Soccer is Back

After a long summer of practice in the basement the fall soccer season has started. Ryan's team is called the Crocodiles and Matthew's team is called the Laser Bolts.

For the first time we have moved Matthew and Ryan to the Northern Utah County Soccer league. Smaller fields for Ryan and no goalies for Matthew and Ryan!!

Ryan started up scoring goals just like last season. I think he scored four times but he keeps correcting me that he scored six times, which is possible...I wasn't counting.

Matthew #8 is playing well too. Just like our Wii soccer game Matthew is a five star player. In his first game he scored three goals.

In Matthews team we are working on passing the ball and playing defense. Both Matthew and Ryan had a lot of fun. Zach let us know that he scored two goals today (in the basement league) and had to dress up in one of Ryan's old soccer uniforms. Too much fun.

Zachary

Zachary has turned into a little boy from a toddler overnight. He definitely knows what he wants and will often find a way to get it, even if it means getting in the way of his older brothers. He knows exactly how to push their buttons and finds it fun to do it often. But he can also turn around and be the sweetest boy. He is very thoughtful and usually willing to share.

He wants to be a big boy, but is still unsure about the potty. He is afraid of getting his underwear wet. I think we're pretty close to trying again making it stick.

Zach is very imaginative. He is always going to the store, fighting bad guys, playing with his lego guys, etc. Behold, the Zach-o-saurus!

He Loves to play games even though he doesn't always understand the rules. His favorites right now are Sleeping Queens and Duck Duck Goose.

He is still attached to his blankets made by Grandma Tams. He must have them for sleeping and sometimes rolls them up and pretends they are his babies.

One day Zachary told Ryan to go to time out after a fight over a toy.

Ryan: You can't tell me what to do. You're not the mom.

Zach: No, I'm the Zachawee. (Zachary)

All his v's sound like b's: bolcano (volcano), fibe (five), Lub you (love you), shubble (shovel) etc.

He also says "My tie came unshoed" when he needs his shoes tied.

He loves the little girl across the street and can't wait to see her in nursery. He prays for her often.

We sure love this little/big guy. He brings so much more adventure to our family.

Ryan

Some fun things about Ryan:

-He loves to make people laugh. He is especially good at initiating tickle fights with Matthew and Zachary.

-He loves doughnuts.

-He likes writing his name and is learning how to read small words.

-He has to be active all the time. Even when he is sitting still you can see the wheels in his head moving around (usually planning some sort of mischief).

-He played soccer for the first time this Spring and was a little hesitant at first but he got over that very quickly and jumped in with all of his might. He scored a lot of goals and stood up to some pretty big kids. He loved playing with some of his friends in the neighborhood.

-Ryan is a good big brother. He especially loves helping Andrew. One day Andrew was fussing and Ryan came running over. "Don't worry Andrew," he said. "You don't have to cry. You don't have any sisters so you won't ever have to play with Barbies."

-He has a great imagination and is very good at making spaceships and space stations out of legos. Ryan is interested in weapons right now and can turn anything he finds into some sort of gun, true to typical little boy fashion.

-He can draw some pretty awesome pictures of battles, usually between Star Wars characters.

-He is a great singer. He loves to sing the Bumblebee song, 1-2 Buckle My Shoe, and The Oxcart Song.

I can't believe he is going to be five years old soon. He's such a fun boy and we love having him in our family.

Matthew

While I have been trying to catch up on Andrew I haven't posted much about the other kids. Here's an update on Boy#1.

Matthew loves to play games . Did I mention loves? He is a pro at Monopoly, Ticket to Ride, Sleeping Queens, Trouble, UNO, Phase 10, and anything else he can get his hands on. Once after lunch he asked me to play Ticket to Ride and I told him he had to wipe his face first. He let me know that wasn't in the instructions.

Learned to ride his bike without training wheels in April


Reads and reads and reads. His favorite books are Secrets of Droon, Magic Treehouse, and A to Z Mysteries. I think he has finished just about all of them. We are regulars at the library to say the least.

Loves the recently acquired Wii. He can figure out most of the games pretty quickly. It's kind of scary.

Likes all kinds of sports, with soccer still being a fave. He went to an RSL game with Kevin back in May and can recall every single detail of the best plays. He is now requesting to play baseball and basketball.

Great helper, especially with the younger boys. Always willing to hold Andrew, read to Zachary, or play with Ryan. What a special boy.

A couple of Faves

Some of my favorite pictures of little Andrew

I love Mommy

My Dad can fix anything


And I saved the best for last...

The Price of Pizza

We went to the park near our house a while ago. It has one of those systems where you can talk to someone from one side of the park to the other. Matthew and Ryan were taking turns ordering and making pizzas with the wood chips on the ground. I was helping Zachary climb onto a slide when I heard the following conversation.


