Scroll through April

Scroll all the way through April. I did a bunch of back posts since April has been full of adventures and little time has been available to type!

Bitty Soccer Game

This was during practice before the game. He has good form and check out that tongue. It really helps get you down the field faster!

Turn around! The game is going on behind you!

He hasn't improved much in the participation category but in his last game he actually did kick the ball ONE TIME!!

Opened and Rifled through

Automatic locks on car doors are pretty nice, except when you forget to lock them. I did that on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday morning when getting in the car to go to church I noticed that the inside of the car just didn't look right.

Everything from the glove box and other storage spaces was strewn about in the front seat. Maps, tire gauges, napkins, parking devices, sunglasses, cell phone chargers. Well, nothing was missing, not even my hidden emergency cash stash.

I'm smarter than you thief's. I don't keep anything valuable in there and I have good hiding spots.

Egg Hunt

I think the "finding" part wasn't as challenging for Steven. He got to downgrade to the toddler course because of his younger sister. SCORE!

Just let her wear her brother's brown leather sandals from last year, even if you have pretty white sandals that match her outfit so well!

All through church "are we going to get eggs?" After church "I got a TON of eggs!"

Brown eggs don't work

I was really excited to dye Easter eggs with the kids on Easter morning. So the night before I boiled the eggs and got my old egg cartons ready to hold the magnificent works of art I knew they would create.

On Sunday we dropped those fizzy dye tabs in the vinegar and let the kids put their eggs in the bowls. Turns out, brown eggs don't really take on the color so well.

Fingerprints

Update: my fingers are prettier than Tommy's, confirmed by officials at the United States Customs and Immigration Service!

We got our appointment letter from USCIS last week while we were on vacation. It stated that our appointment was not until May 11, what?!? Surely we don't have to wait that long, I thought. So I got in touch with our agency and asked if we could go early, they said it varies by office and that we could try but we might get turned away. I then decided to feed my newest obsession and post a question to the yahoo discussion boards. I asked if anyone had gone early to the office in KC and I got a reply stating that in the last three weeks another couple had gone before their appointment. They were in and out in less than 5 minutes! Whew, that was exciting to hear.

So, Tommy picked me up at lunch and we headed up north near the airport to the office to get fingerprinted. It was very cool because it is all digital. We hope to hear back in 2-8 weeks, hoping it is closer to 2 weeks! Then we will be on hyperspeed to get our Dossier completed and mailed to DC to be authenticated!

By the way, the woman who replied to my yahoo group post has a daughter named Lyla. What are the chances?!?!

My son is a classic

Recall the age-old story of the small boy standing in the outfield with his glove laying on the ground, all of a sudden dancing in circles while waving his arms in the sky. Oh, is that a butterfly that has happened by?

Now, imagine a team of 3 to 5 year olds running up and down the soccer field all glommed around the ball, indiscriminately kicking one another while one little boy sits in a patch of dirt searching for treasure. He is unaware of the game being played around him until his coach runs over, lifts him up and points to the ball and yells "run and kick it."

That's my boy, that's my Steven. It is a classic case of boy oblivious to the world around him. I love it!

Last week Steven started Bitty Soccer through the YMCA. He did pretty good for his first two practices (we had to miss one due to our vacation, maybe that is why he's a little disinterested?). He stood, rather sat, in line for his turn to kick at the goal. He listened intently, rather half-heartedly, to his coach - check that, chief (as Steven fondly calls his Coach, err Chief Craig).

All in all, I can tell he is having fun and man, that kid has a keen sense of observation. While driving to his second practice (a full week after his first), he asked me why "those girls" had "those things" on their legs. It took me a minute or two but I finally realized he was asking why some of his teammates had shin guards (they aren't required so we skipped the expense). He sees and thinks about everything and it confirms to me that he pays attention but maybe is too focused on the details rather than the bigger picture of actually playing the sport.

I was the lucky one tonight, I did get to come home with a pocket full of treasures. Too bad that broken bits of acorn and weeds aren't worth as much as watching your child with a huge smile on your face!