Soccer Weekend

Saturday, it was freezing cold in the morning so Evan's game was cancelled.  Colin's game was a little later, but it was still very cold and was supposed to rain all day.  So, Dennis took Colin by himself to Colin's soccer pictures and then game.  The game wasn't too eventful because the other team only had 3 show up.  But, they attempted a game anyway and Colin and his team did well.

Saturday night, Dennis had his much anticipated first poker night at our house.  The boys were put to sleep before the first guy showed up.  I enjoyed a "chick flick" on the main level and the guys had fun in the basement.  Dennis was thrilled to put the new basement and bar to use!

Sunday, Colin had Religious Education Class and then had another soccer game early in the afternoon.  As we were packing up to go Evan was really cranky, probably because of his stomach hurting.  He said he had to go to the bathroom and we really didn't want him to have to go in the middle of the game, so Dennis stayed home with the little boys and I took Colin to the game.  Colin's team won 14-0.  Colin scored 4 points, which was real impressive considering it was his turn to sit out half the game!  I never thought I would enjoy watching the kids play sports this much.  It is so fun to watch how much he loves the sport!

The Tooting Man Named Goosey

Thursday, I was supposed to go to my monthly Bunco night.  However, Dennis called me two days prior saying that he had won tickets to a sneak peek movie premiere of The Avengers.  Knowing that he is a Super Hero fanatic, like our boys, and knowing we wouldn't be able to get a sitter on such short notice, I stayed home with the kids so he could go.  He had to get there early, so he left straight from work.  That left me with the job of getting Colin's homework done, getting all the kids to Evan's T-ball practice, picking up some dinner on the way home, and getting them all bathed and in bed by 7:45.  Mission was accomplished.  Oh and Evan had a good practice except for being in the wrong spot at the wrong time and getting a ball right to the belly.

A few months back Colin came home with a book he had written about sports.  The fan got so excited he took his clothes off and ended up getting sent to jail.  He loves to use speech bubbles and have the characters saying silly things.  We tried to tell him what was appropriate for school and what wasn't.  Well, today he came home with a book titled, "The Tooting Man Named Goosey".  It had a classy picture of a man with a scent coming out of his bum.  The book was actually well written and was a nice story about a man who had no friends, but then fell in love and got married.  It was even "published" by his teacher.  However, once again I had to talk to him about not using potty talk at school.  He said, "Yeah, my teacher said I need to pick a more appropriate topic next time".  I will never understand the fascination of little boys and potty talk.  But, I am told big boys find it just as humorous.  Thank goodness his teacher is a Mom of 3 boys!

Friday night, we tried to go to a nice dinner as a family.  But, Evan had to run to the bathroom 3 times with diarrhea, so we had to eat quickly and get out of there quick.  We are very concerned that we can't figure out what is wrong with him.  I think we may call his doctor next week and see about seeing a specialist or maybe wait for the culture results.

First T-ball Game For The Season For Evan.

Friday, I stayed home with Evan again.  He is still battling some stomach issues.  I had to take him in for an abdominal X-ray which was thankfully fine and now we are working on getting some stool samples to get tested.

Saturday, we had to get up and moving quickly because Colin had an 8 am game (meaning he had to be there at 7:45am)  on the other side of our town.  The day was threatening rain, so I did not bring my camera and for some reason didn't think to take pictures with my phone.  Maybe it was because it was freezing.

It was so cold that Dennis spent the last half of the game in the car with Evan and Logan, who had had enough of the cold.  Colin's team won by A LOT.  I don't know the exact score because this league doesn't really keep score at this age.  I would guess it was 6 or 7 to 2.  If you ask Colin he will say it was 10 to 1.  Anyway, all that matters is they played great.  Colin played offense the entire game and when asked if he was tired and wanted to sit out he kept saying "No".  He scored one goal, but he set up many many more.  Him and a couple of the other boys were constantly talking to each other and planning out their next move, it was very cute.

We got home in time to change Evan in to his baseball clothes and then head to his first game.  I did think to take a few shots of him with my phone camera.  He played "pitcher" first.  Really, the coach pitches for his team, but that was where he stood.  The ball didn't come to him much this game, but he was ready....

I didn't get a good shot of him hitting the ball because he surprised us by hitting the ball the first time both the first two innings.  This was with the pitcher throwing the ball, he never needed the tee!!!  Dennis helped out as the third base coach, which made Evan very happy.

Saturday evening, Dennis and I went out on a date night.  We tried a new restaurant call Divvy, that was AMAZING, my favorite so far here.  And since it is 21 and over, we will have to wait until our next date to go to it again.  Since, our opportunities to go out alone are pretty rare, I guess I will have to wait and just dream about the awesome menu.

