It was an exciting day today...Evah's very first soccer game on her team "Killer Kleatz". The coach delivered her jersey just the night before and to mommy's surprise, she's #1. This was the same number I had on my soccer jersey playing varsity for L.D. Bell. It's funny that Evah got the same number and it wasn't even requested. We were the first to the field, so to kill some time, I led her in a few stretches. Soon, it was time for the coin toss and Evah was appointed team captain. She gathered midfield with the other team captain and the referee. She let him know which goal we wanted.
Right before the game, Coach D, gathered the girls from some pregame reminders and pep talking. Then it was game time! They play 3 on 3 for 4, 8-min quarters. Evah was the first to score a goal and did so 2 more times. She came very close to scoring a few other times, but it just didn't work out. She definitely has some skillz, plenty of energy, and drive. Finally...something she can pour all her energy int, be a little aggressive, and still come out a winner!!! Thank you Lord!! Below you can see her in action...videos of her scoring her very first goal, just playing, and then scoring a second goal. This is going to be a fun journey for her, and us, this season.
09/11/2010
11/15/2009
Summing Up Summer
We had a busy summer as usual, everything we did was close to home. The farthest we traveled was Austin.
We had a memorial time at the Ft. Worth Zoo. We discovered an entire section that we somehow missed last year and it turned out to be our favorite part. It was about the different habitats in Texas and the various species that inhabit them. We got to see a live alligator and shark feeding. That was interesting. For the first time, we also heard a vocal Lion...it was unbelievable at how loud it was and from so far away!
We also went to a Rangers game...met some of the family there. None of us had been to the new stadium (well it's not new anymore, but that's how long it had been since I've been to the Ranger Stadium...it was new to me). We asked our friend Monica, she's fairly new to America, to come along and Evah's pal Cody. It was a lot of firsts for Monica...baseball, nachos, hotdog, etc. Too bad a huge storm rolled in around the 5th inning. Evah and I were getting kind of scared and it was going to pour, so we left early, but not early enough to miss driving all-the-way home in the down pour. I think we'll just stick local next time...the Rough Riders are just fine for us.
Austin, Tx....went there a time or two. My brother has a house there now. Madison moved in with Matt and is going to Texas State now. On one of our Austin trips we attended "Hippy Church". It was definitely a different environment for worshipping, but a one-of-a-kind place and the music was groovy to say the least. There's this famous-local taco joint called Maria's Tacos (she has a big statue of herself in the sky). They have inside and outside dining. It looked more like a hippy compound, but it was cool. The "service" was outside on the patio and included totally loud, rockin' Jesus music. People were dancin' on the make-shift dance floor, but most were just chillin' with some grub and enjoyin' the music. We suspect that Maria herself was sitting at the table behind us. They looked like "Peace lovers" and were making bracelets from rolled plant leaves (not marijuanna leaves...some type of long palm leaf). One lady came over and tied a bracelet on Evah's wrist, that's when we realized that it could have been Maria. She looked just like the statue above. Besides going to Hippy Church, we browsed through several thrift stores and took Evah to the Austin Children's Museum. That is one of the coolest places, even for adults. She made some spin art and I sewed a couple smalll drawstring bags. We had a lot of fun...Austin is a cool place!
July 13th...Gabe turned 33...so we celebrate with a trip to Hawaiian Falls...fun, fun, fun!!! Evah hadn't been to a water park like this before. The closest to a water park she'd been to is the Old Settler's Swimming Pool, not even close. She was quite intimidated at first of the slides, even the ones made just for kiddos, but after much coaching, she finally gave it a try and liked it. She was a big fan of the lazy river, as were Gabe and I... the only way to enjoy the scorching hot Texas sun. That day turned out to be the hottest day of summer thus far...104 degrees!!! Evah's favorite feat was venturing across the floating "logs". It was quite difficult for her, being so short and all, but she was determined and gave even some older kids a run for their money. She ended up crossing over about 4 or 5 times. We'll definitely go again next year!
