Soccer!

Soccer has been a fun event for our family this Spring. Some other Austin Classical Families have been involved with Lone Star Soccer Club so we decided to join up this semester. It has been great. The best part is seeing good friends on Saturday morning and having help with carpool. Another bonus is that Alivia and Will practice on the same day and time. And all the kids play on Saturday within an hour of one another. Even John gets to participate in Soccer Shots on Saturday while Sister and Brother are playing. Lone Star uses the "new ball method" which means that anytime a ball goes out the coaches simply throw another ball in so the kids have the most time playing the game. This is Alivia and Will's first real exposure to a team sport and they have both done well. Alivia and her BFF Anna are the only girls on the team. I am not sure soccer will be a lifetime sport for either of them but it has been a good introduction.

Team England - Will, Morgan, Bailey and Mia

Alivia and her BFF Anna

Team Ireland (and the only girls on the team!)

Off week for sister - doing crafts on the sideline :-)

Mom's Hip Surgery

Mom had her right hip replacement surgery on Tuesday March 11th. It is so hard to see my parents getting older. Dad had hernia surgery about 2 weeks ago! She is recovering well and we continue to pray against infection. I am amazed at how quickly they get patients up out of bed. Literally 8 hours after surgery she had gotten up to go to the bathroom. We are hoping that she will be able to go home tomorrow. It is about a 6 week recovery time.

First PT session the DAY OF SURGERY! Crazy.

The People I Love Most

Matt saw the lighting was pretty the other day so he had all the kids sit in John's rocking chair and shot away. I just love these shots. I just love these people. I am so blessed.

John will turn 4 next month!

Will is 6 years old

Matt was shocked by how grey his hair looked here - it IS getting grey but the light really accentuates it - he's still as handsome as ever!

Baby Matthew turned 2 last month

Alivia is 8 years old

BATHTIME!

Matt usually bathes the boys alone in the bath, but every now and then Alivia still jumps in with them. It gets really crowded but they were having a blast the other night together. Not sure how much longer we will be able to have them all 4 in the tub together. . .

Girls' Weekend

My girls from the neighborhood and I snuck away for a weekend away at our lake house. It was a great way to relax and reconnect with good friends. We shopped in Marble Falls, had pie at Bluebonnet Cafe and played games and talked. We hope to make it an annual tradition.

Kim, Amber-Rose, Christy and Sara

Valentine's Day 2014

We had our annual Valentine's Day at Peyton and Emily's house. On the menu was pasta and salad with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Matthew got tubes!

Matthew has been slow to talk. It just seems like he does not form the sounds as well as he should at this point (2 years old). I finally decided to have his hearing checked and wouldn't you know his hearing has been affected by constant ear infections. Despite several doses of antibiotics this winter, he never has cleared the infections. Dr. Zapata had a hearing evaluation performed, and yep, his hearing is not where it should be. Poor guy. We saw Dr. Dawson soon afterwards and he felt like his infections were so severe that we should try to move up the surgery (as we started ANOTHER round of antibiotics!) Thankfully I was able to move it up a few days. The surgery went perfectly and I am so thankful we live in the US with advanced medical care. The surgery literally took 10 minutes. He was a charmer to all the nurses the whole time.

Here we are in the waiting room before surgery - we were the only ones there and he was running around like a wild man!