Soccer

Nicole and Hannah both get to participate on their first ever sports team...Soccer!  Although this is not the sport of choice for Jeremy or I, it is convenient and rather inexpensive, so we gave in and signed them up. 

Their first practice was last week.  Hannah is on a team for 3 & 4 year olds, and Nicole is on a team for 5&6 year olds.  It's amazing the difference between the two teams.

Hannah's team had at least one (but usually two or three) children crying at any given time (it was never Hannah though!).  The kids looks like a swarm of birds all following whoever was in front at any given moment.  However - Hannah scored a goal! YAY!!!!  She ran with her tongue hanging out the entire time and a huge smile on her face.  She was very excited and had a lot of fun!

Hannah getting ready to kick the ball (all of Hannah's pictures are on Jeremy's phone)

Nicole's team (no one cried), was more competitive.  She got the best coach for her (besides her daddy)...a father who had been preparing for this day since his oldest child was born (this was quite obvious).  Nicole's coach came out and did running and dribbling drills and really practiced the kids hard (I didn't see any other teams do that).  They played a scrimmage game where the kids still looked like a flock of birds headed no where, except for this one boy.  There is a super star on Nicole's team - we'll have to get his name.  This kid would explode from inside the "flock" with the ball at his feet and score a goal almost every time.  Nicole tried to stay out of the "flock" and wait for a ball to get kicked near here, when she would then study the ball and prepare a big windup of a kick, just for the superstar to come steal her glory....well, sort of.  I think she got a few good kicks in there, but aggression is certainly something we need to work on.  She is such a sweet young girl, that I think she was more concerned about others getting a turn than scoring a goal herself.

Nicole learning to dribble

Oh, by the way...Nicole has the BEST Assistant Coach Ever! Daddy of course!  Jeremy was asked to lead the stretching routine, which he quickly answered "sign me up".We may not know much about soccer, but we know how to stretch :)

Nicole dribbling the ball

Below are a few videos taken from my phone - these videos are usually less than 30 seconds each. (again...Hannah's videos are on Jeremy's phone). 

In this video, Nicole got a nice little kick in (then the ball go between her legs)

This video starts with Nicole pulling her pant legs up.  She had just got hit in the shins and was excited that it didn't hurt because of her shin guards, so she wanted everyone to see them...then, she changed her mind :)

OK, this time, Nicole got to kick the ball into play....then watch what happens:)

This is Jeremy's favorite.  It's the end of the game and they are clapping each other's hands...then, at the end, the coach has them huddle up and yell "Blue Bombers!"

The Howell Wedding

Last weekend, we had the honor of being involved in the marriage celebrations of one of Jeremy's good friends - Aaron and his new wife, Samantha.  Aaron has been a part of our lives for many years, and through that time, we have gotten to know Samantha as well.

The Howell wedding party

Well, they finally got hitched! :)  Jeremy was a groomsman, and Hannah was a flower girl. 

Jeremy is pretty much a pro at being a groomsman.  I believe he has been in at least 6 weddings.  He is pretty good at escorting mother of the brides and grandmas and bridesmaids down the aisle. 

After the ceremony, Jeremy came back down the aisle to get the bride's mother and the grooms grandmother.  Hannah was upset he didn't also come and get her and walk her down the aisle.  Oh boy....I'm not ready for him to walk Hanney down the aisle!

But, this was Hannah's very first time being a flower girl.  She has been so excited.  Since Nicole had prior experience at Justin and Erica's wedding, she has been helping Hannah practice for a week (complete with a basket and fake flowers).

I SOOOOO wish this wasn't blury!  Precious, precious, precious!

Let me just say that Hannah did amazing!  She was a precious, adorable, you just "want to eat her up" kind of flower girl.  She was slow enough to drop her petals, and fast enough to not bore everyone.  She did a perfect job!  Hopefully, this video works of Hannah's walk down the wedding aisle

Getting ready for her big walk!

She smiled (or at least had a sweet face) through numerous pictures and danced the night away.  She lived in the moment at this wedding and had a total blast doing so.

She was SO excited after the ceremony.  You would have thought She was the bride (but she wasn't!)