The garden continued to grow. It wasn't the best year for our garden. The best crop produced were cucumbers, but things did continue to grow and we'd eat what we could. Here's a video of me pulling up a potato plant from a potato that I just stuck out there to see what would happen...baby potatoes!!
So that pretty much sums up our summer. Just because there's not much money in the bank, doesn't mean summer can't be fun. A while summer has lots of spare time, I'm ready for some routine...Bring on School!!!
06/23/2009
Snowcone Smiles and Softball
Gabe joined a Softball team along with a couple of friends. Monday was the first game and team First Baptist Melissa (that's us) was victorious! The final score was 6-8. Gabe hit a homerun and was quite proud of himself. Evah hung out between the playground and the bleachers with friends Hannah, Leila, and Carley. Gabe's homerun wasn't the only "big hit", the snowcones were a close second.
What a Year will Do!
It was this time last year that Evah tried so hard to ride her "Pee-Wee" bike. She got the bike for her 2nd birthday, but could barely reach the pedals. By June last year, she'd grown enough to reach the pedals but just wasn't coordinated enough to use the pedals, well...Look At Her Now...one year later!!
06/18/2009
Swim Class
Today was Evah's last lesson. Since she became such a fish out of water last year, I decided there's no need to do the mommy-and-me classes this time around. It was just the her and the instructors this year and she did great.
Splashing some Color
For those of you who know me, it's amazing that it's been almost a year that we've
Growing Goodness
My long desire to have a small backyard garden is now a reality thanks to my husband who worked so hard to build a dog barrier and till through the deeply rooted grass.
It was ready for planting a few months ago, so Evah and I browsed the multitude of seeds at Walmart and Lowe's. We also got a some already potted plants so we could look out and actually see something growing, even it all the seeds didn't take. We planted carrots, lettuce, green beans, peas, jalapenos, hot chili peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, eggplant, yellow bell pepper, okra, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, grapes, onions, garlic, broccoli, a strawberry plant, and a plum and organge tree. Not to forget herbs: mint, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, basil. The ones that haven't done too well are the lettuce and carrots. The grapes and plum tree won't have fruit for another year or so. Everything else is moving along. The first produce we got to pick were a few strawberries. Not long after, we picked jalapenos, green beans, peas. The cucumbers have really taken off lately and the watermelon and pumpkin plants have just recently bloomed so fruit is on the way. Our garden won't supply us with all the fruit and veggies we need, but it sure is fun growing it all. I don't think Evah appreciates what an amazing event God created when he created seeds. It still amazes me at how so much can come from so little. You should ponder it sometime...truly amazing that God of ours.
School's Out...Summer's In
Summer started with us traveling to Austin to attend my brother's graduation from Texas State (San Marcos). We stayed for 5 days this time, unlike the usual 2 days we usually spend. There was lots of time for lots of fun. Uncle Matt Graduated---YEEHHAAWWWW! The Walden's threw him an awesome party afterward. We opted not to go to Sea World as there was only one day that we were available to go and it was going to possibly rain. We'll do Sea World next time, although Evah thinks she did go to Sea World since Baba Louie convinced her that we are "Seeing the World". "Seeing the World" was cheaper so complaints there. Baba Louie and Evah spent time in the hotel room constructing random objects from Wikki Sticks. He created a great looking bicycle.
We took Evah for a play date at Chuck E. Cheese.
She wasn't scared of Chuck E. this time and had so much fun trying to beat Grandma at air hockey. All us big kids and Evah spent a day at Austin's Park. It was an amusement place with gokarts, bumper boats, video games galore, and lazer tag. Evah got to battle with us and get this...SHE SCORED BETTER THAN EVEN I DID IN LASER TAG!!...that's completely pathetic on my part! I scored the worst...:( Playing laser tag was the coolest. The lighting made Evah's eyes and teeth really play against her darker skin making her appear incredibly spooking looking. You almost couldn't look at her she looked so scarey.
