The Start of Another Soccer Season

Stella had her first soccer practice for the spring 2010 season today.  Only 3 girls from her last team are on her new team (Stella, Callie, and Lauren).  Her coach is new too.   Even though the temperature read 49 F, it felt much, much colder than that because of the wind that was whipping around us.  So Stella insisted on wearing her hat and mittens for practice

Stella had me braid her half-ponytail because she wanted to be like her buddy Macy (who was on her Fall soccer team) who often had braided pigtails.

 They practiced kicking the ball through cones...that was something new.

 

They also practiced passing/kicking the ball between their partners.  Here is Stella kicking the ball to Lauren.  Stella had lots of fun during her first soccer practice of the season.

Des was there, all bundled up, checking out all of the action.   

Des had fun too, kicking his soccer ball around with his Dada.

Matching PJs

Tonight, Stella and Des wore their matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse jammies that they had gotten for Christmas.  Stella decided to wear her Minnie Mouse ears from her Halloween costume.  And I just had to take pictures!

Stella always tries to coordinate her jammies to match the Gup's every night.  It's so cute.  In the above picture, Des is doing his best "cheesy" smile.

Here are a few more outtakes from their matching jammy photo session.

Saturday Afternoon Bike Rides

We went to a nearby elementary school parking lot after lunch today so that the kids could ride their bikes.  Up until now, Stella has only ridden her big girl bike (that she got for Xmas) inside of our house (she loved riding around our kitchen island).  Today was the first time Stella was able to ride her bike outside.
And let me just tell you, she LOVED it.

As you can see from the pictures below, Stella had a perma-smile on her face the entire time she was riding her bike outside.

 

 

Desmond had fun on his tricycle too, although he preferred to give me his serious face whenever I would stick the camera in his face to take pictures.

I am soooo jealous of his eyelashes!  They are longer than mine!! Check them out in these pics below.

Mama's Birthday

My birthday is on the 15th of February, but we celebrated by going out to dinner on Friday the 12th.  We all got dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant, where Stella and Des were the only two kids dining there.  But they did great for the most part (Des was being a little too loud, but he is a raucous little boy by nature).  We even got compliments from a group of nearby diners as to how cute and well-behaved the kids are =:)

While at the restaurant, Des and Stella sang Happy Birthday to me.  After they finished singing, Des gave me a pretend cake and he helped me blow out the candles.  I then had to eat the "biggest and yummiest" (Des's words) pretend cake ever, that was made especially for me by a sweet, sweet boy. 

After a yummy dinner, we drove up to Krispy Kreme to get some dessert.  In our household, we heart Krispy Kreme doughnuts and this was even more special than usual, because the kids got special Valentine's Day doughnuts in the shape of hearts.  Stella just loved that!!!

I got wonderful presents for my birthday but the best present of all is my precious family...Stella, Des, and David!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day 2010

We celebrated Valentine's Day by relaxing at home. After breakfast, we made homemade Valentine's day shirts that the kids are sporting in the picture above.

Stella was really excited about making her shirt.  She loves to do all things artsy and crafty.  She has told me that she wants to be an artist when she grows up!

We ate yummy Belgian waffles topped with fresh cream and strawberries for lunch.

Yesterday, we made special chocolate covered lollipop cookies in honor of Valentine's Day.   Stella was very excited about this.  Des was happy too, mostly because he got to eat the cookies and sprinkles along the way.

 

Stella making her cookie lollipops

 Des doing his part and lollipop cookies ready to be dipped in chocolate and decorated.

Decorating the cookies with Valentine's day sprinkles.

With Desmond, most of the sprinkles ended up in his mouth and face.  We had to remove him from the decorating process because he wouldn't listen to us and kept eating the sprinkles.

The finished product.  Yum!!

Enjoying their special Valentine's Day lollipop cookies!

An Indoor Roller Coaster?

 

We used some of the money Stella and Des received this Christmas to buy them this present called the Straight Shot.  It is basically a mini plastic roller coaster designed to be used indoors or outdoors.  The scooter cannot roll off the back because there are grooves at the bottom of the track to lock the wheels in.  The rider has to push off and then off he/she goes.  Since we  have a big space from our living room to the foyer, it was great place to set it up.

The kids just absolutely love this toy and have been very good about taking turns riding it.  Dada threatened them by saying that if they fight over it, the toy goes back.

Des initially needed help pushing off and Stella was more than happy to oblige.  After a few tries, he has figured out how to push off by himself. 

What do kids most love playing with when a new toy arrives?  The box the toy came in , of course.  And since this was a big toy and it came in a big box, the more fun it was to climb inside of it.

Valentine's Day Crafting

I got some Valentine's crafts (foam hearts that can be dressed up with eye, nose, mouth, etc. stickers) for the kids to do on a rainy day during the week, but of course, Stella sniffed them out and ran off with it before I could catch her.

She opened the crafts and gave some to Des and the two proceeded to make all of the heart faces right there in one fell swoop.

As you can see, there was a lot of concentrating going on to make these heart faces.