I only have a few pictures from my phone, but I should be getting some really good photos from Samantha's camera in a few weeks (I guess I'll let them honeymoon first...although I really want to see the pictures! haha)




Jeremy and Hannah and the groom, Aaron with his sweet daughter Alex

 Both girls got to ride with us in the limousine (although Nicole calls it the "museum")  They had a blast!

Oh, we are BIG time...in the limo! (Actually, we did see someone in another car take a picture of our limo, haha)

Nicole stood up most of the time she didn't have a car seat, haha

Hannah got to participate in rehearsal the night before.  We got some sweet pictures with her.

Aaron and Hannah at rehearsal

I LOVE these picture!

Love, Love, Love!

I don't often get a picture with my little sweetie all by herself.



My Favorite Words

From Hannah (who can not say the "sss" sound at the beginning of words)

Farkely (instead of sparkely)
Sebeegebee (instead of spaghetti)

From Nathan
Doe-doe (instead of donut)

So - How am I? Really??

A few people have asked me that question over the past week or so...."So Michele....How are you?  Really???"

Really???  I'm doing great. 

I really love it up here.
I really love the amount of reduced stress our family is under.
I really love spending so much time with my children.
I really love our free schedules.
I really love our new home.
I really love our new neighborhood.

(OK, right now, I don't really like that it's 5:30am and Nathan is up for the day)

I really love having a homeschool room and using it every day.
I really love our backyard and our beautiful view.
I really love that my husbands likes his job.

(OK, I really don't love his long commute...but this will change, hopefully sooner than later, for his sake!)

Really...I'm doing well...really :)

I think people are expecting me to have a nervous break down after moving from everything I've ever known.  I'm not denying that this may happen...but right now, there are no signs of it.

I think I am still coming down off the stress and chaos of last year.  I am so content to wake up and spend time with my children all day (until about 3:30 when I run out of ideas for things to do :)  I thought I would be going crazy at this point because I am used to having sweet grandma's around to give me breaks, let me  run to the store alone, play with my kids while I clean...you know, things like that.  I will be honest...I miss them (the grandmas) and there are days that I am waiting for Jeremy to get home because I'm about to loose it...but then, he gets home and everything seems ok again.  I do miss my mom and Valerie...but not for the reasons I thought I would miss them.  I miss just seeing them and spending time with them as we run errands.  I don't miss them because of the work they did for me...I miss them because of what they mean to me.  Examples of moms who gave their all to their children (and made it through this early childhood stage :)  I miss their conversations (but we still have the phone and email and facebook).  I know my kids miss them like crazy!

Nicole told me last night that I need to make some friends.  Maybe SHE is the one who will have a nervous breakdown, with a mommy who is always around her, hahaha.  Although it's true...I haven't made one real friend yet, I know that will come.  And, it doesn't bother me to much (yet anyway).  I have a few friends who have kept in really good contact with me, and for them, I am grateful! 

We just went to church last week for the first time, so I am hoping as the weeks go by that I will make friends there.  I don't know...it's weird.  I'm just not that worried about it. 

I honestly feel so content to just hang out at home and spend time playing and learning with my kids.  Really.

I love living up here.  So, how am I?  Really...I'm doing very well :) 

 Really.

Hannah - The Amazing three year old biker

This was a big weekend for little Miss Hannah.  She learned how to ride a bike all by herself!  Yay!!!  The excitement and pride in her eyes was unmistakable.  She is so psyched up that she can ride her bike.  She rode around...and around...and around...and around...and around...and around our cul-de-sac this weekend.  She rode through the grass and over the bumps, in the water and around and around and around and around.  She loved every minute of it!

Yesterday, I even took the girls on a two mile bike ride!  TWO MILES (or thereabouts) She did not complain or whine or anything.  She was wiped out when she got home...but very excited over her accomplishment. 

She can not start on her own (yet), but I don't mind giving her a little push.  I think being able to stop without falling is much more important than being able to start.  That will happen really soon.

I can't figure out how to get my videos from my phone onto my computer ....Jeremy???  Help please :)

It's Classical Conversations Time Again!

