Interpretative Soccer

I promised pics, sorry the little man didn't stay still long enough for one, but here's video of the progress Conner's making at the Kings soccer clinic! Needless to say, we think it's the cutest thing ever especially after you watch Brienna's age group play later, lots of work to do!

The game "I eye captain!"

This next one clearly outlines Conner's honed skill at stopping the ball! Yep, the dive is being perfected, we'll work on this if we ever see grass again!

Another fun one where he's showing off his foot skills in addition to his enthusiasm for the game! He clearly is imagining that he's flying away on a space ship off to save the planet and not so much on the task at hand!!

We love you and are so proud of you Conner!!!!

Brienna's First Choir Concert

The Middle School West 5th & 6th Grade Choir Concert held March 15, 2011 lasted just under an hour, which was great because it also happened to be soccer night so after getting all dolled up for the concert, Brie had to rush home, eat a quick supper and head out for practice! Whew! Below is the Middle School West 5th grade choir (when combined with the Middle School East students I guess it's amazing... they do this for their spring concert)!

Brienna is second row, middle of the pack, of course right by Katelyn!

They sang three songs to start; This Ol'Man, My America, and Joshua. The 6th graders followed this with 3 songs of their own and ended the event with both grades singing We Are The Future of America (see clip of this one below), and Get on Board! The clip isn't complete because I reached my recording max towards the end but this was my favorite number. One last item to note, while I may be a bit prejudiced because we have a 5th grader but we couldn't believe how quietly the 6th grade group sang. They were a bigger group, so it was weird and many people had similar comments as we were leaving. Overall they did a great job and we enjoyed every bit of it!

We're proud of you peanut!!!!!

Conner's 1st Soccer Experience - Good or Bad????

We are really blessed to have such an amazing soccer program along with a semi-pro team that is willing to take time out to put on clinics for our youth. Last fall we signed up both kids for one that started last night & runs every Tuesday for 6 weeks. For Brienna, it's pretty intense and a great way to start the season with new drills, foot skills, and of course defensive maneuvers!

Conner's first experience with soccer didn't have such an auspicious start. He was thrilled to be getting a cool Kings t-shirt but that's where it ended. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in Mommy's lap and stay there. I tried all types of persuasion & nothing was working so when it appeared he'd be staying in my lap, Coach Roger blew his whistle and said "All mates to the middle!" He was up off my lap with his ball and ready to play! After 5 minutes I was laughing so hard my sides still hurt today, one of those moments you hate yourself for forgetting the video camera. Seeing all these little 5 & 6 year-old boys running after their soccer balls and having no other way to stop it but to either fall on it (Conner's method) or grabbing it with their hands, it was hysterical. They were a mess and yet coach had them performing drills after 15 minutes! They even scrimmaged for 25+ min's and at one point I watched Conner steal the ball from another boy and RUN WITH IT towards the goal! Yep, wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself! Afterwards I had a very proud little man come over and say "Mommy, I did a good job at soccer!" He's hooked and boy we can't wait to watch him!

Not to be outdone, little miss hesitant Brienna failed to show up last night and instead a ball hungry crazy little girl took her place, scoring 3 goals! She finished very sweaty, stinky, and with the most brilliant smile on her face! She just thrived in that setting and you'll never believe this but she didn't utter ONE sound or MOVE once in her sleep!!!!!

Photos and video will be a priority for next Tuesday's clinic!!!!

Just Dance II

The day didn't end there (see post below), once back at the house the kids insisted Nana & Papa join them in playing the Wii and Brie's favorite Just Dance II. As you can see it was Nana that was hooked first, she was able to outscore Brie on a couple numbers! That's not an easy task as Brie has grown into an expert at this game. It was lots of laughter, cheers, and hoots, very fun! At one point we did resort to extreme measures as Papa assisted in holding Brie still with a bear hug so that the rest of us could catch up!

Then it was Papa's turn, while Nana was still the points leader with Brie to follow, he definitely kept up, but even he was no threat to the Nana & Brie duo. It's fun to watch but it's not long before the beat finally gets to you & up off the couch you go! It looks way easier than it really is. Steve joined in on a couple numbers as well!



Couldn't have asked for a better day!

A day at the Science Museum.....

For Father's Day 2010 we blessed Papa with an adventure from the kids, a day at the Science Museum! Papa wanted to save this treat for a not so nice weather day and what could be more so than February in Minnesota. So off we all went for a day of fun, after commenting that I hadn't been there since our 6th grade field trip (old location), Papa said it had been just as long for him!

