Are You Ready For Some Football?!

This is Shane's "football face".  We signed him up for flag football at the Y and so we've been practicing "running touchdowns" in the backyard.

 He had his first game on Saturday, and I'm not sure we have a world class athlete on our hands, but he had a lot of fun!  And it was really quite funny to watch:)  They do a half hour practice than a half hour scrimmage.  Here are his coaches showing them how to get in position- "Ready, set,

 hike!"  and how to block.

 They did some running drills.  Shane is 4th in line.  In the scrimmage they line up across from each other and the coach hands a kid the ball and they run while the other team tries to pull his flag.

 Doesn't he look tough??

The Little Miss

Can't do a post for Sadie and Shane and leave out Marissa now can I?  Oh Marissa, so much personality in such a tiny little body.  She is so different than Shane in a lot of ways that I feel like most days I am still trying to figure her out and how best to parent her.  She has reached the stage that I had heard whisperings of from other parents when Shane was at this age but never dealt with with him: wanting to do everything all by themselves.  She wants to put on her clothes, buckle her carseat, turn the pages of her books, close every door, say her prayers, etc. all by herself.  If I even look like I am going to intervene she will swat me away and say, "No! Let me do it!"  and quickly undo anything I started.  We talk every dinner about how everyone says amen because when we say amen she thinks we are doing it for her.  In fact she woke up in the middle of the night last week from a bad dream and I went in there and she was saying, "I don't WANT you to say amen!" I am reminding myself that it can be a pain now, but it will sure be nice to have her really able to do all these things soon and not have to light a fire under her like I did with Shane.  

I draw the line at letting her change her own diaper, though she would rather that than poop on the potty which she is kind of scared of.  She does sit on it all the time, usually after she realizes she's gone in her diaper she will tell me she needs to go.  In fact the other day I told her she didn't need to go to the potty because she just pooped in her diaper and she started dancing around and said, "I'm bouncing!" because she knows that is what I tell Shane when I am trying to point out that he needs to go haha.  So she has fun sitting on it and I am sure as heck not going to push her til she's ready.

She can be pretty feisty but man oh man is she ever so stinking cute, and she knows how to work it.  

 Still cannot leave those baby hands alone for the life of her though.

 She doesn't play with toys a ton, she mostly likes to go around the house and collect all our stuff and rearrange it and pretend to use it/really use it.  She puts up with a lot of bossing from Shane and goes along with a lot of his pretend play, but has no problem asserting herself with him either.

When we go out somewhere where she is free to be independent and do her own thing she does so well.  In the past year she has gone to probably 5 or 6 different nurseries while traveling and she just goes right in without a peep.

My visiting teacher is her nursery leader and she was surprised that Marissa wouldn't be 3 til April.  She said "wow she's so verbal" and Marissa smiled and said "I have a big noggin!" (we tell the kids their heads are so big because they are so smart ha ha).  Oh Marissa, I love you so much!  Please bear with me as I try to figure out what the heck to do with you sometimes!!

Hot Hot Hot

We have had very summer like weather for the past week, and I haven't minded too much because I am still in denial that the carefree days of summer are over!  Too bad the outdoor pool closed after Labor Day, but we have had fun shooting each other with water guns, 

 and shooting bugs too.

 and we're lucky this awesome splash pad/park is half a mile from our house.  I thought they were turning off the water after Labor Day, but they have kept it on a little longer.

 I got a kick out of Shane going right up next to these older girls to get dumped on by the buckets.

So cute when they play nicely together:)

Today was supposed to be the last hot hot day, so I'm glad we got some last few water hurrahs in while we could.  Next it's on to a little bit cooler temperatures and fall fun, and I can't complain about that either!

Shaners

When I ask Shane to smile, this is what I always get:) 

So I have to make him laugh, then I can get a semi real one.

Shane man had his first day of pre-K here on Wednesday and is loving it.  He has a girl teacher AND a boy teacher, and a bunny rabbit who is kennel trained and hops among the different classrooms.  He is also very happy that his buddy Carter goes to the same school.

He goes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:30 to 3.  I am holding onto my lazy mornings while I can until he goes to all day kindergarten next year!  It is right down the road from the Y, which is great because we can go before or after.  Yes, I am the trashy mom who took her kid to his first day of school in my sweaty clothes.  But the good news is, there is a carpool line so I don't have to get out of my car anymore!  (I thought I'd be nice and walk him in on his first day:) )

A few things about Shane:

  -We were a little worried wondering how he would do with the move, but it is like he has blossomed since being here.  He tells me all the time out of the blue that he loves it here and wants to stay.
-In case you haven't caught on, he LOVES animals.  He is of course into the dangerous ones, but really all animals and wants to know everything about them- where they live, what they eat, and he is especially interested in extremes- who is the biggest bird? cat? tallest? fastest? most dangerous? etc. etc.  I have learned quite a bit myself trying to answer all his questions and if I forget the answers he will remember them for me.
-He is the world's best big brother... to Sadie:)  He fights a lot with Marissa and likes to bug her, but when they are getting along they are pretty cute.  The other day they were playing at Burger King and Marissa wasn't quite tall enough to climb some of the things so I asked Shane to help her and he was able to lift her up enough, much to my surprise.  They got all the way up the top and I heard him tell her in a loving voice, "Marissa I will always be here to help you!"  But he is always good to Sadie and it has been so helpful when I am busy doing something to have him there to talk to her and keep her entertained.  Here he is telling her all about sea creatures:)

      -He is at such a fun age and I love to here all his thoughts.  Here is a recent conversation that made me laugh:
Shane: Why haven't we gone to the zoo with Cameron?
Me: Well, he doesn't have a zoo pass.
Shane: Why not?
Me: It costs a lot of money.
Shane: Does he only have one money?
Me: Yeah, I guess so.
Shane: Oh.  He should shop at Tree Dollar!  Everything there costs one dollar!
-He is still pretty much the sweetest boy ever and wants to please.  If he knows I am upset with him, even if I do not raise my voice or anything, he will tell me "Mommy I just don't like you feeling that way with me!!"