I feel like we have been here longer than 3 1/2 weeks...but that's all it's been.  We are fully unpacked and trying to settle into our new normal.  Finally, for the first time in months, I am able to fall into a better routine with our schooling.

We now have a "school room" to store everything in and hang out in all day, which makes it fun for me. We have two small white boards up, a cool rug mag of the USA and a perfect size table for the girls (now I need to build some perfect size chairs.  Maybe this weekend...)

Reading with bear.

We have joined a CC community here - so we are ready to go!

Our first week we talked about the 14th amendment, which coincided perfectly with Marin Luther King Jr. Day.  We talked a lot about slavery and the civil rights movement that followed.

Our science for this semester is chemistry, which is fun.  We get to do some fun experiments, and so far we have made molecules from colored marshmallows and toothpicks (anytime we can eat our demonstrations, the better!)

We also made an atom out of fuzzy balls and fuzzy sticks

Yesterday, Nicole free drew a map of the USA...we are going to label it later.

We have started an official math curriculum with Saxon Math 1 and Saxon Math K (for Hannah).  It's a little weird to follow a book closely.  Nicole's is way to easy for her right now. I skipped ahead a few weeks, and although it's still to easy, I can see that the curriculum is building a foundation for the more difficult ideas, so we are starting here.  Hannah is having fun using the little teddy bear manipulatives.

Oh...this is the BEST math game.  It's called Math Dice JR.  You roll the dice and have to add and subtract the colored dice to make it match the answer on the white dice.  Nicole came up with this all on her own.

The girls also get A LOT of play time in.  I would guess they get far more than their public or private school friends.  They always go outside and play in the evenings when the kids get home from school.  One of their favorite things to do is draw with chalk.

They also play pretend with their stuffed animals and toys.  This is our reading bear, having a bad day.  Apparently, he is throwing up in the garbage can ;)

Nate is having fun playing with trucks and balls and trains...and his basketball hoop in his bedroom that he got for Christmas from Uncle Justin and Aunt Erica :)

The other night, he hurt his cheek and eye.  The girls were wonderful big sisters and quickly got him some ice.  Isn't he sweet?

We are having fun and grateful that our family is together. 

Moving Day

Moving Day came with great excitement.  Each child got to ride in a big truck which made it all the more special.

Hannah got to ride with Uncle Chris...they talked all about Hannah's birthday
(Chris...if you don't come down for her birthday party, you will have one very disappointed neice to deal with!)

Nate got to ride with Daddy in one of the big moving trucks.  He said Varoom Varoom...and fell asleep a few minutes down the road ;)

Nicole go to ride with Gramps. Nicole so distracted Gramps (trying to get him to sing Mickey Mouse club house) that he made a wrong turn.  But, it's ok...he figured it out and made his way to the right house ;)

**Mommy rode all by herself, woohoo!!**

We had Greg, my brother-in-law Chris and our friends Aaron & Samantha help us move that Saturday.

Aaron and Sam were our first overnight guests, follow by my mom and dad the next night. My mom helped me unpack and organize the kid's clothes (thank you mom....they would probably still be in their boxes if you hadn't of helped)  My mom also played outside and met some of the neighborhood kids.

Nicole and Hannah played kickball with the neighborhood kids on their first day here.  The kids here are so sweet and welcoming to them.  I am more than grateful for that!

My dad helped Jeremy with a ginormous wasp nest (seriously....HUGE!) at the highest peak of our house.  And....most importantly (at least to me), he saved our house from a major sewage catastrophe!

Jeremy had to drive a borrowed truck back to its home...while he was gone, my dad heard the toilet bubbling and some yucky stuff came up through the sink.  He quickly began investigating and found that the our sewage drain by the street had begun to back up and overflow into the yard.  After more investigation and work, he found that there was a large stick in drain causing the backup and was able to remove it.  It's been find ever since.  Whew....if he happened to NOT be here....we would have had a scene from Meet the Parents on our hands, very very quickly.  Thankfully though, it was nothing serious, and a very easy and cheap fix :)

The next weekend, Greg and Valerie came up. Greg ran wires with Jeremy for a day and half and Valerie helped me decorate our living room and kitchen.  It was great fun.  I'm glad that each of our parents were able to come and visit so soon.