Ryan: I want to order a pizza please.

Matthew: Okay. That will be two thousand dollars.

Ryan: Okay. I have that much. Thanks. Bye!



I thought it was great that not only did Matthew request such a large sum but that Ryan had just the right amount. Cute boys.

Sweet Andrew Pictures

Here are a lot of pictures from Andrew's first few weeks at home. We just couldn't get enough of him.

Snuggling with Mom

Matthew liked to hold him right before school


Ryan was always next

And of course Zachary needed in on the loves

Hanging out with Daddy

FYI

Just in case you were planning on fighting anything...

Ryan: Mom, robots are the easiest things to fight.

Mom: Oh, really?

Ryan: Yeah. All you need is a big sword or a gun to break them into pieces.

Mom: That's good to know.

Ryan: And skeletons. You can use a big sword to break them.

Jelly Beans

This happened back in March right after Andrew was born. I wanted to write it down so I wouldn't forget.

We had a package of Starburst jellybeans and Zach decided they were his new favorite treat. He asked for them often but was only allowed to have some every once in awhile. One night we had just finished dinner when Zachary did something to go to time out. I don't remember what it was, but I know that he was in trouble in his room. In the meantime, Ryan was crying a little because his legs were achy. Kevin offered him some jelly beans to "help." All of sudden we hear a wailing coming from Zachary's room. It was the end of his timeout anyway, so I went in to find out what was wrong and he informed me that his legs hurt too. Smart boy. I had to hide a smile when I asked him what we should do about it. He told me that he needed some jelly beans too. Kevin heard the conversation and told Zachary the only way he could get jelly beans was if he hopped from his bedroom to the kitchen. Zach and his "sore" legs jumped all the way there to get his jelly beans. As he was eating them I kept asking if his legs were feeling better and he continued to respond in the negative until they were all gone. I think he was afraid we would take them away if we thought they were working too soon. When he was finished he flashed a big smile and announced that he was all better.

Easter 2011

Heading Home

Here's a few pics from the hospital. I sure love this little boy!

His outfit said "Hoppy Little Guy". I love the cute froggie feet.

The boys were so excited to see him, but we got home late at night and I forgot to pull out the camera. It sure was nice to be home. Too bad Andrew didn't feel the same way. Not such a Hoppy Guy!

Baby Andrew

I knew I was far behind on the posting, but I didn't realize how much I need to catch up on until I started going through pictures the other night. It's been four months since our little Andrew was born and it feels like he has always been part of the family.

Here's a condensed version of the birth story. I went in for a doctor's appointment the day before my due date. They checked me out and of course nothing was happening any time soon. A few days later I got into that last minute cleaning mode - scrubbed the bathrooms, kitchen, vacuumed, etc. to get the house ready so it would be clean in case something actually decided to happen. Well, I guess that got things in motion. I was having some contractions here and there all day, but nothing too out of the ordinary. We put the kids to bed and I was lounging on my bed trying to rest after such a busy day. The real contractions started around 9:30 pm. I started timing them - too far apart at 10-15 minutes each. I have to admit at this point I was not very happy that we were going to have another all-nighter labor, so I thought I could hold them at bay and sleep until the early morning. Around 10:30 pm I told Kevin I was having contractions about 7 minutes apart (Nope, hadn't told him about the contractions yet. I figured what was the point unless it looked like we were in for the long haul.) We put the family on alert and sure enough the contractions continued to get closer together. We called Kevin's sister at 11:45 pm to come and watch the other boys while went to the hospital. The contractions slowed down a little in the car, but once I got out and started walking again they were back to normal, about 3-5 minutes apart. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 5! Hallelujah! This was around 1:30 am. Around 4:20 I started feeling pressure, so the doctor got all set up and in two pushes the little guy was out at 4:50 am. We were so excited to meet the newest little boy of the Tams family.

Baby Andrew

The oldest brother Matthew - Wasn't he just born yesterday?


Ryan was especially enchanted with his newest little bro


Zachary was not so sure

Mom and her boys

ALL of the boys. What a great looking crew!

Patterns

I told Ryan one morning it was time to make his bed. He didn't want to do it and kept insisting that I help. I told him he had done it by himself lots of times before and that he could do it again.

Ryan: Nuh-uh.

Mom: I know you can. You are a great bed-maker.

Ryan: But Mom, I need your help

Mom: I know you can do it by yourself.

Ryan: I did it by myself yesterday, but I need your help today.

Mom: Why is that?

Ryan: Because it goes in a pattern - Need help, don't need help, Need help, don't need help. See?