy"... after "no," of course!

This past Sunday was Fathers Day. It was also beautiful so Dan decided to take Ty for a ride in the vette just before bedtime. Ryan picked up on what was going on and was found at the back door, shoes in hand. I hate seeing any of my boys disappointed and just thinking of his little face full of anticipation makes me sad. I wish I had let him stay up a little late for a ride. Instead I swooped him up and made a big production of getting ready for bed... somehow I don't think he forgot about the ride...

I hear that Tyler thoroughly enjoyed himself. Without a back seat, this is a rare opportunity to sit right next to Daddy in a car. And, Ty took full advantage of it, not being quiet for a moment. After what I'm sure was a very responsible acceleration from zero to the speed limit, Tyler turned to Dan and said "I love you Daddy." What a charmer. Dan also got to hear that Ty enjoys eating birds like chicken, turkey and ham (??!!) because birds have beaks and Ty doesn't want to get pecked. Interesting stuff rolling around in the head of a five year old!!

I love to hear the thoughts, musings and sometimes humbling things little people have to share. In my last post I shared my pleasure at hearing Nora tell me she loved me. Well, that didn't last long!! Less than two weeks after their departure from our house, we saw them again at Grandma's. And, my sweet little Nora asked me my name.

Don't worry Nora, I won't hold it against you... I may hold it against your mom and/or use it when making my plea for more time.

More Fun in the Sun!

The weather during the cousin visit was phenomenal... truly fabulous!! And, we took advantage of it.

We went to the zoo!


I'm looking at the above picture and wondering how that happened... how in the world did we get that BIG? The bench is full!

Hanging out on a turtle...

Such beautiful kids!

We did actually see some real animals... unfortunately all of the pictures ended up like this one...

My aim isn't very good!! But, we had a great time seeing the elephants, tigers, bears, lions, giraffes, monkeys, zebras and all the other friends at the zoo. Then we took our own monkeys home.

All weekend we kept hearing the ice cream truck in the neighborhood... we finally caught it!

Ice cream from a truck is the BEST!

On Monday we put our yard to good use. 12 kids and their parents came over. Woo Hoo! We filled the side yard up fairly well... now I've got my sights on a party that uses the back yard too.

The kids had a great time running between the swing set and the pools.

This is what summer is all about. Sprinklers and lawn chairs!

And, really cool cookies that Ms. Kristen made to look like hamburgers! YUM! What could be better??

After all the sun, I was pleased that the kids migrated upstairs to the train table... another huge toy that doesn't get a lot of love.

Tuesday we took a drive to the aquarium to see the sea lion show.

These penguins look familiar...

Hi Nemo!

This is the perfect aquarium for little people. Finally, something that Ryan could do with the big kids.

I felt terrible for Ryan during much of the cousin visit. He's at the age where he knows he wants to participate, but he's not quite ready yet. Tyler, Ava and Nora were able to go out to the swing set while the mommies were in the kitchen, but we couldn't let Ryan go. He'd stand by the window crying and watching. It was so sad.

But, he could be part of the group here.

Since we were close, we thought it would be nice for the kids to see Niagara Falls. Guess what... they weren't impressed...

But, they were very excited to go to the Twist of the Mist!! Natural wonder of the world or ice cream? No contest... ice cream wins!

Uncle Dan put the icing on the cake by taking the kids on a tractor ride. Such fun!

Rather trying for a picture of all five kids, we thought we'd get a picture with the mommies. With the exception of working up a good sweat from running back and forth to reset the camera, it turned out pretty good. Ryan thought it was a hoot!

Note to self... order the remote for the camera!

I'm sitting here looking at these pictures and I'm sad that they're gone. I treasure my time with my sister and neices. But, I'm greedy and I want more. Yesterday I received a real gift... something I never expected... the sweetest words in the world... "I love you Aunt Laura." Yes, it is sweet to hear it from my own boy, but I guess I expect it from my own. This was special. As was Nora walking in our living room to tell Dan and I "Hi, I'm happy." Or, to have her ask so nicely for a push on the swing. I hope they remember this visit too... and beg their mom to come back!