Pulling into the parking lot, looks like King Tut is here for a visit!

Nana, Papa, Brienna & Conner ready to make some awesome memories!

Wisely choosing to do the Omni Theatre towards the beginning of our day, we took in a nice little documentary titled "MUMMIES!" Yep, could have passed on that one, great historical perspective but my life would have been complete without knowing the lost art of preservation that the Pharaoh's happened to be treated too. Brie and I thought it was gross, Conner's reaction was that it was COOL! Yikes, and here I thought they'd be having nightmares for weeks!

A word to the wise, sit in the middle of the theatre or as close to it as possible. On the outside you're treated to the distracting distortions caused by the curvature of the screen, after a while you can't help but wonder why the Egyptians built everything with a severe curve in it....

The newest anchor to join the 10 o'clock news cast, have to say her little face each night would make me watch!

This is the traffic and weather segment, although if Brienna is anything like her Mommy, she most certainly should NOT try and give any kind of traffic report....

Inside the cabin of the Towboat...

Conner loved this exhibit, moving the blower back and forth and watching the ball follow in amazement!

Looking out at Harriet Island.

For lunch we ate at the cafe which had what looked like huge xylophones strung up all the way to the ceiling, Conner and I stared at them and listened to the beautiful music they made, ting, tink, plink.... Later we learned that they were hypersensitive seismic readers that picked up even the slightest of continental platelet movements, earth quakes, and so on from all over the world. Cool but yet eerie as well!

Nana & Papa listening to a recording describing a dinosaur that I can only recall as a "long neck" yep, watched way too many cartoons, I'll bet one of our nephews will know it right away, Seth, Dain, help!!!

Our puzzle expert putting together a prehistoric one, not real of course but cool and kind of creepy all at once. This part of the museum also hosted an area that was darker, had fake river full of crocodile or alligator statues, fake trees overhead, a slight breeze blew through accompanied by jungle type sounds/whispers. Walking through this with Brienna, "Mom, I would NOT want to be standing here when this exhibit comes to life!" Can you tell we've watch both night's at the museum/Smithsonian more than once!

Our perpetual climber inside what is supposed to represent the size of a dinosaur's stomach! As big as these beasts were, the size of their brains are infinitesimal!

Leave it to Conner to find toys to play with, the gigantic bone structures of dinosaurs didn't hold his attention as long as these miniature versions did.

Looking at a HUGE slab jam packed with crustacean fossils, it's amazing how concentrated they are on this rock!

Here is our children, putting the world back to together one piece at a time, how prophetic!

Wait...........for.............it.........

A smile is always worth the wait!!!!

Conner & Daddy making the T-Rex head ROAR!!!! My question is what happened to the rest of him? Maybe he's on the second floor!

Not a visit without Brie sewing or in this case weaving something. It was very cool seeing the contraption the Egyptians used to make rope, the methodology remains the same but the equipment is way more high tech!

Her piece she wove herself....

Looking at all the different sand from around the world through a microscope, at this point I'd like to take this experiment to a whole other level and visit the sand beaches personally!

Family shot at the end, what a day!!!!! Thank you Nana & Papa for an amazing adventure!

Nothing like a stop at DQ on the way home! Must have been our lucky day because the manager came over with a blizzard that was mixed incorrectly and gave it to us for FREE! It was a cookie dough, Reese's peanut butter cup, chocolate syrup and something else blizzard, want to talk about chocolate overload, it was AWESOME!!!

5th Annual Dance with Disabilities!

This event popped up in our announcements at Church a few months ago and immediately my mind thought it would be a great community outreach event our whole family can participate in. Steve was assigned photographer duty along with another gal from our church and the kids and I were positioned to greet and assist attendees with their coats and usher them towards the photo area. We were told to not let a single one get past us ensuring each person would have a photo to take home with them at the end of the night.

So many volunteers made this event a success, one Sunday school class took the time to decorate photo sleeves with hearts, glitter, and other embellishments so that when the photos were printed they had a fabulous memento to take home as a reminder of the evening. Yet another class came & kept the popcorn popping & distributed bags to all the guests. A juice, coffee, cookie and other treats table rounded out another station. The DJ, a principal from a Spring Lake Park school, was absolutely amazing, he had inflatable guitars, microphones, hats, and other props that the attendees thought were the best!

All dolled up we headed for the Little Mountain Elementary school (Brie's old school) and set up. The dance started at 7pm and went until 9:30pm, with over 75 already registered & a maximum capacity of 100, it was destined to be a great evening. We would have no idea how great though!

