Beautiful Day for Soccer

Today was so beautiful...in fact it got really warm by the time we were at Spring's soccer game in the early afternoon. Thomas did so well in his game today. He played goalie again for the first half and stopped every attempt. The second half he played forward for the majority of the time. He had at least 5 shots on goal...and he scored for the first time! It was great. Thomas has improved so much. He was so involved in the game. I am just constantly amazed at the incredible improvement from last season. He also played midfielder for some of the second half. He was so excited to have Grandma & Grandpa Biggs there to watch his game.

Then we came home for a short while until we left for Spring's game. She was more tired today because her game came right in the middle of the day and she was not able to get a nap. She did well though and scored 2 goals today. She was so happy that Thomas was here to watch her today! After the game Grandma and Grandpa took Thomas and Spring to get ice cream while Joel, Sammy, Mary, and I headed to our friend's home, the Herrins.

Mary had been favoring her right arm since last night and would not move it or use it at all. Our friend, Steve Herrin, is a chiropractor. It ends up she had dislocated her elbow. Fortunately that was all it was and Steve was able to put it back in place. She is finally moving around, crawling, and happy again. It is such a relief to see her back to her normal, happy self. We are grateful for wonderful friends that can help us out when our little ones get hurt over the weekend so we didn't have to go to the ER!

Oakland Planetarium

Grandma Biggs had a field trip for her Astronomy class to the planetarium. She invited Thomas to go with her and Grandpa. Thomas is really interested in learning about the solar system and space so he was so excited. He has been counting down for over 2 weeks. Tonight was the night they were going. He loved being at the planetarium. He was able to see Saturn and its rings through the telescope. When they were looking for the constellations Thomas asked Grandma if they could find a telescope that had the lines drawn between the constellations. It took a minute for him to realize that those lines are just drawn in textbooks to help us visualize the constellations! Once he realized this he was able to locate the north star and the big dipper. He liked learning about the space suits and the bathrooms on the space shuttles. He learned that the hottest stars are purple, blue are warm stars, and red are the coolest stars. It was a fun evening and he was so excited because it was almost 11:00 pm before they got in the car to head home.

New Pictures

I picked up Mary's year old pictures as well as some that we took of all the kids. They are all growing so fast!

Spring's Curls

I finally remembered to take some pictures of Spring's hair after it had been curled. She also had a new skirt, shirt, and shoes for church today. She was so excited to wear it today. She also had the scripture and prayer in Primary. She did so well reading her scripture from the Book of Mormon all by herself. Joel and I continue to be amazed by her reading ability and how well she can read independently from the Book of Mormon.

Our Heavenly Father's Children

Our emotions have been so close to the surface yesterday and today. We found out some very sad news yesterday morning. We have some good friends that are expecting and due this week. Yesterday they went into the hospital and unfortunately their little son was stillborn. When Joel received the call yesterday informing him of this (he is their home teacher) we both just sat and cried. I cannot imagine the sorrow and grief they are going through at this point. There have been countless times the last couple days that we just can't control the emotions as we hurt for our good friends. Today Joel was talking to the father and he told Joel, "I miss my son so much yet I know he went to live with his Heavenly Father. I am going to make sure I live my life so I can see my son again." What faith and testimony they have admist their heartache.

It has really put things into perspective for us as well. It is a somber reminder that our dear children are in all reality a blessing from our Father in Heaven. They are His children and He has entrusted them to us to teach and guide them in this mortal journey. We have held our children a little longer and expressed our love a little more. I am so grateful for eternal families. I am so grateful for the dear spirits that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. I, too, want to live my life so we will be able to enjoy the blessings of eternity as a family if we endure to the end. My testimony and knowledge of the gospel brings hope and comfort at a time like this. How grateful I am for it.

Burgundy Kidney Beans

Spring's soccer team is called the "Kidney Beans." When she found this out she said to me, "Yea...I'm so glad I am on the Kidney Beans because I just love kidney beans!" It was so cute. This afternoon she had her first soccer game of the season. During the warm ups and stretching she was so shy as she often is when there is a large group and she does not know anyone. Well, once the game began she turned into this aggressive little soccer player. She dominated the field during the entire game. She had a huge smile on her face the entire time no matter what she was doing. You could tell she was in her glory. She is very talented and it is exciting to watch her play. Her age level does not have practices during the week but she often attends practice with Thomas and when Dad permits she participates with the older kids. It shows. She can use her body very well to position herself just right to steal the ball. The coordinators/coaches of the league commented on how good she is at turning the ball to get going in the right direction.

It was so exciting to watch her. She scored at least 3 goals today and had many more shots on goal. It was not uncommon for her to steal the ball as a defender and dribble past the huge mass of players until she found herself all by herself. Then she continued down the field and took a shot. After she scored she would look at us with a huge smile and sort of 'saunter' over to us to give us a high five. It was a fun game for her today. She is so excited for next week. At the end of the game the kids were able to choose a prize from the coordinators. She loves her little sticky lizard. She even wanted us to take a picture of her with the lizard on her shoulder!

I was telling Joel at one point during her game how I am relieved to know that aside from her nail polish and other girly fetishes that she is like me in some ways! Joel laughed and said she is like me in many ways!

Team France

Well, soccer season is upon us again. We decided to enroll the kids in a different league this year and we are very pleased with it. This league is through the city parks and recreation department. I think the thing we like the best about this league is that the season is much shorter. Our last experience was so long that it really took a lot of time away from other things we enjoy to do as a family. This season only lasts about 5 weeks for Spring and 8 for Thomas....about a third of the time commitment. We love that our kids enjoy playing soccer and we want to support them; however, we also don't want it to become too intrusive and take the place of better things we can be doing together.

