End of Soccer

It's the end at least for this season. The boys each had their last soccer game of the season this past Saturday. They played 8 games last fall and 8 games this spring. Here are some photos from the last games.

Both boys were on such great teams - encouraging, supportive coaches and great kids. They both have made real friendships with kids we want to stay in touch with.

It was the first team sports experience for the boys. B was on some preschool teams when he was really young, but that wasn't the same. They really picked up the game quickly and gave the sport their full energy. Well, most of the time. ;)

It's been so fun to watch them gain confidence and improve their skills.

We're in the process of debating whether or not to sign up for soccer again next year. I think both boys are a bit apprehensive because they loved their teams so much. They aren't sure if they want to play with different kids next year. But, there is one firm decision about next year...the little sister who couldn't play this year is so excited about being on a soccer team next year! She did not like watching from the sidelines. She wanted to be in the game!

(If you click on the picture, you can see C up in a tree on the left side of the photo. You can tell he's really paying attention to his brother's game. LOL)

Classic Cars (a.k.a. My Husband Drooling)

Today, after our last soccer games of the season, we had a fun outing as a family. At a local park today, there was a classic car show. And it was free!!! Yay! We had so much fun looking at all the cool vintage cars and trucks.

 
Here's my daughter's favorite. Bet you can't guess why?!

Doesn't C look like he's discussing the merits of this particular engine. Notice the hand in the pocket? I kept saying over and over that we can't touch the cars. So, he just stuck his hands in his pockets and kept them there the whole time. It was pretty cute.

Flames were definitely the best paint jobs in the boys' opinions...well, kids' opinions really. The baby sister likes to be cool like her big brothers. ;)

And here's why my husband was drooling so much. He bought this 1961 Chevy truck last fall hoping he could fix it up, get it running and looking pretty. It's in our garage right now. I think he's hoping to have his truck parked out there next to all the others some day.

Our Babies

Ok, so not really our babies...but we really do get kind of protective of the little house finches that make their home here. There were 4 babies this time and they seemed to have very good parents. ;) We just love watching the little birds. It's so neat to see the parents making the nest and guarding it from other birds, then watching over the eggs and finally feeding their hungry little ones until they are ready to head out on their own. All four left the nest today. We're going to miss the excited chirping of baby birds getting fed. Last year we had another family move in a little later in spring. We'll have to watch and see if that happens this year too. 

Hanging Out

I just love this picture that I took a couple of weeks ago. Brother and sister hanging out in the little tree in our backyard. C even has a green smoothie moustache leftover from lunch. That tree now has leaves. And our little house finches that make their home in our patio roof have had their babies. We have two robins visiting our little patch of lawn every day and a few new birds we haven't seen before this year. I love spring!

Couple of Projects

I haven't done much in the way of craft projects lately. But, here are a couple of projects that I worked on last month. Now that my computer is back and working better than ever (Yay!!), I wanted to post some pictures.

These little bags were a super quick last-minute idea. And by super quick, I mean that an hour before a joint first birthday party for three cute 1 year olds, I decided to throw them together. I found the material on the clearance rack at JoAnn's awhile ago. I bought it not having any ideas on how to use it. I cut out 7"x7" squares (roughly) and sewed the outsides together. Then using the star material, sewed the linings together. Put the insides and outsides together, added some ribbon for a handle and had three cute little bags. I even had time to run by Borders for three little farm animal board books to throw in the bags. They definitely weren't perfect, but came out pretty cute for a last-minute idea.

I knit these two baby hats for my friend Cindy who is a photographer. She's been trying to boost her newborn photo sessions and wanted some hats in her kit. (By the way, she's still looking for newborns to photograph and will give anyone with a newborn an incredible deal!!) Both hats were inspired by the book Baby Beanies by Amanda Keeys. The little white hat is knit from some inexpensive acrylic yarn. The striped hat is done with Lamb's Pride worsted wool yarn. Instead of following the stripe pattern in the book, I used this stripe generator to make the pattern. That tool was so helpful! You'd think that making random stripes would be really easy. But, it was so nice to look at the different patterns to see whether I would like it or not before starting. 

It's raining here in New Mexico, so I think I'll make myself another cup of tea. Today would be a great day to knit. Hmmm, maybe I should start a new project.

Slugs on Mars

Since October, my kids have gotten together with a group of homeschool kids once a week to create and rehearse their very own opera. It's a program sponsored by the Santa Fe Opera. They match up a group of kids with two artists-in-residence to create an original work. Here's a press release about the 2009 student produced operas. We were so privileged to be a part of the program this year. Our artists-in-residence were incredible! The husband/wife team that led our group really brought out the best in all our kids!

The theme for this year was "life by the river." All the groups were to start with that theme for inspiration and then create their own story. I believe that all of the other groups were based in schools. We were really lucky to have a group for homeschoolers so close. The kids, through brainstorming exercises ended up with Slugs on Mars. (Yes, all of our kids have great imaginations!)

Here's the basic storyline. Slugs and snakes are happily living by a lake looking for food. (My youngest was one of the snakes. Isn't she cute!!) Aliens swoop down from Mars and suck them into their spaceship. Once back on Mars, the Aliens suck the slime out of them for slug and snake shakes and have a big party. The poor slugs and snakes cry for help. Many of the aliens feel badly for what they have done and seek the help of Mr. Sand.

B was Mr. Sand. The aliens ask him a bunch of questions like "Do you have purple underwear?" That one got quite a laugh from the audience. Then they ask if he can help. He gives them magic water that creates a river to heal the snakes and slugs and take them back to Earth.

Once back on Earth, the slugs and snakes think they're safe. But, the aliens come back looking for them. The aliens can't find the slugs and snakes so they go to Mr. Sand to ask him. Mr. Sand won't talk, so they say "You're fired!" Mr. Sand says "Maybe." And the slugs and snakes peek out from their hiding place and sing, "Maybe not today!!!!" The End!

They did such an incredible job! At the very last moment, my daughter decided she couldn't go on stage. The performance was held in a really large performance hall. It probably sat a couple of hundred?? There were three groups performing their operas on the same night, so it was really full, too. I ran her back to our seats. Once we were seated and the show was about to begin, she started wailing that she wanted to be with her brother. She wanted to be in the show. So, I jumped up and ran her back just in time for her entrance. Once she was on stage, she did great! C chose to sit this activity out. He felt like he would be best suited for the audience. ;) And he was a great supporter. He knew all the songs, but performing just wasn't his idea of a good time. In addition to being Mr. Sand, B also got to add to the music with some sound effects before his part on stage. He worked something that made a ratchet sound effect and something that made a great alien "wocka wocka" sound. It was such a wonderful night and great experience. I love that they saw the creative process through from the very beginning to the end. On the ride home, B was already asking if we can do it again next year!