Happy Engagement to Brittney and Aykut!

As we all know, Aykut proposed to Brittney on August 6, in a row boat while paddling the gorgeous Green Lakes.  Brittney had no clue it was coming-total surprise!  Their wedding date is August 6, 2011...and even though it's almost a year away, there seems like there is a plethora of tasks to get accomplished from now until then.  She asked me to be the maid-of-honor, which of course I said  yes!  To celebrate, we threw an engagement party with family, friends, food, games and alcohol :)

Matt prepared the fire pit for people to gather around

What would an engagement party be without fun, silly games?!  The Newlywed Game was a big hit.  It was interesting to see which couples know more about each in correlation to the length of time they've known each other.  Nana and Papa, who obviously were the pair married the longest, rocked the first round and were right at the top for the second round.

Great Nana laughed so much that night that I'm sure she must have had a sore stomach the next day!  Like Matt and I (who didn't play because we were the "gameshow hosts"), she got ammusment just from the others' answers. 

Kelly and Shannon didn't have dates that night so they graciously partnered up together-which was rather entertaining due to the fact that they had just met that night, however they won the second round and came in right at the top the first.  Plus, their answers envoked plenty of laughter out of the group, especially from the questions "Does your partner think he is a better lover than he looks, or looks better than he is a lover" and "You don't like it when you partner puts    (what)           (where)     "

I was delighted to have the opportunity to host this celebration for them and look forward to being a part of the multitude of preparing and celebrating that comes with a wedding, especially the bachelorette party ;)

Soccer!

Matthew started soccer last week thru the Baldwinsville Youth Soccer Association (BYSA)-his very first time playing it-and is already showing a great passion for the sport.  To be truthful, after the whole singing fiasco I was a little worried about him participating with the team.  I shouldn't have wasted time worrying about that because he is a remarkable team player.  There are 7 kids on the team, 4 boys and 3 girls.  His coach, "Coach Matt", is amazing!  He has coached before, but only to older kids, however you would never know it since he is so fantastic with the kids.

They started by running some skills.  When Coach Matt told them to run to fence and back as fast as they could, Matthew was ecstatic as he has a zeal for running to his heart's content 

They learned drills such as "sharks and minnows", which is when the kids start as minnows and Coach is a shark who tries to kick their ball out of the cones, and if he is successful that child then becomes a shark.  What 4-year-old wouldn't enjoy trying to take away a ball from another kid?!  Here they were weaving in and out of the cones while kicking their ball.  Matthew is a natural at this sport; I swear he plays like he has been doing it for awhile

Meredith came along to root on her brother.  She kept trying to join in the fun with him and his teammates :)  She did entertain herself by walking around the field with either Daddy or myself

Coach Matt is quickly becoming one of Matthew's favorite people

Anxiously awaiting the start of the next drill

I am enormasly anticipating his first game on September 11

Family Soldering Time

A fun tidbit: When Matthew grows up he wants to be a scientist, paramedic, and go to a "work job like Daddy".  Matt is making some changes to our boiler to make it more efficient this Winter and Matthew had an unlimited amount of questions about all the stuff/work

Matt "dared" me to solder a piece of copper...which I did.  He said I didn't do as bad as most people do on their first solder.  Maybe I should re-think my career choice ;)

An Afternoon of Golf

Now that Matthew has his very own set of golf clubs, courtesy of a garage sale which is why they are adult size clubs, he putts the afternoon away :)  It's fun to watch him play and he even shared with Meredith and me so we could play too, although I have to admit that his swing sometimes scares me, like when he does it right near Meredith!

More Fun At Lysander Town Park

Several days ago, the kids and I went to play at the park with Papa and Nana.  Matthew showed Papa how he is learning to pump on the swing and Papa showed Matthew how high he could swing :)

Meredith's turn to swing!

Papa gave Matthew his very first tennis lesson.  Matthew was thrilled and had fun....even though he was mostly chasing the ball.  After awhile he did start to get the hang of it and started hitting the balls more consistently.  I foresee more tennis in his future

"Doggy"

Matthew's new friend, Harper, happened to be at the park that day and popped in to play some tennis too