My living room!  We picked out the rug, picture, lamp, tree and pillows.  It's so nice and restful:)

Tonight we have our friends, The Hale's coming up for the weekend.  Nicole is busily making welcome bags for Peyton, Caulder and London:)  No work this weekend...just fun!

The Island of Pirates

After Christmas, when we owned our new home, but didn't have the time or man-power to move in yet, we were really in limbo (as far as where to live). We ended up staying with Jeremy where his new company was putting him up at...on a beach.  Score for us!

The view from our room was wonderful.  We had a big two bedroom room with a kitchen (Yay!)

Because of all the craziness in our lives the weeks before, I decided to take these few days and do only two things :1. Clean our new house, about an hour away and 2. Play with my kids.

Nathan...love this little boy!

Unfortunately, a cold front came through and we couldn't use the beach the way I originally planned.  However, I must say that I enjoyed the beach far more with pants and a sweater on than I ever did in a bathing suit.

They were so cold...but as soon as they saw how big the beach was...they took off running and screaming like wild children :)

The kids and I had a blast while Jeremy worked (sorry honey).  The beach was HUGE!  The biggest beach I had ever seen.  The wind was strong and very cold, but we enjoyed it (well, Nate cried quite a bit...but the girls loved it).

They dug holes

Nicole's lower body was completely covered

Played race with the waves (Hannah got so wet one day that her sweat pants kept falling down, haha)

The enjoyed the beauty of God's creation (so much so that I "caught" Nicole wandering off singing praises to God.  She told me that the beautiful sky and water just made her want to sing praises to the Lord!  What a pure child like faith and love for the Lord she has...I LOVE it!)

I love this picture

And this one too

I forget why, but one night Jeremy had to work really late. So...the kids and I put a pizza in the oven and ate cookies and watched a movie, after taking a sunset walk on the beach....it was perfect :)

Amazing sunset

Our final morning, we were even able to get out there before the sun found it's way out of the clouds.

Beautiful sunrise

This was an extremely peaceful few days that our whole family needed...it was great!  And, I would definitely want to vacation here again!

Saying Good bye

Our last few weeks living in Naples were filled with visiting friends and doing some of our favorite things :)

We had a fun play date afternoon with Ashlynd, Aleya and Cord (all basically the same ages as my three

Nicole and her buddy Ashlynd

Played a lot outside with Sydney, the little girl who lived across the street.

Nicole taught Sydney how to be a lizard catcher

Met Abigail and her mom (and brother) for lunch on an impromptu lunch at Chic-Fil-A

Went to Il Primo to make our own pizzas (this is the first place I plan on eating when I'm back in town...I don't know why, but I want me some Il Primo).

 (I thought I had pictures from this...I guess I didn't)

Went to "family night" at Chic-Fil-A to get the kids' face painted.

Hannah wanted a Christmas Tree

Nicole decided to get a balloon hat instead.

After that, we went downtown for the Christmas parade (my favorite parade of the year :)

And, I even got to go out for a "girl's night" with the other CC tutors from our Naples community.  I already miss them and the kids in my class. Our new CC class starts on Friday.  They have been extremely hospitable to our family by bringing us meals for the past 2 weeks.  I'm looking forward to getting to know them:)

My fellow CC tutors; Nicole, Sharon, Me, Gabriella, Michelle, Sarah, Jennifer

What Christmas is all about

I put this on Facebook on Christmas day...but I want it in our family history too.
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After church last night, Nicole was really quiet in the car. We asked if she was asleep. This is what she said.
"I'm just thinking about Jesus mommy. My head is full of thoughts about Him. I can't think of anything else! I'm thinking about how He created everything. And about how he came as a little baby and had to sleep in a manger full of hay, not even in a crib or a bed or anything.

And... I'm telling Him that I believe in Him and trust Him. And I know he died on the cross for me. And I love Him with all my heart.

My head is just full of thoughts about Jesus. I can't even think about anything else!

(momma was crying tears of joy at this point, that was the sweetest Christmas present anyone could have given)

Merry Christmas from the Rearden's!! May your thoughts be full of Jesus today!