A really cool place that we went was the Austin Children's Museum. It was completely hands-on stuff, mostly individual play centers. Evah pretended she was a bus driver, chef, vet, grocer, and train conductor. She and I attempted to chain a tire. This was my first tire change and I didn't do so well, I guess I should see about getting a Triple AAA card (watch the video and I'm sure you'll agree).
The newest exhibit there was a small hispanic community where the kids could pretend to make tamales, cook carne on the grill, and of course play some musica. Gabe took the gutiar and Evah gave the drums a go. I particularly like Gabe's hat...he fits in so well!
Once the rain on Saturday blew over, the rest of the time was summery and hot. We stopped off at a nearby park to kill some time in between activities. Evah attempted to fly the souvenier kite from the museum but the wind wasn't gusty enough. It was more frustrating than fun; however, she did manage to have some fun passing the Robie with Uncle Matt. Check out their skillz on the video clip.
Lastly, we'd heard so much about the bats of the Congress Street Bridge but never got the chance to see them. This time around we did. It was pretty amazing to see literally millions of bats fly out from underneath the very place we were standing. There were so many of them that they looked like montrous swarms of bees (as seen in movies) flying in the distance of the city skyline. I couldn't resist capturing Evah's "plumber butt" as she sat a top Gabe's shoulders for a better look. As the sun came to rest on the horizon, so did our Austin trip and it was time to return home as morning came.
03/29/2009
It's a Blue's Clues Day...Birthday!!
Evah's 3rd birthday was yesterday, but the official celebration was today, March 28th. We woke up to a few snow flurries...yes snow flurries in Spring...that's north Texas weather at it's finest!! Needless to say, our plan of having it at the house and utilizing the backyard flopped...not the party at the house part, just the whole spreading into the backyard part. So the 23 children and all the adults got real coozy in the house. Thank you God, that we have so much more room now, for it would have been impossible at our old house!! There were just about 50 people altogether at this Blue's Clues themed birthday party. We "made do" and made the best of it. We started by welcoming the guests and allowing the kids to color a page, do a puzzle, or watch the Blue's Clues movie. After a quick prayer, everyone indulged into the gourmet food...hotdogs, blue mac-n-cheese, blue tortilla chips/salsa, blue candied popcorn, and fresh fruit with blueberries of course.
Gabe did an excellent job at grilling the dogs to perfection!! Next we played some games: pin the party hat on Blue, musical paws, shovel/pail relay.
The kids also spotted Blue's 3 clues hidden around the house that we recorded in the Handy-Dandy Notebook. Evah figured out that the clues led to hitting the Pinata. Time for dessert! Blue's Clues cupcakes, complete with even the dangling tongue.
What's even funnier, is that Evah knew the tongues were just tiny pieces of fruit roll-ups (which she loves), so at some point she decided to secretly pull off the tongues of many cupcakes and eat them all gone. She confessed to eating them after I confusingly commented that some didn't have tongues.
She had some difficulty blowing the candles out since a couple of the candles reignited themselves. They were supposed to be "sparkler" candles, but were more tricky than anything.
Finally, she sat down with Dad and opened gifts...and boy oh boy, were there lots of gifts to be opened. I was feeling very fortunate that Gabe accepted the duty of helping with the gift opening this year, for it went on, and on, and on, and on. She got really cool stuff: 3 games, playdoh, cute clothes, dress-up stuff, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, dolls, stuffed animals, Barbies, gardening tools, books, movies...It was Christmas all over again!! God is so great! Before the party, I was all wrapped up in how 50 people were going to comfortably fit in our house and there was no need to fret, for everything turned out great! On this gloomy, cold, dismal day we gave 23 kids, including our own, a happy, fun, time. In reflection, I will be giving serious thought to Gabe's comment after the party, "Next year, let's just go somewhere and pay someone". We'll see.
02/19/2009
Teeth Cleaning and Check-up
This is actually Evah's second time at the dentist office for a routine cleaning. She first got her teeth cleaned over the summer when she had just turned two. The hygentist was astounished at what a great patient she was on her first visit and was still talking about it at this visit.
