First Soccer Practice

On March 5th, Elijah attended his first soccer practice.  We signed him up for a local Upward Soccer Team.  His coach, Coach Tammy teaches fifth grade with Scott and her son Colton is in Elijah's class.  In fact, we know four out of seven of Elijah's team.  Alex and Colton are in Elijah's class and Emmi was in preschool with Elijah last year.  The practice started with introductions, running and warm ups.

Then, they started practicing kicking the ball around and ended the practice with a scrimmage.  As Scott said, the big victory of the first practice was when the kids stopped trying to use their hands.  :)

Elijah had a sweet smile for most of the practice, while Keira was frustrated and grumpy as she couldn't understand why she couldn't go be with her brother.

Midwinter Break, Part VI -- Our First Pine Mountain Hike

With Elijah's first hike such a success, we wasted no time heading to Pine Mountain.  We hiked part of the Pine Mountain Trail on February 25th. The trail was right up Elijah's alley, as it's a 23 mile hike altogether with plenty of signage and maps.  Scottie and I decided to park and hike out of our favorite spot, but to Elijah's chagrin, that's the end of the hike.  He LOVED the hike, even more than the Line Creek Hike, but asked if we could find the beginning and hike it at some point. 

We tried carrying Keira in the hiking backpack, which had mixed results.  I still carried her for a good part of the hike in the sling, but I was able to get a substantial break while Scottie carried her on his back.  You can see from her expression in this picture, that she's not altogether pleased with the experience.  I think the main problem was her jeans, they rode up uncomfortably.  Next time we hike with the backpack, we need to avoid jeans for her comfort.

I took the previous picture of Scott and Keira when we stopped for our big break on our snack rock.  Here's Elijah enjoying his break, snack and overall hike experience.  Again, I'm so happy to have another enthusiastic hiker to hike with me!

With Keira riding on Daddy's back, Elijah and I enjoyed some time together on the trail.  One of the unexpected pleasures of the hike was crossing all the multiple creeks.  It was a hoot jumping across the rocks and trying to keep our feet dry.  Elijah fell in a little once, but even a soggy shoe couldn't dampen his mood.

As the creek picture shows, most of the hike was beautiful and picturesque.   But, one section of the hike had been hit by a tornado last year.  It was stark and striking where it had once been lush.  Elijah affectionately nicknamed it the "junkyard" and invented some super spy game during that part of the hike.

Midwinter Break, Part IV -- Hiking!

By far, my favorite new development of the break was Elijah's new found love of hiking.  I, myself, love hiking.  It is hands down one of my favorite things to do in the world.  Elijah's gone on many hikes with us in the past, but they've either been really short, more of a means to an end, or he's spent most of his time in the hiking backpack.  This time it was his idea. 

It all started with The Healthy Game.  The Healthy Game is something that Elijah made up over lunch one day.  He was studying nutrition in school, so as I made my salad I commented on how many different colors of the rainbow I was eating.  He started talking about the colors like points, and the game was born.  Basically, all of us are competing each day to see who can be healthier.  We get points for eating different fruits and vegetables, trying new healthy foods and exercise.  There's no prize except bragging points.  Yet, the game made the vacation so much better!  Often, when Eli's home it's a struggle to get him out of the house.  He always has intricate plans for us that involve staying inside and creating something or lately playing school.  Although, his mood is so much better when we get him out of the house.  It's a conundrum.  But, with the game, there was no conversation about healthy eating, and he gave himself extra points for being the one to suggest going outside!  As I said before, we spent plenty of happy hours playing at our local parks, then we decided to give hiking a shot.

I wasn't overly optimistic about hiking.  I envisioned him pooping out early on and spending the rest of the time on Scott's shoulders.  But, wow, was I wrong!  He loved it!  So much so that he'd like to hike as much as possible now.  I couldn't be happier.  We took Elijah on his first "big boy" hike on February 23rd at Line Creek.  The first thing that he loved was the map, which truly wasn't a surprise.  We didn't print up a map before we left the house and the kiosk next to the mounted map was empty, but Elijah had the ingenious idea to take a picture of the map to use as his portable version.  Scotty and I honestly didn't even think of that.  Brilliant!

I carried Keira in the sling while Scottie and Elijah took the lead.  Elijah loved to hike in the very front, and he kept up a decent pace.

One of the best things about this hike is that the vast majority of the hike is right next to the beautiful creek.  There are numerous shoals along the way to stop, enjoy the peaceful view, climb over the slippery rocks, pose for pictures or throw some rocks in the water. 