As if the night couldn't be better, when we got home the babysitter said our boys were fantastic!  She said once again that all the families she watches have only boys and our boys are by far the easiest and best behaved.  For example, she said when it is time for bed, they go straight to bed and don't try to say, "5 more minutes".

I know my kids aren't perfect, but this means so much to Dennis and I.  We feel like so many people give us looks because they don't know what it is like to have 3 boys.  Especially, people with one child.  They don't know how multiple kids feed off each other and can be loud and active.  It doesn't mean they are bad kids.  And, with 3 boys everything is amplified.  Many of our friends have only girls or one boy and one girl and they really don't know how boys are.  So, we feel like our kids are often judged because they are louder or more physical than others girls or their boy who has no brother.

For someone who has experience with multiple boys to tell us ours are well behaved means so much to us and helps to not pay attention to the opinions of those who aren't in the same boat as us.  Yes, my boys can be loud,  and yes they want to be physical when they play.  But, that is what boys (especially those that have brothers) do.  And as they get older and can play together more and more the noise level and activity level does increase.  But, they are good kids and they love each other and play nicely together, and that is really all that is important.  I have a feeling being judged is going to be big part of my life as a Mom of boys, and I won't lie having someone reinforce to me that they are good kids every once in a while does help me sleep a little easier.

Love My Sweet Evan.

Monday, Colin had another practice.  I met Dennis there after he worked and then took the little ones home for Dinner.  Dennis assisted the coach again and from what I hear got a pretty good workout scrimmaging with the kids.

"Coach" Dennis playing soccer with Colin's team.

Tuesday, I took the Evan and Logan to get some much need haircuts.  Logan was unsure about it again, but Evan very sweetly held his hand so he would be happy and talked to him.

Before Haircut...

After Haircut...

Evan is turning out to be a very sensitive kid, which is a great quality in many ways.  When I wasn't feeling good later that day, he cuddled next to me on the couch and hugged me and told me he would make me feel better and he would be nice to me from now on and never do anything bad.  He is very sweet a lot of the time.  Of course, being a four year old boy, he is still learning about self control and how to handle getting upset.  He does get sensitive about things and sometimes he doesn't know how to respond in the best way.  But, learning self control is all part of growing up for little boys.  Luckily, we always get glowing reports from his teachers, so if he is going to cry or get upset and throw something at least he does it at home.  He gets very sad when he gets upset or if he sees Dennis and I upset and always is quick to say he is sorry.  Luckily, most days he is very easy, independent and joyful.  I really love that boy, he has a big heart.

Spring Soccer 2012

Colin's Spring sports season has also started.  Friday, he had his first practice.  Dennis had to take him for me, since Evan stayed home sick.  He has been battling some stomach issues for a while now.  Anyway, Dennis got recruited by the coach to assist with practices, so I guess he will be going to more of them this season.

Saturday was Colin's first game (Evan doesn't start having games until next week).  Again, Dennis had to take Colin by himself.  I am told Colin did well, but thunderstorms began almost half way through the game so it had to end early.  Dennis and Colin got soaked, so I am glad I wasn't there with the little ones.

Sunday, we braved driving an hour to the outlets to do some shopping.  Clothes shopping with 3 little boys could have been a disaster, but it went surprisingly well considering.  We did have to make ALOT of trips to the potty.  At one point I was in the dressing room with Evan and a pile of clothes to try on and he announced he had to go "poops".  I told him you are going to have to wait a few minutes and he said, "Ok, I am going to go poops in my underwear in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1".  Of course, we quickly paid for our stuff and got to the potty only to have nothing come!  Dennis and I did a lot of divide and conquer, each taking 1 or 2 kids and going in to different shops, which worked out well.

T-ball Season Has Begun!

We have gone over 3 months without any kids sports, and I might be wrong but that is probably the longest stretch we have gone since Colin was 3 1/2.  So, we were all excited today to go watch Evan's first T-ball practice of the season.

Evan had so much fun and he did a great job listening to his coaches and performing all the drills.  I am glad that he has something going on right now that he seems to enjoy.  When Dennis told him he did a great job he said, "I know.".  His team is the Pirates and our neighbors, who are also his coaches, seem like they really know what they are doing, so it should be a fun season.

As for the rest of this week...  I took the little boys to the Children's Museum on Tuesday.  I love that with the yearly membership and bringing lunch, we can go whenever we want and spend nothing.  They had a lot of fun and both took great naps when we got home.

Wednesday, when I picked Evan up from preschool they had a bin of graduation hats and gowns pulled out.  I can't believe Evan graduates from preschool in a month!!!  His graduation is going to be at one of the high schools and he said they started practicing songs for it.  That should be a cute day.

The basement should be done today with the exception of one mural we are having painted.  He did most of it, but has a few more hours of work to finish up early next week.  The boys are loving playing down there.

