Officially a soccer mom

Well this passed weekend I officially became a soccer mom.
I always figured that someday I would be one of those sports moms who drive a (cool) mini-van and bring the best snacks to the games, and all of my kids friends just think I am the coolest/prettiest mom ever. (That must have been some dream.) I guess I just never figured it would happen when Tim was 2!
It was, however, so much fun to see all these little kids out there in their new bright blue tee shirts, trying really hard to kick the ball, and running with all their might, parents chasing them, trying really hard to not snicker when their kids missed the ball or decided to just run the other direction. (I say that because Tim did manage to do both of those things and it was hard for Mike and I to not laugh out loud.)
I was surprised at how many 2 year olds were out there. Come to find out we are not the only parents looking to focus our toddlers energy into something positive. It was nice to know were normal (ok I realize that the term normal is a relative issue... Since "normal" for us is not "normal" for everyone... But come on give me a break here).
Anyway Tim had a blast. He loves to kick the ball. So that part of it was no problem. He is just not used to things being so organized. I, also did not realize that parental involvement, meant so much work. I think Mike and I got as much of a work out as Tim. Tim did get a little grumpy towards the end as he was getting tired. But over all the experience was a positive one.
I am looking forward to the next 5 weeks. (I say that now, but I'll have to let you know at the end of the 6 weeks how things go! LOL)
Anyway, not much else going on this week, but I am sure we can find some cute antidote from the kids to post later on in the week.
Take care!!

Update

Ok I know it has been about 10 days since my last post... But I have a good excuse. Once we got back form visiting my parents, my kids (once again) were sick.
Ok you know how this is the year of the dog in the Chinese calendar? In our home this is the year of the germ. I kid you not... There have only been a handful of weekends that ALL of us have actually been well... At the same time. It's awful. So this time it's been Lexa. Poor thing started running a fever the day before we left to come home. Yesterday was the first time she seemed to really feel better. Although the clingyness that comes from a toddler being sick, was still there in full force. I would start to bend over to put her down and she would start in "mamaaaaw" Have you ever seen that Sharpie commercial, where the mom tries to put the baby down and as soon as his toes hit the floor he cries, yet when she picks him up he is all smiles... That is Lex. (sigh)

Anyway, we had a good time at my folks.... The kids always have a good time with their granny, gramps and Great-grandma's. (They know who spoils them) Every time we stop by their Great-Granny Tim wants Ice Cream... And of course he get it. But that is especially what Great Grannies are for.
My mom was doing exercises one of the mornings were there and Tim decided to join in. She had him stretching, and bending , and doing leg lifts...LOL. It was pretty funny to watch. But they had a good time.

My mom has a piano at her house too. Tim and Lex both like to go in and "play" on it. My mom took the opportunity to give a quick lesson... Although it looks like Lex is the only one paying attention. Heh.
Anyway we made it home and since Lex was a feeling a little better we went to Arizona Museum for Youth. We went to a Tot and Mommy class. It was fun. They have areas all set up with different things going on... A block area, book area, sensory play area, puzzle area, and so forth. It was a lot of fun. Tim is so good about helping Lex. He is such a good big brother. He helped her put one of the puzzles back together. It was so cute!
She is on that high learning curve too. She wants to explore everything... EVERYTHING. But yet she still does not want to venture to far from mom.
Life at our house is interesting because of that. I have one who points to everything and yells when she wants something, and one who is in super discovery mode, who constantly asks "what's that mommy?" But I love it. It means my kids are growing, and they are learning (I better be careful though, one day soon they will be smarter than me)
Anyway, Tim starts Soccer tomorrow, so I know there will be more to blog about this weekend.
Till then take care!

Off to see the Wizard....

Ok we are not really going to see the wizard, but we are off to see my folks.
Just wanted to post that, so no one who accidentally wanders in here and starts reading our blog, suddenly realizes we have not posted for a week. LOL!
I am sure when we get back next week there will be lots of photos and stories to tell (like on the last trip, how Tim screamed the last 30 minutes of the drive because he wanted his cup, which he (deliberately) threw on the floor and I could not reach it).
So I say to all those people... I will be back, with more posts early next week.
So relax and have a great weekend.