Midwinter Break, Part III -- Parks and a Playdate

As a suitable culmination to our unusually mild winter, the weather during the break was nice enough to let us spend plenty of happy hours outside.  We visited a few local parks, including Jumping Bridge Park where I took this picture of the kids riding together on the space shuttle.  Taking the kids to a park is becoming easier and more enjoyable as Keira gets more and more brave. 

Speaking of easier and more enjoyable, Elijah invited his friend Emily over for a playdate during the break and it was amazing.  Playdates with Keira around have always been challenging and draining at best.  She wants to get in the middle of everything, complain and not share.  I took Elijah to Emily'a house at the beginning of the year, and even though Keira and I didn't stay for the whole time, what we did stick around for was exhausting.  I've been meaning to have more of Elijah's friends over for a playdate, but the task seemed daunting given Keira's past performances.  Therefore, when we randomly spotted Emily and her mom driving down the road and Elijah wanted to go home and invite her over to play, I was relieved Scott would be around to assist in crowd control.  It turns out my fears were in vain. 

The two hours were heaven.  Right when Emily arrived, Elijah showed Emily to his room and Keira tagged along.  Scott and I were in the kitchen waiting to hear screams and counting the moments until we had to swoop in and take Keira out.  It never happened.  Emily, Keira and Elijah played famously the entire time.  After playing for a short time in his room, all three kids trooped happily into the playroom to play for the duration.  Of course, Keira's attention span isn't nearly as long, so Elijah and Emily had plenty of time to play by themselves, too.  The afternoon went so well, that I was actually looking for things to do -- I detail cleaned the kitchen.  Amazing!  Here are the three buddies happily munching on their snack.

Midwinter Break, Part II -- Bowling

We took the kids bowling for the first time over the break.  Elijah was especially excited to try it out.  We rented four pairs of bowling shoes, which turned out to be wishful thinking.

As we expected, Elijah enjoyed the whole experience from rolling the balls to watching the score.  In this first picture, he obliged me my photo, but quickly went back to studying the score.

On the other hand, Keira hated all the noise and was not a happy girl.  While Daddy and Elijah bowled, I spent my time walking around with a mildly grumpy girl in the sling.  Honestly, as I assured Scott, I still had a great time.  I know my time with a sling baby is extremely finite.  I relish the time that I still have with my cozy, comfy girl.  Anyway, I still got to watch the action.

Midwinter Break, Part I -- Family Time

During the third week of February, Elijah and Daddy had a week off of school and we enjoyed a week full of fun.  Of course, most vacations are all about family time, and this one was no exception.  Both kids enjoyed tons of time with Daddy.  As Scottie is finishing up his Master's and taking two classes this semester he has tons of work all the time.  Fortunately, Elijah is his eager helper and guinea pig.  This semester offered more excitement than usual, since Scottie's taking a Science class.  During the vacation, Elijah and Daddy enjoyed chiseling away rocks and classifying them together.

Keira also enjoyed some quality Daddy time while playing a new favorite -- Hi Ho Cherry-O and of course coming in for a cuddle.



A wonderful addition to our family vacation love fest was Aunt Seana.  She came over one morning and got to spend some good quality time with her niece and nephew.  They loved having her over and happily climbed all over her to give her plenty of silly love when she arrived.

Winter at Home

Time keeps marching on.  It's amazing, all of February has zoomed by and I haven't blogged since the beginning of the month!  I have a ton of pictures and memories to share from Daddy and Elijah's Midwinter Break, but first I wanted to catch up on some pictures I took at home through the month before the break.

First, Elijah's reading continues to improve by leaps and bounds.  Often, he gets really quiet, and I discover him sitting on the couch or in his bed reading to himself.  The amazing thing to me is that he now usually reads in his head.  Crazy!  He loves to read anything he can get his hands on, these next few pictures show him excitedly poring over his Lego magazine.

My favorite thing to watch is Elijah reading to Keira.  One evening, they sat together at the table while I cooked dinner.  So sweet.

As for Keira, she loves to play various elaborate imagination games with us or by herself.  They are often based on a book we've read or a video she's seen like Dora, Diego or Monsters Inc.  She's almost constantly singing to herself, and often makes up her own songs.  Another recent passion is painting.  She's spent many happy hours this winter with a paint brush in hand.



Finally, no indoor time would be complete without some attackling.  Keira and Elijah cuddle, snuggle or attackle each other at least once a day.