Once again, Joel is coaching Thomas' team. His company graciously sponsored the team as well. Thomas was excited when he found out the name of his team...TEAM FRANCE. He thinks this is cool because his Uncle Brandon served his mission in France.

This morning was their first game. They played so well. Thomas was able to play goalie the first half which he LOVES! He has really improved from last season and is not timid at all. He saved at least 9 goals today while only letting 2 get by him. He was so happy with this. The second half he started as a midfielder. I was so impressed with his improvement in ball control and skill from last season. I almost didn't recognize him as Thomas! He had 2 or 3 shots on goal which was exciting for him. Then he played some as Defender. Again, he has really improved. He wasn't timid and he stopped quite a few of the other players. He did really well with positioning his body to steal the ball, turning it and clearing it down the field.

The greatest part was seeing his excitement and joy while playing. The smile on his face and the enthusiasm for his team. He is a good example of encouraging and cheering on his teammates. He was tired by the end of the game...as was the rest of his team because they all played the whole game (only 6 players showed up today!). At the end of the game parents were asking if anyone knew what the score was but nobody knew for sure. I said to them, "I bet my son will know. He keeps track of things like that." Sure enough, when I asked him if he knew the score he did. Team France won 10-2!

Thomas, Our Pianist

Per request of Aunt Alanna and Grandma, here are 2 short videos of Thomas playing on the piano. He really is doing well with his lessons and he absolutely loves it. His teacher tells us he is so enthusiastic and just bubbles over with excitement during his lessons. Without further ado....here is Thomas....

Finger nail polish, curlers, what next???

Well, our little Spring has been begging me lately to help curl her hair so it can be curly like mine. Now, mind you, I have always had curly hair and thus have never dealt with this aspect of girly things either. So, on Thursday we set out trying to use a curling iron to curl her hair. That was not successful in the least bit. I didn't know what I was doing and Spring was so sad that I couldn't make her hair curly. While we were working on this a friend of mine came over to pick up her daughter (I was watching her for a while that day). My friend told me about rag curlers so that was going to be our next adventure. Well, last night our family went to Fairfield to visit with Jared, Haylie, and their kids before they went back to Arizona. Spring was relating her sob story to Aunt Haylie & Grandma about wanting curly hair. Grandma had some soft curlers so Aunt Haylie curled Spring's hair with them. Spring loved it and made sure I watched so I would know how to do it.

Spring was so excited to have curls this morning when she woke up. She ran to look at herself in the mirror after the curlers were taken out. She was all smiles as she said, " I love it...my hair is as curly as mommy's!" She really did look cute but I forgot to get a picture. Well, Grandma told her she could keep the curlers. This made her day. You should have seen the smile on her face. I knew I was doomed! And yes, tonight after her bath I put her hair up in curlers and she is sleeping peacefully...I am sure dreaming of the curls she will wake up with in the morning. I am afraid this is going to become a nightly routine for her and I!

What Happened to Mary?

This afternoon Spring called out to me, "Mom, look at Mary. I don't know what happened." I walked in to see this.....

Then I looked down to see a red marker that had the entire tip bitten off. Her mouth was full of red saliva, her teeth were covered in red, and it was dripping down her face. It was actually really funny once I realized that she was not hurt. Spring was sitting on the couch coloring and Mary thought it looked like fun so she grabbed a marker and did her own kind of coloring!

The Things I do for my Daughter

This is something I never thought I would do...spend time painting toenails and fingernails. That is, until Spring came along. I never even owned nail polish and it wasn't even in the house until Spring started accumulating all different shades. It all started with her Aunt Alanna. She painted Spring's nails a few years ago and ever since she has been hooked. She loves to have her nails painted and so I get roped into doing it for her! I can't believe I am about to admit this...but I actually enjoy doing it for her. She gets so excited about it and loves to show her dad when we are finished. The funny thing about it is that Sammy now wants to have his nails painted. I used to be able to just pretend to put polish on them but he has gotten wise now and has to be able to see polish on his nails. So, we often reserve the nail painting to times when Sammy is asleep so he doesn't get jealous and I don't relent and paint my son's nails too!

Happy Birthday Mary!

Our little Mary is 1 year old today! It amazes me that she has been part of our family for a year now, yet on the other hand she just belongs to our family and it seems she has always been with us. How wonderful it is to know the reality of eternal families. We had a wonderful day today and the kids were so excited to make it special for her. I am not one to make a big deal out of birthdays, especially first birthdays, because they really don't know what is going on. Today's festivities were more for Mary's siblings to share their love and excitement for her.

We made cupcakes and a little cake for Mary. Spring thought it would be a good idea to give Mary a doll for her birthday so she helped me choose one for her at the store. It was a fun evening as the kids helped Mary open her present and we all watched her devour her birthday cake...after almost burning her finger trying to put the candle out with her fingers instead of blowing the candles! She sure loved her cake...I don't think she ate very much of it but she was sure covered head to toe in it and loving every minute of it.

Mary, we love you. Your smile lights up the room and brings us all such joy. Your brothers and sister love to be with you and to make you laugh. We love watching you learn new things each day and we know you will soon be walking everywhere. We are so blessed to have your smiling and sweet spirit as part of our eternal family. Happy Birthday, Mary!

April Fools!!!

Spring was so excited that today is April Fool's Day. This is definitely her kind of a day. She loves to tease and play jokes on people. She woke up and had to call Grandma Powell and tell her to look all over her house because there were snakes everywhere. She just loves to tease. Well, Grandma emailed me and asked me to make her a cardboard sandwich for lunch. So, we did and we were able to video her as she took her first bite in her sandwich! Grandma got Spring good!