Fun with the kids

Well this week has been an adventure to say the least.
We started off with Tim taking an art class at the Youth Museum. It was interesting to say the least. It was fun, but I think it was more of a learning experience for me, than for Tim. He is only two after all, and at this point his main interest is being able to play in the sand box, or watch the Wiggles on TV. But I thought we'd give it a try. I did find out, however, that he likes to paint, and glue things. He had little interest in some of the other activities, but the idea that he could put paint on his hand and then make a mark on the paper was fascinating to him. (As long as he does not figure out he can do it at home on the walls.) As was the idea that he could make something stick together. He made a Lion mask and it came out very cute... He likes to pretend now that he is a lion..."Roar!"

Poor Lex was stuck in my lap the whole time. She is such a wiggle worm now that she is walking all over. That also made it hard to concentrate fully on Tim. Like I said it was a learning experience.
After the class however, both kids were rewarded with a trip the play area in the museum. It's very fun. It's set up for kids ages 5 and under. There are all kinds of rooms... A puppet room, a kitchen, a play garden, and even a slide. There is also an area for the very little one's. Lex was not sure about this until she saw herself in the mirror.
Then she was happy as a clam in the ocean.

We also had fun the other day, playing with Tim's Elmo doll. He had not pulled it out in some time, and now that Lex is mobile, I decided to get it out. Oh man. She was cracking up. Of course, as with most siblings, once Tim saw that she had something, he wanted it too. He actually took to showing Lex how Elmo danced. It was SOOOOO cute. He imitated Elmo and then tried to get Lex to do the moves too. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. They are so cute when they play together.

They have been doing that a lot lately. Just playing and hanging out together.
I caught them both in the living room the other day just reading books, side by side, It was a proud mama moment (just the sheer fact that Tim was not trying to wrestle her to the ground). I really do hope that they continue to be good friends.
Anyway like I said earlier this week has been an adventure for all of us! And just think we get to do all over again next week. (I wouldn't have it any other way!)

Imagination

I have to be honest and confess that there are some games that my son plays with me that I have absolutely no idea what he is doing and what we are doing. I have no idea where he got the idea for it, I see no connection to anything that we have ever watched or done. I am completely lost.

But, it does not seem to matter at all to Tim since whatever I am doing, I seem to be doing it right. He laughs, giggles, "wheeeees!" and repeats whatever it is that we are doing...over and over again.

I must say that his imagination has a complete life of its own and this makes for an exciting time. You see, he is creating his own understanding and his own way of doing things. He is making connections in things that I have not seen before. I used to try and show him how to do things but now I am content to let him show me how to do things even if it is nothing like what he is "supposed" to do (such as play on a keyboard with coherent notes).

Yesterday was a most impressive time for me to see the imagination of my son in full bloom. There is a website that has Elmo showing the letters (with some type of action) whenever the keyboard is pressed. I happened to notice that Tim was attempting to imitate Elmo but I though nothing of it and went into the living room.

Later, Tim came in and started rummaging through his toys. I figured he was done and asked him if he wanted me to turn Elmo off. "No, Daddy!" came the puzzled reply. Finally he found what he was looking for: two small rounded sticks.

I followed him back into the kitchen to the computer and watched him press "V" which has Elmo play a violin. Tim, as best he could, tried to emulate Elmo and the violin with those two sticks.

My jaw dropped. I had not seen him with his own imagination and inventiveness with such clarity and flair until now. I asked Shannon if he had done anything like this before, and she was certain he had not.

There he stood, playing his violin for all to see. Then, after Elmo was done, Tim hit the "V" again with the stick so he could be ready faster. Not only a creative imagination, but a problem solver, too.

He is also becoming very affectionate. Today, for no obvious reason (I had given him nothing for some time) Tim came up to Shannon and me individually and hugged us saying, "Thank you Daddy!" and "Thank you, Mommy!"

We think that he was in just a very happy mood and was just telling us he loved us. If I ever need to be in a good mood, there are these wonderful kids who do a great job of putting me there.


My walking girl is just tearing up the house now. She is still not as talkative as Mr. Timothy "I'm trying out for Rush's Job" Porter, but she is being much more deliberate with her words. And, she really likes to be read to. She has a wonderful trick that Daddy is always a sucker for. She finds a book and brings it over to me. She hands it to me, I take it, then she throws up her arms so that I will read to her.

Yesterday and today I have been getting alot of attention requests from this little girl and couldn't be happier.

I will tell you that we have great kids. While driving around the other night, the kids played with each other and giggled and laughed and talked to each other. Tonight, Timothy was teaching her how to play with some of his more complex toys.

Have I ever mentioned that life is good?