Easter 2012

It's always a little sad for me when a holiday comes around and I'm not around my family back in VA.  I was a bit sad that my boys would miss out on going to my parents house for the annual Easter egg hunt with all their cousins and my cousins and their kids.  I am used to big, chaotic holidays and I want my boys to have those experiences.  So, I was thrilled when I got a text last Thursday inviting us to a neighbors house for an Easter egg hunt.

Easter started out well.  Despite Colin waking up at 4:30, thinking it was 6:30, we still fell back asleep and got up in time to search for Easter baskets, get everyone showered and dressed and off to church in time for the 8:00 mass.  The boys love looking for their Easter baskets, and even Logan was excited this year.  Church went better than Dennis and I could have hoped for.  All 3 boys stayed in their seats pretty well (Logan of course bounced around a little, but for a just 2 year old he did well).

Colin requested another Egg Fight and since I was going to make Egg salad for lunch, it turned out perfect.  Evan opted to not participate.  At this stage in his life he is happier watching on the sidelines, rather than play and loose.  I don't think it is as much being competitive, as it is just not wanting to fail.  He is very hard on himself at times.

Anyway, after rest time we headed to our neighbors for some yummy treats and the egg hunt.  The funny thing is that Dennis and I had both given the boys a lecture before we went about not taking too much eggs and Colin said he would take 5 or so and then help the little ones.  Well, our neighbor had TONS of eggs, the boys were able to get a huge stash and even Logan was able to have a full basket.  The boys were awesome there.  There are a lot of little boys all the same ages in the neighborhood and often when they are all together, they can't keep from tackling and jumping on top of each other.  Well, we talked to the boys about not doing this and they listened and were great.  I was happy to see that a few times when boys were on the floor tackling, my boys were not involved.  Yeah, for the small victories in life!

We then got the call the Grandpa McLaughlin was at our house, so we walked back to meet him.  He stayed the night on his way back to Wisconsin from Virginia.  I made a great Easter dinner and we sat in the dining room to celebrate.  I figured since we have lived in the house for 7 months and haven't used our dining room yet, it was past time to break it in.  By the evening all the sweets and activity started to take a toll on the boys, and in usual fashion, when they are tired and overstimulated, they started to act out some.  But, there was an easy solution to that...we put them in bed a little early.

So, despite it being a quiet Easter, Easter 2012 turned out pretty perfect.

Getting Ready For Easter...

We had a good last couple of days.  Dennis and I have both been off for Colin's Spring Break.  The final inspection on the basement was done which allowed us to start bringing stuff back down in to the basement.  The basement is not completely done, they still have some staining to do on the bar and some touchups to take care of, but overall, we can start setting things up.

Friday our new couches came, so today Dennis was able to recruit a neighbor to help move the old couches down to the basement.

Today, Colin had a birthday party in the neighborhood, Dennis did some yard work and I spent the day making a couple batches of lasagna.  All 3 kids took long naps today and then after a little outside time and dinner we dyed Easter eggs.  It must have been a long day because Logan asked to go to sleep at 7.  We are all looking forward to Easter tomorrow.

Spring Break Continued...

Monday most of the family was working so my parents who were home made the wonderful offer to watch the kids so Dennis and I could go on a date.  We don't get to get out much just the two of us so we jump on the opportunity whenever it occurs.  We had a great lunch and went to see the movie, The Hunger games.  I have read the books, so I was really looking forward to it.  Dennis, despite not reading the books, enjoyed the movie just as much.

Monday night we took my parents out to dinner.  I LOVE a restaurant in Roslyn called "Cafe Asia".  It has many of our favorite foods from Singapore.  Usually we don't have time when we are home to go there, so I was very excited to get to go.  The boys were a little crazy at dinner as evidenced by about 10 chopsticks on the floor when we were ready to leave.  They also aren't huge Asian food fans.  Colin ate up the dumpling appetizer and Evan was the only one to like the Satay dinner.  But, I was thrilled to get to go anyway.

Tuesday, we met up with Grandpa McLaughlin and Miranda, who he was babysitting, at the Reston Zoo.  They had a wonderful wagon ride where you get to see the animals up real close.  It was very neat.  The boys loved it, except for Logan.  He was terrified!  Colin and Evan had a blast feeding the animals, they have become much more comfortable with this as they have gotten older.

Tuesday night we brought dinner over to Dennis' cousin Shane's house.  I was so excited to see him and Lisa's twin baby girls.  They were adorable!

Tuesday night we packed up and then played another round of Catan (board game) with my parents.  It was a great way to end our stay in VA.  We packed up and boarded a plane the next morning.  Overall, it was a great trip.  We were able to do everything we wanted to do and see a lot of people.