The job of corralling everyone towards the photo station was NOT an easy task! Conner was sporting his black jacket and everyone seemed to be drawn to this little guy, which was good because I think we only had one group break through the line and bypass the photo booth.

Watching the expressions on some of their faces when they found out they were going to get their photo taken was just priceless! They were blown away and SOOO excited! "Do we have to pay for it?" "Wow, I better practice my smile" "Good thing I wore my best shirt" were many of the remarks. Watching the groups come in, the beat of the music already pounding, many were wiggling before they could get their coats off! Next year a good camera that takes action shots will be a necessity! Thank heavens we brought a bench which forced them to sit still for the briefest of moments.

Deep down, we had a selfish goal. For years I've watched many (my Mom especially) in amazement reach out and carry on one sided conversations and display incredible gentleness towards people with even the most extreme disabilities. I guess through years of working in a nursing home taught her how to do that, Nana as well via her years as a nurse has that gift too. We, on the other hand did not get that exposure and we find our selves feeling helpless to communicate. So this event filled a huge need in our hearts to learn, teach, and just give back to a large part of our community that is so very often, well just forgotten. We desperately want Brie and Conner to grow up with such awareness.

How did it go? Well let's just say, tremendously well. Watching Brienna joining in and dancing with all the guests just made us smile, she has such a soft heart and even dragged sometimes unwilling partners to the dance floor for the slower songs was just the best! Conner kept to himself in a corner playing with his cars when all of a sudden the beat must have called to him and he marched out onto the dance floor and jammed with another boy for the rest of the evening. They both had the inflatable air guitars, he & his new friend were so dang fun to watch, he also had to show off his break dancin' skills which just had us awestruck! He'd share microphones and guitars with whomever would take one and didn't leave the dance floor till clean up.....

To have volunteers come up afterwards with tears in their eyes telling us how amazing our children are, how they danced all night with everyone & how it just moved their hearts, believe me, it was so humbling! "You're doing such a great thing with your kids, they are so unbelievable, I know they don't know me but can I hug them?" The Lord works in such amazing ways and we walked away from that evening wondering who was more blessed by this night, us or all the awesome people that came! Next year Brienna said she's bringing Alex as her date, definitely!!!!!

Brienna & Conner we're so PROUD of you!!!!

Brie dancin' with the gals...

Conner & the guitar, wish his buddy would have held still long enough to take a photo, like I said, next year we'll have be sure to bring a camera with a much faster shutter speed!!!!!

Our fearless leader, Tracey W., whose own daughter was the inspiration for this event is our church's community outreach coordinator (gal in the purple sweater). She is truly an inspiration and has battled many demons in her life and won! Both my kids just run up to her, she is just one of those people, and we are truly blessed to know her.......

You just can't imagine some of the awesome moves displayed here tonight! Music is such great therapy, it just touches your soul!

Lovin' the spotlight!

One last dance before clean up, Conner showing off...

Prizes were rounded up and donated by local businesses & as they registered each person received a ticket. When the drawings started, a hush went over the crowd, a race to find their tickets ensued. The first winner jumped up from her seat, screamed all the way to the front and grabbed the biggest teddy bear on the table & ran back shouting "I WON, I WON, I WON!" and I mean shouted! A person would not have believed the smiles could grow bigger than they already were, but they did. Brienna ran all through the crowd helping those that couldn't read with their numbers, "nope not this time" or "darn, don't worry there's more" were some of the encouragements she'd give them. No one asked her to do this, after a while they just naturally lined up and she ran back & forth making sure the winners were found after each number was called. A great friend of hers that she made during her theatrical debuts, Johanna, was also there to help, what a pair they made!

Conner Part II

So last night Conner had his first stepping stone event at Church, this one was for Kindergartners & is geared towards worship and the sanctuary itself physically. We had 3 stations, one where they created their own alter cloth to take home; an awesome exercise in being respectful while in the sanctuary; and the other looking for shapes within the sanctuary that lead into a discussion of symbolism and all their meanings. At the start, Pastor asks the question of where do we worship? Conner's hand shoots up immediately and this Mommy was a little taken off guard because he started out really shy and very squirmy in his chair, I didn't even think he was paying attention let alone that he even heard the question. Conner's brilliant response was "in the bathroom," yep in our house the bathroom is the perfect place to worship the lord, sing and praise him in the bath or the shower! Go Conner! He knows that most often the bathroom is the only quiet place in the house, away from the phone, computer, TV, Wii, flute practice, etc....