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...